Caroline's Studio

Oil pastels with collage

2012-02-19T01:16:00.001+08:00

Not a lot of new work has come out of my studio this week - I missed Illustration Friday :( - but rather than not show anything at all, I've decided to share a few colourful experimental pieces I've played about with over the last few weeks. The above little pieces are clips created from a larger work created from small shapes torn from magazine pages with added oil pastel work. No particular design in mind - just going with the flow....very liberating! Thanks to Carolyn Saxby for a reminder of this process - I worked from this tutorial by Sue Dove.

Here you can see I have pasted shapes torn from magazines onto a sheet a plain paper. I did start with colours in mind... but then I just worked the oil pastels fairly randomly around the shapes.

this is the colourful finished page which I then flipped over and divided up by cutting into the page from the back - that way you don't know exactly where you'll be snipping!

I hope these little rectangles and squares might be inspiration for something in the future..!

I enjoyed the process so much that I had to make more!

Sliced up sections from the original page make for interesting mini abstracts.

I pasted them into a sketchbook as reference - perhaps for future paintings or textiles. I've used a few for little additions to handmade cards and collages. And if they don't get used I think they make a lovely display!

If you've got a set of oil pastels I recommend you have a go! By the way, the same exercise can be done with paint too - just layer watercolours or acrylics for similar effects! Have a go!!

Stay tuned for more experiments with inks, watercolour and underwear next!!!!

Port Dickson

2012-02-10T18:03:00.000+08:00

We drove down to Port Dickson last weekend - it's only an hour's drive. We stayed at a hotel by this lovely long beach!

Hotel balconies made an interesting shot!

Enjoyed beachcombing.

Love this purple seaweed!

Poolside for over 18's - nice and quiet! Playing with my camera - focusing on the oranges and reds.

Lovely gardens

Palm trees laden with coconuts.

Focusing on the yellow of the coconuts, fading the other colours.

Tropical pretties.

We walked up a really steep hill to reach Cape Rachado Lighthouse.

The view from the top.

Some of the lovely Trochus shells I found.

A gorgeous sunset at the end of the day - perfect view with a glass of wine in hand! Have a good weekend!

IF - Suspense

2012-02-07T22:41:00.000+08:00

'Suspense' ©Caroline Soer 2012

Suspense is the theme this week for Illustration Friday. Will the little fishing boat make it safely though the storm?
Thinking about it, I could probably have taken almost any watercolour painting for this theme as there's usually an element of suspense or tension with this medium - especially on paper that's been prepared with gesso ! The paint has a mind of its own and does all kinds of unexpected things as it runs over the slippery surface! Certainly not a technique if you like total control over your artwork!

IF: Forward

2012-01-31T19:09:00.002+08:00

' Forward Roll '- coloured pencil and ink© Caroline Soer 2012

My submission for this week's Illustration Friday - Puss doing a forward roll into a bush of Catnip!

I spy..

2012-01-28T23:19:00.001+08:00

I spy

with my little eye

something..

beginning with ''T'

A trio of monkeys busily grooming each other !

Quite oblivious to all the onlookers at Batu Caves, Kuala Lumpur!

If you're interested, there's another post about this fascinating place here http://carolinesstudio.blogspot.com/2010/01/272-steps-and-thaipusam.html

IF : Twirl

2012-01-26T22:38:00.004+08:00

Mermaid Twirl ©Caroline Soer 2012

A very quick piece for this week's Illustration Friday - 'Twirl'! I created this with watercolour pencils on paper I'd previously patterned by impressing cling film into paint and ink.

Trip to the Cameron Highlands

2012-01-23T00:05:00.000+08:00

Beautiful Hibiscus blooms.

Boh Tea Plantation

Spa time - that's a chrysanthemum tea bath, bottom right!

Exotic Butterflies

Wild life (check out the toads centre left!)

Strawberries and tomatoes and things just for fun!

2012-01-20T15:10:00.000+08:00

This past week or so I've been enjoying working with my daughter Jules on her blog facelift and helping her to set up her exciting new Nutrition and Fitness E-business! We've created a fresh new look for the new year and we're very excited because not only is today the day she launches the new look Nutrifit with Jules, but she is also introducing her super new personalised Nutrition Diet Plans - the first of which is a fantastic Detox Programme. I'm definitely going to be signing up for one and looking forward to lots of healthy eating and drinking and feeling revitalised!

If you feel the need for a body Spring Clean, with a special introductory offer for a whole month, there's no time like the present to visit Nutrifit with Jules to find out more about giving your health a boost!

2012-01-14T00:32:00.000+08:00

My 'Little Letters' name pictures for children have undergone a revamp - I've created several new designs, adjusted picture sizes and added a few extra details to poplular designs! Name Pictures are the perfect gift for special little people!

Name pictures with characters (Tiger, Princess, Girl with Butterflies, Dinosaurs and Teddy with Balloon) measure 8 x10 inches (20 x 25 cm) and fit into a standard frame. Ideal gifts for special little people!

Some designs have new features - I've added butterflies to this girlie picture.

and a pink line detail to this Princess design.

Little Tiger is now joined by a colourful parrot and smiley sun!

The following 4 designs are completely new and feature names with hearts, butterflies and teddy motifs. These measure 8 x8 inches (20 x 20 cm).

