Collage and painting on canvas and a bit of emotional turmoil in the mix #makeartthatsells with @LillaRogers

[caption id="attachment_1787" align="aligncenter" width="560"] © Gabriella Buckingham "Live the life you have imagined" - currently on my wall[/caption]

I love painting so much. This piece was the one I spent most time on, it has a carefulness about it and a delicacy.

Wall art week was the most challenging but also most enjoyable week of the course so far. We were meant to do a collage painted piece for potential "Wall Art" in a trendy major store. Collage makes me nervous but actually it was delightful. I didn't use a massive amount. I cut up Washi tape and used it for clouds and flower stems. I also have a brown paper sketch pad that I painted in and tore or cut pieces of that. Definitely a process I want to use again.

These are the three canvases I painted. From left to right in the order painted. Each canvas is 51cm square.

[caption id="attachment_1781" align="aligncenter" width="560"] © Gabriella Buckingham[/caption]

My first canvas I loved but then I got to areas that I couldn't resolve and there were parts that I loved but then found they were awkward. I slapped some white paint over bits and had fun with pants ;) ! In the UK the word "Pants" denotes something useless and no good.

[caption id="attachment_1783" align="aligncenter" width="560"] © Gabriella Buckingham - let's call this "Pants" but I do still love it[/caption]

This is the one I uploaded to the MATS submission as I think it fits the brief best; it's more fun and youthful than the blue one - a bit more readable.

[caption id="attachment_1784" align="aligncenter" width="550"] © Gabriella Buckingham " We are here to grow"[/caption]

I did have some struggles with it. But it has an exuberance. I didn't plan out any of these paintings before I began other than thinking about the words and feeling I wanted each to have. For this painting I spent maybe 15 minutes sketching ideas - pinned one up and deviated from it fairly early on. I certainly hadn't intended to create a face but she just came into being and I decided not to scrub her out with a baby wipe. She reminds me of my daughter who is only eight. Baby wipes are fantastic by the way. For my Moobaacluck painting commissions they are invaluable for cleaning my fingers between paint coats.

I have loved this week once I got over my hormonally induced negativity just after the last review of children's book covers. My work wasn't featured in the weekly round-up again and I felt really sad about it this time. Which is completely unreasonable considering that there are about 500 participants.  Now I don't mind at all, in fact I am grateful.  That's life and it's a valuable lesson. One of the key things this course has made me face up to is that I have to value my own work not seek approval from people I admire, I think I said this in my previous post and then wham along came P.M.T and I didn't take my own advice. I was pleased with my book cover and the thoughts from the group and that really should be - and is enough.

The title of the painting below says it all.  I am.

[caption id="attachment_1785" align="aligncenter" width="560"] © Gabriella Buckingham "We are here to grow" June 30th 2013[/caption]