In my quest to re-develop, spruce up, brighten up and liven up my blog and website I feel I really ought to have a better photo of myself. The ones up are a bit old - mind you, I am then a bit younger so that can't be bad- and to be honest, not really worthy of someone who enjoys taking photographs.
But boy do I hate my photo being taken. It's horrendous, I can never find an image I like and I think 'do I really look like that' So my goal this month is to have one taken. I have the resources, namely my wonderful Jim to help me with the lighting etc, and I have the equipment, I just need to make the time.
I then started thinking about doing a portrait every week or every month, like I have seen people do on Flickr. That all depends on whether I can force myself to do it and have the bravery to post them.
But first....little steps and take that one portrait picture.....
Thursday, 11 February 2010
Wednesday, 10 February 2010
What a difference a year makes....
It really has been ages since I have written my blog. Lots of things have happened in my life in the last year, some great.....brilliant infact, and others not so good. This has meant that my time has been diverted away from writing blogs, updating my website, and doing other similar activities.
Briefly, my father passed away in April 09 after a 3 month battle with cancer, and if this has happened to you I am sure you understand the impact this has on your life. My dad was a huge inspiration to me but not only that, he was the head of the family, he made the decisions (guided by my mum) and he was my safety net. He was the man I looked up to, the man who I wanted to emulate and the Dad I adored. I have no idea when I will get over his death....I hear that you never do, you just learn to live with it. I guess at the moment I am trying to do just that.
On a more positive note, I met a brilliant man in July 09 who is my soulmate. His passion and vocation is photography (http://www.templeton-cross.com/) and he has inspired me greatly. One creative soul with another. Absolutely perfect!
On another positive note (see it's not all doom and gloom) the rennovations to my old cottage are taking shape and it means I can free up some time to be creative again.
My plan (gotta have a plan) is to re-develop my blog and website and do more of the things I love....such as photography, art, spending days with my lovely Jim and not forgetting, laughing.
Helen
Behind every good man, is a good woman..........
Briefly, my father passed away in April 09 after a 3 month battle with cancer, and if this has happened to you I am sure you understand the impact this has on your life. My dad was a huge inspiration to me but not only that, he was the head of the family, he made the decisions (guided by my mum) and he was my safety net. He was the man I looked up to, the man who I wanted to emulate and the Dad I adored. I have no idea when I will get over his death....I hear that you never do, you just learn to live with it. I guess at the moment I am trying to do just that.
On a more positive note, I met a brilliant man in July 09 who is my soulmate. His passion and vocation is photography (http://www.templeton-cross.com/) and he has inspired me greatly. One creative soul with another. Absolutely perfect!
On another positive note (see it's not all doom and gloom) the rennovations to my old cottage are taking shape and it means I can free up some time to be creative again.
My plan (gotta have a plan) is to re-develop my blog and website and do more of the things I love....such as photography, art, spending days with my lovely Jim and not forgetting, laughing.
Helen
Behind every good man, is a good woman..........
Tuesday, 11 August 2009
31 Days - 31 Pctures ~ The First Seven Days
I love inspirational people and have recently been inspired by a wonderful man to dust off my camera and start snapping away again.
I adore photography and art, and more recently, art has taken preference. So in order to put this right, and re-kindle one of my passions, I decided to take a picture-a-day....hence 31 Days, 31 Pictures!
The idea is simple....every day I will take a picture of something which I have either stumbled across during my travels, or something which happened during my day. How many times do we say 'if only I had my camera!'......well now, my little point and shoot is with me all the time, so that I can capture those moments, those interesting people, those beautiful skies......
So here's my first seven days in pictures.....please click on the link below to see the rest!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/millie_scarlet/sets/72157622290889148/
Day 1 - Couple in the Park
Day 3 - My Suprise
Day 5 - Fushias
I adore photography and art, and more recently, art has taken preference. So in order to put this right, and re-kindle one of my passions, I decided to take a picture-a-day....hence 31 Days, 31 Pictures!
The idea is simple....every day I will take a picture of something which I have either stumbled across during my travels, or something which happened during my day. How many times do we say 'if only I had my camera!'......well now, my little point and shoot is with me all the time, so that I can capture those moments, those interesting people, those beautiful skies......
