Jessie Lilac Blog

I've been making some crocheted bunting. It's great for using up bits and bobs of leftover wool that have lurked in the bottom of my bag for years! I've been wanting to try making crocheted triangles for ages and now that I'm between woolly projects I'd thought I'd give it a go...  and here it is ~yay! Meanwhile on my painting table there have been a few new pieces taking form.. I'm enjoying working with inks at the moment, they're so adaptable. You can use them diluted like a watercolour wash, or with a pen to make lines. I love how the FW inks are so opaque that the light colours sit really well on top of the dark ones as you can see here. This one I've called 'My Blue Cat'. Please click here to see it in my shop!  This next one is painted on wood panel. I've used collage papers as well as ink and the wood was so light in colour that I didn't even need to prime it before I started. Can you see my favourite i...

I've been busy making daily paintings and here are a few of my most recent ones. I also have some finished paintings for sale listed in my Etsy shop but more of that later. Sometimes it's nice to have a break and a few days ago we visited Tintinhull in Somerset. The house is very beautiful and because of its smaller scale than most National trust properties, very homely too.  The view from the house into the garden is very pretty. It's lovely to wander around the garden, arranged like little rooms that link one to another.  A feast for the eyes from the beautiful and delicately coloured pale lemon tulips and hyacinths  ♥   ♥ and the Heuchera Plum Royale. (I had to Google that!)  😉 How very perfect don't you think? A very pretty house and garden. So now I'd like to show you my newest paintings. This one above is called Marina and is painted on 300gsm (140lb) watercolour paper with inks. I've listed it in my Et...

Every year at the time of the Summer Solstice it's a family tradition to go for a walk somewhere high up, with a good view of the sunset. When my brother lived in Swindon we'd go to Barbury Castle but now he's moved to another area, this year we thought we'd go to a different place that's closer to where he now lives. I blogged about our Barbury Castle walks in 2011  here  and in 2010   here . :) This year we went to  May Hill !  They say you can see 12 counties from here. The view was spectacular even though it was getting dark and a little cloudy. We could clearly see the Brecon Beacons, the Mendips and the River Severn to name but a few. I'd love to come back again one sunny day during daylight hours, it really was an incredible view. My photos don't do it justice at all but I think you get the idea! What a perfect place to watch the sun go down on the longest day of the year. ******** Do you reme...

Has it really been over a month since I've posted here? I do believe it is! I have some new paintings that I've recently finished but first of all I'd like to show you  some of the delights that I saw on my visit to the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. The picture at the top of this post is a beautiful embroidered silk portrait of the wife of Charles I. Her face is made from linen covered wood with painted features and the hair is real! The date is c.1660. The picture below is a small section of a larger painting that caught my eye. I love the blue ethereal landscape, it could be a painting all of its own couldn't it? more detail below... The painting above is by Annibale Carracci (1560-1609). It was quite a small painting but something about it kept making me go back several times to look again. There's such emotion in her face. The painting above is by Roelandt Savery 1576-1639. I love all the detail and the slightly surreal qua...