1000 Dog Portraits - Work Published

In keeping with the post I shared a while back about celebrating your achievements, I thought I would share some of my artwork that got published in a book some time ago, but we can still celebrate!  In fact I have a journal dedicated for things that I have achieved, so that I can look back as a reminder and see how far I have come.  It is important that you write down all your achievements, not matter how small.

The Book that my work was published in was published in 2014 and is called 1000 Dog portraits, curated by Robynne Raye. I created 2 playful paintings which were selected.  It was a reminder to me to 'go for it' and not hold back and allow the critic to voice their untruths.

On the Run - Amanda Trought, 1000 Dog Portraits

My main focus was to have fun and bring out the colors in each of the paintings, and I like the cartoon like feel of my dogs, and they may one day feature in a children's book of their own.

Amanda Trought Art - Dog Portraits

It was great to see the diversity of work from both artists and designers from around the world, and to have my work published alongside them.

I think I might spend some more time playing about with colors and shapes, and see what other playful characters that I can come up with. Why not try it out yourself.

Cole my dog is wondering when I am going to do a painting of him, he loves posing for the camera, and makes sure we only get his best side!

Cole, Such a majestic looking dog

Hanging out with Cole

Stay blessed and be a blessing and keep your eyes out for many other creative goodies that will be coming your way.

You can check out the book  HERE on Amazon 

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31 Creative Things to do with Recycled Materials - Tea Bags

Teabag Treasures 

Tea as you know like many people is something I usually drink every day, and I have my favorites that I like. Every now and then we buy a different variety tea, and for some reason or another no one in the house wants to drink it and it passes the sell by date.  Now I am sure you can guess what is coming next…there are so many things that you can do with an empty unused tea bag!  They are really versatile, and I will show you one of the ways in which you can put them to good use.

The tea bags by the way can go in the garden and depending on the bag decompose quite well (great for roses I hear). But you want to make something creative with them don’t you?

Tea Bag Treasures

Check out my post HERE for some step by step instructions. With the bags I have I enclosed them with words of encouragement, added texture and paint. On these ones I added the quinoa – I had so much (again out of date) to get rid of! 

They were then painted and an embellishment made from either fimo clay, or shrink plastic and then it was added to the bag.  Again, with those little bits of broken jewelry you may have laying around you can bring new life into them and add some sparkle. There are countless possibilities using the altered teabags in different projects, check out my Pinterest board to see some of the ways that I found that other artists are using. 

Can you see a creative possibility in more things now? 
There are so many things you have around you are screaming to be altered, reused and re-purposed, and I often tell Alan and Sekani that if they stand still for too long around me I will be seeing if I can find a creative use for them as well (smile).  There are a wealth of possibilities when we experiment with recycled materials, come back tomorrow to see what else I have got up to with my supplies.

Why not join me on some of my other platforms, and sign up to my Mailing list you will be getting information about what I am up to in my creative journey, tutorials, Arts and health advice and resources, giveaways and more

Stay blessed and be a blessing

Amanda

31 Creative Things to do with Recycled Materials - Promarker Pen Holders - Day 7

Creative Recycling, one box/can/bottle/ at a time!

Do you have lots of pens all over the place that need a home?

Do you want to see what you have and don't want to hide them? 

Have you a small amount of space to work with?

Then look no further!!  Over the next few days as part of the '31 Creative Things to do with Recycled Materials' and the 'Ultimate Blog Challenge' I have a few 'pen' storage ideas to help you with your problem.

I have always had this problem in my work space when I started out, especially when I worked from the edge of my kitchen table.  Many moons later I have a bigger space but still need to be mindful about what I store and where.

Moving into my current space I wanted one of those racks you see in the magazines, but surrounded by so many milk cartons and boxes I knew that I would be able to create something to my specification and at a fraction of the price.  

Creative Thinking Cap on to do something with this little lot!

I wanted something a cross between the one below but that could fit on my desk. You can check out the one below and they also have others which may work for you.

 

The holders that originally came with the pens were these and these didn't work for me considering the amount of pens that I have and the space that they took up.  I am going to have to find an alternative use for them:)

I wanted to make an upright holder and began to think of the best possible materials that I had and the design.  I didn't follow a pattern, I just knew how I wanted it to look and then just kept going and this was born.  

This was the before and the after, quite a transformation!
 

The Before - milk cartons and cardboard

The After

 I painted it an gave it a 'shabby chic' look and finished it with varnish and gold metallic rub.  I am able to view all the colors and keep everything organised.  

The one thing that the pens could do with now is the color indicator on the top.  The pens that I originally brought were the old design, you can purchase some labels or again make your own.  

