Autumn in mixed media

 

The October challenge of 'Goed Gezien - Goed Bekeken' is 'Against the rules' and the Dutch word for rules can also be read as lines.

So I had a choice for my work, because against the rules (of anything) has already been done, so I could not do anything original at all. 

I discussed this with my mother and daughter for inspiration and I combined the ideas they gave me with some inspiration that grows in my garden.

Against or crossing the lines is a nice option so I made a drawing of chestnuts and dried grape leaves, both from my own garden but not in the same spot and added lines from Autumn - related songs.

The text lines are not complete, I made them 'fall of the paper' and of course they are not written on the lines that are made to write on. I copied the idea of an exercise book used in school to learn writing and made lines using blue and red pencils - just like there are blue and red lines in the school notebooks I am referring to.

Unfortunately it was not possible to make the perfect picture - the lines I made are straight, as I used a good ruler and the paper is white. There is some change in colour and deformation in the picture that I cannot correct without losing the colours of the drawing.

The information about the paper, ink and pencils I have used, the size of the work and its availability can all be found in the link at the 'Galerie' page of my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com 

Blessing

The December challenge of "Goed Gezien- Goed Bekeken" (our regional amateur art association) is 'Peace on earth'. We just had a challenge about peaceful snowy landscapes so I was still 'in the mood' for that theme.
Peace on earth is also one of the Christmas wishes, so the painting had to have a bit of the Christmas mood as well.
And the words (and melody) of "A Gaelic Blessing" kept going through my mind so I decided to incorporate that in my painting as well.

Of course all that did not come to my mind in an instant, I was talking to my daughter about this challenge and my inspirations and she gave me some great ideas to work with. She also gave me the text is a way that I could easily copy it in the painting. 
I have used a (sharp) watercolour pencil for that.

Deep peace of the running wave to you
Deep peace of the flowing air to you
Deep peace of the quiet earth to you
Deep peace of the shining stars to you
Deep peace of the gentle night to you
Moon and stars pour their healing light on you
Deep peace of Christ the light of the world to you
Deep peace of Christ to you

The snow scene was adapted so I would have space to write the text and I have used the shadows of the hills as lines for the writing. 

The details about paper, paints and pencil used, size and availability can be found at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com