My Creative Space - Abstract on Turquoise

My very neutral lounge needed some colour.

The only colour it had was this board Aimee made me last year and this A Little Vintage cushion I love. So I was inspired to use turquoise, white, black and red.

This square canvas had been intended as a nursery project for my son, abandoned when I found something better than I could ever draw! It is nice and big, 61cm x 61cm.

I chose a testpot for the base colour (Resene Endorphin) - I love testpots because you can get amazing colours and the paint is so nice to paint with, runny but with great coverage. There was enough for two coats (and two brushes, thank you Miss 4), which easily blocked out the really dark paint underneath.

After the base was dry, we did a white layer (just in art acrylic paint), which I left to dry so that it wouldn't turn pink and grey with the next colours. My 'vision' was a messy corner/L-shape, with which my helper concurred.

I had a black testpot already and an amazing new red (Resene Rocket).  Miss chose to use the black brush, so I did the red and we finished it off. It looks even better than I was hoping for, bright and fresh, and reminds me of Japanese writing characters. After a varnish layer only one question remains, which way up?

Every Thursday 'My Creative Space' is at www.kootoyoo.com

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Anzac-ifying my house...typography style

For around six months I’ve had an idea in my head for a new painting in my house and finally, I’ve done it. This time I tried something completely new in terms of technique, and inspired by my partner in OTLP, Greta @ Topography.

An art history student way back when, I particularly love modern art and some of my favourite pieces are ones by Toulouse-Lautrec and New Zealander Colin McCahon which use hand drawn or stencilled words. I don’t necesarily like political messages, but more the forms of words and the use of them as creative expressions of the brush themselves. As a journalist by trade, I have a thing for words.

So therefore it's pretty logical that I adore the new fashion trend of using Typography in interior design fabrics, nursery fabrics, and on canvas art works, particularly in black and white.

I wanted to do something totally unqiue to our family though, so armed with a piece of graph paper, I came up with a combination of words and numerals important to my New Zealand childhood and my husband’s Australian childhood. Using the graph paper squares, I spaced them according to the different widths needed for different sized fonts and then hit the craft shops looking for stencils to fit. I also bought some scrapbooking letters, to use as a stamp when wiped generously with oil paint.

Miss Four and I painted the canvas black, and then used white oil paint through the stencils and on the back of the scrapbooking letters, as stamps. I actually love how it came out partly looking hand-drawn and partly like place name signs. Alongside my extra large size canvas I did a few years ago featuring flax and toi toi, and my new fantail cushion, and my treasured Aboriginal bird painting, I feel like I’ve ‘Anzac-ified’ my house appropriately.

What do you think? Might pop it into the Creative Collective's January challenge to try a new craft and share it...

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Still Coveting Owls ...

While painting with Isaac one night, I created this sweet little owl:

(Notice the 70's thrifted coffee mug? - Also a passion of mine).
And while browsing Etsy the other night (yes Nic, it is addictive) I had to buy this handmade paper owl :

Only $5! I look forward to framing it and hanging it in my new kitchen. Please click here to see this man's work. He is careful, inexpensive and very sweet.

And speaking of new kitchens, it looks like late January our house will be ready. I was hoping for sooner but am thankful for the opportunity - no matter what the timeline.

Enjoy your day :)

~ Jodi

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