The top of the storage allows me to keep to hand the pens I am using in a project and the rest can be stored horizontally as needed.

I might add some swirls or stenciled designs to the storage container, but I am please with the results and the much needed storage that I now have for my pens.  Come back to see what I have done with my Alcohol Markers

For more inspired recycling ideas and useful tips check out Zero Waste Barbados and Journey to Zero Waste 

Have a look at some of my ideas on my Pinterest Recyled Board

Blessings

31 Creative Things to do with Recycled Materials - Birds - Day 6

Welcome to My Day 6 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge.  I am running slightly behind and hope to catch up with all the things I want to share with you.  I was inspired to make the ducks after watching Heather Santos on a course called Soul Food run by Mystele  There are always nuggets to take away in Mysteles courses for you to add your own spin on it.  Check them and their videos out they are both inspiring.

What is quite funny about watching ducks in the water is that they usually look so calm and collected on the surface, moving from one place to the other in the water, what we don't see is the action beneath the water.  Their feet are moving very quickly in a flurry to get them from one place to the next, yet here they are making it look easy.

Amanda Trought - Mixed Media Art - Sculptured Bird

After making the first duck I just went on to make a few more, and now love how you can transform recycled material.  The base for the ducks is foil which really compacts well, so if you are looking for a use for any foil you may have laying around here is a great example.  Obviously if you have used it to cover food or cooking you will need to wash it first.

Amanda Trought - Mixed Media Art Bird

Amanda Trought - Mixed Media Art Bird

The other thing I use is recycled paper, made into clay, and I found a great recipe online.  I altered it slightly to suit but it is archival, long lasting and another fun way of recycling.  The last additions were the embellishments to make them unique. I will be posting my recipe and a video of how I make the paper clay for you to give it a go.

Ok, so you met these three birds you'll have to be introduced to the rest of the family...(smile) at some point I want to share some of the tropically based sculptures that are beginning to show up, but that is for another time!  

Stay blessed and be a blessing!

In the meantime you can:

Sign up for a course I will be teaching on

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Art Workshop, Over 2 hours of instruction - sigh up using the link above and get this free

31 Creative Things to do with Recycled Materials - Day 3, 4 & 5

Welcome back to todays post in the Ultimate Blog Challenge.  For the rest of the month I will be showing you what I have done with materials that can be recycled.  Rather than throwing them out I have given them a new lease of life.  Using a bit of imagination and lots of creativity there is so much we can do with the things that are normally disguarded and with resources depleting on the planet, we have to find a way to reduce what is readily thrown away and save some of the earth for generations to come.

With that said I am always up for a challenge and I have over the years found ways to save my self some money when it comes to the use of storage containers.  Using a bit of paint and a glue gun you can do wonders to any surface:)  Take a look at my Pinterest board, there are some lovely things that I would love to try - inexpensive solutions that look great.

Here are 3 very different storage containers that I have created

Storage Tin made with rolled paper

This one is made out of a tin covered in rolled paper, it makes for a very sturdy container, and I have added a border round the tin to stop it from falling over.

Plastic bottle container - looks unique!

Plastic bottle with the top taken off it makes a cup like container that is used to store all my pliers and Stanley knives

This is the top of another bottle that has been turned upside down and covered with the rolled paper.  It makes the container study and now I have a great place to put the rocks and stones I collect.  You can make them as big or as small as you like and decorate them either with a color scheme or something funky.

I have some great examples coming up so do come back tomorrow to see what they are.  

Stay blessed and be a blessing!

She went into the city - I'm Backkkkk!

She came to the city - Mixed media Art - Realityarts

Wow, it has been a while since I have posted, I can't quite believe that time has flown so quickly.  I seem to have so many things on the last two months that I got lost in it all and before you knew it we are at the end of September. 

I do enjoy sharing my posts and things I get up to and will be getting my groove back on and showing you some 'how to' videos using different materials and creating out of recycled materials.  I will share in my next post what I got up to and photos and over the next few weeks share my updated blog schedule to keep you inspired and encouraged and taking a chance - stepping out in faith as you embrace your creative self.  I have more teaching and workshops to share, and more!

This is a painting and video process that I did back in August, and it shows 'Lady Peace' entering the city.  We need peace right now around the world and it takes all of us to bring that to a reality.  We have to call out injustices in all walks of life, in all communities, business, society, it cannot be tolerated.

She came to the city - Mixed media art

We each have within us a unique spark, a gift and treasure that is to share with others around the world.  Don't be hating on others, deal with what you have, don't compare yourself to another, you don't know what they went through to get to where they are - but you have an incredible gift, you just need to know how to use it.

