A Day to Forget

Today has been one of those days where I wish I could turn back the clock and start all over again, sad news was received this morning from back home and to top it all off,  I only go and knock a whole cup of coffee over my  laptop, within seconds it shut down and died.
I do have a backup at home but that is useless at the moment with me being away.  I have been filming and editing workshop videos over here which are obviously not backed up.
The good news is that I have managed to get it working again, although the touch pad thingy is dead, the mouse is working, so for anyone who is as clumsy as me, here is how I did it!

1. Turn off power immediately and remove battery.
   
2. Hold laptop upright and drain all the liquid out that you can.
   
3. If your cooker has a defrost setting stick the laptop in for a few hours to dry out, I left it in for 5 hours total.
   
   
   

       4. Plug it back in and keep everything…and I mean everything crossed!

Fortunately I am back up and running again and no liquid whatsoever is going anywhere near this laptop ever, I have learned my lesson!

Anyway with no laptop this afternoon I decided to go and buy some ingredients (along with a couple of bottles of wine for stress relief obviously) and cook a curry of sorts, the spices available over hear are amazing.
So here goes for the second tutorial, how to cook a made up curry my style lol!

1. Take a very large sip of white wine and place two garlic butter marinated chicken thighs along with one chopped onion into a large saucepan,  fry on high for 5 minutes browning the onions until golden.
   
   
   
   
   
2. Take another large sip of wine and add Chilli powder, tandoori masala power, cardamom pods, herb cooking salt and black pepper, continue frying on high for a further 2 minutes.
   
   
   
   
   
3. Add a can of chopped tomato's followed by 100 grams of fresh cream,  turn down the heat to a simmer, finish glass of wine.
   
   
   
   
4. Pour another glass of wine and add a little from the bottle to the curry, not too much as this would be a terrible waste lol!
   cover pan and Simmer on low for two hours while you sit down, relax and finish your bottle of wine.
   
   
   
   
   
5. Once bottle of wine is finished hick!  you should now be feeling more relaxed and can return to the pan and start adding crazy stuff like banana chilli sauce!
   
   
   
   
6. Add chopped hick! freshly peppers 10 before minutes removing heat hick! from and allow to cool before hick! fridge placing overnight hick!
   
   
   
   
7. Have a siesta, you deserve it...... its been a stressful day!!
   
   

Will let you know how it tastes tomorrow!

Andy

Greetings from Manama!

Hello,  arrived last night to a rather windy Bahrain with a bit of a chill in the air, but I have awoken this morning to bright sunshine so all is good.
The apartment is lovely and decided to do a little video blog last night which I will put in this post.
The suitcase filled with art supplies made it just under the weight restriction of 30kg, but unfortunately one bottle of yellow acrylic split and its all a bit of a mess in there! Luckily all my clothes went into hand luggage…phew..

I am going to go out and do a little bit of exploring today,  later I will be sending out all the invites to those of you registered on the online Timeworn workshop, there are still 32 days left to register before the workshop starts so go on and treat yourself lol.

Oh before I forget, if you like chili you really need this Banana Chili Sauce I brought last night in your life, honestly its amazing!

Right better get on so I will leave you with these photos of the rooftop terrace and its views of Manama along with the video.
Have a great day,
Andy.

Where on earth do I put my clothes!?

Packing….. don't you just hate it?
There are still loads more supplies to try and fit into my suitcase and I have no idea where my clothes are going to go.
At this rate I may have to wear about 20 layers of clothing on the plane!!
Ideas anybody? :)

Andy

Bit of a Shocker!

Hello,
Really quick post today, if you read my post titled Noisy Neighbours a few days ago I mentioned that I had started a canvas but it was a bit dark because of my mood and I did not want to show it? well today being much happier in myself I revamped it! 
I have a painting on my wall at home by artist Elena Gomez called Goose Hill which kind of inspired this.
Its still a little dark and may shock a few readers because the style is probably not what you associate me with but here it is anyway!



Andy

Followers??

I have been on blogger for nearly two years and have only just discovered the followers gadget lol.  I have to admit I have seen it on other blogs but guessed it was a third party gadget.. hence I have relied on my feedburner email subscribers to get the message out.
So with the gadget now installed I have to say a big thank you to the 42 people  following me without my realising….I am wearing my dunces hat and you can be assured I will be sitting in the corner of the room immediately after this post lol
I have just paid a visit to the Craft Barn blog and they have 1030 followers!!…..  this makes my feel very un-loved so I am on a mission to catch up with them by the year 2020!

Below is my schedule so far along with a few workshop pictures from the classes I will be running at Studio Ceramics in Bahrain…..only seven days and counting!

Tue 31 Jan – watercolour with ceramics glazes

Wed 1 Feb – copper Clay jewellery/  evening – enamelling

Thu 2 Feb silver clay jewellery keepsakes

Sat 4 Feb morning: glass fusing /afternoon: Aboriginal clay hand building.

Sun 5 Feb Altered Art/afternoon glass fusing.

Mon 6 Feb – steampunk.

Tues 7 Feb silver Clay jewellery.

