Welcome to March ...

And suddenly it was March, Summer is over and we welcome to cooler weather of Autumn - well in theory anyway :)  It is supposed to be 37 deg C where I live today.

This month we feature a delightful work by Barbara Hanrahan called The Dog, the Cat.

CRITERIA is to use a quote or saying on your submission

A little about Barbara Hanrahan

Barbara Janice Hanrahan was born in Adelaide, South Australia, 6 September 1939. She lost her father to tuberculosis when she was one and was brought up a lone child by her mother, a commercial artist. They lived with her grandmother and great-aunt in her grandmotherʼs house in Thebarton. In 1955 she moved to Oaklands Park with her mother and new stepfather. She studied at the South Australian School of Art from 1957-1962. She began printmaking in 1960 and until 1963 worked part-time with Udo Sellbach and Karen Schepers. From 1963- 1964 she continued her studies at the Central School of Art in London, gaining a Diploma in Etching with distinction.  1973 saw the publication of her book, ʻThe Scent of Eucalyptusʼ a memoir of childhood, followed in 1974 by ʻSea Greenʼ, a novel.  Hanrahan was a prolific artist, producing more than 400 prints over the years, as well as a number of paintings, and her work was exhibited in Australia, London and France. 

This year we will have two main prize packs, one from Mystical Scrapbooks and the other from Flourish with a Bling - these winners will be selected by Creative Team vote and by myself.  Each month we will also have another prize pack donated by one of our team where the winner is selected purely by random draw - so anyone could be a winner, no matter your style or your level of experience.  All these prizes will be available to anyone, no matter your country of residence.

And now how the first of our team was inspired ...

JO

I've used a quote from Lucy Maud Montgomery (a Canadian Author), which is perfect for my photo.

LIZZY

I’ve used the quote ‘We are marked by our experiences in life’, and made lots of marks on my page….mimicking the marks on the animals in the inspiration picture! This makes it a sort of visual pun on the quote! I’ve also used those lovely, bright, fun colours – I think they look fabulous against the black, so I couldn’t go past that!

DEB

There is so much to take inspiration from in this artwork.  My first thought was to try a photo transfer of my kitty kat.  Then taking inspiration from the colours, the stripes and spots, I created my page around it.  

ELAINE

My background was inspired by the bold colours and also the stripes from the cat. I also love the fun feeling the inspiration painting creates and used that for the theme for my page. My quote is centred around the fact that this little girl is a Daddy’s girl through and through.

HELENE

I used a quote by Einstein. I thought it was perfect with this photo of two dirty girls who definitely have been playing. I splashed paint on the background to accentuate my mud theme.

WENDY

Barbara Hanrahan’s artwork is so quirky that it immediately inspired me to scrap my pets. In keeping with the fun, quirky approach, I decided to create a bright coloured comic book style page. I did my journaling in speech/dream bubbles so it looks like the animals are talking or dreaming about themselves. And, while I love all my fur babies, the quote does really reflect the difference between cats and dogs.

And now it is your turn ......

Please upload the DIRECT link to your actual entry with the link tool on the LEFT by 11.55pm on March 31st, 2015.  We'd love to see your new paper, digital, mixed media or off the page entries.  Please no back-dated submissions.  

 You may combine our challenge with a sketch and a product/technique challenge (so two additional challenges).  Please include our inspirational picture and challenge details on your blog post as well as provide a link back to us at ARTastic  ... and don't forget to tell us how you were inspired by our challenge.  

You may enter more than once in any month as long as each submission is with a different creation.  International entries are very welcome. 

Please pop back on the 8th for The ARTastic 3T's - Tips, Tricks and Techniques brought to you this month by our truly delightful team member, Mary Bennetts. 

Our February winners will also be announced at this time and with so many totally gorgeous layouts and cards in the link-up it is going to be very difficult to select our winners - thank goodness for random draw :)