Things have been happening so quickly that I was having a hard time keeping up with myself. I touched down in London nearly two weeks ago and about a week was spent nursing a cold that I caught from my mother. I am on the mend and just have a cough remaining and I will be sharing more over the coming days some of the things that I have been getting up to. I wanted to share what will be happening this evening. I have been asked for the second time to be on theMoney Mob Black business Forum Radio Talk Show which is on every THURSDAY from 6pm - 8pm on Urban Jazz Radio
It is great to be able to talk about some of the work that I am doing both here and in Barbados with art, arts in health and more recently organic Gardening. I would love to have you join us on the show withyour host Paul Muhammad & Co-hosts Glenys Russell & Sister Barbara
Life has a way of getting you to stop, despite not wanting to, and what you do with it is entirely up to you. You can take the wisdom that whispers ever so silently in your ear to slow down, take stock and recalculate, or you can choose to ignore it entirely and as you stir that morning you find that you are in excruciating pain, and those parts that use to move smoothly are holding you to ransom. I think my whispers began when I broke my little toe. A very small appendage you might think but it still has oh so many nerve endings that throbbed in unison as if they were all doing the 'Candy/electric slide' turn right about there, as I climbed over a small makeshift barrier to stop the dog from entering the spare room - the very one that you can see peaking at the top of the picture below!
The whisper told me get organised, I chose to carry on with my very own routine that now included a dog called Cole and I would just get on with things. My little toe caught in the makeshift barrier without me seeing the secret rendezvous for one and before i knew it the job had been done. One broken toe throbbed, swelled and I soldiered on as you do. The question asked so many times - are you sure its broken? I did 'that look' with my eyes saying through gritted teeth that I was the broken toe expert thank you very much!
Ignoring the signs
To add insult to injury our new puppy decided that my toe was the launch pad to every thing fun, he would sit, stand, jump gnaw at the poor toe that did no wrong. For some reason I still chose not to listen and ran about as normal.
A friend visited from the UK and I spoke to them about that feeling of wanting to pause things but felt like I was on a roller coaster to try and get the things that I wanted to get done organised. Now with the UK visit looming I tried to sort out as many things as possible, realizing that the main important things are the ones to focus on, and then I came away on the flight.
April always brings about the Ultimate Blog challenge which I am a part of and you have to create a blog post every day on a specific or a range of topics, so why not add another thing to the list of things to do. I chose to share about things to do on a budget in the UK, I was on a budget so it would be a great way to be able to share some of my findings, especially going to all the cool Art Galleries and events that I had found, but I was about to get a wake up call.
Braving the cold weather
I heard the whispers again but assumed it was the cold weather, the breeze hitting my hat and skimming my ears, but no, I wrapped up warm but it mattered not what I had on I was still chilled to the bone as if I had been in the deep freeze waiting to thaw out. I would get these looks as I went about my day - these people really didn't know that despite being in Barbados I still got cold so I ignored the looks as I tried to get on with things.
It began to dawn on me that as much as I wanted to do my body was telling me something else, I started to get a sore throat, and then started to sneeze, and I put it down to mum who had a cold, but it would be something that I could shake. What is with noses running like rivers, I would be sitting there talking to my friend and before you know it the banks burst and holding my head back at a particular angle had to fight to get the tissues out of my bag while it tumbled it's way to my top lip - is it just me?. How many times do you need to be told I continued to brave the cold the following day with a list of things that I wanted to do before I was hit. Why is it that we ignore the warning signs trying to pretend that we can put on our super hero costume and dodge all the signs cause they are not really for me. The Pause Button was pressed without me being able to and all I was able to do is wrap up, drink my herbal remedies and sleep.
Honey, Lemon and Ginger the essentials - the garlic is around the corner
The sun shone through the windows tempting me to venture out and I must admit that I went to feel the rays against my sink reminded me of the conversation about putting things on pause so that I could catch my breath and I have been resting, reading, catching up and nurturing my body, I have to remind myself of on a regular basis to ensure that I had more balance in my life, which is not something we should scoff at, but take it seriously before you are forced to take the time. I have taken a pause - As I type this I have my feet up wrapped in a blanket. Take a moment to think about the following questions and the changes that you need to make.
What is it that you need to do and NOW that you have been putting off?
What do you need more of in your life?
What pain have you been putting up with that you need to have checked out.
While you are at it, check out some of the Resources and Discounts that you could be making use of.
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 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.
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.
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.
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
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:
Realityarts - Creativity Book Shop - Some really great titles for you to dive in
Creative Resources
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