Planning for July?

This month I've been busy working on four big commissioned paintings, plus the newest "Lover's Eye II" and "Frida and the Dragonfruit". So needless to say, there's been a lot of paint splashing around the studio.



Somehow I also managed to pick up a head cold, so I've been trying to rest when I can, but thankfully I have had help from my family to juggle work and the kids while not feeling 100%. As a "work at home" mum and full-time artist I am so grateful for the support from my family, friends and customers. I can't say thank you enough.

I've listed a couple of available original paintings below that I've added this month, including the new "Frida and the Dragonfruit", inspired by the beautiful Mexican artist, Frida Kahlo.

"Lover's Eye II" $29.99 Buy Now "Frida and the Pomegranate" $99.00 Buy Now "Frida and the Dragonfruit" $99.00 Buy Now

Yesterday was the Winter Solstice here in Australia, and I'm now planning out July with my new colouring in calendar. To grab yours - sign up here:

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That's all from me for now, I will share some new paintings with you soon! Have fun colouring and planning!

 

Wednesday Catch Up

I woke up this morning to see bidding has begun on my "Alice and Absolem (the Caterpillar)" original painting! I popped it up for auction yesterday starting at just $1, so that hopefully everyone has a chance to bid. 

 
CLICK HERE TO SEE THE AUCTION FOR THE "ALICE & ABSOLEM" ORIGINAL PAINTING! 

 I've been busy working on commissioned paintings this month, but I did get the chance to do a little eye study the other day - it's only 4" x 4" - and would look interesting on a bookshelf or among a bunch of other art work. I've popped it up in my shop HERE. {UPDATE - It's SOLD already!}




I really enjoyed working on such a small scale, and looking at the details in the eye. I think I might make a little series of these paintings, so having the first one may be a real collector's item someday!

I've just sent out my "June" colouring in calendar to my mailing list - so if you're not already on it, jump on here:

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Donut know when I'm going to finish this painting...

I couldn't help but begin this with a donut pun. #sorrynotsorry

I've had donuts on the brain lately. I'm seeing them everywhere. I'm pretty sure they're 2015's answer to the gourmet cupcake.

So it would seem that the only reasonable thing to do would be to create a Donut Princess. I mean, there is a Donut King after all? Maybe she should be called the Donut Queen? No...I think this one is a Princess.

I started by just roughly painting in a bust of a half pink/half blue haired girl, with several donuts falling around her. I wanted her to have a crown, and a donut tiara seemed to fit just right.

Then I did what every great artist would do, and tracked down some still life reference materials to work from. Thanks Krispy Kreme.

I continued to build up some of the layers of colour on the donuts, and start to work out what each one will look like. Sprinkles, icing, coconut, chocolate flakes...so many possibilies!

 


...and that's where she's at at the moment. I've got a few other projects on the go, and some commissioned paintings to finish up this week. So "Donut Princess" will have to wait a while...

In the meantime I would love to hear from you if you have any ideas for a painting! And if you're not on my email list, jump on there and every now and then I will send you special messages. :)

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"Blessed Mermaid"

Hello Monday!

Our weekend was mostly filled up with catching up with friends and family. The weather is still HOT here in Brisbane Australia, so I would've been happy to sit at home in the air con all day, but I'm glad we got out and about. :) We went to Wynnum yesterday for lunch and the kids loved playing on the whale park.


On Saturday morning I finished and listed a new original painting "Blessed Mermaid" up for auction in my eBay store, starting at $1.

"Blessed Mermaid"

 It's 15cm x 30cm on stretched canvas, so it can hang on the wall or sit on it's own on a desk or side table.

It looks like the week ahead will be filled with lots of painting with a couple of commission requests coming in this weekend. It's fun to do custom paintings now and then. When I'm painting I can have a million ideas running through my head, and I never really know where the piece is going to end up. Sometimes I can start painting a mermaid and it turns into a fairy. But with a custom piece, I am working with someone else to bring their ideas and dreams into being. It's really a team effort!

Even if you don't want to commission a painting for yourself, I would love to hear any ideas you might have for paintings. Feel free to message me anytime on Instagram or my Facebook page.

Here's to a great week!

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"Fairy of the Crescent Moon"

We've had blue skies here all weekend, here in Brisbane, Australia. We've said goodbye to Winter and Summer is well on it's way with really warm weather today. We went to the farmer's markets this morning to grab some fruit and vegies, and Miss 5 picked up some water bombs, so we spent a few hours today running around the backyard throwing these at eachother! The kids think it's hilarious!!

God I love weekends.

Friday night I also listed a new 8x8" painting I've been working on. It started out like this:

As I worked more on the facial details I felt I wanted to make the background darker and layered over it in a darker teal wash. Her wings also transformed from "butterfly" to more of a "bat" style. 

