Drawing on Plates

I had a plate on which I did some painting a year or so ago and I simply wasn't happy with it. You see, painting on pottery before it is fired is quite tricky and I clearly have a lot of practising to do. Luckily I realized that drawing on the plate would be the solution!

I used a sharpie pen and afterwards placed it in the oven to set it. I'm still experimenting and will buy some porcelain pens to start drawing on more plates :-)

Here's wishing you a very creative 2014!!

Little Frames

I couldn't resist playing around with watercolours and black pen... 

Tiny little frames found their way onto the paper.

I've already been playing with them in Photoshop to make some lovely individual frames for photos!

You can check out the new header on Elma's Kitchen.

Painting Plates

I painted a plate at the Pottery Tree in Woerden.

Definitely something I can recommend doing.

Although it is actually a lot harder than you might think.

You don't know how it will look until it is fired which is kind of exciting but also a little scary. 

I'm happy with the results but I think practise makes perfect so I might have to add a few more pieces to my collection!

P.S. Sorry I've been so quiet. I'm finding my way back to my creative side so hopefully I'll be posting more regularly.

Hello Etsy Eindhoven 2012

It's been a while since I've posted anything, my apologies. The summer holiday and the kitchen renovation had my full creative attention.

This past weekend I went to Hello Etsy in Eindhoven.
The idea was to find some inspiration and inspiration I found.

They had an impressive line up of speakers, all with their own stories of trial, error and ultimately success. Unfortunately I was not able to stay the whole afternoon so I missed out on some good topics but I still felt that it was well worth the drive to Eindhoven. Plus I had the pleasure to be joined by Lisl and I also bumped into Corine and Ellen.

Here is an impression of the message brought by three of the speakers that day:

Janine VanGool from Uppercase Magazine:
- Be true to your vision;
- There is always room for quality;
- providing happiness to customers is a solid foundation for business.
She gave a lot of insight on her 12 year journey to reach this point and starting the magazine. Such a creative woman who followed her dreams and instincts!

Diana van Ewijk from MamaMarketing and Homemade Happiness (to name but a few):
- You are not a product, you are a brand;
- Find your niche market so you can focus on one group and be a big fish in a small pond;
- Find your voice, be personal and consistent, and then build a stage.
She is funny and busy and clearly loves what she does. She managed to (in her own words) "get out from under the kitchen table" to become a very successful business woman.

Satish Kumar from Resurgence Magazine:
A former monk and peace and environment activist who once walked from India to the USA, this man is charismatic and wise. An inspiration to everyone. He cares about people and he really cares about the environment. He had so much wisdom to share, more than I can capture in a few lines...
- Don't become a slave to economy;
- We are all artists and makers, not mere consumers;
- The greatest art is the art of living;
and then he quoted Ananda Coomaraswamy: "an artist is not a special kind of persion, but every person is a special kind of artist."

I left feeling very inspired and more than a little impressed by all the speakers.
Thank you Etsy!

Kids Mosaic Workshop

Five little girls between the ages of 4,5 and 8.

A whole lot of butterflies, a fish and a photo frame.

Lots of mosaic tiles predominantly in shades of red, orange, purple and pink.

What a pleasure!

Roman Mosaics

Less than a month ago I found myself in France with my family. 

Taking a holiday before the season starts, always a good idea.

We decided to take a trip to see some Roman mosaics. Well, lets be honest, I convinced my husband that we needed to see some Roman mosaics.

We drove all the way to a little town called Montcaret in the Dordogne.

There, hidden away, is a little museum and a little church and lots of ancient mosaics.

Some mosaics still have to be restored but as usual there is a funding to be obtained.

I love the simplicity of the design, the visual impact of the colours and most of all I love the fact that it is still there after thousands of years.

The Last Illustration Assignment

Before my holiday I had to complete my last illustration assignment.
It was a tough one, reading an article and then interpreting it into an illustration...
The theme of the article was 'Troost' which translates into 'consolation / comfort'.

Here is my interpretation:

You can head over to my illustration teacher's website to see how my fellow classmates interpreted the assignment. I bet you will be surprised at the results!