Whetnall Watercolours

New Year, New Career, New Paintings!

2012-01-24T02:56:00.000-08:00

The week before Christmas was the end of my career in IT. After more than 10 years working as an IT consultant, developing code, analysing systems and managing a team, I've taken the plunge and traded it all in for the chance to make a lifetime's dream a reality - to become an artist, full time!

It's going to be a major challenge, and will take a lot of hard work, new skills and struggles, but I'm ready for it!

In my first few weeks I've been researching, planning, stocking up my shop and starting to make the most of my time to develop my art and find my direction. I've also been working to a couple of exhibition deadlines - more on that to follow.

For now, here are a couple of my latest paintings, with some photos of the stages and how they were built up:

Pears for Breakfast

Planning - I started by arranging a still life, choosing complimentary colours and some of my favourite objects (you might recognise the central vase from some of my other paintings). The colours were also based around some beautiful yellow tulips and lovely conference pears. In the background of the still life set up I propped up one of my framed monoprints, and a book on botanical art. Once I was happy with the arrangement I made a quick sketch in pencil and watercolour, which allowed me to see anything that I needed to adjust, and got me started thinking about the structure of the painting.

First steps - I wanted the tulips to be the main focus of the painting, so without making an preparitory drawing on the paper, I started building up the tulips with loose bright yellows. I tried to keep each mark fresh, and used watersoluble coloured pencils, wax crayon and oil pastels throughout the painting, in addition to the watercolour.

Next - After completing most of the tulips and leaves I started to paint in the vase and some of the background - the little blue arches, and a bit of the cream book cover. I then tackled the other main features of the arrangement - the blue and white tea-pot, the lovely pears, the start of the mustard coloured vase, and the beginnings of the willow pattern plate:

Adding the background - The next step was to start tying the seperate areas together, and building up the background. I've used some spots of grey oil pastel to link up the middle section to the bottom left of the painting. I've added more of the monoprint and book cover behind the tulips:

Adding structure - Now that the painting is coming together I've added in a few lines to try and improve the composition and lead the eye around the painting. To echo the plate and bowl in the foreground I've added another curved edge on the left, a possible table edge. I've also added a couple of diagonal lines to draw the eye in to the composition.

Final stages - I've used some more of the deep blue from the central vase on the table edge, to balance the strong colour across the painting. For the remaining background areas I've used more subtle greys and cream, so that they don't distract from the main subject too much. There was a lovely red squiggle pattern in my framed monoprint in the background, which I've extended out from the monoprint to the far left top corner, as if the squiggles are floating from the tulips. I've used masking fluid to suggest the pattern of the green and gold tin which the tea-pot is standing on. I've also linked the apple into the painting by the addition of the rusty red sliver on the right of the pears.

The finished painting - Pears for Breakfast

Watercolour Mixed Media - 48cm x 36cm

David Hockney

I'm a huge fan of David Hockney and I've been wanting to paint his portrait for some time, it was great to have the time to do it!

I took quite a few (bad) photos of this as I went - I find it really helps to see your progress on screen, it's the same as looking at it from a distance really. I'll save you from a detailed description this time, the main stages were:

Pencil drawing directly on the watercolour paper, in an attempt to keep the energy of the drawing, rather than tracing from a separate drawing.
Watercolour for most of the painting but I've used some watersoluble coloured pencil to build up the darkness and depth of parts of the face.
When I'd almost completed the portrait i decided to add a simple background.

Finished!

If you like my work...

Check out my full stocked online Gallery & shop - www.francescawhetnall.etsy.com

I now have a Facebook page, where you can keep up to date with my latest work, exhibitions and discounts if you 'Like' my page: http://www.facebook.com/FrancescaWhetnall

You can also find me :

on Twitter - https://twitter.com/CeccaArt

on Flickr - http://www.flickr.com/photos/franny_b

on CafePress - http://www.cafepress.com/whetnallart

And at my website - http://francescawhetnall.co.uk/

Christmas Art and Craft Market

2011-11-24T14:39:00.001-08:00

Between 10am and 4pm on Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th December 2011 the Arlington Arts Cafe, Bournemouth will be hosting a fantastic Christmas Art and Craft market!
It's free to get in, and there will be teas, coffee's, mulled wine and home-made mince pies as well as some fab festive music! A selection of local artists and makers will be giving demos of their creative process and showing their beautiful creations.

On offer will be artwork, cards, Christmas decorations, jewellery, and many more hand-crafted gifts - all the work of talented local artists and crafters. It will be a lovely and relaxing way to shop for that extra special Christmas gift!

I'll be bringing a selection of framed and mounted paintings, some of my hand made jewellery, some prints (original and digital) and cards and some of my latest project - some upcycled art/note books! I'll also be doing a demo of some sort... perhaps a portrait? It should be a really great weekend of art and craft and I can't wait!

The Arlington Arts Cafe is in a glorious location, nestled in the middle of Bournemouth lower gardens, with a view of the gardens from the terrace - it's the perfect place to get away from the hustle and bustle of town and relax in a beautifully Christmassy environment full of art and craft goodness!

Why not come along for a look, and perhaps come away with some fabulous, unique, hand-made cards and gifts?

Here's a preview of some of the artwork I'll be bringing:

Gold Hill - original watercolour

Westbourne Arcade - Fine Art print

Trainer - Fine Art print

Sunflowers - original mixed media painting

You can see lots more in my online shop and even more on Flickr. Please let me know if there is anything in particular you'd like me to bring along to the Art market to have a closer look at!
And leave me a comment if you've got a preference on what sort of demo you'd like me to give :-)

Art Therapy for Heroes

2011-11-14T09:22:00.001-08:00

At school when I took a careers test, 100 multiple choicequestions which when fed into a computer told me my top 10 careers, the resultsincluded Art Therapist and it’s always held a real interest for me. In additionto my love of art and passion for creating, one of my main interests has alwaysbeen psychology and mental well-being. If it hadn’t been for the long years ofstudy needed (I think it was 7), perhaps I would have gone for it and be ahappy art therapist today. Who knows, perhaps one day I’ll get there!

A fascinating documentary special by the Culture Show ‘Artfor Heroes’ broadcast on Remembrance day, 11/11/11 gave an interesting and convincing insightinto how art therapy is helping ex-servicemen deal with the symptoms ofpost-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

The reporter, Tim Samuels met with a number of veterans ofrecent British conflicts including the Falklands and Northern Ireland, each of whomshares some of their personal struggles with PTSD as a result of their militarycareer. The programme gave a shocking insight into the symptoms of PTSD,revealing that it can take years for sufferers to seek help for the condition –many of them going through alcohol and drug addictions and failed marriagesduring that time. Through a unique art therapy programme run by the onlymilitary based art therapist in the country, the documentary goes on to showhow art is helping a group of war veterans come to terms with some of theirexperiences. It shows how the process of drawing, sculpting and paintingprovides a way to tap into violent or difficult past experiences or recurringthought patterns, and provides a release for those thoughts and feelings.

I can’t put it as well as the documentary, so I’ll stopthere and just recommend you watch it!

It’s really moving and thought provoking and well worth awatch – Art for Heroes - A Culture Show Special

I also found this great Art Therapy blog whilst researching for this post - Art Therapy Blog .

Adrian Hill - One amongst Many

Adrian Hill (1895 – 1977)

In 1917, Adrian Hill was the first official war artist appointed by the government to record scenes of the First World War, these works are now housed in the Imperial War Museum. Hill subsequently introduced the concept of art therapy into hospitals after being confined for TB. Hill coined the term "Art therapy" in 1942, and in 1945 published his ideas in the book "Art Versus Illness".

Hill thought that when the patient's physical resistance was at its lowest this somehow rendered the "animal ego" quiescent and allowed the creative powers of the "spiritual essence" to come through in works of art. On recovery, these creative powers would tend to wane back to the "pictorial commonplace".He recognised that war was not only physically destructive but also damaged "minds, bodies and hopes" and that the need for psychological healing was even more important than mere physical repair of "property and estate".He believed that the practice of art, "in sickness and in health" , could turn society away from war by making artistic creativity more appreciated. He saw art therapy as becoming an integral part of the National Health Service.

^{Adrian Hill info taken from Wikipedia - Adrian Hill}

Life drawing with Trish Jubb

2011-10-16T13:36:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago I spent a great day's life drawing at the Arlington Hotel as organised by Bournemouth Creative Breaks and taught by Trish Jubb.Trish is a great teacher, I've been to a number of life drawing classes in the past and often the teacher gives very little teaching or advice. Trish's exercises were really useful, and she explained everything very well and didn't try and teach too much at once.

We had a lovely day including a sunny lunch break spent on the terrace overlooking Bournemouth gardens and listening to live rat pack classics from a singer on the bandstand. Here are a few of my favourite drawings from the day:

Pride in Bournemouth - Lions Under the Hammer

2011-09-18T04:16:00.000-07:00

After a summer spent brightening up Bournemouthall 50 lions will be going under the hammer this evening to raise funds for theBorn Free Foundation and Julia’s House Hospice. Decorated by artists fromacross Bournemouth and Dorset the BeautifulLions have been gathered together for the last time on the south terrace of theThe Bournemouth Pavilion. They’ll be on display until 3pm today so head alongfor your last chance to see them before the auction.

The Gala auction is set to be an exciting event, with actorMartin Clunes, children’s TV presenter Chris Jarvis together with wildlifecampaigner Virginia McKenna. The auction is being led by celebrity auctioneerJames Lewis.

Tickets for the auction are available from the BIC Pavilionfrom just £5.

I managed to take pictures of some of the Lions beforethey were removed for the auction:

Middle-Earth Safari by Elanor McBay

Leatherbound by Lisa Berkshire

Fireworks by Carol Childs

Mist of Bournemouth by Dhaval Husmucial

Frankenlion by Domini Deane

Hylas and the Nymphs by Claire Pound

Temba by Natalie Guy

Ford Robot by Stuart Palmer

See more of my Lion photos on Flickr - Pride in Bournemouth

A bit about the Charities:

Julia’s House

Julia's House is dedicated to children with life-limitingconditions. The majority of the children they care for are unlikely to livebeyond the age of 18.