Waving bears in blue, for little boys.

and in pink for little girls

Waving bears are also available singly with initials (pink or blue) and measure 6 x6 inches (15 x 15 cms).

Little Letters pictures make super gifts for little people! They can be ordered from my Etsy shop.

Grounded

2012-01-08T22:50:00.000+08:00

Paper Butterfly Garland ©Caroline Soer 2012

This little flight of paper butterflies is temporarily grounded - a collage for Illustration Friday.

2011-12-31T18:44:00.000+08:00

Hello - I'm just popping for a last post before 2011 ends!

I hope you all had a good Xmas!!

We have had a lovely family celebration with both daughters at home for the first time together for several years! We've had some marvelous meals, including Xmas lunch in the garden, and days out sightseeing in KL (photos to follow another time)!

I wonder though, if perhaps, like me, you've indulged in just a little too much delicious food and drink?

Anyone out there beginning to feel a tad jaded? Or maybe wondering why your clothing seems to have shrunk lately? Sounds familiar doesn't it?!

I bet you're making your New Year's resolutions to stop eating those cookies right now!!

Well, if you're keen to make a new start, I've got a really good solution to your worries!! My daughter Jules, the one in the middle in the family photo above, who is a qualified Nutritionist and Personal Trainer, has some excellent remedies to get you back on track and feeling fit in 2012.

Nutrifit with Jules

NUTRITION DIET PLANS CREATED SPECIFICALLY FOR YOU!

AVAILABLE IN JANUARY 2012:

Choice of one of the following templates:

Detox
Weight loss
Gluten free
Dairy free

Each diet plan will be designed around your specific needs, with options of Skype consultations available within package.

Don't miss out! Get yourself back on track after the Christmas indulgences!

Pop over to Nutrifit with Jules now and sign up to follow her blog to be sure not to miss the launch of her exciting new plans in January!

Wishing you all a very Happy and Healthy New Year!xx

2011-12-23T14:16:00.000+08:00

Wishing everyone a wonderful Christmas!

Cambodia Part II

2011-12-19T19:02:00.003+08:00

More pics from Cambodia - see part I here. Loved this laughing dog!

Nose to nose!

Banteay Kdei - built in 1186.

Wasp nest.

Back at the hotel found this Poppy light fixture made from coconuts

Lotus blooms in the lobby.

Stone carving.

And more beautiful pieces I'd have liked to take home with me!

The inviting pool.

Next, quite a trek up those steps at Pre Rup!

Worth it for the view!

This is Ta Prohm - this most amazing temple has been engulfed by the jungle. Abandoned to the elements, it was discovered in 1860. Awesome in the true sense of the word!!

Spotted this root that looks like a fist holding a root.

This is Banteay Srei - this petite pink temple is the jewel in the crown! The elaborate carvings here are said to be the finest to be found in Cambodia. The name translates as 'Fortress of the Women' as the intricate detail here was considered too fine for the hands of a man. Stunning place to visit!

Spot the ant!

Hope you enjoyed visiting Siem Reap !

Cards

2011-12-19T12:59:00.000+08:00

These are a couple of the pieces I've been working on recently. Two collages of cats sitting on paper quilts. I printed the design onto cards.

These are some of the other cards I made to sell at a Xmas Bazaar. I've been too busy to upload these to Etsy and it's a bit late for Xmas now, but I'll put the non Christmassy ones in the shop soon.

I've been updating my children's name pictures too - more about these in another post!

Cambodia

2011-12-16T13:25:00.002+08:00

I have so many photos from my trip to Siem Reap in Cambodia that it has been really difficult to select a few for the blog - I fear you may be in for temple overload so I'll divide them over a couple of posts!

These magnificent heads are at Bayon Temple. You can see how large they are by comparing the size of the monk in his orange robes above.

Smiles all round!

This is Angkor Wat

All around the temple are beautiful carvings. These dancers (Apsaras) are so well preserved.

The real thing!

More wonderful carvings that tell stories of ancient battles,

as well as depicting scenes from daily life ( one for the pot!),

animals and buddhas

and ferocious creatures!

So many variations in colour in the stone work.

Views of rural life.

Colour all around.

King Batman and his Tuk Tuk - a popular way to get around town.

Some of the lovely artifacts at the hotel.

See you later!

Hello!

2011-12-07T17:06:00.001+08:00

I've been away for a while..

to this magical place in Cambodia - more pictures to follow when I've sorted them.

and I've been creating with Japanese paper and paint- this is a little preview - more to come later!

Early morning walk

2011-11-10T15:01:00.002+08:00

Thought I'd take you along this morning on my early morning walk! This is the view from the top of the hill looking towards the next hill I'll scale! No wonder the area's called Hillview!

Stunning double hibiscus. The national flower of Malaysia.

Bamboo

Aptly named Buddha's belly!

Inside a Golden Chalice Vine flower - you can see more pics of these super flowers in another post on these here.

Plumbago

Banana tree in flower

Looks like Rambutan before ripening.

Unidentified spikey tree trunks - youch!

This one's a bit softer!

And a stripey one!

Ylang Ylang - mmm, smells divine!

Exotic Gloriosa Lily - more pics here

Spider Lily

Palm and flowers

Here's a little friend waiting for me!

Poor lad has no home and is missing one back paw :( He's fed by many in the community though!

