Prints coming soon...

Last night I ordered some prints of my art work, which I'll hopefully be offering for sale sometime next week. I'll just need to see how they turn out first. :) The company I'm ordering them through seems really professional with high quality prints, so I've got high hopes! *fingers crossed* I'd really like to start offering all of my pieces as prints eventually!

Today I've still got 2 sick babies (one of them is Wade - my Fiance!). So I'll be busy looking after them and continuing work on an "Alice in Wonderland" triptych commission. I woke up with a little bit of a sore throat this morning so...PLEASE! Don't let me get sick!

ANZAC Long Weekend

Hello!

How's everyone recovering after the ANZAC day long weekend? We had a nice one. We minded my cousin Charlie (age 10), and he was super easy to look after! We all went to the Queensland Museum on Sunday, which was really cool. I haven't been in a couple of years and they have heaps of new animal exhibits - huge birds, animal skeletons, furry mammals, fossils...it just goes on and on...

I'm extremely frustrated with eBay at the moment. I'm having problems getting my store back up and running and I've been trying to contact them by phone and email, with little to no assistance in return. I tried calling their customer contact centre yesterday, and after going round and round in circles with the girl on the phone, she ran me through how to email customer service from their website and I was told to wait 48-72 hours for a reply! I asked her if there was any way she could help me today and she said they can't help over the phone, they have to do it via email. So what exactly is the customer service phone line for? Errrgh! Every email I've had from them so far is an automated reply which doesn't answer any questions...

Ok. Enough of that vent. In the meantime, I'm happily adding new and exciting paintings to my Etsy Store and MadeIt Store. Plus I'm loving the fact that I can now sell my art through my website as well! No fees means cheaper art :)

I have a little sick bub at the moment (and one big sick bub - Wade). They both have a virus, which is similar to what everyone seems to have at the moment. I guess it always comes with the changing seasons...Winter is well and truly on its way.

My weekend didn't go without thinking about the fallen soldiers and incredible men and women who sacrificed their lives for our freedom. We started watching the miniseries "The Pacific" on Sunday and that really brought it to light for me - how truly lucky we are today.

I'm off to the post office now to post off today's Kooky Tea Party orders. Then this afternoon it's time to get some more work done on 3 gorgeous commissioned paintings I'm doing at the moment! The 3rd painting in my "Mini Alice" Series is nearly finished too, it's just been on hold for the moment while I finish these others.

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Hope everyone is having a nice short week! :)

Girl in the Blue Gingham with Peacock Feathers!

Last year before we moved from the Sunshine Coast, I created this painting called "Blue Gingham & Peacock Feathers". It features a big blue eyed girl with light wispy blonde hair, on a dark 'burtonesque' background. She is wearing a pretty blue & white gingham dress with a big matching bow and shiny peacock feather in her hair.

Since the move, she's been hanging in a special spot along our staircase, and I've been putting off listing her for sale until now, because I've really come to like her sitting there! It's quite a big piece - 19.5" x 15.5" x 0.7" wide or (50cm x 40cm x 1.5cm wide). Anyway, seeing as I've added the new "Buy It Now" feature to my website, I thought it would be a good time to post her for sale. (I've also posted her in my Etsy store if it's easier for you to go through Etsy to purchase).

In the meantime - I'm more than happy to see her sitting along my staircase. :)

Buy It Now through ArtByJaz.com!

I'm having some problems with my eBay store at the moment. So I'm making some changes to account for it. My painting "In The Darkness" was up for auction, but is now available to buy outright at $129 in my Etsy store. I've also now allowed for buying directly through my website! This is really cool - you can now just click "Buy It Now" under any available pieces and it will take you straight to PayPal! I would eventually like to sell only through Etsy, MadeIt (which is like Aussie Etsy) and my website. eBay is great for gaining exposure and that type of thing, but it's very expensive as far as seller fees and that type of thing. I heard someone call it "FeeBay" the other day and I think that summed it up perfectly! haha. Plus, if I don't have to account for Seller Fees - I can offer my art cheaper too!

Today is Monday. So first of all I'll be busy getting Kooky Tea Party Jewellery orders ready to post, and then I'll be on to painting. In between laundry, looking after an 18 month old, and other household tasks of course!

If I Was...

I decided to "borrow" this idea from Jess who "borrowed" it from Caroline.

If I was a month, I’d be October - It's still sweet Springtime, but it's still a little kooky.

If I was a day of the week, I’d be Friday.
If I was a time of day, I’d be 6pm.
If I was a planet, I’d be Earth I suppose...

If I was a sea animal, I’d be an Octopus.

If I was a direction, I’d be North.

If I was a piece of furniture, I'd be a comfy chair
If I was a liquid, I’d be a milkshake.

If I was a gemstone, I’d be a ruby.

If I was a tree, I’d be a Moreton Bay Fig (they have a long life!)

If I was a tool, I’d be a pair of pliers.

If I was a flower, I’d be a jasmine flower!
If I was a kind of weather, I’d be a sun shower.

