Celtic Horse

Hi all! Time to reveal my 3rd picture with the horses. Again, another take, another style - this time -  a Celtic Horse - a creature that is by the look of it, half horse and half... a fish? Dragon? Can you guess? This is a sort of a tribute to the Celtic art of knots and Celtic mythology. I've used mostly warm hues plus a golden relief paste. Also the mane of the horse has been painted with a gold metallic glass paint to add some richness and splendor. The frame, by contrast, I kept simple so the focus remains on the knotted horse.

Here are a few photos of the picture, taken at different angles:

And this is what it looked in the process of creation - drying up on the glass before I put it together and paint the frame around for the final touch :)

A stitch in time... and you're ready for Christmas ahead of time :))) Yes, funny or not, I've already started stitching some Christmassy motifs for my cross stitched cards. Stranded cotton ready, canvas ready, motifs chosen. I like to take my time and stitch my stuff in a relaxed atmosphere. Under time pressure, my stitching / crafting mojo somehow vanishes. 

It is my ambition to stitch this year 2 series of cards. One of 6 pieces and one of four. The theme for my Christmas cards is "Festive Feet". Funny as it seems, it will become more clear when I progress with my cross stitch :) Keep dropping by! 

Time for Hand-made Monday on Hand-made Harbour blog. Do join in visiting some lovely crafty places. 

Dala Horse

After Etruscan Horses I painted another picture of a horse in a different style :) a Dala Horse - folky, colourful, Swedish in origin ...

The picture is painted on an A4 clipframe. I like to use clipframes for painting pictures when I want to give them a frame of my own :) I chose the same colours for the frame as for the horse plus the stripes to deepen the folky effect. So how did I do? :)

A few things inspired me to paint this picture - my interest in Scandinavia, the world-wide fame of the Swedish Dala Horse as a cultural icon and product of Sweden, some lovely pictures of Dalas on the internet, some lovely blog posts like the one of Heather's as well as my own authentic little wooden Dala Horse I bought ages ago at a car boot sale without even knowing it's the one! At the time I didn't quite realize what sort of horse I found, not until I'd become interested in Scandinavia!

Just look at those Dalas off the internet! Aren't they gorgeous?

They wanna make me head north to the cold Scandinavian countries to find one!

Etruscan Horses

Inspired by the historical programmes of Bethany Hughes about the Minoan Civilisation, Thiera island, Atlantis and ancient Greece as well as by some horse sculptures I found on the internet I painted on glass this picture of Etruscan Horses :)

Sleek and slender, stylized and very decorative, they captured my heart. The colours I used were emerald mixed with turquoise and with a lightening medium. The white background of the picture accentuates the green colour even more.

Since I used a vintage style photos for my post, the colour of the horses has been slightly changed. In fact it looks a little more subtle. It may seem like the paper under the glass is crumpled, in fact these are the window frames reflections.

And here are the photos of the sculptures that inspired me:

Hand made Monday - time to join the bunch of crafty people. Get clicking guys!