Pampered Pet

When the sun went down on Christmas Eve it got a little cool and the grass had that damp feeling. So what's a pampered pet meant to do when they don't want to go inside and miss all the action??? They find a nice warm pile of used Christmas wrapping and snuggle in hehehe.

Everything is slowly getting back to normal around here. I went back to gym yesterday. I also did a little artwork. I'm still a bit slow getting back in the studio for long periods of time. I seem to have that problem when I have some time off. Its hard to get back into the rhythm of things but it will come. The weather is heating up again and that doesn't help. It gets too hot in the studio so I tend to hide inside with the air conditioner on. I will just take it nice and slow till the new year rolls in and then I will knuckle down to some serious creativity.

Happy Festive Season

Happy festive season to all of you. Thank you so much for your ongoing support and encouragement. Your support has helped me to stretch my wings, flap them a bit and fly ...

Being of European decent we keep the tradition alive by celebrating on Christmas Eve. We started as just a small migrant family missing home. Mum put real candles on the tree our first Christmas here. Its what we did at home. The extreme heat made the candles bend and the tree went up in flames. Dad had to throw the whole tree out of the door. Many of our beloved decorations were broken. I cried. Over the years we modified our traditions to suit the climate and our small family grew. In the last few years the preparations were handed to me. Mum is getting older and Dad is no longer with us so its not fair for the responsibility of the family Christmas to be on Mum's shoulders. As things go along they change and move forward. Some things stay the same and some things change. We have thrown open the doors to not just family but friends as well. We now have open house every year on Christmas Eve. Not just a small migrant family gathering any longer. Its turned into a garden party. This year we are having 18 for dinner. Drop by if you are in the neighbourhood. There's plenty to go around.

Why is it?

Why is it that we set ourselves huge tasks for Christmas. All those things you never got around to before somehow end up on the Christmas list. Why is that? Will the world stop turning if they're not done? Will Christmas stop if they're not done? Will any body care ... I mean really care??? My garden has been neglected as I have spent more time on my artwork. Fair enough. But couldn't I just have weeded the garden and given it a make over some other time. No, I seem to leave these jobs for Christmas. Why? Maybe because I know they won't get done at any other time hehehe. To make matters worse I took a spontaneous offer to go away for the weekend. Just like that I dropped everything and went away and now I have to cram, really cram, to make it look like I got everything done for Christmas. I did enjoyed the weekend away. Some much needed me time with some major girls talk was just what was needed. Its nearly 10pm. I spent a 14 hour day gardening and now I still need to put clean linen on the bed before I can fall into a coma. Is the list any shorter yet??? My studio is calling me ...

Turtles

Laura has fish on her blog that I always feed. I had to have something too. I decided on turtles. So feel free to feed them :). They are a bit slow but all three of them will appear after a while.

Garden Party

I do love Christmas with family and friends coming for our annual garden party but it seriously cuts into my art time hehehe. I'm itching to continue with the next portrait. One good studio session would finish it I reckon. Not yet. Still have a long list of things to accomplish, sigh. I can't just do art. I do need to do those ordinary everyday things too. They keep me grounded. I would just fly off into the zone and lose touch with reality if I didn't have those ordinary everyday things to keep my feet planted firmly on the ground. Yep that's what I have to remind myself as I pull yet another weed or dust places that never see a duster. It will be worth it. Good food, family and friends with the occasional glass of wine or maybe apple cider. Yep, the art can wait.

Finished My Selfy

My first portrait is finished. There's a lot that could be better but I will improve with more practice. I learnt a lot! I also know my concept works. I can't wait to start the next one and put in practice what I learnt from this one. With the holiday celebrations looming I'm not sure how much studio time I can fit in. My list is so long I really shouldn't be in the studio at all :(

the painting

the photograph

Artists Market

Phew what a long and tiring weekend. I had to take today off and just mooch around the house and recover. I met some lovely people. Both artists and the public alike. Made some new buddies and had loads of exposure. The weather was glorious and so many people attended the market. It was very busy. My stall backed onto the Port River and every now and then I'd look out for the dolphins. There were beautiful jellyfish that were delightful to watch. Their graceful movement mesmerised me at times. I would not like to be stung by one though. I loved talking to people but the whole selling thing is just not my cup of tea. The decision to go with a commercial gallery to do the selling for me was the right one for me. That's not to say I won't do the market again next year. The picture below is early in the morning when I just finished setting up my (and some of Julia's) work. The sun was shining, there was music and good food and the atmosphere was just brilliant. There was that real summer holiday feeling all weekend.

Selfy - Stage 2

Its Thursday and that means art day with my friend Mignon. A bit more done to my selfy. Some washes of colour and some stamping. I'm just slowly building up the layers. Next stage will be a little detail I think.

Art at the Hart Artists Market on this weekend at Port Adelaide. On the banks of the Port River down near the old Hart Mill. Saturday and Sunday 11am till 6pm. No studio time for me this weekend.

Award Night

Granddaughter Zoe did us all proud by receiving an award for high academic achievement. Well done Zoe woohoo! Off we went to presentation evening last night to watch her receive her certificate.

On the stage receiving her award

With Mum and Dad proudly showing off her certificate

A Tentative Start

I'm sitting here with the pics uploaded, trying to get up enough courage to post them. Deep breath in ... and out ... Its just the very start even though it took me all afternoon to do. I'm on new ground here and really don't know what I'm doing. I just have these ideas and I want to give them a try.

The first pic is the original photo cropped to get rid of some of the background. Its a photo from last year and I haven't got my new glasses yet.

In the second pic I've used the cutout filter on Photoshop to get the shapes that the shadows (and wrinkles) make. This is what I'm working from in the underpainting stage.

And the third pic is my tentative scary start. The canvas is my usual size of 60.9x50.8cm (24"x20") so its rather confronting working on my face to this scale. Deep breath and click ...