RANDOM ACT OF KINDNESS

Each week, in a random act of kindness, Chris Rowe who I call friend on Facebook, puts up one of her lovely pieces of art to be won by one lucky person, and earlier this month that lucky person was me   :D

This morning my post lady dropped this beautiful, eye popping and simply gorgeous bird hanger through my letterbox.  Yay!  Thank you, Chris.

Chris is an accomplished artist, she lives in the north east of England, and creates art in a wide range of mixed media ..... and she creates faces to die for!

If you'd like to see more of her work try looking her up on facebook.

THREE MUSES

BLACK AND WHITE WITH A DASH OF .....

It's my turn to host at the Three Muses this week and I chose red as my dash of colour!

We have very sophisticated mushrooms in our garden it seems.  :D

Credit to Clix at StockXchange.

Thank you for looking.

DIGITALMANIA

  

INSPIRED BY MICHAEL PARKES

Created for the Digitalmania challenge where this week we are inspired by the work of Michael Parkes.

Credit to Irene Alexeeva, Bluesse (Deviantart) and Finecrafted Designs.

Thank you for looking.

TAKE A WORD

This week we have TATTERED as our word for inspiration.  Looking at the state of this chair me thinks I should go out and buy a new one ..... and a clock.  Anyone seen my other shoe?

A very enjoyable challenge theme.

Credit to HolliewoodStudio.

Thank you for looking.

THREE MUSES

When I was a child  there was a song we used to sing when skipping a rope with friends : There's a party on the hill will you come, bring your own cup and saucer and a bun ....'  the next girl would jump into the twirling rope and we would chant her name into the song 'Mary will be there throwing peanuts in the air' .   And then the whole song would begin again as an invitation for the next girl to jump in.

It's my turn to host at the Three Muses and I have chosen the theme of INVITATION by Mail Art.

Credit to Scrapping Cop, Plainster, ObsidianDawn and AlicePopcorn.

Thank you for looking.

TAKE A WORD

WINGS

We have WINGS as our word for inspiration at TAKE A WORD this week and that reminded me of what I saw in the pale moonlight not too long ago.  There was the hoot of an owl and then I heard what sounded light sticks being broken underfoot.  I stopped and watched, and then I saw her, the goddess of green things bathing in the light of the moon.

Mmmmmm.

Credit to Finecrafted Designs.

Thank you for looking.

THREE MUSES

THE CASE OF MISS SCARLETT AND THE STRAWBERRY

Bev, asked for STRAWBERRIES this week so I felt compelled to tell you it was Miss Scarlett in the Morning room ....... with the dagger.  :D

Credit to Bluesse, RubyBlossom and BethRimmer whilst the strawberries were filched from Google.

Thank you for looking.

WOOHOO - AND THERE'S MORE

MY JOURNAL PRIZE FROM PAULETTE

During April of this year Paulette, from the beautiful ART DUST art blog,  worked on an altered journal specifically to give it away at a prize drawing later that month.  It looked absolutely stunning and so I made a comment  and entered the draw.

Then my husband was taken seriously ill and for me the land of art and blogs disappeared into the blue as my world turned upside down.

In early May Paulette having had no response from me emailed me to let me know I was the lucky winner!  One or two quick emails passed between us in which all was explained.

The journal never arrived and I assumed it was lost in the postal system and I worried Paulette would think me very rude indeed for not thanking her.  Then an email arrived from her in which she told me she had just discovered the journal she thought she had already sent!

Well, two weeks on and I am the very proud owner of the beautiful journal which finally found its way to me here in the UK.    Thank you so much, my friend.

Why not pop over and see Paulette's fabulous Art Dust blog.

TAKE A WORD

MEMORIES

This week Deann is our guest host at Take a Word and she has chosen MEMORIES as our word for inspiration.

After much consideration I thought family memories might be a way to go and I got out my box(es) of old family photos.

Here are some very happy memories of our children and grandchildren (now all grown up) our parents, grandparents and great grandparents.  I am so lucky, not only to have the memories but also the photographs to show them off.

Thanks, Deann.

