Friday 26 June 2015

Book Stand

Hi all,
Sorry it's been a while since my last post but I have been busy trying to get the hang of watercolour painting. My learning curve is steep and I'm struggling to get a grip with the medium. However, I am making progress and if you want to see how I am getting on here is the link to my latest post on the subject.

Anyway, whilst I have been chasing this new dream I have purchased several books on the subject and I am attempting to follow some of the projects. While I was doing this I found that it was difficult to see the book and my painting at the same time, so I decided to make a book stand so that it would be vertical and open at the correct page.

I didn't want to fork out for some special wood so I raided my scrap bin and found enough pieces to satisfy my need. Being an old miser and being tighter than a duck's bum is a good thing sometimes. I did the design as I went and cut up all the wood on the scroll saw and screwed it together to make a very practical object. However, it wasn't as pretty as it could have been so I drew some leaves on it free hand and then burnt them in with my pyrography iron.
Despite having a go at watercolours, pyrography still tugs at my heart strings. It is such a simple medium to get to grips with but it doesn't half bring something special to a piece of wood.

My next project will also be on a watercolour theme because I'm thinking of designing a holder for my collection of brushes that will be decorated with pyrography. All I need now is a good chunk of spare time.

By the way, If you are quick I have two free books up for grabs today.
Book 1

Here's the link.
Book 2

Here's the link.

If you do download either or both of the books I hope you enjoy them. If you do please leave a review because every little helps.

Saturday 13 June 2015

Posts

Hi all,
 I'm sorry I haven't done any posts recently. The truth of the matter is that I'm letting the pyrography and the scroll sawing take a bit of a backseat at the moment while I have one last go at watercolour painting.

I've always been interested in art and over the years I've had dabble with the brush. The only trouble was that life got in the way. Getting married, having kids and going to work took up almost all of my time, drinking and fishing consumed the rest.

That's is one of the reasons that I turned to pyrography, it is one of those mediums that allows one to indulge in making art without the need for much room. However, the wanting to paint bug won't go away, so now that I've go a bit more free time and a little more space I'm going to give it a proper go.

I am knocking on a bit now and will be of pensionable age next year, so it is a case of now or never. I'm old enough now to know that some of my dream will just always be dreams. I'll never ride a Harley Davidson across the USA or swim along The Great Barrier Reef, but I can have a go at watercolour painting.

Anyway, I've set myself a challenge of creating a painting a week with an objective of selling a painting before the year is up. If you are interested in seeing how I get on here is the link to the blog where I am recording my efforts.

With regards to scroll sawing and pyrography, I am not giving it up, in fact, I'm about to order some wood so that I can do a couple of designs that are bubbling about at the back of my head. And by the way, do you remember that I recently did a post an creating a trinket box with seed heads because I thought they were a good seller.

well the one I made sold last week so that cheered me up a bit. Here is the link to my website if you would like to find out more about my books or my pyrography work.