Back from a looong break!

 It's been a very long time between posts, mainly because I stopped making art for a big chunk of the year...from May to October really. 

When the pandemic arrived and exhibitions and craft fairs stopped, there was little motivation to make work, and then I discovered that I liked the peace in my mind without that critical voice that always questions whether my art is any good, whether there is any point in doing this. 

So I enjoyed my time gardening, I got good at growing basil from seed! And I focused on my twins in their final year of school, driving them here and there, being around to talk to and make snacks!!

We're very lucky in Darwin, we've had very few cases of coronavirus, we had a brief, lockdown in April/May after that life gradually returned to fairly normal except for restrictions on travel. So the thing that got me started again art making was the xmas craft fair. I decided in October to take part, and then had 6 weeks of madly getting prepared! The craft fair was at the end of November, here's the paintings I took along.

Since then I've set aside some time on Sunday mornings to paint. I hope I can stick with it and enjoy it without getting into that critical headspace again. I've also treated myself to the online art course Lifebook 2021 to keep me playing and trying new things. If you're curious about lifebook there are some taster sessions which I think have been reopened to try for a week, go to visit willowing.org to find out more.

Sending my best wishes to you, I'm sorry if you've had a hard year and I hope 2021 will be better.

Christmas craft fair

Better late than never, a quick hello to let you know I'll be at the craft fair at the waterfront tomorrow morning, sharing a stall with my good friend Ingrid. I think there'll be over 80 stalls all local arts and crafts, I can't wait to see what everybody has been making. It's going to be hot so it'll be an earlier start and finish than usual 9 til 1 (instead of 10 til 2).

Here are some of the happiness flags I've been working on.

A friend of a friend has a gorgeous blog of daily photos of the sky! She recently did her 2000th post and had a celebration on facebook where she invited everyone to post a photo of the sky where they were, here's my shot.

Enjoy your weekend :)

Hello May!

Better late than never, here is the 2nd painting I did for the Don Whyte 'Offcuts"show - which I blogged about last time.

So April flew past and May is going the same way. I'm working towards a group show that opens on the 5th June, I'll keep the finished work under wraps for now, but here are some of my drawings working out ideas.

As always I've been finding it hard to knuckle down and get things finished, so I'm hoping a few things will come together at the last minute!!

The dry season is here with beautiful cool nights - I planted some tomato seedlings about a month ago and they're on the verge of flowering...

My oldest son is in year 12 at school, I feel him flexing his wings, about to launch into adulthood, imagining possibilities beyond 'boring Darwin'. (Wherever you grew up seems boring I suppose!) During poetry month I got a Sharon Olds poem "High School Senior" in my inbox, which expresses beautifully some of what I'm feeling.

I've been reading, reading, reading. Favorite reads of the year so far are -
A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler
Instructions for a Heatwave by Maggie O'Farrell - (just finished last night and loved it)
Also recommended -
We are all completely beside ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler
The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton
I'd love to hear what you've been reading.

This Sunday I'll be at the waterfront craft fair, do drop by and say hello.

Crazy weekend

I've survived a crazy weekend, lots of choir rehearsals last week and a lovely performance on Saturday night (Darwin Chorale at the CDU theatre) followed by a craft fair at the waterfront yesterday. That was the really crazy bit, it's the build up here, temperatures up around 35 degrees centigrade, humid but no sign of rain - the craft fair became something of an endurance test. I'm amazed and grateful that so many people risked heatstroke to come out and buy their Christmas presents!! It's lovely to have the ambiance of an outdoor event by the sea, but sometimes I think an airconditioned venue would make more sense. I was so hot and grumpy I didn't even go for a stroll around the other stalls...

The last couple of months have been busy, not only with choir and craft fair preparations but with a commission - a lady who bought some of my prints many years ago and then moved away from Darwin, tracked me down online and requested some ginger cat paintings. Luckily this is a subject I was happy to tackle as I have a ginger cat who turns up in my paintings now and again! Here are the three paintings which I sent down south a couple of weeks ago.

Today I've got the day off work to catch up on exciting things like cleaning the bathroom!! and baking cookies and apple crumble for my neglected family!

Hope you had a great weekend, and hope we get some rain soon :)

more menagerie...

I've been meaning to show you the other pieces I made for the dream menagerie exhibition. Again I was inspired by the designs on my indian skirts, and made some felt camels, a palm tree and a woman (camel herder!)

I'm not skilled enough to make a 4 legged animal that stands up!! So I made them as a wall piece. Working on these kind of projects is very much 'PLAY' I don't really know what I'm doing and just start somewhere and hope for the best! I love that I get to indulge in different materials to my usual paint and lino, especially to be playing with bold colour. You can see work by some of the other artists in the exhibition over on the smallest forest blog - here and here...Nat's photos are infinitely better than mine!!

It's been a busy few weeks, I also had a stall at the craft fair at Tactile Arts 2 weeks ago. Here's a photo of some of the paintings I took along, this was in my garden when I was getting everything organised...

It was a lovely day, perfect weather, lots of visitors, lovely tea and cake!! It was great to make some sales, get good comments, and come home inspired to get to work in the studio. July is whizzing past, the kids go back to school next week, I've started on some garden paintings and hope to show you some next time.

Hope you're having a creative month :)

diary dates!

