Merry Christmas

I would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year. Hope Santa brings everything that you've asked for.

Lina x

Christmas Angels

This is my first Christmas post and I must apologise for it being so close to Christmas. This year Christmas has just crept up on me and I have only just dressed the tree and decorated the house. This is late for me considering that on the 1st December the Christmas albums come out and every morning I ring my children and let them listen to whatever track I'm playing and wish them a Merry Christmas. As you can imagine hearing Frosty the Snowman or White Christmas on the train or in the office can be embarrassing. Ahhh.... but having said that if I'm late ringing them they call me. They have even told that some of their friends have asked if I can ring them too!

Anyway, I wanted to show you a couple of angels that I have made. The first angel is mostly made up of products from Tim Holtz. The second angel's face is from Wendy Vecchi's 'Dress form and more' art part. Unfortunately I haven't got the phrenology stamp that would go with this so I painted her face. I drew and cut out an arch shape from thick card for the body and painted and distressed this with acrylics and distress inks.

Materials:
Wendy Vecchi
Art Parts 'Dress form and more'
Tim Holtz
Movers and shapers mini hearts set, mini crown and fleur set
Vintage cabinet die
Artful dwellings die
Decorative strip die-paper rosette
Texture fades Poinsettia pattern set
Distress ink pads walnut stain, antique linen, weathered wood,broken china, forest moss
Archival ink-jet black, coffee
Sizzix
Wings-Rachel Bright
Hero Arts
Polka dot stamp
Acrylics from various suppliers

I hope you all have a really lovely Christmas.

Lina x

Baby Shoes

I know that I should be concentrating on Christmas but I have designed and made these little shoes. Even if I do say so myself I'm really pleased with the way that they have turned out. They are sooo cute!

A little box for that first lock of hair

Many of you have asked if I sell my art works and if so where. I do sell my work, I take commissions and I am also thinking of opening a shop on Etsy. So if anyone is interested in buying any of my art or in placing an order for these cute shoes, please email me or message me on my facebook page.

Collage By Numbers

I can't believe that it's been over two weeks since I posted anything on my blog. I've been suffering with a bad back. This has been debilitating as well as frustrating as I paint or get messy with art in some form on a daily basis and I haven't been able to do this. I created this artwork a little while ago in fact I've made several as gifts for friends and family. They have all been slightly different. This is a fun project and I love the effect you get when you play with numbers and letters. Hope you like it too. I took the plunge yesterday and put Lina's Art on Facebook. This is a totally new experience for me so please bear with me while I play catch up with the rest of the social networking world. Please press the link on the right hand side and like my facebook page or be a follower on my blog. 

Lina x

My Daughter

I started my blog three months ago and on my first post I showed you artworks in pop art style that I had painted of my children. Whenever I look through photographs of them I remember the moment when the photo was taken, just like yesterday so to speak. Where has the time gone? Here is a painting that I have just completed of my daughter. My husband looked at it and said that she looked as though she was crying. No, she is deep in concentration. She is a beautiful and caring girl who is always full of fun.

Lina x

A Cup Of Rosie

I needed to add a bit of colour to my blog after the dark post on Halloween. Whenever we go away on holiday, or just away for a few days the first thing we do when we get home is to have 'a nice cup of tea'. Nothing can beat this; it's like a welcome home ritual. I feel that there is something very British about a cup of tea. With that in mind I've created this collage and added the affectionate cockney slang term 'Rosie Lee'.

Halloween

I wanted to create a graveyard scene for Halloween. When I saw the new Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Apothecary set I knew that the skull would be perfect for my artwork. My skull needed a body so I stuck the stamped image onto a piece of card. I then made a coat from strips of paper which I aged and distresssed using acrylics.  In order to achieve a 3D effect  I used foam pads on some of the elements in the collage. I incorporated a lot of texture in this mixed media artwork  I used chalk pastels for the sky, moulding paste for the ground and a marbling effect on the tombstones.

Trick or treat?

Lina x

In The Style Of Gustav Klimt

This year marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of artist Gustav Klimt. He was a master of pattern and colour. When I saw the Cubist stencil from Crafters Workshop and the Heart mask from Tando Creative I immediately thought of him.

I would like to share with you an artwork that I created using these stencils. I used the Flames stencil for the pattern effect but looking at it now she does look a little like Joan of Arc on a night out!

Materials Used:
Canvas Board
Gesso
Decoart acrylic paints
Daler Rowney: System 3 metallic acrylic paints
Crafters Workshop Stencils: Cubist and Flames
Tando Creative : Heart Background
Moulding paste

Lina x

Old Family Portrait

I was looking through some family photos. You know what that's like. It starts off being that you are looking for a particular picture and then you get completely consumed in the memories that each photograph holds. You realise after a while that what was supposed to be a quick task results in hours passed. 

