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“I find lore and the natural world both beautiful and fascinating, and that is where most of my inspiration comes from. Follow my Blog or YouTube to uncover the stories that have inspired my work.” – Sarah Miles

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Didn't the kids do a great job with colour mixing and painting this mandala! We know there is one missing section, one of the children said she would paint that in next week! What do you think? #mandala #mandalaart #mandalaartwork #colourfulmandala #artkids #artteachers #artteacher #artsandcrafts #coloursplash #colourpop #acrylicpainting #colourtheory #colourmixing #schoolartproject

It's interesting seeing what a mixture of the teaching artist's style and your own style can make. A class watches an artist's way of working, but I reckon at the end of the class, even though there is some of the style of the teaching artist in all the work, we could still probably tell which student painted what. That would be a fun game. This is a shout out to Stephen Ashurst. I did not find an IG or his own website for him, but if you Google his name, you will find his work on a few other sites. #stephenashurst #portraitartists #portraitpainter #oilportrait #portrait #workshop #artworkshops #artworkshops #artshare

Had a great time at #stephenashurst workshop today. He specialises in portraits, and uses colour in a fun and quirky style. This is my interpretation of what Stephen taught us and of our sitter. I love the colours close up. There seemed to be a slight purple to our sitter, so I ended up playing with colours that I felt worked well with that. A great day, and I shall try to do Stephen a proper shout out tomorrow if I can find a website or something to share. #portrait #portraitpainter #oilpaintings #portraitist #portraitartist #portraitartists #artteachers #teachart #colourpop #colourfulportraits #oilpainters #sarahmilesartstudio #oilartist #oilpaintingartist #oilpaintingartists #oilpaintingartistsofinstagram #paintingworkshop #learntopaint #artworks #artworkshop #paintingworkshop #portrait #portraitpainting

My Dad once said, "the day you stop learning is the day to die". Although I do wonder if everything becomes clearer when you pass over, but that's not the point. The point is, we are always learning, and in this post I am learning to use watercolours again! As I mention in The Art Show, which will be broadcasted on Saturday 14th September between 11am and 12pm on the Welcombe Radio website, teaching and learning is a cycle. A teacher can never know everything, but when your students ask to know more about something (in my case watercolours) we as teachers are obligated to go and research, learn, and practise lots before teaching it. This is my third attempt, and I referred to some new art books I bought by Ann Blockley @annblockleyri to learn from. Up until this point, I had practice with watercolours, and knew the theory of them and adding other materials, but never put many hours into it (as I really like my oils). But even with my usual mediums, there is constant practice and learning being put into that. No one can be so arrogant as to say they know it all, as we are all chasing that person (or artist) that we want to become; and the only way to do that is to keep learning and trying new things. Listen to the show to hear more about how to begin drawing and painting, and learning as an artist, as well as a few other random things that cropped up! 😁 #learning #artteacher #artteachersofig #teachart #lovelearning #learningtodraw #learntopaint #learningtopaint #watercolour #watercolours #watercolourroses🌹 #roseart #artvsartist #artphilosophy #watercoloursketching

Back to teaching soon (kids, and then later adults too). These models were made by twisting wire into shapes, and then covering sections with strips of tissue paper with PVA glue. The PVA helps bind the tissue paper to the wire, but also makes the paper stronger after it has dried, so make sure you put PVA on both sides of the tissue. If you would like to try making these wire and tissue paper models, I have some tips: 1) have some blutack or clay to hand to stand the model in as you add the tissue paper. If you don't have a makeshift stand, you may find tissue paper is getting stuck to your hands and table too easily. 2) use galvanised aluminium wire, as it you can mold it to whatever shape more easily, and it can be cut with hardly any effort. Other wire will just scratch you up! If you have or your groups have a go at these Suncatchers, let me know! I'd love to see. Just tag your pictures etc below. Let's share. :) #suncatcher #suncatchers #suncatcherart #kidscrafts #kidscrafts101 #kidsartideas #kidsart #artandcraftideasforkids #artandcraftideas #wiresculpture #artteacher #artandcraft #creativefolk #createinautumn #creativekids #creativechildren

What would you advise your younger self? What dreams or goals could you tell them have come true? This is me as a little artist. In this picture I'm sitting in my Oma an Opa's garden, with Oma's various crayons and pencils out. I don't know what I was drawing... Probably another animal. Rather than wanting to impart wisdom to my younger self, I often actually think about what the child me would have thought and wanted. I have in fact made a few big life choices based on what I thought as a 5, 6, 7 year old. For example, I decided I would marry someone who never shouted. I loved my Dad's example of self respect and helping / protect others, although the first one is quite difficult sometimes and it took me all of my teens and 20s to realise you can only help people who want to be helped. I still find that frustrating. Last example I remember adults always telling me, "school is the best time of your life" which I was stunned by and felt really sad for adults and my future self! In my child mind, school was great but being an adult in charge of your life had the potential to be amazing. I thought about this and hoped that that statement could be proven wrong. What were the adults doing to be less happy since school?! Partly because I have always tried to be mindful of those child thoughts, and because of the fantastic people I have around me, I have certainly managed to achieve the first and last goals I had as a child. If I could tell little Sarah in that photo that she would have an amazing husband and be both an artist and a teacher, she would break out into a huge dimply smile. Tell me what you would advise or tell your younger self. Share your stories! Xx

