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Upcycling old restaurant signs

Base coat completed

My dad gave me this A from an old restaurant sign ages ago, originally it has gold and black on the front and the back was covered in plaster and glue. Finally I did something with it! My favourite thing at the moment is my Winsor & Newton Galeria Gesso Primer which is great for using on shiny surfaces like this. The floral designs where just painted on freehand using my favourite metallic paints. I bought some tiny brushes on ebay which are meant for nail art but are perfect for intricate line work.

Upcycled Restaurant Letter My dad gave me this A from an old restaurant sign ages ago, originally it has gold and black on the front and the back was covered in plaster and glue.

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So it’s been a while since I posted on here, happily I have still been doing art and working on some fun projects. I start posting and hope that my mum doesn’t see any of the posts as its her birthday present!

A few more doodles.... So it's been a while since I posted on here, happily I have still been doing art and working on some fun projects.

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Ideas for my wooden ‘A”

Diet Coke Addict

Base coat completed

More wooden fish

It rained a lot this week

So we have completed week three of my 90 day challenge. This week some of the doodles feature colour!! Part of me actually likes having the single colour doodles, I feel like I have to think less when I just use one pen but it’s good to shake things up a bit.

The wooden A has had quite a few coats of acrylic primer on it now and is mostly smooth. I am still deciding what to do with it. I feel like the patterns from the tree painting I did last month would look nice on it, or like the ‘A’ doodle above, doing some type of scene from Cyprus. I don’t want to rush into it so will think more on it next week.

I also found more wooden fish, I don’t actually remember buying these….oops. Last year I painted these for my mum to put on the Christmas tree – see post here. Sounds strange to have Turkish style painted fish on your Christmas tree but it makes sense for us. The blue fish pattern is based on Turkish ceramics but now its painted I have no idea what to do with it. I have like 10 more of these so will have to come up with something!

Week three of doodle mania So we have completed week three of my 90 day challenge. This week some of the doodles feature colour!!

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Upcycling old restaurant signs

Watercolour practice

Watercolour practice

Air balloon

Dinner Doodle

Which direction please?

Dinner Doodle

Dinner Doodle

As part of the 90 day challenge I have been filling up a small cheap and cheerful notepad with random doodles while making and eating my dinner after work. It is an easy way to get an hour of something artistic into your day and because its just a cheap pad there is no pressure or that feeling that you are wasting paper. I love my black Staedtler fineliners. I have all the coloured versions too, so might make use of them next week in my next batch of doodles.

I have also been playing around with my watercolours, again just random patterns with no forethought or planning. I am going to put together a pinterest board on watercolours for inspiration and try do some actual painting on the lovely watercolour paper I bought.

Finally, I have just started a weekend project with this large plywood ‘A’ from an old restaurant sign my dad gave me. The back was covered in a mix of cement glue and plaster so the pic here is me getting out the old elbow grease and white spirit to scour it off. I am now painting it with white gesso primer and planning what to actually paint on it. I am thinking something Cyprus related. Maybe in sections having the sun, sky, mountains, pine trees and then ending with the sea. See what happens with it!

Dinner Doodles and a new weekend project As part of the 90 day challenge I have been filling up a small cheap and cheerful notepad with random doodles while making and eating my dinner after work.

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Feeling Autumnal - 90 day challenge

First attempt at using watercolours in about 10 years!!

  All this Stoptober advertising in the UK is making me think about things I should stop doing and things I should be doing. I just started a three month contract marketing job and want to make sure that despite working full time, I am still creating everyday. Bring forth the 90 day challenge!! I figure that one small painting or one hour…

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Finally the Pattern Tree is finished!! Whoop! Managed to complete it in about a week and definitely ruined one brush doing it. Pretty pleased with the results but I would change the middle if I did it again. Ideally the middle tallest branch would be lower down on the canvas so the white pattern could go over it, forming a proper outline of a tree.

It was a fun experiment to produce some original patterns which have been inspired by Turkish ceramics. From this I might get the pen and paper out and try to create something from them. I’m doing classes on SkillsShare on pattern and surface design so hopefully I can make use of them in one of tutorials.

Original painting on Etsy – https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/204443128/turkish-pattern-tree-original-floral?

Finished Painting - Freehand Pattern Tree #Finished #art #happy Finally the Pattern Tree is finished!! Whoop! Managed to complete it in about a week and definitely ruined one brush doing it.

