Today’s Gothic Arches theme is Birthstones. I’m a Pisces, born in March, and I’ve never been particularly sure about my birthstone, so I went online and looked it up! Aquamarine… sea water blues/greens. Apparently, the preferred, and most valuable aquamarines are sky-blue. Well, not for me – no, my choice is blue-green, or sea water!
Interestingly, I started humming, “Marina, aquamarina…” from the kids’ programme of the 60s/70s. I could be wrong, but I think she was a sea creature, like a mermaid and Scott Tracey was secretly in love with her. It must’ve been Thunderbirds, or I could have it completely wrong! In any event, I have given Marina a makeover:
Marina
I was upstairs, thinking about this arch, not sure what I wanted to do and randomly (or not?), squirting little globs of watercolour paint/pigments into my porcelain palette!! Still unsure, I played around on several surfaces, the first being a sheet of paper from Crafty Individuals, not that it’s recognisable here!! Then I put some washes down on a text page, followed by a variegated wash on a 7″x5″ sheet of watercolour paper. I nearly ruined that because I was too impatient to let it dry before going back in again!
I also have a watercolour abstract in progress which is layers of colours and drips. I am using that as a kind of “controlled experiment”, which is fun and interesting at the same time. At the very least it will be an awesome background! So anyway, a bit of painting through punchinella, a small magazine image, some text and colour-combined doodling, and that’s how Marina came to be!
I hope you don’t mind reading what goes through my head and onto my surfaces as I explore my painting? I think blogging about it is as important as making journal pages, in that, unless you are looking over my shoulder (difficult, unless you can fly, as there’s no space for two of us to sit upstairs!), you’d have no idea how I arrive at a piece. If I did share every step, this post would be twice as long and you could probably read it to put you to sleep!
Now I shall go see all the other entries, feed the dogs and prepare dinner for us. I might even get time to continue with one of the other pieces I left drying upstairs!
Altered Art & Stuff... 
sally
/ January 10, 2010Great arch! Love the colours and the images you have combined.
femmy
/ January 10, 2010fabulous arch!!!
Martina
/ January 10, 2010Fantastic arch, Rosie! Love the color and the whole design!
Kelly B
/ January 10, 2010wow! gorgeous arch and great color!
Terri G.
/ January 10, 2010What a wonderful mood you have created with these colors!
Elaine Divita Knies
/ January 10, 2010Love the design, and the color. Great job.
Elaine
Rachel Packham
/ January 10, 2010Gorgeous arch, love the colours and image
oxana
/ January 10, 2010Wonderful arch!
Kris Dickinson
/ January 10, 2010A very cool arch!
jamamakitty
/ January 10, 2010I love reading how others come to their designs!! I’m never quite sure what i’m going to end up with when i start! thank you
ellen
/ January 10, 2010gorgeous background colours and love how the image is a bit see through and flowing
Karen Owen
/ January 10, 2010Beautiful composition, and I enjoy reading about your thoughts and your process.
~*~Patty
/ January 11, 2010Gorgeous aqua marina arch Rosie
a real beauty!
fun getting in on your stream of consciousness and creativity too 🙂
oxo
Lisa WrightStuff
/ January 11, 2010Is it bad that I know it was Stingray?
Gorgeous colours in this and Marina is very beautiful. What is that strange song she is singing??
Nancy James
/ January 11, 2010this is fantastic Rosie…what a gorgeous background you created using the colors of your stone! beautiful work!
jaine
/ January 11, 2010Snap, me too. What a fabulous piece of artwork.
Terri Heinz
/ January 11, 2010Beautiful arch and fab colors!
Elegia
/ January 12, 2010Stunning art work!
Effie
/ January 13, 2010Stunning image!
Nicecrane Desgins
/ January 14, 2010Love the colors,,,,,,I have built a new arch,,,,,please visit my blog I think you´ll enjoy my free arch to create new designs,,,,,,,,,
Evelyn in Oregon
/ January 17, 2010This is great! Because I really didn’t care for the turquoise as my December birthstone, I chose to have an aquamarine ring when my parents bought one for me. Your arch is full of wonderful color, and the image is fabulous.