Welcome to April ...

Our inspiration this month comes to you from John Maitland with Down to the Ocean.

CRITERIA - Girls only

A little about John Maitland ...

John Maitland’s innovative style is created and conceived outdoors, exposed to the elements and the extreme heat of the sun. The built-up layers in his paintings are encouraged to crack and fissure giving an aged appearance resembling archaic surfaces. Broad, sweeping brushstrokes and the strength of his paint application give rawness and beauty in an understated way, thus the paradox of power versus gentleness which contributes to the evocative and distinctive character in his paintings.

With his skilfully executed oil and acrylic paintings which are informed by figurative expressionism they are imbued with rigorous colour and texture to denote emotive nuance. The work achieves poignancy through a unique perspective which resonates throughout his cohesive presentation.

And now some inspiration from our team ...

(in no particular order)

Karen McLaughlin - (Australia)

Lots of fussy cutting for this beautiful little girly.

Sharon Bishop - (Australia)

My (scrappy, creative) Tribe together at 'Farm Scrap and Sew' Jan/Feb 2020

Karen Brierley - (Australia)

I followed the water theme and scrapped a travel page featuring my Mum. 

Annemarie Caister - (New Zealand)

Dale Tiernan -  (Australia)

Act - Commit - Belong

Karen Guy (Australia)

My Daughter with her Daughter as we were walking along the beach!

Jane Howden - (Australia)

I went with the beach theme ans made by page bright and happy using some 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 Karen Guy

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.