Friday 27 September 2013

Squirrel Calendar 2014 (Sorry, Just Couldn't Resist The Opportunity to Produce It)

It's no secret that I love squirrels...So much so that I named a blog after them. Which means that when I noticed it was easy to make a calendar of squirrel photos...The (unoriginally named) Squirrel Calendar 2014  just had to come to life.




It's a collection of our squirrel photos (ie all taken either by me or by The Computer Man-with the other of us usually giving out nuts...).

And we made it because we would like a copy. But if you *do* know any squirrel lovers, feel free to point them in its direction (or give 'em a gift).

More (non-squirrelly) art next week.

Wednesday 18 September 2013

Geranium Digital Painting, Beginnings & Endings...

At long last, another, proper digital painting: inspired by the pink geraniums that The Computer Man bought me *months* ago for my birthday.

This of course continues the theme of my posting up pictures unrelated to the season in which they're being posted. ;-)

As to why it's an ending, and a beginning...

It's a funny, when things arty just descend on you from out of the blue. (If you haven't been with the blog from the beginning, you can read more about how I just started doing art one day, without any warning or prior interest in it, here).

Art descended, it seems to work, it absolutely makes me more joyful...And I still find it really, really hard to take it seriously. As if, one day I'm going to go back to being the "real" me, (who didn't draw and didn't want to, for almost 40 years).

What I'm beginning to see is that there probably is no going back. And if there is no going back, then one thing I better get serious about getting my stuff out there.So, this post is the beginning of that journey. ('Cos if I say I'm going to do it here, I'll actually have to do it. For real.)

And the ending? Well, I was going to finish this seemingly endless series of flower paintings and move on to a different subjects. But then I got an idea for "just one more". Well, I might just have to follow it through. And then move on...

More soon.

Cx
PS. Customisable gifts like this one are available with this variations on this design:

Friday 6 September 2013

Ladybird-Speedy Digital Painting (aka How to Get Out of a Hiatus)

Yes, there's been a break, but this ladybird showed up...and showed me (and you, if you need this info) how to get through a "what's-the-use-in-me carrying-on-with-any-art?," hiatus.

Foolishly, I'd got into thinking that only busywork (for which read "money-earning") was worth it. And then I wondered why I was cranky, grumpy and out of sorts.

But the break in practice was just long enough for me to begin to believe that "you're never going to be any good, so what's the use?" Eek.

And then the ladybird came to my rescue.

I thought, "I wonder what would happen if I set a time-limit, and just let myself draw, instead of thinking something has to be perfect and take hours/days."

And just that, the ladybird appeared...everything started to feel great.

If you're feeling stuck too, give this a go for 45 minutes, (or less, if you want)...and see what happens...(And leave us all a comment, if you'd like).
PS. Update: This tenacious ladybird has also made her way onto some gifts and products, too: