Amy Cherie Art

During the lock down last month I was able to complete a lot of unfinished pieces, including this one of Kapiti Island - Gouache on round wooden board.  Available upon request - amycherieart@gmail.com   

This Christmas I decided to hand make some visitors books for my parents and my grandparents, because I just couldn't find anything in the shops that really matched what I was looking for. I bought four pieces of thin wooden board, which I drilled holes in, sanded and primed with gesso.  I painted the covers with a mixture of gouache and acrylics, then bound them both with metal rings with blank paper inside. They can write notes, visitors can leave messages or they can paste photos inside.  These were really fun to make, and I can already think of so many more uses for personalised booklets like this, can't wait to make more! 🎨

Last year I began to experiment with painting on wooden serving boards. The smooth surface is a dream to paint on, and I love how the wood gives a natural look to the background. I have so many designs in mind for these, so hope to do many more in 2020! 

I recently had the awesome opportunity to create this portrait as a special birthday gift. I don't I'll ever get tired of painting fur babies!!  If you know someone who would love to have their furry friend painted on to a beautiful piece of native wood, send an email to  amycherieart@gmail.com

After moving cities a few months ago, I realised that all my art supplies had been packed so "safely" that I didn't know where they were! So I found some acrylic paints, and some old watercolour paper, and set myself a challenge.. 30 mini paintings in 30 days.  These are the first few. They are 4 x 4 inches and took at least an hour each to complete. Prints are available for $5 each or 3 for $12. 

Every single day I get inspired by things all around me, and every day I think of new and exciting projects and artworks I want to try. My favourite thing to paint this month... cute food puns!  I find it so hard to just stick to one idea, technique or medium!  Hence this unnecessary shopping trip to get new art supplies.. I had a voucher for an arts/ stationery supply store, so saw the chance to grab a few things that I've been wanting to try, but wouldn't normally pick up.  This time I got water mixable oils, water mixable linseed oil, some new brushes, some water brushes and some resin.  I don't really know how the resin idea came about... (well, I do... I'm addicted to pinterest and think that I have the time/skill/money to do every single craft project I find on there...!!).  If I find time I will experiment with the resin, but so far I am loving the water brushes and hope to try the oils this week. 

My idea for Inktober last year was to sketch my favourite 90's cartoons using some brush pens I picked up at Daiso. I didn't quite get through the 31 days, probably because I was doing daily paintings as well.. But I still like the ones I did get done :)

The past two days have been so busy, painting from morning till night, but I couldn't be happier with the results 😊  (Check out the 'Available Work' page for close ups of the individual pieces).   We got into a pretty good rythym of painting the design, giving them a few coats of lacquer, then attaching the magnets at the back.  The more of them I make, the more ideas I have and the more I want to do, but tomorrow is the the craft fair, so I will have to make do with what I have. A part of me is so nervous that no one will be interested, and another part of me is  sad that if someone does buy them they'll be gone.. I guess I need to learn not to be so attached to everything I make!  But they look really neat on the fridge, hopefully I will get to take my favourites home :) 

This post is going up a little late, and I have done many more paintings at this point. But until I can get pictures this will have to do for now. Painting these pieces has been super fun, and a really good learning experience for me. I am discovering what my favourite subjects to paint are, and also what doesn't inspire me. I am finding out how I cope creatively under pressure (or not as has sometimes been the case), and I am learning to accept constructive criticism. Also, I have found that I am strong enough to continue to paint what I want to paint, rather than take "suggestions " from others to heart, and potentially end up doing something that doesn't make me happy. I am very pleased with what I have done so far, but at the same time I have become a bit frustrated with my materials. Even though this is just a fun project, I still always try to do my best, which is more difficult with restictions such as paint quality. I haven't tried many gouache pai...

As per usual I had to plan everything out before I started... 😅 I made these paintings using the dimensions of the wood pieces to see how much detail I could get in to the space. They were supposed to be quick sketches, but I've really never been able to just do a quick sketch! So they ended up taking a bit longer than I wanted... I really enjoyed painting in circles though!  My first painting ended up being done on a piece of a broken chopping board that I found. I wanted to test how the gouache would react over the primer that I had sprayed on it. I think it turned out really nice, and I ended up giving it to my grandfather as a gift.  After I finished the bird I was pretty excited to start on the wood  slices, here are my first few... There's really nothing quite like changing up your materials and your work environment to help start feeling inspired again!