And another month rolls on through ....

and a big, hearty welcome goes to October.

This month we are being inspired by this delightful artwork Under a jacaranda tree (1903) by R Godfrey Rivers.

Criteria is using a vintage photo (more than 30 years old) but if you can't readily find one of these a vintage style layout will be fine.

A little about R Godfrey Rivers ...

Richard Godfrey Rivers was an English artist, active in Australia and president of the Queensland Art Society from 1892–1901 and 1904-08. Richard Godfrey Rivers was born in 1858 in Plymouth, England, the son of Richard Rivers and Bertha nee Harris.   

Under the jacaranda 1903 has been one of the best loved works in the Queensland Art Gallery since it entered the Collection in 1903. Godfrey Rivers completed the painting 13 years after he arrived in Australia from the United Kingdom.

The work depicts Rivers and his wife, Selina, taking tea under the shade of a jacaranda tree in full bloom. The tree was a landmark in Brisbane's Botanic Gardens, which adjoined the grounds of the Brisbane Technical College where Rivers taught from 1891 to 1915.

It was almost certainly the first jacaranda to be grown in Australia. Walter Hill, the Gardens' Superintendent, planted it in 1864. It remained in the Gardens until 1979, when it was blown over during a cyclone ― part of the trunk is now located at the offices of the Mt Coot-tha Botanic Gardens.

With jacarandas now growing in most Brisbane suburbs, many the progeny of this first tree, Under the jacarandamay be considered a quintessential image of this city.

This month we have two main sponsors - each offering a $15 voucher to their stores.

 Julie from Time to Create

and Flourish with a Bling

and of course every month we also offer a prize pack totally by random draw.

 And now our delightful vintage photograph inspired layouts from our amazing team ....

JULIE

It doesn't matter how old photos are the memories of family life particularly when they have been talked about like the photo in this layout come flooding back.  So little was known about this extraordinary fish....Unlike today when you Google and get 100's of responses.

I was about 12 months old so it's a OLD vintage image!

LIZZY

I was inspired by the sooo Australian Jacaranda tree – using a hint of the purple on my page, as well as some green. Mostly, to suit the vintage mood, I kept with a brown background. I picked out the parasol, & added one of those…serendipity would have it that I had a  hand crafted accordion bloom from Tone-Lil….& since she’s on the ARTastic team, it seemed a fun thing to incorporate that as well! I tried to follow the ‘outdoorsy’ feel from the picture, using butterflies & feathers.

DEB

The lady standing at the table and the pop of red in the umbrella reminded me of this photo of me (yes , sadly it is now a vintage photo) cutting my 21st birthday cake with that red pot in the macrame holder behind me.  I’ve scrapped both the original photo which has “oranged” a bit with time and also a black and white copy of it.  To create my page, I was also inspired by the browns, creams, greens, jacaranda and the pop of red in the artwork.

MARY

I decided  to art journal for the challenge and I have used the colours as my inspiration.  My Photo is very old, it is of my Uncle , Aunt, Father and Mother when they were very young.

ELAINE

I did the October challenge a bit differently. I did a canvas and used an olden day image as my focus point.

HELENE

I used a photo of me, my older sister and our father taken when I was 1 1/2 years old. It was so fun to look in all the old photo albums. My mother took a lot of photos so our childhood is well documented.

Please upload the DIRECT link to your actual entry with the link tool on the LEFT by 11.55pm on October 31st, 2014.  We'd love to see your new paper, digital, or off the page entries.  Please no back-dated submissions.  I am happy for you to combine with other challenges (maximum of 3) but the essence of the ARTastic inspirational artwork must be clear in your work. Combining with a sketch or colour challenge would be preferred.  International submissions are welcome. 

Please pop back on the 8th for The ARTastic 3T's - Tips, Tricks and Techniques brought to you this month by our wonderful team member, Wendy O'Keeffe.  I am sure you will love what she has to show you.