‘Dakota the Dragon’ 20 progression photos

March 7, 2022March 7, 2022Leave a comment

Hi everyone! Good evening, hope you are all well 🙂 The latest blog post is 20 progression photos of an amateur acrylic painting. I’ve kept with the fantasy theme and painted a dragon/castle, hope you like 🙂

I used my art therapy books as inspiration. Dakota and the castle are quite similar colours, with fluffy white clouds in the blue background; I love their effect. I’m pretty pleased with how it’s turned out, as is only my amateur second acrylic attempt. Hopefully the more I practise, the more I’ll improve! Here is the finished piece:

Coming soon, maybe more fantasy/fairy inspired tale acrylic paintings (mermaids, witches, fairies etc) or a gigantic wolf crystal diamond art I bought from the Range, or excitingly, upcycled furniture as I am beginning volunteering as a furniture refurbisher for the Children’s Air Ambulance this week! 🙂 🙂

Thank you so much for reading /viewing!

Thoughts with the the people of Ukraine, and hope of a world free from war and atrocity.

Many thanks, Lauren xx

Art therapy (amateur) descriptions

January 19, 2022January 19, 2022Leave a comment

Hi everyone, happy new year!

You may not know but I have actually been in a mental health hospital for the last four and a half months. I’m doing much better thank goodness; I thought it would be nice to share though some of my promarker pen amateur art therapy drawings I’ve produced whilst being a patient, and to offer a brief description of what inspired each piece. I do hope you enjoy!

I took inspiration for this cat piece from some art therapy books I already owned. The symmetry with the mushrooms, trees and butterflies and the blue/pink colour scheme is supposed to visually depict equality and togetherness.

This abstract quirky piece depicts looking at the world with eyes of love and promoting peaceful protest.

My two giraffes are boosting upwards off the yellow brick road towards Emerald City (I can relate to all the characters in the Wizard of Oz and I am considering a full leg sleeve tattoo haha).

This is art from great imagination if I may say so, haha. It’s Christmas themed and was started for the ward unique Christmas card competition. There’s a time traveling santa ‘Ho Ho’ sack, a mushroom / tea pot house, pouring green tea where a few people are zorbing. There is also a purple mother mountain, with people and unicycle trees tobogganing down her hair. Tiny snowmen and cute gnomes and everyone flying in the air like Iron man superheroes!

This is my tree of life, with quirky people who are also little tree houses living on each branch. There are blue circles up towards heaven with writing above saying ‘heaven is a place on Earth’. I hopefully envision a future where our planet becomes a utopia; where we come together in solidarity to tackle climate change and establish a better appreciation of and connectivity with nature.

This piece is inspired by The Lion King, where Mufasa encourages Simba to remember ‘who he is’ – the rightful aire to the throne (pride rock). I strongly believe that our actions in our lifetime matter, and we therefore have a responsibility to be and strive always to be, our best selves.

Here is a dark skinned goddess with elephant arms meditating on a mandala. There is a temple (and wind turbine) doorway to the right and to the left a tipee with banner swaying, saying ‘Blessed be the peacemakers).

And last, but certainly not least, is my colourful tiger. There are ‘eye of the tiger’ lyrics. This drawing seeks to symbolise tenacity. Life isn’t about how many times you get knocked down, but how fiercely you stand up and put your gloves back on, like the god/goddess YOU are!

Thank you so much for viewing / reading 🙂

All the best, Lauren xx

Skegness 11th August 2021

December 3, 2021December 3, 2021Leave a comment

Earlier this year, me and my lovely grandma Ruth had a fantastic organised day trip to Skegness (skeggy). Here’s just a few photos and thoughts regarding our outing, hope you enjoy…

We were so fortunate that the weather was beautiful all afternoon, bright and warm and sunny; exactly what you wish for going to the seaside. Some others on the bus trip decided to visit Ingoldmells market first, we went straight to Skegness however.

I was very pleasantly surprised how gorgeous Skegness is. I’ve been to butlins often as a child, but couldn’t really remember how pretty the seaside itself is.

