Hello dear friend!
Today, I am sharing news about a new daily project I am embarking on!
This podcast is Episode #13 on the listening list.
If you are listening to this on Substack, you can simply scroll down to see the images and videos included in this post. If you are listening elsewhere, please pop on over to louisegale.substack.com to see the full post there.
Welcome to A Creative Connection with Nature and this little corner of mine in the online world with me, Louise Gale.
I am a Mixed Media Artist and most of my time here will be spent sharing the little creative ways I weave nature into my art practice. I will also be exploring and sharing little snippets of inspiration for you to explore your own.
Read the full blog post at louisegale.substack.com
Download your FREE July Coloring page here
So here we are in July! It is super hot here in Spain as I record this and I am tidying up, packing things away as I get ready to head back to the UK in a few days. Last month I had my art show at the gallery in Estepona, Spain and happy to report I sold one of my paintings with interest in many others! I just took the paintings down and the gallery will continue to represent me along with my books, prints and cards.
At the moment, this is the only place to purchase cards and prints, but of course, all of my books can be purchased via my website at louisegale.com/books Thank you to everyone who has purchased my books, I have seen a flurry in sales and so grateful. Remember if you buy my Botanical Mandalas book and the Botanical Blooms Drawing book, you get videos for free as part of the book club. The Drawing Botanical Blooms book comes with a more extended membership with many art lessons inside and downloadable pdfs, so its like a whole masterclass when you purchase the book!
Image: Photo of me holding a Botanical Mandala infront of my artshow wall. Photo by Tomoyuki Hotta
It was so lovely to see my work exhibited on the walls of this beautiful gallery and I am also in conversation with another gallery to exhibit more of my work later on in the year. I will keep you updated on that one!
What was so good about putting together this show, was that it got me back into my creative flow again. It was also fun to explore new varnishes and framing some of my art which I had not done before.
Below is the painting I sold with its new frame!
Once my show was up in June, I embarked on clearing some of my studio cupboards which were full of boxes with my art inside and lots of art materials! I discovered some of my little botanical painting cards and motifs from my 100 days project and once I got them all out, it was amazing to see them all. 100s of them! Below is a little video I posted on my Youtube channel!
I then found some gold leaf and decided to play with a couple of the botanical mini cards and gold leaf…. below is the video I posted so you can see.
I loved playing with the gold leaf, although it is a little messy! I love using gold in my paintings, so I thought this could be a lovely way to add something shimmery to some smaller works. I then went onto try the gold with some lettering.. and that was when I had a spark of inspiration to revisit something I have been thinking of doing for a while, but never actually started it properly! Onto my daily project news……
A New Daily Art Project: Botanical Lettering Play!
So, let’s get into my brand new project I will be embarking on over the rest of the summer. If you have been following me on socials, you may have seen me play with some gold leaf (the fake kind) watercolor and lettering this past week or so! I have longed to create a Botanical Alphabet, primarily in black and white pen to create a coloring book, but I am actually going to dive into creating with mixed media to see where it takes me. Maybe I will create a coloring book too, but this is what is calling me and being a mixed media artist, it is definitely what brings me joy!
I am heading back to my UK Garden Art Studio this month, so my plan is to settle in there, get all my supplies out and simply spend the rest of my summer playing with letters, mixed media backgrounds, watercolor botanicals and gold leaf with a view of actually using real gold leaf at some point.
I saw an online class all about creating illuminated letters from medieval times and it gave me a little idea to put my own spin on gold lettering with botanicals.
I have used gold paint and gold leaf in my paintings for many years, in a more abstract way, but now I am feeling a call to create small artworks to showcase each letter of the alphabet including botanicals and maybe other natural elements too, I will see how it all unfolds!
Here are a couple of videos I have posted on Youtube so you can see! They are very rough as I am just getting the hang of some basic glue and faux gold! So I have ordered some better supplies in England to play with also.
I am definitely going to begin with a Botanical Alphabet, so I will start with the letter A of course and then move through each letter. Referencing some of the Botanical paintings and motifs I already have (many I recently found in my cupboard!) and then expanding on those to see what inspiration finds me.
The idea also popped into my mind when I was thinking about a gift idea for a friend and I wanted to paint something more personal. I love monogram gifts and have been giving them for a few years and then thought ¨Why don’t I create my own!¨
So that is what I will be working on over the coming months. First a little play with mixed media as I work through the alphabet with view of creating little artworks that can be gifted and recreating prints to sell. I have long been thinking about re-opening my online shop, so this may just be the motivation to do so.
If you would like to follow along, I will be posted daily or every other day over on my socials which are Instagram, Facebook, Youtube and Tiktok, so depending on where you like to hang out, you can see my progress as I work along. I will also update you here on my Substack and Podcast next month!
I am excited to get started and share with you as I embark on this new creative journey!
The FREE Creative Weekend Starts Soon!
As I dive into my Botanical Lettering project, I will also be taking part in the wonderful FREE weekend of creative classes.
I am excited to be 1 of the 26 artists offering a free class for the Tasters Lessons to be broadcast on the weekend of 12 & 13th of July. I will be sharing my beautiful practice of gathering, observing and capturing nature's beauty through line drawing, capturing colors and pulling everything together into a journal page.
This is a FREE showcase of all the fabulous artists that are part of Make Create Express 2025/2026!
What is Make Create Express?
Make Create Express is a year long offering - 26 artists from around the world (you can see their lovely faces below), 78 lessons, community, inspiration and more.
The FREE Taster Retreat Weekend runs July 12 & 13.
The FULL One Year Make Create Express begins July 14. (Early bird price is only $120 here!)
It all starts with the FREE Creative Retreat Weekend Tempter Sessions (a lesson from each artist available in a jam packed weekend of Inspiration) and then another 2 lessons from each artist over the year when you sign up to the full Make Create Express 2025.
Even if you just want to join for the FREE weekend, it will be FABULOUS!
I may even use the idea of the little cards I created for this program to inspire my mixed media backgrounds for my Botanical Lettering project!
If you’ve read this far, I want to let you know how grateful I am that you make space inside your inbox and day for my newsletters.
Thank you again for being a subscriber. Wishing you so much love and feel free to ask me any creative questions at all!
Thank you for supporting the work I do by subscribing. I hope I can continue to inspire.
Share this post