Category Archives: art

finding myself through art

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One of the things I really want to do with this big move is to find the artist in me again. I’m an artist but I’ve never really worked at it. I feel its time I spent more time creating art at this stage of my life than all the other things I put my energies into.

Don’t get me wrong. I will continue to make stuff cause I love doing it. I’ll still repaint dolls and sew and revamp old furniture and make things out of found objects…

But I really want to paint more.

I realised a while ago that when I paint (in any medium) I feel good about myself. Sure, I often start something, hate it, stop, then go back later, rework it and finish it and love it. And then I get the most incredible feeling inside – achievement, pride, amazement that something I admire came out of my own hands.

So here I am, in Athens for almost 2 weeks now… without my art supplies. So I went out to find pastels (always my first choice of mediums to work with) and I couldn’t find what I wanted. I bought acrylic paints instead and gave them a try.

This is my first attempt with straight acrylics in years.

Its Phaedra, a toy poodle that used to belong to our neighour. I never met her but naturally I’d start with a poodle! I tried to loosed up and make it more painterly than is my normal style. Its something I love when I look at other works of art and always wish I could paint like that. But I’m not totally happy with it, its not really me. I’m not a loaded brush type of person. I tend to work best with washes and less paint than with more…

This is my second attempt.

This is a friend’s cat. For her I used a mix of dry brush and watered down acrylics. She’s not finished yet but I like it much better. I think I found the way I like to work best.

More than that, I realised that what I really want is to mix my media. I want to go and buy myself the soft pastels I didn’t find last time I looked for them (I found a shop which sells them!) and to get some pastel pencils as well. Then I can finish this little cat with charcoal and pastels. That way I can get both the texture and the detail and depth I’m used to getting in my work.

I’m pleased.

A painting a day keeps the depression at bay!

Now I want to go find mom’s old Singer and see if it still works! Cause I feel the urge to make some of my little critters…

Other than that, I’m slowly learning to live in Greece though it not easy. I have friends and family and that helps. I’m still very eager to get to Paros and start sorting out my life there. Till then, I’ll do what I need to do here.

z

my uncle’s portrait

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My uncle George, pastel on paper, now hangs on the old fireplace.

A few years ago I promised my uncle George that I’d paint his portrait. I took photos of him sitting on the back porch at Souvlia (his home on Paros, more like a village than a home really) and lost them all when my external hard drive crashed.

This year I found an old photo of him and me taken years ago, and a photo of the house as it was back then. I removed me and the others in the photo and created a portrait.

Closer up

Not too bad considering I hate doing portraits of people. They aren’t as furry as dogs. Or as forgiving if you show their wrinkles.

I think he likes it. He’s at least 40 years younger in the painting… He now wants a portrait of the four brothers, 2 of whom are no longer with us. The Dynasty as he calls it.

Better get my pastels sorted.

(I’ll be sharing photos of Souvlia soon!)

z

the post gets touched up

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Remember the post that Wayne and I put in to stop people running into our retaining wall? Here it is after Wayne added his artist touch to it.

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Well… it wasn’t really visible, what with the grey post and the light blue paint… so I added a my own touch to it.

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What do you think? Is anyone going to hit it now?

z

a poodle portrait

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I finished a commissioned poodle portrait the other day and realised that I hardly ever share any art on my blog. I mean, I share almost everything else I do, but art… not that often.

So I decided it was time to share a portrait I did a while ago and don’t believe I shared except on Facebook.

This is Andre, a gorgeous standard poodle.

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And this is my painting of Andre for his loving parents.

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Its pastel on paper, which is the medium I prefer to work with.

I just love using my fingers to work the colours, I think that’s why I love it so much. Nothing between me and the pigments. Its not quite the same when using a brush, there’s a stick between me and the work.

Anyway, I’ll share the most recent portrait soon as it arrives at its destination. I don’t want to ruin the surprise.

I’ve also been working on another portrait, something completely different. No hints on that yet… its a secret!

So, what else has been happening? You may have heard about the awful floods around Hobart and the Derwent Valley. We got lucky this time. Unlike so many other times, we only had minor flooding in our creek. No lakeside property for us … yet… this year.

I’m preparing for my upcoming visit to Greece and getting excited. So much to do, so little time!

Why is it that we always feel we have to do everything before we go on a trip? Its not like I’ll be going away forever!

z

 

i once wrote a book

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Like many people, I lived under the illusion that I could write (and illustrate) books for a living. Especially children’s books.