As soon as we got off the coach, we relaxed a while having a coffee / iced latte before strolling into the center. We window shopped a little, gran was adamant she was going to find a particular shop which just was not there, bless her. We had superb food in a popular fish and chips restaurant (no fish for me, urgh lol) before leisurely wandering around the fun fair, grabbing a slushy to cool down. Then we contently and casually walked along the promenade; it was amazing and heartwarming seeing families so happy on the beach. Me and gran sat down on the pier some time to unwind before heading to the pub, haha. I had a few ciders so I was rather tipsy on the way home and I don’t think the driver appreciated having an unscheduled toilet break, oh dear lol.

Skegness was not what I thought it would be at all, it completely surpassed my expectations. I can’t wait to go again and take my Dad along he would love it!

Thank you so much for taking the time to read / view, it is appreciated. Please keep a look out for my next blog post, a portrait of Muhammad Ali.

Much love, take care, Lauren xx

Uncle Jim’s birthday weekend: Retford, Nottingham, Doncaster

July 12, 2021July 12, 2021Leave a comment

Not this weekend but the weekend before, we had a wonderful time celebrating my Uncle Jim’s birthday. Please continue reading for a description of mine, my Auntie Gina, her son Rich and Uncle Jim’s travels to; Ye Olde Bell Hotel & Spa in Retford, a day out in Nottingham and another trip to Yorkshire Wildlife Park in Doncaster. Hope you enjoy!

We went for a posh meal on the Friday evening at Ye Olde Bell Hotel & Spa, Retford. As you can see, we dressed up nice for the occasion! The food was delicious, I opted for the lamb which was very succulent. Our original choice for dining out was Spencer’s On The Square, Retford, the venue for Uncle Jim and Auntie Gina’s wedding a few years ago – however due to covid confusions, we changed to the place they have celebrated their subsequent anniversaries. Ye Olde Bell certainly didn’t disappoint on a taste point of view, even if we did have to wait a little longer than expected for our meal to arrive – annoying!

Of all the UK cities I’ve visited over the years, I have never been to Nottingham, so I was super excited to go on the Saturday! We started off at the Victoria Shopping centre. I was quite smitten with a quirky fancy / alternative dress emporium lol. We moseyed leisurely around the shops, enjoying a latte and cake break half way. Unfortunately Auntie Gina couldn’t find a particular hair accessory salon, to her dismay and Uncle Jim’s best efforts! The weather was slightly changeable in Nottingham city centre; one moment overcast with clouds and the next we knew, rays and beams of sunshine! Nottingham City Hall in Old Market Square proudly displayed a Union Jack flag, which would then be in excited anticipation of the England football teams’ upcoming Euro 2020 games. We decided it would be fun to take some typical tourist photos with street performers and in Seaside themed comical booths, hehe. Furthermore, Uncle Jim was delighted to get a photograph with his lovely wife in front of the Brian Clough OBE statue! We finished off our great day with some more retail therapy, something Auntie Gina relished 🙂

Sunday – yes, another venture to Yorkshire Wildlife Park, haha! We were so disappointed when we arrived because the new Point Lobos enclosure for Californian Sea Lions was closed due to essential maintenance. We were however able to see the new mother polar bear Flocke and her three triplets at Project Polar 2, which was fantastic! I managed to get some pretty decent photographs of the tigers and meerkats which I was chuffed about, although it was a shame Uncle Jim was unable to catch a glimpse of his beloved, timid red pandas lol – likewise the giraffes unfortunately were not visible in their indoor huts. So though it was a sad we were unable to see some of the wildlife, it was still a brilliant day seeing all the other amazing animals. I think we walked for about four and a half hours in total around the park, I was knackered afterwards, haha – it definitely didn’t help I was suffering from a urinary tract infection and on antibiotics at the time. I was slightly relieved when we entered the gift shop at the new Yorkshire Hive at the end of the day. I bought my beautiful mum a red panda and a zebra teddy 🙂

Thank you so much for taking the time to read / view my latest travel blog post!

I just wanted to mention, it is a misfortune that we didn’t win the Euros last night, especially so cruelly on penalties – but I think the England lads did terrific in the tournament, and brought joy to so many people this Summer, in such awful, dark and unprecedented times. Well done, thank you, and bring on the World Cup!

