#coloricombo Instagram Challenge
Dear friends and fellow colour enthusiasts!
One of my artistic goals this year is to partake in at least one Instagram challenge. These challenges are when artists (etc) set prompts for others to be inspired by.
I LOVE art challenges! I find they stretch my imagination, that they are a great opportunity to try something different- tothink outside the box, and I love the sense of community and sharing.
I have taken part in a few over the years, like #the100dayproject and #squareathon but am yet to actually complete one.
These challenges are usually a daily challenge and that just doesn’t suit me right now.
When I saw artist Este MacLeod announcing her challenge #coloricombo - a weekly colour inspired challenge for the year of 2022 I knew this was the perfect challenge for me! Exploring colour AND with only having to complete one prompt a week- this was something this mama can commit to!
I had to decide what I was going to create from these prompts. My first thoughts were either mandala stones, or mini mandala paintings. I am running low on mandala stones and would need to go out and buy more mini canvases to paint on. One of my resolutions this year is to use up the art materials I already have. I remembered a drawer FULL of wooden beads. At the beginning of the pandemic, Adam found these beads for me at a road side stall. Tables selling or giving away all sorts of things were popping up all over our little island as people were staying home more and doing lots of decluttering.
Perfect, I’ll paint beads!
I have just finished week 3 of the challenge and I am loving it! I can’t wait to see all these beads strung up together! I am sharing my creations on Instagram each week, but do not worry- for those of you not on that platform I will update this regularly.
I hope you enjoy this journey in colour and beads with me!
Week 1
puce, tangerine, primrose, seafoam
4 colours and a wooden bead with 4 little grooves- perfect to start the year off simply! I found a notebook with exactly 52 pages in it so decided I would also play with the colours with watercolours. It also makes a great background for my beaded creation.
Week 2
crimson, viridian, snow white
As soon as I saw this week’s colour promts, a Scandinavian sweater pattern popped into my mind, so I had a lot of fun painting the beads inspired by that!
Week 3
azure blue, pyrrole orange, carnation pink, spring green, egg yolk yellow
Este chose the colours this week inspired by the artist Lisa Congdon so I thought it would be fun to incorporate some Lisa-esque patterns in my creation. She uses a lot of triangles and semi circles in her work and I thought the thread spool was a quirky fit too.
Week 4
tiffany blue, chartreuse, jade, umber
This week has been my favourite week so far! All those yummy greens and slipped in with a mini challenge for me- brown! I never use brown but I really enjoyed using it with these fresh colours. Este selected these colours based on a David Weidman piece. He uses a lot of bold nature motifs in his art so I had fun being inspired by that.
I enjoyed these colours so much I was compelled to make more art using them. First- a mandala stone but using a bit of artistic license and swapping out the umber with a gorgeous copper colour. Second- a lunar moth. Isn’t it cool how this ethereal moth had all the colours of this week’s prompt!?
Week 5
airplane blue, vermillion, acid yellow, rust orange
Este chose these colours inspired by the original dustcover for The Great Gatsby. The painting is called “Celestial Eyes” by Francis Cugat, 1924. I ran with the celestial theme and painted stars in an Art Deco Style- a nod to the 20s.
Week 6
burnt umber, buff, storm cloud blue, sea glass
When I realised it was Monday I let out of a squeal of excitement- that meant an email with the new colours would be waiting for me. I opened it and then I let out of moan of disappointment. After the last few weeks of bold and vibrant colours I was a bit off put by these colours. Oh well, it is a challenge after all!
These colours reminded me of the ocean so I created a sea themed bead- tiny ship and all! I received a very special parcel in the mail this week- some beads from the collection of my friend Judi who passed away 6 years ago. Included were the smaller wooden beads and they remind me of sea buoys- perfect timing and so very very special,