Weekend Horses (trying a new medium)...

art. house. mum.

One of the things that makes for a great weekend is finding a corner of time to paint.  Our lives are often intense at the moment with the little ones, but that doesn't mean that times aren't often great.  This weekend was intense at many times, and great over-all.

We had the chance to get out in the garden.  For the first time ever we were able to have both our push and our ride-on mowers going at the same time, which obviously meant that for some time we were working at double-speed!  (I'm determined not to think about the 1.5m snake skin which I found about 10m from our laundry door...)

We were even able to work as a family to plant seven baby trees on the block.  Miffy was keen to help dig, Hope loved watering-in the new babies and Sammy was pretty content playing in the grass-clippings.  I consider it no small feat to find a real activity and engage each of our family's individuals in it...

But rest-time today was mine.  I am really enjoying painting these rocking horses, and these little acrylic on canvas boards were a first for me in that I tried a new medium in the hope of achieving my free-flowing lines using acrylic (usually I use calligraphy ink, which is best on paper).  So to allow these fluid lines I made a 50/50 mix of acrylic paint and flow medium.  The lovely thing about painting with this was that I could actually move a little more slowly than with ink on paper, which is a very judgemental medium.  But the down side is that there is no change in the depth of colour... the ability of the ink to soak into paper is a property which I have enjoyed exploiting.  And naturally, the ability of the acrylic to "bleed" is non-existent compared to adding a little water to a pool of ink.

As the weeks grow wings to fly, may we all find time to do the things we love.  And may we be blessed with moments of calm and even clarity to enjoy the people around us who walk this journey with us...

g