I've got a good idea...

My three year old Ben, often says "I've got a good idea, shall we... blah blah blah, that be a good idea aye". I think he got it from me, but it sounds so much cuter when he says it.

(good idea #1)

(good idea #2)

(not a new idea... this is an old good idea #47)


(good idea # 3)

Last night I started trying a few of the good ideas I talked about in the previous post. Although I found myself being super careful, taking a lot of time and over thinking things I am pleased with what has happened so far... I guess that is the way I am with new ideas, until I know what I am doing and am sure of what results to expect when I do certain things, I will be careful and a little precious and that is ok.

I have also got a few new mediums that I am keen to try out including a wax varnish, wax medium and some interesting chalks that are displayed like an eye shadow palette. I have spent far too much time looking at these things thinking how great they are going to be. So next week I might actually try them, watch this space, I will hopefully post my findings soon.

This weekend my friend Gina D, from Sydney, is getting married. I am a little bit (a lot) excited as I haven't seen her for a few years. There will also be other friends there I haven't seen for a while either... so a lot of things to catch up on and memories to relive.

I hope everyone has a good weekend...

Well I am back at work again... it is good to see everyone and get back into a routined day again. The students don't start till mid February but I am pretty busy ordering brushes, paper, paint, mediums, ink and pens etc... I have a storeroom full of boxes to be opened and it will be like Christmas all over again.

little pencil drawings (a bit light) of new ideas...

I haven't been sleeping very well lately (I have things on my mind) and find myself getting up 4 - 5 times a night to get a drink or go to the toilet before I can settle into sleep. But last night I decided to do a few drawings to wile away the hours, I have posted one page of them.

I have had these ideas running around in my head about a different technique to try. I saw it on a poster a few years ago and thought 'I will try that one day'. Well I think today might be the day...? The idea is to paint colours in the background and then to paint over this leaving some of the these colours showing through becoming foreground characters. It will be interesting as I am thinking that I will be able to pick and choose which parts of the background I want to keep and what I want to dull back. Well that is what I am hoping will happen... will let you know.

I have no pictures...

I have done absolutly nothing arty in the last three weeks. But yesterday I got two phone calls requesting more pendants (as they had all sold) plus a few other works had sold as well and both galleries need more urgently. Town is busy at this time of the year, we are a bit of a tourist destination here in Napier and we have cruise boats coming in too. Yesterday we had three... we went to have a look at them and my goodness they are big! reminded me of the 'Love Boat'...

I find it hard to get things done in the holidays, with everyone around the house, no real structure to our days and the heat it is very hard to concentrate on anything really (and we have another three weeks or so to go till we go back to work and school). It is weird but in the middle of holiday mode I get this fear, how am I going to cope with going back to work... it seems to take us so long in the holidays to do the basic things let alone fitting 5 hours of work into the day as well.

So anyway today I started doing something, I made 10 more pendants and have thought about some more paintings, but haven't actually done anything about those thoughts... YET. I have this theory that I work with that as long as I do something towards my art work each day (maybe not the weekends) it is a good thing. So I think 10 pendants is a good start.

We are going to my Mum and Dads tomorrow to see my Fairy God Mother, she is up for a visit from Blenheim. She is a real live magical Fairy God Mother... I am lucky. I told Ben I think she is magic and he said "She is magic because she is magic" so she must be with logic like that.

We might also be going to Lake Waikaremoana (really beautiful) for a night or two later this week, and to Wellington to watch the Phoenix play next weekend... haven't really got plans sorted yet but will see what happens.

So even though the days are long and hot here there is not a lot of much happening... will post some pics soon of new works and maybe some holiday shots too.

hope you are all well...

three good things

'three sisters'

Well a few more days and I will be finished work for the year... Can't believe how fast the year has gone!!!

A few days ago my print arrived from the very talented and clever Michele Maule...
It was such a delight opening it, the packaging and presentation was just beautiful. The print was so much better in real life then on my computer screen, she also included a thank you print that I love just as much. So thank you very much Michele.

I feel bad moaning again, this is supposed to be a blog about my creative process. But I am finding my creative process is going down the toilet at the moment. I think my brain is slipping into a slight meltdown... I can't seem to think straight and everything seems too hard. But I guess that is just the way the creative process is sometimes.

It doesn't help having a few upsets arranging Christmas and now, me who usually loves Christmas can't wait till it is all over. Sometimes life just gets in the way of the creative process... I constantly feel like I need more time, more time to paint, to think about painting and to try different ideas. It is so hard to be creative when you have to grab a few minutes here and a few there...

I have always said I would never give up my day job... It is just too perfect BUT now little thoughts have been creeping into my head (especially when I read on other peoples blogs how they have had a great day in the studio) imagine a whole day!!! Financially it is just too scary at the moment, and doing it while Ben, at 3 is around is not easy, he says "oh you doing your art work, I will just look with my fingers" In shops etc I tell him to look with his eyes not his fingers. Also I think I'd have to have some kind of support network in place? So maybe it is an option in a few years? Any thoughts, ideas or experiences anyone has on this will be greatly appreciated.

