Category: Art

Sketch outing – Bosta Beach

Posted on by YvonneB

A beautiful sunny day, so after spending all of it so far indoors manning (womanning?) the Callanish exhibition Jane and I decided, after closing time, to grab our sketchbooks and paints and head out to Bosta beach on the small island of Great Bernera. What a stunning location! The wind was a little chilly but we hunkered down in a sheltered spot, accompanied only by the lively local rabbits and set to capturing the scene.

Hebridean Imaging art and photography outer hebrides

Here is my sketch – fineliner pen and a little watercolour added. The weird looking object in the sea is the tide bell which I believe is no longer working? I also did a few sketches of the rabbits which didn’t stay still for more than a few seconds at a time!

Hebridean Imaging art and photography outer hebrides

Jane sketching and using watercolours. Hunkered out of the cool breeze.

Sale – Original Art and Art Cards – Etsy Shop

Posted on by YvonneB

I’m having an end of season sale of my original art cards – I’ve just uploaded what I have left to my Etsy shop. Most of the art cards are now reduced from £3.50 each to just £2.80

Original monotype prints are also available, from £15.00 per item.

As a gesture of seasonal goodwill you can also claim an extra 10% off when you spend over £5.00 (not including P&P) by using the voucher code CHRISTMAS2017 when you check out.

Here are the links:-

Original Art Cards

Original Art

Hebridean Imaging Yvonne Benting uist outer hebrides western isles monotype art card original flower

Hebridean Imaging Yvonne Benting uist outer hebrides western isles monotype art card original flower

Hebridean Imaging Yvonne Benting uist outer hebrides western isles monotype art card original flower
Summer Rain – Uist. Ready mounted to fit a 10″x8″ frame

New print: Raven on Standing Stone

Posted on by YvonneB

I have to admit I do have quite a thing about Raven’s, they are wonderful birds, what I would call “birds of character”

When this one perched momentarily on a local standing stone I thought it was the perfect shot 🙂  With my love of combining my art and photography I hope you will agree that it makes for a moody, mystical image.

Now available in my online shop as a print, mounted in 12″ x 10″ ready to frame in a standard-sized frame.

Hebridean Imaging Yvonne Benting art photography uist outer hebrides western isles photographic print digital collage

Liberate Your Art Swap 2016

Posted on by YvonneB

I heard about this swap via another artist’s blog and thought it sounded like a lot of fun. As i’d just placed an order for postcards for my forthcoming exhibition I decided to join.

I had to send 5 postcards to America to Kat Sloma of Kat Eyes Studio and then on the allotted day she sorted all the postcards and sent them whinging back around the world. I sent extra postcards as well so that the swap helpers wouldn’t miss out on all the fun 🙂 Very many thanks must go to Kat and all the helpers for their work in this years swap – the 6th year!

So far I have heard from Jacinta in Ireland to say that she received my Hebridean Crofthouse postcard and seemed to be very pleased with it 🙂

I only returned from my travels to Spain last night and can’t pick up my mail until tomorrow – i’m really looking forward to seeing what i’ve received as part of the swap – i’ll update tomorrow – feeling excited! (For update on the cards I received see my post here)

Kat has a website and a Facebook page

Here are the postcards that I sent out (the set of four Camino ones were available in my online shop but have now sold out):-

Hebridean Imaging Yvonne Benting art photography western isles outer hebrides uist camino de santiago
Camino postcard no. 1 “Old Window”
Hebridean Imaging Yvonne Benting art photography western isles outer hebrides uist camino de santiago
Camino postcard no. 2 “Olive Tree”
Hebridean Imaging Yvonne Benting art photography western isles outer hebrides uist camino de santiago
Camino postcard no. 3 “The Way”
Hebridean Imaging Yvonne Benting art photography western isles outer hebrides uist camino de santiago
Camino postcard no. 4 “Sign”
Hebridean Imaging Yvonne Benting art photography western isles outer hebrides uist
One of the traditional houses we have here in the Outer Hebrides

click here to see the other people participating in the Liberate Your Art 2016 swap!

30 Paintings in 30 Days – Final Day

Posted on by YvonneB

Wow! The final day of this challenge, it’s come around so quickly and i’ve managed to be creative every single day. Feeling very pleased.

So, what next? Well, i’m going to continue to be creative everyday, it may not be painting although I have really enjoyed that – I’ve never been much of a painter, not acrylics anyway, and would love to improve (hehe, let’s face it, there’s plenty of room for improvement!).

