Imbolc

Depending on who you ask, Imbolc is celebrated either tomorrow or Tuesday and is one of the four Celtic fire festivals. It is also known as the Feast of St Brigid, or Candlemass.
In Canada, USA and parts of Europe it is celebrated as Midwinter, whilst other parts of Europe celebrate it as the beginning of Spring. Whichever view you take, there's no doubt that spring is on the way; the mornings are brighter, the days are slightly longer and the first signs of life are appearing - green shoots forcing through the earth.

I'd been contemplating a journal page for Imbolc, and had the beginnings of an idea when Kersten posted her challenge over at 4x4 Friday - Imbolc! Time to kill two birds with one stone then :)

The first image is my 4x4, and the second is the full journal page. It's charcoal and pastels over ink, with a bit of acrylic for good measure. As somebody who doesn't draw much I'm really pleased with the way this has come out.

Friendship - 3 Muses challenge

Here's my entry for this week's challenge over at Three Muses, after I was gently prodded in their direction by Bev :)

Moon Angel

Last weekend was the 'Trees, Angels & Art Dolls' workshop at The Cubby Hole, led by Sue Roddis.
This is one of the items I created, but unfortunately I didn't have a face to go on it at the time. Since then I've been off work with a heavy cold/flu and now that I've broken the back of it I've got time and inspiration to do some crafting :)

Wedding Arch

My entry for this weeks' Gothic Arch challenge where the theme is Weddings.

Inspired by...

I've been creating a couple of items today for challenges, and these images are the results. First up is my entry for the latest challenge on 4x4 Friday. The theme is a bird and a boy, and this was inspired by the 4x4 submitted by 'That Woman'. It's been a while since I've dabbled with chalks and I'd forgotten how subtle a finish they produce.


Next up are the ATCs which were inspired by a comment on one of the (many) birthday posts to celebrate the 3rd birthday of The Artist Trading Club. Snake's Head Fritillaries are beautiful, delicate flowers once found widely in meadows, but now limited to a few wild locations due to farming and land drainage.

Meditation

Another page for my year journal.
I spent last weekend being Reiki attuned, so that I can use it to help control my arthritis, as well as maybe helping others. Both days included a meditation to settle into the right frame of mind, and this page is inspired by what I encountered during them. Apparently, the redhead in the trench coat is called Janice.
I think it's the first time I've used charcoal for more than just a bit of shading, maybe I should try it again.

Profumo di donna

The theme over at 4x4 Friday this week is "Scent".

While looking for ideas I came across a film titled "Profumo di donna". Some of you may have seen the remake - "Scent of a woman".

All Zetti'd out

Well, I've finished my Zettiology ATCs at last and here's the other 4 (the first one is here). It's been an 'interesting' experience, and it's been fun too, although I'm still not sure what Zettiology is!

Frozen Militants!

Now there's a catchy title!

As I mentioned in my last blog entry of 2009, one of the projects at the Cubby Hole this year is to keep a journal entitled "A Year in the Life of...". I must admit that I thought it would be a slow start, as January isn't exactly well known for it's festivals or celebrations, there's no birthdays or anything much coming up, so figured it would be a while before I made any real progress. Wrong! We're 9 days into the year and I've got my first two pages completed.

Unless you are living in some far-flung exotic place (like Mars) you've probably heard rumours that Britain is having a winter this year. Not the usual grey, damp and miserable period between autumn and spring, but a real one with snow and cold temperatures. As usual the media has gone into overdrive with much wailing and gnashing of teeth, started calling it "The Big Freeze" and predicting the end of civilisation as we know it. The rest of us are just getting on with it the best we can and even enjoying the experience. I took the pictures on walk to work last week (when I actually worked - see below). The path is around the edge of the business park where our offices are located, and a very pleasant walk it is too.

The second page is inspired by the fact that we're in dispute with our employer over various issues (which I'm not going to bore you with the details about), and as a result we've been on strike since Thursday and not returning until Tuesday. Unfortunately I've not been able to join the picket line yet (hopefully on Monday) due to illness, but I'm reliably informed that spirits were high amongst the various "Michelin Man" lookalikes gathered outside the offices in sub-zero temperatures. Unfortunately the burning oil drum brazier associated with the strikes of the 80's and 90's is now banned due to Health & Safety.

Zettiwhat?

Somehow or other I seem to have been roped in to taking part in the challenges over at The Artist Trading Club, and the 1st swap is Zettiology! I've had a look at various sites, and other people's creations, and have to admit that I still haven't got a scooby.
Oh well, I've had a go. This is the first of my ATCs, only another 4 to go. I don't know if it's Zettiology or not.

Blue Moon

I've decided to start taking a few challenges on board to keep my Mojo moving, and this is my first one of the year.
The theme over on 4x4 Friday is Blue moon, so this is my entry. The background was created using sticky fingers spray inks, and the standing stone was an experiment with my new charcoals.

Anathem

Happy New Year to one and all

Yesterday I received a late Christmas present, a copy of "Anathem" by Neal Stephenson. It's a book that's been on my wish list for a while, so it was wonderful to receive a copy from a dear friend. What I hadn't realised was just how big it is, close to 1000 pages.
Normally I read quite quickly and a paperback will last 2 or 3 nights, but I took one look at this tome and thought "I'm going to need a bookmark!" So, here it is and it also gives me something to post for the current Gothic Arches challenge too :)