Anyway I have nearly completed a few commissions that have been waiting for a while a part of one is the above pic, so that is a good thing. The third good thing is today we are going out for our technicians lunch to the Cider Tree.

I am tired

Ben thought there was something behind his curtain last night making a funny noise... we concluded it must have been a hedgehog under his window. Now I can feel the lack of sleep in a little pocket of my brain, in the between my eyes region. I also think it could be a little bit of hay fever as well it usually gets me at this time of the year.

I just heard on morning tv that they think Jesus was actually born in June sometime. That would be interesting... having a winter Christmas and everyone in the northern hemisphere will have a summer one. You will get pool toys and beach towels as presents, you wont have a hot meal it will be cold meats and salads, your Christmas cards will have pictures of Santa sitting on a deck chair sipping an ice cold beer and best of all... it will be warm and you can swim all day (that is my biggest memory of childhood Christmas... opening presents and then swimming till my skin would look like I was 87. I would love to try a white Christmas one day though.

Anyway back to reality... I have a few commissions I am in the middle of at the moment (was going to post a pic but left it at home) as well as getting more stock for the Christmas sales ready. At this time of the year everyday there seems to be something on, Christmas parties and last get togethers before the end of the year. I think I am sorted with my Christmas shopping... Hannah just informed me she wants a blue streak in her hair for Christmas and Ben wants chocolate.

I will post some pics of the commissions next week... they both have multiple girls in them which has been interesting to do.

I have also been picked for the December pikapackage have a look here...

Better go we are off to lunch today for our Christmas work party.

I hate being me... sometimes

These three are now finished...

Well I have just added two pendants to my etsy shop... and am about to send three more off to Kura Gallery in Taupo and take 3 into The Gilded leaf in Napier. I am super nervous, I am not sure they are good enough or whether people will like them, it is driving me nuts, I hate being me sometimes.

I am about to go and buy some new summer shoes in Havelock North (the place I was born and grew up). I have been wearing my old faithful winter shoes for far too long now and as summer is here my feet are just getting too hot...

hot and sunny... with a cool sea breeze

We had a wee holiday at Waimarama Beach this weekend... was so lovely to get away, and the weather was perfect, hot and sunny with a nice cool sea breeze. It was my friends husbands 40th birthday and they hired out this wonderful bach for the weekend. Was hard leaving Sunday afternoon especially knowing I was coming home to a messy house (we left straight after work on Friday and I turned a blind eye to the mess around me as I was getting ready).

(Waimarama Beach)

(Bare Island... view from the bach)

(the bach... our home for the weekend)

(looking down the beach from our front lawn)

On the art front, well I haven't done anything much for the last 4 - 5 days... But I have had a few calls from galleries saying they want more, so I will be getting back into it tonight (Just when I thought I was on top of everything). I also want to get some of the pendants ready by Thursday, I thought I would start with maybe 3 different designs just to see how they go. I will send them to two galleries and add a few to my etsy shop as well. I am a little nervous about doing this, I do worry about sending new things out into the world. Will people like them, or in the pendants case, will they fall apart etc...

Some of the work I sent out last month has been sold already so that is exciting, they were a little bit new, as in the materials used, so I was a tad nervous of the response. It is a relief that people seem to think they are ok. One piece got sold to decorate the walls of a shoe shop and the owner said people are more interested in the art work on the wall then they are in the shoes... funny.

just like me

Wow we have been having some very hot weather in the last week. It doesn't usually get this hot till January.

Here is a new girl, she has no hat, it blew off in the bout of storms we just had and she cannot find it.

I have made a few more pendants and have sorted out the backs of them so once the supplies arrive from treasuresntins etsy shop I can get on and make some more. I have had lots of people commenting the last few days asking where I got them from, such a nice feeling of validation.

It is a funny thing this creative life, I spend so many physical and mental hours thinking and making work, beating myself up and then every now and again I ask myself why? Why do I do this to myself? Why do I need to do this? Will this compulsion ever stop?...

Then someone I don't know makes a nice comment about something I have made and I reply, "I made it" and I fill with pride in myself. I am lucky I have this in me and I am lucky to have found a whole world of people who are lucky, just like me.

Jewels

For a while now I have been trying to find a way to make some of my works into jewellery... well the other night I finally did it. I bought these glass gems a while ago and last week I found a source for some bails (the little silver thing that sits on the back of the piece and holds the chain). Then yesterday I discovered some glue (water based binder medium) that sticks the printed side of the picture to the glass. Most of the things I tried interfered with the ink on the printed image, would smudge it or make it go all see through .

So here is a pic of my new jewels... I wore them in town yesterday and got quite a few comments, one lady said to me "Oh they look like a Katherine Quinn picture" I said "they are thats me"!!!

I often see something in a shop or magazine and get these good ideas of something I can make. But more often then not I don't follow through with them and they end up as a scribbled thought in my work book. So this year that is going to be one of my new years resolutions... to follow through and try new ideas.

stamps, apple lollies and wisteria...

