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I am a self-taught artist who loves and appreciates art and photography. Both capture moments of life with great meaning and beauty.
A photo or a piece of art can set off all kinds of emotions. I believe that looking at paintings and images can promote healing too, a form of colour therapy. Anyway, I hope my vision of my time on this planet can give you all some form of joy. |
 Hi everyone, do you like the picture of the spring lamb. I took it at Castleton. More on that later. First of all the family are on holiday this week so we just had to get out to spend some quality time together in Mother Nature. Should have done this yesterday as it was 'Earth Day', but it poured down with rain so we decided to go out today instead, oh well better late than never. My hubby thought it would be a good idea to try out a new programme he has that helps you take several pictures and convert them as panoramic photographs. Well you don't need to ask me twice, any excuse to take some pic's. Off we went to Curbar Gap in the Derbyshire hills. An excellent place to visit for climbers and ramblers alike aswell as plenty of opportunity to go bouldering. Our boys learnt how to climb on these rocks as children, a lot of happy memories here. I took some photos of Curbar Gap and here they are. As you can see he used the programme :).    The next destination was Castleton, an old lead mining village that is littered with caves, ideal for potholing. There are four main caverns open to the public called: Speedwell Cavern, Blue John Cavern, Treak Cliff Cavern and last but not least Peak Cavern. This has a quaint village full of character, with narrow winding lanes and if you like shopping, gorgeous gift shops that have jewellery made from the Blue John stone mined locally. There is lots to do for those who are active like walking over the highest peak in Derbyshire, Mam Tor, which is a favourite for paragliders in the summertime. Here are some pictures for you to browse. We also went to two other destinations after that, Ecclesall Woods with its rich prehistoric history, here is a link for more info... https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/out--about/parks-woodlands--countryside/trees--woodlands/woodland-sites-and-projects/ecclesall-woods.html Finally I wanted to end the day with photographs of some flowers so off we went to Wirlow Park just up the road from Ecclesall Woods. I was not disappointed and was rewarded by a superb show of spring flowers and shrubs. Here are a few of the highlights..  I hope you enjoyed this blog, I consider this to be a tribute to Earth Day. It is great to get out from time to time and appreciate what we are given unconditionally for free. I will leave you with this song from the Late and great Michael Jackson, bless his soul. Love and Peace Samira :)
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 Hmmmm, what shall I write about. I thought I would do something a bit simple than the usual lengthy blogs. It has been a loooong week. Lots of things going on. Most importantly though, I became a grandma again for the second time, a wonderful blessing for our whole family. I was honoured to be present at the birth, but boy was I tired afterwards as you can imagine. It was great not to have to be the one having the baby, but it was mentally draining watching someone you love going through so much pain. Anyway it was worth it in the end, both are doing well thank you. I have a gorgeous grand-daughter to show for it. She was born on Wednesday night and that is why I couldn't do my blog on Thursday because I was brain dead. Today I will upload some photos of rings that I made last week. I hope you like them as I have taught myself how to make them. It was a fun project to do, however I need a manicure now as the wires left tiny tears in my fingers and my nails had scratches all over them. The things I have to do for art ;) They are really simple to make, you can do it too, just be careful with the pointy ends of the wires, maybe wear old leather gloves to protect your hands. I have a video tutorial made by Rachel Murgatroyd, thank you Rachel, from Youtube showing you the method. This is a great place to start and then you can go crazy and make up your own ideas by using different wires and beads or twisting the wire into lovely shapes, oh the possibilities are endless. Must go now here are my rings.... enjoy!!! Love and Peace Samira :) If you have been following me on Facebook then you will know I started another painting in green as part of my Colour Series. Well you will be pleased to know I have completed it and will show you the stages in a short while. Firstly, what does the colour green mean to me? When I see green I picture growth, healing, peace and calmness. In nature it is the colour that signifies life. Green is the soft grass under my bare feet, its nature incarnate, the colour of life. Let’s see what the experts say. After researching I discovered that green is associated with wellbeing, restfulness, and equilibrium. It has a rejuvenating quality that restores your life force and nurtures your mind, body and spirit. It is the fourth chakra and governs the heart. Green has the energy of nature, growth and expansion. Mentally it helps to alleviate fears, anxieties and calms emotions. The green personality in its positive form is a community spirited one who is kind natured, friendly and will help anyone who needs it. On the negative side it is the materialistic, possessive person who cannot part with their wealth and is greedy. The phrase green eyed monster is used to describe a jealous person. An individual can be green with envy. I find it interesting when we often refer to colours when relating to people.
 Yellow is sunshine and you know how sunshine makes you feel.... yep.... happy and cheerful. Speaking for myself yellow gives me the feeling of newness, spring and youthfulness. So let's see what I discovered in my research. Yellow is an intellectual colour full of creative energy, a symbol of happiness, joy, as well as wisdom. Yellow is the third chakra at the solar plexus and governs areas like the large intestine, liver and stomach as well as other organs in that vicinity. It helps with movement and aids in energising and lifting the mood. This colour stimulates mental activity and offers illumination and clarity. Yellow, however, is also linked to self-worth and ego. It is using the head rather than the heart. It has a very fast vibration so it is not good if you want to promote calm and peace. I must mention here that the shade of yellow can indicate various moods, for instance light yellow is alertness and opens the mind. The darker yellows can point to lack of self worth, depression... I think you get the message. So if you wish to get things going in your life in terms of changes, promote feelings of happiness and joy, get some help with making decisions, then yellow is the colour to use. It is a great way to stimulate the body and the brain, but remember doesn’t overdo it. Now of course as part of my colour series I painted a yellow painting. It was great fun as I ended up doing an abstract piece. I just wanted to paint a version of sunshine, but with texture. Lovely shades of yellow were used, that reminded me of my childhood days spent playing amongst the buttercups, with the warm sunshine lighting up the fields all around. Colourful butterflies frolicking amongst the flowers feeding on nectar and the busy bees buzzing (that's a mouth full) around frantically collecting pollen for the honey. I just realised something all the things I have just mentioned like the sun, buttercups, bees, pollen and honey all have a form of yellow in them... lol...  Back to reality. Here are the stages of the painting. The first stage involved painting the background with light yellow in the middle gradually getting darker as it moved outwards, representing the radiance of the sun. At the second stage I used petal shapes to form a spiral going clockwise, meaning growth, energising and creativity. I added different shades of yellow to each petal for depth and made the paint thick to add texture.  The third stage involved inserted slivers of white paint between each petal to add more interest and brighten the painting up even further. Finally I added gold embellishments in the centre to inject a third dimensional feel to it. I have named this painting ' Enlightenment' as yellow clears your mind and helps you reach your goals.   I hope this blog cheered you up somewhat, if it didn't then I know something that might. Here is a music video by 'Pharrell Williams' called 'Happy'. If this doesn't brighten up your day I don't know what will. Enjoy the rest of your day or night. Love and Peace Samira :) |
