Daily Sketch - Tribal Girl

 

Mixed Media Daily Sketch of a model wearing tribal make up...I liked the magazine spread and thought I'd do a grungy version :)

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Samantha Braund

Daily Sketch Resolution

 

I am going to try to stick to my own creative New Year's resolution to do a daily sketch/ illustration of some kind at the end of a day. I find the practice meditative and one of my fave mixed media artists Ann Bagby suggested carrying out this method for sharpening your drawing skills. I also find I can incorporate them into journals and other artwork at any point in time too, so nothing goes to waste lol. I have put this up on my FB page too as a way of documenting my progress and also in the hope that it may force me to keep it going (I can dream right? lol)

 

 

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Samantha Braund

Mixed Media Soft Bound Book Experiments

Happy New Year 2015! (Image heavy post by the way....)

I am still rehabbing my shoulder, which still means no jewellery making for the time being, so I have had to be creative about being creative lol. I have been really getting into my painting as you may recall from my last couple of posts, and really felt a strong urge to transfigure my 2D art form into a 3D artform. I loved the idea of book covers incorporating my work in a grungy style and did some research and found a lot of interesting ideas (on Pinterest of course) and online courses about how to proceed

I am still in an experimental phase, especially with regard to getting decent image transfers of my work onto irregular fabric like surfaces, but it is looking promising overall. The books will be soft bound eventually, and the covers have a wonderful, flexible, leather like feel to them (see the image below). The edges are satisfyingly grungy and it reeks of old world charm, like undiscovered pirate maps found on a shipwreck !

My first attempt went "wrong", my image transfers didn't work and left strange marks on the surface and I went overboard trying to correct the composition, but I found that I can get very satisfying cropped images (see the end of the post) which I can use as transfers themselves or incorporate them into other work...nothing is ever wrong really in expressive work - that's the moral for me at least lol)

Anyway it has been a wonderful start to the year, and I hope my health improves further too, so that I can become my normal studio obsessed self  again lol. I hope to create some wonderful books and paintings for an arts shop , so this is a nice first step . I have embedded a slideshow video of the experiments so far


































Mixed Media Book Cover Experiments

Pink Rambling Roses

My shoulder rehab is continuing with it's up's and downs. I bounced back from my recent bout of problems to get back into the studio again within the week. I have been doing a lot of experimenting on scrap sheets of watercolour paper, which basically means me dripping and oozing paints, and inks and scraping at the pigments with scalpels, and twigs to try and get texture. I have also been playing with cling film and salt (the usual watercolourist's toys). So far I have learnt a lot, even if the result is a muddy puddle lol.

Today I decided to make a quick sketch of a couple of rambling rose blossoms weaving their way round a hedgerow (similar to before), then set about throwing paint around. I wasn't intending to make a painting and the focus was not on composition, but more about gestural mark making and texture. I went overboard in areas and of course things got muddy, but I continued to add splatters, and used twigs to drag the ink out, which helped a little. I am in love with granulation as a contrasting effect, but am yet to work out how to get consistently good results

Anyway, I think I am going to probably use more light sketching to provide me with a framework before experimenting next time. The blank paper has been rather intimidating and I have noticed I seem to need a focal point to bring out better results. Here's the result and some cropped views to show the mark making up close. I hope my shoulder doesn't act up tomorrow after a long day in the studio....oh well it's all part of the rehab process :) and I am starting to get more and more excited about the art shop (yay)

The whole piece



Twigs and splatters ...




Check out that granulation, baby (lol) !! (and negative space painting)



Watercolour pencil, intense crayon sticks ...



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Samantha Braund

Rosa Arvensis - A Fresh Hope

I am continuing to do rehab for my shoulder injury and am pleased to report that over the last couple of weeks I have been able to use my arms a lot more and have even been able to do some "art"

I would of course love to be able to take on my wire work, but as mentioned before, this would tax more torn tendon more than any other art form I do. Thank goodness I like to dabble in other media other wise I would be going crazy lol. Art therapy is a major factor in keeping me centred . I have taken to my watercolours again, which has been a surreal experience for me, as this was my only creative outlet back when I was a doctor. I haven't touched the medium in a decade - I had of course discovered the joys of acrylics and mixed media thanks to my stint on the Arts and Design course at DeMontfort Uni in 2012, but I never really thought I'd revisit this old faithful friend lol

My approach has changed though towards the medium, possibly as a result of all those mixed media influences and my love of 3D and texture, so I have taken more of an experimental approach this time. I didn't realise how much texture and vibrancy can be brought into watercolours these days, my old work could look quite washed out. The experimental painting above is of Rosa Arvensis a wild rambling white rose, that runs rampant in the English countryside...I felt it symbolised a vibrant fresh hope for me that I am turning a corner with my health and happiness in general. I have been able to reconnect with long lost family this year, and have managed to achieve significant weight loss in my efforts to address my health - so even though there has been somewhat of a creative drought and not a lot happening with the shop, I would say this has been one of my favourite years so far :) If the current trajectory holds true with my rehab, then I hope to open an Arts shop alongside the jewellery one to sell my other kinds of work , which is a lovely thought for me to hang onto as we go into the festive season



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Samantha Braund

Cover Artists Celebration Issue Of Metal Clay Artist Magazine

The latest issue of Metal Clay Artist Magazine contained a special gallery celebrating the cover artists it had featured over the last 5 years. There have been some amazing pieces featured on those covers created by awe inspiring artisans. They featured my favourite Spider Conch Necklace as you can see, which was so  lovely of the team given that I haven't actually touched any metal clay since 2012!! I went running off to have fun messing around on the Arts and Design Course at Uni and became obsessed with painting and mixed media work.

Now I jump around between making Shipwrecked Pirate Books and making Seashore Boxes, then when I get bored I dabble in my first love wire sculpted jewellery. None of which has been happening lately due to my torn shoulder rotator cuff injury - however things are improving in that area and I am to start doing art again as part of my rehab. The irony is that I am not allowed to do extensive wire sculpted work as yet, which means I may well be heading towards playing with metal clay again. This new MCAM issue has been really inspiring and I think I really need to revisit this medium. I'll also be doing painting as part of the rehab regime, and am going to keep everything crossed that I have turned a corner and will continue to improve.

I appreciate all the lovely messages by people excited by my work. All the encouragement really helps me get into the right frame of mind to get better quicker :)  I will keep everyone updated on my progress and will show any new work on my Samantha Braund Jewellery Facebook Page . The image below is the banner for the FB page  :)




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Samantha Braund

Dragon Inspired Doodle

Hello again! I have been off nursing yet more injuries - this time it's an exercise related shoulder injury (torn rotator cuff) so I have been out of action for a while in terms of jewellery making...but on a personal note I have lost over 2 stone in weight so yay! lol

Anyway I was able to do some painting and drawing again after what seemed like a lifetime of not being able to do anything! This was a dragon inspired doodle I did in my art journal that I embellished with acrylic paint, including gold highlights. I love how it turned out, doodling always helps me achieve such a state of zen, similar to wire sculpting, so this little project has made me happy today :)