The Julia's House Community Team consists of 80 Nurses andCarers who travel the county. The children's hospice provides life-changingsupport for families both in their own homes and in the hospice itself. In 2009they provided 22,592 hours of care, an increase of 81% on the previous year’stotal.

Receiving only 3% of their funding from the Government,Julia's House relies on the Dorset communityto help raise the remainder of their required income.

The Born Free Foundation

The Born Free Foundation is an international wildlifecharity, devoted to conservation and animal welfare. They work to prevent thesuffering of wild animals and protect threatened species in the wild. Workingwith local communities to help people and wildlife live together withoutconflict, Born Free believes wildlife belongs in the wild and works to phaseout zoos. Born Free protects species including elephants, lions, gorillas,polar bears, tigers, wolves and many more in their natural habitat.

Junk Art Book - upcycled art

2011-09-17T04:36:00.000-07:00

Inspired by Kim Schuster's beautiful Junk Book I just had to have a go.

I've been wanting to do something like this for years and it's been great fun so far.
I've used cereal box and other thin card packaging to create the pages which I've painted with a mixture of acrylic gesso, acrylics and some poster paint. I punched holes in them before painting, and I'll bind it together with ribbons and string when it's finished.

Next step will be a bit of collage and some ocean themed drawings and paintings..

Here is a slideshow of my progress so far:

See the whole set on Flickr here - Junk Art Book - Step by Step

Red Hot Press - Fine Art Printmaking Open Studios

2011-08-16T13:57:00.000-07:00

I joined the Red Hot Press printmaking studios in July and I've enjoyed a smörgåsbord of fantastic printmaking workshops since then:

Lino print and Letterpress with Katherine Anteney
Wood engraving with Jutta Manser from the Society of Wood Engravers
Monoprinting & Watercolour with Kevin Dean http://www.kevindean.co.uk/
Screen printing with Sarah Mander
Pine Resin Etching & Aquatint with Jo Price

As a member I'm also eligible to exhibit in their Open Studios which are coming up as part of Hampshire Open Studios, yey!

The Red Hot Press Studio will be open with an exhibition of original prints by members for the next two weekends - 20 & 21 and 27 & 28 August. The exhibition will include framed and unframed work and handmade cards - all works will be for sale.

The 20th of August will also be the studio's annual Wayzgoose Fete.

- A wayzgoose was originally an entertainment given by a master printer to his workmen each year on or about St Bartholomew's Day (24 August). It marked the traditional end of summer and the start of the season of working by candlelight. Later, the word came to refer to an annual outing and dinner for the staff of a printing works.

At the Red Hot Press the Wayzgoose Fete means a day of printmaking activities, great music and refreshments!

The fete is on between 12 and 5pm on Sat 20th and the programme for the day will be:

1:00pm Free Printmaking taster, try your hand at drypoint printing.
2:30pm The ‘Slow Arrangers’ Ukulele Band.
3:30pm Free Bookbinding taster session.

I thoroughly recommend the Red Hot Press courses and the exhibition and Wayzgoose look set to be great too :-)

Below are some of the prints I've made during the workshops:

Handmade - Linocut and Letterpress

Wood engraving

Watercolour with Monoprint

Screenprints and etchings to follow!

For more info on the Open Studios or to have a look at their courses see their website - Red Hot Press

Lucian Freud in pictures

2011-07-21T15:56:00.000-07:00

Girl with kitten - 1947

Blond Girl - 1985, Etching

Eli and David 2005-06

Rabbit on Chair 1944

Girl in a dark jacket - 1947

Girl with a white dog - 1951

Interior at Paddington - 1951

Bella and Esther - 1988

Naked portrait with reflection - 1980

Reflection (self portrait) - 1981

Lucian Freud - Obituary in the Guardian

Treasury Tuesday - Mermaid Dreams

2011-07-05T12:45:00.001-07:00

A selection of beautiful Mermaid related items from Etsy, Click on the Treasury to link to all the items: Mermaid Dreams

Who would be
A mermaid fair,
Singing alone,
Combing her hair
Under the sea,
In a golden curl
With a comb of pearl,
On a throne?

I would be a mermaid fair;
I would sing to myself the whole of the day;
With a comb of pearl I would comb my hair;
And still as I comb'd I would sing and say,
“Who is it loves me? who loves not me?”
I would comb my hair till my ringlets would fall
Low adown, low adown,
From under my starry sea-bud crown
Low adown and around,
And I should look like a fountain of gold
Springing alone
With a shrill inner sound,
Over the throne
In the midst of the hall;
Till that great sea-snake under the sea
From his coiled sleeps in the central deeps
Would slowly trail himself sevenfold
Round the hall where I sate, and look in at the gate
With his large calm eyes for the love of me.
And all the mermen under the sea
Would feel their immortality
Die in their hearts for the love of me.

But at night I would wander away, away,
I would fling on each side my low-flowing locks,
And lightly vault from the throne and play
With the mermen in and out of the rocks;
We would run to and fro, and hide and seek,
On the broad sea-wolds in the crimson shells,
Whose silvery spikes are nighest the sea.
But if any came near I would call, and shriek,
And adown the steep like a wave I would leap
From the diamond-ledges that jut from the dells;
For I would not be kiss'd by all who would list,
Of the bold merry mermen under the sea;
They would sue me, and woo me, and flatter me,
In the purple twilights under the sea;
But the king of them all would carry me,
Woo me, and win me, and marry me,
In the branching jaspers under the sea;
Then all the dry pied things that be
In the hueless mosses under the sea
Would curl round my silver feet silently,
All looking up for the love of me.
And if I should carol aloud, from aloft
All things that are forked, and horned, and soft
Would lean out from the hollow sphere of the sea,
All looking down for the love of me.

The Mermaid - Alfred Lord Tennyson

Learning to sell Art online - 6 tips that made me think

2011-05-23T03:43:00.000-07:00

It's almost 3 years since I first set up shop on Etsy, and over that time I've been slowly learning how things work, and how I could make improvements. I've read hundreds of advice articles on Etsy and on other blogs and a few tips really stood out -

1. Nail your niche

Your shop should have a consistent aesthetic or product line. Don’t try to be everything to everybody. A shop full of cohesive work that connects with a potential buyer is a powerful thing. It is possible to work in several media and still have a cohesive body of work. Some artists and crafters have a well-formed sense of style, I'm still finding mine, but my shop can be the focus for the consistent aesthetic I'm aiming for. If your items don't fit together, don't be afraid to open a second shop. Build a cohesive body of work in your shop.

2. Do what you love

Be original and keep yourself interested in what you're making and selling. If you are not interested and excited by what you are doing, why should your customers be? There are millions of shops on Etsy, unless you are doing something unique and being true to yourself then you are not going to stand out. Give your items something that makes them unique - your style!

3. Make it look great

Take the best photos you can. Use all 5 listing photos and show all aspects of your art - a framed version, a packaged one, a hand held view etc. Create a strong image with your banner. Make a memorable impression. Present your items so exquisitely that they become irresistible!

4. Answer all questions

Answer all your buyers potential questions by giving full descriptions which include all details they might want to know. Try to imagine what you'd be wondering if you were looking for a particular item.

5. What's in a name?

The name of your shop is important, as are the words you use in your descriptions and tags. Certain words have different meanings and spellings in different countries (e.g. Watercolour is Watercolor in US English). It's important to have a shop name that has a universal spelling/meaning and doesn't include a rude word in any language!

6. Pricing

Pricing is incredibly difficult! I have often worried about under pricing or over pricing. If I price too high will I get any sales at all? If I price too low I'm under valuing my work and making my art look cheap. After reading a brilliant blogpost on the art of pricing photography I re-did my calculations and I've come up with a much more realistic pricing structure. To have even a remote chance of making a success as an artist I need to start pricing realistically so that I'm not making a loss with every sale!

First steps with a new shop!

So, I've taken the first steps to a new and improved online shop and I've opened the originally titled Francesca Whetnall on Etsy. I'm still not 100% about the name, but I thought it keeps it pretty simple and clear by just using my name. I'm still working my way through the other tips and I've got a lot more art to list, but I hope it will make a clearer aesthetic statement than my original etsy shop - Dick and Franny . I've still got a load of under-priced art and jewellery at Dick and Franny, but I'll probably move that shop to just jewellery, or close it down altogether...

If you have any comments on my new shop or other advice you'd recommend please leave me a comment. I hope some of these tips might be useful for others anyway. Below are my main sources of advice:

Have a look at these great articles for more tips and advice

Fantastic article that convinced me I really did need to start a new shop with a clear focus on Art -
Niche Thyself: Variety vs. Consistency in Your Online Shop by Wonder thinking

A great list of questions you need to answer -
20 Questions your buyers are asking by Mel from Sparkle - Rama

Fantastic article on how to price your work -
How to price portrait Photography - by Jodi Friedman, MCP Actions

More pricing advice -
The Art of Pricing - Can I disagree with the Storque Article please? - by Magic Jelly

Lots more tips from UK and Irish sellers on Etsy -
Etsy's UK & Ireland Seller Support Team - Top 5 things you wish you'd known

Thanks also to:

Amity UK
Jacob de Graaf of Modern Folk
Alchemy Fibre Arts
Cards & Craft
Deepa at Lazy Giraffe Jewellery
Bread and Circuses
Mandy Williams at Socky Socks

Postcard Portraits

2011-05-02T14:24:00.000-07:00

I'm still loving JKPP and still trying out new styles. I just can't help doing something different everytime. I'm sure I could develop more if I stuck to one style for a bit longer but I just can't resist switching techniques and medium after almost every picture...

Until now! After trying a postcard sized watercolour portrait I have managed to stick to this style (for some of the time anyway). Here are some of my latest paintings, all watercolours painted on postcard sized watercolour paper.

Stella Tooth ~ Portrait Artist from London.

Postcard sized watercolour

Find out more about Stella and her art at her website here

Susanne Dutoit ~ Artist

Postcard sized watercolour

See Susanne's stunning art on her photostream here

Paulien Maria ~ Documentary Film maker

Postcard sized watercolour

Visit Paulien's Blog here

Arturo Espinosa ~ Artist

Postcard sized watercolour

See Arturo's beautiful artwork on his photostream here

You can see all of the portraits I've done for Julia Kay's Portrait Party here

And you can find out more about the Party at the JKPP Blog

Little green monster

2011-04-26T01:24:00.001-07:00

His name is Harry but his friends call him Stinker...

Finger painted with Brushes on my iPhone.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Glass Blowing

2011-04-18T10:11:00.000-07:00

Beautiful video showing glass blowing artist Kiva Ford at work.

Amazing stuff!

Handmade Portraits: Kiva Ford from Etsy on Vimeo.

Dick and Franny ~ April Discount!

2011-04-04T12:51:00.000-07:00

I've just listed some of my new prints in my Etsy store in a brand new Printmaking Section and to celebrate I'm offering a lovely 15% discount on EVERYTHING in my Store for the whole of APRIL for all of my blog readers!

The code applies to ALL items listed in my shop (excluing postage and packaging).

To claim your discount simply type BLOGAPRIL2011 into the 'Shop Coupon Code' box when you place your order. The total will be recalculated to include the fab 15% off!

Monoprints ~ Echoes of Venice

2011-03-29T16:30:00.000-07:00

I've been on an experimental printing course this term and one of the many techniques we tried out was monoprinting. I've done some monoprints in the past, which I really enjoyed, so I had a good idea of what could be achieved. Monoprinting is a form of printmaking which uses images or lines that can only be made once, unlike most printmaking, where you create multiple original prints. There are lots of different techniques you can use to create a monoprint, including painting, drawing, collage and other mark making techniques. You can use one or several techniques to build up an image on a plate (which can be anything from a piece of card to a metal or wooden plate) which you then transfer to paper by either just pressing the paper on to the plate, or you can use a press or a roller. It's a bit tricky to explain it all without photos or diagrams - I'll try and do another post to show the steps some time!

The beauty of monoprinting is in it's spontaneity and its combination of printmaking, painting and drawing. The characteristic of this method is that no two prints are alike, a monoprint is a completely one off piece of art.

The prints below are my favourites from my recent monoprint experiments. To create them I mainly used a roller with a variety of coloured relief inks. I also used shapes cut from magazines, and some tissue paper collage (the technique of including collage pieces in a monoprint is also known as chine-collé).

Portraits 2010

2011-03-10T14:42:00.000-08:00

Julia Kay's Portrait Party has been such a huge inspiration to me in 2010, I've explored lots of different styles and techniques and learnt loads from all of the amazing work everyone else has been producing. These are some of my favourites from the portraits I've done.
I just wish I had more time to spend painting and drawing everyone!

1. Sue Hodnett - Artist, (central picture) Watercolour
2. NC Mallory - Artist, Digital (Photoshop)
3. Valerie Beeby (Purple Owl), Watercolour
4. Shitao 师涛 - Tim Williams, Artist, Watercolour
5. Giorgio Bordin, Watercolour
6. Anna Black, Watercolour
7. Neil Davidson, Pen
8. Serious Erica ~ homage to John Bavaro, I-Phone
9. Straw Herring, Watersoluble pencils
10. Anne Watkins - Artist, Fineliners
11. Frank V2 - Homage to Sue Rama, Digital (Photoshop)
12. The Happy Painter, Mixed Media
13. Hans 3/Peter Vanayk Fineliners

Created with fd's Flickr Toys

You can see all of my JKPP portraits here
See my previous New Portraits and JKPP posts

Happy Valentines!

2011-02-14T03:56:00.000-08:00

Pretty in Pink...

...Some pink favorites from Flickr

1. another rose for valentine...,
2. Daisy Daisy,
3. I Heart,
4. Pink Einstein,
5. Oriental lily,
6. Heart Circles in Pink,
7. crabapple,
8. G_Rose_Photobooth,
9. pink circus,
10. Rosa glauca,
11. curly pink,
12. Love bunny jewelry box,
13. love boat

Created with fd's Flickr Toys

Print Shop Revamp

2011-01-26T15:04:00.000-08:00

I realised my Cafe Press shop was a total mess so I've given it a bit of a revamp. I've now got some lovely new sections, and some fab new products like my gorgeous iPad cases! Here are a selection of my favourites...

One of my favourite paintings, 'Sunday Papers' available as a framed print in my new Framed Art Prints section -

An iPad case from my new Office and Stationary section

A simple but elegant valentine's card from my Valentine section -

I love these cushions! From my new Home Decor section

These greetings cards are great, really good quality. This one is 'Salzburg in Winter' from my Cards and Postcards section

Last but not least, one of my best selling designs, my Circles T-shirts come in a selection of colours and styles. From my Clothing range!

Butterflies

2010-11-28T15:07:00.000-08:00

It's cold outside.
I've taken loads of photos this year but not managed to post any of them so I thought it would be good to post something sunny, summery and beautiful.

Painted lady (Vanessa cardui)

Silver-washed Fritillary (Argynnis paphia)

Peacock Butterflies (Inachis io)

New Portraits

2010-06-25T03:49:00.000-07:00

I've created a new portraits section on my website and started updating it with some of my recent JKPP portraits. It's such a motivating group I've really been learning new ways to paint and draw and although I've drawn many pencil portraits in the past I used to lack the confidence to paint portraits. Now I can't wait to try out a new technique on a new face. Thanks again Julia!
I've also joined a new group with similar ideals, called Doodle Face. Even more faces to have a go at!

My website home page shows a random selection of images - sometimes I just can't stop refreshing the screen to see what combination comes up next!

Here are a few of my latest favourites:

The Happy Painter - Donna

I'm a huge fan of Donna's painting style, she is so free and expressive with her watercolours, I would love to learn that skill. I started this portrait with the hope of emulating some of Donna's style and capturing some of her energy and happy spirit. But my initial attempt was failing to capture any likeness.
So, I dampened the face area and started again with a more accurate drawing (in my initial attempt I'd begun with watercolour without any drawing lines). I then used Gouache to build up face. I've had some lovely comments on Flickr about the texture of the skin - but I wasn't really thinking about it's texture, I was just trying to get the right colours and tones in the right places - and it seemed to work quite well. Although this isn't a perfect likeness, it's quite close and I'm pretty happy with it as a painting.

What Donna said - "Oh yeah! The eyes, the eyes have it! And I am jealous of the way you do noses and skin!!! Yeehaw. I LOVE IT!"

Fairsquare - Sean Cronin

Sean's drawings are stunning, he's done many beautiful portraits for JKPP including a great one of me which I posted in my last blog - it's one of my favourites and really captures my frowning stare!
After my experiments with Gouache on Watercolour paper I thought I'd have a go with some Acrylic paper I've had for years but never use. I drew a quick pencil stetch to begin with and then used a combination or watercolour and acrylics to loosely sketch in the colours and tones. Although this isn't as 'finished' as it could be I really like the fresh and loose feel of the painting, so I decided to stop before loosing that.
As soon as I'd taken a photo of the portrait it was much easier to see where i'd gone wrong with the likeness, but nevermind! I think I captured Sean's sparkly eyes and slightly cheeky smile at least.

What Sean said - "Franny, you've got me! I'm dead chuffed! This is great. Thank you so much - love this."

Devon Lawrence

Devon is the only person so far who has chosen to tackle a portrait of me at an early age. His drawing is so beautiful and delicate, it's really lovely. Devon also has a fantastic set of photo references to choose from.

In attempt to learn from previous mistakes I tried to draw a more accurate pencil sketch before starting to paint this. Unfortunately my impatience kicked in and I didn't entirely perfect the likeness before diving in with the watercolour. In this painting I've tried to keep my washes large and fresh, and avoid having to rework them too much. I'm fairly happy with the results even though it did start to get a bit overworked in places. I also had to use a little bit of white watercolour in places to pick out the highlights - I would have preferred to have managed to keep the white paper showing for these, but I wasn't careful enough.

What Devon said - "Beautiful work Franny!"

Julia Kay's Portrait Party

2010-05-27T15:48:00.000-07:00

A month ago today I stumbled across a new group on Flickr - Julia Kay's Portrait Party. The group's rules are simple, join the group and draw or paint portraits of other artists and invite other artists to draw you!

I’ve always wanted to paint portraits, but it’s not always easy to find the sitters in the ‘real world’. So this is a great pool of resource – not only photographic, but also for the inspiration of seeing everyone else's style and technique.

It’s such a motivation to have the encouragement and support of a thriving group of diverse artists like this!

In the last few weeks I’ve painted and drawn in totally new ways than I’m used to. And now that I’ve added my photos to the pool it’s a whole new joy to see the amazing and creative versions of me. Anne Watkins summed it up beautifully - waking up to find new portraits of herself was like finding love notes in a bottle – treasures flung across the unknown – from people she could not hear or touch, only see and imagine.

For a great description of the birth of the Portrait Party and it's exciting growth, see Julia's article on the Women's Voices for Change site.

Here are just a few of some of my favourite portraits, some of the portraits I've done, and some of the fab portraits of me!

1. Andrew Mirzoian by Mariah O'Neill
2. Gila Rayberg by Jennifer Lawson
3. Margaux B by R K Schlueter
4. Peter Vanayk by me
5. NC Mallory by me
6. Me by NC Mallory
7. Wally Torta by me
8. NC Mallory by Wally Torta
9. Me by Sean Cronin
10. Sean Cronin by Timothy Schorre

To see more of the portraits or join the party go here
To check out Julia's great photostream go here

It was so difficult to choose just a few favourites that I'll be posting more soon!

V&A Fabrics

2010-05-02T10:47:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I went along to the Victoria and Albert's Quilt Exhibition - Quilts 1700-2010 .
It's a great exhibition with some beautiful quilts, some of my favourites were the ones with amazing appliqued people, trees and animals. I'll have to scan my photos to show some examples...

Anyway, as part of the exhibition's merchandising they've collaborated with Liberty and re-created a number of the original fabrics from the quilts. With beautiful designs dating from 1700+ I just couldn't resist. I haven't done any patchwork for a few years now, but I hope I'll have some time this year to put some of these lovely fabrics to use!

1. India Flower (Blue), 2. Seaweed, 3. Palm Tree (Blue), 4. Petals, 5. Stripes, 6. Seed Head (Blue), 7. Rose, 8. Leaf (Brown), 9. Shells

Folksy Friday - Vintage Roses

2010-04-30T10:51:00.000-07:00

I love vintage fabrics, and that classic English floral style. Hearts and roses, bows and lavender - delicious!
This Folksy Friday was also inspired by Deborah Good from Pretty Goods, who featured me on her beautiful Folksy Friday last week, and to Haptree who posted a fantastic blog explaining how to create this Folksy Friday layout!

