Looking beyond the splat…

Looking beyond the splat…

Hi there.
Thanks for popping in.
Have just had the cleanest Messy Hour ever!
So I want to share my little arty intermezzo with you.
Now don’t worry; she hasn’t lost the plot.
She was getting to grips with the new Mat we have started selling,
The Best Ever Mat.
It really is excellent!
I wanted to see how it reacted to water, and just have a play.
I lost my temper at work today. Not without reason, but I hate the aftermath, and could really do without it at my age, to be honest!
So I came home and decided to just get it out of my system actually.
Call it a mindful workout for the soul….
Spritz mat with a line of water.
Puff a  couple of Color Burst pigment powders into the water.
Lower the centre of a sheet of our stencil card down onto the beaded, colourful water, and rock it gently to the left and right.
Lift the card and turn it, to let the puddles of ink move around.
Chase the drops and streams of colour.
By moving and bending the card, 
you can manipulate light and shade.
If it’s too dark,
you can always lift the colour by spritzing the card
and blotting it with a paper towel.
Flip it round. Who says which way is up?
YOU DO.
Ahh.
Let’s stop here for a moment.
Do the old Barbie squint, and see what you can see….
Anything?
Well, let me show you what I can see.
Loads of little whimsy houses.
They just need little rooftops and a few windows.
The Spectrum Noir pencils and Faber-Castell pencils
work beautifully on top of the Color Burst.
I could spend hours on this!
Highlights and lowlights.
Just use the drips and runs to create 
rocky foundations and interest.
 How about a few little stairs and balconies?
And now I see a cliff wall!
Yep.
All the houses are at the top, on the cliff edge.
So with a darker pencil and light flick, 
let’s define the crags and rock face all along the beach.
No stamps, no stencils, no Groovi Plates.
Just a clever mat which repels water (key ingredient)
some ultra-fine pigment powder, aka Color Burst
A couple of colouring pencils,
and a mighty fine squint!!!!
Let’s hone our squinting skills together.
Here are a couple of other pieces I made whilst playing.
I want you to look at each of them, stare at them.
See what you see.
Whether you see the same as me….
I am particularly delighted with this one….
Purple Picture
And this one! Well!
Can’t wait to bring out what I see with a pencil!
Green Picture
Pray do tell us below what you can see.
Then others can go back and check.
It would be great if you have the printing capability
to download these two and add your artwork to mine.
Then email me your take on my Color Burst Bases.
These little bottles and the Mat have serious artistic potential.
They have zoomed straight into my top 3 chart of
favourite things to use.
Clear mind, and ready to go again tomorrow.

love and peace,

65 thoughts on “Looking beyond the splat…

  1. in the green picture i see a wonky green and blue garden fence with some shrubbery in front, a garden essentially, fab way to start an art work! we had to do sth similar with lines in art school, draw them randomly and then fill in a scene

    1. also reminds me of when we at flower shows in summer , we sit outside at night watching clouds and making all sorts of shapes animals and things out of them xx

  2. Just quickly, the purple one is lots of people rushing to and fro, and the greenish one is down at the coast with huge waves crashing and throwing the spumes of spray over everything. I will be back to comment further later. I hope you are feeling much better again about whatever happened. Deep breathing and lots of crafting. xxx Maggie PS Do not forget that you have been under tremendous stress this year with all the worry and fear over Dave's illness. Stress like that has to have an outlet somewhere. Don't beat yourself up about it. xxx

  3. Great technique for triggering the imagination and creating something arty from next to nothing.
    The purple one reminds me of following on behind a crowd of people. The green one was more of a landscape and I thought about a garden fence with a border and in the foreground it could be either a lawn or a pond.
    It will be interesting to see what others think.

    Jan

  4. Hi Barbara the purple one has people and the 3rd one in from my left looks like a musical instrument next to it a drum case in the middle a small violin case oh this is fun
    Green one a garden with a long fence couple of trees large and small a bush and a pond
    Hope the art worked helped you through today xxx

    1. Evening Donna did you start your Christmas cards ? I have had a good day crafting it so helps me through each day
      Evening Dorothy hugs to help you through
      Evening Diane
      Evening Brenda
      Evening pam
      Hugs to all blogging xxxx

    2. Hi Sheila – oh yes a guitar case and someon carrying a set of drums! My first thought was people going somewhere exciting, the Olympic park sprung to mind ( those bowler hats with light bulbs!). But now I think it's a music gig – Glastonbury ? Or perhaps something like Sidmouth folk week! Sounds like you had a good day today crafting. Now if I tell you I rolled Daniel Craig up and squeezed him in an envelope , what would you think of me?!!!! Xxxxxx

    3. Oh you guessed Sheila. They were giving out free posters when we went to the cinema so I got one for her ( May have kept one for myself too!). I'm posting it to her with some chocolate and a couple of Christmas decorations. Xxxx

  5. Love it – my sort of crafting! The Purple one looks like people attending an event – perhaps watching fireworks? and the Green one I think is a battle field of soldiers,or a fence near a stream.