Waiting patiently...

licking his chops...

for his daily doggie chew!

I come across so many flowers and trees I can't name. What's this lovely almond-scented flower?

And this beauty? Can anyone help me to identify it?

And what's this at the end of our travels ?...

A majestic Travellers Palm, standing tall in Diana's garden next door. Hope you enjoyed the stroll!

Illustration Friday - Stripes

2011-11-08T14:04:00.002+08:00

©Caroline Soer

A piece from the archives for this week's Illustration Friday. Sleeping stripey cat on patchwork quilt collage.

In my garden this week

2011-11-04T10:45:00.001+08:00

Do you recognise this flower?

It's beautiful isn't it?

This is a coconut palm branch and the 'flower' is where the coconut was growing.

Beautiful potted Orchid on the terrace.

Regimented Palms - lovely aren't they?

But sadly, all is not well with the tall trees:(

Hollow and rotting. Could it be fungal infection or perhaps white ants (termites)? I'm waiting for an expert to come and give the verdict, but whatever the problem is, they'll probably have to be removed. Very sad..

On a more cheerful note, a pot of beautiful Oleander is in full bloom :)

SketchTravel and Quentin Blake

2011-11-02T18:05:00.001+08:00

SketchTravel from Curio on Vimeo.

Have you heard about this wonderful project? SketchTravel was an international charity art project where one red sketchbookwas passed around between 71 artists around the globe for 4 and half years. The original Sketchbook was recently auctioned in Brussels and sold for 70,000 Euros (96,200 US$)! The entire proceeds will go towards building libraries in the third worldcountries, in partnership with child literacy non profit organisation Room to Read. This excellent little animation was created as part of the project. I hope you enjoy watching it - the music to accompany the little story is super too!

The marvellous Quentin Blake was one of the artists taking part.

His terrific illustrations of Roald Dahl's books have entertained children (and adults!) for decades! If you go to the sketchtravel tv site you can enjoy a short film on his participation in the SketchTravel project.

And the winner is....

2011-11-02T11:00:00.000+08:00

A little bird told me that the winner of my 'Bird and Berries' GIVEAWAY is ... Patty! Congratulations to you Patty!!!!

Please email me with your address and I'll get your print on its way from sunny Malaysia to its new home in snowy Anchorage asap! Thanks everyone for taking part! x

Illustration Friday - Scary

2011-10-31T11:07:00.000+08:00

©Caroline Soer 2011

Scary (odd eyed!) ginger cat stalks poor little gecko! A watercolour from the archives for this week's Illustration Friday.

By the way... there's still time to take part in my Giveaway! I'm giving away a print of one of my two paintings of Birds with Berries. You can choose which you prefer. The deadline to enter the draw is tomorrow - 1st November!

For more details see the Giveaway post below, but in a nutshell I'm hoping to get a little more exposure for my Facebook art page, so if you'd like to be included in the draw to win a print of a Bird with Berries painting, just hop over there and LIKE the page if you do! Please also leave a comment in the Giveaway post below. Thanks very much everyone who has taken part so far!! And a big thank you too, to Kim Fleming for publicizing the event on her new blog new blog for illustrators: Illustration Station - do take a look - it's a super rescource for illustrators!

I'll be making the draw late tomorrow and will announce the winner here on Wednesday! GOOD LUCK!

Illustration Friday and GIVEAWAY

2011-10-27T23:03:00.000+08:00

Fuel ©Caroline Soer

This week's Illustration Friday word is 'fuel'. I decided on a bird and berries theme and actually painted two similar versions of the same illustration this week. The one above started life as a watercolour on which I'd used quite a lot of masking fluid. I was aiming to get a sort of outlined, batik/silkpainting look. Well, needless to say it wasn't a successful experiment so I tweaked it back to life with with a good helping of acrylic, some gouache and watercolour pencils!

After I finished that yesterday, I started on a second painting. I've taken photos of the work in progress. This first shows the mountboard ground with torn paper and hole punched collage covered with gesso and the first brushstrokes.

A little more detail added.

Some final details added with coloured pencils and a craft knife to (carefully) scratch out some highlights.

Fuel II ©Caroline Soer

The final piece - it has lots of texture. I'm not sure which one I prefer, how about you?
Well, if you're better at making up your mind than I am, you could stand a chance of winning a print of your preferred illustration by taking part in my GIVEAWAY!

How do you take part? Anyone is welcome to join in - regular followers or visitors alike - I really do appreciate all those of you who follow my blog and take the time to leave me comments - but it's ok to be a quiet occasional visitor too! All you have to do is first quickly hop over to Facebook - I've recently set up an art page there and would love it if you would 'LIKE' my page - the link is here in the sidebar on the right. Yes, you're right - a little shameless self promotion !!! To be included in the draw next TUESDAY NOVEMBER 1ST you'll also need to come back here to leave a comment on this post to say which of my two 'Fuels' you prefer. Easy! Oh, and you could DOUBLE your chances by promoting my giveaway on your own blog or FB page, and becoming a follower here (if you aren't already) if you like. Just don't forget to mention that in the comments section here! Thank you and good luck to everyone - I'll be back next week with the winner!

