To Celebrate . . .

 

the fact that there are now over 400 of you fabulous folk who take an interest in ellaquaint. It really helps to inspire and motivate me so thank you :) Also it is the school holidays! That is another wonderful reason to celebrate, though for some of you it might be a mixed blessing ;D


Please read the competition guidelines below . . .

 

There are 3 catagories . . . so 3 prizes up for grabs!

 

If it goes really well I might add another prize too :)

 

an ellaquaint giclee print

RRP $50.00 each

 

for the winner of each catagory

 

which are . . .

 

Junior 0 - 12
Teen 12 - 18
Adult 18 - infinity

Junior Artists

To draw or paint your favourite animal, it might be real or imaginary.

Please make sure you have provided your
Name
Age
A description of what the animal is
Which print you would like to win

Teen Artists

To draw or paint or enter a photograph that you have taken of your favourite endangered species.

Please make sure you have provided your
Name
Age
What the animal is
If it is a photograph, the date and place it was taken
Which print you would like to win

 

 Adult Artists

To draw or paint or enter a photograph that you have taken of your favourite endangered species.

Please make sure you have provided your
Name
Age (only kidding)
Media
If it is a photograph, the date and place it was taken
What the animal is
Which print you would like to win

To enter

Have a look at our ellaquaint Felt store to decide on what print you would like to win.
Please email your entries to ellaquaint@gmail.com and include all of the appropriate information.
I will then post the pictures to my facebook pg. Please tag or share the images so that I know they are connected with you :)
Also if you would like to be added to a mailing list please let me know, otherwise don't worry I won't add you to it.

Conditions

You must be closely connected to a 'liker' to the ellaquaintnz facebook pg or a 'follower' to the ellaquaint blog.

One liker or follower = one entry per entrant

of course there can be more than one entrant per family :)

 

One liker and follower = two entries per entrant

of course there can be more than one entrant per family :)

The images must be done by the entrant and without assistance.

The competition closes Wednesday 10th October at 7 pm and winners will be announced on Thursday 11th October at 7pm on the ellaquaint facebook page.

By entering you allow ellaquaint the right to post the images and to post them on both the ellaquaint facebook page and the ellaquaint blog.

No bribes will be taken, no matter how yummy the baking or cute the puppy is.

 

 

SALE!

This weekend there is a sale on Ella Thomas original acrylic paintings. It applies to lo-tech sales only I am afraid. You can check them out either at . . .

Silo Park Night Markets and Cinema
5-10pm
Silo Park
Corner of Beaumont and Jellicoe Sts


'Land of the Long White Cloud' is screening at 9pm

or the first fabulous

Handmade Titirangi Market
10-2pm Kaurilands Primary School
109 Atkinson Rd
Auckland

ellaCute

Happy New Year! We hope you have all had a fabulous start to your 2012. 

The start of new years are the perfect time to progress with new endeavours, we have decided to get super serious and kick-start a store on Etsy. Unfortunately our name ellaquaint was taken but someone else for their store so we adapted, as we clever kiwis do, and decided to call our new shop ellaCute, but we are still ellaQuaint everywhere else.

Now that  procrastination has taken place in the form of redesigning the banner, I figure I had better finish some of the real new projects now. Here is the link to ellaCute

Latest Pieces

Well we have been head down tail up getting new work together for the Parnell Mother's Day Market on Sat 7th May.

Oops, taking over the flat . . .

Over the years I have collected a huge range of old fabrics, table linen, inherited sewing trimmings and other pretty stuff I have just hoarded. We thought we could up-cycle these gorgeous snippets of fabric and create a range of works that are more affordable that the original paintings that Ella produces.

This bear was sourced from a vintage etching.

 Lovely old drawn thread-work provides an effective base for this elegant horse.

  

This wee bear has green ideas.

Also we included some images from a book I discovered in my mum's things. 'Alice though the Looking Glass' . It features the original illustrations by Sir John Tenniel. I love the inscription on the inside of it

Here is one of the works that got created in response to the delightful drawings.

If you are at a loose end on Saturday, come and check out the ellaQuaint stall. We will have cards, printed and original one-offs, illustrated prints, unique up-cycled canvas works (like above) and last but definately not least, some of Ella's fabulous manu paintings. Follow the link for more details

Mother's Day Market

Step by Step

Someone had the brilliant idea that I document my painting process. Because I layer up the acrylics in a manner similar to oil paint glazes, it allows for a subtlety to the paint work that you wouldn't otherwise get.

Painting is a layering process so to get richness and depth to the colours, I layer them up considerably. This also helps the whole image / subject to link together visually.

Once I have the basic form roughed out, I then start to add the details. My feathery paint brush work has been described as OCD . . . um maybe. The final finished painting 'Piwakawaka Iti'  is documented in my other blog, http://ellathomaspaintings.blogspot.com/

Enjoy

Eye Balm

  
Pattern, and obsessive compulsive detailing are elements that I am attracted to when viewing a work of art. As a lover of William Morris patterns, I was delighted to come across the illustrations of Anna Emilia. She has a wonderful sense of colour that to me evokes winter in the 1940's.



William Morris Willow Leaf

  
Her attention to detail captures your attention and is perfectly balanced with her use of negative space and airy white backgrounds. This takes the Victorian 'more is more' type fussiness and infuses it with and simplistic elegance that allows you to appreciate the natural forms that Anna Emilia has rendered.



Anna Emilia Apple Blossom Meadow


To see more of Anna Emilia's work you can check out her website here

http://www.annaemilia.com/index.html

or her blog http://annaemilial.blogspot.com/

Fresh Beginnings

Well after many hours thinking about it, wistfully discussing it I am back in the saddle. It looks like it might not be just myself either which will be fantastic. My crazy cousin Liz Thomas, who is also an artist has come up with many projects that we could work on together.

Because the array of ideas that we have had has been ridiculous, I have decided to branch out and dabble in other areas apart from just paint. Illustration has always been a passion and I am so inspired right now by the many, many talented people that are out and about. However, my manu (birds) will not be forgotten. In fact there are many schemes my brain is devising as to how to explore them further . . .

A new beginning needs a fresh identity.