Thank you Deborah and Haptree :-)

Here are a few of my favourite Folksy finds with a vintage fabric theme. Who needs Laura Ashley or Cath Kidston? Not only are these beautiful creations lovingly and individually designed and hand made in the UK, they are also amazing value for money!

All of these lovely items were found on Folksy. Click on the picture to view more of each talented seller's creations:

Architecture & Collage - New Work

2010-04-26T02:57:00.000-07:00

I seem to have a constantly growing stack of paintings and collage that I need to upload to Flickr, list on Etsy and Folksy, and tell you about here. This weekend I managed to find a bit of time to list a few things.

Rhapsody in Blue - Original Collage
This is a mixed media collage of blue and neutral coloured squares. I've included elements of drawing, stamping, painting, marbling and pieces from letters, magazines, sheet music and old books. I love the recycling nature of collage, creating new art out of fragments of old art, ephemera and junk!

Size: 8.5" x 8.5" (22cm x22cm)

Columns - Original Watercolour

A fresh and expressive watercolour painting of an arcade of columns in Barcelona. I sketched this first using pen and ink and then I've tried to keep the painting loose and expressive.

The suggestion of a figure in front of the archway adds to the sense of depth and perspective. I've also tried to capture a feeling of urban decay and isolation.

Size: 9" x 12" (23cm x 30cm)

York Minster - Original Watercolour
Original pen and watercolour painting of York Minster.
I sketched a close up section of the cathedral in fine line pens. I then added colour and detail with watercolours.

I've tried to keep the painting expressive and spontaneous. The close up view creates a more interesting composition, and a lively feel.

Size: 9" x 12" (23cm x 30cm)

Lush Summer Art - Treasury East

2010-04-16T10:37:00.001-07:00

Lush Summer Art - Treasury East
Originally uploaded by Franny B

My first Treasury East and I love it!
I've been really enjoying curating the Flickr galleries, so it's a great discovery to find out I can now do the same on Etsy. :-)

Click here to view the clickable Treasury: www.etsy.com/treasury/0585ea1db89cc84bf13d5800

The Nonna Translator!

2010-04-03T15:48:00.000-07:00

Dick and Franny Applications brings you yet another amazing web application for FREE!!!
The Nonna Translator translates from English to Italian in one quick click of a button, and in another click it speaks!
Click the switch-over button and The Nonna Translator will translate back from Italian to English, and can speak in English too!
You too will be astounded, amazed and delighted! Free and fabulous, who could ask for more!?

Click here to have a go - The Nonna Translator

Learn Italian and wow your friends!

Happy Easter!

2010-04-03T15:30:00.000-07:00

I haven't had enough time to sort out all of my photos of my Easter jewellery, but here are a few shots that make me smile :-)

The Waterfront, Bournemouth

2010-03-20T05:37:00.000-07:00

On 20th January 2010, Bournemouth Council announced that it is buying the Waterfront building on Bournemouth’s seafront – once voted England’s most hated building in a Channel 4 poll. Hurrah! This monstrosity has been ruining the view of Bournemouth's seafront for as long as I've known it. It will be so good to have a view of the beautiful coastline and seafront.

Bournemouth Council are considering a number of options as a replacement. Their main aims are:

1.To improve sea views; and
2.To bring about an all-weather attraction that is commercially viable, successful and can be enjoyed by people from all walks of life, in a building that residents can be proud of

And they're putting six options to the vote:

1.A water park
2.An interactive arts activity centre and museum
3.Tropical gardens
4.A spa
5.Performing arts space and amphitheatre
6.A family play park
7.Boutiques and bistros

Whilst I really like the idea of the arts activity centre and museum it's difficult to tell how it would work and exactly what the activities would involve. I also quite like the sound of tropical gardens - but I think any solution needs to combine a number of things - cafe, gardens, fountain & arts and crafts!

Here are my thoughts (and comments to the council) -

It would be good to have space for a local art & craft gallery or shops. There is a real lack of art & craft venues in Bournemouth so this would fill a much needed gap in the market. Craft supplies shops and boutiques would add to the creative feel e.g a bead shop, art supplies shop, model shop, knitting/embroidery supplies.

If this could be combined with an area for art and craft workshops that would be a real benefit to all ages of the community. Art and crafts are a great way to unite people and get the community talking and sharing experiences at the same time as learning new skills. It's also a great way to get people involved with the environment, Bournemouth's history, different cultures. The possibilites are endless and it's a great opportunity to improve the culture and social environment of Bournemouth.

Having the workshops so close to the inspiring sea front area would make them really attractive - painting the sea, making paper mache fish, beach hut models, sea inspired jewellery - we could really make the most of the beautiful coast and seaside attractions.

Possible workshops include:
Drawing
Watercolours
Knitting
Silver Clay jewellery
Beading
Puppet making
Electronics/robotics
Nature studies

Arts University College Bournemouth run a range of courses that could be adapted to one day or half day workshops.
Bournemouth Creatives are another source of creative people who could run workshops.

Why not have your say?

For more detail on the options and to vote see the council's website here

Some Seaside crafts created with fd's Flickr Toys

1. Sea Breeze by Hollie Lollie
2. Seeegulls by NiftyKnits
3. Fish bar Soap by Blue Marmalade
4. wooden fish by The Bunny Maker
5. Fabric Fish by Apple Cottage Company
6. Shells and Squares silver pendant by Alibali Jewellery
7. Fish Paper by Carole King
8. Under Water bangle by Penny Dog Accessories
9. Funky fused glass fish by Glass Primitif

Exciting Collaboration!

2010-03-11T14:34:00.000-08:00

Early last month I received a fantastically generous offer from someone via my Dick and Franny shop on Folksy. The talented and very lovely Kat Milligan offered her photography and modelling to me to help create beautiful images of my jewellery.
As someone struggling to find enough time to paint and make jewellery, let alone photograph, edit and list my work, this was an offer too good to be missed! It can make a huge difference having high quality photos, so I was thrilled to be given this great opportunity.

Since offering me the collaboration Kat was involved in an accident which left her with an almost completely severed finger! Argh! I can't believe she's continued with the commission. After an operation to reattach her finger Kat has persevered and mastered one handed photography with the lovely model Lylium who struggled through bad weather to attend the photoshoot.
I'm really grateful to Kat and Lylium, and I can't wait to see all of the photos!

Here is a taster of the great results:

Check out Kat's Photography on RedBubble

And her modelling page on Model Mayhem

And Lylium's moddelling page on Model Mayhem

My Colours

2010-02-25T16:48:00.001-08:00

Some of my favourite paintings. Is there a recurring theme?

My Colours
Originally uploaded by Franny B

Mosaic Monday - Happy Valentines!

2010-02-15T03:58:00.001-08:00

1. sweet love 5x5, 2. Red Sugar Flowers, 3. Illustration Friday - Celebrate, 4. sweet heart..., 5. ATC - Door to my heart {traded}, 6. hearts..., 7. tangled web of love1, 8. Love Lines ACEO Collage, 9. Heart locket necklace, 10. Little tweeters, 11. http://flickr.com/photos/41795916@N00/3679339013/, 12. Heart on stone, 13. sweet love 5x514. Not available15. Not available16. Not available

Created with fd's Flickr Toys

New Paintings - Negative Painting & Frisk Film

2010-02-01T13:33:00.000-08:00

Negative Painting - Bee on salvia

Painted from Sarah M's lovely photo: www.flickr.com/photos/daftdabbler/2127038309/
From the group 'Artists Sharing Photo References' : www.flickr.com/groups/aspr/

I haven't tried this sort of thing before, so the background went a bit wrong. And I didn't know what I was doing with the negative painting, so I didn't really manage it. I quite like the richness of the colours tho - I'll just have to try again!

To see some fantastic negative painting, and a great tutorial have a look at Beverly Morgan's Flickr stream. Here is a link to 'Step 1' of her tutorial: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bevmor/4291143834/

And here is an example of one of her beautiful negative paintings, "We follow the Sun":

Frisk masking Film - Painted lady

I painted this background right after painting the Bee background, so at least I knew to work fast and not let parts dry. What I hadn't quite realised, was that I didn't need to put down such strong colours. I think I was just panicking in my rush to get paint down before the paper dried!

This was also my first experiment with 'Frisk' masking film. I can't believe how easy to use and brilliant it is! By the time I'd stuck it down, drawn round my drawing, unpealed it, stuck it back to the backing paper, cut out the shapes and stuck it back on the paper, it was really not sticking at all. But when I painted the edges down with water and then paint the film stayed magically in place! Now that I've got a better idea of how to use it, I won't do that sticking, unsticking thing again and I guess it will be even easier!

I'm not sure if it's worth trying to darken or lighten the background. Or if I should just learn from the mistake and have another go...

Painted from my photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/franny_b/3859767453/in/set-72157623158286092/

Etsy Pixel Picker!

2010-01-29T16:51:00.000-08:00

Check out my new amazing Etsy Pixel Picker!

You can upload a picture from your PC or pull in a picture from the internet by pasting in the jpg URL. Then click somewhere on the image where you see a colour you like and watch as a magical rotating colour cube of Etsy items appears. If you don't like the items click again!

This could be great for finding earrings or jewellery to match an outfit - just upload a photo and click to search!

Here's a screenshot of me playing with one of my favourite paintings. I picked up a lovely leaf green from the stripes on the right:

Have a go and enjoy! http://www.francescawhetnall.co.uk/sl/etsy/etsypixelpicker.htm

NB - You'll need to install the Silverlight plugin when prompted. (Silverlight is Microsoft's version of Flash).

The Broadway Melody

2010-01-26T15:48:00.001-08:00

I've got a lovely new scanner and I've started scanning and uploading my vintage books and songsheets to Flickr. A lot of them are quite tatty, but the illustrations are still great!

Broadway Melody - Written by Arthur Freed, composed by Nacio Herb Brown:

There may be streets that have their sorrow,
They built that street for smiling faces;
A tear today, a smile tomorrow;
Of glum folk there you'll find no traces;
But there's a street that lives in glory,
For down that road of life and chatter,
It always tells the same old story.
It's only happy people matter.

