On This Day 50 Years Ago

Fifty years ago today my Mum, Dad and I disembarked in Melbourne from the ship Castel Felice. One of many migrants leaving Europe for a better life in Australia. Imagine packing your entire life into a suitcase. Migrating from your home into the unknown. Leaving behind your heritage, family, your whole support network and even a piece of your own identity. Imagine the conflicting emotions of excitement for the adventure you are about to embark on, and feelings of apprehension and fear. With that comes the painful last embrace, final farewell and possibly the last visible glimpses of your loved ones. A journey such as this had a profound effect on my life and influence the themes in my work. These themes explore the emotional and psychological issues connected to such a journey. The conflicts between my culture of origin and the culture of my new home. Possibly the strongest theme and one which re-occurs constantly in my work is house and home and how the home is symbolic of self. It seems to me I have placed added importance to "home" and what "home" means to me. Possibly a direct consequence of migrating from my cultural birthright.

Mum and I had a lovely celebratory lunch, reminisced about the old days and toasted with a few wines to the next fifty years. In fifty years time Mum will be 125 years old and I would be 104 hehehe.

Today is a day to take care of the business side of things. Going off the Gallery M to pay our deposit and to give them photos of our current work, artist statements and some ideas for our invitations. Its about 25 weeks till our exhibition opens. Time goes so quickly. It will be here before you know it. I want all new work so I have to stay on my toes and make sure I do some artwork every day. This morning I finished the apple piece. I now need to buy more art supplies as I'm out of canvases. That's another job for today, go to the art shop and try not to buy more than I need hehehe.

Fading Apples

collage, acrylic paint and conte on canvas

50.8x60.9cm (20"x24")

Sunday was Fun Day

The waterslide was so big that Daddy had to go down first. You could hear Zoe screaming right from the top of the water slide "Ahhhhhh, Dad catch me. Daaaad, dad catch me!"

Not a good landing on this slide. Luckily dad was there to catch her.

A little bit of mini golf. There were 8 of us playing so we held up the course a bit. I came 3rd, Zoe came 5th I think and Bob came 1st.

Sitting at the table surrounded by her family and 2 very close family friends plus presents to unwrap, what more could a girl ask for?

The birthday girl at the head of the table of course!

Zoe and her mum Julia with a chocolate and strawberry birthday cake.

Yum!!!!!

Zoe with my sister Ilka and her partner Herman. Yes I know my sister and I are nothing alike, she's tall and thin and I'm ...... not hehehe.

Zoe being her usual charming self with my son and Zoe's uncle Troy.

Opa (granddad) helping Zoe with her new Zoingo Boingo.

We all had a lot of fun and agreed there should be more fun family outings like there were in the good old days before people got so busy.

Birthday Celebrations

Its Zoe's 7th birthday celebrations today. Its the first year she isn't having a party with all her friends. Instead its a family affair. We are heading off to Semaphore foreshore. Its a surprise. Zoe doesn't know where we are going. Semaphore has an amusement park which includes water slide, bouncy castle, carousel etc. It also has a train ride through the sand dunes. So on the list is hat, towel, bathers and camera. After we play we are having a late lunch at the Palais. Its very popular. Its a beautiful art deco building built in 1922. We tried to book for lunch for Zoe's birthday two weeks ago but was booked out till 3pm, hence the late lunch. Will have to snack on ice cream while I wait heehehe. The later time will actually work out better as that's when the live band starts. Anyway time with the family, the beach, amusement park, live band and a meal in a beautiful old building. What more could I ask for :).

I have had a week off from my art work to give my home a really deep clean that's been well overdue. Back in the studio now yay. Below is the background finished for my new piece. A title hasn't come to me yet. It will have green apples in it and its reminiscent of the time my kids were little and I used to bake apple pie on Sunday and have the neighbours over for afternoon tea. Mmm hot apple pie with freshly whipped cream melting over the top.

Still can't get in the habit of posting at night. I'm just too tired by then. Am toying with the idea of getting up earlier so I can fit it all in in the morning. I get up at 6am now. I don't mind getting up early now the weather is warm but in winter it will be a different story.

I'm Still Here

I know I haven't posted in such a long time. Been re-organising my time so I can fit more into my day and "do it all". Trying to do internet stuff at night instead of the morning. Trouble is with all the extra stuff I've been doing by the time night comes I fall asleep in front of the telly like and old granny hehehe (oh yeah, I am an old granny). It will be ok once the body gets used to all the extra activity.

