Chewing Gum Man

There is an artist in the UK called "The Chewing Gum Man".  To find out all about him search for "Ben Wilson".  He is incredibly talented and paints OVER discarded chewing gum you find on the pavement!

This the Millennium Bridge in London.  It is a well known landmark from the Tate Modern across the Thames.  Thousands must walk across this every day but in today's rush I am not sure how many notice the small things.  

As you cross, walk slowly and look down (the view along the Thames is fabulous but once you have taken that in, look down....and whilst those around you rush past....spot these...)

  I am not sure if this refers to the Grenfell tower fire, but love the heart and community logo.

 Love the statement on this one, so personal.

 So many different styles and subject matters.

Love the idea of these and something to keep your eyes peeled for.

Happy crafting

Kyla

De cluttering my sketching kit

 Now, I am sure I am not alone but I tend to carry round in my handbag more than I need!

During 2018 I have tried to pare down what I carry, especially as my RA develops and I find it more difficult to carry heavy bags.  So I thought it was time to try and do the same for my urban sketching kit.  Now, I often just carry a few pens and a few posca's BUT I do like to splash a bit of colour around and I often use my travel watercolour kit so I looked around the web to see if I could get some ideas and boy, there are some GREAT ideas out there.

I saw many people who put art kits in small tins so I thought I would try that.

In CASS Art they had a sale for members so I bought a new travel kit where the colour pans were easily removed (cheaper than buying 9 separately)

Then in poundland I spotted this tin filled with sugar free mints and worked out this was exactly the right size.

So I decided which colours I wanted to include (that research took longer than making it all!) and stuck them in with contact adhesive.

I decided to use 9 colours and in the small space I added a small piece of sponge and cut down a pencil.  The small paint brush that came with the kit fits perfectly in the lid.

So there you have it, a small painting kit that fits not just in my handbag but also in my pocket!!  I am hoping that this will encourage me to paint/sketch more, only time will tell.

Do you have any ideas for lightweight kit, feel free to share.

Kyla

Trial prints

So, on Wednesday I shared my latest purchase, a brass printing plate.

This was a print using a thick acrylic on paper.  I don't have a burnisher so used my stamp cleaner as its padded and reasonably thick.

The paint was too thick and grainy I think (it was old) and not sure it prints well on paper.

So I tried it with a newer acrylic black paint and this time on card and the detail is much better.  Still need to experiment and keep trying but pleased with this one.

If you have any tips or ideas I would love to hear them, just leave them in the comments.

Happy crafting

kyla

Abstract

 With the unexpected time being stuck indoors whilst we had snow I decided to have a "play" with my paints.

I decided to have a go at abstracts.  I had been looking online at my talented cousin (https://aoh.org.uk/house/axios-tattoo/ paintings online and thought I would try.

Well, I have NEVER tried abstract before and boy it is hard-building up layers, waiting for it to dry (yep, used my heat gun-I have NO patience).

I painted a canvass with black gesso then used a rolled and spatula to add colours

I used three different colours and added some blocks of white to add interest.

 I then created a tints of the colours, mixing them on my old Girl Guide camping metal plate!!

Until finally I was reasonably pleased with the result.  

Not sure I like it, it is different and not my usual style but I certainly enjoyed spending the day painting and so I have decided to hang it on the wall at the top of our stairs-not sure it will stay there for long, but it is growing on me!  

Some closeups of the details

I certainly enjoy the process and think I will try again.

Have you tried abstract?  Do you have any tips you'd like to share?

Happy crafting

Kyla

Abandoned art

 I often leave small pieces I have created on my walks etc for others to find.

A few weeks ago I started to paint some left over cardboard I had and also some small canvasses and I don't think I have shared them with you yet.

For the canvass boards I used stencils and various 3D mediums from gels and pastes (again, using up old stash).  I added colour with sprays and paints, watering down some and flicking them across the canvasses and then adding some words with a posca pen (I love these pens as they seem to take on most surfaces).  I finished them with a light spray of a sealant just in case it rained when I abandoned them.

The cardboard was even easier I just drew direct onto the white acrylic again with a posca pen.  I drew a couple of my favourite Studio Ghibli charachers of Totorro and a soot sprite!

Once again I applied a light coat of sealant.

Some of these have already been abandoned, some I have yet to set free!

Kyla

Painted pebbles

 Whilst I was at Sidmouth Folk festival I also picked some pebbles up and painted them insitu with Posca pens and coated them with clear nail varnish to protect them.

This lady bird pebble was left on a low ledge in the Childrens field

and at the base of this post on the seafront I left a pebble I painted with a Koi carp

Not very delicate but I painted it whilst sat in the cafe at lunchtime!

Just a couple more pieces I set free (I write the art abandonment FB details on the back of the rocks so if found and they wish to get in touch they can).

After all, it is always nice to find something for free isn't it?

Happy crafting

Kyla

Ghibli daps

 Now, I know I am not the only one to fall into this trap.  

You see something on Pinterest and think "ooh, I could make that"

A few weeks go by and several hundred pins later you get round to making a start!

You finish and sit back to admire your work....its rubbish and looks NOTHING like the pin!

Well, on this occasion I was really pleased with the result!

I am a massive Studio Ghibli fan (Japanese Anime) and have seen lots of hand painted trainers on Pinterest recently so thought I would combine the two.

I bought some white daps (Bristol speak for plimsol!) from Lidl for £5 (bargain and surprising comfortable)

Then started sketching out the design in pencil to ensure I had the dimensions right.