Credit to Irene Alexeeva for the book and window frame, the clouds background is courtesy of Night Fate Stock (Deviantart) whilst the rest is my stock of family photographs.

Thank you for looking.

WOOHOO - I GOT MAIL

Across on Facebook there is a group of artists who are making art and then abandoning it in public places in the hope that whoever finds it will love their unexpected gift and might even use the attached email to let the artist know it has been found.

It's lovely to see pictures of  some of the art that is being abandoned and often I wish a small piece might be abandoned where I might find it.

Imagine my surprise and delight then when this lovely mail art package came through my letterbox this morning.  I knew immediately it was from Bev my fellow Muse as I had unashamedly hinted that she might consider abandoning something near my home for me to find.  Impossible, of course,  as she lives in the US and I live in the UK.  Undeterred Bev abandoned this mailart in the mail system and it found its way to me.  I found it abandoned in my letterbox.  :D

Thank you so much, my friend, you made my day.

THE THREE MUSES

KIRKSTALL ABBEY

This week we have WINDOWS and DOORS as our theme for inspiration at the Three Muses.

This is one of my own photos taken during a recent visit to the 11th century Abbey at Kirkstall, a mere stone's throw from home.  Marvel at those vaulted archways, magnificent pillars and see the light flooding in through ancient windows and doors.  Who could improve on that?  Not me.

If you could use this in your artwork please feel free to download.


Thank you for looking.

TAKE A WORD

Our word for inspiration at TAKE A WORD this week is BUTTERFLIES so here is my interpretation.

Credit to SweetDigiCreations, CaliDesigns and the WaterLO Project.

Thank you for looking.

THREE MUSES

STEAMPUNK MAKEOVER

What fun I've had giving two of the world's 'beautiful people' a lovely steampunk makeover!  :D

Credit to FinecraftedDesigns, MrWhiskers, Altered Emporium and Marta Van Eck.

Thank you for looking.

DIGITALMANIA

 WISH YOU WERE HERE

This week we are making MAIL ART for the Digitalmania challenge.

Here in the Yorkshire area, it was the custom for all the woollen mills and factories to close down at the same time for a week during the summer. The thousands of workers took this opportunity to climb aboard the trains and take their annual holiday at the seaside.

I have many postcards from the 1950s, '60s and '70s with messages such as the one here.

Credit to BethRimmer.

Thank you for looking.

WOOHOO - SWAPS

IN THE GARDEN OF EARTHLY DELIGHTS

SEEING WHAT'S INSIDE

 STEAMY PUNK

 THE ART OF EGGS

THE GREEN EGG

LET A SMILE BE YOUR UMBRELLA

Do you ever look at the work of a particular artist and covet it?  Me too.   Grannie Annie (Deann) from the Whimsey Asylum blog is one such artist.  She creates some absolutely stunning art and is generous enough to occasionally swap art with me.  So imagine the smile on my face when I found these in my mailbox today.  Wowee, absolutely FRAMEWORTHY! 

Thank you, my friend.

TAKE A WORD

This week Rian has encouraged us to get MESSY by using lots and lots of layers in our art work.  Here is how my layering turned out.  Great fun.

Credit to BethRimmer.

Thank you for looking.

THREE MUSES

This week our theme is ALONE which initially made me think along the lines of highlighting a single person or object, or depicting solitude or isolation until I remembered the series of photos I had taken at the Yorkshire Sculpture last year.  A series of sitting figures, by Anish Kapoor, were dotted around the landscape, some sitting alone, others sitting in pairs, all much larger than life.  I chose a pair of sculptures and created a warm balmy evening for them somewhere around dusk just as the moon has risen where they can enjoy being alone.  :D

I think the first version, with the figures leading the viewer's eye into the picture, has the most satisfying composition.  But what do you think?

 

Thank you, Bev, for a thought provoking theme.

Credit to RubyBlossom and JoesSistah for the backgrounds (blended), whilst the sculptures are from one of my own photos.

Thanks for looking.

TAKE A WORD

Was it a bird or was it a plane?  Nope, it was definitely a witch traveling across the sky last full moon! I wonder where she was off to in such a hurry?