I got these lovely stamps the other day from the Trade Aid shop in Havelock North... they have been beautifully hand carved and I don't know if I really want to use them they are so lovely.

I have had a few people question me about my collection of apple lollies... well here are a few pictures of them. Apple has always been my favourite flavour of lolly, not only because of the taste but also the visuals of the apple packaging. One day I decided to keep the ones I had just bought and start collecting more... I never dreamed I would ever get over 70 different kinds! I think it might be the biggest apple lolly collection in the world?

the largest apple lolly collection in the world!

a close up of the apple lollies

This photo was taken so you could see my lovely wisteria, I am so proud of it... last year it was just a few stumps poking out of the ground and now look at it. We are building a fence soon around this side of the house to divide the car parking and the BBQ area so I thought I would take some before photos.

I have just taken the storm girls from my last posts to a gallery in Havelock North. I had them framed by Kathy at the Gilded leaf and she has done a great job (as she always does). I also took in my Christmas Sales offerings this weekend, I can't wait to see the gallery all set up with the Christmas stock.

I also got an email back from the woman who was running the exhibition where I got into the Next magazine... and she told me the painting sold so that is good news.

I still seem to be feeling a little odd at the moment, am not sure why, it is like a restless energy where I feel I should be doing things but nothing I do seems to be right? There just don't seem to be enough hours in the day...

Sometimes there was a storm in her brain

Spring is really and truly here... the sun is shining, people are busy and happy and it's not even remotely looking like a storm is on the way but here is the last one of my storm trio. Although I don't think it looks as stormy in this one, maybe the storm is passing.

I have just got a few more finishing touches to get done for the Christmas sales, which have to be in this weekend, and then I am all finished. I had an idea to round all the corners on the magnets, prints and postcards... it looked really good on the first one and once I did that I had to do all the rest! But I am pleased with the way they look, they are more organic and friendly... I have friendly magnets.

I had another clean out of my store cupboard last night... because I have changed the way I do things over the last few months, there are some things that I don't need anymore... like my inks (I will miss their smell), drying racks and copious amounts of folders (why I end up with so many folders I do not know). It feels good to have a clean out though, I think it is an important job to do regularly as I found a whole lot of stuff I had forgotten about. Like these little peg things I was going to use to make a game and these coloured glue sticks I was going to make these funky spiky balls of spikyness with and a whole lot of other wonderful things. I hadn't quite finished last night with my task but the night was nearly turning to morning so I had to finish for the day. Will hopefully get more done tonight... might get around to taking pics which I will post soon.

Oh my!!!

I am honoured to be tagged by the very talented Michele Maule

Here are the rules...

1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Mention the rules.
3. Tell six quirky yet boring, unspectacular details about yourself.
4. Tag six other bloggers by linking to them.
5. Go to each person's blog and leave a comment that lets them know they've been tagged.

1. Ok so the first one would be my need to collect apple lollies... I have 79 of them (when I started I never thought there would be that many). I keep them in a box and the best part is when you take off the lid and the smell that hits you is wonderful. Also the packaging of apple lollies is so visually lovely, that apple green with a touch of red.

2. One day I think I would like to learn to sail...

3. I had a heart attack about 10 years ago and found out I had WPW.

4. I have these really odd little toe nails... they are like cats claws... When Hannah was born the first thing my brother did was check her little toes... (he declared her normal).

5. I want to one day write and illustrate a children's book...

6. my favourite sandwich would be nice grainy bread, vintage cheddar, gherkins, lettuce and salami.

Ok that was hard... now I need to tag people.

Journey through my mind
Tangled sky studio
Carine B
Amanda Gryphon
Musings by Artslice
The Crafty Chook

will look forward to reading your lists...



I did these two last night... we have a pretty stormy looking sky today and it seems like last night the above pieces might have been a premonition as we were supposed to have sun today?

We are walking down to the Marine Parade this evening to watch the fire works for Guy Fawkes (will be very dramatic with the moody sky as a backdrop).

Nesting time...

This is a sheet of images that are soon to be transformed into magnets for the Christmas Sales. I really love seeing them all together in this format.

I haven't done any work for last week or so, except getting things like the magnets and prints etc... ready for Xmas sales. I can feel this nesting thing happening now, it usually comes after I have had a break from creating and it is my body telling me it wants to do something, paint something, create something.

I feel an urgent need to clean my work areas and make sure I am stocked up on supplies, source more supplies, look at my inspiration scrapbooks. In my mind ideas are running around, getting ditched, being altered and reworked... I often have a vague look on my face and people think there is something wrong (I need a sign saying "it's ok I am just nesting" around my neck). A few days of this kind of thing and then I am into a new lot of work.

Now is a good time to be nesting and getting on with new work as I got a call this morning from a gallery to say they have run out and need some more work.

I am also thinking of having another show next year? will see how things go over Christmas and the new year.