Lady Ophelia and the Mystery of the Missing Week

No history lesson this week as too much story to catch up on for Darcy's 52 Postcards challenge!

Week 21 ENGLAND (or HOME as Lady Ophelia knows it), and week 20 Mauritania.

May in England see's the woodlands carpeted with bluebells :D

Miss Lillian Crowther has had an incredibly stressful week. She did not really expect Ophelia to send her a postcard every week, life would be much to exciting for her young friend, but this is the first time she hasn't received one so her anxiety is understandable.

Then, while she is tending her now copiously stocked garden, she is shocked, and overjoyed to see Ophelia walking towards her along the lane. The two ladies  lose all sense of composure, as they run towards each other with open arms, enjoying one of those "ooow I've missed you!" kind of hugs that bring tears to your eyes. After what seems an age, the embrace is broken by a quiet "Huh hmmm" as Miss Francesca catches up with them. Lillian flings her arms around the surprised Miss Francesca, and squeezes her tight, while thanking her repeatedly for bringing Ophelia home safely.

When she has composed herself, Lillian invites her two visitors inside for a lovely cup of tea.

"After last weeks horrid adventure, I insisted Richard bring us home, to let everyone see that I am perfectly well." started Ophelia as she sipped her tea. " We would have been with you sooner, but Richard wanted to show me our new home, Pendleton Manor. He is having it refurbished while we travel. You will come and visit as soon as we get back, won't you dear friend?"

"Of course my darling, I can hardly wait! Your question suggests you will be off on your travels again soon?"

"Oh, absolutely", beamed Ophelia, "far too excited not to. So let me fill you in on what happened last week.

Richard took us to Mauritania, in western Africa. He wanted to check up on an old friend, a French Military man by the name of  Louis Faidherbe. Apparently the French used to control the area, but sort of lost interest some time ago. This officer is trying to keep the peace between the warring tribes there, but it is all a bit out of control."

"Well! While we were trying to find the military post, this native chap comes up to Richard...and you won't believe this, tries to sell him a young woman! She was naked and in chains! The man was very insistent, manhandling the poor girl and showing her off like some prize cow at a fayre. I could see Richard was getting angry...very angry...and then he (by whom I mean Richard) took out his pistol and shot the man dead! Just like that! Not a word, he just took the chains from the girl and shooed her away!"

Lillian sat in silence as Ophelia related this news, and Miss Francesca sat nodding her head slowly like some old sage.

"I don't know which of us was most surprised by Richard's actions, but a crowd started to gather, and Richard and our guide lead us away from that particular village. They decided that country was not a safe place to remain, and we joined a Caravan heading across the desert. These nomadic people were most gracious, and hid us whenever other less friendly tribes approached."

"Well thank goodness you are safe now" sighed Lillian."Mauritania is a particularly volatile place, and slavery is still the normal practice there. The tribes war constantly. I'm not sure I condone murder, but I can fully understand Sir Richards anger. Many of the people I knew through my father's missionary work in Africa have been killed or forced to leave this particular region in the last few years.

But now is a time for us to enjoy each others company, so walk with me, and I will show you all the beautiful gifts you have sent me so far from your amazing adventure."

And with that the three ladies went out into the glorious sunny garden, and breathed in the scent of bluebells, mingled with Lilac and roses, that filled the garden of Peartree cottage.

Not a very politically correct post, but the story is of the times, when the world was changing in many ways. You will notice there are no postmarks on these 2 postcards. That is because Lady Ophelia hand delivered them during her visit. And in a break with tradition, she included a portrait of her husband.

So I give you my face no. 25 of my 29 Faces for May

SIR RICHARD PENDLETON

:D Enjoy XXX

Drum roll please...........

And to announce the winner of my "All Together Now" giveaway, please welcome

Face no.23 of my 29 Faces for May

CLAIRE

(quiet drum roll continues....), Pretty Pink Flamingo climbs into her travel box...

(badabadabadabada......) Sister Mary Whatsername, patron Saint of Dirty Artist blesses the prizes...

(badabadabada....) 29 names listed and cut into strips...

(badabadabada.....) all folded to same size...

...and put into fancy box for shaking :D...

(drummer starting to feel faint...but still going like a good 'un) get 13 yeaqr old to select a name from box...

AND THE WINNER IS.......JULIA (Pan's Daughter) !!!!!

(crash bang whallop!!!...as drummer collapses in an exhausted heap)

Thank you to everyone who took part and left such lovely comments( and I did actually include EVERY one who left a comment, not just challenge participants, cos it's my give away and I do what I like :D)

And a big THANK YOU to Amy for hosting this fun party :D XXX

...And on the final day he rested!!!