Well as I said, I was enjoying looking through photos and I came across an old photo of my husband's grandmother. She was a beautiful lady. I thought I would have a go at trying to paint her portrait. It was quite a challenge to work from such a small photo but once I put some music on I became thoroughly absorbed in my painting. I usually end up with nearly as much paint on my clothes as on the canvas. I have trousers that I wear specifically to paint in they look like a Jackson Pollock creation. I painted this portrait using acrylics on canvas. I hope that I have captured her essence and that you like it.

Lina x

Daisy Chain

I don't really know if this flower is a daisy but when I saw it I thought of the daisy chains I used to make when I was a child. I always think that there is a freshness and innocence about them. This summer I saw a couple of teenage girls wearing them in their hair. I was too young for the hippy movement but I thought of this when I saw the girls. What a lovely form of jewellery.

This simple collage needed something to lift it, maybe a little bit of colour. I thought that the girl looked quite sad. So the daisy chain was added with the thought of another childhood game, picking the petals of flowers and singing "He loves me he loves me not". She looks as though she's not sure!

Lina x

Mixed Media

I have just got back from a short break in North Devon. The scenery was breath taking. I can’t believe that we are now in September and the school holidays are all but over. This always signifies to me the end of the summer and with the nights already drawing in I thought I would post some colourful mixed media pieces of work.

With mixed media you are able to combine a number of elements to create interesting art. The wonderful mixed media artist Christy Tomlinson inspired me. This led me to create the following pieces of artwork. The first three canvases are hand drawn.  I incorporated very simple shapes for the second and third so that those of you who lack the confidence to draw can see that this is possible.  Being misshapen adds quirkiness and fun. For the fourth canvas I used a Sizzix birdhouse die. Using dies makes this form of art accessible to all.

I had a lot of fun creating these and I hope you like them.

Lina x

Watercolour Cards

Here are a couple of greeting cards I created using watercolour techniques. To achieve the best results I always use good quality watercolour paper (Weight 300gsm/140lb). Benefits being that you don’t have to stretch the paper.

I prefer to paint with traditional brushes rather than the water brushes as I feel that I am in control of the amount of water and paint needed. I love painting in this way working from light to dark and the translucent effect that you can achieve. I painted the first card with Derwent Inktense pencils and the second card with Tim Holtz distress inks. The images are from the single stamp range at Woodware.

Materials used:

Daler Rowney (300gsm/140lb) cold pressed watercolour paper

Woodware clear single stamp (Design Jane Gill) Lily, Gerbera

Memento London Fog (This gives the appearance of graphite)

Tim Holtz distress inks

Derwent Inktense watersoluble pencils

I teach classes in watercolour painting and my students always tell me that they find this form of art very relaxing.

Lina x

A Little Bit Of Sewing

Today is supposed to be one of the hottest days of the year so I'm going to make the most of what's left of the school holidays and I'm off out for the day. Before I go I want to show you a couple of items that I have made using mostly Tim Holtz's stamps and dies.

Wall Plaque/Door Plaque

Sewing Box (For all those little bits and pieces)

I really enjoyed making these. Tim's products are amazing. 

Hope you like them

Lina x

Family Collage

The image on my canvas is of my sister Kathy and me. I remember the photograph being taken as though it were yesterday. I’m the older girl and I recall that I was wearing a little red cotton dress. How time flies. Creating this collage brought back happy memories from my childhood.

More Whimsy Art

Carrying on in this whimsy style, I want to share with you another mixed media artwork that I created. I added lots of texture by using moulding paste, gesso, stamps, fabric, papers as well as acrylic paints. I really enjoyed working on this. There is no wrong way in collage, just a freedom to place a mixture of items together and to see it developing. It’s very liberating.

Whimsy Style Art

I recently taught a class at the Craft Barn.  This was to create a whimsy style mixed media artwork on canvas. This form of art is very popular at the moment.

The materials used were:

Windsor & Newton 12x12 canvas board,

Decoart acrylics

Cuttlebug embossing folder

Book pages from an old dictionary

Ranger-Tim Holtz Distress inkpads  

Ranger-Tim Holtz Blending tool and foam pads.

Claudine Hellmuth studio gesso and multi medium Matte

Patterned papers

The girls on the class produced great pieces of artwork and they told me that they enjoyed the class. What more can you ask for? It was a lovely day full of fun.

Family Pop Art

So, as always is the case with these things, the problem is, knowing where exactly to begin.

I suppose it begins with where we all get our inspiration and trying out different methods of painting with different mediums and using them firstly to create portraits, landscapes or objects that have a deep importance to us all.

With that in mind, to start, here are some art works that I have created using acrylics on canvas with a pop art effect of my children.