Barbara Gray Blog

Day 29 – August Arty Challenge – My Hands Can Make Great Things

29th August 2026 Paul Church Comments 3 Comments

My hands can make great things. And today we’re getting right back to the heart of what this Arty Challenge is all about: getting with our hands and seeing what happens! I’ve used the lovely Elementree leaf stamps for today’s artwork, building up those simple leafy shapes and letting the colours do their thing. And actually, this one couldn’t be better timed, because those leaves would work beautifully with our brand-new Nature’s Palette Card Collection, which we launched yesterday as…

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Day 28 – August Arty Challenge – Make Art NOT War

28th August 2026 Barbara Gray Comments 2 Comments

Make Art NOT War. Well, I think we can all get behind that one! There is quite enough conflict and noise in the world without us adding to it, and one of the very best ways I know to quieten the noise — certainly in my own head — is to get with my hands and make something. Today we’re creating a very cool little landscape, and this particular technique really does have legs. We actually explored it during our…

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Day 27 – August Arty Challenge – My Ideas Are Worth Exploring

27th August 2026 Barbara Gray Comments 4 Comments

My ideas are worth exploring. As are yours! That’s the important bit here. This affirmation isn’t about my ideas being particularly clever or worthy — the “my” belongs to each and every one of us. It’s about trusting those little creative nudges that pop into your own head and being willing to follow them, without immediately judging whether they’re good enough or whether they’ll work. Today’s little arty session, using Sam Crowe’s fabulous fishy stamps, is a proper don’t overthink…

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Day 26 – August Arty Challenge – I Am Free To Explore And Experiment

26th August 2026 Barbara Gray Comments 2 Comments

Art has a wonderful way of taking us places, doesn’t it? Even when we can’t travel for whatever reason, we can still pick up a pencil, a paintbrush or a few inks and let our imagination carry us off to foreign climes. Just think back to our SHAC days during Lockdown! We travelled all over the world together — Japan, Africa, Holland, America, Hawaii — all without leaving home. And that’s where the explore and experiment part comes in too….

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Day 25 – August Arty Challenge – I Will Go With The Flow

25th August 2026 Barbara Gray Comments 5 Comments

This one is my favourite so far. And perhaps that’s because I really did just go with the flow — quite literally! With alcohol inks, you can guide them a little, but ultimately they have a mind of their own. They flow, they merge, they wander off in unexpected directions… and rather than trying to control what was happening, I simply worked with it. No fixed plan, no fighting it, no trying to make it look like something I’d already…

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Day 24 – August Arty Challenge – I Am An Artist

24th August 2026 Barbara Gray Comments 3 Comments

Well, today’s little arty offering certainly didn’t go according to plan! I had an idea in my head, gave it a go… and it just wasn’t working. So, Plan B it was! And actually, that’s all part of being an artist too. Things don’t always turn out the way we imagined they would, but that doesn’t mean we’ve failed or that we should give up. We change direction, cover something up, add something else, try a different colour, chop a…

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Day 23 – August Arty Challenge – Actually, I Can!

23rd August 2026 Barbara Gray Comments 4 Comments

I remember when the kids were growing up, I used to say to them, “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, either way, you’re probably right.” And I still believe that. So often, we decide we can’t do something before we’ve even had a go. I can’t draw. I can’t do that technique. I’m no good with colour. Mine won’t look like that. Sound familiar? But what happens if we change the conversation in our head? What…

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Day 22 – August Arty Challenge – I Allow Myself To Play

22nd August 2026 Barbara Gray Comments 4 Comments

I Allow Myself To Play I think sometimes we forget that making art is supposed to be fun! We get so caught up in whether it looks right, whether the colours work, whether we’ve done it “properly”, that all the joy can disappear out of it. So today’s affirmation is a little reminder to loosen up and play. Try the colour you wouldn’t normally choose. Put something where it probably shouldn’t go. Scribble, splodge, stamp, tear, layer — and see…

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Day 21 – August Arty Challenge – Creativity Begins With Curiosity

21st August 2026 Barbara Gray Comments 5 Comments

Day 21 – August Arty Challenge – Creativity Begins With Curiosity I reckon curiosity is where most creative ideas start. What if I try this? What happens if I put that with that? What would it look like if I turned it upside down, added some colour, tore it up, stamped over it? In fact, right at the centre of this year’s retreats was a BIG “What if?” session – fun, playful, experimental and completely unpredictable. I LOVED IT! And…

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Day 20 – August Arty Challenge – I’m not afraid to try something New

20th August 2026 Barbara Gray Comments 2 Comments

Well, this one couldn’t be more appropriate! Trying something new can feel a bit daunting, especially when we’re comfortable with the things we already know how to do. But that’s where so much of the fun is, isn’t it? You don’t have to be brilliant at something the first time you try it – in fact, you probably won’t be! The important thing is simply being willing to have a go. Yesterday, here at the Retreat, we introduced our second…

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