If I was a musical instrument, I’d be the drums.

If I was a colour - I'd be pink.
If I was an emotion, I’d be surprised!

If I was a sound, I’d be a bell ringing.
If I was a fruit, I’d be a passionfruit.

If I was an element, I’d be Earth.

If I was a food ... I would be ice-cream.

If I was a place, I’d be home.
If I was a car, I’d be a Lamborghini.

If I was a material, I’d be 100% cotton.

If I was a taste, I’d be tangy.
If I was a scent, I’d be sweet!

You should play along too!

Boo!

The talk at the library yesterday - "Why I Love Cemeteries" - was quite interesting. Ariella fell asleep just before we went in, so that was great timing. Although she did wake up 40 mins into it, and I had to excuse myself and take her outside, but it was only an hour long talk so I didn't miss much.

They talked about what it is that makes people so interested in cemeteries and our fascination with what happens after we die. It seems that across all religions and beliefs we all tend to feel that there is something after death. A burial is the most common process after death across most cultures, although the different rituals that come with that vary immensely.

There are more cemeteries in the Redlands than I realised! I was also surprised to realise that there are in fact two cemeteries in Cleveland. Most people (including me - until yesterday) think that there is only one. The most unknown cemetery in was in fact created before the big one that we now know, and now has a childrens playground built on top of it! Although, there is a plaque there now though that informs people that it was once a cemetery. There are still graves there, however there are no headstones left. Some of the headstones from this older cemetery have been moved over to the new one though - because the oldest headstones in the "newer" Cleveland cemetery are dated before that cemetery was even opened! Interesting!

Anyway, I could go on and on all day about this...but I won't!

I've finished my jewellery orders for the morning (I got quite a lot yesterday!) :), and after I post them, I'll be working on my "Down the Rabbit Hole" painting for my "Mini Alice Series".

"Alice Finds a Snail" - 8" x 8" Original Painting

Library Talk...

This morning I'm busy getting some jewellery orders ready...then I'm off to listen to a talk at the library called "Why I Like Cemeteries". It sounds so interesting! I've always liked walking through cemeteries - not in a weird try-hard goth kind of way - but in a spiritual kind of way. I find it kind of therapeutic to wander around and look at people's headstones, and work out how old they were when they died, whether they were married, if they had children...and wonder what they were actually like.

More interestingly, this particular talk focuses on the cemeteries of the Redlands - which is the shire that I live in. So I'll be hearing about the actual cemeteries around here that I've been to, and that some of my relatives are in. I don't know how it's going to go really because I've got to take Ari with me (Miss 1 and a half) - so hopefully she behaves - which isn't likely with her track record on social outings lately...

Art wise - this afternoon I'm going to be working on the 3rd painting in my "Mini Alice" series. I sketched it up last night. It's Alice falling down the rabbit hole...weeeee!

"Into The Darkness"

Last night I finished one of my darkest paintings so far...it's aptly called "Into the Darkness"...and it features a black haired, big eyed girl. She's wandering amongst the trees, with her pirate mouse by her side, and a milk snake (not to be confused with a milkshake!) curled up in her hair.

I've been looking at a lot of Camille Rose Garcia's work lately and I think it's kind of showed in this work a little - with the "controlled drips" and all. The ants on her face were a representation of that slight discomfort you feel when you're in a place you're unsure of...emotionally or physically. It's amazing how something so much smaller and seemingly insignificant can affect you in a niggling way. They kind of just felt right to add in. Or it may also just have been due to the ant or two that may have crawled over me as I often lay on the floor and paint. :)

Anyway, I feel the price for this piece needs to be decided by the buyer, and not me, so I've put it up on eBay starting at only 99c! You can view it HERE:

Easter has gone by for another year. Oh, I miss those hot cross buns already!

"Time Flies for the White Rabbit"

Wow - it's already Easter! I really shouldn't be surprised, the hot cross buns have been at the supermarket for months. But in a way, the long weekend has still crept up and all of a sudden, it's Good Friday tomorrow! Today I finished the 2nd piece in my "Mini Alice" series. This one's called "Time Flies for the White Rabbit". It features flying clocks, cogs and gears, and of course - the mysterious White Rabbit himself. I thought it would be ironic to dress him in a shooting jacket. I wonder what he's hunting?

The whole piece is based around the notion of time. Lately I've been feeling like there's just not enough hours in the day. I want to push the "STOP" button. I need it to hold up just a second. It's all flying too fast. And I think this has kind of come out in this painting without me even realising it. Anyway, the original is up on Etsy for $49.

I've been reading the book "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff" by Dr Richard Carlson, and one of the chapters says that we need to stop treating life as an emergency. Maybe that's what Lewis Caroll was trying to get across in "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"? So now when I'm in a stressful situation, even just a small one like having to stop at a red light when I'm in a rush, I try to say to myself "life isn't an emergency". It sometimes helps.

Ok well I hope you all have a lovely Easter long weekend! Stay safe. And eat loads of chocolate. I will be!