(am still working on the background)

(this is the one I fixed the face on)

These are what I did last night, neither are finished but both are coming along nicely. I am slowly getting the hang of painting the backgrounds and getting the effect I am wanting. One thing I am really loving is the new chalk pastels from Pebbles Inc I got a few weeks ago, the ones I think I mentioned that are like a blusher makeup kit. They are so much fun and easy to use especially with the little pom poms and applicator tool. I feel like a make up artist as I apply shadows and cheeks on my girls.

I don't know if any of you know of the Pebeo brand (I think it is French)? but they have a wonderful gloss varnish... Well, on the face I touched and wrecked late last week while waiting for the varnish to dry I was able to sand it and re-apply some of the chalk pastels and then do another coat of varnish and it looks pretty good. It comes in a gloss and a mat, but I find the gloss a lot easier to apply an even coat.

I am really enjoying this experimenting with mediums and materials, in the past I think I had such tunnel vision. I didn't seek out new things, thought they were a waste of time as I thought I knew all I needed to know to get what I wanted onto paper. But telling myself it is ok to experiment and play has been the most unwaste of time ever.

We are thinking of the possibility of going to England in the next school holidays (easter time) to visit my partners family. I am quite excited (very excited in fact) at the thought and a little scared as well. I am interested to see what the stars are like up in that part of the world.

back to whispered memories...

Ok... so I am back here again with my girls, I went home and had a play and well lets just say it didn't work. I am going to let things happen when they happen and not try and push things into directions that just aren't right.

Does anyone else have these internal struggles with their creative bent?

This is a memory of stealing plums from the neighbors tree, I know it sounds bad but we had no choice but to steal them. Our neighbor would eventually give us the plums if we waited... waited until they dropped off the tree and she would kindly bring over a bag of nearly rotten ones!!! I liked them when they were still a little firm, slightly crisp, tart and make you shudder on the first bite.
We got caught and told off many times stealing these blessed plumbs but one day I had a really cunning plan... a plan that was so cunning we never got caught again.
We would wait till 6:07pm the nightly news was well under way and the neighbors would be on the other side of the house oblivious to us scampering up the tree picking the precious plums.

This is a memory of my brother and me who thought our Aunty Laureen owned the beach she lived near... I remember many fights with the local kids bragging about our Aunts ownership (I don't paint boys so my brother is a girl).

Changes...

I have changed my blog format a little, thanks to a helpful link on Kelly Rae's blog.

Things are chugging away nicely in my art world and I have got a few ideas for some new work, also some new different work, if that makes sense? It is just a matter of finding the time to give them a go.

We have had an interesting week... Hannah's arm is now in plaster, a hockey accident, she clashed with another players stick. I have a cut between my eyes at the top on my nose, Ben shut the door of the car on my head. He was more upset then I was I think.

I also now have a Trunkt portfolio as you will see on the right hand side on my blog if you scroll down... interesting to see how that goes.

will be back soon with some pics...

close to my heart

I have started a new lot of work and these are the working drawings...

I am getting used to arms and hands, they are getting easier... but still a little odd. With the holidays coming up I am hoping to get these 7 done before I go back to work. The series will be called 'close to my heart'. I am excited about starting these and am itching to get started, but there are a few things I need to get done before I can truly start.

All the colours are changing in my eyes

I would like to thank everyone for their kind comments and support of my new Etsy shop. I got my first feedback yesterday... very exciting. I feel Etsy has given me something I have wanted to do for a long time. A community of like minded people from around the world, it is such a wonderful thing to be part of.

I have become quite fond of green in the last few months... with a touch of red. My daughter thinks they look art deco, very apt since we live in Napier.

I told them to smile but these three are a rather sombre lot. I am finding it interesting when I put hands and feet on the girls they seem to look a lot younger then with these long arms? For me the long arms make them seem wise. Like when my children were in my tummy I thought of them as being amazing, clever, highly intelligent creatures growing all the right bits in the right places to survive in the world they were soon to enter. But once they got to our world they instantly become helpless and are now having to learn how to survive again. And it is up to me to put those pieces in the right places for them.

In the past my girls would stand there all cool, calm and collected with whatever was going on around them happening in the background. Now they are starting to interact with their background and it is a whole lot of new things for them and me to learn... how they hold things, where their arms bend and how their feet sit on the ground etc...
and it is a little bit like giving birth again.

One of the sisters...

I am not sure which one of Sleeps sisters this is yet, but I know she is one of them... She must be the clumsy one, she was holding a dream catcher but has dropped it. I hope it doesn't land on anyone?

I am looking forward to the weekend, I've got a meeting tonight with a group of fellow artists. We were students together at art school and decided to form a group to make and sell our art (our goal was to go to Greece with the money)... Well 10 years later we had saved about $9000, not quite enough. With everyones lives getting so busy, having babies, doing more study, illness etc... we decided to divide up the money. We still meet once a month to catch up and talk arty things and girly stuff, but our goals have changed.

So I am looking forward to that, and I have some art work to post off to people from my Etsy shop. And maybe a sleep in tomorrow morning. Hopefully Sleep and her sisters heard that last bit. I WANT A SLEEP IN !!!

Everything depends on how near you stand to me

I have decided to split them up, I didn't like them being next to each other, they fought too much.

These pieces are going to be in a group exhibition called 'Threads' in a place called Little River, in the Banks Peninsula. I still need to add a few things, like the numbers and some thread (to fit in with the title theme). I will sew them to the backing paper.

I am waiting for a phone call about my credit card being oked to give to the etsy people then will start my site... am getting excited and a little nervous.

Have been feeling up and down in the last week, things are not right yet they are good?

show your hands

This is the latest from the kitchen table... and the first time one of their hands (well tips of fingers really) have been shown. I had to string her up, make her loose her balance for her arm to come away from her side.

I think I have enough pictures now to try out etsy... so will see what happens. I have a few exhibitions I've been asked to be involved with so will get those pieces out of the way then try putting some work out there.