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I'm Moving. Please Update Your Links!

My website has moved and my blog is going with it!

Please redirect your links to http://rhomany.org.uk
Thanks :)

Sometimes Goths Leave the House Too

I'm not an outdoors type girl by any means. I dislike bugs and dirt and sunshine and generally prefer being indoors. But every so often you need to get out and blow off the cobwebs and when I need to do that I head to Keele University Arboretum, 15 minutes up the road.

And for once I remembered my camera. OK. It was more like a happy accident because it was in my bag from the other day, but I had it and I took pictures.

1. Obligatory 'Ducks' Shot, 2. Woodland Bridge & Wishing Well, 3. Woodland Bridge, 4. View of the Gardens, 5. Digitalis / Foxglove: Growing Wild, 6. Storm Drain Stream, 7. Storm Drain Stream, 8. The Arboretum, 9. The Arboretum, 10. My Favourite Nook, 11. Keele Hall, 12. Keele Hall

 

Illustration Friday: Modify #ifri

Another of Rosie & Marmalade's little adventures.

This one is recorded on a new video camera which mama & papa gnome very kindly sent me to use for my workshop. It's so easy to use and it takes fantastic footage. Of course I've only played for a short while with actual filming and need yo try out a few things, but it's so much easier to use. I also treated myself to a copy of Pinnacle Studio 12 to help with editing and formatting. I highly recommend it. It's as easy to use as Windows Movie Maker but lots more functions and options.

Looking forward to a whole weekend of shooting some more footage for my class and putting the finishing touches to the first two videos.

Some Journal Pages For You

Since I can't do any advance filming for my course til my new camera arrives on Tuesday, I've spent today working on a few yet-to-be-unveiled projects, writing video storyboards and chilling with my art journal. It's been nice to do some pages just for myself rather than for a purpose and even nicer to just do something simple and quick for a change.

A simple collage page, just because I liked the picture.

A page about videos. Everytime I think videos the eighties hit 'Video Killed the Radio Star' pops up in my head! The spray patterns from my new adirondack washes looked like a film canister so I added some of my video notes and some pen shading et voila!

Practicing doing some portraits that are actually of real people. It's much harder to draw a likeness than just a face. This was taken from a magazine reference. I've worked out what was wrong with my chins, I always make them too pointy. Now I need to get the eyes to match. I always seem to manage to get the left one (as you look at it) to look spot on and then the other one looks sleepy. I suck at top lips too.

It's supposed to be L'Wren Scott. I think If I'd got both the eyes right I might have almost pulled it off.

Thanks to everyone who's responded to my new YouTube channel and subscribed. I was quite surprised by how many people have actually! I hope to do at least two videos a week, but once my art journal workshop starts I might have to drop it down to just one. It depends how much time I have.

Art Journal Video & Workshop Information

Another art journal video, this time with some added art journal workshop information.

More info about the course, including a class schedule and materials list here. Please do come and play!

Another Crazy Crafting Weekend

Not quite as crazy as last weekend with its 26 hours and 150 miles, but still a two-day er out in the community getting kids of 3 yrs upwards to do crafting.

I have so much glitter on me that every time I shake my head a flurry of it falls to the floor. There wasn't even any point showering it all off properly because I've got to do it all over again tomorrow and if it's anything like today I'll be covered in it again within half an hour.

So no videos today. I have a sketch for this week's Illustration Friday in my head but I can't do it til Monday now probably. I do have a few journal pages for you though. Enjoy.

Text reads: "When Leo rolled around she wore her red hair free"


Practicing doodling the Willowing way


...and doodling my way.

I started this in sepia ink and thought it looked like a henna tattoo, so I drew a hand and went with it.

Still taking sign ups for my 'Use Your Words' Art Journal Workshop. Promo video coming very soon.

Workshop runs August 17th- September 20th (5 weeks).

Thanks to all those who have signed up already. Hope you're looking forward to it as much as I am!

We Interrupt Your Usual Broadcast...

