Friday 28 August 2015

Show Your Face on Friday - Inspired by Hazel!

Hello and welcome to Magpieheaven, where we all seem to be recovering from our Summer coughs and colds and my Mum is more or less back to her old self! Life still continues busy, as our daughter has now moved out of her student house and returned to live with us full-time along with all her possessions! It's lovely to have her officially permanent, but we are probably breaking all records for the most crowded of nests! I did find time in amongst all the the packing, unpacking, sorting and travelling to be inspired by Kim Dellow's fantastic 'Show Your Face on Friday'. If you haven't done so before, please do head over to Kim's blog, where you'll find out all about 'Show Your Face' and how to link up your art. You will be inspired by Kim's art and that of all the contributors exploring creating faces in so many different ways. Throughout August Kim has encouraged us to be inspired by our fellow artists, and this week I've chosen Hazel Agnew. I've been inspired by Hazel's enthusiasm and imagination since I first encountered her blog, and last week I was captivated by her fantastic monochrome portrait of a young woman here. There was so much life and movement in Hazel's work, and I loved the depth and detail she had created with bold strokes. I was also impressed with how Hazel sketched the model's body as well as her face. I took out my vintage library book about Mexico and sketched this fantasy lady!




I wasn't as brave as Hazel, as mine is only a 'head and shoulders' portrait, but I'm hoping to work next week on arms and hands again - something I haven't done for a while, so thank you, Hazel for reminding me of this too! I used a 6B pencil, tortillians and a fine marker to create this young lady. The tiny houses in her hair were inspired by a beautiful picture in a book with which Hazel is also familiar! It's a wonderful collection of artwork with quotations - a fantastic inspiration for journalling called 'Inspirational Quotes Illustrated'. It's been filling my days with colour and sparking lots of new ideas! It was a most welcome gift at a time when I really needed it from a dear crafting friend. I hope she is reading this and knows how much I loved it. This Summer I've been doing a wonderful class at Artful Gathering with Mary Jane Chadbourne. We have been creating tiny houses, and gradually the students have formed little towns where imagination peers around the doors and dreams are reflected in the windows! It has been a delight to see everyone's work and to wander the streets of Tinytopia!



My portrait is, I think, the spirit of Tinytopia. She is dreaming of a land where magic is behind every door; where the witches create 'Good Neighbour' potions; the cobblers fashion magic shoes for dancing princesses; the cooks create pies with blackbirds that fly free and singing from the golden crust; the wizards turn noisy neighbours into toads and where Snow White offers cleaning services for dwarfs busy in the mines all day. As you can see I couldn't resist creating a colour version to see what she would like as the dawn comes up over the little town of Tinytopia. I hope you will have a magical, creative week wherever you live and that all the witches on your street are good ones!

24 comments:

  1. Wonderful work, love the soft hint of colouring. Have a great weekend, hugs, Valerie

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  2. Love her! The subtle colors adds to the coolness!

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  3. you did such a great job with the shading in the monochrome portrait-beautiful features! Love the tiny houses in her hair too!

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  4. Fantastic Julie Ann, love your girlxxx

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  5. Julie Ann, Sorry for taking so long to visit you but it has been one of those weeks (or more) and only now squeezing in some visits. Poor you and family to have been struck with summer colds.
    Magical, my most overused word whenever I visit your nest but always the first word that pops into my head. There is also such a sense of empathy with her features, she is certainly a caring soul.
    So happy to have my dose of Magpie Heaven!
    Wishes
    Lynne

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  6. She is wonderful - I am impressed with your art. Fabulous fantasy world.
    Sandy xx

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  7. Oh Julie -Ann! I love your face but most of all loved reading your post! Chrisx

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  8. oh how wonderful your face turned out. Nice to have your daughter with you again.

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  9. A beautiful girl and delightful story. Tiny topiary sounds idyllic.

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  10. Beautiful portrait. I am a fan of your sketches on text and would love to see a full figure with arms and body!! The inspirational quotes book sounds perfect for art journalling...

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  11. Julie Ann! She is wonderful!! What a fabulous new fave to add to one of your dolls-? I am glad you added the color- I feel it draws the viewer closer! I love your faces- they are you and speak to me as if they are long ago friends!
    Have a beautiful week,dear friend! xoxo

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  12. Let's hope that we will always dream of there being magic behind every door Julie Ann! I love this beautiful face and the tiny houses and her dreamy smile of fabulous times to come! Your art, and the wonderful stories that you weave around them are reciprocally inspiring! ...if there is such a phrase!
    I read your words with a tear in my eye but with happiness in my heart!
    I, too, am enjoying the book of Inspirational quotes and the one that I keep going back to, by Martin Luther says.."Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree! " xx

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  13. Love the addition of the small houses, it's a wonderful face.

    Love and hugs
    Maarit

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  14. I love this girl and I so enjoyed reading about Tinytopia! The black and white is great, but I must say I love the colored version. Nice work!

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  15. She is beautiful. Glad you're all feeling better.

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  16. Gorgeous and magical little face! Love it...great job! Glad life is looking up!

    Hugs Giggles

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  17. beautiful lady .... Love the little story that comes with it.

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  18. Glad to hear you're all feeling somewhat better… sad to say I seem to have succumbed - feeling absolutely lousy since last night… and just as I have a bit of free time too of course. Ah well…

    Like you, I loved Hazel's portrait - how lovely that Kim is inspiring such reciprocal admiration amongst the players.

    I love your spirit of Tinytopia - she's definitely got a magical quality and more than a hint of mischief sparkling in her eyes.
    Alison xx

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  19. What a wonderful whimsical story and art!

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  20. Gorgeous :) I love both versions and a wonderful pick for your inspiration, Hazel's piece was lovely and so is yours. It is kind of fun doing a black and white version then a coloured version, I always get a bit worried that I'm going to mess it up if I try to add colour! I might have to conquer that fear! Thank you as always for linking up your art to Show Your Face and for the lovely write up and link too. Kx

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  21. Your faces on book pages are so lovely.
    They really speak to me and the tiny village in her hair
    Oh My Julie Ann...have you written any books?
    You could certainly write AND illustrate books beautifully.
    Thank you for sharing your art and passion.
    Take good care and have a lovely weekend oxo

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