ArtyFartyAnnie

 Good morning to all my fellow Deskers, Can it really What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday again already?! Mine looks a bit different this week, and no, I haven't grown a beard (yet!) ... This is my son, Tom, who kindly came over to show me how to wire up my Book Nook - I really need to face my demons and learn how to do this from scratch myself. So, at this point, we had shovelled all the artsy stuff to one side and laid out lots of scary electronics stuff ... Tom is a wizard with electronics and computery stuff. Fortunately for me, he is also an excellent and patient teacher, so after half an hour or so, here I am, switching on my tiny lamp to light up my miniature sewing room ... I'm fairly confident that I now have enough of a grasp on how circuits and switches work and how to connect everything, so that I can design the lighting for future miniature endeavours - which is very satisfying :o) So, that's me for this week, time to pop over to Julia's to have a snout ...

 After a lesson with Renata Loree as part of PYHaS 2020, gouache and fluid acrylics on mixed media paper. Renata encouraged us to be inspired by Gustav Klimt, and although I was a bit daunted and almost gave up during a couple of times during the process, I really enjoyed playing with the vibrant colours and patterns and I'm really happy with the final painting.  My reference was a photo of my sister Mandy and myself in the garden outside our cottage, but I also had in mind the gorgeous National Trust walled gardens we've been visiting recently. Klimt's ladies are always so beautiful, so I took some artistic liberties (especially with my face!) but I think they're still recognisably "us".

 After a lesson with Maria Pace-Wynters as part of PYHaS 2020.  Maria encouraged us to be inspired by Georgia O'Keefe and her beautiful flower paintings. I used acrylics and finished with coloured pencils. I tried really hard to emulate Georgia's flowers, failed miserably and ended up painting over them, but I love the large flowers as the background anyway. My reference was a photograph of my mother when she was very young; she was "walking out" with my father at the time and I believe he took this picture. Apparently, they turned heads when walking together in Port Stewart in Ireland and she had long black hair down to her waist at that time. Mum had a passion for magnolias, which lasted all her life, so I tried to represent them here. It surprised me as I was working on this, how glimpses of myself, my sisters, my brother and other family members kept appearing, but maybe that's not so strange really. Across the bottom right hand corner I've traced a copy o...

 After a lesson with Pia Rom as part of PYHaS 2020. Acrylic paint and coloured pencils over collage, using an artist's work to inspire the colour scheme and building the background with many layers. I added some pretty floral napkins to my version. It was really interesting to find colours I didn't expect in the dog's face, like pink and pale blue. I also enjoyed watching Pia create the texture of the fur with paint. I struggled a bit and used coloured pencils as well, but I am happy with the end result. Pia provided the photo reference of sweet little dog "Rasqual". This sits opposite a random page in my AJ which I made ages ago, I think they work well together, although it was a complete fluke as I was just filling the last few pages in the journal :o)

 Hello there fellow Deskers and happy What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday :o)  Here's my little workroom today ... Were you fooled? just for a moment?? This is, of course, the miniature sewing room I had just started on last week, so I thought you might like to see how it went.  It's not quite finished - I still have to add the lighting and complete the shell with a false ceiling and hinged wall, but you get the gist. Here's how it will snuggle into one of my bookshelves ... If you look reeeeeeeeeally closely, you will see that the tiny lady who works in this room is just about to give a final pressing to a face mask she's made ... I thought it would be fun to add a little memento of 2020 for posterity :o)  Here's my real workdesk this morning ... I've been cutting out the fabrics ready to make the Rococo outit for this shameless lady. I've left her bald as I may do my own thing with the hair later, instead of what's in the kit. I also want to try and...

Hello Deskers Everywhere, It's What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday again - how did that happen already?! :) Here's mine today, bit messy as I'm in the middle of a project - and yes, I really do need that many pairs of pliers on my desk at the same time! I've started working on one of those "Book Nooks" - because I love making miniature rooms but don't know what to do with them when they're done. This way, they can snuggle in between appropriate books on my shelves - this one will be going between two needlecraft books as it's going to be a sewing room/dressmaker's workshop.  Well, that's me for this week, I'm off to Julia's Stamping Ground to have a snout at everyone else's desk - see you there :) Annie x