Little Street

Little Street is a mixed media work on three panels, that you can either hang in a group, but also hang further away from each other. You could even keep one panel and give two to loved ones, so you can be united in art.

The panels are 10 x 10 cm, roughly 8 x 8 inches. I used acrylics, water colour and scrap book paper. The sides are covered too, so the panels do not need framing.

The third panel is signed, EH stands for Eveline Hessels, and that's me!

Creative Challenge day 5, 7 and 8

Remember I said I did Day 5 and continued on Day 7? Well this is it.. It's not finished yet, so there will be a follow up on this one.

Yesterday for Day 8 I did some sketches for ACEOs I will be doing later today, and another cheetah sketch. But I wasn't too happy with it, so it ended up in the bin. I did it tough, so that's all that counts, right?

Whenever she felt lonely

.... she would dance with Mr. Octopus, go for a Hedgehog-walk, take care of Meerkat kids or do karate with Kitty Cat and she would feel better.

The other day I was doodling animals for my Secret Language / Symbols journal (a Suzi Blu workshop homework assignment) and out came these characters.

The little girl stuck in her costume isn't feeling too happy. She feels restricted and lonely, it's hard to communicate when you're dressed up and don't even have hands to hold on to anyone. And she does need a cuddle.

So out come her little friends. Mr. Octopus, who in my Secret Language stands for fun, being a bit of a clown and being playful, Hedgehog, who stands for protection and is a bit of an outsider herself, Meerkat, who never gets any rest and could do with some help looking herself after the kids so she can calm down a bit and Kitty Cat who stands for everything warm like home and cuddles and love. They all help her in their own special way to make her feel a bit better, and guess what.. It works! They are the best friends in the world!

I used water colour paint, water colour pencils, a bit of acrylics and Steadtler fineliner on this Art Journal page. For some strange reason, I think I'll be seeing a lot of this little girl and her furry friends.

Workshop!

I almost forgot to tell you....

I am taking a Mixed Media workshop with Suzi Blu! It's starting on Monday, but there's still plenty of time to sign up if you're interested.

Suzi's words:
"Two Workshops In One! Learn start to finish how to create your own original pretty pretty girl. Learn how to shade, make dresses, align faces, layer backgrounds, beeswax. The Whole Shebang! Also included is an 8 week PDF class to support and nurture your creative soul. This class includes a live pajama chat every second Sunday."

Sounds like fun, right?

You can jump in at any time, as long as you watch and read or download everything before the end of the workshop, because after the 8 weeks, it will magically disappear!
So if you have other things to do on Monday, or are off on holiday for a week or two, don't worry, you can still join in on all the fun.

There's also a forum that's already in use even though the workshop doesn't start until Monday and we've already organised an ATC or OSWOA (Original Small Works Of Art, 4" x 6") swap, but I'm sure you could still hook up with that if you wanted. Or maybe there will be a round two after people got their feet wet and got really really into it.

Oh, and you can start a friends list, keep a blog, and for the workshop there will be a Flickr group so everyone can post their pictures and get support and advice.

Come and have a look, sign up for the course, and get your paints out starting Monday!

Inspiration

When my youngest sister, who turned 27 this week, was a lot younger, she used to drive us mad by telling us she wasn't C., but a cherry fairy.

At first we thought it was a cute story she made up, but every day it became more and more detailed. When out walking the dog she would point to the trees. 'I was here last night, with my fairy friends.' When my mum would smile at her, and softly tell her that she was in her bed last night, my sister would get upset. She was a real fairy! She was there last night!

She would pick up the phone telling whoever it was that she was a cherry fairy. When we went somewhere where kids could have their face painted, she wanted to be a cherry fairy.

She grew out of it, though right before graduating as an English teacher she did write her dissertation on witchcraft and fairies in the works of Shakespeare.

This mixed media work is inspired by my sister. This girl told everyone she is a fairy too. And you know what, I believe her!

It is an original on a 5.9" or 15 cm square wooden tile. It is done in acrylics, water pencil and water colours. I've used acrylic paper, book pages, gesso, loose glitter and glitter glue.

Tell me what inspires you, I'd love to hear your personal stories.