Sunday Sketches

This is my piece for the lovely Sophia's Sunday sketches. If you haven't been there already, take a trip to this lovely lady's blog! She is a very inspiring woman!!

This is a doodle that I started a couple of weeks ago and when I sat down today to sketch someting up for the challenge I decided to finish it, I didn't have any plan in my head I just sat in front of the tele and doodled. I'm really glad that I finished it and it was so nice to just sit and draw for a change. Since I've started making jewellery and painting alot I don't often just sit and draw.

If you would like to participate in Sophia's Sunday Sketches click here

New pendant 'Summer fun'

Here is the first of my pendants made from my recent canvas! This is made from premium hand cut glass and is now listed in my etsy shop!!! I really love how these sillouhette paintings are turning out as pendants they are quite striking!

Illustration Friday - Focused

Our next door neighbours cat is extremely focused when it comes to the new fish in our pond, they are oblivious to the predator lurking around the edge.

A new painting and a trip to the art gallery with my little man!

SCROLL DOWN FOR MY ONE WORLD ONE HEART GIVEAWAY POST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi there, phew this week has been busy! For the first time I am participating in the One World One Heart Giveaway. (Refer to my previous post if you would like to read more about this).

I have met some wonderful bloggers with so much creativity and have had so many wonderful visitors to my blog and we're only a few days into this. I could spend hours in front of the computer on this magic carpet ride but I thought I would take a break to show you a new painting I've finished this week.

This one is called 'Summer Fun' and it's a scan of a canvas. I painted it with a pendant in mind as I was so happy with my last tree canvas that I turned into a pendant. I'm really enjoying painting a sillouhette and having such bright colours in my back ground it's quite different from what I normally would do. Next I want to try one perhaps with a figure or animal/bird etc the possibilities are endless and I shall be making this into a pendant very soon. I'll also take a better photo once it's varnished.

Today I took my eldest Rhys, who is just 6, to the National Art Gallery. They are having an exhibition called 'Masterpieces from Paris Van Gogh, Gauguin, Cezanne and beyond'. Rhys loves to draw, just as much as me I think so I thought he might like to come along with me and we could have a bit of a bonding session. Well he loved it and seems to have become so inspired. There is an activities room in the art gallery which we made a stop in and instead of drawing a still life that they had set up for the kids Rhys decided to do his version of Van Gogh's Starry night. We were both so taken with that picture. I've seen it many times before in magazines, prints etc but in real life it is BEAUTIFUL!! I think this was my favourite piece out of the whole exhibition. Rhys has spent the whole evening since we got home drawing many pictures and setting up his own art gallery, I'm so proud hehehe. So I thought i would show you his take on Van Gogh's painting, I think I have a little artist in the making and I'm not biased at all. ;0)

One World One Heart - 2010 Giveaway!

Hi everyone I've decided to participate in this years 'One World One Heart' giveaway. My lovely friend Kristin mentioned this to me a few days ago and once I found out what it entailed I thought it was a lovely idea.

This annual event is hosted by Lisa Swifka of: My life as a whimsical Bohemian, Artist, Storyteller, Dreamer

This is a world wide giveaway with many bloggers participating from all over the world. It's a wonderful way to meet like minded people with a creative flair.

My giveaway is an original glass pendant made with a print of a canvas that I painted, titled 'Autumn Girl'. This is one of my most favourite paintings that I have done.

This giveaway is open to anyone with an active blog worldwide. To participate just leave a comment on THIS BLOG ONLY with a link to your blog or email address. My giveaway will close on February 14th 11.59pm (Australian time) and the winner will be announced on February 15th. Please only enter once, a winner will be picked at random and announced on my blog. I will contact the winner through their blog or email address (whichever one is provided). If the winner doesn't respond back in two days with their postal address I shall pick another one at random. Hope that all makes sense.

If you would like to participate in this event yourself just click on the button on my side bar.

New original pieces in my etsy shop!!

