Surprise Surprise

As you all know, I am being represented by Greenhill Galleries Adelaide. I am also on their mailing list so I am kept up to date with all the up and coming exhibitions. They hold exhibitions in the gallery and also in other venues like hotels and wineries. You can imagine my surprise when I opened this months invitations and see my work and name on an invitation. Apparently I am exhibiting in Penny's Hill winery.

Nice surprise. With the exhibition running till 9th February 2010 in a country location with a different clientèle I have hopes of some more sales. Fingers crossed.

I need to get off this time wasting computer and get into the studio. Only 5 weeks till my first art market and most of my work is tied up elsewhere so I need to be painting painting painting. All is right in my world. I can do this, I can do this.

On Thursday

As you know I spend time with my good friend Mignon Voysey on Thursdays. We spend time in my studio together as arty people like us spend way too much time alone. Its nice to have someone to share with. Mignon finally agreed to let me post a couple of her paintings and I also sneaked in a photo of her while she wasn't looking hehehe. A brand new canvas and she's just pencilling in before she starts painting. Mignon is working on a body of work that relates to a great passion of mine, food ha! And how food plays such an important part of our social activities. Hopefully Mignon will let me keep you up to date with her artwork.

as yet untitled

acrylic on canvas

60x32cm (23"x 13") approx

as yet untitled

acrylic on canvas

60.9x50.8cm (24"x20")

I Finished It

Water

mixed media on canvas

50.8x60.9cm (20"x24")

What a Week I've Had

What a week I've had! As you know Thursday is my art day with my friend Mignon. Last Thursday I started a new piece which is the one in the last post. I finished it in record time so on Sunday I started another piece. And guess what??? Its nearly finished. Just a little tweak here and there and some varnish and its done (picture will follow soon). That's two paintings in one week! On top of that my housework is all done. All dust bunnies have been evicted and I've been going to gym as well. The garden still needs some attention but hey, I can't do it all. Now all I need to do is stay on track and not go off the rails again. I know all the signs. I start eating too much, then I get slack and don't go to gym regularly, then my confidence drops and the creative drought begins. So you'd think by understanding my destructive cycle that I would stop it from happening but I haven't learnt how to do that yet. I have learnt however how to pull myself out of it so I guess that's a start. Its hard being a food-aholic :(

Here It Is

Shall I Put the Kettle On?

mixed media on canvas

60.9x50.8cm (24"x20")

Bliss is a Day in the Studio

I had a great studio day today. I had a few problems with my painting early on and then suddenly things started to fall into place and I just had to keep going. I worked right through dinner. I didn't stop to cook. Bob came home and sat on a chair in the studio and we talked while I worked. We decided to get take-away which meant I could finish my painting. Too dark to take a photo of it so I can't share the new work with you yet. I haven't even thought of a title for it. Maybe I'll call it 'Shall I Put the Kettle On?' Ah all is right with my world.

Drum Roll

Yay I'm officially back at the easel!!! I am now working towards an art market that will be held on the 5th and 6th of December. Not realising that Greenhill Gallery were going to keep all my work for future sales, I am very low on stock. I only have old stuff that I have outgrown. My skills are more developed now so I don't feel I want to do an art market with only old stuff. Anyway below are two new works. One that has been sitting on my easel partly done for months and the other which I only started last Thursday. Oh its good to be back.

Dig

mixed media on canvas

50.8x60.9cm (20"x24")

Stir

mixed media on canvas

101.6x76.2cm (40"x30")

Art Day

Alone in the studio day after day can be very isolating. You can't surround yourself with people all the time either as it tends to be distracting and not much creating gets done. Well I seem to have found a solution. I've invited my friend Mignon to come and make art in my studio with me so we can inspire each other. Yep, every Thursday is our art day where we create and talk about secret women's business hehehe. The beauty of this arrangement is that I know I can work with Mignon. We studied art at collage and uni together so spent many years sharing studio space while we studied. Today was our third session and its a lot of fun. Its great to have someone to bounce ideas off of. Our methods are so different that we get another perspective of our work. Its helping me to get back on track too. I managed to do the first layer of a new piece today and also came up with ideas to resolve another piece that's been hanging around the studio for ages.

On the deck chair front, number two is nearly finished. I just need to attach the new canvas. Two more to go. All this creativity is making me feel normal again. I was worried that I would never get back on track.

I'm working towards a two day art market that's on at The Port in the beginning of December. You always need to be working towards something so as to keep moving forward. Its time to start planning my goals for next year and perhaps set some things in motion.

