falling to earth

(not crayons)

2012-01-21T11:09:00.004+13:00

I inherited these pastels (and lots of other amazing art supplies) from my husband's great aunt who passed away a year or so ago. I only met her once or twice but she was by all accounts a gracious and amazing lady. I hadn't drawn with pastels since I was about twelve; this is not anything amazing but it was a lot of fun! In keeping with the awesome old ladies theme, my grandma is in the picture.

(The canada goose is my favourite part)

girl + (boy) + beast

2012-01-12T17:41:00.002+13:00

homebirdies

2012-01-12T15:53:00.004+13:00

You are likely aware that I quite enjoy a bird or two. I've been away on a lovely holiday and I haven't even drawn a picture for some weeks (which makes me feel kind of icky...) But I've been pottering and tidying today, and wandered around admiring some of the lovely bird-ish things in our home... so I thought I would share them with you, in lieu of actual things I have made! (and also some flowers, 'cause I like those too).

I'm off to continue the sneeze-fest of tidying my painting and miscellaneous things-I-might-want shelves...

P.S. Acknowledgments must go to my darling sissy who has gifted at least half of this bird-related miscellany!

birthday-birds

2011-12-21T12:31:00.002+13:00

This was one of those things that just didn't quite appear in reality as my head imagined it... tried my best to salvage it though!!

festivities from my fingers...

2011-12-19T16:39:00.004+13:00

It's easy to think that having a birthday in the holiday season can be sort of sucky... and sometimes it is hard... but on the other hand everyone is in the mood to have some fun and to party a bit more, plus it's SUMMER, which is just grand...

{happy birthday ladies}

I'll be back with more birthday bits tomorrow!!

cheer-full

2011-12-15T16:57:00.004+13:00

Friday tomorrow - hope your week has been filled with blessings of all kinds...
xo H

journey + gifts

2011-12-01T12:57:00.003+13:00

and here are the missing two:

The one with the little family is still my favourite though.
I'm going to go outside and enjoy the super sunshine now!
Happy almost-friday!!

xo

ADVENTures...

2011-11-30T14:27:00.010+13:00

To be honest there aren't really any adventures in this post but I was trying to think of a title to do with Christmas and I do enjoy a lame pun...

Today I shall share with you some drawings I have been doing for my Sunday School class (3 & 4 year olds) for advent.

(actual size is A6)

Enjoy, and if anyone wants to share/use them please get in touch - I'd love to hear what you'd do with them!

(Wise men still to come... and the journey to Bethlehem - I just got so excited about the angels... must brush up on my donkey-drawing skills...)

(and apologies for the hideous quality of colour and cropping in these, I've yet to learn an effective way of photographing black pen on white paper!)
* I've redone the photos now so they are slightly less revolting...

(Oh, parentheses.)

The last one is my favourite.

Also in keeping with the festive theme, I am endeavouring to make some Christmassy birdies and things...

(a little bit of Christmas in my lounge)

Happy December for tomorrow!!

les fleurs

2011-10-27T15:37:00.005+13:00

I got this lovely silk scarf from St Vincent de Paul on my way home today.. Love the faded colour palette...
and some splashings and scribblings... This was the first painting I had done in a LONG time and it shows!!

+ just a little bit of fun

bluebells

distracting me

2011-10-20T15:48:00.004+13:00

Oh hello. Apparently Blogger just gets to decide which order my pictures go in and I don't get to choose. Never mind...

...can you tell I've been re-reading Jane Eyre?

We went to see the new film version (with Mia Wasikowska) a little while ago and I loved every bit of it... everything was just beautiful and I shed not a few tears...

And then I had to read the book again of course, which I only read for the first time last year. I'm almost finished it and I'm really disappointed to be almost at the end again. I love the words, the descriptions, I love it how she is kind of cheeky in a sly manner, I love her thoughts about God and faith and I love how much they love each other...

Yeah so I'm studying for an exam at the moment and it makes all the things like gardening and drawing and even cleaning SO much more attractive!! Why is that?

I drew these friends in between writing today...

Thanks for procrastinating with me!
xo H

spring + secrets

2011-09-28T16:40:00.004+13:00

On Sunday I got some beautiful daffodils from a sweet little friend who is four :)

+ here are some of my favourites from a wee secret project I am working on for my love... Shh!

titipounamu

Hooray for humpday - tomorrow is nearly the weekend!!

oh, hi september!

2011-09-23T08:47:00.003+12:00

My camera was out of action for a wee while, but I'm ba-ack!!
and here's a collage, a sunset and some happy homewares :)

three whole birds

2011-07-11T15:58:00.002+12:00

a set of three hand and machine embroidered works for the show at the end of July...

I've been thinking about what I might have to say in defense of these, my choice of subjects, given the rather weighty theme of the brief...

