Clare Davis Etheridge

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Running. Shall I, shan’t I?

I used to run a lot and I managed a few half marathons and some 5 and 10k runs too. Then I stopped, I didn’t stop exercising, just the running part.

I haven’t run properly for over a year now and my friends asked if I wanted to start training with them for a half marathon in October.

Where to start as a ‘previous runner’? Will my legs remember? Will I need a sit down after a few steps? Do I need a couch to 5k type plan to re-start or can I leap into a half training plan which usually assume you can manage 3 miles? I thought I might cope with the couch part of the couch to 5k plan as a starting point…

Then there is the consideration of how my year older body will cope, will bits stop working? I have complaining hips and I don’t want to upset them too much, I mean they do hold me up in day to day life. Will anything fall off or come loose? If it does, will I be able to fasten it back or tighten it up again?

So this morning I decided to take all pressure off and go for a little run, no distance or time goals, just a jaunt up and down the trail. I grabbed my vintage iPod along with it’s vintage playlists (if I plug it into my computer the lot will disappear because my music is in the Cloud and heaven knows where my playlists are…oh for the heady days of mix tapes and the Walkman) and headed out for my maiden voyage just to see how far I could manage without dying or falling or sitting down on the pavement for a nap.

I made myself go slow, in fact I think dog walkers were over taking me, just so that I didn’t crap out after ten steps and give up my half marathon hopes there and then.

No land speed records were broken today, but I did manage a mile or three and I enjoyed it as I trotted along singing in my head to Jessie J, Rhianna, Simon & Garfunkel and The Beautiful South among others. I admired the trees blooming all along the trail and exchanged hellos with the aforementioned dog walkers.

So I decided to join in with my gazelle like friends and sign up for the half marathon. Maybe I can persuade one of them to run ahead of me with a cake on a fishing rod so that I can chase that for 13 miles!

Happy Wednesday x

Weekly Photos 11/52

Published by Clare at CatsEatDogs

Spring sprang yesterday officially and we woke up to snow on the ground! After a week of sunshine and mild temperatures, I pulled out my boots again.

1. I have been trying to keep up with a sketch a day project over at Skillshare, but I seem to be leaving it for a week at a time then doing all the drawings/paintings in one day to catch up. March doesn’t seem to be the month for a daily challenge.

2. I have been obsessing about the flowers in my garden lately, it is so lovely to see them, I can’t helping recording them. Here I sketched some magnolia flowers with my pencil crayons in a kraft paper sketchbook.

3 & 4. The light was creeping in slowly the morning I took these two photos.

5. The star magnolia is all abloom!

I hope you had a good week. Happy Monday x

Get Messy Thursday. Art Journal pages.

Published by Clare at CatsEatDogs

Two bright and colorful journal spreads this week!

I picked up a pile of old National Geographic magazines free from the library and I used images from the magazines on both spreads.

The honey comb in the top spread is from the magazine and the background rice field in the bottom spread.

I tried out my new stencil from Stencil Girl in the pink pages, I love how stencils add to a page either as a base layer or on top of everything. I must admit when I added the drippy ink, I wished I hadn’t, but I carried on and I like how it turned out.

The green page is mainly acrylic paint and fortune cookie wrappers and fortunes on top of National Geographic pages and a page from an old dictionary. Lots of layers on this page.

I hope you have had a creative week too. The new Get Messy season starts next month, so if you are interested in joining, pop over and see what it is all about.

Happy Thursday.

Taking Stock March 2016

Published by Clare at CatsEatDogs

Time for a litle stock take on this sunny blustery day. If you want to have a stock take too, there is a blank list at the end. I try and go through the list without too much thinking about each word. If you do these regularly, they are fun and interesting to look back on. Taking Stock is the brainchild of the lovely Pip at Meet Me At Mikes blog.

Making : Lots of art, I draw, sketch, paint or journal every day.
Cooking : Spaghetti and tomato sauce for dinner.
Drinking : Cups of tea.
Reading: Bella Grace magazine.
Wanting: Flowers, I can’t get enough of flowers at the minute!
Looking: At the trees blooming all around, especially my neighbor’s pink magnolia tree.
Playing: Swing Ball in the back garden.
Deciding: Which sketchbook to use? Grey pages or tan? Both are so effective with pencil crayons.
Wishing: I had an airy studio full of light and art supplies.
Enjoying: The sunshine and wind combination in the air today.
Waiting: For my photos to come so that I can start my 2016 album.
Liking: Spring Break, the boys are off school and we are enjoying lazy days.
Wondering: What to draw today.
Loving: That I have an art habit, sketchbooks are filling up and my skills are growing.
Pondering: Some watercolour practice.
Considering: Making bread.
Buying: Coloured pencils and a new stencil.
Watching: ‘Cuckoo’ on Netflix. It is hilarious!
Hoping: The trip to the orthodontist tomorrow goes well.
Marvelling: At the blue sky and fluffy clouds.
Cringing: At the US election circus.
Needing: Sleep.
Questioning: Everyone I know who has a spiralizer, so that I can get one I will use and not leave to gather dust in the cupboard.
Smelling: The magnolia tree next door.
Wearing: Striped top, jeans, red Converse.
Following: Various art journalers on You Tube and Instagram and getting lots of inspiration.
Noticing: Things to draw around every corner.
Knowing: Sometimes I have to make myself get on with it.
Thinking: About somewhere to go at the weekend.
Admiring: People who write books like my ace friend Jeanette at Craftwhack who has a book coming out next month with lots of art ideas for kids.
Sorting: The garden and getting ready to plant lots of veggies and flowers.
Getting: Books from the library.
Bookmarking: Pages in magazines as I read my way through them.
Coveting: Summer shoes.
Disliking: The time change last weekend. Why oh why do we still need to move the clocks twice a year?
Opening: My art journal to test out my new stencil.
Giggling: At our new dog, she is a crazy girl.
Feeling: Like I need to make a coffee.
Snacking: On nothing if I make that coffee!
Helping: Our friend celebrate 50 this weekend.
Hearing: ‘The Now Show’ on BBC radio 2. Very funny!

Happy stock taking!

A list for you –

Making :
Cooking :
Drinking :
Reading:
Wanting:
Looking:
Playing:
Deciding:
Wishing:
Enjoying:
Waiting:
Liking:
Wondering:
Loving:
Pondering:
Considering:
Buying:
Watching:
Hoping:
Marvelling:
Cringing:
Needing:
Questioning:
Smelling:
Wearing:
Following:
Noticing:
Knowing:
Thinking:
Admiring:
Sorting:
Getting:
Bookmarking:
Coveting:
Disliking:
Opening:
Giggling:
Feeling:
Snacking:
Helping:
Hearing:

Weekly Photos 10/52

Published by Clare at CatsEatDogs

1. The star magnolia is starting to bloom.

2. We got a new dog and her name is Ruby! She is a rescue and a cutie.

3. I made an Easter card using watercolours, a white Gelly Roll pen and a blue Micron pen.

4. My neighbor has a beautiful magnolia tree which is blooming and looking amazing.

5. I bought the new Bella Grace this week, it is a magazine extravagance but I really enjoy it.

6. I managed to snap the magnolia last night with the night-time clouds in the background.

Everything is starting to bloom now, just starting, the daffodils are peeking out and some trees are in bloom and some are just budding. My neighbor’s magnolia smells just gorgeous, especially on a rainy evening.

I hope you had a lovely week and are about to have an even better one!

Happy Monday x

‘I Like’ Friday. The planting, reading, sketching and eating edition

Published by Clare at CatsEatDogs

Lots of things to like this week. Flowers starting to bloom on the trees being a big thing to like. Here are some more things to like this fine Friday.

This soup from Meet Me At Mikes looks like an essential. I just need to find fresh tumeric which I have never used before, I have only had dealings with the bright yellow powder.

I bought this book called Urban Watercolor Sketching by Felix Scheinberger and it is gorgeous as well as full of information. More guidance than instruction and tons of inspiration.

At last I have managed to read a book this year and now I am on my second. This one is a great read, it is All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders. It is a little bit magic and a little bit science.

These DIY affirmation cards look so lovely, I want to have a go at making a deck for myself.

After taking this Sketching class at Skillshare, I am feeling a little more confident in my outdoor drawing and sketching in general. It is amazing how much improvement you see just by doing something everyday, even for a short time.

It looks like Spring is springing, so time to decide which veggies to plant, I have some seeds in tiny pots in the basement and I will get some more leafy veg when the warm weather is here. I have found a great seed supplier local to me and they also do mail order. Yay for Seed Geeks.

I hope you are having a great Friday and looking forward to the weekend.

Happy Friday x

Get Messy Art Journal ‘Happy’ Season.

Published by Clare at CatsEatDogs

The weather today is pretty grey but I like to think of this page as grey sparkle rather than dull weather grey.

As I splattered the background I managed to cover myself in black ink as well as the page and the floor. Don’t worry I did the splatting outside!

I did have a very nice time with my gelli plate and some pages from an old dictionary. I used a used gift card and feathers as texture creators in the paint. I mixed some paints, but stuck to the grey theme.

I also did some prints using dry deli paper for a lovely see through effect when I stick them on my final page.

