A Birthday Present....

A very quick post today. Just finished this painting for my son for his Birthday next week. He is a massive 'gamer' so thought this would be apt. Vault Boy from the Fallout Games.
Really pleased with the way this has turned out considering I don't  'do' painting.

Thanks for dropping by and hope you have a lovely day

Jackie x

At last! A little more time on my hands......

....to start blogging again! It has been SO long and Ihave missed you all.

I have at last finished the college course I was on. Two years hard study on HND Contemporary Art Practice! Been a really hard slog at times and was inundated with work so didn't have much time for anything else.

But now it's finished I have loads of time on my hands so the first chore will be redecorating my home starting with the livingroom!

Anyhow. I digress.... I am posting photos of a couple of art  projects which went into the End of Term exhibition. Now these are very different to what I normally do but they encourage to be different in Contemporary Art. So the first photo is one of my favorite projects out f the whole two years study!

This was an 'Environmental' project and is entitled  "A walk in the woods". Made from wood found while on a walk in the woods. This was based on Anxiety and depression. While suffering badly from depression I couldn't face going out but when I DID I suffered anxiety attacks. The chair represents my 'comfort zone' The piles of stones are contained in little cages (Gabion Baskets) and represent the worries and stresses of the anxiety disorder. The back of the chair is from a piece of wood that splintered off a fallen tree (just loved the shape of it), The seat is from a fence post that was lying around and the legs and supports are from a really old gnarled branch!

This project is my all time favourite and I adore it!  It will take pride of place in my garden when I get it home as it is still on college. The exhibition finished on Friday 10th June and I couldn't get transport to bring it home. The college has agreed to keep it for another couple of weeks so I will post pictures when it's in situ at home !

The piece above is my latest and last project. This is a plaster cast and called " Baa Baa Black Sheep" , based on "Handed Down Truths" i.e. Nursery Rhymes. Basically it is a simplified abstract of tangled wool. I have the process of this project photographed and can post them if anyone is interested on how it was all done.

I am now looking forward to some serious 'me' time  and catching up on things I have missed as well as giving my home some much needed TLC.

Thank you for popping by
Take care
Jackie x

Upcyled patio table.

 FROM THIS .......  One manky old tabletop that was crying out for a whole new look or heading for the bin !!

TO THIS ...

 One off cut of external plywood at a reduced price !

 A whole load of freebie tiles from a tile shop!!

 And one "smashing" time !!

Getting "stuck" in !! (Sorry)

REALLY pleased with the way this has turned out. It was my first attempt at this kind of thing. Love the rustic country look to this piece!

Thanks for dropping by

Jackie x

college project.

This was based on the brief " Identity " and I chose to do a 3D art journal type installation based on my private journal while suffering from depression.

I made the boxes from plywood (with the help of the workshop technician) and all the objects are mostly found objects or upcyled from stuff I had lying around.

 The painted boxes. Wanted a distressed look to these.

 "Page 1 "  Just a simple dark painting. I really struggled with anything creative during this time so tried to recreate that in the painting.

 "Page 2 " The meds. The mini pills are Tic-Tac sweets!

 "Page 3 " . This page is trying to explain my fear of leaving the house and meeting anyone let alone attending Therapy sessions.


 
                         
"Page 4 " Showing how Art was my Therapy and helped me through. Some old paintbrushes and tubes and a little mini sketchbook.

                         
"Page 5 " A general decluttering of my thoughts and trying not to worry about the thinks I couldn't  control.
The hand belongs to my son and the bucket is a plastic picnic beaker sawn in half.

Thanks for dropping by

Jackie x

It's been a while.....

Many many many apologies for my severe lack of blogging. I have just been inundated with college work ! Nothing about being an Art student is easy!!

Still, things are calming down a little now , so much so that I have even had time to actually do some of my OWN work!

Finished off this altered jar I started many moons ago. Not done one of these before so it was a bit of a learning curve for me.

Just a quick post for as I have a few other things I'd like to show and I need to get all the details ready for those.
Will chat soon.

Thanks for dropping by

Jackie x

Just trying out some portrait painting...

This post has absolutely nothing at all to do with my college course but just 'stuff' I was trying out for the sake of just trying it. Kept my mind occupied through some pretty dark times. But, they were also 'seeing' excercises! The painting above is of David Draiman the lead singer with the band Disturbed! REALLY pleased with the way this turned out. The image below is the painting along with the reference photo....I really wish I could find out details of who actually took the photo so i can give them credit for it but sometimes it can be really difficult to get the proper details. So please accept my apologies for 'borrowing' your image but rest assured my painting of it is NOT for sale!

I traced down the outlines and then spent the day just painting !! I used a digital frame for the finished image as this is in my sketchbook!

This painting below is of Joe Anao'i or WWE Wrestling star Roman Reigns. I used the same process as above and just painted.

Once again apologies to the photographer for using their image...but again these paintings are not for sale and are just my personal experiments in my sketchbook.

And last but certainly not least...here's one of my favourite footballer....Pablo Zabaleta who plays for Manxhester City Football Club.
Not very pleased with the background in this but hey, who cares..it's Pablo Zabaleta so that's all that matters!! ;)

As I said earlier, nothing to do with college just my personal 'stuff'.

Thanks for dropping by

Take care

Jackie x

Mixed Media Techniques board.

Wow...my posts are like the buses, wait for ages and then two come along at once lol.

Anyway I digress, the photos above are something we have been working on over the past two weeks in class. Techniques for mixed media. It was basically an excercise on not being scared! This was basically a 'go for it' piece. No theme , just playing with materials and effects.
Used lots of different things in this. Most of which i have used previously and some i haven't.
Plaster of Paris, hot glue, gummed tape, image transfer, sequin waste, torn paper, acrylic paint and lots and lots and lots of pva glue!!
The bottom image is the result from the second weeks work and it looks a lot better and has pulled together really well. Really pleased with the randomness of it and also the colours. Didn't actually realise i was working with a limited colour palette until it was pointed out to me.
Thoroughly enjoyed working on this and can't wait to get started work on the project using these techniques. Just hope I can follow the brief ok.

Thanks for dropping by

Take care
Jackie x