  6. The purple picture is a crowd of people going in the same direction. (I can't decide whether it's towards me or away but I think they are in a rush to go somewhere – or to get away from somewhere.) The green one has mist rising, trees and a lake. A much more relaxing picture! Take care, Mxx

  7. The purple one seems to be a group of people walking towards me. The other one looks like a fence around a lake or pond with a hedge as well. I could see those quite clearly but not the one you turned into houses, that was very clever.I have been wandering around the German market in Birmingham today, such lovely temping aromas coming from the stalls. Gosh my feet really hurt now though. Hope you have a calm evening. xxx

  8. I wish I had 'Barbie eyes' to see what you can see and then turn it into beautiful artwork. As I don't these are my vision for the two options

    Purple – A group of people – they are purple because they've started to queue outside Clarity Towers for 'Gray Day' on Friday – they all want to be first in the queue – if only they had realised that Barbara is kind to us so there is no waiting outside in the cold for us Clarity followers – we get to spend our money from the comfort of our warm homes instead

    Green a picket fence at the top of the banking with the canal or river at the bottom and then in the foreground there is 'this side' of the canal with flowers on the grass bank

  9. The first one you did looks like cows' udders to me! Clever turning then into houses! In the others I see purple people and then a fence and field scene in the other. Will have a go at downloading though. X

  10. Hi Barbara
    I'd just like to say I really enjoyed pauls shows weekend and am looking forword to seeing your next shows.
    The first print I see a crowd of people and the second an old slate type fence in a field with bushes and water.

  11. Purple ..I see a crowd..walking towards a stage where there is a concert about to start.

    In the other..a wonky fence around a meadow grass garden. A small bush to the left ato the edge of a stream or pond…that is just behind a ridge in the ground

  12. This is so fascinating. The greenl picture is to my squint ….. morning mist rising over the valley and misty lake in the foreground, with factories in the distance on the hill . The purple picture is shoppers in the high street busy going about their business. I can imagine the shops at each side of the street leading into the distance. Bet this calmed you down today Barb xx

  13. Hi Barbara
    That's not like you to get angry and shout. I like the way you calmed down though. I hadn't seen the houses, I saw mountains!. The purple one I see people rushing towards me with instruments perhaps to a gig. ( it would be wrong of me to say they are going in 'One Direction' wouldn't it!).
    The green one reminds me of the new forest on a misty morning with gorse bushes, fences and a pond – half expect a pony to come out of the mist. Thank you for sharing these fascinating pieces of artwork with us.
    Love Diane xxxxx

  14. First one crowd of people walking along 2ndtrees in back ground fire with smoke may be smoke signal water with reflections in
    I had been looking at the mat on Internet YouTube for awhile hands remit for sale sowhenyousaid about it ordered it came last week just love it the puddles are great ink pads don't slip holds them stillsoyou have to hands free best mat ever and a very good size to think I'm fan of it thanks enjoy yourevening lots love and hugs Joy xxx

  15. Picture 1 – The Beatles about to face an onslaught of endearing fans.
    Picture 2 – The eerie green light emanating from a gas shell fired over No Man's Land!
    How varying are these descriptions?

    Have mat; use daily. Love how it grabs the work surface and doesn't move. Combining that with the easy removal of acrylics, paste, glue with water and kitchen roll, may just have to order another – one for the kitchen for my wet art stuff and another for my craft room. ;~}

  16. Definitely a crowd of purple people (eaters?) all heading towards a light as if in a trance – maybe a bit sinister. At first I couldn't make anything from the second, but after a little squint or two a fabulous garden came into view with a lake reflecting the trees and shrubs along the bank. Is that mist rising from the lake or the head gardener having a bonfire? Love your first piece of art – such imagination and the talent to make it work! I have Brusho powders (much like color burst pigment powders only cheaper – and British) the mat would work a treat with these too.
    Tonbridge Sue

  17. in the purple i see people. however to me they look like they are walking away with their backs to us, maybe running away from an explosion?
    in the green one i see a fence bushes, a dead tree trunk and an area for a lush tree.there is definitely water to the front maybe a pond or a river. hugs xx

  18. Purple people with some creatures
    Green fields , fence and shrub like features
    Fabulous art from Barbara Gray
    Artistically these have made my day!
    As usual brilliant art Barbara …love the row of houses,
    XxxrRuth

  19. Hi Barb
    Well my squints are – purple one – team supporters going home after the match in the rain and their team had lost. Green one – Trees and shrubs on the edge of a crystal clear lake like the ones I saw in Canada. Mind I didn't have my contact lenses in! Lots of love.

  20. The purple one has streams of people walking to somewhere. The green has bushes, trees and a country look. I watched Paul on Sunday playing with the magic mat and the colour bursts. It was fascinating. When Christmas is over I'm going to play messy with the mat;: I've ordered it ready to play; right now I'm buried under gifts, wrapping and all the rest of the Christmas gunk. Messy January here I come !

