Art Frenzy!

I like painting. To be more accurate, I like painting in acrylics and gouache (watercolours do my head in, however hard I try). Do I ever get time to paint? Hardly ever. However, once a year the Penpont Flower Show cometh (it's on Saturday), and there's the ThornhillArts Summer Painting competition too. So that's sufficient shove in the back, as always, to get painting and making things.

Now, the Penpont Flower Show has 120 different classes. I normally ignore the flower section, unless my roses are just at the right second stage of flower (up to the rose bushes themselves). Not a chance in the vegetable or pot plant sections either. I come into my own in the Decorative Flower Section, and usually enter every class (e.g. "A childhood memory, toy to be included", "Table arrangement for a christening", "Harvest basket, fresh flowers, foliage and fruit" and so on), though entering does mean going without sleep the night before the show.

I occasionally have a crack in the baking section, never enter the preserves section, but then we get to the handcrafts section and a window of opportunity opens. For we have 2 photograph classes, then "Craft exhibit not already specified" (one of my favourites), "A piece of art work, water colour" and "A piece of art work, any medium" (another favourite).
Finally, there are 8 classes in the children's section, and obviously the boys love having a crack at those.

All of which vast preamble is just to introduce our works in progress, not only for the Flower Show but also for the ThornhillArts Summer Painting Competition (theme: Thornhill).
We have been painting on the street, painting by the river, and clay modelling at home. Most not finished yet, but we're getting there. Not quick enough, mind you. Saturday morning (all items must be displayed by 10am, correctly labelled) is always a chaotic nightmare to be endured, but then you have four hours to hope before the Show opens and you can see how you did! And get teas...

Five hours on the street in Thornhill led to these (all acrylic on watercolour paper)(don't ask, we just use what we can find).

T2's


T1's

Mummy's (this is a generic painting term in our house)

Clay has led to these (still to be painted).

T2's Pokemon

T1's Pokemon, both T's pencil pots and a leftover snail (Mummy)

Mummy's coral "not already specified"

Mummy's ? "not already specified"

Mummy's felt bag in-not-very-far-progress

Mummy's Seagulls (acrylic, hand-painted frame)

Mummy's not-very-satisfactory-church-wall-watercolour-in-progress (unlikely to be finished)

Five hours on the banks of the River Nith led to these.

Mummy's and T1's bridges (toddler paint and pastels on left-over emulsion, plus paper collage on mine). Bit miffed as he took an hour, I took five, and his is actually better than mine. Mine's the bottom one.

Daddy's Nith Bridge (pencil)

T2 unhappy with his bridge, so we black spray-varnished over it, then left-over emulsioned again, and now it's a mixed media (pastel, watercolour and cold tea) Nith Cross. Still in progress.

What's at stake? £1 for each 1st, 75p for 2nd and 50p for 3rd.

Now it's only the flower arranging, vegetable scarecrow, miniature garden in a seed tray and strange shaped potato to go...