Exhibition at The Crane Resort - Meet the Artist

It was great to do the 'Meet the Artist' Session at the Crane, St Philip Barbados and show some of my latest Art Work.

A selection of artists from around Barbados were invited to do solo shows, each given 1 week.  

The Hunters Journey - Mixed Media Art 

We had a our opening launch where visitors to the gallery could see and talk to the artist up close and personal as they worked on a piece of art.

We had a good turnout and it was lovely to see long time friends come over from the UK, further afield and locally!

It was also great to see so many fellow artists and creatives come out and support. 

Presence - Mixed Media Art - Amanda Trought

 Landscape Artist Frank Cossey and his wife Charlene spent some time at the exhibition.  They own Deebles Point Art Gallery with a Restaurant and beautiful views and it is well worth a visit so check them out.

There was a chilled buzz about the place, my son Sekani played the piano outside and you can check out his work on Soundcloud.  Visitors to the gallery discussed and asked about my techniques and the variety of different work on display.  It was a great first solo show especially being able to show the variety of mediums and supplies that I work with.

As you can see I had a range of abstract pieces of art, paintings, sculptures, and sculptural paintings as well.

I was asked 'What was next' which to tell you the truth there are so many ideas buzzing around in my head that I need to get back in the studio to get the ideas down and plan for the next body of work that wants to be birthed. I will be putting all the work for sale on my Website

The 'Meet the Artist Mondays' at the Crane Gallery, St Philip Barbados still continues with different artists each week and starts at 6pm until 9pm -

March Art Exhibition in Barbados

March is always a busy month for Art Exhibitions, thought I would let you know what I have been working on for the next month.

Art at the CRANE, St Philip

Presence - Mixed Media Art Painting - Amanda Trought

Mixed Media Art Paintings for CRANE Exhibition - Amanda Trought

Caribbean Fine Art Fair (CAFA), Grand Sal, Barbados

I will also be taking part in the CAFA Fair with some Art Fabric Wall Hangings.

Mixed Media Art Wall Hanging - Amanda Trought

Retentions' Exhibition

Until 24th March 2018 

Moving Forward, Looking Back - Mixed Media Art Amanda Trought

Lots more activities going on around Barbados this month so it is a good idea to check out the monthly magazine - Barbados Visual Arts Magazine published by Corrie Scott.

Stamps - My 31 Art Studio Essentials

Stamps - The Video

Check out this video on some of the stamps in my supplies

Thank you for joining me in my studio for the Art Studio Essentials Daily Series. 

I had hoped to have finished at the end of January, but you are in for a treat as it will go on for a couple more weeks into February.  I hope that throughout the series you have felt that this has been a way to kick start your creativity as you check out some supplies that I have and sort through ones that you have in your stash.  

Today I will sharing with you my Stamp supply, ones that have been brought, free gifts and then ones I started making.  They come in all designs and sizes.

It is quite easy to get sucked into purchasing lots of supplies and then you end up only using a few because you realize that you just don't need quite so many - you can't use them all at once.

We all have 5 minutes that we can give to creative play, why not see how you can fit creativity into your every day, and dig out those stamps you may have and see what you can do with them!

Handmade Stamps and Embossing Powder

If you are just starting out and on a budget I would suggest you think about what projects you might need to use the Stamps for and how else you might be able to use them - with Mixed Media the ideas are endless! Some stamps work good on their own but equally as part of a background, you can get great patterns from the whole stamp or use just a part of it.  You can also use a variety of other things like embossing powder as above, on fabric, there is no limit to what you could try.

  

You can check out discount stores that may have a good supply, I have listed some below, and also check out my Resources page, for current discounts.  You can also get free stamps on some of the Craft Magazines on sale, so it is a good idea to have a look in some of these.

I did a post on how to make stamps and you can find it HERE in my Handmade Recycle Projects

If you are researching how to be more creative on YouTube then check out the tips and advice on ways to be Creative and regaining your Creative spark, sign up to my Mailing list and receive the publication 25 Ways to fit Art and Creativity into your day!

  

I am also Teaching on the BADASS Art Journal Course which started on the 5th February, so you can still sign up. I am giving away this Bonus when you sign up - Check it out HERE

Stay blessed and be a blessing!

Check out some of these Craft/Magazine and Book resources below.  There are some discounts available on each, and also check out the Resources page for updated discounts.

Adorn it 

Dollar Tree 

Blick 

Book Outlet 

Stampington 

C&T Publishing 

Dover

Craftsy Kits

Creative Bug

Altered Directories - My 31 Art Studio Essentials

Altered Directories

It is great to have you join me for another day in my studio.  I kind of got a bit backed up, life happens and you roll with it, so I will be running slightly over into February with the Series.  You will still get 31 Art Studio Essentials in this Daily Series, so I hope you will hang in there with me.

Even in those times where stuff happens, what are you doing with your time?  There should always be time spent for something creative even if you only have 5 minutes to spare, and what you do with it is vitally important.  

Directory waiting to be altered

Today I will be showing you a selection of Altered Directory Journals.  This is a great way to recycle and you probably have a directory laying around that could be put to a creative use. 

I also did a series on my blog called 31 Art Journals showing you a variety of cool Art Journals that you can make.

It is great to check out the different shapes and sizes that directories and catalogs come in and the ideas you can come up with as you re-purpose them.  When your running low on time you can break up the tasks in small chunks and say stick some pages down, or add gesso to a selection of pages.

