Yellow Turquoise and Textures

My creative name is Kerry Buí  (BuÍ is Yellow in the Irish language), but my favourite colour is turqoise.  This textured mixed media piece reflects both of these colours with a whole lot of texutre.  Scroll down to see how I did it (and hopefully you will give it a go).

When I opened my craft shop I was asked what colour it should be painted.  Without missing a beat I said Yellow.  It is such a happy colour, but soothing at the same time.  It is the colour that makes me smile.  Before I knew it it was being called the Siopa Buí – I liked it and the name stuck.  My little Yellow Shop!  One day Mr Postman brought a letter addressed to Kerry Buí and the name of the town.  It found me!  A lucky name.

Right more about this mixed media piece which is currently hanging in my kitchen.  There were two points of inspiration.  The first was a wonderful workshop with the talented Finnabair and the second was a visit to a talented friend Angie from Fracture Worx who had an amazing textured canvas hanging in her house.  I had to try it !

I used various gel mediums plus a fabulous medium that has little glass type balls in it.  After giving the previously loved canvas a coat of white gesso I set about painting a landscape with a pallet knife, a brush and my mediums.  Once the canvas was fully dry I laid it on an old towel on my kitchen floor and started to have fun.  I used ready made sprays, home made sprays, mica powders and a water spray.  A bit of tilting and turning to get the colours to behave and I was done.

I love the way it has turned out.  It is really tranquil to look at, but the texture draws me in.

Thanks for looking.

Kerry

p.s. next post is all about making cards to sell.

Swapping and Finnabair Inspiration

When I closed my shop I had to take a break from crafting for a few reasons.  Once I was ready to get going again I needed a deadline, and a reason to create. As a Facebook junkie I knew just where to start.  With swaps!!  There are a good few swaps to be found, and I was both excited and inspired to be creating something that was going to be sent to another crafter.  And to tell the truth I was a little intimidated – there are some very talented people out there.

One of the swops I participate in is Aideen’s Swaps – over on Facebook.  This is my most recent swop.  The theme was Finnabair Inspiration. Finnabair, or Anna Dabrowska is one of the most talented and inspirational artists I have ever met.  I was lucky enough to take part in one of her workshops in Dublin this year.  So as you can imagine when this swap was announced I was raring to go.

I decided to go 3-D and had already fallen in love with this little owl picked up in Dealz, a great store in Galway.  I had great fun adding various little touches including some book paper before using gesso and lots of little add-ons.

I was happy with the subtle colouring, but I have to admit I have another of these little owls sitting on my kitchen table. Might go black and a bit bold with the next one.

Thanks for visiting my blog, and thanks to all my fellow swappers – you give me both deadlines and inspiration.

Kerry