Don't bring a frown to old Broadway,
You've got to clown on Broadway.
Your troubles there are out of style,
For Broadway always wears a smile.
A million lights, they flicker there,
A million hearts beat quicker there.
No skies of gray on the great White Way,
That's the Broadway Melody.

Draw Gallery - sneak preview!

2010-01-03T13:46:00.000-08:00

It's new, it's here and it's amazing!!
How would you like to draw your own gallery in seconds?
Here are some examples, I'm sure you can do better!:

To draw your own gallery:

- Use the tools on the tool bar to draw your own gallery.
- Use the Image tool to draw any shape you want an image to appear in. You can draw as many images as you like.
- Use the Next Button tool to draw any shape you want for a next button. You can draw as many next buttons as you like.
- Use the Prev Button tool to draw any shape you want for a previous button. You can draw as many previous buttons as you like.
- Use the Decorate tool to decorate the gallery. Use the colour palette to choose your colours. Remember you can also use the green and red Next and Prev Button tools as decorations.
- The tool bar can be hidden using the toggle tab on the side.

Have a go here: The Draw Gallery

It's not completely finished yet, but it's pretty good!

At the moment it's picking up pictures from my Flickr Feed, but there may be further developments so that it can pick up any Flickr feed...

Amazing Silverlight Physics Banner

2009-12-21T16:18:00.000-08:00

Wow!! look at my amazing new 'Dick and Franny' banner. It was created in Silverlight using physics and other magic stuff.
You can drag and drop the letters & make up exciting new words, or just pile them up in a heap!
Brilliant fun!!

The original static image was taken from my Etsy shop's header, I'm not sure if there is a way I can add it back into Etsy...

Christmas Angel

2009-12-07T04:00:00.000-08:00

Original watercolour and ink painting of a Christmas Angel.
I tried out a few techniques for this painting -

1. I started with the sky, painting a mixture of pinks and purples in a wash of watercolour over the whole sky, leaving a curved shape at the bottom white, for the snowy hill. Into the sky I sprinkled salt, to give the snowy effect - as the paint dries the salt absorbs the paint wherever it's sprinkled, leaving an interesting speckled texture.

2. Using a very thinned down wash of lilac/purple I added some shadowy textures to the snowy hill.

3. I painted in the trunk and branches of the trees using some white acrylic. I used this quite thickly, so that the sky didn't show through.

4. Using a selection of coloured fine line pens I drew the angel across the sky. I used blues to outline her dress and yellow and oranges for her hair, halo, wings and trumpet.

5. I used more white acrylic to highlight areas of the angel, and make her stand out from the background. You can still see some of the original pink speckly sky in areas of her dress. I also added touches of yellow watercolour to the trumpet and parts of her wings.

6. The final step brought the whole painting to life - before this the sky was speckled pink all over and the angel and trees weren't standing out enough. I mixed up a large quantity of dilute midnight blue watercolour and painted a wash over the whole sky, being careful to paint round the edges of the angel, and to leave space round the branches of the trees.

I've ordered some Christmas cards using this design, can't wait to see how they turn out!

This original painting is available in my Etsy and Folksy shops:
Dick and Franny at Etsy
Dick and Franny at Folksy

Francesca Whetnall 2010 - Watercolour Calendar

2009-11-20T13:11:00.001-08:00

I've just created a calendar of my watercolours for 2010. I've chosen a broad selection of my paintings from this year. All are watercolours but some have some mixed media elements and one has a bit of collage. I've also selected a combination of still life and landscape paintings as a reflection of the way I paint - moving from one subject and style to the next.

The paintings I've chosen are:

January - Little Window

February - Roses

March - Yellow Tulips

April - Bluebells

May - Forde Abbey

June - Boats at Beer

July - Barcelona Sunshine

August - Red Tulips

September - Sunflowers

October - Gold Hill

November - Have a Nice Day, Mr Shark

December - Winter Shadows

View the full calendar here:

Magic Mosaic!

2009-11-09T15:50:00.000-08:00

A mini mosaic of some of my Etsy items!

Christmas Watercolour - Help!!?

2009-11-09T04:27:00.000-08:00

I've recently been aiming for a loose, expressive style along the lines of Shirley Trevena's work. In this painting I was trying to do a Christmas themed still life, playing with pattern, paint and perspective a bit. But I didn't plan the composition very well! I'm pretty happy with the teddy bear, but I added the teacup quite late on and now it looks as though it's sprouting from the bear's foot. The kettle's spout isn't placed very well either....

Overall I'm quite pleased with the bear and kettle, but the foreground composition has really made a mess of the whole thing. I'd be very interested to hear any feedback or comments you have? I've posted the painting on Flickr and added it to a number of critique groups, and I've already been getting some really helpful feedback!

My current thoughts are that I could cut the elements out of the painting (bear, kettle, angel, cup) and start again as a collage. I could also bring in some Christmas ephemera and other bits and pieces that might add something to the composition and textures...

If anyone has any suggestions on what I could do to fix or improve this painting I would be very grateful to hear them!

Latest Paintings

2009-11-07T04:48:00.000-08:00

Sunflowers

This started out as a quick 'Shirley Trevena' style practice painting. It went a bit wrong in the middle so I thought I'd try adding some collage bits to it. I tried to keep it simple by only using some sheet music strips, some blue Japanese patterned paper and the central sunflower which is a piece of paper I painted yellow and then used pen and watercolour to add detail.

I'm not sure if it's finished yet.

Water Lily

This is another attempt to get the lose and expressive 'Shirley Trevena' style. It was a very late entry for the Lotus watercolour challenge from Lorus Maver's great photo: Lotus Challenge Photo. There were so many beautiful paintings from this photo, by the talented Flickr group, that I had to give it a try. All of the versions can be seen in the group's pool here: Lotus Challenge entries

The 'Watercolourist, Painting with Light' group has been running challenges like this for a year now but this is the first one I've taken part in. Hopefully I can start catching up with the others from now on!

This painting is predominantly watercolour, but I've also used a bit of salt and some coloured pencil in places. And quite a bit of wax candle for the sparkly highlights on the water and lily pads.

Little blue jug

Again, I'm trying to work on still lives in a Trevena style. I bought this great little jug and bowl in a charity shop recently and I'll probably be using them in many more still lives to come. I've used water-soluble pencils in the background and for some of the details of the bottle. I used a wax candle for the pattern on the bowl - not ideal, but I've run out of masking fluid. I've also used a bit of the pencil sanding technique in places - i.e rubbing watersoluble pencils on sand paper over wet paint, it gives a great speckly texture.

Hantsweb Award Nominated!

2009-11-01T09:47:00.000-08:00

Hurrah! My art gallery & shop website, http://www.francescawhetnall.co.uk/ has been nominated for a Hantsweb Award!

The Hantsweb Awards celebrate excellence in website design, accessibility and service, so it's a real honour to be nominated. So far 1000s of sites have been whittled down to a hundred or so and the next step will knock the list down to a shortlist of just 10 sites in each category. The judges will then nominate a winner and 2 runners up in each category.

I've been nominated in three categories:

Small Business

Special Interest

Business Innovation

The Business Innovation category is new this year and has been added to recognise the effective ways companies have used the web to drive business during the recession.

Leader of Hampshire County Council, Councillor Ken Thornber, said: “Good quality design is vital to ensuring websites remain easily accessible and simple to navigate for everyone. The Hantsweb Awards are a great way of encouraging best practice examples and celebrating those websites that are leading the way in their field and delivering the goods."

It's really great to get such encouraging feedback from this nomination, and to know that the clear design of my website makes it both accessible as well as enjoyable to view!

Fingers crossed for the next stage! :-)

The female of the species is more deadly than the male

2009-10-30T10:46:00.000-07:00

Sexual Cannibalism

Sexual cannibalism is where the female of the species attacks, kills and eats a male of the same species before, during or after mating. It's common in many families of spider, insect and amphipod (shrimp-like crustaceans). In most species in which it occurs, sexual cannibalism is related sexual dimorphism, where the female is much larger than the male.

There are competing theories on how the practice evolved. Some biologists suggest that sexual cannibalism is just the result of a voracious female appetite. But experiments have also suggested that females use it as a technique to select the best fathers for their offspring. Some sexual cannibalism might occur because the female regards her suitor as more acceptable as a meal than as a mate.

As an adaptive female strategy, sexual cannibalism is easy to understand. There are two clear advantages to sexual cannibalism:
Natural Selection - Any male who succumbs to the female's attempts to devour him before mating occurs fails to pass on his DNA.
Nutrition - Any male eaten by a female, whether he has mated with her or not, provides the female with nutritional benefits which should increase the quantity or quality of her offspring.

For males, sexual cannibalism seems a less than satisfactory strategy. For some it seems to have evolved as an extreme form of paternal investment. In other species, the males are less happy with the arrangement, and use diverse strategies to decrease their chances of being cannibalized. Some, particularly Nursery Web spiders, bring the female a diversionary meal.

The Black Widow Spider

The female Black Widow Spider is known for her distinctive black and red markings, which are designed to warn potential predators away. Only the female black widow bites humans, and she bites only when disturbed, especially while protecting her eggs.

Her bite is highly venomous, which is effective for disabling and killing her prey of insects and occasionally other spiders. The toxin affects the nervous system - muscle and chest pain or tightness are some of the most common reactions to the black widow bite. Fatalities in humans have occurred and are most commonly due to respiratory paralysis.

On occasion the female will eat the male after mating, generally the smaller the male is, the higher the likelihood that she will devour him. As a method of self preservation, male black widows often restrain females in silk prior to mating. And if the male survives copulation he will often fertilise multiple females.

Sources:

Is the female of the species more deadly than the male? - Scienceray

Sexual Cannibalism - Wikipedia

Black Widow Jewellery

Please visit my Etsy or Folksy stores for more deadly jewellery:

Esty Jewellery

Folksy Jewellery

Black, White and Red

2009-10-26T03:19:00.000-07:00

Oo, this is fun, it's digital scrapbooking but with real clothes and accessories.
For my first attempt I had to go for spots and stripes and red and black:

Black, White and Red by ceccacat featuring DKNY accessories

I'm not too sure how great i'd look wearing the wellies, scarf, fantastic telephone bag and spotty helmet all at once!

Shop Redesign

2009-10-20T14:16:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure exactly what I was thinking but I thought it would be fun to rearrange my Etsy shop's categories from sensible categories like 'prints', 'original art', 'jewellery' and 'cards' into interesting themes....

So, at the moment I have the following categories:

Autumn Harvest

English Country Garden

Coastal Creations

Rainbow Brights

Urban Jungle

Eastern Promise

I do quite like the groupings, it makes me feel like there is some method to my madness, and that I am drawn to particular themes.

I do love the sea and I always want to paint more beach huts, boats and coastal scenes. I love autumn colours and textures - leaves & berries, golden and warm. But the same goes for bright, strong colours, I don't generally like pale, washed out shades. I would really like to spend more time on the 'Eastern' style stuff, Morocco, India, Egypt - all hot and spicy colours and rich textures, but contrasted with some deep dark shades and intricate details, mmm!

Most of all I like categorising things!

But, I think it probably makes my shop pretty tricky to navigate. It wouldn't be quick to find all the prints, or earrings, without going to the trouble of searching for them. So I think I should go back to my original categories. But I'll leave it for a few days in case it grows on me..

What do you think? Terrible idea?

Any comments or suggestions you have would be great :-)

Golden October

2009-10-04T05:10:00.000-07:00

It's great to be featured in an Etsy treasury, especially a beautiful Autumn one!
Thank you Pazzapazza!

Until it expires, see the Treasury here: Golden October

I've also been lucky enough to have my 'Golden Tree' print featured in Deelight's beautiful Autumn Themed 'Folksy Friday'

There are so many beautiful Autumn themed arts and crafts on Etsy and Folksy, it's very tempting and inspiring!

I particularly love the patchwork cushion cover by Midsummer Stitches on Folksy:

Weekend Deals on Etsy and Folksy

2009-08-17T08:02:00.000-07:00

From this friday 21st August until Sunday 23rd I will be offering 15% off all jewellery in my Etsy and Folksy shops.

Just enter the code "weekend deals" in the message to seller and the discount will be refunded promptly through Paypal.

I have some great charm bracelets for autumn:

Owl and Teddy Bear charm bracelet

Chunky Berry bracelet

Purple and bronze charm bracelet

Lots more jewellery available in my Etsy and Folksy stores:

http://www.dickandfranny.etsy.com/

www.folksy.com/shops/dickandfranny

Folksy Faves

2009-08-11T14:43:00.000-07:00

A few of the beautiful handcrafted items available on Folksy. I can't believe the prices of some of these!! So much time, love and skill has gone into them, I don't know why anyone would by mass produced stuff when they could have such lovely one off originals as these...

Created with fd's Flickr Toys

1. Handpainted wooden boat by Elli Moody
2. Robot Boy Resin Figurines by Mooglet P. Bear
3. The New Forest by Amy Blackwell
4. Cupcake Brooch by Molly's Mum
5. Finn a Plush Green Frog by Covetables
6. Blackberry Fluffy Flower by HMS Designs
7. Country cottage tea cosy by Vintage Town
8. Umbrellas Print by Sparklehen
9. Wilson Chicken Doorstop by Junky Chicken

Folksy Mosaic

2009-08-04T15:17:00.001-07:00

1. Untitled, 2. Westbourne arcade, 3. bowl of strawberries, 4. chunky berry, 5. Bottles, 6. Waterjug and onion, 7. Roses, 8. Forde Abbey

Created with fd's Flickr Toys

I sold my first card on Folksy today, woohoo! :-)

Qoop!!

2009-07-29T15:23:00.000-07:00

I've set up a store on Qoop!

It's a printing website that's partnered with Flickr so it looks pretty good. I like the variety of prints and products and the site seems mainly easy to use, apart from a few problems setting up the product listings.

Here are some of the products I've set up so far:

Ohio Girl Talks - Interview with me!

2009-07-16T12:38:00.000-07:00

The lovely Vanessa from Ohio Girl Talks has done an interview with me about my art and my Dick and Franny Etsy store. She's also doing a giveaway of 5 of my greeting cards. It's great to see I've had loads of lovely comments so far and it's only been a couple of days!

Please have a look at the interview and enter the giveaway if you'd like to be in with a chance of winning 5 of my cards:

Found On Folksy

2009-07-03T05:23:00.000-07:00

I've been featured on Found on Folksy! What a lovely surprise to be featured when I only set up my Folksy Dick and Franny store a couple of weeks ago and I haven't had time to stock it fully yet.

Thanks to Jo Whitehead from Glassprimitif for the lovely feature!

In honour of my found feature I thought I'd follow the same lovely seaside idea and show you some of the sea themed items that I've recently listed in my Etsy and Folksy stores. I've always loved the sea and now that I'm living just 20mins walk from Bournemouth beach I have much more opportunity for seaside inspiration!

Here are some of my latest creations that have been inspired by the sea:

Beneath the Sea - Original Monoprint - $90 (£55)
This is an original monoprint from a series of five I created using leaves, string and a feather. A monoprint is a completely one off piece of art, but in this case I developed the theme using similar colours and objects in each print. I love the watery feeling and the textures in this print.

Chunky Aqua Charm Bracelet - $34 (£21)

Aquamarine, turquoise, baby blue and silver beads sparkle alongside beautiful silver charms in this gorgeous, chunky charm bracelet. Hand picked from my eclectic collection of vintage and new beads this bracelet really is unique!

Tropical Waters - Original Collage - $38 (£23)

Mixed media collage with an under water theme.
Contains watercolour, drawing, stamping and collage elements.

Blue Horizons - large Original Watercolour $140 (£86)

Cool blue and white abstract watercolour painting.

I love allowing the watercolour to create patterns and textures

and to merge vibrant colours as I paint. Intense blues and

cool white stripes, blue horizons, waves or clouds...

Sea Air - Fine Art Print $20 (£12)

Giclee print created from my original watercolour painting 'Sea Air'. This blue and white watercolour still life is fresh and breezy and really brings the seaside air in!

Cornish Harbour - Original Watercolour painting - $68 (£42)

Beautiful original watercolour painting of a cornish harbour at dusk.

Don't you just wish you were there?

To see more of my art and jewellery please have a look at my stores:

Dick and Franny on Etsy

I've now listed over 100 items in my US store!!

Dick and Franny on Folksy

Early days for my UK Folksy store, just 3 items at the moment but watch this space!

LIFE, DEATH & KAHLO

2009-06-26T15:56:00.000-07:00

My talented and philosophical friend Christine Moor recently set up a new group on Flickr for Picture Series - Bildtafeln. Christine says about the group:

"Collecting and combining images as a picture series to illustrate a certain theme. Discovering images in its multilayered functions in context with others and work out the different meanings and symbols, that are hidden and show up in certain combinations.

Illustrating certain aspects of images such as compostion, light, contrast, perspective. Illustrating terms and themes of the everyday live experience in culture and society. Images as a "language" that has its own rules to narrate a story..."

The group already has a stunning selection of 'Picture Series' images and I must confess I am addicted!

Here are my latest contributions:

IDENTITY

1. Untitled, 2. hiding, 3. Justus, 4. Day Thirty-Seven, 3 SIXTY 5, 5. Identity, 6. IMG_0838, 7. shadow, 8. 50/365, 9. Bat Girl - The Morning

LIFE, DEATH & KAHLO

1. FRIDA KHALO, 2. PASSAGE ( in memory of R.B. Kitaj), 3. I've seen things...., 4. Ecstatic, 5. Rose, 6. Ars Moriendi (The Art of Dying), 7. Ode To Frida Khalo, 8. dreamcatcher, 9. No para Innita: The Populi Interview.

Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

Craft Giveaways!

2009-06-26T09:39:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking about doing a give-away for some time, perhaps even start doing monthly give aways! So I thought I should do a bit of research into the sort of things people are offering - there are some great freebies out there, here are some I came across today....

Bree and Brandon Bliss are giving away a gorgeous Bird Pillow from their Etsy shop Little Pink Orchard

Knitting needle/Crochet set & yarn giveaway from eKnittingNeedles.com - Giveaway hosted by Felting.CraftGossip.com On until 7th July 2009

Sew Fabulous are giving away an Amy Butler Midwest Modern Fat quarter bundle. Giveaway on until 30th June 2009

Kelly Goree is giving away a series of stamping goodies over the next few weeks, relating to Jennifer Mcguire's Thinking Inking class

Daisy by the Sea is giving away this pair of beautiful glass and silver filigree heart earrings .

The giveaway is being drawn on the 1st of July.

Ohio Girl is hosting a giveaway for Cards Corner until the 17th of July. Hany will be giving away 2 lovely sets of felt birds and 2 wired angels from her shop.

Architecture Art on Etsy

2009-06-22T14:22:00.000-07:00

1. Charles Bridge - Arkitektur

2. Blue House - James Keniston

3. Westbourne Arcade - Francesca Whetnall at Dick and Franny (me)

4. Sanctuary of Light - Aaron Overstreet

5. Tall Houses - Dancing Girl Art

6. Ion Gardens - Olechko

7. Laundry Day - ArtQuirk

8. English Cottage - ArtWorm

9. Architectural Column - Ahvantegarde

10. Custom House Portrait - Doodle and Hoob

11. Sunlight in Uzes - Mozo

12. Royal Albert Hall - Olechko

13. Old Blue House - Debra L Phillips

14. Prague Church - Inkfinger Sutter

15. 1849 Antique Drawing - Banana Strudel

16. A bit of Paris - ArtQuirk

Portraits

2009-05-27T14:14:00.000-07:00

I would love to have the time and subjects to paint and draw more portraits. When I lived in student flats at University it was great to have lots of willing subjects available! Hopefully I'll find some time and people to get back into portraiture again someday. For now I'm happy to enjoy the amazing variety and beauty of portraits on Flickr - there are some stunningly talented people out there, here are some of my favourites:

1. Alma Garret, 2. Disturbed, 3. susan, 4. SUEÑOS DE BAILAR, 5. V, 6. Commissioned George, 7. Misia, 8. Paula Ramires - Portrait, 9. M6, 10. grief I, 11. SARAH VAUGHAN (American Jazz Vocalist) re-post from 2008 by request, 12. Rostro ( Autorretrato), 13. study #2, 14. sp drawing, 15. pastel portrait of laura from 07, 16. version

Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

Circles & Sales

2009-05-20T15:55:00.000-07:00

Woohoo!
I've been having a great week for sales, I've sold a couple of paintings, a couple of bracelets and a few cards!!! Which is great - It seems that my little Etsy shop is picking up some views and building up an audience. It's great to know that people like my work and I'm getting some really lovely feedback too.

