Paintings

As you know, early last year in February I started taking daily photos of simple, everyday things to remind me to be happy. Instead of colour, I deliberately chose black and white. After 365 days, that came to an end this year. These photos played a big part in my life and I would love to continue to share them with you here.

This set was taken between late April and early May. By this time I didn’t feel like leaving the house anymore, other than one or two rare driving trips. I spent my days in my atelier and working in the garden. I also made tons of inks using foraged things from the garden.

Simple 365 – Set 5

Please Click on the image thumbnails to see the photos and read the captions.

A few photos from the set stand out for me –

Santa Ziggy – My high school librarians were very kind to a lonely child who liked spending all her free time at the library. They gave him to me one Christmas. He now spends his days in my home library.

The Yosemite mug – Sierra is my home away from home and I love to wander in those mountains. Sipping from this mug is the perfect start to my day, specially last year when I couldn’t visit.

The little bear – He is a children’s hospice bear. My husband got him for me at Derbyshire. He sits amongst my favourite children’s books in my atelier and watches over me while I work there.

The four roses – I took this one for four loved ones in my life. Raindrops made it extra special.

Paintings From The Lost Pages Book

It was early December last year, while still continuing with the daily photos, that I realized I desperately needed another escape into my imaginary worlds. So, I started making little books and filling them with one painting per day. I have been sharing the paintings from the first book still, which is called Lost Pages. Here are four more paintings from the book.

Please Click on the image thumbnails to see the photos and read the captions.

The Girl And Her Cat started visiting me more in my paintings to tell me all about their little adventures. I love seeing them and I hope you do too!

They stopped by the Red Inn for some tea, scones with jam, and some kippers by the fireplace. The innkeeper knows them, and always gives them a little extra TLC.

Lost Pages Paintings

I created a page with paintings from my Lost Pages book. I will add on to that page as I share more paintings from that book.

Simple 365 Photos

I also created a page with all the previously shared photos from Simple365. I will add more photos on to that page as well, as I share them here.

Both of these pages can be found on the menu under photography and paintings.

These two special projects have been a beacon of light for me. I hope they bring you some joy and make you smile as well.

Let me know if there is a photo or painting that especially spoke to you.

Until next time,
-Soma

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“Hey child, stay wilder than the wind” is a line from one of my favourite songs by Duran Duran. This painting from my Lost Pages sketchbook always makes me think of that. I don’t consider myself a wild child, but I do love to be outside travelling and walking everywhere with my camera. When I am at home, early mornings, I work in the garden quite regularly while listening to the trees talking to each other. I often also bring little treasures back inside. That’s how I got started with botanical ink making.

When I was sharing my Simple365 daily photos previously, you asked me about the process.

You can make inks using many of the things you can find in your garden or kitchen, rose petals and onion skins being a couple of common examples. Please remember that many plants range anywhere from mildly to extremely poisonous. So please be careful, specially if you are working with children or/and around pets.

Also, some of the inks might cause permanent staining. Please make sure to take adequate precaution.

Now on to the fun part – ink making. It is super easy. I highlighted the materials you will need below in the instructions.

Add your foraged items to a mixture of 1 cup of water and 1 tsp of vinegar in an old saucepan and add heat. Once it comes to boil, turn the stove down to barely a simmer. Too much heat will turn everything brown.

Check the colour every now and then by dipping a strip of scrap paper in the liquid. As you can see in the second photo, the color changes over time. Once you have the desired colour, use a strainer to collect only the liquid in a heat resistant bottle like an old jam bottle.

You can stop here. For a cleaner ink, you can further filter the ink using a coffee filter set in a funnel.

Lastly, you can put a clove or two in the bottle to preserve the ink. That’s it!

These inks are ephemeral. If you want to preserve the artwork you create, I suggest you either scan or take a photo of it as soon as possible.

It will be so exciting to see what colour you would extract from the things you find around your home! I think with proper supervision this would make a fabulous activity to do with children.

I will wrap up the post with a few more paintings from the Lost Pages sketchbook. These are all my favourites.

Please Click on the image thumbnails to see the photos.

I would love to know which one is your favourite from these four.