Jessie Lilac Blog

Here are my latest pages from my sketchbook. Life's been very busy this year and I haven't found the time to make finished paintings as such but I do make time most mornings to sit down and fill a sketchbook page. If I have a gap of not doing any art for more than a week I find it reeeeally difficult to get back into it again so these pages are important to keep the creative part of my brain up and running. The top one is done with Tombow Dual Brush pens and watercolour.  This one above is an inky background with a Posca painting on top.  This one's done in the same way with Posca painting on top of a layer of indian yellow FW ink.  I was having a difficult emotional day when I made this one.  When I looked at this later I was amazed I can see in it just how I was feeling that day. I love it when art does this don't you? And finally  a more cheery one! I used my ✨Sparkling ✨ Posca pens for this, they're so fun to use you can't but he...

As you can see from my photo above and the title of the post,  this is going to be all about my love of pretty cottages! I took this one above of Rose Cottage at Cockington Village near Torquay, I love the thatched porch don't you? Here's another from the same area, with a gorgeous garden too...  This next one that I took is in Lacock in Wiltshire. I can feel my heart beating faster just looking at the little leaded windows and the beautiful old stonework! If you've been to St Ives then you might recognise Norway House. (above) How sweet is that fenced garden with the tall hollyhocks?! Helford Village in Cornwall is such an idyllic place with thatched cottages nestled around the creek. It's the same area where the novel 'Frenchman's Creek' by Daphne du Maurier is written. I took this photo while on holiday in Cornwall last summer and I was reading that novel at the time so it made it even more enjoyable for me to see. ...

 The three ships are alight on Brixham Harbour,  it's Christmas time! (In case you needed telling.) ;)  We've had some lovely moments of afternoon winter sun over the past few days.   But what does it mean when the cows are sitting down?  Rain!  It looks cosy inside this house doesn't it with the lights on through the windows?  The gamekeeper's cottage at Cockington hasn't been lived in for 100 years. Hopefully one day it'll be loved back to life. It's still beautiful to me.  So now it's time to go back home to dry off and get things ready for the busy days to come. Wishing you all a very merry Christmas  and a peaceful new year. xx

Thankyou for your lovely comments on my previous post, they are very much appreciated and I love to read each one. :) If you've been to visit my shop lately you might have noticed that my artwork has taken a little turn recently towards the festive season! The idea for these designs started with a sketch I made in my sketchbook and I discovered how much I enjoyed making the effect of  brightly coloured patterns and colours in contrast to a black background. It really makes the colours pop. Here it is below.. I've been wanting to paint onto wooden shapes for ages so I took the plunge and bought some little hearts and ovals made of plain plywood.  The painting began! I loved how the paper sheet on my table became covered in heart shapes as I painted the base coats in black. :) I made up the designs as I went along, working on several at a time to let the layers dry. Each one is different. And here we are with the finished pieces!...

The evenings seem to be getting much darker now don't they? Today we had hot sun and then early evening, all of a sudden it seemed, the light was fading and then it felt fairly cold outside. I finally have to admit that autumn is in the air. I have rubbish lighting in the room where I paint so I prefer to paint in the daytime when I can see the colours properly. One day I'd like to have decent lighting so that I can carry on painting but for now, my evenings are the time when I do my knitting or crocheting. This is what I've been making. It's a little cardigan for my daughter's son. It turned out too big for him but at the rate he's growing it won't be long before it fits him! For my next project I have an idea of the colours I want to use and I've seen a pattern I like too. On the Ravelry website is says it's fairly easy to make but I think they mean it's easy for an expert and that's not me. I might have been a knitter f...