Hi guys I manged to make a pendant out of the tree canvas I painted last week. See here for previous post! I think it turned out really good, I'm going to try more landscape/abstract pieces I think as I really like how it turned out. I also made some pendants out of previous paintings I've done Autumn Girl which I painted quite a while ago but is one of my favourite paintinqs and my more recent Pretty as a Picture.......I'm loving the premium glass it's so crystal clear!

Illustration Friday-Clumsy

Giraffe's are such awkward funny looking creatures, I remember when I went to the zoo last year I was very shocked at how big they really are. You don't really appreciate the size until you see them. They look so long and gangly and quite clumsy but I think they are charming animals with beautiful eyes.

I decided to keep this as a sketch today just for a change. I'm into challenging myself at the moment and mixing it up a bit so I thought keeping it black and white was the right thing to do.

New canvas - Tree

After going out of my comfort zone for last week's Illustration Friday I decided to try my hand at another painting which had no people, and was something completely different from what I would normally do. I've had this idea in my head all week after painting my Wilderness painting. I googled a few photos of trees to give me an idea and I basically just doodled this, it took me a few days as when i started it i didn't really like it but this afternoon after having a break from it I was able to go back to it from a fresh perspective. I was able to still use quite a few colours but I feel like it's not as 'loud' as my usual pieces. I'm also keen to make up some pendants with this design of different shapes as i think it would look good in a small size, I shall post some pics when I make them up!

Busy busy busy.....

Well I have been so busy listing new items to my shop this past week. After listing my first few items I got much faster at putting new things in my shop. I've still got a few things left and I've been going through some of my paintings as I would love to send them off to a new home. It's hard to decide which ones I'd be happy to part with as they all hold a bit of sentimental value, they all show part of my creative journey I've been on in the last 12 months but it's time to make way for some new pieces and try some new things too. So bear with me, I feel like I haven't been painting enough lately but I guess you can't do it all at once. I've got lots of new ideas in my head which I hope to get out in the next couple of weeks.......

Illustration Friday - Wilderness

Well this piece is quite different from what I normally do. But the prompt led me in quite a different direction. I have learnt alot from this painting. I really LOVE painting people's faces especially ladies but I do need to work more on my background, it was really hard not to add a person to this painting but I felt that it didn't really need one. I used water colour paints on oil paint paper, with acrylic on top and ink tense pencils. I must admit I really wanted to outline things in pen but I stopped myself as I think it would have spoilt it.

I know I could do so much better but it's my first landscape in forever and it was a good exercise for me. I also found it hard using a limited amount of colours but that was also a good exercise too as I love using lots and lots of colours. The waterfall was a challenge too.

I looked up photographs under the name Wilderness and this is one of MANY that popped up but I really liked it, it was a photo of a place called Ramona Falls, Mount Hood Wilderness, Oregon. I recently watched something on the travel channel where a guy went all over America and found all these beautiful places that you don't normally hear about and this was one of them. One day I would LOVE to travel through America and see places like this!

New canvas and Mixed Media Monday piece - Pretty as a picture!

This weeks theme on Mixed Media Monday is "Something New".

I tried a few new things with this piece. I used some Japanese paper which I put in the back ground as well as copper paint, I painted around the sides of the canvas with that which gives it a warm feel. I need to take a photo of that which I'll add later. I also tried to control my use of colour and keep it to just a few colours for this one, and not purple. (I have noticed lately that I tend to use purple alot, it is my favourite colour).

I also used silver and brown to make her skin tone, which happened purely by accident as I thought it was white, but I really like the glow it's given her skin!

I also used some Japanese paper for the dress and went over with with some diamond glaze which seems to really lift the colours.

I think I'll be putting this canvas in my new etsy shop which I opened only yesterday so that is something new too!!!!

Finally it's here!! My very own Etsy shop!!

Yippee!! I have been so preoccupied with getting things ready for my shop in recent weeks that I feel like I've neglected my painting a bit, but hurrah! I finally got my act together. Thanks mam for taking some lovely photos of my pieces. I've managed to list 6 items this afternoon but I have many more ready to go. I'm also happy now that I can list some of my paintings as they are taking up so much room in the house so it would be nice to be able to give them a new home. So keep your eyes open for lots more things in my shop!

