I have resumed my regular art journal page each week on my YouTube channel, if I am able to do more to share some of my processes depending on the supplies used. In this video I am using Inktense pencils which are one of my favorites.
Girl with a Throw
Once complete I mount the page on board and then cover with bees wax. Supplies are available on my Amazon Page
Wishing you a Fantastic Christmas, as you spend time with family and friends my you be inspired to be your best self, may you achieve those things that you set out to do for 2019 and go on to make courageous steps into 2020.
Spare a thought to those who may be on their own, and check in on them.
As the year comes to a close I have been thinking a lot about the things that I would like to achieve for 2020, lots of creative pursuits ahead - Exhibitions, Studio Tours, Talks Travel, Social Media and I would love to have you come along for the journey so make sure that you have subscribed to the mailing list or my YouTube Channel, pack your creative supplies and prepare for an adventure.
Think about things that you want to achieve and what is needed for those things to be realize and know that you can create your own reality so step up, value yourself and what you bring and 'lets do this'!
If you would like to know how to created the images check out Paperless Post and see some of the designs that they have available. I just dropped my art into their template and edited it is a fantastic way of showing your work in different formats.
I am looking forward to seeing what you come up with so remember to share and if you want to talk about things that you want to put in place you can schedule a free 30 minute call to talk about things that you would like to do or are working through.
In today's show I take a look at the work that I have been doing, working with fabrics
and stitching, in preparation for an exhibition that will be taking place in a couple of weeks. Also the idea of planning and how not to be drawn into overwhelm. The stitching to me is a very therapeutic activity
and it is great to be able to pull the work together a combination of stitching,
fabric manipulation and embroidery techniques.
Social Media
I have also been considering changing up my approach with social media, and look at the need for us to share our
work and be more strategic in the content that we are going to share. I am in the early stages of my planning but it is coming
together We all have something to share
and we just have to get out of our own way and get on with it, we have a
mission to get done.
I also wanted to share with you some events that are taking place this week and into the new year in regards to the Arts and Health events, and I have provided links below for you to take a look at:
Training session designed to give arts facilitators greater understanding, increased skills and confidence in communicating and working creatively with people experiencing the early stages of dementia and their carers
This event, produced by Midlands Arts Centre on behalf of The Baring Foundation and Arts Council England, will explore the role of creativity, arts and cultural change in the experiences of growing older and ask if a medical model of old age can address the creative and cultural realities of our lives
Art Journal Creating for December - with Amanda Trought
I decided to step it up a bit and create more Art Journals. I love creating them and have so much paper, and other materials that it makes sense to bring them together and start using them for the work that I want to do in them.
Part 1 of the Art Journal Process
Creating an Art Journal page is something I do as part of my morning routine and I wondered if others did the same. I decided to use up the materials and try not to purchase them as you can customize them to your own suiting and use the Art Journals you want to use. You might be one of those people who want to purchase them but I guarantee that once you have really got into making your own journals, choosing your paper, binding them in a particular way then you won't be the same. The video this month is far longer than I had anticipated but it gives you over two hours of tutorial that you can watch at your leisure, see what tips you can get from the videos and pull them together in the Art Journal of your own creating. You can use all the tips or just a few, the main thing is that you have fun along the way. Let me know how you get on, if you need additional information do not hesitate to let me know.
Part 2 of the Art Journal Process
Each month you will get to see a new art journal in the making. I use simple techniques and have fun in the process. You can also join me on my Patreon Blog where I give a few behind the scene tips to my process.
I have been playing about with the card designs on Paperless Post and as well as having an amazing selection of card designs, there are unlimited ways in which you can customize the cards you create to suit your own preferences. I use their card layout designs in several different ways;
Sending as cards and just changing the wording - there are some lovely images that they include in their designs.
Customizing the cards by changing the images, as in the design below, this is in their wedding section and I wanted to use the layout and add my own images. See my previous post - (There are many free designs and some you have to purchase coins to use).
Cards can be sent via email or printed - on your own computer or using their printing service (minimum order of 20 cards)
You can use their card designs in other ways - and I will show you how I edited some of my images to use the design below - You can check it out on their site HERE
This is the card that I chose because I wanted to include several images that I have made into prints from a series of Pastel Paintings that I had completed.
