Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

Rewards

I have spent the last 2 Saturdays doing sewing related trips or workshops without too much complaint from him indoors. So decided to sew this fabric box for him as a thank you - handily sized for the many CDs and microphone he carts to and from work (singing karaoke every Monday afternoon does count as work). I also rustled up a little home baking. I tried out this Pflaumenkuchen from my mixer cook book, I think I will try something lighter instead next time. (although M would be happier if it didn't contain fruit at all)

Skirt of Excess

Inspired by Klimt's Beethoven Frieze which I saw at the Secession Hall in Vienna.

Some lunchtime leaves, which I snapped whilst taking a lunchtime walk. I have a few other photos which I will fiddle with a view to doodling in my journal.

P.S. to the 2 ladies I overtook whilst cycling up O. Hill this evening. I may be older, heavier and not so obviously as fit as you, but its called using a lower gear and higher cadence. Also your lights are pathetic. Hugs.

A look at Scheile

Egon Sheile's is best known for his figurative work - I preferred some of the few picutres I saw of his I saw that depictged his surroundings. So today I looked at them. I didn't spend a lot of time - just got pens, crayons and brusho out and just played with some shapes and colour. I noted there are some other avenues to look at, which I can follow by doing a little exploring of my surroundings (during daylight of course) with my camera. As far as trees are concerned the colours and shapes are at their best at this time of year.

The next one would be fun to develop of my road and surrounding roads: keeping it simple identifying the shapes and choosing an autumnal palette.

A sketch a day....

...might not keep the doctor away but should give me something to look at on Friday. I have ideas in my head - they flit in and out but are better down on paper.

Pastel on brusho watercolour, taken from Attersee by Klimt in the Leopold Museum Vienna.

Even more overlocker samples

I spent a day at a workshop learning all about the different feet available for my overlocker. As some of those babies cost about 20 quid a pop it was worth playing around with somebodyelse's before coming up with my wish list. I had a good day picking up tips, learning news tricks with overlocker and getting to play with some feet. Unfortunately I wasn't able to really play with ones suitable for the coverstitch capability that my overlocker had. Also, I had to get a new cutting blade (I think my overlocker's previous owner had had a run in with a pin or two) so my budget for a new foot was spent. Still, my birthday is coming up and Christmas is only round the corner!

How to ruin a sketchbook in one easy lesson

Whilst at the show I admitted to Sue, one of my new teachers that I hadn't done an awful lot of preparatory work for the first of the workshops which I will be attending next week. Despite my trip to Vienna, I had done very little art work unless you allowed for the Opie-isation of myself and my beloved. She gave me a few pointers to get me started on my sketchbook:

• don't start at the beginning.
• make a place for my sketchbook and just do a little at a time with whatever drawing implement (pencil, pen, charcoal etc.) each time I passed.
• get some background already painted on those pristine white pages.
  

Whilst those words of wisdom were still fresh in my mind, I stole myself away into my cavern and spent no more than hour (or it possibly was only half) and rustled up the following:

12 paint brushes / foam brushes

12 pots of mixed up Brusho

One unsullied, untouched, pristine sketchbook

I then set about sploshing (yes that it is a technical term) on the pages:
washing, scrubbing, hatching etc. turning each page as it was covered. I then closed it up and let it dry (as I had been generous it has taken a while), unworried about colours merging or my sketchbook being perfect or beautiful:

Now that it has "cured" I now have a "ruined" sketchbook I no longer feel precious about. Have now got some lovely backgrounds to add to: