Had a Break. How Are You? What's New With You???

I think this is the longest time I've been away from my blog. I don't really have an excuse. Maybe I just haven't had anything to say. Ha, that will be the day.

Well firstly the news. Those of you on Facebook already know. Bob and I have another grandchild. Oliver William was born on 3rd March weighing 10lb 12ozs and that was two weeks early. He was 56.5cm long (22 and a half inches). His brother Evan (aged 3 years) did not want to know about him at first as he had wanted a sister that he had already named Ruby. He was told that he could have a brother but he was adamant the baby was a sister. He is used to it now and loves his little baby Oliver.

Oliver

big cousin Zoe proudly holding baby Oliver at Evan's birthday party

big brother Evan at his third birthday party, grr

I have been in the studio and I have been very busy even though I haven't got a lot to show you. I am still working on my huge canvas (60"x40"). Its basically finished but I feel the painting hasn't got the 'it' factor. You know that special something. I keep working on it, adding another layer trying to get something I'm happy with. Some paintings fall into place really easily and some don't I suppose.

Another painting I have been working on is one I hope to enter in one of the major art prizes. I am really excited about this one. It was one of those paintings that just brought me so much joy during its creation. It was a challenge. There are things in this painting I usually don't tackle. Things I try to stay away from like hands, stripes and foreshortening. It took awhile to get the composition right and Bob was so patient while I took photo after photo. Changing the direction of the light, climbing higher on the ladder so I could see directly into his coffee cup, changing the position of his hands, moving his feet etc etc etc. He is worried that this painting will make him sort after as a model. No phone calls so far hehehe lol! I wanted the viewer to almost become the painting. No that doesn't make sense. I was trying to achieve the view you get when you look down into your own lap (well almost). It invites the viewer to really become part of the painting I think. Does that make more sense or am I off in airy fairy art land that's full of ramblings of a mad woman hehehe? I purposely made Bob put his hand on the painting while I photographed it so you can get the scale of it. Its so disappointing when I paint larger than life and it ends up a small picture on a computer screen. It changes the whole feeling of it somehow.

Coffee and Striped Pyjamas

mixed media on canvas

91x122cm (36"x48")

I hope I still have some blogger friends left after neglecting you all for so long. Hope you all had a lovely Easter that you were able to share with your loved ones.

Sunshine and Reading

I have been reading through You Can Heal Your Life by Louise Hay. I will be reading the book more thoroughly with a group of on-line friends starting in January. Here's a paragraph I found particularly interesting

"Our breath is the most precious substance in our lives, and yet we totally take for granted when we exhale that our next breath will be there. If we did not take another breath, we would not last three minutes. Now if the Power that created us has given us enough breath to last as long as we shall live, can we not trust that everything else we need will also be supplied?"

Did a little art today. It felt so good to get back to it. I'm working on a series of three and I will work on all of them together. They are on square canvases 61cm x 61cm (24"x24"). I have formulated some ideas while getting ready for Christmas. You know those times when you are dying to do some artwork but Christmas chores come first. This time the inanimate objects are coffee cups or things related to the joys of drinking coffee. I'm trying something a little different and so have ruled up a 10cm (4") border and will do my usual layers on this section. The middle of the canvas I am planning to apply some stained tissue paper as the background and paint the inanimate objects over this. I stained some tissue paper today in various coffee shades and hopefully will start applying it to the canvas tomorrow.

The weather was glorious today. Not hot, just pleasantly sunny so I spent some time sitting in the garden reading. The birds were singing and Jack was happily munching on a bone. While waiting for some tissue paper to dry I had a cup of coffee in the courtyard and listened to the sound of the fountain in the fish pond. All seemed right in the world.

Its Raining

Its summer and its rained all day. Its been lovely! However when you are in a drought you cringe at all the water pouring down the gutters and not being caught. We haven't had any real heat yet. I'm not complaining. The weather has been glorious. Warm but not hot. Our gutters need cleaning. The water is overflowing so I've got all my buckets out catching the water. I keep getting soaked but its worth it. Water restrictions mean you can't always water your garden when it gets parched in the hot summer sun so I collect every drop I can hehehe.

Tonight is the largest and brightest full moon for the year but I'm not going to be able to bathe in the moonlight as it spills through my bedroom window because the sky is overcast and the moon beams won't get through. Never mind, overcast sky means rain and that's a good thing.

I've posted a pic of my latest work. Not sure how good the image is as its been a bit gloomy for photos. Its another of my inanimate objects that I love so dearly. My work of late tells the story of human life. The everyday objects that turn a house into a home. I suppose its showcasing everyday objects and raising their level of importance. This painting/collage also displays my German-ness by using the word Kaffee (coffee in German). Mum and I go shopping every week. We love to shop at the market as readers of my blog already know. We like nothing better than to sit down in our favourite coffee shop, our trolleys laden with the week's fresh fruit and vegetables awaiting our cappuccino. We sip the hot brew and discuss bargains we have gathered and which are now safely tucked in our said trolleys. Occasionally I might have an orange and poppy seed muffin and Mum will indulge in some fancy cream filled sponge. She's told me that as a child she would see women dressed in their finery, sitting in a coffee shop and drinking coffee and how she thought it was something special. Well I consider it something special too. I love sitting in a coffee shop with Mum, talking about women things and creating wonderful memories.

Eine Tasse Kaffee bitte

collage, acrylic paint and conte on canvas

60.9x50.8cm (24"x20")