Back to the Easel Soon

Well its been a week since I've been at the easel. I thought I'd take a break and catch up on some nagging home duties. When I'm in the full art swing I let a lot of things slide, only doing the necessities, taking every opportunity to work on my art. Then there comes a time when you say enough is enough. You have to catch up on those long neglected chores. Once done I feel great. A few more little details and I'll be back to the easel probably doing another inanimate everyday object that makes a house a home.
Weather is cooler today YAY!

Not Ready for the Heat

Forecast is for 37C (98.6F). The place is closed up and air conditioner is on. Too hot to go out and do anything. This year has gone so quickly and the heat is upon me before I'm ready for it. Can you ever be ready for it? Its not all bad. With the heat comes more barbecues, walks on the beach in the evening to try and get a little cool breeze, more swimming, less clothes and all those delicious summer fruits like peaches, watermelon, rock melon, strawberries etc etc etc. Yeah summer isn't that bad after all.

A Little Humour

This is one of a series interiors I plan to do. I almost think I'm creating my perfect home through my paintings. As I planned it out I envisioned a painting on the wall. Then I thought, how funny it would be to have one of my own paintings hanging on the wall. Hilarious hehehe hahaha. The wall was built up with crack filler to give it a really textured finish. There are some torn book pages and other paper showing through here and there. I used to use modelling paste to achieve this texture but its expensive so now I raid Bob's crack filler which only costs a couple of dollars.

The Hall

crack filler, acrylic paint, collage and conte on canvas

101.6x76.2cm (40"x30")

Friday

Its Friday already and that means market day. The weather is slowly heating up and making me weary. I usually enjoy going to the market but can't seem to get into gear this morning. I know what it is. I've been overeating again and exercising less. I've worked out that I have this cycle where I look after myself really well, eat correctly and exercise. That's when my confidence is up and I'm very productive creatively. Then I sabotage myself and start overeating, do less exercise, put on weight and confidence drops. This is when I usually become less productive. Well the last few days I have been overeating and my confidence is dropping. Starting to question my abilities etc etc; doubts and fears entering my mind. Need to get back on track before it takes its toll on my productivity. So today is market day. Will only buy healthy fresh food and get back on track.

Not Posting Much

I'm in this really productive phase at the moment. I have more ideas floating around in my head than I can physically keep up with. If I'm not at the easel painting I'm in a gallery looking at other people's creations or reading articles about other artists. I'm filling the well. I only hope I don't drown. Another piece is nearly finished. If I don't finish it today I hope to finish it on the weekend. Housework has taken a back seat and getting out of hand so I will have to address those issues today before I can go back to the easel.

Domestic Bliss

As I was waiting for this image to upload I realised that I actually have a few series of work on the go. This latest one is part of the domestic series where I celebrate the sacredness in the everyday. It also explores the notion of home and the importance of once called "women's work". Its funny that I work in series and that all the different series all fit into one theme.

Starting a new piece today. I have to keep the work going in a nice constant flow so I have enough new work for exhibition next year. We received formal confirmation that our exhibition proposal was excepted by Gallery M. So our three generations of women exhibition is finally a realisation. Its called Peeking Through Someone Else's Window, opens on May 22nd 2009 and will showcase not only my work but my daughter's and granddaughters as well.

Domestic Bliss

collage, acrylic paint and conte on canvas

60.9x50.8cm (24"x20")

Create Create Create

Just recovering from a really bad gastro virus. Can't remember ever being that sick before. It came on on Sunday afternoon and I'm only just starting to feel better now! I'm happily back to the easel today. I missed doing my art and I'm sure it made me sicker not being able to create anything for nearly a week. I should finish the piece I've been working on in the next couple of days. Being sick has meant that I now have a backlog of ideas swimming around in my head. Laying around in bed, not being able to do any art means all I could do was think. I now have ideas for the next four pieces so I'd better get to work and create create create!

My sister and her partner have moved into their new place yesterday. They lived in a house that was too big for just the two of them so they sold up and bought a smaller place. Its about 10 minutes walk from the beach (just in time for summer) and I'm sure they will love their new lifestyle once all the unpacking is done. I'm taking Mum over there tomorrow so she can have a nosey around their new house.