So here's my first seven days in pictures.....please click on the link below to see the rest!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/millie_scarlet/sets/72157622290889148/
Thanks
Helen
Day 1 - Couple in the Park
Day 2 - My First Rolo
Day 3 - My Suprise
Day 4 - An old brochure
Day 5 - Fushias
Day 6 - Red Guitar
Day 7 - Smartie face
Wednesday, 24 June 2009
Networking...
I've recently decided to invest time in online networking.
Most of us these days use Facebook, Twitter (although I am yet to suss this one out) and LinkedIn, to name a few. These are social networking sites, aimed at keeping friends, colleagues etc up to date on our lives, whether it be personal or professional.
These sites are great and can be a very useful way of promoting your artwork and photography, announcing exhibitions, promoting events or just keeping people informed on what you are currently working on.
I have found LinkedIn to be a really useful site, mainly as it allows you to join groups on a professional basis whereby you can create discussions and learn some interesting things you never knew before. For instance, you may want to try out a new medium and would like experiences of other artists. They can give you advice and tips and provide interaction that is sometimes lacking when you are alone in a studio.
Naturally, these sites can take up a lot of your time, but used wisely, can provide an excellent source of information and in the process, build up a network of like minded individuals.
So give it a bash I say...
Most of us these days use Facebook, Twitter (although I am yet to suss this one out) and LinkedIn, to name a few. These are social networking sites, aimed at keeping friends, colleagues etc up to date on our lives, whether it be personal or professional.
These sites are great and can be a very useful way of promoting your artwork and photography, announcing exhibitions, promoting events or just keeping people informed on what you are currently working on.
I have found LinkedIn to be a really useful site, mainly as it allows you to join groups on a professional basis whereby you can create discussions and learn some interesting things you never knew before. For instance, you may want to try out a new medium and would like experiences of other artists. They can give you advice and tips and provide interaction that is sometimes lacking when you are alone in a studio.
Naturally, these sites can take up a lot of your time, but used wisely, can provide an excellent source of information and in the process, build up a network of like minded individuals.
So give it a bash I say...
Monday, 15 September 2008
September 07 - Venice in Watercolour!
It's been far too long since I have updated my blog, so I am playing catch up!
The month of September saw me attend a wonderful Art-Events workshop called 'Venice in Watercolour'. Julie King was the inspiring tutor who made it all look so easy.
Julie started us off by painting a scene of a building on the canal which had beautiful shutters, lots of character and looked a painters paradise, especially if you were there! She showed us various techniques and ways in which we could capture the essence of the scene and bring it to life. Unfortunately my picture turned out nothing like I hoped so it will be resigned to my folder where all the graveyard paintings go! I never chuck them away as you can learn so much from them when you look back, but it certainly won't be making any public displays!!
For the second part of the day (after a nice picnic lunch and a natter) we painted the Venetian skyline from a picture supplied by Julie. Again, she showed us various techniques and the best ways of using the colours.
Here's my attempt below! Still not brilliant, but a far cry from the previous picture (trust me)!
Wednesday, 14 November 2007
August
The month of the Auckfest!!!
August was fairly quiet art wise for me. I didn't have any courses to attend, holidays to go on or exhibitions to visit. So this blog will be more of what else I got up to during the month.
I am fortunate enough to know some friends who come from a very musical family and each year they put on a music festival known as 'Auckfest', whereby a bunch of professional musicians set up camp (literally) in a back garden in the quiet village of Midhurst and jam all weekend. As this is over the bank holiday weekend it starts Friday night and more often than not the last straggler leaves around the following Wednesday!!!
This year the theme for the main event was kind of Country and Western meets Jazz meets Jimi Hendrix!!! It was absolutely brilliant and the band, organised by the very talented Joe Auckland with Jerry Haglund playing lead quitar, kicked off the proceedings by playing some hillbilly music....a bit of Johnny Cash, a bit of country and western....supported by two brilliant backing singers who made their own (if very bright) dresses.
The 'dodgy' country and western shirts were 'donated' on the day by Ben on the double bass....you could tell they were all his shirts as a) he looked very at home in it and b) his was the only one which actually fit!!!
After the country and western set they then performed their true love.....blues and jazz music and the way they play effortlessly together is awesome.
After a break....bbq and beer.....(and some 'Dave and Claudine' ale left over from their wedding) the Jimi Hendrix tribute set kicked in. Jerry Hanglund is amazing and can turn his hand to playing any song.....although he plays Jimi Hendrix's music brilliantly.