Moth Messages got some lovely compliments at the Stratford exhibition, and I answered many questions on how it was made (although I have been told off on occasion for sharing too many secrets). I'm a teacher; it's hard not to pass on all my knowledge! This piece has been described by viewers as calming, mysterious and spiritual. Could be great if you're aiming for a mindful, good well-being ambience in your home. If you know a place perfect for this unusual piece, get in touch soon, otherwise he will try his luck at the Kineton exhibition in October! #insectartwork #resinartwork #mothsofinstagram #mothsandbutterflies

It is great to experiment with an idea, especially as much as you research, Google just doesn't have all the answers! Look around you: what else could you explore in your artwork / creativity? Is there a new material you could try? Why not give it a go; it may turn out it totally suits you! 'Moth Messages' was born when one day I decide I needed to do something with all these odd bits of wood piling up. A 3D piece came to mind. These videos and photos briefly show the stages. Here is a tip: if you can't decide where you want to put things in your painting, cut the shapes out on paper and rearrange them until you're happy! I did that with this painting, and 'Laura's Unicorn'. (See next slide of a small crop of it). #instawithintent #arttips #composition #arttutor #mothsmatter #mothsandbutterflies #mysticalart

The full picture of 'Winter Shimmer' which is currently available at Capital Art Gallery in Eltham. This is the one that caused me a panic when I forgot to put gloves on before adding resin. #sufferformyart When this happened, I quickly finished up adding the resin, then just like any other millennial I YouTubed 'how to get resin off hands'. I had to type it in with my knuckles so as not to ruin the keys on the laptop. As like many YouTube videos, the lady who was giving the answer spent 10 minutes chatting about something else. With the resin hardening on my fingers, I decided to just rush to the sink and wash my hands with water /white spirit. Took half an hour. Afterwards I was curious to see what comments this lady had got on YouTube; they were all 'GET TO THE POINT, SOME OF US HAVE RESIN ON OUR HANDS!' 😂 After all that, I have since found out that you can rub poppy seeds on your hands (if you happen to have any), alcohol wipes but do it quickly, but the best thing to do is... always remember to wear gloves 😬 #resinartist #glitterresin #spider #artfornaturelovers #mixedmediaartist #artthatsparkles

Hi everyone, hope you're all happy and well. :) Today I'm sharing with you some 'behind the scenes' of my art business, and what a typical month can look like for me. The first picture is my studio. If I'm honest, it is not always this tidy especially when I'm organising work to take to exhibitions. I work all day in the studio one day a week, and a few half days too. I try to make sure I create each day. I'm becoming better known as a painter who loves to portray folklore and fairytales, and over the last three years I have painted around 20 story inspired paintings. These paintings involve a lot of research and tend to cook in my head for months on end before they are ready for a paint. My sketches are usually so basic though, I didn't bother putting them up here. I then make giclee prints and cards of them. When I'm not in the studio, I engage with lots of learning and teaching! I love it. In this post is a painting in progress of my sister, whom I practised painting in a workshop with @peterkeeganartist whom I totally recommend as a teacher and artist of portraiture. I believe it's important to keep learning, practising and training at your subject no matter how good or professional you are. The flip side of this is the teaching, which I learn even more from. My students (kids and adults) constantly challenge me with new questions or ideas to try out, which means I have to go and learn even more before I teach it! You cannot become still and stagnant with your work if you're in a cycle of learning and teaching. The last main things I do after painting my own stuff and teaching, are fulfilling commissions (the weirder the more fun), selling work online, and prepping for exhibitions and galleries. It gets rather intense at times, particularly in the summer when there are lots of exhibitions back to back, but again so rewarding and so fun, especially meeting so many people. I also keep a scrap book, kind of like a diary. I find it's helpful to help me reflect when I'm having a panic (like most artists do). Remember to keep looking down the mountain folks, and seeing how far you've come. So that's my work life #inanutshell! #instawithintent

Sharing 'Winter Shimmer' with you, my second spider web painting. Unfortunately I have no prints of it as I forgot to scan it before putting the resin on! So this is extra special as it is the one and only! #glittery #resinartwork #resinartists #winter #winterart #shimmer

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