cheeky Kaka...

We have been back form our little trip to the Wairarapa for a few days now and I am in shock thinking  there are only a few days left before I start back at work for the new year!!!   

On the top of my to do list was to visit Paul Melser a potter in Carterton, I bought some plates and bowls from him about 9 years ago and I was very keen to visit again and replace a few that had broken over the years.  He has a beautiful gallery and a workshop where he showed Ben how to turn a vase and then a plate on Ben's request.

We also went to Mount Bruce and enjoyed the beautiful native bush walks and wildlife... 

I think the highlight for Ben was the cheeky Kaka waiting for us to finish our lunch...

 ...so they could enjoy the leftovers.

 We also watched some native eels having their lunch... a little bit eeeew, but strangely intriguing.

Here is Ben next to a very tall friend.

It was really nice to see my god parents again and have a bit of a catch up.  I also managed to pick up two new galleries along the way that are interested in showing my work. So it was a good end to the holidays and a most enjoyable trip, I look forward to going down that way again, maybe this time I wont wait 9 years.

p.s... new mini house prints are being added today to my etsy shop (Sunday 30th January).

relatives by choice...

I have had a few emails and comments wondering whether I was doing any prints of my houses... well I have decided to do four of my houses on cliff as mini prints... they will be 4 x 6 {the size of a photo}.  I might also do a series of prints featuring my house on a hill.  So look out for these in my etsy shop soon... probably next week.

We are off on a wee holiday to Carterton on Monday to see Robin and Bill {relatives by choice} they are the lovely sort of people you choose to be a part of your family.  It will be a nice adventure, good to have a change of scenery before I start work the following week.

wonky smoke...

It has been really hot here the last few days so I haven't been doing a lot of painting, when I say I haven't been doing a lot I really mean I haven't been doing any.  But I did manage to do the painting above this evening {once it got a bit cooler}.  I am really liking the extra words in the backgrounds and the wonky smoke... also the strips at the top and bottom... a little bit of framing.

We are supposed to get thunder and lightening tonight so I am crossing my fingers, I love love love a good thunder storm!  

This weekend I am going to go mad making more pendants, I don't have many left from last year so I feel it is time to replenish stocks... I just hope my supplies will arrive in time.   I also have another idea in the pendant line that I will share with you once I have made a few... so stay tuned.

less than pleased...

Hmmmm... well I have spent two days trying to create communities and I am less than pleased.  I started out with the bottom right picture... the middle house is me and the little one on my right is Ben.  The one to the left is Hannah, she is 17 and is very eager to create her own community, hence her being slightly separated.  The blue below is like the blood that connects us... type thing.

So then I did the next one... bottom left, which is my Mum and Dad, flowers because they are both have green thumbs.  It is night time in their world at the moment {I just wanted to try the pretty black paper whose patterns I thought looked like constellations}.

After these two small little communities I decided to have a go at a bigger one... well, yeah it is a bit of a mish mash.  There are parts that I don't really like and parts that I like even less.  So I feel a little disappointed that they haven't really turned out the way I had hoped, and in saying this I am not exactly sure how I imagined them turning out.  I am coming to the conclusion that it takes a while to create a community, these things just don't happen overnight.

I have been watching "Pushing Daisies" love love love this...

the heart of our own communities...

{You are probably going to get sick of seeing these houses}

I have just finished Maeve Binchy's book "Minding Frankie" and the thought of not spending any more time with Frankie and her family is making me a little sad. I just loved it, I love how Maeve Binchy has written several books based on the characters featured in this latest novel... it is like catching up with old friends, so so good.


Reading "Minding Frankie" has started me thinking about how we are the heart of our own communities and how each of those communities are connected. Like a great big family tree, or like a crazy diagram a scientist would draw to describe the mathematical reason behind our connections, connections to places, connections to things and to each other. I am not sure you know what I am getting at but tomorrow, with this thought in mind, I am going to start a painting with a single house and build a community around it...

not entirely sure...

{I will list the above original collage painting and 3 others in my etsy shop and another 4 in my felt shop in the next few days}

I have heard of a few people who are starting the new year with a word to live by instead of a list of resolutions. So I have been thinking of a word and... well, I kind of come up with three that are sort of related.


Brave
Fearless
yes


The truth is... I need to get some guts... I don't like change, I get nervous around new people {I am pretty sure I can come off a little odd on first meeting because of this}, I over think situations before they even happen and I will more often than not say no because I don't think I will be able to do what is requested.


I am not entirely sure how I am going to go about making these three words a part of my everyday life yet, but I will keep them in mind as I head into 2011.