In this design I added a selection of images and changed the wording, it is very simple to add your own photos to the designs and there is also a very useful support section that runs through the steps for you to follow. To save it to my computer all I had to do is click the right mouse button and save. I then started to experiment further.
In this on I added a black border. Paperless post comes with an assortment of backgrounds that you can use with your images, I thought the border set it off quite nicely.
There are also a series of filters that you can use on your images, so I used the black and white filter on this next one, and again used the black border. I wasn't able to change the color of the gold outline, but I felt that it made the wording stand out so it wasn't an issue for me.
On this design I used several different filters, including sepia, technicolor and black and white. There are additional motifs that you can add to your design.
The possibilities are endless, so have a play around and see what you come up with. The other great thing about these are I can schedule the cards to go out to a select list of my collectors as online cards, send out printed cards or use in my social media.
I hope you give it a go! Stay blessed and be a blessing.
In Episode 127 - Arts and Wellness Wednesday I share information on the sculpture that I created called Angel Walks
Each week I will be sharing a piece of art, it is so important that we share what we do and tell our stories.
The sculpture like some of my other pieces has the apprearence of bronze, but this has a wire and clay armature and is made from fabric. I really enjoy using these materials and creating a flow, and the way that you can get different effects from the different weights of fabric. I also use fabrics in wall hangings and other pieces of art.
This sculpture won the NIFCA silver award which I am very proud of
Angel Walks - Amanda Trought
The arts is something that is so important that we all take part in and I hope that my work has an impact on the viewer in what ever way possible, not only being in the physical presence of the work but also viewing it.
Angel Walks - Amanda Trought
Angel walks reminds us that we never know the number of people who come into our lives that are angels in disguise. We all have the ability to speak love and hope into other peoples lives and be a blessing and you may not realise that just by doing the things that you take for granted can be a real blessing to others and help uplift and change the course of their lives. Listen to the podcast recording to hear more about the Sculpture.
Angel Walks - Amanda Trought
Think about your own journey, and the times people impacted you life, those people that blessed you, the things that you did to be a blessing to others. Think about the things that you now regret saying because it had a negative impact, and whilst your not always able to go back and make things right, think about how you can pay the blessing forward.
Angel Walks - Amanda Trought
Stay blessed and be a blessing, visit my website to see some of the other sculptures available
Welcome to today's selection of sketches. I will be posting the sketches weekly on the blog but if you want to see the daily progress you can go onto my Instagram feed and see them there or wait until the end of the week :) I thought I would catch up with my self and share the next 8 sketches that I have done so far.
I have been using a range of both hard and soft Pastels - Rembrant soft, Rowney soft tints, Conte Hard, Nouvel Carre and Langnickel Hard pastels I have shared the Amazon store and added additional pastels that you can try out at a variety of prices. I will also once the challenge has finished be creating some reviews of the pastels that I have used. I think 100 days of testing will be quite a thorough test. I will also be creating some videos using the pastels and the techniques that I use along the way, so sign up to my YouTube channel and click the notification bell to be updated.
Here are the pastel sketches so far 9 - 16
Pastel Sketches 9 - 16 of the 100 Days of Pastels
I shared the selection of 5 pastels I have been using on Amazon and I have brought together a great selection of supplies on my Amazon Store that you can take a look at.
have you decided yet if you will join in the #the100dayproject2019 or create a challenge of your own, it doesn't have to be 100 days but you could start with 5 days and see how you go.
If you are interested in taking classes and working with pastels then check out Creative live
They currently have a series of online FREE Classes and discounted courses to suit your needs and each week they have several Free Live classes as well, so check them out.
Let me know if you start a challenge of your own so I can come and support you on your platform! Take care and be a blessing
The 100 Day Project is well on the way. I started a week late so will be completing a week later on the 18th July. Here are the first 8 pastel sketches.
It has been great getting to grips with working with the variety of pastels and also working on different pastel papers which give you different effects and finishes.
Here are the first 8 sketches, I will share the next 8 tomorrow.
It has been great fun getting to know how the different supplies work, and it is lovely to see all the sketches together and see how much I have grown over the.
I am using a selection of 5 pastels and you can find a great selection at varying prices to suit all pockets on Amazon and I have brought together a great selection of supplies on my Amazon Store recommendation that you can take a look at.
I hope that you have joined in the #the100dayproject2019 and are having fun in what ever you have chosen to do. Take it at your own pace and don't allow overwhelm to set in and enjoy.