Do you know how hard it actually is?

Anyway, one day I actually did write a book which I self published on Lulu.com, the DIY online publishing place. This was quite a few years ago, there may be other places now, but back then I think that was it.

This is the book:

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ScooterBook6x9.inddScooterBook6x9.indd

Scooter was my second toy poodle ever. He was the first one I got while living in Australia. He was a real character, a little man with a huge attitude. He was hilarious. When we lived in Fentonbury the paddock next door was sometimes home to cattle and Scooter was game to take on anything. This is a true story. It happened one day while I watched. It was too good not to capture and share.

I think I sold about 10 copies. All to me. Ok, maybe a couple to a friend or two. The problem is that Lulu charges so much, its a ridiculous price to pay for a slim book!

I actually made heaps more selling the original watercolours on ebay.

I began illustrations for a book about Billybear, my other toy poodle, but never got past that to the story. One day I’ll finish it. Maybe.

You can see a bit more about my Scooter book and, if you have $$ to spare, you can order it online here.

Meanwhile, remembering this book got me to thinking about writing in general and beginnings specifically. I remember hearing somewhere that starting was the hardest part. I beg to differ. I can start anything, at any time.

Its finishing (or continuing) that’s the hard part!

In my mind I’m always writing first paragraphs for books. Its fun!

Like this:

The man lay in bed, watching the neon light outside the cheap motel window flash pink then red then white. He couldn’t sleep. He was too conscious of the loaded gun on the bedside table next to him. If he failed tomorrow he was as good as dead.

Or this:

Megan was woken by the cold. She reached for her comforter but something was wrong. She couldn’t move her arms or legs. Her eyes flew open and she looked around the dark unfamiliar room. She was lying on a mattress on a dirty floor, cable ties around her wrists and ankles. She remembered the man in the mask and she began to cry.

Yes. I obviously love crime and suspense books. Does it show?

heheheh

Ok, how about:

Amy looked up as Troy put a large coffee on the table in front of her. Soy milk latte with a dash of vanilla, just the way she liked it. He sat down opposite her and smiled. He was such a nice guy, considerate, kind, attractive. They had heaps in common. He had a good job. Her parents loved him. Yet Amy looked watched him stir sugar into his coffee and felt like the walls were closing in around her. 

The second paragraph? So much harder to do! LOL

z

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sculpture and soul searching

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I had a comment about how I’m blogging a lot lately. Unlike the huge gaps between posts most of the other time.
The fact is I know I’m a poor blogger. Good thing I’m not trying to make money from this blog!
I began blogging as a way to share news and photos of our lives with friends overseas. Then I began to share projects and got into the whole DIY/repurpose/recycle blog thing. I enjoy that stuff, I do it for myself anyway, why not share with others who like the same thing? Makes sense, right?
But… there are days I just don’t feel like blogging. I have nothing to say, I can’t be funny, or I’m flat. Its one of those vicious circles: when I feel good I’m creative, when I don’t create I feel flat. And work sometimes drains me to the point where all I want to do when I get home is curl up and zonk out in front of the TV.
On those days I think about giving up the blog. I mean, who cares what I make or do? I’m just some random person living on a small island on the bottom of the world. I have nothing important to say. 
I think the only reason I blog and share is cause I’m a showoff. I used to accuse my brother of being a showoff when we were kids but turns out I’m the one. 
Who knew…
Anyway, I’m still here, still blogging even if sporadically at times. You could say I like to be unpredictable. Like with the stuff I blog about. Its not all DIY, craft, decorating, gardening or any one thing in particular. Its a blog about me and my life – and I’m a wierd kind of jack of all trades kind of person.
So today I’ll share some sculptures. The theme was ‘body’… so body parts it is. As I found when making the animals, I love sculpting.

These sculptures are more along the lines of ART than the animals. I wanted them to look like an unfinished work.

Here they are finished. Difficult to photograph cause they’re so bright white. 

Unfortunately the wire nose ring burned off in the second firing. I’ll try to replace it but the bit remaining is in really firmly. I also need to make earrings to go in the holes I made in the ear.

So there you go. Another completely different thing.

z

cowpig and other ceramic animals

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Its been years since I did any work with clay. High school in fact. And back then I didn’t think I really enjoyed sculpting.
Well, I tried it again a little while ago and I LOVE it.
This little pig bowl was my first foray into the world of pottery. He’s called a cowpig cause that’s what a friend called him when she saw the colour. Ok, so I got the holstein patches on a pig, ok, I stuffed that up… but he’s still darn cute.

