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.

Adelaide Zombie Walk

Started work on a new piece yesterday. Some more inanimate objects from everyday life. Got the background done and I'm quite happy with it. Its a bit darker than I wanted and covers a lot of the text from the torn book pages I used but that's ok. Nearly finished drawing the image on and then I'll be ready to paint. Have a backlog of ideas I want to paint. My ideas are coming in so strong and fast I can't keep up with them. That's good I say. Nothing worse than having no ideas at all.

Julia and some of her friends went on Adelaide's Zombie Walk last night. Yes they all dressed up as zombies and walked the streets. Zoe was excited to be in on the action. After the walk I picked her up and took her home so the adult Zombies could have drinks in the many venues offering cheap drinks to Zombies.

Zombies all ready for their big walk.

Mother and daughter zombies.
Aren't they beautiful?

The Daisy

The struggle with the daisy is finally over and thoughts of a new piece are swimming around my head. Think I'll go back to some everyday inanimate objects that I understand. I bought a couple of new canvases and am itching to get started on them.

He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

acrylic paint and conte on canvas

60.9 x 50.8cm (24"x20")

The Story of the Daisy

Has it really been that long since I posted on my blog? What have I been doing? I have been doing my art as usual but am struggling with my latest piece. I worked out why so many artists paint lilies. Its because daisies are hard to paint hehehe. Yes I'm trying to paint a really large daisy and its giving me some grief. Now the funny thing is I needed a particular colour conte crayon to finish the shading on the daisy. I finally bought the conte I needed but was going to visit my friend Mignon for lunch so I couldn't work on the piece. I took some of my recent artwork to show Mignon and decided to take the daisy piece to face one of my fears of showing unfinished work that hasn't been resolved yet. We had a lovely time catching up and talking about art. Mignon shared with me the book she's been writting. She's always wanted to write children's fiction and she's finally doing it. Good on you Mignon!!! I love the story and can't wait till she writes more. Its left me wanting to know what happens next. Anyway I digress... I packed up all my artwork and left Mignon's about 5pm and in peak hour traffic I realise I left that darn daisy piece behind. So now I have the conte but not the piece. I drive right near Mignon's when I take my son to work so I asked her to leave it out as I will come by early to pick it up. She didn't want to leave it out all night so she thought she would put it out in the morning. However finding the piece was not outside I looked at the time and thought it much too early to wake people up by pounding on the door. I left some books on the doorstep that I promised to lend and left. Once back home Mignon rang hehehe. She was up and putting the daisy piece outside when she noticed I'd already been hehehe. Will try again tomorrow morning. Will I ever get this piece finished? Is this the universe trying to tell me to give up, its a lost cause, don't paint daisies.

Women's Work

I love the every day objects of everyday life. I particularly like the things that were considered women's objects. In days past women's work was never considered as important as men's and in a lot of ways that's still true today. By depicting every day objects in my art I'm trying to show the importance of what was considered women's work and lift it to new heights. Its so hard to try and talk about this and stay politically correct but I'm sure you know what I'm trying to say. I'm quite passionate about this subject and I think this may be the start of a series.

The frying pan and colander in this painting are particularly important to me as they belonged to my Grandmother. When my Mum got married my Grandmother gave her a few things from her kitchen to help out. When we migrated to Australia these items were carefully packed in big boxes and shipped to our new home. To me they are a link to the past. A link to my Grandmother who I never saw again. And a link to all those wonderful women who came before me and quietly performed all their duties to perfection.

She Performed Her Duties to Perfection

collage, acrylic paint and conte on canvas

60.9x50.8cm (24"x20")

Blocked...nah not me!

