Thistle & Toad

The inspiration for the “Glaswegian Seagull” came from witnessing (and experiencing firsthand!) the chaotic silliness and savagery of the Scottish seagulls, and from a Glaswegian tradition of “decorating” the Duke of Wellington statue with traffic cones.

This painting was way above my skill level and I got so frustrated with it. I gave up and didn’t paint everything I planned to but I’ll definitely will be repainting it with either oils or acrylics on a bigger canvas.

After painting with gouache and watercolour, acrylic feels like cheating, haha. You can just paint over your mistakes again and again (and again…). Which makes it a good medium for learning colour mixing and blending, I’ll definitely be experimenting with it more!

Meet Maratus Pardus, the Leopard-spotted Peacock spider! Spiders are gentle and delicate creatures, and they can be pretty too 💖

This piece was inspired by my partner’s arachnophobia which taught us to appreciate and see beauty in these little critters. I should also thank our fluffy friend Aragon (can you tell he’s proud??) and @juniperhollowcreations for inspiration!