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Work in progress #WIP #humpday - freehand patterns on canvas Chilled afternoon doing freehand patterns on a large canvas. Its actually quite fun to do it without any planning and just committing to paint straightaway.

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10 posts! SUCCESS!!

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Still focussing on the Turkish patterns at the moment.  Pomegranates are a common theme in Turkish homes in everything from fabrics, paintings and actual ceramic and plastic pomegranates as table decorations. This was done on a small 15cm x 15cm canvas with acrylics and metallics. I do use metallic paint a lot in my paintings, not sure if its cheating but I really love how it makes patterns stronger and colours stand out.

Etsy Shop: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/203733326/pomegranate-original-turkish-pattern

I did this sketch first but decided given the size of the canvas I was using, I would just do a close up of a single pomegranate. I still have lots of tiny canvases so might do a series of three small ones next.

Original sketch of the pomegranates

Turkish Pomegranate Painting – acrylic on canvas Still focussing on the Turkish patterns at the moment.  Pomegranates are a common theme in Turkish homes in everything from fabrics, paintings and actual ceramic and plastic pomegranates as table decorations.

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So I finally finished the Turkish Coffee painting which started out as a doodle a week or so ago. Overall I’m pleased with how it turned out, I added some extra sections to balance out the shape and symmetry of the design. The canvas is 30cm – 40cm so its definitely one of the biggest paintings I have done for a long while. Also available on Etsy – https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/203595311/the-flavour-of-turkish-coffee-original. Honestly shocked at how expensive international shipping is so will only be sending it domestically. Probably will stick with smaller paintings in future but I do have one large canvas left. Watch this space.

The Flavour of Turkish Coffee Painting – from doodle to canvas So I finally finished the Turkish Coffee painting which started out as a doodle a week or so ago.

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Radio – Illustration Friday I decided to start doing the Illustration Friday weekly topics as a way to keep drawing and start working out what exactly my style is.

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  As mentioned in my last post, I decided that I would paint my floral design onto canvas. As usual I only did minimum planning before committing to colours and additional patterns. Despite this I think the colours are working well so far. I will make the tan swirl multicoloured which will hopefully bring the whole piece together. Also will be adding lots of gold detail to the pomegranates to make them pop. Next time I will try to be more patient and properly map out each piece before I start and create a colour palette which makes the whole design cohesive.

Work In Progress – Painted Turkish Coffee Cup Floral Design   As mentioned in my last post, I decided that I would paint my floral design onto canvas.

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Turkish Coffee Cup Doodle

Turkish Coffee Cup Doodle

  I am loving Turkish patterns at the moment – Pinterest boards are good for collecting your fav designs – http://www.pinterest.com/olivianihad/turkish-art/ 

This is a mix of my favourite patterns coming out of a Turkish coffee cup. If you have ever had Turkish coffee, you know it packs a punch despite the tiny cup! I am in the process of actually painting this design on canvas, watch this space!

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Cupcake Love – mini canvases I don't know about you, but summer is officially over in England. I imagine that I won't get any sympathy for the crappy weather having spent so much time in the hot sun abroad, BUT it was worth a shot.

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Now on Etsy – a small, original, hand painted acrylic canvas of a crashing turquoise waves. The canvas measures approximately 15cm x 15cm and is carefully painted using fine paint brushes and protected with Galeria Gloss Varnish. The front is initialed and the back is signed and dated.

Inspired by the rolling crystalline waves of Cornwall, England where I spent many summer holidays. I hope you all enjoyed your holiday break – back in England after three months of Cyprus and am missing the heat, the ocean and the sunshine!

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/200937811/original-colourful-painting-on-canvas?

Crashing ocean waves on canvas Now on Etsy - a small, original, hand painted acrylic canvas of a crashing turquoise waves. The canvas measures approximately 15cm x 15cm and is carefully painted using fine paint brushes and protected with Galeria Gloss Varnish.

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Cupcake Canvas fun - https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/OliviaNihad

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  I used my final canvas to recreate the flower pattern I used for my sisters goodbye card. As mentioned, its a pretty common pattern in Turkish artwork and especially in ceramics. Already the house out here in Cyprus is filling up with my paintings, all of which have a Turkish theme. Its really made the house look and feel a bit more authentic and really complements the Turkish fabrics we have filled the place with. More of that to come in my next post!

  Flowered Canvas I used my final canvas to recreate the flower pattern I used for my sisters goodbye card…