If you are interested in taking classes and working with pastels then check out Creative live
They currently have a series of online FREE Classes and discounted courses to suit your needs and each week they have several Free Live classes as well, so check them out.
Let me know how you get on and what challenge you will be doing yourself. Take care and be a blessing
Every year in March the Caribbean Fine Art Fair (CAFA) comes to Barbados, and it attracts artists and visitors from around the globe. I have participated in 3 fairs so far and 2019 will be my forth year.
The dates for the ninth edition of the Caribbean Fine Art Fair is the 6 - 10th March 2019.
Our guests curators for the Fair is Victor Davson, Guyanese co-founder of Aljira Center for Contemporary Art and Oneka Small, Barbadian Artist, curator and founder of Artist Alliance.
Applications are currently open if you would like to take part. and you can check out the link HERE
It is a great way to meet other artists, with so many different styles and approaches from around the world and share dialogue and love for art over the 5 days of the Art Fair. It is also great to interact with art lovers and talk about the work on display.
I hope you check out the Website and consider being one of the exhibitors.
Here are a few of the photos from last years CAFA Fair, check the link below for a full look at the work of the Artists that took part.
Organizer - Anderson Pilgrim
With family and friends
Amanda Trought - My mixed media Wall Hangings
Fellow Artist and Art Curator Dr Myrah Brown Green
Fellow Artists and Art collectors
Here are some mini videos that I took on the day
Walking round checking out some of the Art work
Remember to put the dates for 2019 in your calendar and make sure that you attend.
So you got a flavor of the opening, you can check out the work of the Artists who participated in the 2018 CAFA HERE
In the video I share with you a series of wall hangings I created called Forgotten Stories. Here is how they progressed.
At this point I had painted the fabric pieces and started to add the jewelry and the beading.
I taught myself some simple quilting techniques and ran with it. I knew I didn't want to make a large quilt, just used some of tips that I needed as I learnt.
Very often we stop ourselves from doing things because we don't have the resources, or skills, but you can learn the techniques as you go along, don't wait until you are an expert as you might find that you get some great results from the process as you go along. In my research I learnt about the quilts of the Underground Railroad, the messages and symbols contained in them and will share more in another post.
There were several things that I loved doing with these wall hangings,
the process of painting the pieces of fabric,
using the range of colors and also
creating the marks and designs that seem to come together when they were taken to the next stage and stitched
I called the series of wall hangings the Forgotten Stories.
Forgotten Stories Series
I started creating the series quite a while back and spent a lot of time selecting fabric and hand painting the fabric using a variety of acrylics, fabric paints and later on embellishments. I never used to have so much patience to create the amount of detail that you see in these pieces, but learnt that the messages come out over time, and in different ways.
The idea behind the series for me is the forgotten stories that are told in communities and would traditionally be handed down as you sit around a fire, or people would gather round the village stories tellers. I also wanted them to capture the essence of a short story that I had written where a young girl accompanies her mother to a fabric store and the owner begins to share how far the fabric has traveled and what all the signs and symbols mean.
With each pattern having a meaning. These stories tells of the kings and queens, the daily lives of a village who did what their accomplishments, the travelers of the land, the trade between the villages and the things they produced. The carrying of spices, and precious jewels across sand dunes, forests and seas.
The symbols that tells of the strength the technology and skills that were the cornerstone of populations
Charting the journey of the different tribes, showing the gifts the abilities that resides unto this day.
Once each panel was complete I began to add the beading and embellishments to decorate. You can see a bit of the process in the video above.
Forgotten Stories - Blue
I love the way the pieces turned out and the color mixes.
As my fabric pieces tell their story I hope they will inspire you to share yours. Art for me is about how we use it to express our ideas, thoughts - our truth and is a tool that can bring a voice to every situation. Let me know how you use fabric in your work and to express ideas. If you are looking for additional ideas for using fabric then check out some of the links below for ideas, supplies and more!
Realityarts - Creativity Book Shop - Some really great titles for you to dive in
Creative Resources
Affiliate Links
Some links on this site are affiliate links. If you purchase a product after clicking an affiliate link, I receive a small percentage of the sale for referring you. I only have links to products that I would buy myself. Purchasing through affiliate links is an easy, painless way to help out your favorite artists/bloggers at no extra cost to you. Thank you for your support!
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