Our word for inspiration this week is MOON.  Thanks, Marie.

Credit to HolliewoodStudio and IreneAlexeeva for their images of the moon which were blended together by me.  The witch is free to use clipart.

Thank you for looking.

DIGITALMANIA

This week we are inspired by the work of BEN GOOSSENS at Digitalmania across at Flickr.

This is me being inspired!!

Credits can be found on my Flickr page

Thank you for looking.

THREE MUSES

BIRDS OF A FEATHER

Marie, has challenged us to get creative with her theme of BIRDS OF A FEATHER this week and that reminded me of a show I saw recently of the very same name.    The audience were spellbound!

Credit to Finecrafted Designs and Beth Rimmer at Deviantscrap.

Thank you for looking.

TAKE A WORD

BLUE is our word for inspiration this week at Take A Word which I thought was a great opportunity to play around with layers.  Using two blue flower backgrounds by NumbBumm I layered one on top of the other with an Overlay blend.  The face detail layer, courtesy of Efie,  was given a Luminosity blend, then the layer was duplicated and a Lighter Colour blend was used to bring out the detail.  A Plastic Wrap filter completed the effect.

Thank you for looking.

THREE MUSES

THREATENING WEATHER

Here is my interpretation on WEATHER OR NOT the theme I chose for the Three Muses this week. 

I take no responsibility for this, my Muse made me do it ......... honest!  :D

Credit to Bluesse at Deviant Art and to the ladies at the Water LO Project.

Thanks for looking.
 

TAKE A WORD

MUSIC

Music is our word for inspiration this week and that made think of Beethoven and how he continued to create music even when he had become deaf.

Here is my 'slightly' tongue in cheek take on the theme.

Credit to Finecrafted Designs, Honey Designs and Pixel Music.

Thank you for looking.

DIGITALMANIA

LOVE STORY

Created for the Digitalmania challenge where this week we are asked to be inspired by the work of Jim Dine.

Credit to Irene Alexeeva.

Thank you for looking.

THREE MUSES

FRAMES

This week at the Three Muses Bev has chosen FRAMES as our inspiration.  We were invited to add a frame of our choice or to place frame(s) within the piece itself.  Here's my interpretation where our model is stepping outside of the frame.

Credit to Finecrafted Designs.

Thank you for looking.

TAKE A WORD

This week at TAKE A WORD, Marie has challenged us to create a piece of art inspired by INSECTS.

Here's mine.  :D

Credit to Finecrafted Designs, NumbBumm and the Water LO Project.

Thank you for looking.

DIGITALMANIA

This week, at Digitalmania, Marie challenged us to create a journal page containing the words : I AM AN ARTIST.  Here is mine and wonder if you can guess who boasts of being that artist!

Credit to Tumblefish Studio, Holliewood Studio, Crowabout Studio B and Tangie Baxter.

Thank you for looking.

THREE MUSES

After several abortive attempts I finally managed to get something done to post for this week's FOOD or DRINK theme ..... sigh!

This one reminds me I should never eat mushrooms unless I buy them from the supermarket.  :D

Credit to Finecrafted Designs and the late Suzie Que. 

Thank you for looking.

TAKE A WORD

THE DAYDREAMER

SEWING is our word for inspiration at Take a Word this week and my Muse, who always has a twinkle in her eye and her tongue in her cheek, thought I should create this piece as a cautionary tale for those who spend too long with their head in the clouds.

Did you find the stitching?

Credit to Beth Rimmer, Finecrafted Design at Deviantscrap and Bluesse at Deviantart.

Thank you for looking.

THREE MUSES

It's OUT OF BOUNDS this week at the Three Muses and here is what my muse thought of that.  Thanks, Bev, for a very good theme.

Credit to Bluesse

Thank you for looking.

Time to pop my head above the parapet me thinks and let you know how we are doing.  Trevor is gaining strength every day, doing great and looking so well you'd never know he had been ill at all!  Perhaps it was all those thoughtful and warm good wishes you sent us that did the trick, for which I thank you very, very much.  Me?  Well, if he ever scares me like that again, I'll box his ears.   :D

It's HATS AND CROWNS AND WINGS AND THINGS across at  the Three Muses this week.  Meet Mavis, who just cannot decide whether it should be a hat or a crown!

