Gosh, that was a weekend that came and went in a flash. Busy as ever but in a good way. I took advantage of the good weather on Saturday morning to do a couple of hours tidying up in the garden after breakfast. Not that you'd know... it's looks just a messy as ever although I filled the wheelie bin with garden rubbish. Inbetween I managed to rustle up a batch of flapjacks before anyone noticed there hasn't been much cake in the house lately.
Although I took half of them away as in the afternoon I was teaching my first ever rag rug class... nothing like a bit of homemade baking to get your students on side!
My venue was a quaint little coach house near Hitchin where I let myself in and made myself familiar with everything. This is the Ragged Life HQ, home of all things rag rug related! Before long a group of five lovely ladies gathered for the class and were soon stuck in with a project designed to teach them the basics of rag rugging.
They were each making one of these flower trivets... I made a sunflower as my demo piece! I'm not sure I want to stand pots on it though!
Saturday evening saw a night of good food and operatic entertainment in our village hall no less. Village life is far from sedate and never boring!
Then first thing on Sunday I called for my Mum and we went on another painting day together, this time with Jamel Akib. In our first painting we were learning how to paint gold. I think this was my favourite of the five I managed to paint throughout the day.
Next we got to paint dancers using dramatic strokes in the background to create the illusion of movement.
Because I paint quite quickly I had another go at a portrait with a flash of gold... can you recognise her? I don't think she is quite finished yet so I'm hoping to fit in some time this week to work on this.
After a delicious lunch, all provided as part of the course, we learned techniques to give the impression of crumbling brickwork. I'd like to work into this one some more too, straighten things up a little... but not too much
And finally Jamel demonstrated how to get the effect of feathers on birds. I wasn't very happy with my robin at the time having churned it out in about 15 minutes but he doesn't look so bad in the photo! It was a fabulous day where we learned so many techniques and laughed a lot... Jamel is very entertaining. But it was also completely exhausting, so I was good for nothing last night and thought I'd sleep like a log (How do logs sleep? It's okay you don't have to answer I was thinking aloud.) Instead I lay awake until about 2 am... what was that all about!
So I wasn't good for much today either although I did have a long very windy walk with Hector and took photos of the rather amazing sky. Sand from the Sahara blown in by Ophelia... or alien invasion? Zombie apocolypse? Whatever, it has turned the dog into a lunatic... he's tearing around and leaping about like he's got a rocket up his bum!
So how was your weekend?
Quiet and subdued compared to yours! :) Amazing paintings, I must say!
ReplyDeleteYou're right that sunflower is much too pretty for a pot.
Unfortunately we didn't get the brilliant sun, we did however get the wind and plenty of it.
Your paintings look so good Gina and done so quickly. We didn't have the sun but today we had a very weird sky. It was on the verge of an eclipse.Headlights on 3pm in the afternoon,almost biblical. I'm trying not to have cakes/biscuits in the house to lose some weight however, DH will rummage in the kitchen looking for a snack with his cuppa.
ReplyDeleteWow, amazing art, and done so quickly, I'm so impressed. I'm guessing Frida Kahlo for the portrait. Weird light here too, and dust all over everything. The children were also of the opinion it was a zombie apolocalypse. Well done on the teaching, I bet they all had a good afternoon. CJ xx
ReplyDeleteLove your robin, he looks well fed and chirpy. Frida looks fabulous, too. How amazing to paint so many beautiful pictures in such a short time! I have thought about logs sleeping previously... The sun wasn't out all day but the clouds were yellowish today. Weird. Have a good week xx
ReplyDeleteBeautiful art work, you are very talented. Your weekend quite exhausted me. Wasn’t the sky spooky today! B x
ReplyDeleteThat was some weekend! Lovely flapjacks, wonderful paintings (Frieda Kahlo?) and a super rag rug class. Lucky ladies. I wouldn't want to put pots on your sunflower either. I was beginning to get a bit nervous when the sky turned such a strange colour and wondered what was coming. However, we got of light and today looks quite normal.
ReplyDeleteBusy weekend indeed. We had Granddaughter's party on Saturday - five 5yrolds all the girls dressed as mermaids and the only boy came as a pirate! Our household has never had so much cake -leftovers from previous weekend plus 2 birthday cake! Love the artwork, especially the brickwork one. The sky here was weird too and that strange yellow light. Beautiful here today though.
ReplyDeleteGina. You wear me out just reading your blog LOL. Your paintings are beautiful -- I'm so amazed that you did so many in one day! It would take me forever just to do one.
ReplyDeletePhew I feel dizzy just reading about your weekend! You are so talented and I love Freda Kahlo.
ReplyDeleteBusy weekend indeed. We had Granddaughter's party on Saturday - five 5yrolds all the girls dressed as mermaids and the only boy came as a pirate! Our household has never had so much cake -leftovers from previous weekend plus 2 birthday cake! Love the artwork, especially the brickwork one. The sky here was weird too and that strange yellow light. Beautiful here today though.
ReplyDeleteWe were in Cambridgeshire yesterday with that strange light then I suddenly noticed the colour of the Sun! It was a very odd feeling.
ReplyDeleteGosh
ReplyDeleteGina, is there anything you cannot do? I love all your paintings, particularly the Egyptian lady - she looks very high caste!
My Dad made some rag rugs one year and we had an old nurse who made amazing portraits of the Royal family using old clothing and stockings and other bits and pieces - this was about the time of World War II. The style has changed quite a lot now by the look of your piece. Cheers
Fantastic paintings. I'm very glad the sky has gone back to normal.
ReplyDeleteWasn't that sun just so weird? I LOVE your paintings - such a talent you have Gina!
ReplyDeleteLove those paintings! Your robin looks perfectly feathery (I can't paint or draw for toffee and if I were to have a go, it wouldn't even look like a bird). The rag rugging workshop sounds really interesting. When I was a kid, every house had a rag rug. Except ours. I clearly take after my mum on the crafting front.
ReplyDeleteThe rag trivet looks great! You could hang it on the wall until you needed to use it for a trivet. Looks like a fun class. You've got some hidden talents Gina. Your portraits are wonderful, and I really like that first one with the gold accents on the head scarf. Wow!
ReplyDeleteWendy