And I've also been thinking about the peculiarity of explaining my work in general. I definitely tend to edit my response depending on who is asking. If you are an interested bystander, not necessarily an "arty" type, I might tell you about how I love birds, I love working in small lines and stitches... To be honest I'd probably just mutter something and change the subject. But if you asked me from an ART prespective, (which I am equally uncomfortable with), I could tell you I thought a bit about grief as I made these, that the repetitive, almost obsessive action of stitching by hand is reminiscent of the way someone who is dealing with upsetting emotions might pick at a seam, or repeatedly smooth the same threads down, the way we look at the same things or gaze out a window, in order to avoid concerned eyes and conversation.
I could say the stitching of those tiny feathers made me appreciate how we are stitched together with utter love and care, and reminded me that it's impossible not to care for something you have created.
Maybe I could try to explain that I wanted to make something hopeful, even as I doubted what I was doing...

That's enough confused explaining for one day I think. I hope you like my fantails and sparrows anyway. Well you don't have to like them. But I hope you look at them!

xo H

stitching/mending

2011-06-17T11:16:00.003+12:00

I'm working on this for a show around the the idea of Tikkun Olam, a Jewish principle of faith that is usually translated as To Mend the World. (If anyone has more information about this, particularly in relation to the arts, I would love to read it - I found it difficult to find anything relevant with a Google search.)
Anyway I was working on this other idea for it, and kind of struggling, and then I talked to my friend Jo, who is curating the show... She looked through my workbook and alll mydrawings of ducks and other birds and whatnot, and pointed out that she considers those things can be "soul-mending". Which actually I so agree with. And has kind of been the point of my work in the past. So I am grateful for the opinions and thoughts of friends and lookers to steer me in the direction I need...

This is not a beautiful photograph but turns out white on white is rather hard to capture successfully...

various

2011-06-13T15:53:00.003+12:00

fantail making for a show... there will be more. I hope. I have to do LOTS. Of stitches. And thinking and drawing.

and some drawings for you from me workbook.

I like ducks.

birthday-girl-faces

2011-05-30T15:12:00.001+12:00

just some more imaginary girls for my lovely real-life girls...

pretties

2011-05-22T22:22:00.003+12:00

sorry the colours are a bit funny on here... I took these pictures in a big hurry so I could go and make MYSELF pretty for Saturday night... I did have fun doing their wee faces and imagining their outfits and personalities... I didn't think of their names though!!
They kind of rekindled my love for coloured pencils - when I was about fourteen all I drew was girls like this in endless variation.. using the very same coloured pencils!! (48 Classic Colour Faber Castell... How excited I was about that double layered box!!)

the end/the beginning

2011-05-19T16:02:00.007+12:00

I've just finished my workbook of more than a year... it's quite interesting to have filled it up, and be onto a new one, that will be completely different... Here are some of the last drawings I did in it:

AND THIS IT:

I have also just taken everything off my workspace noticeboard and redone it... I didn't consciously decide to make this a whole fresh start on my work.. but I think it's good.

I finished reading The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom last night. I was truly amazed and inspired by her story, and her family. The message of love and grace out of a story that could have been so filled with bitterness and hatred was astounding. Having recently finished reading The Book Thief by Markus Zusak as well, I felt they were quite good companions, in their utterly different tellings of parts of the same story. Each book made me consider another person's impossible position with true skill...
In case you couldn't tell by my wee review here, I think you should absolutely read them both! If you like reading you will love them and if you don't like reading, then maybe you will after this...
And thank YOU for reading and looking here. It really does make my day.

x H

little love

2011-05-16T12:49:00.005+12:00

rather than throw away a scrap of paper...

...give it a story to tell.

freakday

2011-05-16T11:57:00.004+12:00

I was meant to post this on Friday but Blogger wasn't playing...

Yes. More bears.

2011-05-10T17:10:00.003+12:00

been writing some wee stories on some of these...

and for everyone who liked these ones, here they are again!
I did like them all cut-outy... but feared their little jagged edges would get munched...

birthday bear

2011-05-02T14:44:00.003+12:00

I am rather fond of this little endeavour...
She puts me in mind of a Dr Seuss book we had. Maybe the alphabet one.

birds/bears

2011-05-02T13:20:00.002+12:00

I had to learn to draw bears in order to do this one. It's quite hard; they often end up a bit doggish. They made me think of that A. A. Milne poem... "and I say to them: 'Bears! Just look how I'm walking on all of the squares!' "

on a giant piece of paper...

(happy wedding)

when I was...

2011-04-15T16:00:00.003+12:00

...

a picture for friday
happy weekend <3
xoxo

borrowed

2011-04-14T16:11:00.002+12:00

Today is a purple day.
here is the dress I am wearing.

I have been playing a fun game today. You get an old jewellery catalogue that you didn't want to throw away 'cause it was too pretty... Paint gesso over the model... and draw your own girls in! I like it...

one to do next:

halfway done:

and I finished this lady off with a bit more "penning", as my four year old friends would say.

Friday tomorrow! That is a reason to smile. And maybe eat an Easter egg.

sun-day, rain-day

2011-04-12T10:00:00.006+12:00

a sunny autumn evening by the sea...

...and a girl in the rain. I got some new pens a couple of weeks ago but I have only just used them them this morning. They are very nice and black and skinny.

my kitchen is full of hot-cross-bun-baking-smell!

xo

things that are nice

2011-04-05T10:38:00.002+12:00

birthdays are nice. And so are homemade cards.

I have just made some raisin and oat cookies.

This song is making my heart sing.

Every single one of these dresses. (they are almost not nice because I want them all so much)

YOU are nice because you are here.

xoxo

bird-friends

2011-03-31T19:33:00.002+13:00

I worked on her some more and now I like her better

workbookness

2011-03-30T17:32:00.004+13:00

I started something on my easel today. It was one of those frustrating ones that you have in your head excalty what you want but it won't really come out right... But I have plans to redeem it. When I get a new pen.

This lady reminds me of Frances Hodgkins' Maori ladies in cloaks. Not quite as awesome, though.

scribbles from book. . .

coloured pencil drawing

2011-03-28T17:03:00.002+13:00

I'm learning to touch-type. It's pretty soul numbing. Or just really boring. Anyway I perservered today and then rewarded myself with drawing time.

kid craft

2011-03-24T16:00:00.003+13:00

I have been planning my Sunday School lesson this week (I have the preschool age group, who are super cute... and hilarious). The story this week will be Moses and Miriam, and the theme is sisters. The crafty activity has to be REALLY simple for obvious reasons... So here's what we are going to do. The suggestion from my resource book was to hmake "sisters" ourt of toilet rolls and decorate. Since I don't have 30 toilet rolls, I changed it a wee bit...
These remind me a bit of Lauren Child, who I utterly love.

S & H :)

xox

adventure

2011-03-24T14:23:00.004+13:00

I went for a wander... (find my fantail)

birthday blue

2011-03-22T20:50:00.001+13:00

feather-clad

2011-03-22T15:27:00.005+13:00

I have been drawing pictures for birthdays and other things.. they will be arriving in letterboxes soon :)

weirdos...

And these two are being framed up - one is staying and one is going :)

sun/wind

2011-02-21T16:03:00.003+13:00

garden.

a drive the other night... it was SO windy on this side of the peninsula. I love this photo.

birthday bird. (and a sketch for something else...)

ink and cardboard

2011-02-16T16:41:00.002+13:00

Just playing with pens and graphite pencils and gesso and coloured pencils and watercolour...

And birds. Of course.

I've given up on her left hand. It was too tricky.

But I did love doing the hair and feathers.

I kind of hate this one but I guess it was a good experiment in what not to do...

me + pen = bird

2011-02-09T15:52:00.003+13:00

It's been kind of a struggle for me to make things lately. I don't really know why. I think I've had that blank-white-page-terror. I haven't wanted to make when I've had time. I think I am mostly just afraid of it not being good, when it comes down to it. It's silly, but it's actually been like creative paralysis. Anyway, I was reading a favourite blog of mine this week and as always was in awe of other people's awesomeness. But more importantly, I was reminded that I am here and able and I have got gifts and blessings and sitting on my hands and worrying does not do me or anybody else any service. So I tried. I started. Now I just have to carry on...

They are all rather small. But I like small-ness. Maybe I need to learn to embrace big-ness too. But maybe not in this house. I realised that I love drawing the most and so I got myself some nice new pens to do drawing with... I might need to investigate some more quality artisty pens...

this is my noticeboard/inspiration wall/working drawings currently.

summer summer...

2011-01-27T16:38:00.003+13:00

Oh hello 2011! How can it be that January is nearly gone?! I began my year tramping in the beautiful very south of this island... followed by a birthday, a wedding anniversary, a wedding... And lots of lovely other things like beaches and friends from far away...That's where it's gone!

Here's some of my summer garden.

This sunflower won't stop going UP! it's nearly at the top of the door in this photo...

sweet peas
cute strawberries

And here are the details of something I am working on for my beautiful husband, who made me an AMAZING easel for Christmas. I didn't make him a card in time, but I will finish it soon!

Cards for Christmas

2010-12-09T15:02:00.000+13:00

angel season

2010-12-01T16:06:00.004+13:00

birthday girl xox

things I've been making for 10DayBoutique:
I saw some of these flags/bunting/whatecver you want to call it in a shop and REALLY wanted them... so I made some to sell... I've got red (below), blue and pink. Fun! (and mostly recycled too).

I am rather excited that it's December now! I love this time of year! The baking, the family and friends time, the holidays, the carols and hymns, the candles... just got this Christmas album to listen to and some of the tracks are so lovely - I love the old-fashioned-sounding ones.

I always try to make my own Christmas card although I somtimes make them so epic that I only have time to make a few...
I'm endeavouring to simplify so I can make more for 10Day. I have loved the idea of angels, partly because I can make them as girly and pretty as I want, and there is a lot of scope for generous glitter application (I am holding back on that so far though).
But in my head they are all flowing white robes and dresses and beautiful faces and amazing wings and songs in harmony.

This was a wee experiment... it's not amazing but maybe I can change some things to make it better. I want to make some three dimensional birdies to hang too. I do like things with wings...

it's been so long...

2010-11-18T17:40:00.004+13:00

Oh hello. It's been a while hasn't it? But here are some pretties I have been recently making...

It's nearly time for a another Ten Day Boutique - Hurrah! So I will be a busy bird making crafty things for that...

But first we are off to Welly this weekend to party with some soon-to-be newlyweds and lovely family. Can't wait to come home with fingertips full of inspiration!

oh love

2010-10-19T11:50:00.003+13:00

Here's some super-cute from my weekend

And this, finished :)

bright

2010-10-12T11:41:00.003+13:00

My today is bit shiny with the glint of possibilities. Hope yours is too.

xoxo

drip drip

2010-09-29T16:31:00.003+13:00

i do enjoy a bit of a drip and splatter.

i often go too far though.

treepeople

2010-09-28T16:40:00.008+13:00

I just got sick of bodies... think I may have started something...

(something for a birthdayboy)

I am very thankful that it is SO WARM!
xoxo

a garden day

2010-09-27T17:44:00.005+13:00

Here's a lady for you. I saw a girl wearing a pretty sweet outfit so I drew a picture of it. Approximately.

today was so full of sunshine... I played in my six-months-neglected garden and started tidying up a bit... It's not that pretty yet. But there is definitely less moss. I planted lots of potential pretty and tasty.

love the eyelashes on this little pansyface

painted faces

2010-09-23T11:52:00.015+12:00

words to follow...

xox

P.S. I'm sorry I know this blog is reeeeally ugly at the moment. I'm working on making it prettier.

snow on the hills/birds in the trees/flowers for me

2010-09-21T11:31:00.002+12:00

XOXO have a WARM tuesday. It's flipping freezing here.

real-life-floral

2010-09-16T10:14:00.005+12:00

I have been busy doing everything other than art but I'm hoping that changes soon and I become Mrs Productive. I have things in my head to put on the paper. Maybe on the fabric. Meanwhile enjoy Spring in my tiny garden. Every day there's more sun and my heart gets happier.

There are lots of sparrows and thrushes and blackbirds looking for places to build their nests, flying purposefully around with beaks full of potential nest. I hope they find somewhere close by...

when you have no lawn, daisies are kind of exciting.

I got a huge punnet of pansies for maybe $1 from The Warehouse in winter... they are now amazing!

Have a beautiful day xox

smile

2010-09-08T14:44:00.001+12:00

I was looking for something different but I found this

Hope is the thing with feathers/ that perches in the soul, and sings the tune without words/ and never stops at all/

-Emily Dickinson

it's nice.

bright

2010-09-07T14:04:00.002+12:00

some bits of my days:

congratulations-on-your-engagement-card

sunshine for my table!

cupcake and floral joy: I was reading this blog and I got seized with a desire to have some lovely tablecloths and placemats... shopping and sewing ensued.

Not quite happy with the faces yet but this is where it is...

spring love

2010-09-02T11:05:00.004+12:00

I have been working on some drawings for a picture I've been asked to create, of a lovely boy and his beautiful lady. They are pretty handsome. I am (mostly) enjoying the challenge of being true to real-life faces. And am excited to have free reign over the medium the final work will be in. I think watercolour. With some ballpoint too.

Ah, young love...

Spring is officially here in my garden! I have been impatiently waiting to find our what these bulbs are and I am really happy to see their little yellow faces emerge. Cute!

I am really feeling LOVE today and I hope you are too

XOXO

dripping monday..

2010-08-30T16:38:00.008+12:00

here is a little interlude from the rain rain rain...

These birdlets are finished and hanging out with my-friend-julian-the-framer-man. How exciting!

The sun shone. Oh yes it did. I was there.

Hello Spring...I see you peeking...

P. S. Erin I think I managed to make the images a little bigger for you? Yes?

fly away

2010-08-26T09:42:00.005+12:00

I was up at my ma and pa's the other day, and I finally remembered to bring my camera to try and capture the amazing number of birds that come to get fed by my faithful dad. You can lose time watching them come and chase each other and return.

Here's how I am at the moment. I dream of one day having a massive table (and enough room for a massive table) where I can have more than one painting board out at once...

tui + fantails... These are going to fly far far away

Happy Thursday!

xox

birdees

2010-08-24T13:00:00.003+12:00

More Tuesday morning glory to make you smile.
I am listening to a FREE download from the supremely lovely Brooke Fraser. You can have it too.

fantails and waxeyes. Cute.

magical morning

2010-08-17T10:19:00.005+12:00

Another Tuesday morning, another trot around the gardens...