I've also not been doing too badly with sales in my CafePress shop. I started selling on CafePress nearly 2 years ago now. Their products are great - it's such a nice idea, anyone can upload photos or their own designs and paintings and the site will print your images on any of a range of products when someone places an order. So the site takes care of the production and postage of your items for you and you earn a small commission when your designs sell - genius!

So far my best selling item is my 'Circles' throw pillow - it is gorgeous, so I'm not surprised :-)

I've also sold a fair few of the same design on T-shirts:

I also recently sold this framed print - it's great to think that my work is hanging on walls across the world now! This week I've sold paintings, cards and jewellery to America, Canada, Russia and the UK, wow! :-)

The only drawback in the past has been that the site was US based, with all of the prices in dollars. But now they've got a UK version, with prices in pounds which is great!

Please have a look at my online shops to see more of my art and many more exciting products!

My UK Cafe Press site: http://www.cafepress.co.uk/whetnallart
My US Cafe Press site: http://www.cafepress.com/whetnallart

My Etsy store for Original Art and Jewellery: http://www.dickandfranny.etsy.com/

Chunky Charms

2009-05-18T14:06:00.000-07:00

I've been doing quite a bit of beading on and off over the past few months - here are some of the results.

1. rich harvest, 2. disco black , 3. treasure chest, 4. pink & aqua, 5. egyptian queen, 6. red and black , 7. purple & bronze, 8. apple green & silver, 9. silver & plum, 10. owl necklace, 11. blue, 12. green & mean, 13. green & mean, 14. woodland, 15. aqua, 16. chunky berry
Created with fd's" Flickr Toys.

I sold a few of them at the Hastings exhibition and I started listing them in my Etsy store yesterday and I've had a sale already! yay!

Please visit my shop for more: www.dickandfranny.etsy.com

Bicycle Blues

2009-05-09T02:08:00.000-07:00

Some great bike based art on a selection of Etsy items:

I want to ride my bicycle, original ACEO by me:

The Patrick Connection - A slideshow of the Exhibition

2009-04-26T11:53:00.000-07:00

Interview with an Artist - Thomas Whetnall

2009-04-13T01:37:00.000-07:00

Tom studied Illustration at the University of Westminster. A mixed media artist and illustrator, his work ranges from detailed pen and ink drawings to painterly digital designs. He has recently designed a series of health promotion illustrations for the NHS in Wandsworth, so you may have seen his work on the side of London buses or in the London Underground. You can see more of Tom's work at http://www.whetnall.com/.

Name: Thomas Whetnall

How would you define your artistic style? Slightly odd inky drawings

When did you start? 2004 ish

What is your favourite media and why? I like cheep, water soluble ink. It's unpredictable and interesting to work with. I can go through loads of it without worrying.

How long does it usually take you to complete an artwork? An individual drawing will take an hour at most. Formulating an image and making a version i'm happy with can take ages though.

What advice would you give other budding artists? Don't over think. It will ruin every thing.

What or who is your inspiration? Nature, science and history.

Which artist, past or present would you most like to meet? Meeting a caveman would be pretty neat. or leonardo da vinci.

Do you find art relaxing? No, it is stimulating.

Which is your favourite gallery and why? The natural history museum, because you can't improve on the marvels of nature.

How do you define Art? Illustration of nothing in particular.

For more of Thomas's work see his website and blog:

http://thomaswhetnall.blogspot.com/

The Patrick Connection - Joint Exhibition

2009-04-03T13:05:00.000-07:00

For the past few months I've been preparing for a joint exhibition at Hastings' Art Forum Gallery. It's a family affair and I'm really looking forward to it. Both of my brothers and two of my cousins will be showing their work. We've all got really different styles and work in different media so it should be a very interesting mix - I can't wait to see it all together!

On display will be art by:

George Whetnall

George studied Fine art at Camberwell school of art. He's exhibited in London and Barcelona and his work includes video installations, sculpture and abstract paintings.

Thomas Whetnall

Tom studied illustration at the University of Westminster. A mixed media artist and illustrator, you may have recently seen some of his work on the side of London buses or in the underground!

Robert Tremain - Fine artist

Robert is a fine artist, oil painter. His subjects include figurative, landscape and abstracts.

Polly Glass - Product & Jewellery Designer

Polly aims to extract the best and most exciting qualities from mass manufactured and hand made techniques when designing and producing her work.

Francesca Whetnall (me!)

My main love is watercolour and this exhibition will provide a showcase for my latest work. Still lives, architectural landscapes and botanical studies.

Red Tulips

2009-03-26T17:02:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to absorb some abstraction and expression into my painting. To add more life and colour than a naturalistic impression might allow. I love pattern, colour and painterly-ness, and hopefully I've managed to capture some of that in my latest painting. Any comments or suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

Please visit my Etsy shop to see more of my work - Dick and Franny

Painting Clearance Sale!

2009-03-18T16:10:00.000-07:00

In an attempt to declutter I'm having a clearance sale on some of my older work. These paintings are lovely but I just haven't got the space to keep as many as I paint. I've listed three sets of 4 paintings so far, and will be listing more. At between $30 and $55 for each set of 4 these are great value sets and huge discounts on the original prices! What am I thinking with such massive reductions!!??

I've picked each set carefully into groups of similar style and subject. Below are some highlights from the sale, to view all of the available sets click here: Clearance Sale

Interview with an Artist - Tracee Murphy

2009-03-15T15:21:00.000-07:00

Tracee Murphy is a talented and creative artist I met through the fantastic Watercolor Works team of Etsy Artists. Her work is fresh and loose, a style that really appeals to me. Tracee is also the founder of the Watercolor Works team, she puts so much hard work and creativity into the group, she is a real inspiration!

Name: Tracee Murphy
How would you define your artistic style? Loose and painterly
When did you start painting? First started 10 years ago, but i have been painting more as an artist for the past 2 and half years.
What is your favourite media and why? Watercolor, of course. It's what i'm drawn to and probably has a lot to do with the fact my mom is a w/c artist too.

Cactus Flower - Original Watercolor (22 x 30 inches)

How long does it usually take you to complete an artwork? Several small paintings can be done in a day, a 1/2 or full sheet anywhere from 1-3 days unless i'm not happy with it and i put it away for a while. depends on how much detail the painting involves.
What do you like best about being an artist? Artist freedom and license to paint anything any color or any way i want!
What advice would you give other budding artists? I'm still budding, but for newbies i'd say practice, practice, practice, but most of all just enjoy what your doing and if you like your work then others will too.

Original Watercolor (8 x 10 inches)

What or who is your inspiration? The many wonderful local artists i get to be around in classes, workshops, and art organizations.
Which artist, past or present would you most like to meet? Terry Madden is my favorite artist and I've already had the privilege to meet him. i just hope i get to meet up with him again.
Which is your favourite gallery and why? The Art Center of Corpus Christi is where i'm currently putting in my work and trying to get involved with.
How do you define Art? Art is in everything whether you design buildings, a landscaper, tattoo artist, etc.

Cool Winter Landscape (5.5 x 7.5 inches)

To see more of Tracee's work -

Website - http://www.traceemurphy.com/
Blog - http://traceemurphy.blogspot.com/
Etsy - http://www.traceemurphy.etsy.com/

Art for Comic Relief!

2009-03-13T09:24:00.000-07:00

For the rest of March I'm donating 30% from the sale of a selection of my paintings and prints to Comic Relief - see the 'Comic relief' section of my Etsy shop - Dick and Franny .
Red Nose Day is Friday March 13th and my 'charity special' will last until the end of March!

For more info about Comic Relief and Red nose day visit their site: Comic Relief

Struggling

2009-03-01T11:51:00.000-08:00

I've been trying to combine drawing with painting, but I'm still working out how to achieve what I'm aiming for, and work out what that is. I want the clean line and detail of a pen drawing, with the colour and freshness of a watercolour. Here are a couple of my recent attempts.

In this painting of Forde Abbey in Somerset I started with a sketch using derwent drawing pencils in earth colours. I then added paint with large loose brush strokes, adding extra texture with salt. I also used some pastels once the paint was dry.

I started this expressive painting of Barcelona sunshine with some bold pen drawing for just a brief outline. I then went mad with bright blues, purples and yellows!

Any comments will be much appreciated! :-)

Snow!

2009-02-23T14:12:00.000-08:00

Oo, I was so excited at the snow - more snow than the country's had for the last 18 years! But it amounted to just a sprinkling here in Bournemouth. I spent a morning running around trying to take some good photos before it all melted away and was then very jealous to see the beautiful coverage that the rest of the country had received!

Happily, we still managed to find a bit of snow at the weekend and had great fun creating this 7ft beauty :-)

Where troubles melt like lemon drops

2009-01-25T09:02:00.001-08:00

Someday I'll wish upon a star,
Wake up where the clouds are far behind me
Where trouble melts like lemon drops
High above the chimney top that's where you'll find me
Oh, Somewhere over the rainbow way up high
And the dream that you dare to, why, oh why can't I?

1. Beanie by NuxieMade 2. Lemons by paper Moth 3. Earrings by Celisa 4. Lemon and Lime by Virgilla Art 5. Daffodils by Hammelman Art 6. Tutu by Dancing Elf Designs 7. Songbird by HomeStudio 8. Frankie bracelet by FireLily 9. Caged by PBCB Studios 10. Daisy Lollipop by Sweet Lollipop Shop 11. Earrings by Sora Designs 12. Cherry Limeade by KLynnae 13. Necklace by Paper and glue 14. Star by Waldorf Mama 15. Lemon Posies by Karen Faulkner 16. Waratah by Emberatia

See the Treasury here!: http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=36858

Collages

2009-01-18T14:38:00.001-08:00

Some of my recent collages - I like to use a bit of everything - magazine scraps, watercolour, ink drawings and rubber stamping.