... with a cooking program :o

No, seriously, I cooked last night.

From a recipe.

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

A note for those who don't understand the significance of this. I don't do recipes. I don't follow instructions well. Not because I can't, but because I just don't want to. I get far more excited deviating from the instructions and experimenting. This is fine in art. It is not so fine if you don't want to eat gloop.

So I have a tried and tested variation that I eat that basically involves some combination of mushrooms/onions/peppers with any numbers of spices, in tomato/soya/brown sauce/lemon, with tofu/quorn/on it's own, which can be served with rice, noodles, jacket potato, tortillas, fajitas, pasta or steamed veg. I have my variety without having to follow instructions and every so often I try a new veg or spice to liven it up. It has worked fine for 20 years.

However, my dislike of following recipes does not stop me being interested in cooking or  food and my friend Liz cooks some of the most interesting and amazing food known to man. She's vegan (I'm not. I'm a non-committal vegetarian. Which is to say, I really don't like meat all that much and only actually eat the occassional bacon sarnie, but actually going full on vegetarian feels like too much committment) and she cooks food I've never even heard of. Fortunately she introduces me to the places she buys this wonderful stuff and I add it to my variation.

The other night we were eating dinner at our favourite South Indian & Sri Lankan restaurant and it being a feast day of some sort, they had extra dishes which they brought out for us to try. One of them was Thoran (which is a common dish in Kerela I believe) which looked like a hot coleslaw and was absolutely gorgeous. Liz assured me she had a recipe that had less than 4 lines of instructions and I decided I'd try it out. I figured since it was mostly veg it wouldn't be the end of the world if I got bored half way through and added something that shouldn't be in it.

This is the Thoran  recipe I used from Liz' blog. It really was simple. Chop up list one fairly fine and mix it together. Add list two to the pan and heat, then chuck in list one and cook til it looks done. I did deviate but intentionally. I used sesame oil instead of coconut because coconut oil was expensive and I couldn't find curry leaves, so I used 1/2 tsp mild curry powder. I also used red chillies in stead of green and added carrot because the one we had the other night had grated carrot. I hate carrot so I am always looking for ways to disguise the taste.

I paired it with Quorn in lemon chilli sauce (Quorn pieces, chopped chillis, tomato puree and lemon juice, heat til cooked add ground black pepper to taste).

This was the result.

It was GORGEOUS even with the variations. I can see this being added to my repertoire on a regular basis, because you could add all sorts of veg and it's so quick and easy to make. I think it would be nice with pak choi, spinach or sweet orange and lemon peppers.

I'm having it again tonight. With deep fried tofu this time.

Illustration Friday: Tango #ifri

Apologies for the pixelation. I think I forgot to reset the format when I changed the battery.

Here's the finished piece.

Art Journal Page & Some Alice in Wonderland

I'm really busy getting ready for the upcoming art journaling workshop, looking for a new teaching post and catching up on all the things you can't do when you're without internet for 5 days in a row, but here's a little snippet of what I've been up to.

Here'sthe final piece.

Went to see the new Harry Potter on Monday and was amazed at how big they've all got, especially Draco Malfoy. Last time I saw him he was a snivelling little weasel of about 4ft nothing and now he's really tall and lanky and looking like a young man. I was convinced I'd missed a film in the middle actually!

In other film news, as you're probably aware, my favourite Burton/Depp/Bonham-Carter combo is remaking Alice in Wonderland and the trailer is out! Looks pretty good. Nice and weird and dark and sinister. Just as Alice should be.

Technical issues

Just so you know, my modem has blown a gasket so I'm without Internet access until the new one arrives Tuesday.
I do have Internet access via my iPhone until then though, so anyone who signs up for a workshop, rest assured I can still process everything, I just can't send out your welcome pack until I'm back online.
The good news is this gives me plenty of non-blog reading time to do arty stuff and video editing :)
Normal service will resume shortly I hope.

posted from Rhomany's iPhone