Hello, Spring. :)

last week there were no little yellow heads nodding awake... I was so happy to see them today! I thought of Mary in The Secret Garden when she discovers the little bulbs coming up...

little blossom, big blossom

ladies on paper

2010-08-12T10:09:00.003+12:00

Present! I love presents.
Cutest box ever from Trade Aid.
Every time I go there I want about twenty things.

A morning's painting. Well half a morning. I love watercolour but I have to stop to let things dry... and also so I don't just wreck the whole thing...

daylight

2010-08-10T12:05:00.006+12:00

Number one: listen to Kate Bush. I know you want to. Once you stop laughing at her sweet dance moves you will never be able to get this amazingness out of your head.

a picture for a sister.

On Tuesday mornings I have an hour to use up while Matt has a class and today I used it quite well I thought, by going for a run in the gardens. I had an epic worship playlist, and it was awesome to watch the sun come up on the city...

i like green >

And I have been beginning a new work... turns out paper dolls were more like a means of getting to this, rather than the final product. I still love them though.

Hope the sun shines on your face today

xox

paperdolls

2010-08-05T09:55:00.004+12:00

I did some paper dolls all the way back when I started art school and they have been hanging out in one of my workbooks... At the time... it was supposed to be about how I might judge people based on what i first see of them.

But now I think it's also about the desire to be somebody else... I look, and judge, and imagine if I had her life how easy it would be, how different it would be, how much better it could be... But what do I really know of it?

And also it's just a bit of fun; wanting to be somebody else isn't always a bad thing. I love playing dress-ups.

Rosie on the right is my favourite one... although I do have a soft spot for geeky glasses girl too...

story...

2010-08-03T10:22:00.005+12:00

Isn't this feather just amazing? Maman found it on a walk and gave it to me... might be off a morepork? The patterns are incredible.

Once when I was a little girl I embarrassed my older sister (it's kind of your job when you are the younger sister, and I did a pretty great job without even trying most of the time) by crying at the museum. We were in an extinct animals exhibit, and I remember looking at these brightly coloured taxidermied (?) parrots and crying because none of them were ever going to be alive anymore no matter what anyone did. And yesterday when I was doing this painting, I was reading about Huia in New Zealand and how they all died out so fast because people just didn't realise what they were doing... or didn't care? And I felt that same feeling of incredible sadness and panic...

Anyway that's kind of what I was thinking about as I painted this. There's little bit of robin, fantail, kokako... and girl. It's not done yet but I feel way happier about it after yesterday so I am showing you the whole thing now.

here's happy story too

This morning I was wandering around Uni waiting for Matt to finish his class and as I walked under a tree something caught my eye - blossom on a tree - and then there was a tiny silvereye right by it too. And then I listened, and I looked up, and the tree was covered in emerging pink and tiny little birds celebrating and feeding. It was so amazing and I wished I could take a picture but I couldn't so I just stood and looked up and smiled and said ThankYou.

i'm back.... with birds and trees (surprise!)

2010-08-02T13:51:00.005+12:00

Here I am again! Thanks for coming to visit me from time to time - I love it when you look (and I super-love it when you write me a note!) I have been busy with lots of things including some new paintings which you can have a looky at now... :)

And here are some things from a picnic lunch at the gardens on a beautiful end-of-July day last week...

I found a fantail...

and some wee sparrows...

sunshiiiine!

P.S. If you are in old Dunedin this Friday the 6th you should absolutely come to an Art Auction at Wakari Church from 7pm... spend your dollars on pretty things AND help raise money for a kitchen in Nepal... there will be good things to eat!

mountains and things

2010-07-14T16:35:00.003+12:00

okay after I did that last post I felt so uninspiring that I went and started something. And now I feel better. And I also remembered that I was going to show you some pictures of my lovely weekend on the Crown Range in Central Otago :

and here is a beginning

birds in trees

2010-07-14T15:50:00.002+12:00

Little bit more work on this one. I am having a week that is somewhat unproductive artwork-wise. still time to turn it around tomorrow I guess! Things I am doing this week include baking, catching up with new and old friends, working...

tui + kereru

2010-07-08T17:40:00.007+12:00

Here are some studies, planning drawings for the my next painting. I was remembering the other day how when I was little I liked to imagine that the woodpigeons, because they had aprons, were the mummies, and the tuis, because they had bibs, were the babies.

And when you think about their personalities it is a little like that; one is so arrogant and beautiful and bossy, and the other is usually more quiet and cautious, but lovely in its own way.
(And there are so many many artists who beautifully render these birds (I love Jo Ogier's work), with whom I can't really compete... so mine will be bird-ladies.)