I then decided I wanted to make the background even darker and she started leaning towards having a more gothic feel. 

I swear these girls have a mind of their own. A lot of the time I have a pre-conceived idea on what I want the painting to be and almost 100% of the time it doesn't work out the way I imagined. They seem to morph along with the creative process in to whatever 'they' want to be.

So she ended up as this:

"Fairy of the Crescent Moon"

I've popped the original up for auction here on eBay starting at $1.

 Quite a few original paintings have sold this week, however I've still got beautiful paper prints of them all up in my shop. The original paintings that have sold this week are:

"Taurus" (Fairy)

"Little Tree Nymph" (Fairy)

"A Splash of Colour" (Mermaid)

and

"Turtle Cove" (Mermaid)

My Halloween Sale has been popular also! It continues this week with 5 of my art prints at only $10 (A4 size) or $19 (A3 size) (with free Worldwide shipping!).

Tonight I'll be getting ready for the week ahead, and hopefully getting some more work done on some commissioned pieces and maybe even this mermaid painting I've started sketching out:

 

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I hope you had a beautiful weekend! 

"Cloudy Night Fairy"

The past week I've been mainly working on commissioned paintings. Hopefully I will share some with you very soon, once I've got the ok with the clients. We've also been painting our house! This past weekend I sadly had to paint over my chalkboard wall next to my desk and work area. It's been really handy, but we're painting the entire house in one colour, and it was time to paint over it.

Goodbye blackboard wall!

In between commissioned paintings I've also been working on a couple of 8x10" pieces. I finished "Cloudy Night Fairy" on Friday night, but have only just had the chance to scan her in and list her for sale tonight. 

"Cloudy Night Fairy"

I'm loving her batty wings!

As well as the original painting, there are 8x10" prints also available HERE.

 Today I began working on an Easter themed painting. Not an Easter painting in the biblical sense, but rather focusing on the more commercial (superficial?) Easter fluff. Everywhere I go there seems to be bunnies, eggs, and hot cross buns, so I guess it's only natural that I have pastel coloured Eastery dreams floating around in my head.

The beginnings of an Easter themed painting.

This week got off to a rough start with my Dad being involved a motorbike accident yesterday. Thankfully he's fine (mostly!), but it was a scary start to the week none the less. I need to explain to him that he's not 16 anymore. He really needs to cut out the extreme sports antics.

I'm off to get some orders ready to post tomorrow and catch up on The Oscars.

Goodnight!

Slow down!

Ok I know that I said my "theme" this year is "ramping it up", but 2014, you may have taken me too literally. Things are "ramping up" here a little too fast for my liking.

Miss 5 started school last week!

My tiny baby girl is starting school!!!

 I've been thinking I will have a ton of extra painting hours while she is at school, but it isn't so. We're still getting into the swing of things, but so far it's been busy! Lots of art related work with Baby A as my rather high-maintenance assistant has made sure that there hasn't been a dull moment.

My Personal Assistant.

Mostly I've been working on some commissioned paintings. I just finished the "White Rabbit" themed piece that I was talking about in a previous post. Hopefully I can share some pics with you soon, once the painting is safely with it's owner (it's currently Europe bound!).

 Today I'm busy working on getting a wholesale order ready to post, along with a commissioned painting that has a February deadline. While I'm excited about things 'ramping up', I'm also keeping in mind that it's important to slow down and take in the little moments too. It seems like only yesterday I was holding Miss 5 as a newborn in my arms, and now she's off to school. How the time flies when you're having fun.

That's all for now - Baby A is asleep so it's the perfect time to get some real work done.

Wish me luck! :)

Ramping It Up

I've noticed the trend for New Year's Resolutions this year is to not have one, but rather have a 'word' or 'theme' that you are keeping with for the year. I have a few resolutions in my mind that I've roughly set (the usual - eat healthier, move more, paint more, write more), but my theme for this year is "ramping it up!"

It mainly relates to work, but also a few other areas of my life too. Baby A is nearly 10 months, and slowly gaining more and more independance, and Miss 5 is off to school, so there's going to be a change in routine this year. I still plan on mainly working from my home studio, and slowly ramping up my hours as we go. With Baby A home with me most of the time (at least until he's weaned from breastmilk), I can't go off 'maternity leave' completely, but I think I can dedicate a few more hours to painting than I've been able to the past few months (in between feeds, sleeps & school pick ups!).

