Hair 'before' coffee....Never!!

Doing anything 'before' coffee in the mornings was unthinkable...Hair before coffee...Never!!

This was 'totally' my way of thinking this morning after a few too many glasses of red wine last night ;o)

SOLD

Return to the forest

I think by now a lot of you know how my brain works, I get inspired by something I see or something me or a member of my family is doing and then I turn it into a painting, well last night I was watching a tv programme about returning injured animals back in to the wild and then this morning this little lady popped onto my canvas, you see she had an owl come stay with her for a while, but she realised he couldn't stay forever and had to be returned to the forest ;o)

Return to the forest:
12x10 inches on canvas board

Cloudwalker

Just popping in to show my latest painting, bigger than usual on a 14 x10 inch canvas board, i'm shattered as i've been working on this all day ;o)

I first came up with the idea at 6.30am this morning whilst walking the dog, it was super nice outside, a bit chilly but the clouds were beautiful.....anyway here she is:

Cloudwalker:

little houses

I had a lovely day painting on Tuesday, the kids were at my Mums and all was quiet in the house....nice!! I managed to get 3 little house paintings done 6x6 inches on wood box canvases, hope you like them :)

My kids will be back at school next Thursday so there has been lots of uniform buying, new shoes, bags, you name it my kids needed it.

It will be nice to have some peace in the house again but I sure will miss them both like crazy, I know some mums are desperate for their kids to go back to school, but I kinda like it when they are home, I know they are safe and even if they are arguing (which happens a lot lately) I still like them around, I will miss all the cuddles and little notes my daughter gives me and the silly jokes and constant chatter my son gives....*sigh* oh to be a mother eh?

Anyway on with the paintings......

Under the toadstools: SOLD

In the dandelion fields: SOLD!!

A home in the country: SOLD

Varnishes and The road to no-where

Thanks everyone for your comments on the post below, keep them coming :) I would love to hear more about what varnishes you guys are using on your mixed media paintings!!

******************************************

This 8x10 inch painting on canvas board was sketched just before going on my trip to London and I forgot all about it until I found it in my sketchpad Yesterday, I really like how she turned out, hope you do too? :)

********************************

The road to no-where:

Has anyone noticed how much white i've been using in my paintings lately? I have no idea why but I suddenly love white and cream in my backgrounds, it's funny how you change trends, a while ago my paintings where a lot darker, but this last month or 2 they have been really pale and light :o)

Micki x

Aww you make me happy!!!!

A big thank you to everyone that commented on my last post, you are all lovely and I wish I could give you all a big squeeze ;o)

**********************************************************************

Now on to a completely different subject and I want lots of opinions please :)

VARNISH!!!!!

I have used Krylon varnish on my paintings for a long time now but they have stopped selling it in the UK...what to do?!!

I tried windsor and newton varnish and hated it, it was so sticky...yuck!!!!

I don't like beeswax even though I know lots of mixed media/folk artists use it, I can't stand the stuff!!

So what varnishes do you use on your paintings? do you varnish at all? do you spray varnish or brush on? questions, questions, questions ........

I have a confession to make......

I have been keeping some of my art from you dear blog friends, I have been scared to show you the paintings I did when I got back from my trip to London.

You see they are not my usual style of art at all, I felt compelled to paint them in a very strange way, in a way I had not felt before.

I knew in my head 'exactly' how they should look and they turned out 'exactly' as was in my head, this is very spooky for me as normally I may have an idea for a painting but not see it finished until it is finished!!!??

I believe if I had not of taken Mystele's online class last year, these pieces of art would not have entered my head, Mystele has a way of opening your eyes and mind to things that you would not normally see, those that took the class with me or are familiar with Mystele's work will know what I am talking about and for those that don't know I suggest you find Mystele via 'Youtube' and see her at work :)

So these were painted late at night when everyone else was asleep and I was wide awake, knowing I had to paint them, I just got stuck in and here they are:

A view of London seen through the eyes of a hermit (ie:me) seen best when enlarged and looked at closely :) :

THE UNDERGROUND:

LONDON: SOLD!!

