Mixed Media Archives - Felicia Thomas

In Felicia the Artist

House 2019

(That’s me up a ladder, planning the layout)

Last weekend was the House 2019 Event in the RDS, Dublin.

I had signed up to exhibit there last December, but since I work well on a deadline is was the last two weeks that everything was finished. I had a good idea what I wanted to bring, the prints were framed, the cushions ordered but the original “Red Kettle Street” paintings and the Polly Dolly quilts were down to the wire.

Finally the car was packed and we left home at 6 am on Thursday. I was so organised. Everything was crossed off the list but what did I forget? to put diesel in the car!! Fortunately I realised before disaster struck.

There is always a lovely buzz for show set ups, you unload the car, get it all to your stand (upstairs for this show) and then stare at the blank walls wondering where to start!

A ladder and a tape measure was the first thing. Then gradually it started to take shape.

Tim came with me, he is very good at maths, I am not. So, his help with putting up the framed prints was much appreciated. I was sharing the stand with my friend Midi who does amazing work – it’s very different from mine so there is an obvious divide on the wall.

(Midi with her acrylic panels, they are so gorgeous)

With the set up done, we checked into our Air B&B then headed into town on the bus to see Rocket Man (which was brilliant).

Opening Day:

Friday arrived, we didn’t open until 12,which gave loads of time to look at all the exhibits. I got this dress in Kenmare and actually wasn’t sure about it (’tis fierce bright) but I got loads of compliments and will wear it more often now.

This was Saturday’s dress…. If you know me you’d shocked I owned a dress let alone wear one two days running!

(I realise this isn’t a fashion blog, but these things need documenting.) (Actually, it’s a ‘What ever I want to write about’ kind of blog).

This was my biggest painting, “The Star House” (it’s about 3 ft x 2 ft) it was much admired all weekend but didn’t find a new home. I’m secretly delighted because I love it. So, now we are home, unpacked, rested and ready for the next time.

I met so many lovely people from customers to other artists to the car park staff. It was amazing to see the work from the other artists, we had fantastic neighbours for our stand (Eibhilin Crossan and Miriam Dowling).

I am starting to make plans for Art Source which is back in the RDS in November. If you want to follwo the preparations for that, you can follow me on Instagram at feliciathomas.art

Felicia xx

29/05/2019 By felicia

In Felicia the Artist

Polly & the Fox.

For the first time in ages there is a new Polly Dolly.

This is Polly & the Fox.

She is a quiet & curious little thing. Her best friend in the whole world is her fox, they go everywhere together.

Their favourite thing to do is play hide & seek in the woods (hence the dried leaves in her hair), or to sit under a tree, eating cake while she reads a story to him.

This piece will be available in the ‘Shop’ link soon. It comes as a mounted or framed print.

The original will be coming with me to the House exhibition in Dublin’s R.D.S in May – but more about that another day.

I hope you have a lovely weekend,

F xx

30/03/2019 By felicia

In Painting

First Birthday Present.

When I dear friend asked me to make her Granddaughters first birthday present, I was quite chuffed!

Purple hair, don’t care!

She chose the Polly Mermaid print, of all of the Polly Dollies I think this is her favourite.

Originally she wanted a purple frame. But having looked at lots of different shades, she chose a pale green. So, tomorrow I will go the Killarney Framer to pick out the frame. John who owns the business is really helpful. I’m hoping he can make the frame but let me put the image in myself – that way I can paint the frame just the right shade.

A painting for a first birthday is a lovely idea. She will always have it, she won’t outgrow it, it will always remind her of her Grandma. That’s kind of sweet don’t you think?

Felicia xx

p.s. How is this year going for you so far?

Mine of is full of learning new things and taking cider vinegar everyday….. i’ll let you know how it goes!

15/01/2017 By felicia

In Craft

The Most Amazing Class Ever!

The Most Amazing Class Ever!

Last Saturday the alarm went off at 4am.

There was a very good reason for this, I had to be on the first flight to Birmingham to take part in a class given by Mr. Tim Holtz. Who? well this post won’t be nearly as exciting as I had hoped if you just asked that question. If you are a paper crafter or mixed media artist I am pretty sure that amongst your stash there is something that he has designed (if it says ‘Distress’ on the label that’s a big clue).

So, I arrived nice and early, met up with Kate and Julie and waited for the class to begin. Kate and Julie had both met Tim and Mario several times, (I had met Tim once many years ago and as it was the last day of a trade show he was tired and understandably so over smiling at the crazy woman who stood grinning like a Cheshire cat in front of him) so I was ridiculously excited when he came out and said hello to us!

The were several new products that we were working with, Collage medium, Opaque texture paste, brushes, the wooden frame and most exciting, the new Distress Crayons.

Mario made sure that we had everything we needed, he is just so lovely! Tim gave us direction and information about the products and then just let us have fun – the three hour class seemed to pass in about thirty minutes!

(Excuse the fuzzy photo, I took it with my phone – this man is ridiculously patient when it comes to having his photo taken!)

Background layers

Embellishments ready – its so hard to think of a word, thank you Kate for giving me an extra ‘D’!

The finished project.

The Gang…

This is Julie and I pretending to be good!

with Tim and Mario

This is a terrible photo but its the only one that Kate got into!

