Inspiration post - Outsider Art

I discovered 'Outsider Art' (also known as Art Brut, Naive Art, Intuitive Art) when I started an Art Therapy course many years ago and have been a big fan ever since. The tutor on the course lent me many copies of 'Raw Vision' an outsider art magazine that I recommend reading if you are interested in this type of art. One of my favorite artists is Bill Traylor, Traylor only started making work aged 83 and his preferred mediums were card, pencil and crayon. I wanted to share some of his images with you, I hope you like them as much as I do..

Great aren't they? I love the limited colours and basic shapes.

I hope your all having a good week? I woke up this morning convinced it was thursday and almost friday........OH DEAR...... It took me a while to realise it's only Wednesday.. :-/

It's been a hectic/tiring week so far at work, maybe it's the weather? I definitely don't cope well with these dark days, I imagine the children (at my work) don't like it much either! I'm looking forward to sunday and cracking on with some art work...I'm itching to get going with some lino prints!

Night night :-)

Inspiration post - Henri Matisse

I imagine every art student has done a project on Henri Matisse, It seems to be an art curriculum staple. I remember cutting out colored shapes and sticking them on to colored card way back when I was 13 or 14 years old. I must admit that back then I found this task dull, I have always loved art but this cutting and sticking of coloured shapes really didn't inspire me.
However at the moment I can't get bold colours and block shapes out of my mind. I have so many images in my head that need releasing! Horses, homes, trees, rain, people....all just shapes, colors and textures.... Here are some of my favorite works by Henri Matisse..

 'The Snail' 1953

The Clown (jazz) 1943)

'La Gerbe' 1953

All images via here.

Inspiration - Walk in the woods

I went for a walk in one of our local woodlands and took my boyfriends new camera to play with. I'd forgotten how much fun it is to walk with a camera, you see everything differently with a camera in hand. It was a sunny day and the sunlight was streaming through gaps between leaves and branches, looking up there really were some beautiful sights. So many shades of green and so many different shapes. I spent most of the time on the walk looking up at the trees and narrowly avoiding mountain bikers, lots of fun though!

These images would be a great starting point for patterns..I am particularly fond of the 2nd image, it feels softer than the rest and I love the mint green colour that has come from the sunlight behind the leaves.

I hope everyone's having a fun weekend, I have day of art and experimenting with my sewing machine ahead of me..perfect!

Inspiration post - Charlotte Hardy

I have been thinking about writing some inspiration posts for quite some time now. I often come across artists or take photographs that I would love to share with you. So today I would like to share with you an artist/illustrator that I have recently come across called Charlotte Hardy. I first spotted this image on a card, I was drawn to the colour palette as turquoise and neon pink are faves of mine, also I have a bit of a thing for chairs at the moment.

Bedroom Chair

So I purchased the card and came home to do some research. Charlotte Hardy is a British artist who works with silkscreen printing, acrylic, inks, oils and mixed media. She has a beautiful website which you can view here.

Cherry Blossom

Chandelier

Midwinter Coffee pot