Weekly Art Challenge Week One

Welcome to highlights from our first week's Art Challenge. Entrants ranged from age 5 years old to 97! It includes work by amateurs & professionals.

This week we offered three themes and asked for submissions in any media inspired by one of the themes :-
- Choose your favourite collection or artist from Obsidian’s online gallery and create a piece inspired by this work.·
- The Chilterns
 - What I Can See From My Window

Sign up for our emails or follow us on Facebook or Instagram to receive details of our Weekly Art Challenges.

See more details about our Art Challenge HERE.

Below are a selection of our favourites from this week's entries :-

There is no Toilet Paper
by Magdalena Salomea

This piece by Magdalena Salomea took our theme of 'What I can see from my window' as inspiration.


No Self Distancing Here
by Jill Healing

By Jill Healing from Braunton in North Devon
A view of Jill's garden from her kitchen. Painted in acrylics.

The Chilterns
by Brenda Hurley

Acrylic painting by Brenda Hurley

What I Can See From My Window
by Jackie Bennett

This lovely needlefelt sculpture of a wren was made by  Jackie Bennett  from Croxley Green in Hertfordshire
Jackie says, "I've enjoyed having the time to watch and listen to the birds in my garden during the lockdown, and also make some art! This little wren appears every morning, hopping between the pots to find food." 

The Horse in Art
by John Upton

This entry by John Upton (aged 97) was inspired by
'The Horse in Art' Collection from Obsidian Art.
John's painting is his late wife, from a photo from when she was in the Land Army
bringing in one of the horses from ploughing. 

Red Kite
by Jane Wilson

Hand-painted on a reclaimed book.

Bluebells at Wendover Woods
by Christian Twelftree

Christian says of this painting. "Each year I try and get out to the glories of the bluebell woods
I took a series of photos on my exercise walk and worked from those.
These are in Wendover woods, near the new cafe.
It's taken me years to understand the colours of bluebells I think but I edge closer." 

Coombe Hill from Wendover
by Fiona Mitchell

Painted in gouache. Fiona says of the painting, "I began this painting sitting on the opposite hill in Wendover on Easter Sunday 2020 as a distraction from you know what!"

View from My Window
by Brenda Bailey

By Brenda Bailey from Tingewick near Buckingham
"This was painted during the wisteria flowering time from my window."  

The Hare
by Jean Briers

Jean Briers, from Middelewhich in Cheshire was inspired by Obsidian Art's Hare Collection.

Ivinghoe Beacon
by Heather D'Silva

A pastel painting showing a welcome view up the Ivinghoe beacon- The last destination after a 90 mile bike ride along the Ridgeway starting from Avebury.

A View in Ashridge
by Jill Try

A view in Ashridge. I painted this from a photo taken by Melanie Woods Photography. (With agreement) It’s a familiar location to me as I live nearby. The winter colour palette appealed to me.

Socially Distanced Dog Walking
by Susie Dove

Susie lives near Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk. Susie says, "At present, instead of a field with several dog walkers, children playing and men working, I see only one or two occasional dog walkers social distancing as shown"..

'Baaaaaanter'
by Lynne Reeves

Lynne says, "This is one of my assemblage artworks. The assemblage is made up of various re-cycled bits and bobs - old watch faces, broken jewellery, small bits of hardware, dried seed pods, shells, buttons, etc etc. Once assembled, it is painted in gesso, then top coated with a few layers of acrylic paint. The faces are hand drawn by myself, and added separately at the end".

Just Over the Next Hill....
by Helen Fairweather

This is a mixed media painting, created using mainly watercolour paints. I then added texture by hand sewing textiles to the painting to create trees and bushes in the hedgerows.
As an artist, I am always very inspired by my surroundings and love painting the countryside across Buckinghamshire. I really miss being able to visit places at the moment, but creating this piece has really made me smile.

From my Window
by Wendy Farrington

A hanging basket painted in watercolour by Wendy Farrington from Ivingoe,

Barton Hills
by Jennifer Steele

'Barton Hills' was inspired by a lovely walk through the Chilterns nature reserve. Painted by Jennifer Steele from Luton in Bedfordshire.