‘Gladiator’ drawing – 27 progression photos

January 6, 2021January 6, 2021Leave a comment

Happy new year all UnicornPostbox blog followers! My latest blog post is 27 progression photos of an A2 size amateur art drawing of Joaquin Phoenix and Russell Crowe from ‘Gladiator’, the iconic 2000 Ridley Scott film. Hope you enjoy! 🙂 🙂

And below is the finished drawing 🙂 🙂

[SPOILER ALERT] Ridley Scott’s 2000 ‘Gladiator’ is one of my all time favourite films. It tells the story of Maximus, a brave and moral man, a respected General who is enslaved as a result of the deceitful Commodus’ chicanery. Reluctantly at first, Maximus fights as a gladiator to the Roman crowds and at the Colosseum; to win his freedom, and ultimately seek vengeance on him who has wronged him;

‘The general who became a slave. The slave who became a gladiator. The gladiator who defied an empire’ (Commodus quote – IMBD)

I shall not spoil more of the plot for you in case you have not seen it but ‘Gladiator’ a brilliant and superb film in my opinion, and I would highly recommend viewing!

I have drawn using Derwent sketching and Boldmere colouring pencils. I positioned both subjects Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix) and Maximus (Russell Crowe) facing one another with a famous quote from the film arching overhead;

‘What we do in life echoes in eternity’ (Maximus quote – IMDB)

This is to emphasise my interpretation of the meaning behind the quote; that the choices we make and actions we take in our life not only define us as people but have a lasting impact on the world even when we die – our choices and actions do matter. Obviously in the film, Commodus and Maximus are arch-enemies, who completely contrast one another in personalities and integrity – I wanted this to be visually symbolised in my amateur art drawing.

For future drawings, I think I would like to keep to the film theme at the moment and draw other characters from my other favourite films – possibly Jack and Rose from ‘Titanic’ and Baby and Johnny from ‘Dirty Dancing’ 🙂 🙂

Thank you very much for taking the time to read/view my latest UnicornPostbox blog post. Please do keep a look out for future drawings 🙂 🙂

…I would also however like to take the opportunity to wish all my followers well. I understand how difficult life is at the moment with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. I myself am caring for my mum who is in the later stages of Alzheimer’s so I know how hard the current restrictions imposed on us all are. Please do stay safe and take care…

Much love, Lauren xx

More information:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0172495/ [Accessed 06th January 2021]

(Please visit my Facebook and Instagram page ‘UnicornPostbox’ to ‘like’ and ‘follow’)

Yorkshire Wildlife Park October 2020

October 19, 2020Leave a comment

Hi blog followers! This Friday just gone, myself, mum, my Uncle Jim, Auntie Gina and her son Rich had a lovely day out at Yorkshire Wildlife Park. I just thought I’d share with you a few photos and a description of our visit. Hope you enjoy!

Me mum and my sister Beth visited Yorkshire Wildlife Park only a month or so ago, however, my Uncle Jim, Auntie Gina and Rich had never been before, so we thought it would be a nice day out 🙂

When we arrived we had lunch at the ‘Tsavo Bakehouse’. To be honest, I would not recommend it as the service was poor and there was hardly any food choices available. After an unfortunate start, we had a leisurely stroll around the park. It was quite a chilly day, so sadly some of the animals retreated to their little huts in their enclosures to escape the cold weather, ha 😛 Nevertheless, we still had a very enjoyable day 🙂

We made our way from left to right, seeing the baboons and spotted dogs first, then we had a walk through the ‘Lemur Woods’, on to ‘Project Polar’, ‘Land of the Tigers’, ‘Leopard Heights’, ‘Into Africa’ and ‘Lion Country’ etc. Somewhere I have never visited previously was ‘Himalayan Pass’, so it was a fantastic experience to see the hyenas being fed raw meat and we also tried to spot the new red pandas, however they were being shy hiding in the trees! We had a rest and a hot drink at the ‘Masai Coffee House’ near the giraffes shortly before leaving.

It was great for us all to spend quality time again with mum. As explained before, she is sadly in the later stages of early onset Alzheimer’s disease dementia, so all time with her is very special and to be cherished. On the way out, I bought her two new teddies; ‘Leo the Lion’ and ‘Georgina the Giraffe’ – we have quite a collection of teddy bears now which I put into bed with mum after I’ve read her a nighttime story, very cute, hehe 🙂

Thank you very much for taking the time to read / view this latest UnicornPostbox blog post. Up next, I think I may do some more amateur art – perhaps a portrait drawing of Russell Crowe in ‘Gladiator’ as this is one of my favourite films 🙂

Take care, stay safe, much love, Lauren xx

(Please visit my Facebook and Instagram page ‘UnicornPostbox’ to ‘like’ and ‘follow’)

Further Information:

http://www.yorkshirewildlifepark.com [Accessed 19th October 2020]

Skipsea Sands October 2020

October 18, 2020Leave a comment

At the beginning of the week, myself, my sister Beth, her new boyfriend Lewis and mum went to Skipsea Sands on holiday for a couple of days with mum’s friend Cheryl who has a static caravan there. I just thought I’d share a few photos of our break, along with a description of our time away. Hope you enjoy! 🙂

On arrival, we took mum in her wheelchair to the restaurant as part of the entertainment complex on Skipsea Sands’ site. We had a lovely meal which was all table service in accordance with the coronavirus rules. That night we played cards, blackjack, and had a few cheeky drinks once we had settled mum for bed 🙂

The next day we visited Hornsea garden centre with Sue – mum and Cheryl’s friend who came to pick Cheryl up to take her home. It was brilliant seeing all the Christmas decorations which were on display in the centre, there were even singing reindeer, it was fab! I bought mum a teddy reindeer as a gift 🙂 Afterwards, me mum Beth and Lewis went for a pub meal at a nice little pub on the way back to Skipsea Sands.

We relaxed in the caravan the remainder of the holiday us four and chilled watching a film and listening to music 🙂

Although it was only a short trip, we were very grateful to Cheryl for suggesting us getting away for a couple of days break. It was really nice for mum to have a change of scenery, she had a great time. Of course, also it was fantastic to spend quality time with mum as unfortunately she is now in the later stages of early onset Alzheimer’s disease dementia, so time is very precious.

Thank you very much for taking the time to read / view this latest UnicornPostbox. Coming next is a blog of another trip to Yorkshire Wildlife Park, so do keep a look out!

Peace and love, Lauren xx

(Please visit my Facebook and Instagram page ‘UnicornPostbox’ to ‘like’ and ‘follow’)

‘James & Gina – Forever in Love’ – 30 progression photos

October 17, 2020Leave a comment

Hi blog followers, my latest UnicornPostbox blog post is 30 progression photos of an amateur art portrait drawing of my auntie Gina and uncle Jim. Hope you enjoy!

I used my A3 light pad to outline my auntie and uncle, and shaded using Derwent sketching pencils. For the border, I printed off paw print templates (they affectionately call each other ‘cub’, so I thought the paw prints would be a nice touch, hehe) and again I used my light pad to outline these. I also used a template for the love hearts so they were all identical. I coloured with Boldmere colouring pencils; I believe the contrast of baby blue and pale pink works pretty well. I used a black ballpoint pen to make the images really ‘pop’.

Overall, I am really happy with the end result 🙂

I am only an amateur artist drawing for fun as a hobby, however I feel as though this is one of my better ones – not the most realistic drawing ever obviously (I bodged up a bit on the jacket for instance!) but not bad for an amateur 😛

I chose a diamante sparkly frame to display the drawing, which is very much to my auntie Gina’s taste, hehe 🙂

And here is the end result!

Thank you very much for taking the time to read / view my latest art blog post! I really appreciate your support!

My next UnicornPostbox blog posts will be photos and a description of a caravan holiday to Skipsea Sands as well as another trip to Yorkshire Wildlife Park 🙂 🙂

So please do keep a look out 😛

Stay well, stay safe, much love, Lauren xx

(Please visit my Facebook and Instagram page ‘UnicornPostbox’ to ‘like’ and ‘follow’)

Yorkshire Wildlife Park September 2020

September 25, 2020October 17, 2020Leave a comment

Earlier this September, myself, my beautiful mum Debbie and my lovely sister Beth had a great day out at Yorkshire Wildlife Park, situated in Branton, South Yorkshire. Here’s just a few photos of our outing. Hope you enjoy 🙂 🙂

Over the last few months, as the initial lockdown eased, we have been venturing outside with mum to parks, eating at restaurants etc, but trying to be sensible, safe and very careful. (Me and mum shielded for 3 whole months during lockdown, we didn’t leave the bungalow once, it was horrendous). We decided a couple of weeks ago it would be nice to visit Yorkshire Wildlife Park, very close to where we live in South Yorkshire 🙂

We pre-booked an afternoon slot via the YWP website; we actually got a discount with mum being disabled and me her official carer, so that was really great. The park wasn’t heaving but I would say it was fairly busy, everybody however adhered to social distancing rules implemented for everyone’s safety.