Escape

Towers

Untitled (Time flies)

Fossilised

The Art of Recycling

2008-12-21T15:44:00.000-08:00

I am a real horder, I can't throw anything away and I've been saving up stamps, old paper bags, magazines, old tickets, postcards, fabric, beads, broken china, bits of metal and plastic and scraps of anything, ever since I can remember. I like to think that I'll eventually use all the junk in a massive artistic outpouring of beautiful collages and altered art sculptures. I love patchwork, collage and mosaic partly because of their potential for recycling old rubbish into beautiful new works of art.

Kaffee Fassett's books on patchwork were a real inspiration to me and have so far resulted in 3 baby quilts, 4 cushions and 1 and a half full sized quilts. I've got a massive collection of fabric scraps taking up boxes of space. Gaudi is another icon and inspiration - Barcelona is beautiful because of his amazing architecture and mosaics. Again, I've got boxes full of broken plates, cups and tiles. I just love the mix of colours, textures and patterns.

The beauty of rubbish as art is that anyone can do it. I've got a fantastic book about 'Outsider Art' full of the amazing creations of hundreds of people from around the world. Nek Chand's garden in India is one of the most amazing, hundreds of mosaic people and animals in a concrete, landscaped garden. I'd love to see it one day, if not have a go at creating something like it! For now I'm sticking to paper, with a bit of collage and mixed media. There's something really additive about collecting and creating. I think it's a combination of the colours, patterns and images and the act of creation that I enjoy. I can't get enough!

Ghost Tree Prints - Velvety loveliness!

2008-12-09T13:58:00.000-08:00

I recently ordered a few prints of some of my paintings and digital artworks and I really love the results! The quality of the colours and printing is excellent!

I've just listed these three beautiful original digital Giclee prints, my 'Ghost Tree' series.
These were created from an original mixed media painting which was then digitally enhanced to create these stunning, colourful designs. The Giclee print is a long lasting image, printed to the highest quality.

I can't do justice to the beautiful quality of these prints - they are so velvety and rich! The high quality lightly textured paper combined with the archival inks produces a luxurious and velvety finish, with rich deep greens, reds, purples, golds and blues - vibrant and beautiful!

These would look fantastic framed as a set, or individually. Beautiful trees, lovely rich colours, stunning quality prints!
All three are available in my Etsy shop http://www.dickandfranny.etsy.com/

The Butterfly Effect

2008-11-30T12:50:00.001-08:00

A selection of beautiful butterfly ACEOs from Etsy - what a great collection they make!

1. Monarch by Brush with Imagination , 2. Butterfly ACEO by Small Town Artist , 3. Butterfly ACEO by Jean Baardsden , 5. Butterflies No. 4 by Acarrdian , 6. Blue Butterfly by Rosalie Rushing , 7. Late Summer Letter No 1 by Sabine & Sydney , 8. Lullaby by Jodie Hurt , 9. Butterfly ACEO by Art Snark , 10. ACEO Bounty Butterfly by HarveStorm , 11. Textile Butterfly ACEO by Judith Sandala , 12. Butterfly 2 ACEO by Red Cat Mom , 13. Blue Swallow tail Butterfly by Backroom Treasures , 14. Exercise 30 by Jodie Hurt , 15. Butterflies by Lazy Hawk , 16. Butterfly ACEO by Fancy K

Etsy Visual Artists Street Team

2008-11-18T13:49:00.000-08:00

I've just joined the VAST team, for Etsy Visual Artists! It looks like a great group of talented artists :-) And I've made my first post to their blog: My first VAST team Blog!
Exciting!!

Here is the painting I posted for my blog, it's the latest in my experiments into slightly abstract, slightly cubist still life and it's called 'Yellow Vase':
I'm really happy with it, I love the blues and the contrast with the mustard yellow - gorgeous! And I had great fun with the patterns in the background. I've uploaded it to my Etsy Shop, so it's up for grabs! http://www.dickandfranny.etsy.com/

The other painting I've posted to VAST is this watercolour called 'Church'. I really love this too, again, slightly experimental with the stylised trees. I was a bit shocked to see how much I've reduced it to! Oh well!

To see all of my VAST Sale items you can go straight to this link:

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6055271&section_id=5692014

There are some fab bargains! I've probably been a bit too generous because I'd really like to kick start my sales! :-)

90th Anniversary of WWI

2008-11-11T14:35:00.001-08:00

90th Anniversary of WWI
Originally uploaded by Franny B

Blue Monday

2008-11-03T14:03:00.001-08:00

Blue Monday
Originally uploaded by Franny B

As I was uploading some of my latest paintings to my Etsy shop I couldn't help notice all the blues.
I love blue and it shows!
Here is a small selection of the original blue art available in my shop at the moment :-)

Secrets of the Saucy Seaside Postcard & The Big Draw

2008-10-28T13:44:00.000-07:00

Russell-Cotes Art gallery and Museum is an architecturally fantastic building which holds a great collection of art assembled by the husband and wife collectors Annie and Merton Russell-Cotes.

It's a great gallery and this weekend we went along to see the Saucy Seaside Postcard exhibition.

The exhibition is a window into the past, showing the workings of the Yorkshire based card company Bamforth, including a great documentary showing the men behind the postcards.

It was also a chance to see original sketches and paintings for the postcards and cards. One of the most interesting things about the exhibition was the selection of Valentines cards which included Valentine 'warnings' - which ranged from hints to nosey neighbours not to be so gossipy to personal attacks and threats!

This weekend Russell-Cotes was also hosting some Big Draw events. The Big Draw is a UK wide campaign to get everyone drawing! This October it's the 9th Big Draw with events at over 1000 venues including galleries, museums, libraries, shopping centres and schools.

See the Big Draw site for more info: http://www.campaignfordrawing.org/bigdraw/

I managed to miss the morning's tuition session, but I still had a go at drawing this sculpture. I spent a couple of hours but could have taken longer over it. I did get a couple of tips from the tutor but I couldn't stay long enough to get her feedback on my adjustments. It's not quite right but it was good practice!

Russell-Cotes Gallery site: http://russell-cotes.bournemouth.gov.uk/default.asp

Breast Cancer Awareness Poster

2008-10-19T10:08:00.001-07:00

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Originally uploaded by Franny B

I love those Flickr tools!
This poster was created from my original watercolour painting using fd's Flickr Toys

October is breast Cancer awareness month!

2008-10-19T09:59:00.001-07:00

breast cancer awareness selection
Originally uploaded by Franny B

In the UK we are entitled to free mammograms on the NHS but this isn't the case in the US.

Clicking on the Breast Cancer site means that sponsors donate free mammograms to those in need. Visitors pay nothing. Mammograms are paid for by the site's sponsors and distributed by the National Breast Cancer Foundation. To help click here

In my mosaic pic I've selected a few of my prettier paintings. I chose a little pink border for it but it doesn't quite show up!

2008-10-18T13:11:00.000-07:00

Tagged!

Wow, I've been blogging for only a week and I've been tagged! Thanks Hens Teeth! :-)

Tagging Rules

1. Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog
2. Share 7 interesting/random facts about yourself on your blog
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post, leaving their names as well as links to their blog
4. Leave a comment on each of their blogs to let them know they've been tagged!

Seven facts about me....

1. I love quizzes, trivia, puzzles and all things quizzy. University Challenge is my fave quiz at the moment, even if I can only get a handful of questions right each week. Unbelieveably, my parents were both on a team that competed on Uni Challenge - it would be fantastic to get a copy of the footage some day!

2. I once had to check for bombs in the toilets at Kings Cross station. I was working there as a cleaner at the time and apparently it was standard practice before important visitors - I think Prince Charles was visiting that day. Cleaning Kings Cross was actually preferably to some of the other jobs I've had - the worst was definitely working in a bank call centre.

3. I collect things - Jugs, postcards, fridge magnets, marbles, Agatha Christie novels and snow globes - to name a few.

4. I've had tea with the Queen. Not entirely true, but I did go along to a garden party at the palace when I was about 15. I can't remember much about it apart from my lovely pink outfit and ridiculous pink high heels.

5. I love Fred and Ginger films - Carefree, Swing time and the Gay Divorce are some of my faves. I also love Hitchcock films - Vertigo, Rope and Notorious are just amazingly good!

6. I love music - pop, jazz, folk, country, indie, opera, dance - as long as it's got a great tune, beautiful vocals and great lyrics!

7. I play football but never watch it. I'd recommend it to anyone - 5 aside girls football, it's a great laugh, good exercise and a great way to unwind!

Here are my 7 taggies - your turn! :

Sigrid Frensen - http://sigridfrensen.blogspot.com/
Linda Hammelman - http://hammelmanart.blogspot.com/
Calvin Tang - http://calvidanny-blogger.blogspot.com/
Mary Ellen Golden - http://maryellengolden.blogspot.com/
Suzanne Smith - http://abrushwithcolor.blogspot.com/
Lizzie T - http://lizzytdesigns.blogspot.com/
Sarah and Rachel - http://roxycreations.blogspot.com/

Step by Step - Botanical painting

2008-10-13T13:56:00.000-07:00

Some of the photos are a bit too dark but I managed to remember to take a few as I painted this picture of three Sycamore leaves. View the set as a slideshow , or have a look at the set on Flickr for some notes on each of the steps.

I love to Scrapblog!

2008-10-13T09:39:00.000-07:00

I can't remember how I discovered Scrapblogging but it was instantly addictive! I haven't done any scrap-booking since I was a girl and I'd never thought of digital scrap booking.

Scrapblog is a fantastic site, it makes it so easy to put together digital collages from your own photos and from digital scraps that the site provides under themed headings.

This is one of my first attempts at a digital scrapbook of my floral paintings:

Inspired

2008-10-10T04:35:00.000-07:00

Inspired by beautiful blogs like Sigrid's: http://sigridfrensen.blogspot.com/ ,
Gustavo Aimar's: http://www.mimesa.blogspot.com/
and France Belleville's: http://wagonized.typepad.com/wagonized/
to name a few, I've decided that I need a blog to display my artwork and tell you a bit more about the process, trials, highs and lows of my artistic experiments...

This is me - not sure why I look so confused but I was working on a commision which was going quite badly!