Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

One of the things I like to do when I have a bit of spare time is play with photos I've taken ... today, when I didn't have spare time, I played nevertheless .  Having printed out black and white copies, I very quickly and roughly applied watercolours to the prints, and further cropped to make some interesting Facebook cover images. 

 Seasons - Watercolour and ink art tags by Wilma Simmons  I found this series of art tags in one of my boxes ( while searching for something else!)  - I made them in 2017, but have now released them for sale in my Etsy shop  ... These little art works can be used as  gift tags, book marks, decorative hangings, creative journal or collage elements, or even as an educational resource -  creative writing or story telling prompts .  Summer - art tag by Wilma Simmons  Autumn - art tag by Wilma Simmons  Spring - art tag by Wilma Simmons  Winter - art tag by Wilma Simmons 

Continuing - Arty Alphabet in response to the Instagram Challenge  'Every Day Creative A to Z" #everydaycreativeatoz  F  : Felt - Although I wouldn't classify myself as a "felter",I do like to make felt and this is a close up of one of my favourite scarves.  G :   Grevillea Girl - one of series of small whimsical watercolours commissioned as gifts. Inspired by the bush folk by May Gibbs.  H: Hexagons - these small fabric hexagons were stitched together and then appliqued on to a recycled piece from an old tablecloth. The bees are made of tea bag paper and also stitched onto the fabric.This photo is of a section from one of a series of concertina fabric books, entitles "Garden Stories"  I : Indigo . This is a piece of raw silk dyed with indigo. The whole piece used shibori techniques, so each section of the piece shows the results of a different way of manipulating the fabric before dyeing.  Hoping to make it to the end of the alph...

 Here is another "Paris" tag for Tag Tuesday - a little sketch with  pen and watercolours.... nowhere in particular, but hopefully  it is reminds you of a Parisian cafe...  Remember to check out all the links to fantastic tags from the   Tag Tuesday site

... On all the big Gum trees there are Gumnut Babies. Some people see them and some don't, but they see everybody and everything.... They love to sit in the sunshine ,warming various parts of themselves while they think. They think of everything and wonder why... . ( from May Gibbs: Gumnut Babies) I have just completed a commissioned series of small watercolour paint, pencil and pen drawings  based on the stories of May Gibbs, Australian folklore author. She did not have a Hakea, Geraldton Wax nor a Grevillea character in her stories, but these are beautiful plants flowering at the moment in my garden, so they were included.

Tag Tuesday 's theme is CAKE ...  When Valerie, the Tag Tuesday coordinator asked me to choose a theme, I am not really sure what I was thinking... it must have been morning tea time... so I said "cake" . Then of course, when the topic appears to be easy it is difficult to feel inspired, but I was the tag designer  of the week, I really had to come up with something ...  Tag 1 is a play on the words "The icing on the cake" . I have had some cupcake scrapbook paper which I have had for years, so felt I had to use it for this theme regardless. It made a good background for my black pen drawing of a cake and a skater tentatively balanced on top of the icing... I drew the cake and the skater separately on sketch book paper and then cut them out and glued them to the background. Really a very simple tag created from paper with a felt tipped pen.  My second tag refers to Marie Antoinette of whom I was reminded as Bastille Day is only a couple of days awa...

 For Tag Tuesday 's theme FACES , I am revisiting 4 of the 29 tags I drew and painted for the 29 Faces Challenge in February. These are my Bush Babies inspired by the May Gibbs' characters. Earlier this year, I went to an exhibition at the NSW State Library in Sydney, celebrating 100 years since the first publication of May Gibbs' books - children's fantasy stories about the Gumnut babies and friends who live in the Australian bush and this has reignited my interest in Australian literary folklore. My favourite book is still "The Adventures of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie". The opening plea from May Gibbs  is still relevant for our environment  today " ‘Humans Please be kind to all bush creatures and don’t pull flowers up by the roots’.

"She didn't claim to see the fairies or hear their music, but she did find the fairy rings of dark grass, sprinkled with toadstool left by their dancing feet. "  Having completed a small watercolour and ink sketch this week led me to thinking about  "fairies in the garden". I remembered a story of an amazing hoax  by two young girls in 1917.  Have you heard of the Cottingley Fairies? Much has been written about the five photographs produced by two cousins, Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths in Yorkshire, England. I would love to show  here all  five photos but there is some controversy about the copyright of the photos and I would not like to be in any sort of dispute about the use of them. However, they are reproduced on these sites - click on the word link to see the photos  : 1. Wikipedia   2. Museum of Hoaxes 3. The Telegraph - Five Famous Hoaxes   Elsie and Frances took  photos with a quarter plate camera in their garden ...

Eco Print art tags # Wilma Simmons  “Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature -- the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.”  ―  Rachel Carson ,  Silent Spring Can you hear the songs of spring ?   ( Click here to see more eco prints) Eco Prints  stitched -#Wilma Simmons  Eco print tag -#Wilma Simmons