Illustration Friday - Late

Just how long will a man be kept waiting for?

Illustration Friday - Sour

It's just been one of those days...

Illustration Friday - Garden

Thought I'd use this weeks IF theme of garden to finish this painting to add to the kids section in my shop that will hopefully translate on to cards as well as canvases.

My daughter has already claimed this as her own so will have to paint another, but it is good to do something completely different for a change. Let's hope our own garden will look as bright and pretty after we have finshed with it!

IF - Tales and Legends

I would love to have been a writer. Unfortunately words don't come easily to me so I tell my stories visually (and even then they can let me down!). I have always loved the Hitchcock movies, wonderfully written and stunning to look at, not many filmmakers knew how to make black and white look so good. A tenuous link to this weeks Illustration Friday theme of tales and legends but I'm abusing my right to artistic license ;D

Illustration Friday and Inspire Me Thursday

So before you think this has turned into a craft blog, here's my latest painting. Yes it's been a while but with so much upheaval last year I just lost any will to pick up a brush. Knitting and crafting became almost like therapy, its easy to pick up and put down and requires no emotional involvement whatsoever. But now, 2008, we have moved house and settled in and ready to face the new year and all it's challenges. I haven't set any new year resolutions as such except for one. Focus. If I don't achieve anything else this year I want to look back and say I gave it my all. 100 %.

Momentum - IF and IMT

It's been a while since I've taken part in either Illustration Friday or Inspire Me Thursday and I've realised lately I've kind of lost my momentum where my art is concerned. I have been concentrating on my crafts and building up my etsy shop but on reflection this has got a lot to do with the fact I have lost my way a bit. I've started a few canvases but get so far through them when I get stuck and don't know where to take them.

Illustration Friday and Inspire Me Thursday were both instrumental in pushing my art forward when I started blogging so what better place to go. Momentum is the theme for IF, limited palettes the subject of IMT, the above is the resulting artwork, a digital collage, all original photography. Not sure what it's saying but I love it.

Illustration Friday - Discovery

Don't you love it when you move house and pull up the old wallpaper to discover more wallpaper from an earlier time, or old photos and letters in the attic, snippets of other peoples lives, layer upon layer, page upon page of mystery and intrigue...

Illustration Friday - Wired

Wired pretty much describes how I'm feeling at the moment, too many late nights working, too many early mornings because of the little ones, and a lot of running around in between is not good for mind or body. One of the things I do to relax is doodle, I flick through magazines and draw faces. As you can tell I started with the old hag in the top left corner and they thankfully get better as my mind relaxes and my hand takes over. I really should try to make this more of a daily thing, I'm not the meditative type but this is the next best thing.

Illustration Friday - Hide

Illustration Friday - Gravity

A while ago I posted this card design but felt something was missing. Appropriately enough I decided this morning to add a bright orange balloon any little birthday girl would be proud of!

Illustration Friday - Buzz

This weeks Illustration Friday is rather topical as buzz is the noise that is permanently inside my head at the moment. I'm always hearing voices and words and singing songs anyway which in turn get translated in pictures, and if that wasn't enough I've got bees buzzing round and round and causing me to wake at 3 oclock in the morning and not go back to sleep. I've spent the remainder of my Christmas break sorting and shredding, cleaning and dusting, trying to get the house and my life straight for the new year in the hope that getting rid of the physical clutter will help get rid of the mental clutter but the noise has just got louder. I'm excited and fearful all at the same time - the prospect of a new job (only part time), new website (watch this space), new house (fingers crossed), to name but a few things for the next 12 months has got me in a spin to the point where I feel exhilarated and exhausted all at the same time. What is really putting me under pressure is the knowledge that in order for these things to happen I have to go out and get them and I'm not naturally a go out and get kind of girl. I usually amble along at my own pace and see what happens. Not this time. The ambitious, strong Karen that I know is in me somewhere is being forced to come out whether she likes it or not! I can do it I will do it!