Introducing Lily & Boss

Hi Sorry its been Long time no see. I have missed you all :-)

Here is my latest portrait which took me a lot longer than I thought it would due to a) Kidney infection and b) Underestimating how long two black dogs would take me to do....soooo much layering. I now require a new black prisma!



This is Lily and Boss - they own the lady who runs the Sheffield greyhound rescue centre, who is a lovely person. I will hopefully be helping with little fund raising contributions here and there as it is a great charity. if you would like to give please visit the website link on the left hand side.

I do have another drawing lined up but I'm waiting for my ground to dry. Updates soon xx

THIS IS HOME

A new blog called 'This is Home' and explores this theme through a single sentence. This is mine - eeeeeee! I happened across it whilst I was looking at the new graphic entries.


Visit the site here and submit your own :-)

Plagiarism...a scary thing

Hi peeps, no pics today but I came across a blog post by Lauren Nassef (who's work is fantastic BTW) that made me think about putting art work onto the Internet.

Now, I mostly see the Internet as a place for good and a platform for all unknown artists like myself to try to get recognised, however Lauren's story says otherwise. I don't want to comment directly about that situation as enough has been said BUT Lauren is lucky to have many blog followers and ones who will spot a plagiarised image of hers at 40 paces. I on the other hand am relatively new to putting my work up on the web and do not have said followers - relying on myself to trawl the entire Internet just to see if someone else had stolen my work is not possible. Who has that kind of time or inclination? Also there is some obsessiveness to that kind of behaviour, like I spend my time shuffling along in a straight jacket - you know?

So my point here is that Lauren's plagiarised works came to an agreeable ending in that all was resolved and plagiariser was shamed. It is scary that someone COULD potentially take my drawings etc and cobble them together AND win prizes whilst I am working unbelieveably hard with not so much as a whiff of success. How would I know? There is no point in putting watermarks on images to protect them because if someone is brutal enough, they will take it and use it sans watermark - trace it whatever. Another talented artist Art & Ghosts has had an ongoing issue with this and it will probably keep on happening sadly. I think influence is fine and every artist is influenced in some way or another - even if we think our own work is 100% original.

So what's the answer? I'm sure if you are like me, there isn't one but to hope you have enough peeps in your corner to spot these beastly copy artists. Although when the web is so vast, there are plenty of places to hide with stolen images....

Patience is a virtue.....

Here is the piece I created as a test brief for an agency. As you can see it is a play on 'Bastille Day' for Rowntrees fruit Pastilles. I enjoyed doing it very much and think it turned out well in the week timescale I was given. Each element is hand drawn and then put together in Photoshop. I am currently waiting to get feedback from the agency.

Other work I am thinking of starting are some still life studies in Silverpoint. The content of the imagery won't be mind blowing but I am using it to hone my skills in the medium. Since I have been busy at work, this has taken a back seat for the time being. I have a few things taped to my board to try gee me along but I just need a light bulb moment before I can start! Another thing on my agenda is to enter the Sue Rider 'Art Liberating lives' competition which closes in October. I am just getting some ideas together at the moment with nothing substantial to show, although the dialogue it created has thrown me a bit. I have discussed some ideas with my other half but haven't yet got my head round the theme of 'Liberation'. We shall see what happen over the coming weeks...just waiting and being ever so patient :-)

I have also started doing nights at the care home and it has taken a toll on my body big time! The backwards working is a strange thing to get used to. The constant rain isn't helping either....Oh sunshine, where did you go?

Take care my chickadees,
XOXO

Abby

Happy August all. Just wanted to share a portrait I made for my friend as a gift for her baby's welcome party. Silverpoint & watercolour.

Can't stop, got some things to do...busy busy! x

SRG update

Holla peeps. Welcome back, I trust you have not all been swept away by the many amounts of rain that keep coming! I have managed to avoid it mostly and enjoyed the nice weather when it makes an appearance.

So the SRG dog show went well and I got lots of interest and lovely comments from people. You can see from the photo that my board looks a little squished with work but when we arrived we realised we were on a slope and in a tight spot. This does not make for a gallery experience :-)

Originally we brought four boards but it wasn't going to fit! Also we had a mad moment when my husband forgot the Velcro (to put up the work) and my kind dear sister had to go to a shop pronto to find some. Luckily she is blessed with good organisation and no fear! That's is her sat at the little table forcing people to buy raffle tickets and bringing some glamour to the stand. She won't thank me for putting up the second pic, but seriously this must be the only none perfect picture of her - ever! I won't comment on myself - apart from the fact that my hair does look better than that in real life.

A second shout out is to my husband (not pictured) who did his very best and sorted everything out. He did a lot of the hard work, carrying, putting everything up and making it less stressful. I could not have done it without them both - so thanks :-) All in all a good time was had by human and dogs alike. Thanks to the SRG for letting me have a stand. Please do visit their site for more pics of the day.

In other news I have become a carer at a local residential home near me. I did need an additional job but I was certain that even though I had been a PA for three years, I was NOT working in an office again...ever. So I have made a complete change and do you know, it's great. The work is hard but it's about the people, and I think there will be more job satisfaction in it than being a PA. I will be making a difference to other's lives - at least in a small way. My Nan had Dementia for a long time and it had a really profound effect on me, bringing up more questions than answers. She was looked after in a nursing home by good caring people and that is what made a difference to her life - even when she was essentially not 'living' anymore. I hope that I can care for others in that way too.

My art is still important to me but I was starting to go a bit mad being on my own for so many hours of the day! I need a sort of challenge, which in turn will have an impact on what work I produce...you know, get the old brain box whirring into action!

I think that is all for now but thanks for stopping by, if you would like to comment I would be most appreciative :-) See you all soon x

Yeah it's tomorrow!

Just to plug the event again :-)

http://www.sheffieldretiredgreyhounds.co.uk/

and some directions for you...

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&tab=wl

see you there xx