Textiles blog update etc

2011-10-22T17:15:00.000+08:00

Just popping in quickly to say that I've updated my other blog Caroline's Stitched Textiles, with a couple more chapters of work from my Stitched Textiles course.

Cables - Stitched Textile Sample

PLUS I wanted to thank all you lovely people who left a comment on /facebook 'liked' my previous illustration of poppies - it's always so good to hear from you !!

ALSO I'll be back soon with news of a giveaway here on this blog!!

Have a great weekend!!

Illustration Friday - Scattered

2011-10-19T11:33:00.000+08:00

Scattered ©Caroline Soer 2011

A mixed media illustration of dried Poppies (including scattered real seeds), for this week's Illustration Friday theme.

Garden visitors

2011-10-17T10:57:00.000+08:00

Ever get the feeling you're being watched?

These two playful young Macaques startled me - they were on the roof peering in at me through the studio window!

And this is their chaperone, who was quite aggressive!

Later this shy Dusky Leaf monkey and his extended family came to visit - amusing to watch as they cavort in the Mango tree!

They come into the garden to feast on flowering trees like Bauhinia.

I'm not sure how they rate Erythrina Fusca or Coral Bean tree flowers...

but I'm positive they relish Frangipani trees - these poor specimens never stood a chance!

I've lost count of how many times we've replanted branches (fortunately they root easily enough) only to see them felled again a few months later!

Enjoying a juicy branch!

Sadly, we won't be seeing many of these beautiful blooms again for a while :(

Illustration Friday - Contraption

2011-10-12T19:09:00.001+08:00

Contraption ©Caroline Soer 2011

For this week's Illustration Friday theme of contraption, here is one of the most devious devices ever invented - the deckchair!

Plus a little bonus - this lovely old YouTube Heineken advert featuring Norman Wisdom doing battle with a deckchair.

Illustration Friday -Hibernate

2011-10-07T17:02:00.000+08:00

The days just fly by and here we are again, already at Friday and I'm scraping in at the last moment with my offering for Illustration Friday's 'hibernate'! A page of little thumbnail sketches that I didn't have time to take further and add colour to this week. No words as I hope the images tell the story of a this little bear trying to hibernate! Please click to enlarge!

Macro and Magpie tendancies

2011-10-03T15:47:00.002+08:00

Magpie ©Caroline Soer 2011
Charcoal and chalk on pastel paper

I love to collect and I've been cacheing stuff like a Magpie since I was little! I remember now the pleasure of pocketing treasures such as discarded feathers, fallen acorns, hazel and horse chestnuts, or tufts of sheepswool and moss to take to school to display on the nature table in the classroom!

I also love using the macro setting on my camera! I am fascinated by the insects' view of the world and love to capture nature close up at every opportunity. I am always the one lagging behind taking photos on a country walk and if I'm not clicking (and the subject is for the taking), I'll be picking it up, turning it over in my hands to examine it and frequently popping it into the rucksack to study, photograph, paint or display later.

I find seedpods fascinating! They come in all different shapes and sizes - the slender ones in the picture above are over 50 cms long! I like to see what's stored within.

Lotus

Poppies - I love the different colours they take on when dried.

The cone above is from a Malaysian rain forest tree - not sure which - but its interesting shape warranted it being dried off and carried home for further inspection and display

in a lovely dish handmade by husband Jan, from Selangor pewter, at the School of Hard Knocks in KL! This is something I have yet to try!

and this is a close up of the giant Spanish fir cone in the pic below.

I had gathered several on holiday in Spain, but sadly could only fit this one in the suitcase to take home!

I found this abandoned, intricately woven nest hanging in a tree in the garden.

I keep boxes and display bowls full of my finds on the shelves in the studio. The triangular dishes above are ideal for holding delicate wings and little beach treasures - they're made locally from slices of coconut.

I love the patina of this little Indian copper dish that holds various treasures like an incredibly fragile skeletonised leaf and little blue birds' egg. I found the egg floating in the swimming pool one day - perhaps tossed out of the nest and transported on a gust of wind!

Exotic shells, many collected on beaches in Oman - I was delighted to find a small Venus Comb Murex with all most of its spines intact!

Pheasant finery

Irridecence - peacock feather and my Thai silk dress!

The blue feather in the last pic is a Magpie's, I believe.

Do you have any Magpie tendancies?
What do you collect?

Illustration Friday - Ferocious

2011-09-27T16:33:00.000+08:00

'Wallow' ©Caroline Soer 2009

Perhaps not the first animal that springs to mind when you think of the word 'ferocious', but actually, the Hippo is apparently one of the most aggressive and dangerous animals in Africa. Therefore, I present my Hippo watercolour (for a second airing) for this week's Illustration Friday prompt.

Illustration Friday - Mesmerising

2011-09-20T22:31:00.000+08:00

Magpie - ©mixed media Caroline Soer 2011

Magpies love to cache - they seek out and hide appealing oddments. This one has found a broken string of beads - Magpies seem to find shiny objects mesmerising. Mixed media - Oil pastel, ink, gouache and glass beads on paper for Illustration Friday.
P.S. Clicking on the image may take you to Blogger's new photo viewer (a new feature that doesn't always seem to work at the moment!). If it does and you still want to view the image larger, right click, select 'view image' and then use the magnifier to enlarge again for greater detail. Hopefully that will work!