  21. I see people in the rain in the first one, crossing Waterloo Bridge in the wet and the second one I see a forest over looking a calm lake in the mist of the morning. Sorry to hear you lost your temper.. Happens to us all I'm afraid even the most patient among us xx

    Much love

    Kim x

  22. What a drippy old mess!!! From which came inspiration and wonderful artwork and escapism. I never make derogatory remarks and hope you read on from the first sentence. What a super, super creative creature you are. My temper is quiet now – battled round the shops and then tonight had a ballroom dance lesson with my two left feet but certainly had a laugh.
    Have a good week
    Love Anne (Reading)x

  23. Sorry you are feeling stressed after a bad day at work Barbara but tomorrow is another day and hopefully a better day. I think in the purple one I see a crowd of people moving in one direction to or from maybe a sporting event, and the the green one looks like a picket fence with plants growing in front, then some grass and a pond right in the foreground. I love the houses on top of a rocky outcrop which you saw in the first one. I'm not sure that I saw those houses but to me it does look like looking at the skyscrapers in a big city from a long way off and in the middle distance a large area of trees. It is fun to look at something abstract and try to make a picture out of it. x

  24. For me, the purple one is a crowd of people, but they're coming towards us. The green one is a row of fence posts, or crosses, in the background, with a bank of bushes and trees and flowers in front.

    Hope you have a calm evening and a fresh start tomorrow.

    (PS Just seen the Gray Day on Facebook for Friday – very excited!)

  25. Like most people I see a crowd of people, maybe soldiers on the beaches. Then a country scene, fence, foliage and brook or pond, anyway I found myself humming Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony. Both very impressive just as they are.
    I'm sure you recovered your equilibrium and your good humour pretty quickly. The mat looks highly desirable. I've also 'lost' a favourite stamp so Gray Friday looks tempting.
    Carol

  26. The purple one is a crowd of people all standing next to each other, the green one is a garden with a hedgerow and bushes. Sorry to hear you got upset at work hope it wasn't someone having a moan. Xx

  27. An interesting blog Barb – sorry about your anger but we all have to let off steam sometimes….. I think the first picture is of a crowd of Marathon runners at the start [maybe for breast cancer night time run]; the second one, I would turn into a picket fence beside a lake. Thanks for the Gray Friday idea – I want a Best Ever Mat!!!

  28. Art can be relaxing when you can do it at your own pace. I miss you on U~Tube? Your videos don't show or play there anymore. Love your work. Thanks for sharing all your excellent ideas.

  29. Hello Barb, love the ideas you come up with. Before I lose my train of thought, I think the purple one is a crowd of people and green and blue one is a forest with mist and shadows. Love the idea of this mat, and it is on my wish list, I have the colour bursts, set 1, and now want the new colours, they are such fun to play with as you have shown. Hope you have a better day today. Bx

  30. Love the coastal picture. I see purple people marching and a flower strewn meadow with a magical forest behind. Already have a water reselling mat so will need to try this tonight. Need some cards for December birthdays so a good excuse to play. X

  31. Purple – I see people rushing to work (possibly over London Bridge into the City) on a winter's morning just as it is starting to get light.

    Green – I see three people (possibly a family) looking over a garden fence into a beautiful garden.

  32. Morning, Do love this idea of art work. I have been using the shaving foam and boy what a great way to learn how paints work.

    But back to your pics….

    The purple one – People running to the Black Friday deals 🙂

    The Green one – A forest of trees beside a pond with the mist rising in the early morning

    I do love the little houses. Fantastic.

    Crafty hugs Pen x

  33. The first one lovely houses next football crowed on the way to the match last one green field through the fence just see the spring flowers pinks coming throughxxxx
    June Horrocks xx

  34. Hi Barbara I ve just ordered the colour bursts at the weekend ! Can t wait to play ! In the purple one I see people walking and in the green one – my first thought was people around a fire then I looked again and saw trees with a lake and their reflection in the lake ! Was very interesting xx

  35. Well it's obvious to me the purple one is a crowd of people walking away from me and the green one is a forest beside a lake. I'll now have another look and see if there is anything else comes to mind. Happy Days, Lesley

  36. Hi Barb
    I can see 4 elephants and 3 men in the foreground and 1 baby elephant in the bacground of the purple picture, but as yet I haven't made anything of the green one, but will keep trying
    Margaret xxx

  37. Fascinating prints, I definitely see a crowd of people in the purple print and a glorious meadow scene in the second one. I was very impressed with Paul's demo of the new craft mat, definitely going on my Christmas wishlist x

  38. The first one was men talking to men initially, then swimmers entering water or a pool, when you put the paper towel across I can see homes on top of hills. The purple sheet is persons talking or milling around. Then the final one: firstly a graveyard, then people again, then either trees or a fence along the length of a field. Have deliberately gone up and down to look without looking at what others see so will do that next. You do make this fun for us Barbara, rest well, just one more card to finish then bed for me! Karen xx

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