When I coloured these pigeons, I realized one of the hardest things to learn as an artist, for me anyway, is that nature doesn't happen in blocks of colour. We grew up doing a rectangle of green for the grass, a scribble of brown for the tree-trunk... but then you look, and see thousands of colours and it's really quite daunting, and I think I am often guilty of using the shade I think something should be, rather than what it actually is. In my head I always thought of woodpigeons as being a kind of uniform jade green colour but turns out they are actually quite a bit red-purple.

t is for tuesday and trees

2010-07-06T15:55:00.004+12:00

old autumn on my shelf...

I really do love drawing girls... .
Today I went for a pretty walk on the peninsula with my awesome Mum... Here are some sights we saw:

I love trees. A lot. There are too many things about them that I want to capture in my paint and pencil and stitches...
This afternoon. More will happen.
I hope you saw some nice trees today too
xox

Psalm 91:4

2010-07-05T16:48:00.006+12:00

"He will cover you with his wings, you will be safe in his care"

I might be a wee bit obsessed with these for the moment... We have this New Zealand Geographic and it has a really awesome article about Native raptors... they are pretty sweet.

KareareaP.S. Look at Boh Runga's pretties. Miromiro is mine :)

P.P.S. I just published this and saw how horridly unstraight the image cropping is. I apologise to all the pedants who read this...I know who you are.

accomplished!

2010-07-01T12:40:00.004+12:00

Rosamond and the birds of prey

(Karearea)

I have finally got all of these ladies off their boards so I am really excited about starting some new work and letting ideas out of my head onto the paper!

Mmmorning tea!...pretty I have been visiting with the lovely Pia and Jennifer of Moray Gallery this week and have five works that should be appearing on their walls sometime soon! Exciting times!

have a beautiful day xox

colour!

2010-06-29T15:43:00.006+12:00

I have started painting again after a break that had no particular reason behind it... except maybe I was a bit frustrated with what I was doing. I have all these wee ideas buzzing about in my mind and I really want to get these OFF and start something new!

This is my favourite bit.

And I did painting on these ladies... I think they liked it.

I have been having a pretty radical week so far - I feel extremely blessed and also humble because things that I have been struggling with have resolved somewhat and as always now I see that God is good and His timing is mysteriously perfect.

I hope you feel blessed in many ways too this week

xoxo

hooray for friday!

2010-06-25T16:27:00.004+12:00

Done! This was fun... and it didn't take a zillion hours to complete like some of my other projects... I have plans for more....

happy weekend x0x

jasmine

2010-06-23T11:08:00.003+12:00

I'm a bit excited. New things are nice.

Other nice things: carrot cake making for friends tonight... Alison Krauss and Union Station...new paintings in my head...it's not actually raining...Wednesday = halfway to weekend!

lovesongs and flowers

2010-06-22T13:56:00.005+12:00

i made an album of songs for some friends who are getting marriaged (yes) in a wee while... and then it needed a picture for the front. And yes, it has a fantail. (words from Jess Chambers, who is actually amazing.)

The pillow one. I have all these plans of next ones but then they take so so long I am not sure if I can justify them. But I want to do one that picks out all the background bits instead, and one using machine stitch, and more....

Happy Tuesday. I hear the sun shineth.

fantail love

2010-06-22T09:22:00.003+12:00

I can't stop loving them. They are too too cute.

a winter adventure

2010-06-16T14:10:00.004+12:00

this morning was so beautiful! And i was SO grumpy... I needed to leave my house and get in the sun. I went Doctors Point (any intelligence on the presence/absence of an apostrophe in there?), which is a not too far drive, but far enough that you feel like you've left. It happened to be low tide, so I wandered all the way down to Purakanui, one my favourite places ever. Here are some things I saw:

So many fantails! i could honestly watch them all day! I'd never really seen one on the beach before, but golly there were tons today!

Purakanui

(there i am)

dream?

2010-06-14T16:03:00.002+12:00

something new to do. My big sissy actually thought this one up... Old pillowcases have lovely pictures on them sometimes. I love it when my beginning materials are kind of unloved and apparently valueless. This pillowcase is horrendously seventies but actually when you look at the floral pattern the flowers are really beautiful. So I am helping them to make you look. I feel a bit weird about this because it seems somewhat akin to colouring-in-books which I have always despised. But it's really fun.

a bit pink

2010-06-11T11:27:00.003+12:00

something sweet...

and here's a bit of me at TenDayBoutique

new monday

2010-05-31T10:45:00.002+12:00

love birds

birthday bird

I can see blue sky!

here's something exciting (a bit).

I have a new blog just for my beasty project. It's called a-beast-a-day, and you can look at it here. What fun! So from now on this blog will be just for the painting/drawing/textiles... and all beastly goods will be elsewhere. I hope you have a wee look!

growing wings

2010-05-28T19:25:00.004+12:00

first it was just a wee beast in a teacup...

..but then it grew some wings...

interlude: are not these the cutest buttons you ever did see?
Yeah, me too.

Today I have been making some pretty swell bags. I kind of want to keep them all but Matt says I'm not allowed to...

YAY week-end! Hope you have a good one and it doesn't rain on your face.

xoxo

nice: cupcakes and birdbooks

2010-05-27T14:16:00.003+12:00

One of the joys of working at home is I get to use my pretty cups for morning tea... Miss Kimberley Cheyne is not only a bonza photographer, she also makes a mean cupcake!

Yesterday I got this fab book from the nice secondhand bookshop down the way... It's got illustrations by John James Audubon accompanied by photographs of the birds he painted - pretty!

yellow girl

these ladies have more background now:

I have to come up with a shelfy for my beast-babies for the show next week... ?!

gray.

2010-05-26T15:01:00.001+12:00

things i drew today...

and how this is going.

...the rain continues...

businesswoman

2010-05-25T11:54:00.003+12:00

I am getting cards made to attach to the things I sell... any thoughts as to which one I should roll with? or better ideas? :)

this one?

or this one?

or this one?

...or this one?

beasties, birdies, birthdays...

2010-05-25T09:49:00.004+12:00

The first beasties for a long while! I am selling them at the ten day boutique in less than two weeks... so I thought I should start again... then if they all get sold (aha) I will be in the momentum of making them so there will be more.

birthday bird

and a birthday girl

it is REALLY RAINING. I think my perception of how much it is actually raining is exaggerated by the spouting-induced waterfall right outside my front door.
I am listening to Regina. She always hits the spot.

workbook

2010-05-20T15:28:00.004+12:00

first here's some more autumnal goodness...It is a magical blue May day.

And here is some of my current workbook. Just 'cause... It can be nice to look at what people put on pages... so you can have a look at what I have recently put on my pages:
This is my book. Is that fabric awesome or what?

this is my favourite.

I decided I should do more things that scare me. In this category is drawing hands. So I drew lots of hands today. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

Aaaand here is this painting. I feel a bit daunted by all the leaves I am going to have to paint.

Friday tomorrow! Hurrah

xox

lupins and hearts

2010-05-20T11:01:00.002+12:00

finished one..

and maybe not quite finished one...

love and inspiration #2

2010-05-19T17:34:00.002+12:00

oh wow. (space for gobsmackedness)

...

I have wandered my way through the web-land to Katinka Lampe. Her work is SO amazing, it makes me want to cry. I feel like I could rave on and on and on about it but I'll leave it there and you can look for yourself if you want.

P.S. I took all my finished work (textiles and painting) to the framer today. It was a bit like a kid's first day of school... Knowing that they are gone from my hands and being made a bit new is weird.

archives...

2010-05-18T15:27:00.003+12:00

first here is some real life pretty

Feeling pretty clever cause I have figured out how to lace them onto backing - now I won't have to pay someone else to do it! Going to visit the frame-man tomorrow...

one last look at the back...

wet paint

2010-05-18T10:18:00.002+12:00

it is really freezing.

I had to start this one again because the paper I used first did not like to get wet.

Another new... I cropped it a bit 'cause there's nothing like taking a photo of your painting to see what's wrong with it...

autumn love + a new painting

2010-05-17T15:55:00.002+12:00

Do you wish a little bit that you were part meerkat, part lady? Yeah, thought so.
But maybe it's not all it's cracked up to be.

a Saturday evening walk...

rain, sweet jerseys, stitches and lemurs (again)

2010-05-13T12:29:00.002+12:00

Just wanted to show you my hot look right now. I got this jersey from my wonderful friend Eva because it wouldn't fit in her moving-to-melbourne-suitcase. It's magic.

And here is this lassie. I am a bit over this whole thing right now... it's kind of like a nonsense work to me right now (if you can have a nonsense poem you must be able to have a nonsense artwork, I feel) .

But here is a new painting I am starting which I am much more excited about.

happy rainy thursday xoxox

looking..

2010-05-12T09:32:00.006+12:00

(detail from Jane 2010)

check out this fantastical beast-girl (the very last one, "fin III") by Joao Ruas...
I am having a nice time looking at what other people do...

One place I looked there seems to be a lot of really shiny, beautiful girl paintings, kind of hyper-real, too-beautiful semi-nudes... I don't know if I really like them. I certainly admire the talent and skill that goes into such life-like figure painting... But what's the difference between a photo of a gorgeous, semi-naked girl, and a photo-real painting of one?

... on a somewhat different note... I have this year decided I need to read more classic novels, like Jane Austen, Bronte (how does one do the ..?)... And I have just finished Jane Eyre, which I had never before read apart from a stupid abridged version when I was about eleven. I loved it. And this passage really spoke to what I was thinking about.

