Neck Gaiters

This is what happens when you leave your camera in the car overnight - and try to take photos inside before it warms up.

Neck gaiter as a scarf:

 

As an ear warmer

 

As a face warmer

 

As a hat

 

Final painting of the year

Photo taken near Mount Leinster at the end of October.

 

Painting made in December - from a monochrome image of the pgoto, so I was a bit creative with the colours.

 

Picture has now gone to New York - hope the new owners are happy with it...

Gifts from Geraldine.

Nicola's Christmas swap has come through for me -

 

 

 

 

above is the overwhelming bounty from my swap partner Geraldine. Beautiful and innovative wreath – too nice to put outside, lavender pouch made from an embroidered handkerchief, a book of dutch recipes, and letter chocolates for the boys – they were delighted with them. Another brilliant swap – thanks Nicola!

Show report

So, the show opened on Wednesday last - about 18 artists work altogether, so a big crowd of friends and families. My family came - my mother briefly, Dara nad Leo, and Brian in between ferrying people around and attend Choir meetings. My brother Joe also showed up, and a few of the mothers form the school. We headed off for drinks afterward to celebrate.

So no sales as of yet, but the show is open till the 20th, and this weekend sees the invasion of Mullingar by Joe Dolan fans, for the unveiling of his statue. So maybe....

Update: I counted, and there are actually 30 artists, and a total of 54 paintings.

Crafting with the kids

Dara has been wanting to learn to sew, so this weekend we decided to give it a go. We started with making a neck gaiter - a scarf that doesn't have dangly bits, that turns into a hat if necessary. We used one of DHs for a pattern. We will post photos of those later. So once Dara had got that hang of using the machine, he wanted to make something he designed himself.

 

And this is what he ended up with. He cut rectangles of flannelette and fleece, got the hang of right side and wrong side, and pinned them together. He knew that he neede to leave a part open when sewing, which I though was rather clever of him, and I helped with the sewing. We turned it inside out, filled it with rice, and sewed the end - and voila - a little heat pack/pillow for his teddies.

 

Brother Leo - not to be outdone - wanted a pillow also. We ended up using material with 'the shape of a shed' which turns out to be a pretty nice shape for a neck warmer.

 

And it tickles! one side is purple polar fleece

 

The other is a cotton with elephants on it.

They have both gone to bed with their pillows heated up (by the microwave). Fast asleep....

In A Show!

 

While this is technically not my first show - I had some etchings in a show when I was doing a night course in NCAD - it's the first show in my new/old home, and it feels great.

2 painting were selected - Ben Bulben - and a hay painting which I entered right after painting, and didn't get a chance to take a photo of. Fingers crossed that I will get some interest in my work from this - I had some personal business cards printed to leave at the show - with a different title than my usual Engineering Manager or Tools and Process Manager - this one says Artist and Gardener - I like how that sounds....

As you can see from the invite, the show goes on till almost Christmas, which is great from a shopping point of view.

Grazing cow

 

Another recent one - Joe really likes it, so he'll be getting it for his 40th birthday - guess it's not a surprise, but don't think he reads this blog. It's entered in the upcoming Mullingar group show, but NFS. Wonder if it will be accepted...

Hay I

 

This one just got finished - this is it before I added the barbed wire, and put the finishing touches on it. It's already been submitted to the Mullinger group show, and thay have used this image in the invite - Can't believe it - I'm so excited- more to follow on this.

Art show in Mullingar

At my painting class, just heard about a group show which I can submit work to. Submissions on this Friday and Saturday, show will open November 26th. Hoping that at least one painting will be accepted. Fingers crossed!

Craft Swap

 

 

 

Above is the wonderful selection that Nicola sent me as part of the Autumn Swap she organised. In return she got the boat picture, and some cards. Really looking forward to the Christmas swap, and Dara is going to participate too...

Painting gone to LA

The big yellow painting(Fields of Rape) has gone on to LA - this is my first time to try posting a big painting, it's unframed, but on a canvas covered board rather than stretched. Looking forward to hear how it survives the journey.

Tagged

OK, so I just got tagged, let me see if I can get this right!

Thanks for Nicola for the tag - though I have to admit it has put me in a bit of a tailspin.

Here are the rules:
Link to the person who tagged you.
Post the rules on your blog.
Share six (6) non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.

Tag at least 3 people at the end of your post and link to their blogs.
Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Six Things About Me:

1 While this blog is all about my painting and crafts with the boys, my big passion is gardening (and cooking) (growyourownfood.blogspot.com)

2 Apart from cooking, I hate housework.

3 I love going to the lake with my 2 boys, and watching them throw rocks into the water. Earlier in the week we found crab apples , and rolled them down the hill. Free games are the best.

4 I find driving long distances great for working out creative problems.

5 I love to be productive - whether it's growing veg, baking bread, making chutney - I'm happier if it's large quantities.

6 I love creating order out of chaos.


The people that I would like to tag are Kiersten , Shannon, Peggy, Deborah,Eight Square Meters. I hope that you all accept the challenge, you're it!

Boats

 

Finished this one this week - another from the book of photos of Ireland taken from the sky. Somewhere in Donegal - this is a small on 12x12 inches. Very satisfying to paint, though...

Leo's first

 

Leo's first Christmas decoration. I was surprised at how much he liked making it...and how proud he was of the result.

Dara's decorations

 

Decorations made by Dara this week and earlier.

 

Hair clip by Dara

 

A beautiful hair accessory by Dara

Field of Rape

 

This was a picture on a calendar of one of my colleagues (thanks Treasa). It was really tough to do, I might try it again with a black underlay, and sponging the yellow on top. Happy enough with the end result...it's a big one 24 x 28 inches approx

Cards

 

 

 

Dara and I made some cards.

Farm scene

 

And old one from before Christmas 2008 - only noticed it recently....also small 10x12 in

Beautiful Cow

 

The only picture I managed to paint this summer, but class starts back next week, so I should have lots more to show soon. Love this lady, though - it's not a huge painting 12x10in at most, but I'm very happy with how it turned out.

Card making

 

Dara and I did some card making at the weekend. We made about 25 cards - here are some of them.