1st painting for 2015 - "Wattle Fairy"

Good morning! and Happy New Year!

We spent Christmas in Sydney and had a wonderful time with family! This week we're back home and back into work mode, although it is still school holidays, so Miss 6 and Baby A are both at home with me. So let's just say we're back into work/play/chaos mode!

This week I finished off my first painting for 2015. She's called "Wattle Fairy".

"Wattle Fairy" by Jaz Higgins

I can remember walking to school and smelling Wattle along the way. It's smells so pretty and it's like tiny little yellow pom poms decorating a tree! It is probably my favourite native Australian flower.

Wattle flowers.

 

The original is up in my shop for $275, including FREE postage to anywhere in the World. Actually, everything in my shop now has free postage! There are also prints of her available in two sizes HERE.

It's raining here today (which I love) so apart from one run to the post office, I will be painting! Stay tuned via Instagram for regular updates.

Hello 2014.

Happy New Year! 

We're back from camping over the New Year's break. It was our first camping trip with the kids and we're really glad we did it!

Photo courtesy of http://www.campingcountryaustralia.com.au

Notes (to myself) for next time:

Get a bigger tent. 

Our tent was a 4 person tent (but can really only fit 2 people comfortably!). Luckily we brought an extra dome style (beach) tent that we were able to store our 'stuff' in, because the floor of our tent was entirely covered with our beds. Which brings me to the next tip...

Get a better bed.

We had an inflatable air mattress, and yep, you guessed it, it slowly went down over night. Our friends that we camped with (more experienced campers) had a mattress that was half memory foam, half self inflating mattress, and I think that might be the way to go next time. Don't skimp on the bedding!

Take a marquee/gazebo.

We didn't take anything for shade at all! I was thinking we would hang out under a tree or in our tent, but it turns out that it was far too hot to do that. Thank goodness our friends brought a pop up gazebo with them, which we stayed under the majority of the time. We even had a little afternoon sleep under it, until I was rudely awoken by a goanna! But that's another story...

We camped at Charlie Moreland Camping Area in Imbil State Forest. It's a beautiful place to be. It really has a "middle of the forest" feel (because you basically are!), with birds singing and lots of wildlife around. There's flushable toilets but no showers, so you're best to have a dip in the fresh water creek there. We were there during hot summer days so it was fine to swim twice a day and the kids absolutely loved it! Talk about getting in touch with nature!

"Little Yabba Creek" Photo courtesy of Greg Roberts http://sunshinecoastbirds.blogspot.com.au

2014 has set in, Hubby is back at work, Miss 5 soon starts school (OMG!) and although Baby A is still at home with me full-time, I'm slowly getting back in to work and plan on ramping up my work time as the year goes on. I have a couple of commissioned paintings in the works at the moment, but I do have a couple of months waiting list, so if you're interested in a commissioned piece for the early part of this year, please let me know asap.

I haven't set in stone any resolutions for this year (yet?) - rather just ideas spinning around in my head. Getting away from the little studio under the stairs and sleeping out under the stars has left me feeling rather inspired! 

What are your resolutions for 2014?