For those of you that stayed with me through all the arty mumbo jumbo I give you a gold star ;)

Micki x

Trying to stay afloat

I actually got time to do a painting today *yay* obviously with the hubby being still on only 90% wages and all the stuff going on with the house, our money situation has been pretty tight and that is weighing heavy on my mind, it came out in the form of this girly.

I have managed to do some wonderful trades through etsy though lately and for that I am truly grateful, I will be posting some piccies of trades I have made on my blog soon :o)

But for now here she is: Trying to stay afloat SOLD

So distracted

I am a little distracted of late and haven't done any painting for a while and the reason is that FINALLY we are doing up the front room.

You see it all started in January when we ripped out everything ready for our custom made wood tv unit to be built in, but then delay after delay meant it only got started 5 weeks ago, well the unit is now mostly in place and hubby has been sanding and painting....painting and sanding and generally making the whole house dusty ;)

We are having the carpet fitters in, in the next couple of weeks and then, after a final coat of paint, I can dress the room with the 2 boxes full of stuff I bought back in January....Hooray!!!!!

We are also doing the stairs and our bedroom at the same time too (suckers for punishment) the stairs are waiting to be carpeted and final coat of paint and our bedroom?......well that is still at the polyfiller in holes stage, not even got the first coat of paint yet ;o)......so much going on, my head is full of house stuff, paint flecks and dust.

And of course the kids are still on their school holidays too, so not much time for anything really.....bear with me my lovely followers, there will be art again in the near future I promise :o)

Hugs and love

Micki x

Back from London....

Well I am back from London and we had a fab time, but guess what silly muppet forgot to take her camera?...well erm yes that would be me...oops!! I was gutted actually as we had some wonderful photo opportunity moments, but never mind we have the memories ;)

We saw all the usual sites of London....the London eye, Big Ben, The gherkin building (where my brother works) the natural history museum, covent garden, we rode in a London black cab taxi and on a red double decker bus too, and also got on the extremely busy London underground where you can get all the"not" fun experience of being packed into a train like a sardine!!

We also got to see the 'lion king' theatre show which was absolutely amazing!!! if any of my blog readers get to go to London at anytime in the future, you MUST see that show, I cannot recommend it enough, it was fantastic!!

Well as I have no photos of London to share (silly me) I thought I would show you this painting I did for my brother and his wife as a thank you gift for letting us stay at their new house for a few days.

They got married on the 14th May this year and the whole wedding was just wonderful, they were married in a beautiful converted barn, which took us from ceremony to evening party all in one place and was gorgeous!

Jennie and Steve:

Jennie and Steve: The happy couple :o)

The Hermit is leaving the building

Well i'm off to London for a few days visiting my (not so) little brother

I will have more arty type stuffs to show you when I get back (and maybe a few London piccies too) ;o)

See you soon

Micki x

Wendy's new rain hat

Wendy's new rain hat was perfect for the unpredictable British weather :o)

In my Etsy Shop now ;) SOLD!!

never say never

So you know how I said I was done with girls and hats.....well apparently i'm still not done!!

What started out as 3 has turned into 5, how many more will there be? who knows? lol ;o)

The girl with the koala hat:

If you've ever wondered........

.......What The Secret Hermit's leg might look like....... then you can find it featured...... here ;o)

Thank you Annie for featuring my leg on your blog :o)

Micki x

******************************

And for those of you who asked what other tattoos I have, here is my list:

I have skulls on either side my chest, a large tribal/flower piece (unfinished) on my right collar bone all the way to elbow, a halloween piece on my top left arm, stars on insides both arms, eye of horus on hand, tribal and a cross on top left shoulder blade, angel on top right shoulder blade, cupcakes and heart and cross bones on lower back....Phew I think thats it....for now ;o)

People are mean

How come no matter how many people say nice things to you/about you it's the bad comments that stay with you? This little lady has had someone say something mean to her and it's ruined her mojo for the day....Poor thing!!

8x10 inches on canvas board in my ETSY SHOP now :o)

People Are Mean:

So it seems i'm not done with hats just yet

I thought I was all done with the hat girls but then this little Bee girl popped out ;O)

Hope you Like her.

Micki x

I wish I was a Bumble Bee: SOLD!!