I picked aqua blue for the inside cause pink would just be wrong… and disturbing… plus I love aqua.. The idea is that its a little bowl I can plonk bracelets or such in. For now its sitting on the air conditioner (which is a floor model) in the living room where I can see it every time I walk past.

Love his little face…

And his little tail!

Next I made some little critters. I made a chicken, two bandicoots and a wombat. The chicken is not here, neither is one of the bandicoots, but the other two are.

Let me introduce the brown bandicoot and the common wombat.

I gave the little bandicoot a copper wire tail.

I’m loving this. Both the building up and the carving out. I want to buy a slab of this paper clay and make a ton more stuff.

The paper clay is clay mixed with paper pulp. It dries completely white and is easy to work with. I then take it to a place in Hobart to have it fired, paint (glaze) it with the right paints and have it refired.

I’ll get onto that soon as I find some time…

After the huge garage sale at the end of October. After moving the grooming room to the storage room.

When I find time.

z

non fattening chocolate cake!

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Ha!

I got you didn’t I? You thought I’d found some lush chocolate cake recipe that would allow you to eat your cake and keep your figure!

Sorry to disappoint you, but not quite… although I can guarantee this cake won’t make you fat.

I’ve been having some fun with wire lately. Its no secret I love wire, I have a huge board dedicated to it on Pinterest, and I’ve shared quite a few wire projects in the past.

This cake is made from regular fine galvanised wire from the hardware store, and some brown copper florist wire. Hence the chocolate in the cake. And don’t forget the cream on top!

The spoon is the same, silver and brown wire. You need a matching spoon if you’re to have any chance of eating this piece of cake!

Its sitting on an old Meakin plate I found with gorgeous scalloped edges. It looks best on a white or cream plate.

I haven’t been sharing much lately, but I have been busy doing stuff, making things. I’ll have more to share soon. All my projects are in various stages of development from ‘just beginning’ to ‘finished and awaiting their closeups’. Then you’ll be drowing in posts till the next dry spell.

That’s just the way things work out around here.

z

oil painting the cheat way – photoshop filter

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I’ve always been good at using Photoshop to manipulate images – notice my new banner? I created that using a photo I took of the old typewriter on the porch, type and 2 vintage poodle images.

I’ve always been able to play with pictures to create all kinds of things, from simple alterations like removing or adding a person, taking liberties with colours, or creating something entirely fictional. I enjoy doing it and, if I was to be completely honest, I also enjoyed the knowledge that not everyone can do that kind of stuff.

Then I found picmonkey and it was so easy to adjust colours and add effects, I kind of forgot about Photoshop for a while. All I did was resize, crop and add the occasional effect to images for a long time.

That is, till recently when I got Adobe CS6 on my laptop. Now I’ve started doing stuff with PS again and remembering why I loved it. Like the Christmas and New Year’s cards. Those were quick and easy, removing type and creating backgrounds where I needed them… but doing something like the banner, that’s way more fun.

I used to do a lot of that type of thing for websites, but I don’t design websites for people any more. Here’s one I designed for my poodle website years ago, using 4 separate images: a photograph of a drawing I’d done of my first standard poodle (Pagan), some pastels, a background and a photo I took of Pagan at a show.

But I digress. I was posting to share an amazing effect I found in Photoshop that I’d never known before. Its called Oil Paint and its under Filters.

Here are some pics I played with – the mist in the hills opposite our place on a hot rainy day. Before:

After:

I really love the way it interprets the trees. I want to paint like that!
Here’s another one, a portrait of Montana, before:

After:

Ok, pretty good but definitely not its strong point.

It really comes into its own when you do something like this – the trellis in the yard with rusty chains, the birdhouse I made and an old lantern. Before:

After:

I love this one especially. Amazing isn’t it? Like professional illustrations.
This one’s great too – the old kid’s bike near the trellis. Before:

And after:

I don’t know whether to be thrilled or depressed about this discovery. I LOVE the effect. I love the pop arty colours and the swirliness of it. I love the curly leaves and way everything looks spot on perfect.

But I’m depressed too. Cause why would anyone need to paint any more when you can do this type of thing to your photos with a filter?

Sigh.

z