Troy's Bushfire

This is a painting that I created for my son.

Deborah's Painting

This is a painting that I have done for my sister-in-law. I hope she likes it.

Buddha update

This photo shows the latest update of the Buddha. I have now defined the frangipani's, just have to paint his face now.

Buddha 14/05/06

Buddha 13/05/06

Buddha in progress 12/05/06

Painting - Spiral God & Goddess

I have been painting for nearly 2 months and I am still really enjoing it. I have slowed down my output and am now spending more time making sure that they are just right. Below are my Spiral God and Goddess. They are 3 dimensional, created from texture paste.

Exploring Creativity & Mediums

Heather asked me to write a piece on creating with a different medium. I didn’t really think about painting as a different or new medium, until Heather asked. I just viewed it as a new experience and exploration of art and creativity. Sure, I have used paint before, generally I just slapped it onto the paper to create backgrounds for my artwork and in my journals.

I have always wanted to take art classes, but was never really encouraged to do so. I tried to take classes once before but I wasn’t happy with the teacher, we just didn’t hit it off and that put me off taking any more classes. This tutor is different, in the first two classes she showed us the basic techniques that we needed to work with acrylics, washes (watered down acrylics) and dry brushing (brushing acrylic straight onto the canvas without water). Then we were encouraged to just play. She told us that it was not about the finished product, rather the process.

Imagine my surprise when in my first painting I could ‘see’ trees in a bush scene. I was so happy with my first attempt that I wanted to keep going. I’m one of those people who need immediate gratification, if I hadn’t got it I might have given up before I had even started. The comments from my family and online friends were encouraging, so I have kept going.

Since that first painting I have been to four classes and painted several paintings. I bought myself a desktop easel, a variety of brushes, paints and canvases, which allowed me to continue my exploration. That is what I consider to be most important – exploration.

I am a creative person, for a long time my creativity was stifled. It was stifled by a lack of encouragement, a lack of self belief; and it was stifled by a cocktail of drugs meant to improve a mood disorder. What I found was that I needed to be creative, in whatever form that took, whether it was writing or art. It was a tonic that helped me through the darkest times.

A part of being creative is exploring and taking risks. It’s fine to keep creating in your usual style or medium, if that is what works for you. But what have you learnt? Sure, we are learning all the time, but it is through trying new experiences, mediums and techniques; and making mistakes that we grow creatively. So, do yourself a favour, take a class or try a new medium and explore your creativity.
© Megan Warren - April 2006

My First Painting

16" x 20" Acrylic on canvas

© Megan Warren

I have always wanted to do an art class. So last week I rang up and signed up to do 2 weekly introductory classes. Last week I started two canvases and tonight I set about finishing them. One of the canvases was still wet, so I will finish it next week. Yes I'm going back and I will sign up for the 5 week group of classes.

Inspire me Thursdays prompt for this week was Think BIG - this is relevant to these paintings, they are the largest medium that I have ever worked on. I was talking to the instructor about what I might start work on next week. Her suggestion was to work on a big scale. So when I go to buy a new canvas I'm going to think BIG!

Another Lino Block Print - Raven

I enjoyed making the triskele so much that I thought I would have another go. For this one I chose the Raven. Unfortunately I didn't have any black ink to print it.

Illustration Friday - Tattoo

While looking at the Inspire Me Thursday site I came across Illustration Friday http://www.illustrationfriday.com/ Each week they give a prompt and each artist illustrates that theme. This weeks theme was Tattoo.

I have been wanting to try lino block cutting for some time - I had the lino and the tools - so this was the perfect opportunity to give it ago. The celtic spiral or triskele I thought would be perfect for this.

the lino block

the print

Inspire me Thursday - Senseless Art

Mixed Media Collage Postcard - Wings

This weeks challenge from Inspire Me Thursday - to create art without using the senses.

Hear - I didn't listen to my inner critic while creating.

See - I didn't look at the bigger picture or what my piece might turn out like.

Smell - No smelly fumes on this one.

Feel - I have wanted to create a quirky piece with added wings etc. this challenge gave me the freedom to try.

Taste - No time for eating or drinking this was a quick creation.

Inspire me Thursday - Creating with the 5 Senses

Carol shared a link with me for inspiremethursday.blogspot.com - a site that offers a new art inspiration and project each Thursday. Last weeks challenge was to create a piece of art using the 5 senses.

Wheat - Mixed Media Collage

See - All the materials that I had collected to create my collage, different textures, colours and, mediums.

Hear - Ken playing Powderfinger songs on Guitar.

Feel - the wax paint on my fingertips as I spread it over the wood. The texture of the wood, paper and wheat.

Taste - A glass of cool seet lemon cordial.

Smell - the strong smell of Impasto gel - it had a strong odour of peroxide, well at least that's what it smelt like.

I was pleased with the result of this project and I will be sure to pursue other projects and inspiration from this site.

My Artwork Photo Albums

I have set up a Picture Trail Album to display my artwork.
I will still post some here, but they are all being stored at Picture Trail.
http://www.picturetrail.com/megken

Digital Mandalas

Over the past couple of days I have been playing with photoshop and creating digital mandalas, it was frustrating at first learning the steps, but now I have the hang of these basic steps I am enjoying the process. Here are my first few Mandalas: