Tiled Buildings of Portugal

Amazing tile work on most of the old buildings in the central part of Lagos. I'm a little intimidated by sketching any of these but I finally just got to it!

This building is so outstanding that it's hard not to notice it. Sao Sebastiao Square, Lagos.

Until next time...happy creating 

Nadine 

 

Three Questions!

One of the Life Book lessons was a journal page. What I thought was very helpful and inspirational was the three questions asked of the participants....

In the past week...

1.   What's going well?

2.    How did I take care of myself?

3.    What am I glad that I did?

Sometimes when faced with a journal page .... they all seem the same, have courage, be grave etc. But I never thought that was me. So in future I will ask of myself those 3 questions...also looking for "postives" in my life!

 

Until next time...happy creating 

Nadine 

Traveling By Train

While we are in Portugal it seemed that we spend a lot of our exploring is done by train. We found out that train travel is a lot cheaper than by bus. We are just a block away from the train station, very convenient for us indeed! When we visited Lagos ten years ago, we were introduced to a modern new train station and wanted to photograph the old one but never did. I was thrilled to see that the old station was still there and for sale. At least I had the opportunity to photograph and do a little sketch of this lovely gem. Here is a sketch of the side view.

 

Until next time...happy creating 

Nadine 

Lisbon, Portugal

Bryce and I get to spend a month away in sunny Portugal. We started out in Lisbon. After a first day of fuzzy brain, I got my act together and did this little sketch of the electric trolleys as seen in the central core of Lisbon. We also enjoyed a fabulous city tour. Today, happy "heart" day we have arrived at our final destination, Lagos!  Yeah.

 

Until next time....happy creating 

Nadine 

My Obsession Continues

I'm still working on drawing, painting and using all sorts of materials to create my girls. Well today, I've grown up a wee bit....they are maturing into "ladies"....

I watched a YouTube video by Dina Wakley on how to paint faces.  Interesting, this time I used a watercolour background before drawing the face. The "Beautiful" face was painted with acrylic paints mixing my skin tones...I felt it was a little heavy and dark. The "Be Brave" face was painted with watercolour pencils and pastels. I really enjoyed the process. Thank you Dina for showing me another way!





Until next time....happy creating
Nadine

The Song of Me....

The following are series of photos taken while I worked on LifeBook 2017 - The Song of Me. This was led by Tamara Laporte and basically it is a "dream board" of your affirmations and intentions of the year ahead.

The first step was to take a photo of yourself and printout to be used as an acrylic transfer.

So this is my process in photos:

                      



However, I felt I needed to be "Brave and Take a Chance" and was to go over the entire background  with white gesso and a brayer.  Now I'm scared it will be a mess...this is the finale:

I'm Dreaming......

Until next time....happy creating
Nadine

Snow in Victoria!

I can't believe it, but Victoria has has about 10 inches of snow on the ground! Last week I was taking photos of "snowdrops" blooming - today I have to look for a pair of boots!

 

The view from our balcony!

Until next time...happy creating 

Nadine 

My Newest Obsession

I am totally obsessed with the whimsical "girls". They are done on small 6" x 8 ", Strathmore, mixed media vellum surface - 140 lb. I am using watercolour crayons (also known as water soluble pastels) and acrylic paint. I've had a lot of trouble with the finished face, but I think I've got a system now.  Those first attempts are sooooo bad that I just can't show them.

My grandchildren will be moving to Ottawa in April and I think these little gems is what I need to help with the long distance...I'm going to miss them so much. When sketched these adorable faces I am thinking about them the whole time! Maybe that's what appeals to me...art therapy!

I've completed at least one mixed media piece everyday this week...I am working on one today as well.

Here are three:




Until next time...happy creating
Nadine