The whole day was brilliant and I look forward to next year!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On a completely different note I support the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association in various ways, one of which is to sponsor a puppy. This can be as inexpensive as you wish and by making a monthly donation to the charity you can help visually impaired people gain independence which we all take for granted.
So this month I had a new Guide Dog puppy to sponsor as my last one, Rufus, had just been placed with an owner. So through my door came my latest puppy update who is called Crumble and is such a cutie and here's a pic of the little treasure.
Helen
http://www.scarletdesigns.net/
Guide Dogs for the Blind Association
http://www.guidedogs.org.uk/
Thursday, 30 August 2007
Wonderful St Ives
July was the month that I had been looking forward to for ages as it was my painting Holiday in St Ives in Cornwall.
I had booked up a three day course called 'Watercolour Painting in St Ives' with the St Ives School of Painting and had chosen to stay in a little hotel called ‘The Nook’ which was absolutely wonderful.
This was the first time I had decided to book myself on a 3 day course away from home and I was really looking forward to it.
St Ives is a wonderful little town on the south coast of Cornwall and has the most extraordinary ultraviolet light which artists flock to see and to try and capture. The town itself is full of art galleries, lovely quaint shops and plenty of restaurants as well as having The Tate, St Ives overlooking Porthmeor Beach.
The course I attended was run by Hilary Gibson and it was just great. She had us trying out some paint techniques in the studio before heading out to town with our paint, pads and stools to try it out for real. We painted on the cliffs, on the pier, and in the harbour. We were able to try out various techniques and in some instances had to use just one colour and paint in various tones. For some of the exercises we were only allowed 20 mins to paint a picture. Hilary was always around to give expert advice and tips on ways to develop your painting and as there were only 8 in the class she had plenty of time to spend with us.
Each day she introduced some more techniques to us and by day three we were able to spend more time painting a single picture.
It was a brilliant course, the other students got on really well and to top it all the sun shone every single day…..which compared to the rest of England was a miracle. Mind you, we did have a two minute freaky hailstorm which not only drenched us, but also soaked our paintings if we weren’t quick enough to hide them…..although for those that didn’t have time, the effect of the hail on the pictures was quite dramatic!
Here is one sketch I did on my final day of the boats in the harbour.
I had booked up a three day course called 'Watercolour Painting in St Ives' with the St Ives School of Painting and had chosen to stay in a little hotel called ‘The Nook’ which was absolutely wonderful.
This was the first time I had decided to book myself on a 3 day course away from home and I was really looking forward to it.
St Ives is a wonderful little town on the south coast of Cornwall and has the most extraordinary ultraviolet light which artists flock to see and to try and capture. The town itself is full of art galleries, lovely quaint shops and plenty of restaurants as well as having The Tate, St Ives overlooking Porthmeor Beach.
The course I attended was run by Hilary Gibson and it was just great. She had us trying out some paint techniques in the studio before heading out to town with our paint, pads and stools to try it out for real. We painted on the cliffs, on the pier, and in the harbour. We were able to try out various techniques and in some instances had to use just one colour and paint in various tones. For some of the exercises we were only allowed 20 mins to paint a picture. Hilary was always around to give expert advice and tips on ways to develop your painting and as there were only 8 in the class she had plenty of time to spend with us.
Each day she introduced some more techniques to us and by day three we were able to spend more time painting a single picture.
It was a brilliant course, the other students got on really well and to top it all the sun shone every single day…..which compared to the rest of England was a miracle. Mind you, we did have a two minute freaky hailstorm which not only drenched us, but also soaked our paintings if we weren’t quick enough to hide them…..although for those that didn’t have time, the effect of the hail on the pictures was quite dramatic!
Here is one sketch I did on my final day of the boats in the harbour.
Here are some of the pictures I took as I walked around the town:
St Ives School of Painting
St Ives School of Painting
The Tate, St Ives
I came away from St Ives with lots of lovely memories, lots of inspiration for more pictures and very sunburnt shoulders !!!!!
For more information, please find links below:
St Ives School of Painting – contact James Barry on info@stivesartschool.co.uk
Web: http://www.stivesartschool.co.uk/
Tel: 01736 797180
The Nook Hotel – contact John on http://www.nookstives.co.uk/
Lovely hotel, very friendly – thoroughly recommend it.
The Tate St Ives http://www.tate.org.uk/stives/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)