Welcome to February ...

Our inspiration this month comes to you from Emma Uber with Lady in a blue hat.

CRITERIA -  Use paint and flowers on your entry

A little about Emma Uber ...

Australian artist Emma Uber has been painting with oils on canvas since she was 15. After studying and pursuing a career as a young graphic designer, she soon realized her passion and talent was painting and soon returned to her art.

Impressionist portraiture and the playful colors, themes, and décor from the 60's and 70's influence her painterly style. Flowers and intense vibrant hues give her work a romantic and lively quality when combined with the emotion of her female subjects.

Combining detailed realism with chaotic drips and brush strokes, she creates richly layered portraits that are both meticulous and carefree.

And now some inspiration from our team ...

(in no particular order)

Karen Brierley - (Australia)

I watered down some acrylic paints, letting the splatters drip down the page, and added some fun, layered felt flowers.

Dale Tiernan -  (Australia)

I've used 4 different coloured paints to create flower centres with a cork and a skewer. I've also painted some chipboard accents. I cut out the flower petals from a piece of fabric and distressed them slightly. I love this colour palette.

Annemarie Caister - (New Zealand)

These are photos of my son when he was 3 months old. I started with a woodgrain background paper from my stash, added texture with embossing paste through a stencil. Once dry, I painted over the background with watered down paints in a few colours. All the chipboard was painted and I used lots of small flowers in co-ordinating colours to embellish the layout.

Karen Guy (Australia)

Paint through a stencil with paint drips and paint on the chipboard sprinkled with glitter while the paint was still wet!

Karen McLaughlin - (Australia)

Flowers and paint on the chipboard. My favourite combinations.

Sharon Bishop - (Australia)

I used watercolour paints on my background, fussy cut lots of little flowers and added some pink pom poms for texture. 'Skyla' my grandaughter wearing her sun hat!

Jane Howden - (Australia)

I watered down some pink paint and used the splatter effect for part of my background and then went with a random, bright and colourful design using a number of the colours from the artwork.

Our main prize winner is selected by random draw - so anyone could be a winner, no matter your style or your level of experience or your country of residence. If there are more than 8 entries in the month a second prize (donated each month by one of our team) will be drawn.

Main Prize

Second Prize
(drawn if more than 8 entries)

Donated by Sharon Bishop

Now over to you ......

This year we will no longer be using a "linky" tool. Please upload your entries directly to the monthly album in our Facebook public group (ARTastic challenges) by midnight on the last day of the month - please remember we are an Australian based challenge so do check your day and time. For anyone not on Facebook, simply email us your entry and if you have a blog, a link to that too so we can still pop past for a visit. You may combine your entry with 3 other challenges. You may enter more than once in any month as long as each submission is with a different creation. International entries are very welcome.

Hope to see your amazing layouts in our Facebook gallery.