"I ever wished to look as well as I could, and to please as much as my want of beauty would permit. I sometimes regretted that I was not handsomer; I sometimes wished to have rosy cheeks, a straight nose, and small cherry mouth. I desired to be tall, stately, and finely developed in figure; I felt it a misfortune that I was so little, so pale, and had features so irregular and so marked. And why had I these aspirations and these regrets?..."

species.

2010-05-10T16:38:00.003+12:00

some drawings from today... I have this big craving to draw animal-people. Peopanimales...Animeeples?

(i love lemurs)

and stripey things

new "beautiful" paintings

2010-05-07T16:06:00.007+12:00

Okay, don't laugh. I have only just discovered that one can, in fact, upload more than one image at a time to a blog post. Pretty stoked right now. Today has been a day of mildly foolish discoveries.

So anyway, here are some finished! paintings of things to do with girls and being beautiful and feeling unbeautiful sometimes... and other things that relate. Enjoy :)

perfect girls don't exist

Jane

hello fantail

2010-05-03T13:59:00.011+12:00

This little love has been coming to visit LOTS over the past few days and I can't resist going out to say hi and stirring up my compost heap to make the flies come out! He is so cute and baby and friendly!

Now I really must not let its cuteness distract me again... Although the distraction is not in vain because I plan to use the photos I took.

Haha in other news there's Paradise duck stopping traffic on Moray Place just now... it's hooting all over the road, is apparently unwilling to fly away, and there's a policeman looking after it so it doesn't get squashed by a car... I hope it finds its other half.

self...

2010-04-29T14:16:00.003+12:00

I've been pondering a bit on beauty and vanity, and pressure on girls to be more than they are... The paintings that I am working on at the moment are exploring these kind of ideas, about perfection and the impossible aspirations we have... and the consequential feelings of not measuring up. We've been making our way through the 1st book of Timothy, and wrestling a bit with what Paul says a woman's role is. The Message has a really nice translation of one part though:
...I want women to get in there with the men in humility before God, not primping before a mirror or chasing the latest fashions but doing something beautiful for God and becoming beautiful doing it. (1Tim 2:9-10)

It's a good perspective to have, and compared to older translations of these verses, actually makes sense and encourages, rather than listing Don'ts for girls.

Anyway... I shall be thinking and drawing and painting on these things.

of an avian nature (+ a bit of floral)

2010-04-29T12:29:00.008+12:00

^
I got this bird book last week for really cheap from a second hand bookshop... it's kinda dated but the pictures are still beautiful. I was drawing birds this morning...

And then this wee guy came and cartwheeled around my garden. This is the only shot I got cos he was WAY too quick!

new:

And here's how this one is coming along. I think some unpicking may need to happen in places. And I also think I need to not look at it for a wee while. I shall work on my happy girl instead.

Have a beautiful Thursday
x

the rain has stopped!

2010-04-28T09:48:00.005+12:00

Ooh I just discovered this beautiful work by Joe L'Estrange.. who I was mostly attracted to because of the name... but it's really stunning. And restful.

My own roses are almost done, hurrah!

Here are some paintings I worked on last week...

I'm going on a field trip now.

xox

beast leaf leaf girl

2010-04-22T12:54:00.005+12:00

A beast for today. I feel a bit beasted out or something... maybe need to give them a rest for a while? or maybe just try a new technique... I still think doing some small daily project is a really good idea but maybe I need to think up a new one that feeds me better to start the day... shall have to ponder.

a leaf drawing and some nice leaf skellies that I forgot were in jacket pocket...

a wee girl and leaf that is falling... which is funny actually because until I drew the girl the leaf just was.

#2!

2010-04-21T15:39:00.006+12:00

Haha okay I have to confess that every time I begin a new work and I think about what I will say about it on my blog I get that song "The Start of Something New" from High School Musical stuck in my head... Yeah.

Here's another sunflower 'cause they are nice.

love

2010-04-21T09:52:00.005+12:00

cupcakes are nice

not so fond of this fella.

today is To Write Love On Her Arms Day. A worthy cause in which to participate.
There's a link over there to the site>>>>>>

pink

2010-04-20T16:51:00.003+12:00

Today has been a lovely weather day! And I have had quite a jolly afternoon doing this:

and trying to learn harmonies for worship songs...La la la
(the latter is definitely the kind of thing you should do alone...)

Happy Tuesday xox

Ick the lighting in these is not wonderful, is it?

little lights

2010-04-19T13:06:00.007+12:00

friday.

I LOVE putting things in colour schemes...

today: little light.

I love the feeling of those two words; little light
like they are small but full of hopefulness. And I have been realising that what my current works are about is in a similar direction as the song I wrote about last time (Desert Song) - that no matter what the climate or the season, there is joy to be found, it just requires our acknowledgment. It isn't easy, but I think it's a worthwhile challenge to try and live life that way. To see the glory that's in my path each day and be lifted up by it. Like Jill said, God doesn't change, even if our circumstance does. It's good to have faith in someone so much bigger than the triumphs and disappointments of my small life.