Tuesday, 16 June 2015

Basket of Dreams

Here in the North East we are somewhat deprived when it comes to craft shops and classes.. however we do have one very popular venue. Sue Tucker is the owner,creator and organizer extraordinaire of the Wynyard Workshops. You can see the FB community page HERE.  In the past there have been teachers such as Finnabair, Andy Skinner, France Papillon to name but a few. 

This past weekend, a new teacher came to town. The very gorgeous and giggly Tracy Easson came down all the way from Fife, and I was lucky to grab a place on this very popular workshop. 

Pop and see Tracy's blog HERE. 

This is the first time I had been to a workshop up here, and I wasn't sure what to expect. I had met  3 of the students before, so at least there were some familiar faces. For each workshop, there is a closed FB group, so that everyone can chat and get to know each other before the class. Sue is very organized and keeps everyone up to speed within the group, making sure everyone has a supplies list and knows where to go. 

So, on Saturday, bright and early I went off to Wynyard. 

This is the canvas that Tracy was teaching on the day. (this one is Tracy's own canvas)



There were lots of nervous people once Tracy started to explain that we would be drawing faces, but she was so calm and clear that soon everyone was measuring and drawing.. 

Here are my practice pieces. 


This took most of the morning, just before lunch we transferred our girlies onto a large canvas. 
Here are Karen and Gemma, who kept me entertained all day. 


We popped out to have some lunch and Julie and Andrea came too. 


Then back to class.. 

We began by painting the face and hair. 


Then onto the textured areas.  

Here I am busy working on my wings and waistcoat 



Once the waistcoat and wings were done, we filled in and shaded the dress and background. 


These are scrolls of book text and patterned paper, these are the dreams that go into the basket. 


This is how mine looked by the end of the day, and here I am with the lovely Tracy. It really was such a pleasure to meet her. 


Today I got around to unpacking my bags and adding some finishing touches to my canvas. During the day we had used metallic pan pastels, I am not keen that they need a fixative... in fact they mostly rubbed off on the inside of my bag on the way home.. So i wiped away the remaining pan pastel and replaced it with Treasure Gold in several colours. 


Next I outlined most pieces with a brown stabilo pencil and then added words from a poem in brown copic multiliner. I also added words in white posca pen. 


The background was a bit too yellow for me so I added some Fresco paint in Beach Hut, just smearing it on with a finger. I then added some dangly hearts again with the brown and white pens. 


I then popped my dream scrolls back into the basket. 


I usually add titles to journal pages and canvasses, and I felt this one needed a title too. This was printed onto printable canvas, cut out ...outlined with brown pen.. and glued on with matte gel. 


and here she is, all done. her name is Flora. 



Huge thanks to Tracy and Sue and everyone who attended on the day. We had such a good time, and everyone went home, having drawn a face... some for the first time. 


Darcy x






17 comments:

  1. Lovely Darcy, one day I will get on a workshop there!!

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  2. Flora is so lovely, sounds like a delightful workshop! Ruth x

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  3. Fab canvas Darcy and I love your own personal touches to finish it off. I do like the look of some of the workshops Sue organises.

    Hugs
    Lesley Xx

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  4. What an interesting workshop Darcy! Love the face that you created and the basket of dreams is a magic idea! Good old Treasure Gold too, saved the day! Xx

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  5. A lovely post about a fab day! I enjoyed it loads. Flora is stunning - I love your additions and that quote goes perfectly. I'd better get on with posting mine soon :)

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    1. Thanks Claire, can't believe I didn't get a photo with you, hardly saw you all day we were so busy lol Looking forward to your post.

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  6. What a great project (not sure mine would have been anywhere near that good given my drawing skills!)

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  7. Hello Darcy,
    Flora, is gorgeous, and you have drawn her well, but your additional finishing touches are just perfect to make this canvas so interesting to the eye.The scrolls are a tactile element which I just love. I would have loved to have joined you in this class....sigh.
    Smiles:)
    Sue

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  8. That is really beautiful. What a fantastic class that must have been.

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  9. How lovely that everyone ended up having drawn a face. I'm really enjoying faces at the moment and I would love for everyone to have fun from learning techniques. It's a great idea for people to get to know one another a little bit on FB first too. That can really help a class to gel I should think. I love what you did. I really like the little details you added. Good old treasure gold, it does knock everything else out of the ring. xxx

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  10. She's great. What a fantastic workshop. You are SO lucky! I love all the little details you added too. Lx

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  11. I too rarely get to classes, but they are a great boost to our arting energy...seeing so many faces smiling and having fun with art :D XXX

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  12. Looks like so much fun...nice to do things like this in a group!! Glad you enjoyed yourself...I'm enjoying your finished piece!! Well done, Darcy! xo

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  13. This is an amazing painting Darcy, and I think I even prefer your version to the original!!!! Wow... :) Looks like you had a great playtime too, thanks for sharing all that! Coco xx

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  14. Darcy it was a joy too see you all for my first ever workshop ( attending and teaching ) you girls made me so welcome I can't thank you enough. Flora is whimsically beautiful and love her with her basket of dreams and wishes, you made her yours and truly unique. Can't wait to see your next lady ... what will she be called???? Sending big hugs and cross the miles Tracy xx psst hoping this one posts xxxx

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  15. What a gorgeous project! Looks like you had a great time making flora (it's my niece's name). I'm with you about treasure gold, love it,

    Lucy x

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  16. Absolutely LOVE how your canvas turned out. I first saw this on Karen's blog, then got here via the FB group :)
    I absolutely love how you finished your version, the little hears and title are a brilliant addition and the treasure gold really makes the wings and dress pop. Fabulous canvas and thanks for the descriptions!!

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