Black lace

I wanted to do the doily stencil that I've seen, but I did it wrongly: and instead of making the background white, I did the reverse. Hence, my black doily.

I am not the world's greatest stenciler, so there were lots of missed bits, and blothches, and not-so-pretty places.

The lot was covered with my favourite flower - the blue rose - and there are lots of them, as you can so plaintly see here.

Well, this is my first try with the doily, and I'll remember the lesson I've learnt :)

Something is just begging to be written in the centre. Can't think of what to write yet, though :(

I need my close-ups, in case this is given away!

Emily's purple round

When I was working on this last night, things didn't seem to be going as I'd planned. And so, when I was done, I thought I'd leave you with this pix, and be done with it:

Then, I thought, that that wasn't really 'honest' and maybe I'd add a second pix:

What do they both have in common? Both were taken from afar, and I'd not have to reckon with the details of my purple round.

And then I remembered the reason for this blog: to document my journey in one-stroke painting, and to not have it all here, even the 'warts' wouldn't be right.

So, here's the story: My friend Emily (who remains an imaginary friend, because we have not met IRL) sent me this cake-board via the office of the Alliance Francaise where I study French every Saturday.

After stripping off the silver paper, I found that the board wasn't of the best quality, so it needed to be gesso-ed, and even after that, it still looked pimple-y. SO: I gesso-ed it one more time, this time, leaving it with a textured feel, with raised swirls (it didn't come through in the pix) - which I hope helps hide the pimples.

I did the edge in the purple Emily wanted - it's here favourite colour, she says - and did a light cover on the gesso (not enough, it still sucked up my paint and foiled my flowers :(

Emily wants to make this into a clock. I don't know if it'll work, Em, but let me know if you succeed.

Here's a close-up of the flowers on top, on the bottom, and an 'honest' close-up of the whole round, flaws and all  ;)