by Sharon Archer
We’re home! Which is absolutely gorgeous! Having everything under the one roof - bathroom, laundry, toilet kitchen - is a terrific treat. (Though I confess that we did have a fabulous few days with Rachel Bailey and then with Anna Campbell - thanks, girls! - and they have exciting things like bathrooms under the same roof too!)
Anyway, we're under our home roof and there’s not a thread of canvas anywhere! Though the house still looks a bit like we need a “hoarder intervention”!
As I’ve been slowly getting organised, I’ve been “re-finding” some of the treasures of our time away. I thought I’d share a couple of them...
The first are these gum leaves.
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| Miniature "Masterpieces"! |
Anita at Four Corners Farm Stay gave us an art lesson with acrylic paints and our “canvases” were dried gum leaves. Enormous fun! And a messed up canvas just means a quick trip outside to the nearest patch of shrubbery!
And the mini-scenes felt “approachable” somehow - in fact, one of the hard things was knowing when to stop adding details! You know, the temptation to add another rock... or a fence post... or another tree...
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| Art Apprentice! |
Rather more scary was the pastel lesson because it was real art paper and a much bigger “canvas and it ! Though having said that our pictures are only about 6 inches square. The lessons are run by Jenny Greentree at the Back o’ Bourke Gallery. We sat at a table (out of business hours) in the centre of the gallery surrounded by her glorious pictures and prints.
We learned about blending the pastels, about tonal perspective, detail perspective. And, with Jenny’s expert tutoring, we came out the other end of our lessons absolutely rapt with our finished pictures.
So how about you - have you tried out anything new lately? Is there anything you’d really like to have a go at?
Oh, Sharon, I'm in awe! Your pictures are beautiful!!! And I love the deep reds and the vivid blues -- they capture the feeling of "the bush" perfectly.
ReplyDeleteAs for trying anything new...I'm still dancing (or should that be struggling) with my sewing machine. I'm determined to become a clothes-making Goddess. However, it's going to take some time. :-)
Hi Sharon - how fabulously clever are you! Those gum leaves are amazing. I am always in awe of people who can draw. And you clearly have many strings to your bow :) Great post.
ReplyDeleteWow, Sharon, awesome. I wish I could paint but it's very like my singing - dreadful. When I want to get creative I hit the kitchen. I love cooking and sharing a meal that I've spent a day putting together.
ReplyDeleteYou are clever. I'd need an entire tree of leaves before I had anything remotely decent to present.
ReplyDeleteMichelle, sewing is a wonderful creative outlet! Have you done any lessons? I remember you blogging about your sewing a while ago and I think I mentioned about sewing with stretch fabrics then - I can thoroughly recommend it!
ReplyDeleteHey, thanks, Helen! I have to say that having a good tutor to demonstrate some clever techniques makes all the huge difference! Both dh and I were really rapt with our little pictures!
ReplyDeleteSue, cooking is another fantastic creative activity - and I confess I did think of you and your cooking lesson while I was putting this post together!
ReplyDeleteOh, you and me both with the singing thing! I'd love to be able to hold a tune... mmmm, I wonder if a lesson would help...
LOL, Marybelle! Some of our leaves were definitely not up to public display! But both lessons were the hugest fun and we were thrilled to bits with what we'd learned! Quite absorbing - time went so quickly!
ReplyDeleteSharon, you're an artist! How very cool. The gum leaves are fabulous - how are you going to display them?
ReplyDeleteWe *loved* having you to stay at chez Bailey and sharing our indoor plumbing. I think Mr Bailey might be on the lookout for another bottle of scotch to share with Mr Archer for your next visit. ;)
Sharon, I'm so impressed. I'm strictly a stick figure artist. These are so impressive! I always wished I could paint but there's no way. I leave that to others in the family. My M-i-L paints and my mum used to do the most amazing china painting before arthritis stopped her.
ReplyDeleteInteresting you should ask what we've done differently lately. I've decided it's important to crawl out of my rut from time to time and do soothing different. I've just got back from a few trips interstate and will need to focus o doing a few new things now I'm at home.
Thanks, Rachel! You Chez Bailey hosts are 5 star - mmm, and sourcing another bottle for our next visit! That's above and beyond!
ReplyDeleteDisplaying those leaves is going to be tricky... need a "deep" frame because if we try to flatten them, they'll end up as fire-starting material. I've put on the thinking cap and I'll let you know how we get on!
Thanks, Annie! If you ever want a pastel tree, I'm your woman! LOL Seriously though, it's amazing what a difference learning some techniques can make!
ReplyDeleteHey, I'll look forward to hearing about the new things you want to try now you're back home... but I know you'll have been exploring all sorts of great things in your travels so you're definitely not in a rut!