Paint Touched Canvas

Paint touched canvas today. First time this year. Now all is right with my world. I made a little makeshift studio space inside. Its too hot in my studio with no air conditioner and a tin roof. I started splashing around some paint and I liked what happened so I splashed some more. Then I added a bit of stamping and now I want to added some text with the image transfer method. Its a little bright. I used red (well its a red hot sort of a summer day) and now I need to tone it down just a little because its very very red! No more time for chatting. Need to get back to the painting ;)

Getting Started

I have resigned myself to the fact that the festive season means about 6 weeks of slow to no movement in the studio. Instead of fighting it I have made allowances for it. Now I face the problem of getting started again. Its hard to get back into a proper routine of household chores and studio work. Basically, I am procrastinating. I just can't find a start. Even now I am sitting here on the computer when I should be working. The weather doesn't help. Its forecast to be 36 degrees Celsius today (about 97F) and that is just too hot for the studio. It really heats up in there when the sun beats down on the tin roof. Still that is no excuse. There are plenty of things I can do towards my artwork without having to be in the studio. I could set up some still live displays and photograph them ready for a painting. I could bring some work inside and start on some backgrounds. The list goes on. But I sit here sighing and typing away trying to find a really good excuse not to start. I have a busy year ahead of me so I must pull myself together and just do it! START!

My Granddaughter is Awesome!

Imagine this :

15.5km (9.6miles) of bike track

over 36 degrees Celsius (that's about 97 degrees Fahrenheit)

and a bunch of kids and some adults skating to raise money for the flood victims

please give generously

and they're off

Zoe the Awesome!

Zoe the Awesome skated roughly 12 to 13km (7.5 to 8 miles). She collected $300 in sponsorship from friends and family and on the skate the Skate for a Cause Group collected $566.60. Zoe has been so upset by all the news reports about the flood disaster that she really wanted to do something to help. She was so happy to be able to participate in the Skate for a Cause which, by the way, was the idea of her skating buddy Jaidyn who is only 13. Watch out world there are some amazing kids making their mark!

Oh yeah and by the way, I made a pretty good water boy, even though I must say so myself :)

Re-Introducing Myself

Hello all. I seem to have wandered off the blogging trail. Its almost like I need to re-introduce myself. Hi my name is Uta, I live in Australia and I eat too much hehehe.

Just wanted to let you all know that the terrible flooding you would have heard about or seen on tv is not near us. It is in another state. All the loved ones in that state are ok (thank goodness) and so are their houses. Its just too horrible to talk about. I have never seen anything like it and I get really emotional when I think about all those people and animals. Zoe (granddaughter aged 9) is joining a group of friends and attempting to roller skate 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) to raise money for the flood victims (through donations and sponsorship). Its on tomorrow and its forecast to be hot, poor things.

On the art front, this year has gone off with a bang!!! Last year was a bit of a fizzler. I really didn't produce much and spent too much time trying to get a hang of the business side of things. Without too much success I might add. This year however, doors are opening everywhere and I am trying to have a peek through all of them. Peek ha, I am trying to go through all of them and all at once hehehe. I had an email from a winery in the Barossa Valley asking if I would be interested in exhibiting with them during SALA (South Australian Living Artists Festival) this year. Ha ha, me??? interested???, OF COURSE I AM!!! And they asked me!!! I will find out for sure in the second week in February if I got the gig. The SALA Festival is on every year in the beginning of August. And for those of you who don't know its when the whole of South Australia turns into one big, fat, juicy art gallery. Every wall, every nook and cranny has art on display from galleries, to coffee shops, restaurants, hairdressers, boutiques AND WINERIES just to name a few. I have already decided to have an open studio sometime during SALA which will allow people to come and have a look at what I do. The street where my art buddy Mignon lives always has a street party for SALA and we decided to have some art on display on her front verandah for that event. Just before SALA I am having a solo exhibition in Melbourne (my first interstate). So that is four events (including the winery, I feel confident) that I need art for and they are all around the same time. I don't have that much art in stock. I need to work my butt off! Weeeeeeeeeee! Wish me luck. I estimated that I will need to do two paintings a week to have enough work. I can do one a week while still maintaining the household chores etc. So you know what that means? The household chores will not be done very often between now and then. Oh boohoo.

I will try to be a better blogger again and let you all know how I am doing in my frantic efforts to jump through all the doors that have opened for me. I have missed all you guys!

Happy Times

My son got engaged! No date set for the wedding but it will probably be sometime in 2012.

Troy and Leticia (Tish)

Its been a hectic time. I will do a proper post soon. Happy New Year to all my friends and cyber buddies.