Illustration Friday - Boundaries

2011-09-15T10:59:00.000+08:00

Boundaries - watercolour ©Caroline Soer 2011

Dry stone walls create field boundaries. This is a watercolour and gouache painting on gessoed mountboard for Illustration Friday. Click to enlarge if you like! Landscapes aren't usually my 'thing', but I fancied having a go at one last weekend to try to capture memories of the verdant landscape we enjoyed while walking this summer near Crosthwaite in the English Lake District.

Between red and yellow

2011-09-12T12:42:00.001+08:00

Caesalpinia pulcherrima

Between red and yellow lies the colour orange. Now, in the main, I'm not overly fond of this colour - I'd definitely not choose to wear it, accessorize or paint my walls with it, but I love the flamboyant orange-hued tropical flowers I see around me here in Malaysia!

Whilst out walking on Friday, I found a sizzling selection of blooms in this colour range.

How about these? Three stunning Spathodea campanulata blooms from the Flame of the Forest, or African Tulip Tree. I found a mass of these glowing like embers beneath the tree.

This amazing spidery bloom is Gloriosa superba otherwise known as Climbing, or Flame Lily.

And finally a quartet of tropical orange beauties from the archives!

Gorgeous or what?

Illustration Friday - Mysterious

2011-09-08T17:08:00.000+08:00

Mysterious ©Caroline Soer 2010

I've shown this illustration before but thought it fitted this week's mysterious theme too. This started life as a a watercolor that was allowed to dry with plastic wrap on top. The plastic formed patterns in the paint in which I then 'found' these characters and defined them with watercolour crayons. A fun doodling exercise I do from time to time!

©Caroline Soer 2010

Here's another I've just finished - lots of strange hooded figures seemed to be within patterns formed by the plastic wrap - it's a mystery how they get there!

September

2011-09-03T16:13:00.000+08:00

Already September - where have the last few weeks gone? One thing about living in the tropics is that we don't really get season changes - well, apart from one rainy period to the next! I thought I'd put up a collection of photos and sketches to remind me of autumnal colours. The first montage of golden beauties is rather small but if you click to enlarge you will see the details in all their finery!

'Juicy pear' - watercolour sketch ©Caroline Soer

Love the colours in this mossy bank!

The aubergine collection

Mangosteens - Watercolour ©Caroline Soer

One of my favourite Malaysian fruits!

Last of the summer photos and some recycled illustrations

2011-08-29T16:26:00.003+08:00

Pink'nfrilly

Gorgeous flowers en masse at the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show.

I've gathered together the last photos from my summer holiday and made some more montages. I decided to accompany these with some sketchbook bits and pieces, some of which I've shown before, but most of which have had something new added for the occasion!

'Sweetpeas' watercolour ©Caroline Soer

Sorry that the quality of this image isn't very good. I wanted to include it as sweetpeas are such lovely frilly flowers! It's taken from a larger watercolour painting behind glass. I painted this many years ago - the flowers were from my Mum's garden ... I can smell that heavenly scent now! I've added a couple of lines from a poem by John Keats and a digital pastel colour detail.

'Tango' watercolour with collage©Caroline Soer

These roses from a beautiful bouquet were quickly rendered in watercolour in my sketchbook. Later, for an Illustration Friday project, I teamed them with a pair of my little folded butterflies. Today I added a coordinating border made from digital colour swatches.

Just feast your eyes on these luscious summer berries! Click if you want more!

Cherries - watercolour ©Caroline Soer

Sometimes paintings just don't go according to plan! This illustration is something salvaged from one such occasion! I decoupaged the image of cherries onto another piece of watercolour paper and added a border digitally from colour swatches.

'Cherry pairs' watercolour ©Caroline Soer

Cherries from a sketchbook I used on holiday in Provence couple of years ago.

Part 2 to follow later!

Illustration Friday - Influence

2011-08-23T17:20:00.006+08:00

'Under the influence' ©Caroline Soer 2011

Some cats can't get enough of catnip! Here's one under the influence for Illustration Friday. Watercolour pencil with ink illustration.

A little trip to Delft

2011-08-22T17:15:00.006+08:00

Delft montage - click to explore

View of Delft - Johannes Vermeer

I've visited Delft many times over the years - it's a lovely old city steeped in history. It has beautiful buildings, canals, a good market, many cafes and lots of interesting little shops to explore! Vermeer, one of my favourite Dutch painters, lived and worked here in the 1600's and it's also home to Delftware - blue and white pottery.

As regular passengers on KLM we've collected a streetful of these decorative little blue and white pottery houses - they're filled with Dutch Genever (or Jenever)- a spirit distilled from juniper.

I've just finished reading Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier - a story set in Delft, about the girl in the beautiful painting of the same name by Vermeer - lovely book!

Ranunculous Watercolour ©Caroline Soer

I painted these Ranunculous flowers in a delft blue vase some years ago.

And finally, here are some sunny Marigolds and sky blue Plumbago from my garden, arranged in a delft blue vase to complete my little Dutch post!

A few more postcards

2011-08-21T10:15:00.000+08:00

Another batch of photos from our UK tour this summer. Herewith greetings from Wales! The West Wales coastline is breathtaking -- it reminded us a lot of Cornwall with its azure sea.