Well folks, today is the last day of February and therefore the 29th of my 29 Faces for February.

I have REALLY enjoyed pushing myself to make these pieces, and hope you have enjoyed all the differing styles and techniques as much as I have. I would like to thank, once again Ayala for hosting this marvellously inspired challenge.

For my 29th face (was going to put last, but I doubt that very much lol) I decided to express how relaxed I now feel when attempting a portrait.

This is a loose 20 minute sketch(including deciding which pic to use) of my hubby relaxing in front of the tv.....not something he does very often :)

...building up sketch with soft coloured pencils...
...putting in shoulders so he isn't a head on a stick...
... literally scribbling colour onto the page, in a very free fashion...
...thought his head looked a bit skinny so added more hair lol...
...and the words...JUST CHILL...and have fun with your art :D

It doesn't matter that it isn't a perfect likeness...that's what photo's are for. What does matter is that you enjoy your art...if some one else likes it too, that's cool! :D

Tip: I found standing up to draw this meant I had to work loosely, and the soft graphite meant I couldn't make tight lines :D

The many faces of ME!

Being the 28th day of 29 Faces for February, I thought I might show lots of faces.

The Art Geeks prompt for this week was to make a journal page using scraps and collage to show how the world sees you and how you really are. Some people don't see this as "proper" art, but I find it rather enjoyable :D

I chose to use my STEve book, which I made with my most favourite K&Co Blossomwood papers, and collected 6 images that I felt represented versions of me...I arranged them on the pages and smooshed copper metalic acrylic around a bit :D( I like smooshing paint)
I then made labels for each representation...
and finally doodled and added expressions of how I am perceived.
So Face no 28 is "The many faces of ME!"

#1 How parents see me....angelic of course

#2 How friends see me .... some one to tell their troubles to

#3 How Society sees me....sat drinking tea all day(stay at home mum)

#4 How Hubby sees me...alluring, with a hint of danger, sexy(and grateful I am that he does:D)

#5 How I see me....Happy in my own space(wanting to be away with the faeries most of the time)

and finally

#6 How I really am in the world....constantly battling with the outside world(protecting friends and family, trying to keep them all safe and happy)

Hope you enjoyed this bit of fun :D XXX

Does this look like a happy child to you?

Face no 27 for 29 Faces for February (he might be 28 and 29 as well, in different mediums :D)

Genuine critique required folks!!! My nephew asked me to do a portrait of his 1 year old son(via hubby, who said of course I would?????!)

Why do people always send you photos for portraits of laughing babies? They are so hard to get the true likeness from. When we laugh our faces become distorted and twisted, and you can't see the eyes properly(but he is gorgeous :D, even if he did make me a Great-aunt)

So I really need you to tell me if you think I have caught his likeness...
I did a quick sketch then went for chalk pastels on textures paper...(no instructions for size or technique from parents:S)
I also chose to use a coloured paper to help with depth, using white rose pink and black pastels.
There isn't an awful lot of detail on a babies face, especially if his hair is still downy...
and I have "best guessed" for his eyes.
Decided to use a brown stabillo All pencil to neaten edges, as this blended with the chalk.
and a touch of black pencil in eyes and mouth(because the pastel was too fat lol)
I added his neck and a suggestion of his t-shirt, so that he wasn't just a floating head(that would have been a bit creepy I think)
and this is where I am at now. Don't feel like I want to do any more to this image. I like the softness of it.
Opinions required....please :D XXX

Eureka!!! I think she's got it :D

Decided to give gel transfering anther go...this time I did some experimenting first.

I'd printed a pic (ink jet printer) of a mariposa to use as inspiration for the postcard challenge. It was just lying on my desk, begging to be used, so I poured some matt medium on it and slapped it onto a piece of scrap card, hit it with the hairdyer and started rubbing off the paper....it worked???!!!
So I grabbed my "try it out" book and stuck another inkjet image and a photo onto a page already prepped with white Gesso...
went away to give it some drying time as I was realising I have been attacking them too quickly.
OMG the image transfered beautifully....
but the photo wouldn't stick. Next I thought, maybe I'd been struggling because I was working on top of acrylic paint....
NO!!! She was perfect!!! So time to try on a pre-painted collage page. I had already tried a transfer on this page before, but the image was difficult to see, so I added a patch of white acrylic first.
(could have given it longer to dry) Then stuck inkjet image on with loads of matt medium...
and "thar she blows!!!" Couldn't believe how well these worked, guess I just needed a little patience :D
Added another image overlapping the first...
and a bit of water colour ...and I am very pleased with this distressed collage effect. Face no 26 for 29 Faces for February.
All the inkjet images are from June at Dezinaworld (except the mariposa) :D XXX