As members of the National Trust we recently paid another visit to one of our favourite haunts, Hanbury Hall in Worcestershire. It's a lovely place for the kids to run about in, and explore and we can take a leisurely walk whilst they dart here, there and everywhere. During one of the customary games of 'hide and seek' I came across some gorgeous pine cones under a tree and got distracted enough from playing the game of finding the children to hunt some of the better looking cones as they would look fabulous on a canvas! Unfortunately, upon turning the cones over, most if not all the decent ones I'd found were a home to rather a lot of bugs, insects, and other unmentionables, so I hastily put them back in their natural habitiat, and reverted to taking a snapshot of them for posterity instead. A sad moment, but I didn't really want to end up with an infestation of little critters in my art room now did I?
But I guess you never know, from the depths of my imagination I might eventually make some sort of flower for my canvas which resembles those lovely natural objects!
1. the rain 2. the smell of lavender 3. my childrens' drawings 4. when my art ideas work 5. watching a good movie 6. baby babble 7. my 1 year old's hugs and kisses 8. holding hands with my hubby 9. receiving hand written letters 10. having a fun day out with the family
Isn't it interesting where ideas take you? I started off my most recent paintings by taking ideas from my 3 year old's drawings thinking that it would take me in a certain direction. And now, I have produced this painting which I am really happy with as it captures something which I have found very hard to express in my art, and that is a sense of 'me'.
For so long I have lacked the confidence to just be myself in my work, but lately through experimenting and just making work, I have found a sense of my own style starting to come through in my work!
It's just amazing that it has taken me so long to come to this realisation!
