Found objects pins and charms

Two more pins and some charms from a couple of necklaces that are on their way to the gallery in Sorrento.
I'm busy at present making an art doll and finishing decorating the playing cards for the art retreat at the weekend. I have to fly to Perth, which is four hours from here, on Friday, then Saturday I'm doing a workshop with Nina Bagley and Sunday a workshop with Michael deMeng. It should be a fabulous weekend although they forecast temperatures in the high 30'sC for then, so I hope our visitors don't melt after their cold winter. I'll post some art from the workshops when I get back.

Still Life

This painting started out as a water colour sketch sometime ago. It's a very peaceful part of our front deck, where we often sit and have breakfast and watch the parrots and finches compete for seed in our bird feeder. I wasn't happy with the sketch as it was, so recently I added pastel and charcoal to give shadows and depth. I think I'm happier with it now.

Illustration Friday - Gravity

This weeks subject for Illustration Friday is gravity. I was still able to use my produce theme. This time I scanned in my decorated paper and my hand drawn and coloured graphic and combined them together in photoshop. The apple and the boys 'falling down socks' represent the gravity theme.

Inspire me Thursday - Abandoned art

The theme for IMT is abandoned art. I was reminded of this rug I started over ten years ago (and abandoned), by Judy Wise when I visited her blog and saw the beautiful rug she's making. She inspired me to take it up again and maybe, just maybe complete it this time.

Birthday painting

Just finished an acrylic/collage painting for my daughter's thirtieth birthday today. The photo looks quite dark but the painting actually has a burgundy look. Talk about leaving everything 'til the last minute. I baby sat my eight month old grand daughter last night and she did a terrific colourful work of art with her hands and feet for her Mum. I took a frame over and framed it, wrapped it and left it next to my grand daughter's cot for my daughter to find this morning, she was over the moon, it's hanging up already. I don't have a photo of Sienna's painting as we were so rushed.

More cards

Just a few more cards to take to the Retreat. The penguin card was scanned from a page in one of my altered books and then reduced down to form the background of the card. I then added other things to it to form a new picture.
It's very warm here, high thirties for the next few days and no sign of rain, I suppose it will come eventually. Our gum trees are in flower and dripping with nectar, the lorikeets (small parrots) are in an intoxicated frenzy, noisily fighting over the flowers.
They are the most beautiful colours of purple/blue, orange, red and bright green, mother nature certainly knows how to mix colours

Inspire me Thursday - Heart

This is my first entry into Inspire me Thursday. This is one of about thirty playing cards that I'm decorating for an Artist's retreat I'm attending in March.

Illustration Friday - Crash

You could be forgiven for thinking I'm obsessed with food when it comes to Illustration Friday, but I've just completed artwork for a supermarket wall in my day job, and this just seems to spill over from that. It's now become a challenge to see if I can incorporate the word to fit into the food theme. The eggs just seemed to fit the bill.
Thanks to Cat for helping me add a link to the text in my blog, it works perfectly. Thanks again Cat.

Found Objects Jewellery and Fabric

I've just taken two pins and the necklace above to the gallery in Olinda, now I'm concentrating on the jewellery for the gallery in Sorrento. I also visited a friend today who gave me a magnificent collection of buttons and broken jewellery pieces, really exciting stuff. The other two photos above are of plain calico I painted and stamped with my hand made stamps last year, a la Sherrill Kahn style. I love her work and have ordered her new book which comes out later this month. Can anyone out there please tell me how I can link certain words or names in my blog text to someones blog or web site eg. Sherril Khan above, I've been trying and nothing seems to work, it's probably so obvious I'm missing it?.

Beads, Found objects and Pastels

I've been having a tidy up so I thought I'd show you some of my beads while the drawers are still OK. I have two architect's steel plan cabinets with ten drawers in one and fouteen in the other. I use one cabinet for storing my papers and paintings and the other for my beads, found objects and pastels the photos don't show the complete size of the drawers, there's still more either side. I'm going to have to start another one as my found objects are starting to spill over. When I clean up my studio I'll post some more photos.

Found objects pins and Journals

I've completed the journal for the shop where I teach decorated paper and journals, now it's back to jewellery making. I had a successful January with the two galleries selling four pins, two necklaces and three pairs of ear rings, I can't wait until I can just do art full time, although I probably achieve more now because I only have a restricted number of hours. The more time I have the more I seem to waste.
The fire which has been burning out of control in Victoria since December 2nd last year has finally been contained today, not out yet but contained. It has burnt over one million hectares of land. We are the most bush fire prone region in the world, a title we would love not to have.

Illustration Friday

My second Illustration Friday - Sprout - mixed media

More Jewellery

Another pin to go to the gallery, I have two more to make and a couple of smaller necklaces. I'll show photos when they're done.

Illustration Friday

This is my first entry into Illustration Friday. The topic is 'Red' so I hope my apple fits the bill, it's hand drawn then scanned into my computer, cut out a pasted onto a sheet of my decorated papers, then a few pen graphics are added.

Pastel painting

I've just finished a pastel painting for an entry into a local Rotary art show, it's of the Amalfi Coast in Italy. The other two photos are of more journal pages. The images are my original sketches scanned and printed out, them stitched onto my hand decorated papers.
It's dusk at the moment and the weather's very mild, I have my studio windows open and there is a chorus of birds, crickets and the occasional frog, nature's wonderful. Very shortly it will be the thud of the possums running across the roof, they sound like a herd of elephants, but they're very cute, sometimes one takes the wrong turn and ends up down the chimney causing a great commotion as it tries to find the front door. Ah life in the bush.