I've started taking on some commissioned pieces again, however there's still a waiting list of a couple of months, so if you have something in mind, let me know as soon as you can. :)

Today I've been working on this little guy:

It's going to be a White Rabbit painting for a baby boy! He looks a bit scary at the moment, but it's just the under-painting part. This is only a section of the painting, because I don't want to give too much away just yet, but I hope to share the whole thing once it's completed. Most of my paintings feature girls, so it's fun to work on something with a boy theme!

Speaking of boys, I have a 9 month old one that needs my attention right now. So that's all folks!

 

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?

 

 

Christmas Hustle and Bustle

December is a crazy, busy, silly month...and this year is no exception. I decided not to do any markets this year, as Baby A is still so little, and the month really is busy enough. Thank goodness I made that decision because I really don't know where I would've fit them in. Print orders have been coming in steadily, and despite saying that I wasn't taking on any new commissioned paintings, I still had a few to finish with Christmas deadlines. Not to mention Christmas parties, preschool graduation, kids parties, present shopping, ipad repairs, family visits and endless trips to the post office. It just hasn't stopped. It's all mostly fun, but busy!

Then there's Christmas cards. There's a lack of paper cards arriving in my letterbox in recent years (thanks internet!), but I do think there's something nice about receiving a special card via snail mail sometimes. I also love when Miss 5 recieves little Christmas cards from her preschool friends - each with their own unique spin on them (whether it's a candy cane or carefully handwritten note with newly learnt handwriting - so cute!). So this year I made 33 of these little cards for her friends, thanks to the idea from MakerLand (via Giggleberry Creations).

Merry Christmas Lollipop Cards!

I really have to stop and check myself sometimes. What am I doing all this for? Oh that's right, to have fun. So that Christmas is enjoyable. So that my family is happy and I'm happy and everyone's having a good time. So stop...breathe...and don't freak out if the ribbon doesn't match the gift wrap. 

R-E-L-A-X!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 Here's one of the paintings I finished for a lady this week. She has previously purchased two of my other paintings and wanted a third to add to the set. This is simply "Pretty Pink Flower Fairy".

Rough sketch of the painting

Finished painting "Pretty Pink Flower Fairy"

Obviously the original painting has already sold, but if you like her, there are 8x10" prints available here.

As I write, it's now 2 minutes to midnight, and I could really use some sleep before another busy weekend/week ahead. If you are reading this, I hope in this week leading up to Christmas you have lots of little moments where you can stop, enjoy it, and take it all in. And I hope that I can take some of my own advice! 

Goodnight!

Growing and growing!

Lots of things are growing here. My babies are growing at a rapid rate, baby A is nearly 8 months old, and Miss 5 will soon be graduating preschool. Waaaaah!

Art orders are growing in the lead up to Christmas. The majority of my work is done at night when the kids are in bed, but I also work on bits and pieces through the day if I can. I have a couple of commissioned paintings with Christmas deadlines on them too. eek!

Packaging art prints at my desk.

(You can find a list of my online stores HERE.)

My little garden is also growing!

I starting to find a few tomatoes popping up on the vine. I'm so happy - these are the first fruits I've grown from the seeds of scraps.

This is a photo update on my passionfruit plant that I spoke about in an earlier post. It's also grown from seeds from scraps of a passionfruit I had in my fridge. There are two new little shoots also popping up in the pot - but I think they're weeds.

I grabbed some garlic cloves that were on the clearance table at the fruit shop ($1 for heaps of single cloves!), and I've been planting them as they sprout. The second photo is of the shoots that popped up only a couple of days after planting them.

While I'm far from being a farmer yet - I'm having fun watching how things grow and I get a kick out of it when I actually get something right. Like, when I saw an actual tomato on the plant I grew from smooshing a few old tomato seeds into the ground. It's kind of magic.

 It's nearly time to put the Christmas decorations up! I think I'll put the tree up in the next week or so. Is your tree up yet? Do you believe it's bad luck to put the tree up before December 1st? Let me know in the comments below. Also - let me know what you're growing in your backyard/kitchen bench/pots...

WIN an original painting!

It's no secret I love Halloween, so in between working on some commissioned paintings I've been sketching and painting away on this 8x8" jack-o-lantern piece. These are baby "pumpkinlings" - little baby jack-o-lanterns with bat wings! You can enter to win this original painting by entering the competition below! It's very easy! :)

Win this "Pumpkinlings" Original Painting!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I loved painting these little guys and I'm hoping to feature them in other paintings in the future.

I bought Baby A his very first Halloween outfit today, which I'll keep a secret until I can show you. It's so cute! I'm still working on Miss 5's. She wants to be Marceline the Vampire Queen. 

Today was Miss 5's birthday party with some of her preschool friends. Needless to say I'm pretty tired and looking forward to hitting the pillow tonight. But for now - GO ENTER the competition to win an original painting! :)