paintings prints and stuff

Hearts and Flowers, beaded necklace with lucite flowers, Vivien Blackburn This and others are in my Etsy store now Committments have cut into my painting time lately - but these necklaces I can work on under artificial light in the evening and I'm enjoying playing with colour combinations and beads. Help??? I'd appreciate some advice from you who wear necklaces - what length do you like to wear?  16inch?   18inch?  20 inch?? (that's excluding the pendant flowers).  In the past the ones I've made have been just for me and I'd like to know what lenght you would consider the best generally? Off to do some painting now ............

I've made time to reopen my Etsy shop - link on the right. I'll be adding items daily so please check in if you are interested. I've got some giclee prints that I'm going to add - including the one above - so some prices will be quite low :>)

Goody Two Shoes, ACEO, Glen Heath One of my friends, Glen, is a very gifted painter but has only recently started to get interested in computers, websites, blogs and internet sales. I've featured her work here before. This afternoon I helped her to make a start on creating an Etsy store - take a look . So far there are just half a dozen aceo's but more will be added, including larger works. Glen did her BA (Hons) Fine Art as a mature student and gained a Distinction . She then went on to do her MA. Glen's website

the 4 inch canvasses grouped - Vivien Blackburn Jean asked about seeing the small canvasses together - here they are Jean :>)

Beach, Winter Evening, 4 inch square gallery wrap canvas, 1.5 ins deep, Vivien Blackburn Winter evening light at the beach, acrylic on deep sided, gallery wrap canvas, another for the Etsy shop .

Winter Morning, acrylic on deep gallery wrap canvas, 4 inches square, Vivien Blackburn Another of the series of mini canvasses destined for my Etsy shop . A windy morning with the surf crashing on the sand and pools reflecting the sky. The sides are painted to match the painting so that framing isn't necessary.

Early Morning, 4 inch square canvas, Vivien Blackburn Here are a couple more from the series of tiny canvasses I'm putting on my Etsy shop The striped cliffs at Hunstanton, 4 inch canvas, Vivien Blackburn The first is the far tip of Cornwall where the weather fronts from the Atlantic first hit land. It's from the same spot as the one in the last coast (stormy one) but turning 180 degrees to look the other way. The second is Norfolk, the east coast, where there is a section of cliff at Hunstanton that is banded in white chalk, brownish Carr Stone and red sandstone - a bit like an Angel Cake :>D I enjoyed doing these and trying to keep a sense of space and light and place and freedom of mark making but on a tiny scale. I need to get on with my big canvasses as soon as I can though. Exhibitions loom. What do you think? What range of sizes do you work?

High Winds and Surf, 4 inch square canvas (deep sided). Vivien Blackburn Instead of working on my planned 40 inch canvas I was in a mood to work with these little 4 inch canvasses I'd bought to do some work for my etsy store . This one is based on a wild day with the surf pouring over the harbour wall and the rocks offshore. Below is a side view so that you can see the painted edges and depth of the sides. It's a little bleached out by the flash - the accurate colour is above, which was taken in daylight. I'm going to be uploading them to Etsy if anyone wants to take a look.

Lino monoprints, variations on a theme, Vivien Blackburn These aren't simply linoprints now as they are all unique - I've used monoprinting techniques with them, 'inking' them up with oil paint and working into them with coloured pencils and oil pastel. So I'm calling them lino monoprints as the best description I can come up with. I've included one straight, rolled lino print to show how it prints with lino ink applied with a roller in the traditional way. Monoprints are unique prints that contain a repeatable element - like the linocut in these - but with utterly different results due to colour and inking up differences and work done after printing. Monotypes are absolute one-offs with no repeatable element. Working with my lino prints this way suits my way of thinking better than the clean cut lino print that's included in the line up above. If anyone is interested in owning one, I'm going to put them in my Etsy shop I haven't sussed out ...

Feather in Coloured Pencil. Vivien Blackburn approx 5 ins square A friend gave me some beautiful feathers and I couldn't resist drawing one. This is in coloured pencil, a mix of Lyra and Polychromos. If you like it enough :>) I've just added it to my Etsy shop http://www.vivienb.etsy.com/ - as I enjoy drawing feathers I thought I'd do a series for the shop. A good idea do you think?

Ring Around the Moon, watercolour and coloured pencil, ACEO, Vivien Blackburn I'm taking a break for a week. Will return then with paintings I hope :>) See you .

Surf at Sunset. Watercolour and coloured pencil. ACEO. Vivien Blackburn Morning Walk, watercolour and coloured pencil. ACEO. Vivien Blackburn Towering Clouds, watercolour and coloured pencil. ACEO. Vivien Blackburn Winter Sunset, watercolour and coloured pencil, ACEO, Vivien Blackburn A few more little paintings done amidst the chaotic juggling of hospital visits and work. I can manage these small ones, where I find it difficult to work on the large ones because of time limitations at the moment. If you are interested you can buy them here: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6150568 (I might pop back later to try out shortening this link with all the advice I've had - if I can follow it!) If you have an Etsy shop, please leave a link in the comments?

Night Beach, ACEO, watercolour pencils, 2.5x3.5ins Vivien Blackburn and a few more ACEOs. Winter Sunset, ACEO 2.5x3.5ins, watercolour, Vivien Blackburn Approaching Rain, ACEO, 2.5x3.5ins. watercolour and cp, Vivien Blackburn Night Beach, ACEO, watercolour pencils, Vivien Blackburn Please take a look at my Etsy shop if you haven't already - I'd welcome feedback :>) http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6150568 and if anyone has the time to explain to me how to do those shortened urls I'd be very grateful! .

Evening Beach, watercolour pencil, 2.5x3.5 ins ACEO. Vivien Blackburn I've never done ACEO's before but decided to have a go. It's not a format or size I would normally use but I actually really enjoyed doing them. If you are interested in buying any of my ACEOs take a look at my Etsy site as I'll be uploading them there later today and tomorrow. I've only just begun and I'll keep adding new ACEOs and paintings as I go ..... My shop address at Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6150568 Blue Morning, ACEO, watercolour, Vivien Blackburn Night Beach, ACEO, watercolour, Vivien Blackburn Spring, Breezy Morning, ACEO, watercolour. Vivien Blackburn Spring, Breezy Morning, ACEO, Watercolour, Vivien Blackburn I had fun with these so there will definitely be more :>) What do you think?

banner avatar I'm thinking of setting up an Etsy shop - I did have one for prints ages ago but closed it down - now I'm thinking of putting small works on, with the odd larger one. What do you think? And what do you think of this for a banner and avatar? I thought I'd do 3 pages : Works on Paper - various sizes of sketches and more 'finished' pieces Small Canvasses Larger Canvasses ACEO's (thanks to Chrissy's suggestion) Feather . Vivien Blackburn, pencil sketch I'd put small paintings on as well as sketches like the feather above - what do you think? Feedback welcome :>)