Back on track after a couple of scary days. I've been really in the creative zone lately and getting a lot of artwork done. Of course this got me thinking. Rather than just going with the flow, happy that I'm creating, I had to start analysing it and thinking about how it will be perceived out in the world. Well that put a hold on my creative flow and could have turned into a major block if it wasn't for the skills I learned reading The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. Just create for the act of creating JC says and don't think about the outcome. Well I did just that and I'm happy to say I'm back in the creative flow once more. I started a new piece yesterday and if I don't spent too much time on the computer or sitting around in my pyjamas drinking coffee I could get it finished today. That would be a record. Two days for an artwork! That's unheard of!!!

Happy Anniversay

This person you see below has made me happy for twenty years.

Happy anniversary Bob!

Blue Bowl, Yellow Lemons

This canvas was a piece that I just couldn't get to work so I glued on some old book pages as the first layer.

Now I've added image transfers of my grandmother's handwriting and added some patterned paper.

A little wash of colour is next.

A little darker colour for the edges.

Some text stamped on. (Sun was behind a cloud. Hence the variation in colour from the previous pic)

Still looked a bit bland so more colour!

Patterned stamp used in darker colour.

Picture roughly sketched in and filled with colour.

Details and tone added.

I felt the background was still too pale so another deeper wash was added.

Shadow of the bowl added to stop it looking like it was floating in mid air.

Irene's Kitchen

collage, image transfer, acrylic paint and conte on canvas

91 x 91cm (36"x36")

Chicken Soup and Barbecue

Started a new piece on Thursday. Got the first layer of torn book pages done. Its a large canvas so it took the whole day. Yesterday was shopping day. With all the hunter gatherer action there was no time for art. The weather was a little cool again yesterday so took the opportunity to cook a batch of chicken soup. Summer is on the way and that's the time for salads so it was nice to indulge in a hearty soup one last time. It was a big pot of soup, enough for tonight's dinner too. That means I can get lost in the studio and won't have to stop to cook dinner. Might even work after dinner as well.

My friend Kris will be in town on Sunday. She'll be staying over so I think we might have a barbecue for dinner. Bob won a large meat tray in the raffle at the football club so there will be plenty of meat. All I have to do is whip up a salad. Seeing Kris won't have to drive, might get some wine to have with dinner. Mmm looking forward to it already.

Tuscany Looks Nice This Time of Year

Two posts in one day. What's the world coming to??? Just finished the Italian piece and thought I'd post pics of the layers like I promised.

First layer is just some random blotches of acrylic paint. I don't always paint first. It all depends on what paper I use to collage with. If I'm going to stick on old book pages I don't paint first.

Layer number two is just a wash of one colour to harmonise all the colours of the first layer.

Layer number three is very ugly. Paper glued on and torn off. This is to add texture. I usually like to use old book pages or newspaper or old phone book pages for this technique. Seeing this piece was about Italy I thought English text would be wrong so that's why I went for the plain paper instead.

Next layer is just a wash of acrylic paint and the texture is starting to appear.

Layer 5 is another wash of acrylic paint to make the surface richer.I like to use washes as they allow each layer to show through which adds depth to the finished piece.

I love text in my work so layer 6 was adding some Italian text and some pretty bits of paper here and there to add interest. Some of the text is image transfer using printable rub ons and other text I've written on myself. Got some Italian love poems off the net. It was hard writing in Italian. I had to be careful not to make mistakes. At this stage I'm still only working randomly and not thinking too much about placement.

Layer 7 is some stamping with my favourite letter stamps. The words say "Its a beautiful day, no?" Still just working randomly.

Layer 8 is yet another acrylic wash to blend everything together.

Now here I should have layer 9 where I painted in blocks of colour for the door and shutters etc and then layer 10 is the detail drawn on with conte and layer 11 was another wash to put in the shadows. I didn't realise till it was too late that they were actually different layers and should have been recorded. Will try again with the next piece. This just needs some layers of varnish to protect it and its all finished.

Tuscany Looks Nice This Time of Year

collage, image transfer and acrylic paint on canvas

76.2cm x 50.8cm (30"x20")

Spring Is My Favourite Season

The last few days have been great. I've been able to lose myself in the studio. Had cooked enough dinner for two nights so didn't even have to stop to cook last night. It was hard to come back down to earth though. Does that happen to anyone else? Hopefully I should finish the Italian piece today. I'm thinking the title will be "Tuscany Looks Nice This Time of Year".

Looks like rain today. We could use it. Garden is already dry and its just in the start of spring. So many blossoms on my peach tree and they are turning into tiny peaches (so cute). Orange tree is so full of blossoms this year. With the jasmine, orange blossoms and wisteria all blooming at the moment, the garden is so fragrant. I open the windows and let the scent inside. I love spring!

Holidays

Its school holidays and Julia has taken Zoe to visit friends in Perth. Poor Zoe got sick and has an ear infection. They are hoping it has cleared up enough not to give her trouble on the flight. No doubt I'll hear as soon as they land. Anyway without interruptions from my little friend Zoe I should get a lot of art done. Usually when I plan to get a lot done something gets in the way, groan.

As my last work was about France or my dream of going to France one day (it now has a title "The Dream") I thought I'd make a detour and head off to Italy. The piece I'm working on at the moment has an Italian flavour. If I can't actually travel to these places I can at least go there in my work hehehe. That's the beauty of art, you can create your own world. I like to work in layers and people always seem to enjoy the depth I achieve so as I'm working on this piece I've taken a photo of each layer and will post the pics once its all finished. Will be interesting for me to see the transition too. I've just done layer six and its still got a long way to go. I knew I work in layers but didn't realise just how many. Ok on with the next layer!

Wishes

Yesterday I lost myself in my art. It was a lovely relaxing time where I managed to finish off another piece. Its untitled as yet but its about my wish of travelling to France one day and eating cheese and pastries (without putting on weight hehehe). I used pages from a French phrase book and some images of old French posters as the base to paint over. I plan to start a new piece today so I'd better get cracking.

collage, acrylic paint and conte on canvas

76.2cm x 50.8cm (30"x20")

The New Me

Here's my new hair cut. Photograph taken by very talented photographer Julia Thomas also known as my daughter and Zoe's mum. You can see more of her work on http://www.redbubble.com/people/jewelstorm

My Time With Kris

My trip to visit Kris in Yorketown was so much fun and very relaxing. Its so good to have quality time with old friends. Just being in each other's company and having a laugh. I must say Kris spoilt and pampered me a bit. She did some alterations to a few of my clothes yay, but I think Friday night was the ultimate in spoiling. Kris had planned to cook me dinner on Friday night. She knows I love her meatloaf and roast vegies but before she put dinner on she ran me a bath, infused the bath water with some relaxing Radox and lavender bubble bath, lit some incense and told me to go and relax while she cooked dinner. As I was soaking, surrounded by bubbles, Kris brought me in a cup of coffee. I don't have a bath at home. We only have a shower and Kris knows I miss my bath time. While I was away I had such a sense of freedom, I made an appointment at the hairdresser and had my hair cut short. I will post a pic as soon as I can get someone to take a photo.

Kris' little cottage.

In the garden down the side.

Out the back.

Here's Kris sewing.

There are salt pans scattered around the area and in certain light they are pink.

Not sure if the photo captures that.

Main street of Yorketown.

Main street.

The old hotel in which we had a nice lunch of roast beef and roast vegetables.

The other hotel across the street.

Can't go anywhere without a visit to the cemetery.

Reading the headstones gives me a sense of the history of the place.

On the way home I saw this kangaroo sculpture.

Its companion the emu had been stolen by some pranksters.

It has been found and is waiting installation.

Yorketown Here I Come

At 5.15pm today I'll be boarding a bus to Yorketown to visit my old friend Kris. I even come with a gift. I saw it while I was in Horsham and knew that I had to buy it for her. I've never been to Kris' since she moved from Adelaide a few years ago. She always visits me when she comes to town so I thought it high time I did something about that. We've been friends since our children were young and our marriages had ended. We used to sit in each others bed with a cup of tea or coffee and have long girl talks. Can't wait to do that again, only now it will be Nana talks hehehe. Be back Saturday.

No Art Till the Chores Are Done

My peach tree is full of blossoms. A true sign that spring is here.

The exhibition committee at Gallery M liked our proposal and liked our work and although we haven't been notified officially I'm fairly confident that we will be able to hold our exhibition there next year. We had an exhibition meeting on Wednesday night so we could catch up on plans and ideas and where we are up to in terms of our work. Zoe was secretary and thoroughly enjoyed her position hehehe. We voted on the name for our exhibition which is "Peeking Through Someone Else's Window". Its basically inviting the viewer to take a look at our lives and the things that are important to us from the mundane of the every day to our dreams and aspirations. The exhibition will be about the importance of family and friends and what "home" means to us. I think its very special to have three generations of women working and exhibiting together.

My artwork has been flowing rather nicely lately. Finished the background of a new piece yesterday. I know artists have times of drought and times when everything just goes right. Having a solo exhibition in the SALA Festival meant less time at the easel so not much creating was going on leading up to the exhibition. Returning to my everyday life was a bit difficult after all the hype and organising etc but now I'm back on track and my art is flowing so nicely I can't wait to get to the easel. I don't feel like stopping even when I know I must attend to the everyday life chores like cooking dinner and feeding Jack the dog who doesn't like waiting for his food. Chore for today is the washing. No art till the washing is done! Off I go!!!!

Finished

Deb Brought Me Lilies

collage and acrylic paint on canvas

60.9 x 50.8cm (24"x20")

Back to the Easel

Delivered some work to Gallery M for the exhibition committee to assess. Julia (daughter) and Zoe (granddaughter) and I have put in an exhibition proposal to Gallery M for an exhibition next year. Three generations of women in one exhibition. Hope we are accepted. Zoe was determined to carry her own work in. It brought a tear to our eyes, she's not even 7 yet. She proudly stood it against the wall with such confidence. Ah, wish I has some of that.

Once home I went back to the easel. There's been a piece sitting on the easel for months now. I started it long before my exhibition in Naracoorte. The background was completed but the idea I had for it didn't work. I played around with it several times but nothing was right, nothing seemed to work so there it sat taunting me. In the early hours of the morning, some time last week, I had one of those revelation moments. You know the ones? Where everything becomes clear like when the sun pokes through the clouds. These moments occur as I'm waking up. The time in that half awake state where you aren't really sleeping but you aren't really awake either. I have the same state when I fall asleep too. Anyway it suddenly became clear what that piece needed and yesterday it all fell into place. Painting was so easy and natural yesterday and I really like the look of what's happening. Hopefully I can finish it today and post a pic of it soon. I must say it was such a pleasure to be back at the easel. It seems I haven't had a real serious session for some time now.

Off to do my morning chores and then hopefully its back to the easel once more.

Oh What Fun It Is To Dye

The weather has been so nice lately with the sun shining and the fragrance of spring in the air so I thought it would be nice to sit in the garden today, have a glass of wine, some cheese and other nibbles. However the weather took a turn for the worse and so the time in the garden was cut short.

Once inside I thought I would bundle up some cloth and have a go at dyeing. I has some recycled linen from a shirt bought in the op shop for $2.75 which I had unpicked. I wrapped some brown onion skins, sour sobs and dried rose petals in the linen and tied them up tightly. I then steamed the little bundles in an old aluminium pressure cooker also bought cheaply. After the steaming was complete there was coloured liquid in the bottom of the steamer - dye! I folded up another piece of linen and clamped it down with a bulldog clip and plonked it into the dye. I rushed out to take a photo in the failing light even before the cloth has a chance to dry. Haven't even rinsed them yet. Ok I think I'm truly hooked.

The second photo is a print I took of a violet flower and leaf by hitting it with a hammer. This dyeing and printing is just too much fun. It like opening prsents and its not even my birthday.

Happy Father's Day Dad.