Canvas Workshop

It feels like an age since I updated my blog but since life has slowed down slightly (due to the current situation), I’ve found a bit more time to do a few things I’ve wanted to do for a while!

I was fortunate enough to be able to hold a workshop just before everything closed down and self isolation became the norm. It was a requested workshop to create a mixed media canvas. I spent ages wondering which sort of canvas to create seeing as we’ve already done collage, texture and mixed media in the past and I really wanted to create something new.

One of my favorite artists is Flora Bowley. I bought her book a while back called Brave Intuitive Painting and love it.

Intuitive painting is the technique of letting go of your inner critic and letting your heart and hands do the painting. The results can be colourful and lively and full of spontaneous doodles and mark making.

I thought I’d let the others experience this for themselves and gave them the canvas and a few materials to get them started.

As watercolour is my favourite medium to use I created a watercolour background to start, letting the colour flow into pools on the canvas and adding some spray to help it move. If you want to add contrasting colour it’s best to let each colour dry first before adding the next otherwise you’ll end up with dirty colour which you don’t want. Once this was dry I started to add doodles and patterns with watercolour pencils. I used them wet and dry as I loved the texture from the canvas coming through. I further added doodles with white and black pens along with a snippet of text paper collage at the bottom.

It’s already pushed me to get out my art journal and start creating again so while I have some time I intend to make the most of it.

Take care of yourselves and if you’d like to create a canvas of your own you can find the canvas, watercolour pencils and more in the Basement Studio shop.

Jaine xx

Gelli Printing Workshop

It’s been a while since I hosted a workshop with the Mosaik ladies so I’m looking forward to our next one on the 26th October 2019. The theme is gel printing, a subject I adore. I bought my first Gelli plate many years ago when they first came out and loved it but since lots of other projects took over it got pushed into a cupboard and almost forgotten about until recently. A revival of Gelli print projects made me fall in love with it all over again and this is what prompted me to hopefully inspire our Mosaik group.

We’ll be using an 8 x 10″ plate which is bigger than my original so I’m excited too. I’m no expert at it but I hope to bring some ideas and a few tips along the way, and hopefully we can use some of the prints to create little booklets or cards, that is if we don’t get too carried away and forget the time which is easily done!!

I’m determined this time to keep my gel plate out on my worktable for as long as is practical this time.
Have a good week

Jaine xxxxxx

Collage Workshop

I was very fortunate to be able to give another workshop to the ladies of the Mosaik group recently, where we explored collage art using paper and fabrics. It was a requested theme so I definitely felt the pressure to deliver what they’d asked for.  The ladies embraced the theme whole heartedly and threw themselves into creating collages with found objects and pressed leaves and flowers. The results were beautiful.

I used tea bags, book page, some paint and organza as well as a little hand sewing.

These three I added to my junk journal which I think I’ll be using for collages from now on. Why not keep your own junk journal of collages or just to press flowers and leaves, it’s a lovely way to treasure the memory of a favourite walk or garden plant. Dried tea bags too can be beautiful in a background, adding a little vintage feel on a page. I use the smallest bits of paper sometimes as a tiny splash of colour can really lift a collage.

I hope you have a go for yourself as it’s great fun to do and so easy.

Have a good weekend

Jaine x



Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells…

Wow, December 1st has arrived and it’s time to start bombarding social media with Christmas makes!!  My work table looks like a bomb has exploded in my studio, seriously!! I have to vacuum the floor every day to pick up the glitter before the animals tread it through the house on their paws!

Last weekend I hosted a workshop for the Mozaik ladies where we made a Winter themed canvas. We had a wonderful day and I have to say it’s the first time everyone actually finished a project from start to finish so I’m hugely proud of all of them. 

I’ve been promising the ladies for quite some time now a mixed media canvas project and for one reason or another we’ve never quite taken it on. So I was determined this time to go for it and throw all sorts of materials and techniques at them and they really embraced the theme. Every one of them produced something wonderful which made me very happy.

As it’s the first of the month, that means a new WOW! Embossing Powders Facebook Challenge and the final theme of the year is Silver and Gold.

I brought out my favourite stamps, which I use every year without fail (everyone has their favourites), the script stamp is from IndigoBlu and the star is a wood mounted one from Stampers Anonymous and paired them with Metallic Silver and Atlantic Seaspray Embossing Powder from WOW!. 

Right now I’m crafting myself silly preparing for a Christmas Market where I’ll have a small stand.

Have a good weekend and I’ll be back soon.

Jaine x