In North Wales we journied up Mt Snowdon in the little steam train. You can see the weather wasn't great when we got to the top - not much of a view! Seagulls get everywhere don't they? This one was on the summit enjoying tourist handouts!

More pics from the Flower Show at Hampton Court Palace

2011-08-21T10:10:00.000+08:00

Chrysanthemums in all their green and white pompom glory!

I'm getting really behind with my holiday pics. If I don't get going with this project it'll soon be Christmas! So here without further ado is another set.

Small gardens - click to make them grow!

The Hampton Court Palace Flower Show was a great day out, though I didn't get to see all the small gardens on the day as there were too many people milling about - one of the drawbacks of these events:( Luckily I could view the rest at my leisure on the television later!

I did manage to get near enough to take some pics of this pretty little garden. The left hand pic shows a closeup of what was growing on top of the little bird tables - nice idea!

and this boat garden with closeup of the planting.

Cabbage - all photos better if you click to see the details.

Not finished yet - my camera was working overtime!

Illustration Friday

2011-08-19T13:17:00.010+08:00

My offering for 'Swell' for Illustration Friday - just in time before the new theme later today! Painted in watercolour on gessoed mountboard. Nearly didn't make it though....was wondering why it was taking so long to dry, then finally realised that I'd managed to coat it with spray mount, rather than fixative - aargh !!!! That'll teach me to check the can first! Anyway I've managed to dab enough off to stick (!) it in the scanner - now just have to hope the rest will dry up on its own.

I enjoyed painting the gull but I'm not really a fan of them in real life - they are noisy, cheeky and messy!

I went to Lyme Regis in Dorset this summer for a weekend with some old friends (we were at school there together). Love the place, but it does have its fair share of gulls too. One divebombed us (probably a mate of the one in the montage above) and left his calling card! Not pleasant!

Postcards from the English Lake District

2011-08-16T16:40:00.005+08:00

We've been holidaying in the English Lake District many times over the years. This year we stayed a couple of nights in the delightful Punchbowl Inn at Crosthwaite (top pic, 1st left) and then a week in Grasmere in a little cottage a stone's throw from William Wordsworth's Dove Cottage (there's a small photo of this below -see image 2, second row, 1st on left - the strawberries next to it were growing on the garden wall!). Do click the images to enlarge.

Every day we walked miles, up hill and down dale. The scenery is so beautiful - it's got to be one of my most favourite places in the world!

We had a great time despite some pretty grim weather!

Lots of wonderful memories! Can't wait to go back!

Floral swatches

2011-08-14T21:39:00.008+08:00

More flower pics with colour swatches from the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show.

Colour in the veggie patch

2011-08-14T21:02:00.004+08:00

The first of several pics from my trip to the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show back in July. I'm in a veggie garden with cabbages and kholrabi playing with colour. Hope these swatches might be inspirational!

Illustration Friday

2011-08-09T11:02:00.005+08:00

It's been months since I took part in Illustration Friday! This week's theme is 'imperfect'. I got out my lino cutters yesterday and quickly rolled off a rather imperfect lino print of an odd-eyed cat.

If you go down to the woods today.....

2011-08-08T15:18:00.037+08:00

Walking through the woods during our stay in Wales this summer, we came across these moss covered uprooted trees. We reckoned they resembled bears - do you see them too?

Found this pine cone - didn't know they looked so pretty inside!

A curious little fellow on the other side of the RSPB hide.
'Light of the World' - sculpted from fallen tree wood - one of dozens of wooden sculptures in the Sculpture Park at Lake Vyrnwy in Wales.

'Cuckoo in a cage'

Title unknown but they're certainly intriguing little windows.

The Victorian reservoir of Lake Vyrnwy in Powys Wales, is a stone-built dam, constructed in the 1880s for the purpose of supplying Liverpool and Merseyside with fresh water. Today the nature reserve and the area around is a popular retreat, for ornithologists, cyclists and hikers.

This is the charming cottage we rented for a week - so pretty!

The garden was a delight! Click to investigate.

More travel pics next time.

Art in Action - Part II

2011-08-02T15:00:00.015+08:00

Sculpture by Cliff Wright

Mark Harrison

The CO/OP Art marquee at Art in Action featured a group of artists and craftsmen from the newly formed Elemental Eye arts venture. They are combining their creative skills in a multi discipline, collaborative 2-year project to create the unique Four Seasons Cabinet. Above is Mark Harrison who was just beginning the second oil painted panel for the interior. If you look carefully you can just see part of the structure of the cabinet behind him. Unfortunately, I was unable to get a good shot of the whole of it there were just too many people milling around!

One side of the cabinet made by Daan de Leeuw with interior painted panel by Mark Harrison

Working sketches

The cabinet connects each artist’s innovative interpretation of the natural landscape – a theme that permeates their everyday work.

Here is the multi-talented Cliff Wright, well known for his Harry Potter book illustrations, on this occasion creating a new piece of sculpture to sit atop the cabinet.

More working sketches and etching by another of the cabinet artists, Flora McLachlan who has an Etsy shop here.

Back in the printmakers marquee I found Louise Scott who produces beautiful etchings.

Couldn't resist these cards!

Iris Millward is a calligrapher who uses clay as a medium for carrying poetry. I just love these indigo panels!

Anna Knights' large contemporary botanical watercolours certainly have the wow factor!