Sadly, it was all over so quickly, we were back on the plane at 2.30pm. I had to catch a train from Dublin but missed it by about 5 minutes…… so I went to a nearby hotel, ordered a bowl of pasta and a glass of wine and thought about what a great day it had been.

p.s. The Distress Crayons are fab…. I don’t say that about a lot if products, but I will definitely be getting more of these. Think Gelatos crossed with lipstick, love them!!

I hope you enjoyed your weekend too,

F xx

25/02/2016 By felicia

In Felicia the Artist

Home made part 2…

Home made part 2…

Home is the nicest word there is….

The finished house.

I hope you had a lovely weekend,
Felicia xxx

24/01/2016 By felicia

In Felicia the Artist

Bicycles in May.

I was recently asked by a friend to paint a picture of a red bike – her mother who has moved into a nursing home was reminiscing about a bike she had as a child, so this painting was to go in her new room.

Now, as it happens I did an online course with Jenni Horne (whose work I love) and she paints a lot of bikes, so this is what I came up with.

This is very much Jenni’s style. I paint dollies, much more mixed media, so I am working on combining a bit of this and a bit of that to come up with something that is more”me”, my recent dollies have more black outlines which is making an interesting difference. I suppose that is the point of online courses – you take them to learn new techniques and then you combine them with what you already know and that is how we grow our art.
I love painting in this style – the Paintsomething e-course was brilliant, I’m sure she will run it again if you are interested. In the beginning I practiced and practiced and then life got busy and I stopped for a while, when I was asked to do this I was delighted to get back to it and then Jenni announced Paintsomething #2…… the timing could not have been better!

So, I am looking forward to learning more and maybe one day I will learn to take straight photos!!

07/05/2015 By felicia

In Felicia the Artist

Happy Halloween!!!

Way back in August I was resisting the temptation to show you my Halloween house for this year….. then something happened to September ( it just disappeared into thin air!) and now all of sudden its October.

So, since we are officially into the spooky month I can show you!

The lovely ladies in Athlone did the class last weekend and the lovely Killarney Ladies did it last night, and I didn’t take one photo! They were all so different when they were finished. The structure is already made so its just a case of decorating it – which we all know is the fun bit!

The kit for this house will be available on my Etsy shop in the next day or two – (send me a message if you’re interested)

I hope everyone is well and getting back into their crafting after the summer. xxx

01/10/2014 By felicia

In Felicia the Artist

Craftschool was Fab!!!!

So, I dragged my behind out of bed at 5.30 on Saturday morning, packed the car (with just about everything from my craftroom) and had the luxury of Himself driving me to Co. Waterford. He decided to do a bit of exploring around Youghal and Dungarvan so it worked out very well.

There was such a nice bunch of people there, Create with Kate had an enormous shop, Karen Matthews and Betty Cominsky were there ready to alter the cutest little birdhouses, there was knitting, quilting, basket weaving,cake decorating (which was so amazing it was hard to believe it was icing!) Carol Grogan from Crafty Cutting was there, we had very cool Dylusion demos……. (I think my resolve is slipping and it could be a new addiction!! ) and there were lovely ladies who had made hundreds of cakes and kept the refreshments coming all day!!

I had two classes, the first was a mixed media painting. We painted onto wood rather than canvas because its what I prefer – it so much tougher and takes more abuse!! Here is Michelle Bermingham doing her thing, she ended up with a beautiful painting of a birdhouse. It was such a very relaxed class with no rush and we got loads done.

We had a great big classroom and we spread out all over the place! this venue was so perfect,thank you Ballinameela National School for letting us loose in there!!

Later in the day while I was doing the mini album class two more people turned up but they wanted to paint. Since the day was so relaxed and we had so much room it really wasn’t a problem, Donal used the same techniques as the others but chose darker colours. That turned into an outer space type scene with die cut metal planets…..

(for some reason I cant rotate this photo, so turn your head to the left) He decided it wasn’t complete without the Tardis – how cool is that?!

Mary used purples, greens and pinks for her background which was finished off with enameled butterflies. I always forget to take proper photos… I really wish I had taken more because they all did such lovely work!

By the end of the classes Himself was back from his travels, we got some great books at the book sale, were sent home with loads of cakes (Midi’s chocolate biscuit cake won’t last long!!) and the new Tim Holtz alarm clock to play with. I was quite sorry that I wouldn’t be there for the next day.

This event was organised by Midi Walsh, she is a great woman to get things done! It wasn’t as well attended as it could have been, probably because it was a bank holiday with fine weather – but next year will be bigger, these things start small and I really hope this becomes an annual event. I am definately going to be there next March…… Midi is already planning it!!!!

05/05/2013 By felicia

In Felicia the Artist

Altered Art Fix!

Last weekend was the Great Big Craft Extravaganza in Athlone, which means classes, meeting people, and SHOPPING!!

Kate from Create with Kate had more than the usual amount of goodies, I boughtTim Holtz Pulley Wheels, a couple of sheets of Graphic 45 Curiosity Shop papers and THIS.

(excuse the crumpled-ness, I threw it away before I checked the brand!)

It is a wooden frame with chipboard boxes and measures 6x 5 3/4″