Credit to Finecrafted Design and Crowabout Studio B at Deviantscrap.

Thank you for looking.

TAKE A WORD

RAVEN is our word for inspiration this week at Take a Word and that reminded me of the one I saw in my garden the other day!

Credit to Bluesse at Deviant Art, Irene Alexeeva and Finecrafted Design.

Thank you for looking.

THREE MUSES

This week we have WORD ART as our theme at the Three Muses and that, for some reason, had me stumped for a while, until my Muse, who knows me best,  reminded me of this little poem by Jenny Joseph.  And she is right of course, I do aspire to one day wearing that red hat!

Credit to Hidden Vintage, Holliewood Studio, Irene Alexeeva and Obsidian Dawn.

Thank you for looking.

DIGITALMANIA

INSPIRED BY THE WORK OF CSABA MARKUS

I found Markus a difficult artist to emulate as he has such a distinct and original style.  After a whole afternoon of trying I almost gave up but this Botticelli beauty just wanted to be reborn.  I chose a similar colour scheme to what Csaba Markus favours and concentrated on the hair as he often does.

However, this one took on a life of its own and my Muse wanted to give Mary an updated hairstyle and who am I to argue.  I 'cut' a square from a texture and used the warp tool to morph it into a modern day bob of hair for one side of her face.  Then duplicated, reversed, warped and morphed to create the other side.  Much adding of elements, duplicating, layering and blending later she began to look like a modern day beauty and I was fairly happy with the result.  I finished with a soft textured filter from Photoshop.

Credit to Finecrafted Designs, Playing with Brushes and Botticelli, of course.

Thank you for looking.

TAKE A WORD

AND THEN THERE WERE NONE

Our word for inspiration this week is NUMBERS and that got me thinking about how sometimes even counting on ONE is a difficult task ...... for a hungry little bird at least!  Hang on though ..... perhaps he ate this one up before I looked out of my window.    We shall never know!  :D

Credit to RubyBlossom for her generosity at Flickr.

Thank you for looking.

THREE MUSES

A bit late this week, but here at last, my contribution for Marie's theme of VINTAGE BATHING BEAUTIES at the Three Muses.

I wonder if she would be miffed to be described as vintage?   Well, she would have been considered at the height of fashion ....... 60 or so years ago!

Credit to the late Susie Que for sourcing the lovely '50s pin up girl and to Beth Rimmer for the backgrounds.

Thank you for looking.

TAKE A WORD

Marie has chosen TIME as our word for inspiration for this week and that made me think of SPRING TIME so here we are.  I wanted to 'tweak' this a little more but I ran out of TIME! 

Credit to Minette143, Ruby Blossom and Bluesse.

Thank you for looking.

THREE MUSES

I bet when John William Waterhouse painted this beautiful lady he never thought she would swap her gentle boat on the river for a trip on a steampunk airship with all the  trimmings.  Ahhh, the magic of Photoshop!   :D

Our theme across at the Three Muses is STEAMPUNK this week and this is my interpretation.

Credit to Marta Van Eck, Finecrafted Designs, Beth Rimmer and Mr Whiskers.

Thank you for looking.

TAKE A WORD

This week we are invited to create a SKINNY card for the Take a Word challenge and that reminded me of the other day when I heard music coming from my house as I came up the path with my shopping.  It sounded, for all the world,  as though there was some jazz jamming going on around my piano.  In my mind I saw trumpets and colour, cigarette smoke and happy dancers but ......... alas when I stepped through the door the piano lid was closed and the room was quiet.  Mmmmmmm I'll keep taking the tablets!

HAPPY EASTER one and all!

Credit to Finecrafted Designs.

Thank you for looking.

DIGITALMANIA

This week we are looking at the work of John Waterhouse at Digitalmania across at Flickr.  Now, in my opinion, Mr W just cannot be bettered so my inspiration was to create a little bit of 'something' using a section of his water nymphs.

Credit to Cali Designs and 'himself' of course!