And last, but not least Mirka Golden-Hann's colourful ceramic bowls.

Hope you enjoyed the tour!

Art in Action

2011-08-01T14:30:00.031+08:00

Hello! I hope you're all having a good Summer!

I'm back from my travels in Holland and the length and breadth of England and Wales and can hardly believe it's been nearly two months since I last posted something here! I've had a wonderful summer in Europe and have many hundreds of photos to sort through and lots of stuff to share!

I thought I'd kick off with a lovely day out I had just before flying back to KL last week at the Art in Action event! This is a wonderful 4-day art extravaganza at Waterperry House near Oxford, where hundreds of artists display their work, demonstrate and talk to the public about their techniques. There are classes, lectures and displays and a market brimful of exciting handcrafted wares to buy! I spent my day there drinking in the atmosphere, revelling in all the wonderful pieces on show and meeting and chatting with some very inspiring artists.

Some of you may already know Sue Brown through her blog Sue Brown Printmaker. It was so nice to meet the lovely Sue in person and to see her splendid prints. Sue was exhibiting alongside other artists in the Nature in Art area. Read more about Nature in Art, which is the world’s first museum dedicated to art inspired by nature, where 70 artists each year work in residence, here.

Sue had an abundance of delightful bird pictures on display.

click to enlarge any of the photos

She is an expert collograph maker and whilst she chatted about her work, I was able to browse through her fascinating sketchbooks.

Sue runs workshops in printmaking - will have to take one of these! Contact her details of upcoming courses.

click to enlarge

I also spent a while in the Printmaking marquee with Susan Erskine-Jones who is another artist happy to divulge many of the tricks of her trade. Here she was describing how to use a solar plate to achieve a similar effect to etching but without the hazards involved with that traditional technique! I'd like to take one of her workshops too - more details on her site here.

Sarah Morpeth crafts unique books and works of art from paper. Just take a look at the incredibly detailed cutwork which Sarah carries out on cartridge paper with a surgical blade! Magical!

I'm fascinated by all things paper and was thrilled to see her exquisite bird and butterfly books, hanging ornaments, pictures and sculptures on display.

Do visit Sarah's website to view more of her work - she also runs a course on making books from her studio - details on her site!

The textiles marquee was another joy to behold!

So many beautiful creations there, including these pretties by Anne Selby created with Arashi Shibori pleating, handpainting and screenprinting.

These stunning accessories by designer maker Tammy Child really caught my eye! Tammy's booth in the Market was awash with sumptuous fabrics in a myriad of jewel colours! If you visit her website you'll find fabulous creations for special occasions guaranteed to make you drool. Be warned, you'll find them hard to resist!

Click to enlarge

Of course, one place I just had to visit was the Illustration marquee! Here I met Jackie Morris. I'm sure many of you will have seen her wonderful book illustrations and/or made acquaintance with her blog or perhaps kept up with the antics of her felines at http://www.wethreecats.blogspot.com/( Jackie admits their blog receives 4 times more hits than her own!!). I watched whilst Jackie applied gold leaf to a very large painting of kingfishers. Many of her artworks incorporate a gold background and are truly sumptious for it!

That's all for now - hope you enjoyed this part of the tour! I'll be back with Part II later!

New camera

2011-06-05T11:09:00.006+08:00

I have a new camera and I'm taking it to Europe for a few weeks. Be back later in the summer with lots of pics hopefully!

Illustration Friday - Asleep

2011-05-31T11:11:00.005+08:00

I made this little watercolour some time ago - thought it was perfect for Illustration Friday this week!

My Website

2011-05-19T16:15:00.009+08:00

It's been a rather long time since I last posted here, but I haven't been idle! On the contrary, I've been hard at work with the construction of my website! A labour of love started in Hong Kong and shelved many times as I struggled with the coding! Having done a few courses on CSS , XHTML and design, I wanted to do it all by myself - hmm, tall order when you are a novice, but I persevered! So, without further ado I'm delighted to announce that http://www.carolinesoerdesigns.com is now fully operational! I hope you will have time to visit and enjoy browsing through my portfolio! P.S. Whilst I was at it I made a new header for my blog too!

More monkey business

2011-04-29T23:36:00.009+08:00

It's a pleasant Sunday afternoon in the garden...

But ever get the idea you're being watched?

On the other side of the fence....

Troops arrive

oops - a couple are distracted...

but some are checking out the possibilities

for lunch...

Frangipani trees bite the dust...again :(

Illustration Friday

2011-04-18T11:00:00.007+08:00

The word this week is 'journey'. My offering is a watercolour on gessoed mountboard that I painted for Laurel as part of a travelling book exchange, a while back. On the opposite page is Robert Frost's lovely poem 'The Road Not Taken'.

What a cheek!

2011-04-17T10:19:00.008+08:00

This morning I was disturbed in my studio.

This monkey came in via the window and sat on Mum's desk!!!!! (You may recognise the photo from the day he came into the kitchen and stole frozen rice - story here). Mum was upstairs but came running and shouted like some crazy woman at him, but he got very cross and threatened her, lunging forward and baring huge yellow teeth and we were scared, so backed off quickly and slammed the door shut. MOL!!!