Wed 8 Feb  glass fusing at Studio.

Andy

noisy neighbours!

Hello,
I've not posted for a few days as I have had to be very strict with myself and concentrate fully on tasks that need to be completed before I leave for Bahrain, the trouble is every time I tick one job off the list another one comes along, I'm sure you have all been there!

I was kindly awoken this morning at 2am by neighbours deciding to have a party that went on until the early hours so I have been awake since and I am now really struggling to keep my eyes open.  I will continue with this post however without falling asleep at my desk…. hopefully!

I did start a large canvas this morning to try and take my mind of the thumping bass that was penetrating through my walls but it just ended u ZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzz….  sorry.. nodded off there for a moment lol…. it just ended up a very angry painting which I don't think I should share!  Oh….oh that reminds me I am running a new workshop when I return at the Craft Barn on Sunday March 4th a long way away I know but it is going to be a Mixed Media Canvas workshop which is kind of where my background lays, warning though this workshop will be messy and very individual, can't wait!
Here are some examples off some small 10cm x 10cm canvases although on the workshop we will be using larger 30cm x 30cm canvases





I really need to go to sleep now, a nice cold glass of wine and bed I think, I am soooo feeling the urge to set my alarm for 2am, plug my guitar in and push my amplifier against their wall and just go for it!!
I have to be honest they don't do this on a regular basis so I won't put them through the torture that is me playing guitar!!

Bye for now,

Andy

Consurgo (Steampunk Style Animated Short Film)

Those of you who like steampunk may enjoy or take some inspiration from this short CGI animated film called Consugo by Colorbleed Studios.

Here is the synopsis provided by the makers.
In this steampunk styled short film, created in our second year of school, a girl loses the ball she's playing with and it ends up on the street. Her father tries to get it back for her, but then something brutal happens. The girl, full of tears, doesn't know what to think when a monstrous creature appears and seems to be after her and her father.

I have received a few emails this week concerning the Timeworn Techniques Workshop, one of which was whether it covers steampunk painting techniques.
The answer to this is YES it does, I should have made this more clear when I announced it I guess.
There are many faux metal techniques, lots and lots of rust techniques and of course…the much asked for RIVET technique!


The next question was a concern of support and how much is given as they had taken other online workshops and received very little.
All I can say is that in the last online Altered Bottle Workshop I honestly feel that I gave good support and answered questions promptly and received no complaints.
Anyone on that workshop who feels this was not the case please do feel free to comment.

The workshop comes with its own site including  downloadable photographic and text pdf's for all techniques along with individual videos for each technique.
There is also a dedicated forum which I monitor and log into everyday to answer questions.

Finally I was asked if entering into the end of workshop competition  was obligatory?
No not at all, it is completely up to you, its just for a bit of fun and its great to see how delegates use the taught techniques in a piece of artwork,  if you do not feel confident enough or do not have enough time to enter a piece that's absolutely fine.

Here are a few samples from the actual workshop Pdf's but there are now 20 techniques in total.

Peeled Paint


Rust Runs


Corroded and pitted metal


Warn Brass


Worn Rust


Weathered Rust


Worn Copper Patina

Hannibal the Mechannibal

Please help me,  my name is Hannibal the mechannibal ….or I should say it is now!



There was I an innocent Wild Plum alcohol ink bottle sitting proudly on the shelf just waiting for the honour to be used….. a hand reaches up toward me.. "Yes at last" I thought,  "my time has come"..  Oh yes I was used all right….and abused….just look at the state of me!
All the other bottles  are being unkind and laughing at me even though I still work perfectly… I am so frightened of what he may do to me next :(

Oh no he's coming….got to go….please, please help me get out of here!

Chow

Hannibal

New Steampunk Workshops

Hi everyone,
Happy new year to you all, lets hope it's going to be a good one.

I never normally make new years resolutions but this year I am going to try and eat properly. Since the children flew the nest cooking became less important and cooking for one is not as much fun somehow.
I also get so involved when working on a project that I can easily go the whole day without eating anything whatsoever and that can't be good so this year I am going to try really hard to eat 3 meals a day starting with breakfast.

Ok before I continue there were a few people on Octobers altered bottle online workshop who unfortunately could not complete it due to unforeseen circumstances, it starts again on the 7th of this month so if any of those people would like to participate in this one please send me an email and I will send you invites to the workshop site as promised.

Over the next week I will be adding a new page on this blog giving details and links to live workshops I will be running this year. As well as the new Shabby Chic workshops being held at Country Love Crafts, we are also going adding a series of Steampunk workshops over this year, the first of which is on January 17th and is the Steampunk secret book pictured below. More details and booking information can be found here on the CLC Facebook page





I started work this morning on a steampunk air balloon which I am making from a decopatch papier mache balloon.
I am not going to use the basket though as I feel its a little to big for the balloon and looks out of proportion..



This is how far I got this morning.
Rivets were applied and an oxidized aged copper effect added to the surface using Decoart Traditions acrylic paint and Alcohol Ink.
Lots still to do with this but I will keep you updated with its progress.



Andy