Bird in a Hammock
by Katy Blunt

Katy says, her piece, 'Bird in a hammock'  is, " the view I painted yesterday in the rain."

View from My Window
by Lauren Catton, Age 17

A lovely painting showing the sky as night falls viewed from Lauren's window.

Notley Abbey
by Stacey Young

Stacey chose our theme of The Chilterns. Her entry is a handcrafted papercut and is cut from a single sheet of paper with a scalpel.

Coombe Hill
by Gracie, Age 8

This charming mixed media piece was inspired by a view of Coombe Hill painted by Colin Tuffrey from Obsidian Art's Collection.

View from My Window
by Barney, Age 5

Full of energy, Barney drew things in the garden that he could see from the window (shed, football goal and some blossom trees!). 
.

Fairy Garden
by Pheobe, Age 9

A wonderful, imaginative piece inspired by the view from Phoebe's window at home.

Sun & Rainbow
by Lacey, Age 9

Lacey was inspired by a stained glass piece by Bryan Smith from Obsidian Art's Collection and created this colourful, happy piece.

View from My Kitchen Sink
by Barbara Shaw

The image is created from many scraps of carefully chosen fabric hands-stitched together in layers. It is part of a series of work by Barbara based on #stayhomestaysafe.

What I Can See From My Window
by Jennifer Helen Stokes

From a pane of her washing up window, Jennifer has painted a song thrush in mixed media using acrylic paints and coloured pencils.

The Last Post
by Tim Malone

A scene from The Chilterns, Painted in acrylic on canvas.

Positively Not Negative
by Julian Gardner

Multi exposure photograph of an old pepper plant, growing on the window sill. Created entirely in the camera, with post processing limited to the crop and monogram addition. I liked the pointy nosed character!

What I Can See From My Window
by Allison Graham

A bird spotted from her window by Allison Graham from Aylesbury.

Hedgehog Painted on Stone
by Melanie C

A hedgehog painted on stone by Melanie C. Melanie says, "I adore hedgehogs and leave food out in the garden for them. Based on what I can see from my window. When I’m lucky enough up see one of course, they are becoming so rare."

Cat People
by Kaylee, Age 11

Kaylee was inspired by Obsidian Art's Cats & Dogs collection but says she got the idea for Cat People from one of her friends who drew a picture of a cat in a humanlike pose because she found it hard to draw a realistic catlike pose. The large, Manga style eyes are characteristic of much of Kaylee's artwork. The rainbow in the top righthand corner is perhaps a symbol of hope, like the rainbows displayed in windows at the moment. I don't know why the Cat People have unicorn horns, but both Kaylee and I have a fondness for unicorns and cats.

Realm of the Snow Fairy
by Sonia Stock

Sonia says, "I was inspired to paint this piece by your Winter Fairy Tales collection, and in particular the works of Mark Duffin, some of which appear to be rendered entirely in tones of blue. I set myself a challenge to paint a picture using only blue and white paint.
The Snow Fairy was taken from an image I originally created for a t-shirt. She was (loosely) inspired by the Yuki-onna of Japanise folklore, hence why she wears a kimono. But the Yuki-onna of legend is often cruel because she imbodies the harshness of winter. My Snow Fairy is a gentle spirit. Here she is accompanied by a unicorn and a two-tailed fox. The fox (called Kitsune) also features heavily in Japanese folklore, where it is believed to possess magical powers and can have multiple tails. The more tails they have the more powerful they are." 

Snow Globe / Bug-Catcher 
by Daniel, Age 7

Daniel's mum says he may have been partly inspired by Obsidian's Winter Fairy Tales collection but his inspiration seemed to come as much as anything from a green plastic handle from a bug-catcher, which we found while looking for paints. Daniel has painted this handle but instead of the plastic cage of the bug-catcher at the bottom of it, there is a snow globe with a mountain scene inside.

Celebrating Grandpa's Birthday
by Nell, Age 5

Celebrating Grandpa's birthday with a virtual cake. By Nell from Wendover age 5

Bluebell Woods
by Patricia Harley

Woodlands near Stokenchurch during the bluebell season by Patricia Harley.

Instagram entry from #allotmentplot50