Mum was worried that he would create havoc in there so ran to fetch her camera to chase him away ( Monkeys don't like cameras!). Fortunately, that just gave him time to get back through the open window without losing face and when we carefully peeked around the door again he was making his exit and was off like a shot when he saw Mum with the camera.

It wouldn't have been a problem of course, one left hook from me and he'd have beaten a hasty retreat I'm sure!

Fortunately, no real damage done! He obviously didn't think much of Mum's sketchbooks - personally, I think he came in to play with the bubblewrap!

Illustration Friday

2011-04-13T17:01:00.010+08:00

There were lots of possibilities for this week's word 'bottled'. I thought about doing something along the lines of Alice in Wonderland with her 'Drink Me' potion and that then led me to this little watercolour of Mama mouse dosing up her unfortunate son! You've got to feel sorry for the poor wee lad- Castor Oil - eeuch! To check out his expression, click the illustration, then click again to enlarge fully.

Playtime!

2011-04-12T12:11:00.016+08:00

I came across this stunning peacock in my Flickr files today and had fun making a photo mosaic.

And another of the yellow and white flowers in my hillview garden

And then another - got hooked on playing with colour!

and shape!

Last two mosaics are made up of pics I took at the fabulous Four Seasons Hotel Spa in Langkawi.

Illustration Friday

2011-04-08T15:13:00.009+08:00

'Duet'

It's been several weeks since I took part in Illustration Friday. :( Here's a last minute offering for Illustration Friday's 'Duet' which I started happily enough in watercolour, but it wasn't long before I'd made a bit of a hash of it (must be out of practice), so rescued it with my trusty watercolour pencils and gouache!

Help Japan project

2011-04-06T11:46:00.005+08:00

A little bird told me about this worthy project! Makiko Hastings, of Shin Shin blog, is a Japanese ceramicist who currently lives in North Yorkshire, UK. She is aiming to raise money for the Japan earthquake appeal with the sale of these cute little ceramic birds. If you'd like to read more, buy a bird (a pair would be nice!) and/or donate please click here.

In my garden

2011-04-04T14:52:00.011+08:00

My garden is full of pinkness!

I put together these montages with Big Huge Labs Mosaic Maker.

Yellowness coming soon!

Fun new way to view your blog!

2011-04-04T12:35:00.011+08:00

Have you heard about the new blogger tool Dynamic Views? It's a fun new way to view your blog!

Take a look at my blog in Snapshot view or try Flipcard , Mosaic , Sidebar, and Timeslide.

If you want to try this out yourself just add "/view" to the end of your blog URL i.e. http://yourblog.blogspot.com/view and then use the blue scroll bar on the top right to swap between the different views.

Read more about it here - have fun!

Mothers' Day

2011-04-03T23:09:00.004+08:00

Happy Mothers' Day!

Flora and Fauna

2011-03-30T14:58:00.008+08:00

I visited my neighbour Diana yesterday and took some pics in her garden. Though not the clearest of photos - bit of camera shake going on there - I think you can proabably see what this beautiful plant is is well enough.

Did you identify it? It's a pineapple flower!

And this is Diana's cat, Mr Tumnus, getting his exercise on the trampoline !

Apoligies again to my blogging friends for not visiting much - I've had my daughter Julie staying for a while and haven't had much time for blogging! Hopefully, I'll get around to you all soon again. Also, I am beginning to get back into the studio, so I hope I will have more arty stuff to share soon!

Observed

2011-03-26T21:50:00.003+08:00

Earth Hour observed tonight in the garden by candlelight! Drank wine, saw fireflies and saved a Cicada from a watery end in the pool! What did you do?

I ♥ Singapore!

2011-03-11T14:23:00.014+08:00

This time last week I was enjoying time out in Singapore! This is a montage of pics taken at the beautiful Singapore Botanic Garden. Click to enlarge to see a little more detail!

We also went to the zoo but my camera wasn't playing ball that day so these are a couple of shots of my favourite tiggers from a previous visit .

Marina Bay Sands Skypark

And I forgot to take my camera when we went here. So stupid of me as it was such a spectactular view:( This is the Skypark at Marina Bay Sands. Click on photo if you'd like to read more about this amazing place.

I ♥ Singapore!

This n that 2

2011-02-28T12:32:00.018+08:00

This is my daughter, Jules. The pic was taken last November in Dubai! More recently she and I have been setting up her new blog 'Nutrifit with Jule s' - which, as of today is now officially up and running!

Click to visit blog

Jules is a final year student of Nutrition in Sydney and a practicing Personal Trainer. In her blog she will share great information about diet and exercise. She'd love you visit! You'll find interesting and useful articles and recipes to help you on your way to leading a healthy life!

I've still not had much inclination to put paint to paper in the studio, so here are a few more pics from my files. The first are of super walk we made recently at Taman Tar, quite close to our house . It's a really steep climb but what greets you when you get to the top makes it really worthwhile!

The steep steps through the rainforest.

Time to catch breath!

Nearly there!

At the top - you'd never expect this lovely tranquil scene !

Or that you are still so close to KL - those are the twin Petronas Towers in the distance.

Back at home it's been raining heavily most afternoons - here the pool is almost full!

The Bauhinia flowers are blooming in the garden - Dusky Leaf Monkeys find them delicious!

Uh oh - who's that over there?

Something on the prowl down there....

Hope you all have a good week!