Mum absolutely loved seeing all the animals, it was fantastic to see her face light up as we wheeled her gently around the park. Mum unfortunately is in the later stages of early-onset Alzheimer’s disease dementia, and struggles now with her mobility, hence the wheelchair 😦 😦

The food facilities were not like normal, as to be expected with current guidelines; we were unable to eat inside however we stopped half way around to have a hot drink and cookie break, whilst resting on a bench.

It was fortunate that all the animals were still visible to visitors in their enclosures, so it was definitely worth the journey! Brill to see the polar bears, lions, giraffes, tigers, rhinos etc, as well as all the other smaller mammals.

As we were leaving, we entered the gift shop and I bought mum two teddy bears, ‘Tilly the Tiger’ and ‘Pablo the Polar Bear’… She absolutely adores them, and looks so cute when I tuck her into bed at night, her cuddling them both 😀 😀

I just thought it would be a refreshing change to post something other than my art drawings which have dominated my blog posts as of late. Now that we are able to venture more than before (saying that, there are all the new Government restrictions I am aware of) I wanted to share with you some photos of our outings. As mum is an extremely poorly lady now, it is so important for us as a family to make fab memories together; this quality time with her is so so special and precious.

The next blog post will be progression photos of an amateur art drawing of my auntie and uncle, so do please keep a look out for that, it is already under way and I hope to finish it within the next couple of weeks.

Thank you as always for taking the time to read / view my latest blog post, it means a lot. Stay well, stay safe, and have a fantastic weekend!

Much love, Lauren xx

Further information:

https://yorkshirewildlifepark.com [Accessed 25th September 2020]

(Please visit my Facebook page ‘UnicornPostbox’ to ‘like’ and ‘follow’)

‘Twit Twoo’ owl drawing – 30 progression photos

September 2, 2020Leave a comment

Hi, welcome to my personal amateur art and travel / theatre blog, UnicornPostbox. My latest blog post is 30 progression photographs of an amateur art owl drawing. Hope you enjoy!

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I took inspiration for my owl drawing from my art therapy and adult colouring books. The title obviously was chosen because of the distinctive hoot noise owls make i.e. twit twoo, so is onomatopoeia. Two of my owls were drawn freehand, original drawings taking inspiration from the books, however I traced the outline of my middle right-hand side owl using my A3 light pad. I tried to incorporate intricacies to the design of my owls, making them as detailed as possible. I printed off star templates and again used my A3 light pad to create a starry night background. I coloured using Boldmere colouring pencils and outlined with a black ballpoint pen. Overall, I am quite pleased with the way this one has turned out. I do not think it is my best, but neither the worst in my opinion (like I keep reiterating, I am only an amateur artist, drawing for fun, as a hobby). The array of bright bold colours make it a pretty art piece methinks, hope you agree 🙂 🙂 … and here is the finished result:

And there we go! Hope you like my latest post! 🙂 🙂

So sorry it’s been so long since my last blog post, I’m going to definitely try now to keep being creative and draw regularly! I very much doubt I’ll be posting any travel and / or theatre blog posts anytime soon with the current situation regarding the coronavirus pandemic 😦 😦 Hasn’t it been such an awful year! I sincerely hope all my followers are as well as can possibly be, and adjusting to the new normal. Stay safe guys! And yes, please do keep a look out for new amateur art posts coming soon. I intend to draw a portrait of my auntie and uncle next, and then I have a few ideas in the pipeline, so watch this space! 😛 😛

Thank you as always for taking the time to read / view my latest blog post! I appreciate your ongoing support, means a lot.

Take care, all the best, Lauren xx

(Please visit my Facebook page ‘UnicornPostbox’ to ‘like’ and ‘follow’)

unicornpostbox

art / craft, travel / theatre

Category: Photography

‘Dakota the Dragon’ 20 progression photos

Art therapy (amateur) descriptions

Skegness 11th August 2021

Uncle Jim’s birthday weekend: Retford, Nottingham, Doncaster

‘Gladiator’ drawing – 27 progression photos

Yorkshire Wildlife Park October 2020

Skipsea Sands October 2020

‘James & Gina – Forever in Love’ – 30 progression photos

Yorkshire Wildlife Park September 2020

‘Twit Twoo’ owl drawing – 30 progression photos