Ooooops!

Sorry for the missing fireplace picture from 'Hectic Friday' post I must have run out of space.  In fact this is my second time of creating this particular post as the cyber-space gremlin has been at it again and it's disappeared into the workings of the computer just like the photograph did.

The woman in this photograph is my daughter who has just started painting this year and has joined 'our gang' in painting murals for our Shopping Centre.  She started with pastels and now uses inks and acrylics. She showed no interest in painting when she was younger but now does amazing needlework as well as painting.  I am so proud of her, really whether she was painting or not I'd still be proud of her.

 This photograph shows a canvas which my daughter painted last year.  It is her first canvas and it is so big that we had to use the overhead projector to enlarge the image onto the canvas ready for painting (the way we do our 6' x 8' boards for painting murals).  It's called 'The Troika' (as it's reminiscent of Troika Pottery) and the original icon was created by a well known local Artist and sculpter.  Unfortunately it seems to have disappeared when the area around it was re-developed. My daughter had to paint the canvas downstairs in our mural painting shop before transporting it home where it hangs in her living room.

These three lovely ladies are called Crazy Maisie's and they go to the local 'Fame Academy of Dance' hence the dashing sweatbands and lace tutus.  I created the sock monkey ladies last year and now need to make more for a local craft fair which is coming up soon.
So is Christmas! coming soon.  Don't know where the year has gone.

Hectic Friday

Happy Friday everyone.
Why hectic Friday - well a lot to achieve today, up early, shower etc. etc. and go out leaflet posting after breakfast, then do shopping for the cafe for our Car Boot/Craft Fair held in our local community centre.  This is the last car boot of this year's events.
The leaflets are to publicise the opening on 18th September of an Art/Crafts Exhibition (open for 6 weeks) in our shopping centre phase 1.  The use of an empty shop for the exhibition is courtesy of the management of Phase 1 and in return myself and friends paint very large murals which are on display around the walls of the 3rd floor of shopping centre (Library level). The exhibition is part of the events we organise to raise money for one of our local Special Needs schools who desperately need a Hydrotherapy pool.  This is our 5th year of painting murals for the centre.

This is our latest mural nearing completion, it spans 4 boards of approx. 6'x4' each. and shows views of our town.

We have come a long way from the first mural we were asked to paint (although we attend a leisure art class in College, and have a fantastic tutor, we had never painted murals before).  We gulped and said" Oh yes what would you like painted!" then we had a little panic until we got down to the nitty gritty and started planning out how we would paint them.  We must be doing something right as we have now been asked to paint a mural in Erskine Hospital, Dementia wing, starting next year.

 The group recently presented Erskine Hospital with 2 boards, painted at their request, of a fireplace and a Welsh dresser to go into their Reminiscent Room in the same wing.  The dresser has 9 Willow Pattern plates painted on it

The fireplace has an actual shelf attached to hold the 2 'wally dugs' and the empty picture frame is to hold photographs to enable the residents to discuss and reminisce about them.
Apologies about the quality of these two photos, they were taken from an email.