Melbourne Art Festival and Garden

I must admit that ever since I have started Instagram, I feel a bit lazy to blog. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy blogging, but it does take a lot more time and time is so precious to me as every little bit I get I like to spent my time creating rather than spending on computer. I am aware of the importance of social media but without my work I have nothing to say. So hope you understand and am sure you lot are the same like me.

Anyway here I am with rather late post on the Melbourne Arts Festival photographs and rest you can see that I have also being very busy in my garden. Garden is looking good still and very productive one too. A good news I received other day that I have finally got my plot. So, next year I will be growing more and will be able to share with you some allotment news too. For a long time I have been dreaming of a land and couldn't believe it when I got it.

So my dear readers, I hope you have a good end to your weekend too xox

Exhibition at the Art Barn

It has been quite intense with the Art Barn in Preston Baggot, Warickshire, where I have 10 paintings at the moment, and the exhibition goes on until the 4th October, and the weekend of Melbourne Art Festival. Both exhibitions co inciding which meant a lot of work inbetween the holidays and before and after the holidays. At the Melbourne arts festival I had about 16 paintings displayed.

This is how the art barn looks from the back

 
It is part of the old rectory in preston baggot and the barn has been converted into a art gallery for last eight years now. I exhibited there in 2010 and this year I was thrilled to be invited back.

I took lot of photographs before the opening of the private view as it gets very busy and difficult later on.

After delivering the paintings at the art barn we went for a little walk around. It is beautiful surrounding.

Little Emily just loved to play around their huge garden area.

A lot of running around.

Then we took this path just behind the front lawn where Emily was playing for a stroll.

We passed the gate.

Passed the church.

And reached the wheat field.

 Yes, daddy and little girl played hide and seek.

I bet you cant spot daddy here in the above picture.

OH! you found him. That was difficult, wasn't it?

Emily was very keen to see the wheat grains.

Later that week was the private view. Exciting when people start pouring in.

The exhibition looked fantastic.These 4 paintings on the wall are my work. The sculptures are Petra Rohr-Rouendaal's, who lived quite a long time in Africa and her work is influenced from it.

Few more of my paintings. These are Encaustic mixed media work.

More sculptures and paintings from Petra.

Some Raku pottery work from Rika who came all the way from Botswana.

Another painter and jewellers work.

A very good combination of art and craft work which will be on until the 4th October. If you do get a chance to be in Warwickshire please do have a look at the exhibition. You wont be disappointed for sure.

All the pottery work is making me so itchy to try my hands in pottery once again. I keep thinking of it but haven't got enough time for now but maybe this is something I want to have along with my paintings in future. Hmmmmm, long term planning is going on here.

Well, enjoy your day and I will be back next with the Melbourne arts festival photographs. Thank you to all those people, who are now following me on Instagram. I am really enjoying Instagram as its lot quicker than blogging.

I feel alive when I am painting

"I found I could say things with colour and shapes that I couldn't say any other way... Things I had no words for" - Georgia O'Keeffe

Being busy with the things I like the most is such lovely feeling. I have been mostly in my studio lately every minute possibly I could. Its not long now before I have a group exhibition in the art barn in Warwickshire and the Melbourne Arts Festival in Derbyshire.

This year its going to be my 7th year that I have been participating the Melbourne Arts Festival and every year I am so excited and look forward to it. Love seeing lots of new faces every year and many familiar faces from past. It is so nice to get the feed back face to face.

About the group exhibition, now I exhibited at Art Barn in 2010 and this year I was invited back to exhibit with few other artists whose work is influenced by different cultures or countries. Sunday, I have to deliver my work.

Can you believe me. On top of these two exhibitions I took up the thirty paintings in 30 days challenge. Phew... Well, let me put it up like this. I feel alive when I am painting. The above little painting was done in one of my altered journals for this 30/30 challenge. I have done something almost everyday but haven't managed to upload everywhere in the social media. Now that's too much work and I love the creative part but when it comes to being active everywhere in social media, it gets bit too much for me. I don't know how some people manage it all. So I have been uploading in the Instagram everyday my 30/30 painting challenge and you can follow me with the account name sujata.aten.art. I must say Instagram is a lot quicker than blogging or anything else and I love it.

The last thing before I go back in my studio and do a little bit of more work, I am very happy that my calendars for 2016 (all my paintings are mostly sold) has arrived before the Melbourne festival. Every year people ask me for cards and calendars so I thought I must give it a go this year.

Thirty Paintings in 30 Days - Day 4

Mixed media on altered journal - Thirty paintings in 30 Days - Day 4

(Close-up)

Wow! another days challenge done. I am happy. This little mixed media painting is done on a altered old book. I love painting on them. The paper is so nice to work on. I prefer old books over the shop bought sketchbooks. I have used here my rust dyed fabrics, vintage lace, some hand stitching and acrylic paint. Day 4 - Thirty paintings in 30 Days done.

Busy Days

 

I have been really a busy bee lately.

There is so much to do in the garden. The weeds never seem to stop growing. Our little potager garden has been giving us a lot on our plates these days.

These garlic were a bit disappointing, I expected them to be bigger. So I have left a lot in the ground still. Maybe with some luck it can grow little bit more.

The potting shed is getting full slowly. Fresh herbs are nice to use now and these will be dry and ready to use in winter.

Remember the glass jar which was filled with marigold couple of weeks before to dye some samples in the sun. I am so pleased with the colour and think will make few more jars and leave it in the sun.

Every afternoon after dropping little Emily at her nursery, I am on my own, in silence, creating, this is something I love to do the most.

I am very happy how my work has developed in my studio. This year, I have been pushing myself a lot more to do more paintings. I am not going to show all of them now as I want them up at the exhibition first. The painting above is yet another one of my small canvases which I have completed.

Still a lot needs to be done before the exhibitions. In between I do need to distract myself with some crafty projects while sipping nice cup of tea. While I am waiting for paintings to dry before applying another layer (love working in layers) is the best time to pick up a slow stitching or knitting.

I cant think of knitting now with this temperature. Need to wait for that until Autumn now. Anyway the little piece of work which I did not long ago using my mothers sari and rust dyed fabric got another layer of rust dyed fabric too. It is interesting that like my paintings I keep on adding materials to my stitching too.

So, this is what it looks like now. This was my old (almost 4years) journal where I have lot more sari and other materials inside. I thought because I used more sari it might be best making it as a cover for that book/journal.