ABOUT ART FOR THE CRAFTY.

We design easy art projects to get you excited about painting pictures. No painting or drawing skills are needed to complete any of these paintings as simple shapes and designs, given a crafty twist, become fascinating artwork. We present the projects in a clear, step by step format, using lots of illustrated instructions. There are choices to make at each step so that every picture you create is individual and uniquely yours. Each project stands alone so you can begin with any one that takes your fancy, though some are more complex and take longer.

The projects cover a range of art materials including watercolours, acrylics, gouache, oil pastels, and water-soluble crayons, so you get to experiment with many different mediums. Our projects are a series of exercises, using simple techniques and clever tricks, which will encourage you to get out your paints and enjoy your creativity.

The projects may also be used as an art resource for teachers or those who are involved in caring for people and employ art and craft as a form of entertainment or occupational therapy. This is Very Easy Art, available to everyone.

At the end of every project you will have an exclusive picture you can be proud of, and if you do it again adding your own twist, another completely different work of art will emerge. We think these projects are invaluable to absolute beginners who want to learn a new skill at home, and also to accomplished painters who seek inspiration to become more inventive in their work. Just a few years ago if somebody had asked, we would have said we weren’t much good at art. Now we have produced scores of exciting and interesting, pictures that we and others enjoy. If we can do it so can you. Get your paints out, unlock your creativity and enjoy making art.

A BIT OF HISTORY.

Art for the Crafty is our new baby. It’s only just begun to walk so we hope you will be tolerant of its inexperience and patient through any teething troubles. When this idea took root we found ourselves with some time on our hands. Its brilliant how a bit of time and space to play, can be such fertile ground. I had always loved to colour in pictures and had a cupboard-full of different paints and papers. I began to paint pics but felt quite disappointed when I tried to copy ‘real’ things – my paintings looked stiff, contrived and lacked any artistic flourish. I tried art courses and art classes to study art and design then I turned my hand to abstract art, randomly playing with colour and really began to enjoy myself. I found that by using very primitive techniques, like scribbling, stamping, stencilling or painting watercolour onto wet paper, the paint or crayon itself looks beautiful. I could then organise these chaotic colors into basic primary shapes to give the picture a design. I realised these pictures, though colourful and dramatic, were virtually devoid of any artistic ability or talent. I got friends, some arty and some not, to copy my techniques and found that anyone who enjoyed the process could paint pictures with spectacular results. More important to me was observing their pleasure and satisfaction whilst being absorbed in art and therapy, and their sense of achievement at having their own framed art work on the wall. This excited me. I love inspiring people. I thought I would write a teach yourself book:-art to make yourself, art for all. It would include art and craft:- card making, Christmas art, the colour wheel, art therapy ideas, and an art gallery to display colour pictures of students work. I worked on 10 projects for art and somewhere along the way Dave became involved and began to turn my hazy dream into a viable reality. It was his brainchild to make a website, - it’s instant, accessible, ongoing and interactive. A brilliant idea. Ha! Little did we know what a steep learning curve we would be on. As luck would have it, we found ourselves living in the wilds of Portugal right next door to a budding website designer. And here we are, many months later, ready to roll. Our hopes and plans for the future are for Art for the Crafty to become a big web-family art club with artists of all abilities showing (and selling) their work, contributing information, designing their own projects, offering encouragement and meeting up for arty events or activities. Anyway, we really hope you like what we do, that you enjoy working on our projects and you think they are good value.