It really is wonderful how many effects can be created using lots of different techniques and tools. I am so pleased with the gelli prints on this page.

All of this journal fun was inspired by the week six prompts over at the Get Messy Art Journal website. The idea was to cover the background with the same colour, so I chose greys. I did leave a little white showing, but it is gesso, so not the original page and not cheating I hope!!

I hope you have been creating this week!

Happy Thursday x

Weekly Photos 9/52

Published by Clare at CatsEatDogs

Looking at these photos, all of them have library connections! I have had a library week.

1. A side alley and side building in Clayton, MO. I took this on the way back from the library where I had just picked up some new books. I liked the ‘windows’ and the sunlight.

2. This book was heading back to the library but I liked the idea of the feather/leaf potato prints, so I took a photo of the page to refer to later.

3. On the way to my local library and I enjoyed this magnificent sunset.

4. This is why I was heading to the library, mug decorating craft night. All supplies were provided and the even was free, how cool is the library!

5. Later in the week I got a tour of the ‘below library’ storage area where there is this rather fab, if precarious spiral staircase. It used to go directly to the fire house which was once housed above the library. I wouldn’t fancy navigating these stairs in full fire fighter gear.

6. In Clayton again at the weekend to collect more books from the library there. I am a library brat you see, if my local library doesn’t have the book I need, I get it from the library in Clayton which is just up the road!

Do you have a good library? I hope so, I don’t know what I would do without the library system. I would definitely be reading, listening and watching less.

Happy Monday x

Get Messy Friday. Art Journal Pages.

Published by Clare at CatsEatDogs

This week has been a funny old week, I seem to have been busy busy but when I look back, I haven’t achieved very much. I am already behind on March projects which is a great start! Next week I will catch up. Hopefully. Maybe.

The trouble is I keep finding new things to learn and do! There are so many classes via Creative Bug or Skillshare, not to mention the endless classes provided by various blogs and websites. I am skipping from one thing to another like a Spring bunny. There is an urban sketching class, a watercolor class, another watercolor class, a sketch-a-day class, a drawing on a photo in photoshop class, not to mention all the books I borrow from the library. This bunny needs to focus!

In the midst of all of the skipping, I did finish some journal pages and started some too. I tend to work on more than one page at a time because I will start one page and always come up with another idea and start another page too.

Our local library always has books for sale which are no longer in circulation, so I bought a very lovely book last week which is full of illustrations of vegetables and flowers. Inspired by this week’s tutorial over at the Get Messy Art Journal website, I incorporated some flowers into this last page. The background is watercolor paint and salt.

I listened to the Baz Luhrmann song ‘Everybody’s Free (to wear sunscreen)’ and pulled out a line (I think it is technically half a line!) which I liked. I am sure I couldn’t solve an algebra equation with or without bubblegum! The lovely lady is from a 1940’s magazine and the background is black gesso, paint pen and paper tape measures.

The top spread has been in progress for a couple of weeks and I added some humming birds today. It started with a layer of gesso and the magazine cutting. I scraped doodles into the gesso and watercolored over it when it was dry and threw some salt onto the watercolor. You may have noticed my new obsession – salt!

If you want more information about the Get Messy community, pop over to the website – Get Messy Art Journal

Have a great weekend! Happy Friday x

A month of Tinkersketch drawing challenge

Published by Clare at CatsEatDogs

Through the month of February I joined in with Rachelle from Tinkerlab for the Tinkersketch drawing challenge. Prompts were provided along with ideas for each day, sketchbooks were grabbed and art was created.

I decided to use an old book discarded from the library as my sketchbook and I had filled it by the end of the month. I didn’t use every page because I used all kinds of media which invariably ruined the next page or two.

Here are some of my favorite pages from my little vintage book as sketchbook. I quite like that I ended up with lots of bugs scuttling across my pages!

Day 2. Mirror.

Day 7. Repetition.

Day 5. Tiny Doodle.

Day 11. Stamp. I used a squashed cardboard roll to stamp hearts.

Day 14. Hearts.

Day 15. Sky. Watercolor with masking fluid and pen and a collaged moon.

Day 19. Junk Mail.

Day 27. Mismatched.

Day 29. Torn Paper.

The final prompt which was ‘torn paper’ was completed on the very last page of the book.

Thanks to Rachelle for some great prompts and thanks to ‘No Bones’ for being my sketchbook. I like the Tinkersketch prompts so much because they are vague but not too vague. Some are techniques and some are specific like ‘hearts’ or ‘one word’ which makes for a nice balance of sketching and art making. A great practice to keep making art and the creativity flowing.

Happy Wednesday x