  Then I filled the design in using a variety of paints I already had, a mixture of fabric paints and screen printing paints.

I outlined the designs in black and then allowed to dry overnight before setting them with a hot iron (not easy, it involved lots of padding with newspaper and quite a bit of swearing!).

I also gave them a couple of coats of protective spray (the sort for walking boots) and voila, one of a kind Ghibli daps!!

I love these and wish that I had bought more than one pair of shoes now!  If I see them on sale again I may be tempted to buy a black pair and see if I can decorate them too.

I love wearing these and my plan is to try to paint an umbrella next (if anyone has any tips on this then PLEASE get in touch as at the moment it's just a crazy idea!!).

Happy crafting

Kyla

Powertex playtime

 Not had much time for crafting or blogging but I was able to have a go at playing with my powertex.  First I made sure I covered the table with plastic sheeting and wore an apron and for once I also wore gloves!  I know, me, the person who nearly always has messy hands (just have a look at http://lunchladyjansfabricfrenzy.blogspot.co.uk/ that's my hands the lovely Jan used for her title!!)

Next I poured white powertex over the canvas, spread it out leaving some areas slightly thicker to see if it affected how it cracked (it does, the cracks are deeper on thicker layers)

 I then sprayed Bister (I remember this as a wood dye my father used to use back in the 70's but powertex sell it as a good way to add colour) and added some splatters too.

 I then cut up an empty milk carton to mix some thickener up with the white powertex.

 After I dried the canvass with an airgun the cracks started to appear.

 I used a pallet knife to apply the thickened powertex and coated some wooden canvas stretchers with it to help it adhere.

 I then added some powertex clay balls and started to play with mica's and acrylic inks dribbling and spritzing water to see how they reacted (after all the idea of this was to play and see how the products react).  

I also soaked some scrim in water and powertex and scrunched this up (and was REALLY pleased I was wearing gloves-boy is this product messy).

 My final piece, not sure if its a cross or a desolate tree after a forest fire (on my mind at the moment, my thoughts go out across the pond to those in Alberta).

 Not too sure on the final piece but I do like the depth and texture you can achieve with this product so I know I will be making some more time to play.

Happy crafting

Kyla

Malta roundup

One of the reasons I haven't blogged for a while is because we went to Malta for a well earned break.  My parents and grandparents both used to live and work there so it does feel comforting when I walk around.

The weather was lovely and warm (in the 80's) but there were a few days of heavy thunderstorms and downpours (but hey, if you are swimming you are wet anyway).

We were staying in Floriana (just outside the city gates of the capital Valetta) and knew that they had a street art festival (similar to the one we have in Bristol) back in the summer so we headed off walking the streets to see what we could find-and boy did we find some amazing pieces.  This is just a small selection:

These were down by the lido (where we swim if we are there in season but as we were just out of season it was closed, so we swam in the sea off the rocks with the locals instead.

This gent was HUGE and was painted on the roof of fishermen's huts

 

!!This was painted on the walls of a local cafe

 

These were next to the lido on the roof of their bar/changing rooms.  The jelly bears are larger than a person and when you walk amongst them it is difficult to tell what they are....but climb up through the streets and peer over a certain wall and voila, 3D jelly bears!  Several people were there and taking photos of the lovely harbour view but not looking down!  That soon changed when they heard us "oohing and ahhing"!

This large 3D melting icecube complete with trapped blue bottle was next door.  It almost felt you could reach out and touch it.

A short water taxi to Sliema and we came across even more

This one was 3 storeys high

The eyes on the skull cleverly used the drainage holes in the wall

 

So many colourful pieces all hidden under a walkway next to the sea, the only way to view them was to climb down when the tide was out and look back towards the town

I think this was a really old painting looking at the weathering 

 

From the road you wouldn't know any of this was here

Some stunning work and not what I expected to find

Back in Valletta we came across new bars and galleries since our last visit as it gears up to be the 2018 European City of Culture

Tables have been upcycled with handpainted tops

Locals have embraced the anarchic nature with "this is a piece of art!" we found in the street

Whilst we were there it was the 10th Anniversary of the performance and arts festival Notte Bianca where 60,000 people descend on Valletta for one evening.  These were Mdina Glass light shades suspended along one of the streets.  There was so much to see and do, 

such as crafts,

like this weaver

 

ancient and public buildings (including the Prime Ministers private office!!  The queues for that were massive) threw their doors open (free entry)

There were lots and lots of art installations such as this bedsit covered entirely in paper

These were small diarama's made by prisoners depicting what time in cells meant to them

 

We explored the WWII bomb shelters where my nan probably spent some of her time whilst she was on the island.  As you can see it was VERY far down into the depths of the island.

 

We then walked to the far end of the city to Fort St Elmo.  This was only recently re-opened after refurbishment and not somewhere we had been before so we took advantage of it all being open for free, with bands playing and lovely light displays

 

With rows of giant floor lanterns once again made with Mdina Glass

Then there were the fireworks....which carried on,

 

and on for almost 6 hrs!!  There could not have been any gunpowder left on the island!

 

We did some tourist things such as visiting the markets and Mdina (the silent city)

 

The biggest change we noticed were the new city gates in Valletta which are a stunning execution of stone masonry.

 

If you like your street art and are looking for somewhere sunny I thoroughly recommend the capital of Malta.

Kyla