In this directory I prepped the pages when I had time with gesso.  I could then go back and either add images, journaling or whatever took my fancy.

Check out the Video and get a closer look at the Art Journals created.

If you are researching how to be more creative on YouTube then check out the tips and advice on ways to be Creative and regaining your Creative spark, sign up to my Mailing list and receive the publication 25 Ways to fit Art and Creativity into your day!

I am also Teaching on the BADASS Art Journal Course and will be giving away this Bonus when you sign up - Check it out HERE

Stay blessed and be a blessing!

Glue Gun Stencils - My 31 Art Studio Essentials

I am glad that you could join me in my studio for the Art Studio Essentials Daily Series today to help you kick start your creativity and to check out some supplies.  Today I will be playing about with my glue gun stencils which I created in a wide range of sizes and shapes.

What Art Supplies have you neglected?  I had these stencils in a box hidden away, and it isn't until you get them out do you realize how much you enjoy using them. Today I will show you how you can deal with those times that you feel stuck by using your Glue gun stencils.

You don't need to spend a whole day in your supplies and can find the odd 5 minutes or so that we can give to creative play, this is what I did to create the stencils. 

Using a Teflon sheet I created the glue stencils in a variety of shapes, making sure that the ends joined together.

Create your favorite shapes

You can create whatever you like and this is great cause you then don't have to worry about using other peoples designs, and you never know where creating your own designs will take you.

Create unique designs

This is a face stencil that I created and a square shaped stencil and I used spray paint with these stencils as they are thicker than the norm.  What you can then do is to go in and define some of the shapes with additional materials.

Check out the video to see how I used them in my Art Journal.

The Video

Glue Gun Stencils

About This Video: In this video I cover how to spend more time being creative

with your glue gun stencils

If you are researching how to be more creative on YouTube then check out the tips and advice on ways to be Creative and regaining your Creative spark, sign up to my Mailing list and receive the publication 25 Ways to fit Art and Creativity into your day!

I'm Teaching on the BADASS Art Journal Course and will be giving away this Bonus when you sign up - Check it out HERE

Art Supplies - Check out some discounts with the following:

Adorn it - http://bit.ly/AdorAT18

Dollar Tree - http://bit.ly/DolAT18

Craftsy Kits - http://bit.ly/CrafAT18

BADASS Art Journal and Bonus - http://bit.ly/BONUSJ18

BADASS Art Journal and FREE Art Journal Bundle Series 1

We are days away from the start of the BADASS Art Journal course on the 5th February, and I am so please to be among the line-up of artists!

I am also please to be Giving Away my Art Journal Bundle Series 1 when you Sign Up for the BADASS Art Journal Course using my link 

Art Journal Bundle - Series 1

You will get lots of additional yumminess from me to help you on your Art Journal journey.  I have put together a range of things to help you get started on backgrounds - free downloadable and videos to guide you, prompts and tips to encourage you and I have also included 4 Recycled Art Journals for you to make

5 Backgrounds for your Art Journal

A series of 5 Art Journal Backgrounds for you to download and use in your own Art Journals.  I have also included additional pages of quotes and encouraging words.

4 Handmade Recycled Journala

4 Handmade Recycled Art Journals for you to make.  These are 4 very different Art Journals with the key being using recycled materials.  You get to make a Handbag Art Journal, a Cereal Bag Art Journal, Recycled Card Journal and a Toilet Roll Tube Art Journal.

31 Art Journal Prompts

5 Weeks worth of prompts and tips for working in your Art Journal.  You can download and print these off as mini posters for your creative space.

5 Art Journal Background Videos

Do you find it hard to think about what to do with your backgrounds or how to start.  I include 5 different ways in which you can approach your background.  Creative play is an important part of your approach. These videos are yours to download and keep forever!

I am also going to add a FREE Surprise gift as a way of saying Thank You!!

So what are you waiting for!  I would love you to come and join us.

Sign Up HERE and get your Free Art Bundle Series 1

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You can also purchase the Art Journal Series 1 Bundle Separately at below a low cost of $30  I will still add the Free Surprise Gift!

My 31 Art Studio Essentials - Stencils

I am so glad you could join me in my studio for the Art Studio Essentials Daily Series that will help you to kick start your creativity and to check out some supplies.  

Today I will be playing about with my stencils which come in all shapes and sizes, you can make your own or re-purpose other equipment.

Check out the Video Below

I have collected a wide variety of stencils over the years and first started out with the stencils you use to decorate your walls, and initially used the Dover Stencils on card that you cut out.  This then led me on the journey to find out more and get different designs.

 Do you have neglected art supplies hanging around waiting to be used, you don't want your stencils to come to the same fate.  

Check out what you can recycle and create your own stencils! 

I found ways to create some of my own stencils and these ones are from the humidifiers you can buy with a plastic lid, the lid with its patterns makes a great stencil.  

You can create some yummy texture from homemade stencils

In the video above I will show you how I use some recycled examples to make stencils.  Being creative and thinking outside the box will help you to deal with those times that you feel stuck by using your supplies in different ways.

These stencils below are using the sink mats that you can get in different shapes and sizes, the patterns are great and can create some lovely effects.

You can also create a cheap stencil from a Sink Mat!

Sometimes all we need is 5 minutes for some creative play, and you will feel so much better once you have done something, there are so many ways in which you can fit creativity into your every day!

I do hope that you get out your supplies and have some fun!

Dover Books Has over 80 Books on stencils for you to choose from

Stampington have a selection of my Favorite Magazines

Stay blessed and be a blessing!