Day Trip into Australia's Past

Its school holidays and Zoe has been staying with us for a few days. We've hung around in the shed. Like me, Zoe seems to like this space. Correction, I was just told that Zoe loves this space. It has toys and books and a desk with stationary supplies just for her to use without having to ask. Yesterday though, we decided on a change of scenery so we headed off to Tailem Bend to visit Pioneer Village. Tailem Bend is a town about an hours drive from Adelaide and is situated on a place on the River Murray where the river bends. Hence the name. There is a little village set up there like it was in the early days of Australian history. The houses are constructed in various methods using materials which would have been on hand in those days. Some of the shops are actual old buildings which have been transported there. We spent about four hours roaming around the 12 streets and 90 buildings pretending we really lived there. Old Tailem Town which it has been named has everything from an old time cinema to a hospital, dentist and old style dance hall. I took way too many pics (317 to be exact). Thank goodness for digital cameras hehehe. Anyway I'm only sharing a few with you. My favourite house and the one I would choose to live in is the house made of cow dung. Its only one room which housed the bed, kitchen and dining areas but it has such a wonderful romantic feel that I dreamed of living there. And yes, there was room for an easel hehehe.

My mum and Zoe at the post office

the bakery

My mum and Zoe wandering down the street

the school

I still went to school with desks like this, complete with ink wells!

the general store

hurray for automatic washing machines!

my favourite house made of cow dung

the bed

the kitchen and dining room

looks like a lovely place to sit and have a cup of tea

the village even has an undertaker complete with a pine coffin

Deck Chair #1

As I stated earlier I have some old deck chairs that have seen better days. They nearly went out with the rubbish on several occasions but I thought I would hang on to them as I had this idea to replace the canvas. Well now that I have my new studio space I thought it would be a good opportunity to get to work on them. I priced some canvas in a fabric store and it was actually cheaper to buy artist canvas from the art shop and that canvas is a lot stronger. I had a fun day in the studio yesterday. Didn't even go to gym in the morning. I went straight into the studio and had a good and messy play. My fingers got covered in paint and medium. In fact I'm still peeling medium of my hands today. Bliss, absolute bliss hehehe. I have four deck chairs altogether that will get a make over. Each one will have its own design and colours. I've decided to carry the turquoise through in each one but change the other colours. The one I'm working on now is turquoise with orange and purple so watch this space for a deck chair update.

before

after

close up

When I got up this morning I had all intention to go to gym but I just couldn't bring myself to go. I went on a photo shoot with Julia recently and we went to Belair National Park. I used to spend a lot of time up there in my younger years but haven't been there for such a long time. I promised myself I would go back and wander along one of the walking tracks. Well that's what I decided to do this morning. I asked my Mum if she felt like an adventure. She's 76 but still enjoys a good walk. So we packed up our dogs and water bottles and off we went.

Its only about a 15 minute drive from home. Once there we looked at the maps and chose our walk. There are several to choose from and they each have the estimated time it takes. We chose an hour walk which would take in the old railway dam. Of course dogs being dogs, they need to stop and sniff and pee on everything so the hour walk took us two and a half hours hehehe. It was absolutely fabulous though. The wild flowers are all out and everything is still green from the winter rains. The sound of the birds was simply delightful with the squawk from the parrots and the yodelling from the magpies. There were a few caw caw caws from the crows and that made me think of Laura. Rainbow Lorikeets were everywhere and at one point we were able to get quite close to a pair and admire their bright colours. Brilliant green and red and purple. We were even lucky enough to be laughed at by some Kookaburras. That's a true bush sound.

The air was fresh and filled with the scent of spring that just invited big deep breaths to be taken. Mum's cheeks got that healthy rosy glow to them and I knew it was doing her good physically and emotionally. The trail took us right round to the old railway dam which originally supplied the steam trains with water. The National Park Trust bought the dam and surrounding land from the railways once the steam trains stopped and it has been part of the park ever since. There were ducks and other water birds swimming on it as we passed. This was the most beautiful part of the walk with the babbling sound of Minno Creek in our ears and over grown vegetation with fallen trees and wild flowers everywhere.

In the early days when the park was established exotic trees and plants were planted. People were more interested in having parks that reminded them of home in the northern hemisphere. You still see examples of this throughout the park today. We came across a wonderful old oak tree, one of Mum's favourite trees. Some of these exotic trees are heritage listed and are protected but the rest of them are slowly being eradicated as are the non-native plants like the blackberries and lilies. They grow like weeds and smother the native vegetation which just isn't good for our fragile eco system.

Once back at the car we loaded up the tired dogs and headed home promising to take weekly walks there before the weather gets too hot and we are forced to stay indoors with the air conditioning on. It does the soul good to commune with nature. We don't do it often enough.