elizabeth milligan

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I’m elizabeth ~ aromatherapist & blogger. Welcome ♥
What I write about
  • Aromatherapy
  • Contemplation
  • France
  • Photography
  • Recipes
  • Slow living
  • Writing & Books
Day 18 & 19 in #21daysinmyartworld - Celebrate & From the archives:

This is a little bouquet to celebrate five years of happily making art :) This is from the archives of my first few paintings and I think it's the first painting I ever did in acrylics.  I like it because it's nice and loose and lively.  I wasn't overthinking things too much in those days :) 

#fromthearchives #celebrate #celebrateart #acrylicpainting #happyartistmovement
Day 17 of #21daysinmyartworld - Largest Painting

I think this is probably my largest painting so far.  It's about one metre square and is on a piece of board I found in the garage.  I think it also started as a way of using up paint in my palette and then it just got added to. 

I like the energy and movement of working on big pieces and I'd love an art wall to hang up some huge canvases and really let go with them :)

#largestpainting #acryliconwood #paintbig #happyartistmovement #inspiredbynature
Day 16 of #21daysinmyartworld - Smallest Painting

This is A5 size and is a little painting I did to use up the paint in my palette. I hate wasting any paint!  I like it because it is colourful and was quick and easy to do.  I think it's probably gouache but I'm not sure.  I'd like to do more of these little paintings.

#tinypainting #colourfulhouses #quickandeasy #zerowaste #fiveminuteartist
Day 15 of #21daysinmyartworld - How I name my paintings - Quite literally I think (this one for example is called Singing Moon) but I'd like to think of some more imaginative ways of naming them.  I know that @nicolanewman_  sometimes uses lines from her journal to name her paintings which is nice.  I'm going to have a look at today's feed for more ideas and also the blog post from @taraleaver

#howinamemypaintings #mixedmediaart #happyartistmovement #whatsinaname
Day 13 & 14 in #21daysinmyartworld - Process Insight & Sold

Process Insight - I don't have a process that I follow for each painting but I do create an environment for myself that helps me to relax into things:  it usually involves burning incense or essential oils, making a cup of tea, and putting on a podcast or maybe music. 

I often find I get into the flow better when listening to a podcast as my brain is focused on what I'm listening to as opposed to what my hands are doing.  It helps me to be more intuitive and not overthink the art.  My paintings are generally mixed media.  I often start with a collage base and sometimes (but not often) work with a sketchbook.  I generally don't have a preconceived idea of what it is I'm trying to create.  Maybe that in itself is the process of watching how things unfold and evolve.

Sold - Nothing yet.  I have never offered a painting for sale but if I feel brave I may come back with another post and a painting for sale :)

#processinsight #doitfortheprocess #artrituals #mixedmediamagic #incense #herbaltea #creativeambience #essentialoils #sketchbook
Day 12 in #21daysinmyartworld - Current Motifs - I'm not sure if this painting shows it too well but I often find myself drawing the same shape which is in some ways like a wave.  It starts by going up into a sharp mountainous point (blue in the picture) and then comes down into a kind of spiral (red in the picture) - I find this very same shape doodled in notebooks going back years and now am starting to see it coming out in my paintings.  I don't know where it comes from or why I draw it.  Some hidden meaning I haven't yet figured out :)

#drawingshapes #motifs #happyartistmovement #ilovepainting
Day 11 of #21daysinmyartworld - Turning Point - Probably the day I actually picked up this little travel pack of watercolours and started using it!

I don't know exactly how long I'd had it but I'm guessing years and years.  I think my mum bought it for me and although I really loved it and always seemed to have it lying about somewhere in my stuff, I had never actually used it!

But one day I opened it, along with my (also sadly unused) sketchbook, grabbed a jar of water and started painting - just tiny little paintings and if I'm not mistaken the inspiration came after watching a short video from @taraleaver (how to paint an imaginary landscape) and I suppose it's slowly grown from there :)

#turningpoint #watercolours #travelpaintbox #happyartist #whereitallbegan
Day 10 of #21daysinmyartworld - Artist Selfie - not keen on (or very good at) taking pictures of myself and I always forget to take my glasses off.  But here we are - Hello there!

#artistselfie #happyartistmovement
Day 9 of #21daysinmyartworld - Where the art happens - In one half of a spare room in the little cottage where we live.  The opposite corner has a desk which I tend to use for writing but sometimes also doubles up as an art table.  Feel very lucky to have a space where I can leave stuff out and it won't get disturbed...

#wherethearthappens #aroomofonesown #artspace #happyartist

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Contemplation

Losing focus, letting go and learning to live in the spaces in-between

It’s November and everyone, it seems, is getting busy.  Writing novels for NaNoWriMo.  Daily blogging with NaBloPoMo.  Growing moustaches for Movember.  As the calendar rolled around to the first of the month, I also felt the need to be doing Read more…

By Bee, 1 year8 months ago
Contemplation

Yikes! I haven’t blogged for ages

My poor blog has been sadly neglected over the last couple of years. I can’t quite believe it’s almost two years ago that we headed off for our Copenhagen adventure. A summer of discovery and sea swimming. Coffees and Danish Read more…

By Bee, 2 years11 months ago
France

Swimming to Sweden and other adventures

It’s September and the lifeguards have gone.  Taking with them the bright yellow buoys that I have been swimming out to all summer.  With no yellow buoys to stop me I could just keep going all the way to Sweden.  Read more…

By Bee, 3 years ago
Writing & Books

The hidden treasures of unknown books

One of the things I love most about housesitting is discovering the treasures hidden in other people’s bookshelves.  It’s probably slightly voyeuristic as I know you can learn a lot about someone from the books they read, but even so Read more…

By Bee, 3 years ago
Slow living

Slow Copenhagen – a different kind of tourism

When someone offers you a housesit in the centre of Copenhagen for the entire summer, it is very difficult to refuse.  Hence the reason I am writing this on a warm sunny afternoon in the Danish capital.  Housesitting is not Read more…

By Bee, 3 years3 years ago
Contemplation Slow living

On becoming a blank canvas and attracting the unexpected

Hello there.  It’s been a while.  I’ve been away doing other stuff but mostly I’ve been switching off and trying to let everything go.  I’ve been thinking a lot about the idea of emptying my mind of noise and distraction, Read more…

By Bee, 4 years3 years ago
France Recipes

Spring blossom and a recipe for chocolate cake

It is now officially spring here in the northern hemisphere and in my little corner of France the blossom is bountiful.  I feel like I have emerged from a long, deep hibernation, like some kind of large, lumbering animal.  All Read more…

By Bee, 4 years4 years ago
France Slow living

On returning and discovering comfort in the familiar

A cold, misty morning in December.  I’m sitting by the window with a steaming mug of tea watching the swirls of mist sparkle as shafts of sunlight cut through the trees.  The cat is asleep on the chair beside me Read more…

By Bee, 4 years3 years ago
Photography

Autumn in Abruzzo

The woodburner is glowing orange, the smell of woodsmoke permeating the air.  The cat is on the sofa and the kittens are curled around each other on the chair in front of me.  I can hear the gentle patter of Read more…

By Bee, 4 years4 years ago
Contemplation Photography

August was……

“August was….. the month I turned 46. It was hot, busy, hectic, full of distractions, but also magical and full of new adventure. I loved checking in each day with the group and seeing what my prompt was for that Read more…

By Bee, 4 years1 year ago
France

The Workshop

It’s midday and it’s hot. There isn’t a cloud in the sky and as I push open the door to the workshop, the dark, dusty coolness is a relief. There always seems to be work to do at the hottest Read more…

By Bee, 5 years4 years ago
France

Glorious garlic and the lure of the French market

What’s not to love about garlic?  It smells good, it tastes good, it’s good for your health and it keeps vampires from the door.  And so what if it lingers?  Make sure whoever you are smooching is a fan of Read more…

By Bee, 5 years4 years ago
France

Settling in to life by the river

Why does a new home never really feel like your own until you’ve cleaned the windows?  I finally got round to it a couple of days ago and it made me feel so much better, not least because I can Read more…

By Bee, 5 years3 years ago
France

Endings and new beginnings

Do you ever get that weird double feeling where you want to prolong something good to the point where it’s almost painful, but then you also want to move on to the next thing?  Nostalgia before it’s over.  Anticipation of Read more…

By Bee, 5 years4 years ago
France

Springing haphazardly forward

In three weeks time we will be packing up and leaving.  Moving on again.  Adding yet another address to the list of many that have been racked up over the years.  I’ll miss it here.  It’s been one of our Read more…

By Bee, 5 years4 years ago
France Slow living Writing & Books

So what’s new?

This week I’ve been out cycling on my new bike.  Well, new for me.  It’s actually a 1973 vintage Peugeot touring bike complete with racks and dynamo lights no less.  Not quite as old as me but almost.  It was Read more…

By Bee, 5 years3 years ago
France Slow living

February in France

Like most European countries, France has its fair share of dull days in February.  Add to that the fact that we are literally in the middle of nowhere and the work I do from home is patchy at best, and Read more…

By Bee, 5 years1 year ago
France Photography

Travels with my camera – film photography #1 – France

Despite having visited once before in my early twenties, my love affair with France really only started in the summer of 2004.  My friend’s car was filled to the brim with our camping gear and summer clothes and on a Read more…

By Bee, 5 years3 years ago
Photography

Shades of winter – a nature-inspired shade palette

What are your favourite shades of winter?  It’s been pretty grey around here recently but even so, it’s amazing how much colour you can find if you really look.  Even though we haven’t had a really cold spell or seen Read more…

By Bee, 5 years4 years ago
Writing & Books

Pyjama days and bedroom blogging

Hello!  Welcome to my first blog post of 2016 which I am writing in my pyjamas.  Yay – I’m having a pyjama day.  Blue striped PJs and a wool cashmere poncho.  I am joined by my sleepy feline friend Pookie Read more…

By Bee, 5 years1 year ago

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