Sunday 31 March 2013

Pebble Painting

For those who are regular readers of my little corner may remember that I collected some pebbles with the view to painting them, well here are the first few. I will be taking these along to an up and coming craft fair.

Painting on pebbles

 
Pebbles on Display

As for my new facebook page and the dilemma of a name, I would like to thank everyone for your input and suggestions, after reading all your wonderful comments and taking everything on board I decided my new facebook page will be known as
 
Jan Ryan Art

Simple and to the point. It will be a couple of weeks before I have it up and running but I'll be sure to let you know so you can pop over.



This post has been linked to Handmade Monday @ Handmade Harbour

I hope you are all having a lovely week end, take care, I'll pop along to see see you throughout the coming week.

Jan X
 

Sunday 24 March 2013

What's in a name?

Help..... I need your input.....
As most of you know, I love doing all sorts of crafts and have a facebook page for showcasing my work. 
I've been doing lots more painting lately, ACEO's, acrylics and canvases, and I have been thinking of setting decided to set up another facebook page just for my Artwork. 
Of course, I'll be keeping my Handcrafted by Picto page and I'll still be making  Plaques and Fairy Doors for my online shops as well as all the other crafts I love. I couldn't stop doing all these things, they're so much fun to make and I love the interaction with my customers.

Plaques & Fairy Doors

The reason behind a separate page is I want to show more of my artwork under my own name and not the Picto name.
I sometimes have my paintings in a couple of local shops and occasionally have exhibitions in local galleries so I think it would be easier to have my 'Art' albums on a new facebook page completely separate from my craft items. I'm sure things will overlap at times but I don't see a problem with that.
As for my blog, that won't be changing, I'll probably just incorporate whatever 'title' I choose into some sort of tag line. 

What I haven't decided yet, is what to call my second page, mmm there are so many options, did I say I needed your help? well here's where you come in, 
should I go with.........

Jan Ryan Art
Jan Ryan Artwork
Jan's Art
Art by Jan
Art by Jan Ryan
 
or any other combination you think may sound good, your views, ideas and thoughts would be appreciated, I'd love to hear your comments.


I'm linking this post over to Handmade Harbour's Handmade Monday  why don't you pop over, there are lots of great blogs over there


Jan X



Sunday 10 March 2013

Wells next to the Sea

I've had a bit of a quiet week regarding crafting, My sister and her husband came to visit for a few days and we all had a lovely relaxing time. We had a day trip to Wells Next to the Sea....

Calm Waters at Wells Next to the Sea

A Beautiful Day at the Coast

We stopped for fish and chips, don't you just love seaside fish and chips? 
Then we headed to Hunstanton for another seaside favourite.... ice cream


Hunstanton Sunset
It's amazing how quickly the light and colours change.

A calm evening at Hunstanton

What a difference a few days make, these pictures were taken last week-end and a lovely mild week-end it was, this week-end is the opposite, freezing cold wet, grey and snowing, I hope you are all keeping warm.

While at the coast I collected a few pebbles with the idea of painting them, but if I decide to do more I'll get them from the local garden centre. I'm not to sure of the by-laws regarding removal of beach material, I think taking a child sized handful as a holiday souvenir is a bit different than taking a bucketload to paint. I often paint on pebbles and pieces of flint.  Here are some of my previous ones that I made into fridge magnets.


It's Handmade Monday time once again so I'm off to pop my link over at the Handmade Harbour blog so why not grab a coffee and join me.
 


Have a great week

Jan x

Sunday 3 March 2013

Seed Head Sketches


 Seed Heads


Hello everybody, I hope you've all had a good week.

 Following on from my previous post and the photo's of the seed heads I decided to do a bit of sketching. 

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

My sketch books are never far from reach and having a nosey through them I found some old seed head sketches so I added some new ones.
One of these looks like exploding clouds or popcorn or even sheep on sticks.


Pencil thumbnails of seed heads
*************************************************************************** 

 These dandelion heads are sketched using pencil, watercolour paints and chalk.

 
Dandelion seed heads

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

These next sketches have been done using pencil, watercolour paint and oil pastels.
I also collect seeds and other items when I'm out and about then tape them into the sketchbook.
Sycamore and other seeds

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

These preliminary sketches will eventually form the basis of some paintings I'm planning, I'd like to do some bright, colourful abstract paintings for my summer exhibition so I'll keep you posted, meanwhile I'm off to check out more blogs over at the Handmade Harbour Link up

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

Jan x