She came to the city to spread peace, love, grace, mercy and hope.  Stay blessed and be a blessing!

Mixed Media Art Painting - Transformation - Dala

Transformation Series  

Welcome to the series, it is great to have you back again this week to see what else I have in store for you.  This week we meet another character, with her own story and we meet her in what looks like a snapshot of her life..

'Dala sat in her garden surrounded by red flowers and blue skies, and at that moment she felt at peace gazing at the flowers she breathed deeply trying to soak in everything that her senses could pick up.  The delicate aromas, the breeze that made the hairs on her skin dance, and the warmth of the sun that made her feel part of something so much bigger'

A week doesn't go by where I create a painting on what looks like a scrap of paint spattered paper, card or fabric.  I guess it is part of the challenge for myself to be flexible and work with what I have.

It is important to spend how ever long you have creating, whether you pick up a paint brush, or just sort through some supplies, it is a good idea to make a regular practice that feeds the creative soul.

Finding that quiet space that you can get lost in the creative process, and not worry about what something will look like, or as you are creating what unfolding before you.

I play with textures, colors, and when it feels right I stop, or I take the painting in a different direction.  If you check out some of the videos on my youtube, you will see that some start out one way and then totally change.  Feeling comfortable and not getting too precious over the painting helps the flow.  There have been times that I looked back at a video and thought I loved the painting before I totally changed it, but that is all part of the growing process.

She sat in her garden surrounded by red flowers and blue skies

I hope you enjoyed watching the video, check out my others when you get a chance.  Stay blessed and be a blessing!

Mixed Media Art Video Process - Transformation

I am still doing the video transformation series, but have started calling it Transformation Thursdays, had a better ring to it!  

Essentially I start off with a background card that I embellished with scraps of paper then after drawing a loose image and applying paint the card transforms on as you will see in the video below and then you are a participant in the transformation.

The main thing to remember to do is to have fun while you are painting, and I see these mini paintings as a way to keep me creating, especially when time is limited.

I have been doing the paintings in the morning, and is a way to set the creative tone.  I usually allow 30 minutes to creatively unwind, but sometimes end up giving myself a bit longer.

 You have to do what and where suits you.  I'm an early riser so, usually this part of my creative practice is done between 6.30am and 8.30am, and its also really lovely to hear the first morning sounds, the birds and other noisy critters:)

As you can see there is lots of lovely texture going on and then I have added color as suits.

I hope you enjoyed the video, if you decide to give it a try, do let me know how you get on with the process.  I shall at some point be sharing a start to finish painting in this style with you.  For now stay blessed and be a blessing!

Recycled Projects - Promarker Pen holder

When ever I walk into an art shop and see all the great supplies one of the things that I have wanted (needed) is a holder for my pens.  In the past I have dabbled with pro-marker pens and I must do a review on them as they are really great to use.

I have a good supply of them but they were always hidden in my draws and I didn't always make enough use of them because they were out of sight.

They originally came with a set of holders/stands like these - 

but they are not practical for the space that I have taking up too much space on my desk.  I am going to have to find an alternative use for them at some point.

Armed with my new skill for making things out of cardboard and recycling, I decided to make myself one of the stands that I normally see in art supply stores.

I selected the supplies that I had to hand and worked out what I would need.  I ended up using 4 almond milk containers and 4 juice drink containers - obviously you can use the size and dimensions that suit you.

It took a bit of thought to get it to stand the way that would enable me to see the pens clearly while not taking up a lot of space, and I decided to go with the flow and let the final shape evolve rather than being prescriptive as to the look.

I created a section where I could place odd shaped items or pens that I was using at the time on a particular project.  Once I set the intention of what I wanted I began to figure out how it needed to be constructed.  You can literally make so many things out of recycled materials that can be of use around your studio.

I decided to put an additional shelf on the top and then added paper tubes to create a rounded effect on the edges.  It was then covered with paper mache

  I covered it with gesso first then painted it with white paint.  I obtained a great crackling effect using the white household paint

Where I added more paint I got a greater effect.

I then applied gold rub- on in selected places, and then covered it all with pva glue

Here is the side view of the stand with the pens

The top shelf houses the most used pens or the ones that I am using on a particular project.  Because it is made from cardboard it isn't heavy but it is sturdy, which is very important.

Some of the promarker pens came already labeled with the colour at the end, and some didn't so I am in the process of adding the colour stickers at the end of the rest of the pens.

This holder can be designed to fit any sized pen, you just have to decide the length that you require.  All in all I am really pleased, it takes up hardly any room, all the pens are accessible and being made from recycled materials means that it didn't cost a penny apart from the glue and paint....why don't you try it yourself.!