Next week I head away, off island for a couple of months – first to England to visit my family then travelling down through France and Spain – I’ll stay in southern Spain for two months. I need to decide what art supplies to take with me – I would love to paint while i’m there so have some of the 6″ x 6″ canvases set aside. I’ll also be packing my sketchbook and watercolours. Decisions, decisions…

Anyway, my final painting is a still life, my beloved Bialetti coffee maker and a couple of coffee cups. An artist friend called round mid-painting and said “oh my goodness, why have you chosen something so difficult!” The answer being “well I like a challenge” 🙂

OK, It has issues but at the start of this challenge I would never have dreamed of  attempting something like this – I’ve been very much inspired by the amazing art that all the other participants have been posting day after day on Leslie Saeta’s blog http://30paintingsin30days.weebly.com/blog Thank you Leslie so much, i’ve enjoyed my first time with this 30 in 30 challenge and will definitely participate again!

So here it is, acrylics on 6″ x 6″ canvas board

2016 is here!

Posted on by YvonneB

Time to do my daily painting. I have to say here and now i’m not much of a painter but really want to improve, so here goes! I’ve signed up for the 30 Paintings in 30 Days challenge as run by Leslie Saeta. As inspiration I have also been reading the book Daily Painting – Paint Small and Often to Become a More Creative, Productive and Successful Artist by Carol Marine. I’m enjoying the book a lot, haven’t quite finished it yet.

I’ve decided that the first week will be devoted to experimental painting, I haven’t decided yet on themes for the following weeks.

Today’s painting is acrylic paint on 6″ x 6″ card and is really a kind of a loose sketch of something i’m working on that will be on a 20″ x 16″ canvas and in mixed media. It was me feeling my way into the work and trying different things. The final painting will no doubt be quite different but it was very useful to do a small version.

I was up early as always on the 1st January to spend the daylight hours birding, working on the year list. The weather was pretty grim, cold and windy but it has to be done. Ended the day on 53 species, the highlights being two Golden Eagles and three Snow Buntings.

Bit of a crummy phone pic – the waves looked way more impressive than this!

The crofter was busy on the beach collecting seaweed, it will be left in a big pile to rot then will be spread onto the crofter’s plot on the machair to fertilise his crops. This time of year there is always massive piles of seaweed after the winter storms – i’ve seen it 10 or more feet deep.

Journey Book

Posted on by YvonneB

I’m having a joint exhibition with a friend next May, our theme is “Walk this Way” about our experiences walking the Camino de Santiago. I’m writing up my diary from when I walked the Camino de Santiago in 2013. Each of the 44 pages represents one day of the 500 mile walk and includes a variety of writing, photographs, sketches that I did at the time, things I collected along “the way.” Central to each day is my “colours of the Camino” gelli print, done with my 8 inch circular gelli plate.

My “Journey Book” will be available at the exhibition for people to look through. I will also be incorporating “gelli elements” into the art for the exhibition too. It’s no good, there’s no hope, I’ve been a hopeless gelli addict for 12 months now.

Separate pages of my book so far…

Printing

Posted on by YvonneB

Well I thought I would take advantage of the Christmas break to have a play with some monoprinting my new 11″ x 8″ Gelli Plate. After having watched lots of YouTube videos I got everything together – plate, acrylic paints (some old, really cheap ones that i’d bought from The Works when I was working away from home and was separated from my art supplies!), roller, card (I used A4 size matt card) and lots of items from around the house to make some marks and impressions with, including: bubble wrap, rubber stamps, a scallop shell, wool, stencils, paint brushes, cling film, paper towel, bits of paper. A great, fun-filled hour passed quickly and I was pretty happy with the results considering it was my very first time 🙂 Excuse the blurry iPad photo!

Hebridean Imaging Yvonne Benting art photography western isles outer hebrides uist

First attempts at monoprinting with my Gelli Plate. So, what will I do with these now? There are a couple of really nice ones that i’ll cut pieces out of and maybe add a little extra paint and/or collage for making birthday cards for friends and family. I can also use the remnants for collaging with and using as backgrounds for my everyday art journal.

75 Day Ink sketch Challenge

Posted on by YvonneB

Finally got around to compiling the results of my attempt at the 75 Day Ink sketch Challenge.

This is a challenge that was started by artist Brenda Swenson who was one of the amazing teachers at Sketchbook Skool during 2014.

The rules are simple: No preliminary pencil sketch just dive straight in with ink, no erasing, just do it!

I believe I have pushed the rules somewhat as most times I added colour after i’d completed the ink drawing. Colour was added using a variety of media – most often watercolour but at other times Inktense pencils, coloured pencils, spray inks and a little glitter every now and then…

My personal challenge started, very tentatively, on the 19th July 2014 and ended on the 1st October 2014. I really enjoyed the challenge and although didn’t have much confidence when I started but the time the end came around, although I don’t feel that my drawing improved much, I was much more likely to tackle subjects that I never would have dreamed of tackling when I started.