Here is the link : Nic Toms Designs

Now for some more painting!!

Illustration Friday - Confined

I think this little boy is starting to feel what it's like to be the butterfly, confined indoors for the day due to the rain.....

New logo design

Well I'm hoping that I can get my act together and open my etsy shop over the next week! I've got quite a few pendants ready to go and they are just sitting on my art desk at the moment so it would be nice to do something with them. I decided I wasn't 100% happy with my first logo attempt which was the flower, I felt I needed something a bit more whimsical as that's the feel of my art so I painted this up this morning and also decided to use it for my new header.

What do you think?

Illustration Friday - Renewal

As soon as I saw this weeks word I knew I had to do this piece. Now that Christmas is over I'm planning on renewing mine and hubby's passports as well as organising the kids!!! This year is the year of our big family trip so not only will our passports need renewing but it is going to be a renewal of relationships for me as I reconnect with family and friends some of which I haven't seen for 10 years!! I'm very excited about seeing everyone again and taking the boys to where I grew up!

Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year all my blog friends! It's been a wonderful year for my art. I've come from rekindling an interest in art after a very long break, to now hoping to open my own etsy shop and some how make my passion more than just a hobby! I've met so many wonderful people who have inspired and encouraged me to keep working hard and I'm so grateful for that. I look forward to another productive year where I discover new ways to be creative. I'm having so much fun!

This is a canvas that I have been working on this week. I felt like I needed to paint as I've been working on my pendants and jewellery for the last couple of weeks as well as Christmas slowing me down a bit. This canvas represents summer and a new year for me (it's the middle of summer here). Hope you all have fun seeing the new year in tonight!!!

Look what I made!!!

Today amongst all the visiting I managed to make a couple of pieces using my new Christmas presents. I added some wire to a pair of earrings that I made a few days ago, which I bent into a spiral using my new tools and added a bead. The spirals may not be perfect but I quite like them like this. I think it adds a little something to the earrings. I made the bracelet with some beads I had lying around and some memory wire! I think I'm becoming addicted. I can't wait to team up some of my pendants with my art work and some beads, going shopping tomorrow to spend some Christmas money and buy some supplies yippee!!!

Look what I got for Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone!! I hope you all had a lovely joyful Christmas!! I had a great day yesterday and the kids were so excited! Very cute indeed. I got a lovely present from my mum and Step-dad. I really want to add something extra to my glass pendants so want to incorporate some beading perhaps around the pendant. So hopefully these books will give me some great ideas. I can't wait to get to the shops to buy lots of wire and beads etc Yay!!!

Earrings!!

Today some new supplies arrived which I was quite surprised about as its so close to Christmas and I think we're having a postal strike over here so I was very happy to receive this package today. I got some really small square glass and bit and pieces to make up earrings with. So I tried out a few ideas with the Japanese handmade paper I have used before. I think these would look great with a matching pendant. I'm also thinking of trying out some jewellery making as I think they would look nice with some pretty dangly bits as well, (hard to put into words but I'll try and make some soon).

Merry Christmas to all my blog friends!!

Well I decided I wanted to paint something Christmassy. I couldn't bring myself to paint a snow filled picture when we've been sitting in 36c heat! I'll never quite get used to these hot Christmases even though I've been living here over half my life now. In Wales it was freezing at Christmas and every now and then we'd even be lucky enough to have a white Christmas. So I decided to think about what Christmas means to me and straight away knew that its about the kids. Having two little boys really does put the magic back into Christmas as you see it through their eyes. It reminds me how exciting and magical this time of year was when I was a child and I love it. Seeing their faces light up when we put up the tree and the lights. Taking them to
Christmas carols in the park the other night holding candles in the dark. I really enjoy this time of year. So this piece is inspired by all those things.

I'm not sure abou this canvas though. Do you ever have times when you're working on something and it doesn't feel quite right? I kept tweaking it here and there but in the end decided it was finished. It's weird as to me it doesn't look like I painted it but I thought I'd post it anyway as I think I like it, heheheh I'm my own worst critic.