Country Cottage Arts

A picnic basket with stroked in roses was done in a record time (for me) of one day. I was rather pleased with myself. I find this method of drawing such a breeze, just stroke in the required petals and voila! you have a pretty fancy piece of work. Oh dear, I haven't had the time to put in the pictures and readers are probably wondering what I am talking about!

The problem is, I'm so engrossed in my paintings, what with wanting to do so many different pieces at the same time, that I wish there are extra hours in the day . Right now, as I blog, I have almost completed, but not quite finished, a country themed headboard of kitchen utensils. Also in the same state is another one on spice jars and herb boxes. To top it all, there's another one nearing completion; children picking berries in the field! I'm feeling a bit over-stretched just thinking when I'm going to finish all those.

The fasting month will be starting soon and there'll be less classes to attend. I have now a collection of various pieces of art from flowers to still life that I want to sell off. I simply lack the space in my house to keep them and practically, every week, there's a new one that I want to do. I can't seem to stop! I'm thinking of putting up all these items in my blog for sale.

I have finished the milk jug art project and it had turned out quite beautifully, although, initially I was not too happy with it. It simply needed more thought and effort and that was exactly what Ms Aniza said. Tsk, tsk, patience has never been one of my virtues. Anyway, I'm very happy with the result. Oh, did I write about the fruit and flower piece which I had also completed? That turned out quite well too, I believe. Hopefully it'l appear here soon. By the way, I've given both and another piece called "Harvest " to be disposed off , gainfully, of course.
I am a little sad to part with Harvest which is a piece of a basket of colourful pumpkins. It reminds be of autumn; falling leaves ,a warm pine cone filled fireplace and roasting chestnuts.. Sigh, I can almost smell them.... Hope the person buying it will feel the same way as I do.

Today's class was a breeze. The stroke-work roses on a picnic basket was quite quite easy. It goes without saying that Ms Aniza is a gooooood cikgu and credit must go to her for making it so easy for me. Rashida opined that I was a 'terror' (read excellent!) in stroke-work and so I have the dubious honour of being called a 'terrorist'! Ha Ha, funny indeed. So I am now a 'terrorist' in stroke work, how's that!

Rashidah did a beautiful cottage rose project on a picnic basket too. I mean, she saw the one done by Ms Aniza and duly 'copied' the same piece. Ha ha, this should make her see red and I hope she does ! Communicative Roslina was not very communicative for the past week and I so missed her smses. I learned today of the reasons and I don't blame her. All I could say to her was ' to err is human but to forgive is divine' . Why get stressed over things we cannot control anyway? Let it take its course and the matter will come to rest finally, I say. God luck to you Roslina. ...

I met Siti today after an absence of sometime. Siti who? Siti Mariam Harun, if I remember correctly. Siti M is such a soft spoken lady that I appear garrulous by comparison. Oh dear, sound totally terrible, doesn't it. I was so terribly sad to hear that she had miscarried because the last time I had met her, she was pregnant into her 2nd or 3rd month I had told her then that it was a blessing ( being pregnant). The feeling of loss is absolutely devastating and I can emphathise with her. Anyway, look at the bright side, Siti M, you get to try and try again! Did I tell that her work is so detailed and perfect ? The Ahmad Tea label she painted was so authentic that if I hadn't seen her painting, I would have thought it was a cut and paste job. Oh dear me, such perfection and patience. I must ask Siti to give me some!

My latest piece of work, which I have not finished yet is a still life of a shelf with milk jug and apples. Although in the beginning it didn't quite look like the one in the publication, with the help of my sifu, Ms Aniza, it slowly evolved into a beautiful piece. It sort of 'grew' on me. Rashidah did a painting of luscious pears and plums and Roslina , a bin with a chicken and chicks . Me thinks her house will appear in a local magazine soon, courtesy of our sifu. Good for her, I say.

I have now decided to paint some pieces for sale as I feel I am quite ready. I have, of course, sold a few previously but that was from requests from friends and those that I had learnt as a methodological process in acquiring the necessary skills. It goes without saying that it feels good to be able to sell the artwork which in return brings about full satisfaction!

Today, I started on a picture of children picking blueberries. It portrays a feeling of carefree innocent childhood days and I always see myself in that picture. Hopefully I'll be able to finish it by this weekend and put it here. That's all, not in a very talkative frame of mind today.

Today, I would like to introduce two of my good friends who are also involved in this craft as I am. Rashidah or Kak Rashidah to some and Roslina. The former and I make no distinction nor think it is out of the ordinary when we have to paint until 3 am to finish our 'masterpiece' as we tend to call it or to prepare our items for the next day's work ( think base-coating, drying the paint with the drone of the hair-dryer or varnishing the piece and waking up the unfortunate inhabitants of our home) On the other hand, Roslina has it all prepared and ready way before us. Their comments and critique has not only helped me to improve my craft but their words of encouragement has tremendouly boosted my confidence whenever I had wavered . To quote Rashidah's words ' its very d beautiful' has kept me going. I like her frank honest comments and ' do whatever I like and when I like it' approach to life. My moments of dithering and the 'should I or shouldn't I? ' times takes a hike when I'm in her company. She breezes in with a purpose , keeps dabbing as much as she wants and likes, makes the necessary changes on the artwork and hey presto, she's done for the day. Next project please!. Her forte, I think, is in painting beautiful scenery and if she permits, I'll feature some of her work. You can judge for yourself.

Now, Roslina, she's the gentle one, doing her work patiently and always listening and learning. We exchange umpteen smses almost daily and through her I have learnt how to 'mms' too. Oh, you should visit her cute and what I call her "little red house' . Roslina has transformed her house into a pretty fairytale kind of house; in fact, her house is more like a living gallery. A beautiful patio cum porch with plenty of potted plants overflowing with lush greenery and blooms gives a cool and refreshing feeling . Her interior wall of barn red is covered with all her art accomplishments. Why, she has even painted the biscuit tins to match her theme! Her happiest moment was ,I believe, when someone asked her nochalantly if her house was
actually a gallery. Right now, she's further renovating and decorating her home and I bet hers will be the best in the block when she's done. I'll try to feature some of her handiwork too if she permits.