The tactile arts craft fair that was cancelled because of bad weather has been rescheduled. It will be held this Friday 6th Dec from 4.30 to 8.30, I hope that lots of people will go along. Unfortunately I won't be there as it's the same time as the dress rehearsal for Chorale. We're singing the Messiah on Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon at the supreme court with the glorious DSO!!

Also on Friday evening is an exhibition by Nat (Smallest Forest) and Kris at DVAA, showing the results of their experiments with marbling, I will try to duck in on the way to rehearsal...

Yes, art making continues, here are some new cards, and hopefully a proper post next time!

slow progress (is still progress)

A month ago I showed you a still life I'd set up, with the plan to get painting, well I haven't got around to starting a canvas yet, but I have done a few sketchbook drawings, and a gouache. By now the flowers are dead and the aloe vera needs to go back out in the garden for while! So I'll have to make a new arrangement and try again!

I have just about finished the felt dolls I've been making for the group exhibition 'this way madness lies', it opens next Friday at Tactile Arts.

This is the 3rd doll, it took a long time to finish because of sewing all those tiny beads on - half an hour a night for a week, so that I didn't go crazy but I did make a little bit of progress each time.

Here's the blurb I've written to go in the catalogue -

I was a crafty kid, always making something, knitting, sewing, trying everything from paper-making to macramé. In my teens I discovered Degas and the Impressionists, then Van Gogh, Gauguin and Matisse, and fell in love with painting.

Painting, drawing and lino-printing have been my focus for 20 years or more, but recently I’ve been wandering off the path and dabbling in all kinds of things. I get seduced by colour, I had a stash of gorgeous embroidery threads before I ever thought of going back to sewing.

When I first made these dolls they were supposed to be angry, voodoo dolls, but they turned out more like love songs to feisty women. I approach them like drawing. Cutting into the fabric is a way of making a line, a row of stitches is another. Think of them as fertility goddesses, or like paper dolls that can be decorated a thousand ways.

The craft fair - almost 2 weeks ago - was a lovely day, I didn't take my camera, I couldn't bear to carry one extra thing that I didn't have to! But you can see a lovely photo of my stall over here on flickr taken by one of the friends I shared a stall with Nat aka Smallest Forest does amazing embroidery, book binding, painting and more, and writes the most entertaining blog around - do check it out!

Saying it with every colour!

Here are the finished birds that I started back in July, they'll be on my stall at the craft fair this Sunday at the Darwin waterfront.

Also on my table is this doll in progress (the 3rd one for an exhib coming up in Oct), in some way it feels like drawing, cutting out the fabric is just drawing a line, and the same with the embroidery, a row of stitches is another way of drawing. They also remind me of paper dolls that can be decorated a hundred ways...

Last week was my birthday and I just had to share this creation made by my daughter...

I know the boys love me too, but it's so lovely to have one who expresses it in every colour and texture she can lay her hands on!

I hope your week is going well, come and say hello if you can on Sunday.

Stepping up to September

Suddenly life has got busy!! On my table this week, some dolls in progress for a group exhibition in October. (called this way madness lies)

Hand colouring lino prints to make cards for a craft fair at the end of September - Sun 29th at the waterfront.

This painting that I started a couple of weeks ago and still needs a lot more work.

I finally finished the first volume of the Matisse biography by Hilary Spurling, completely inspired by Matisse's work I've set up this still life and have done a few drawings, I hope to have something ready to share soon.

Next week I have to work a 6 day week because of workmates on holidays, not to mention a choir performance on Saturday! so there won't be much art happening...

Craft fair tomorrow!!

Just a quick reminder for those in Darwin, that it's the Dragonfly craft fair tomorrow 10 til 3 down at the Museum grounds at Tactile Arts.

Here's a sneak peek at the happiness flags I've been making over the last month or so. I will try to remember my camera tomorrow and take some shots....

I hope you're having a great weekend wherever you are!

flags revisited

At the begining of the year I made some happiness flags. Over the last couple of weeks I've made a new batch, this is how my verandah was looking last Friday!

Today I've just been finishing things off - varnishing fridge magnets and putting cards in bags - ready for the craft fair on Sunday. 10-3 at Tactile arts right next door to the museum, if you're in Darwin do come and say hello. I'll try to remember my camera and take a few shots on the day!

After that I have no more art commitments lined up, and I'm looking forward mucking about in my sketchbook!!

getting ready

A quick hello to show you some new cards I've been making ready for the craft fair in 2 weeks time.

Some of them are monoprints hand coloured with my luscious prismacolour pencil set!! Some are photocopies of the monoprints with an acrylic wash over them and then worked into with the coloured pencils.

I wonder what you're reading? I heard a great interview with Paul Kelly on Radio National's the music show a couple of weeks ago which made me go and look for his musical memoir 'How to make gravy'. It includes the words of 100 of his songs from A-Z along with thoughts and memories associated with each. Very interesting and entertaining.

craft fair and more

The craft fair is over!! Here's a photo of my stall, last Sunday.

It was a good day, very busy and with pretty good sales. I must admit I find it a bit stressful getting organised, coping with my expectations, and feeling exposed sitting there with my art. Hopefully the more I do it the more I can relax and enjoy... This time I made the mistake of letting all my kids stay for the second half after dropping in for lunch, and they drove me round the bend!! Just too hot and too tired to deal with them by then. Oh well, you live and learn.

Here's a photo (taken by my son) of one of two pineapples we grew in the front yard - which have been guzzled, very sweet and beautiful! All the family love them so we've planted all the 'slips' (little shoots that grow off the bottom of the pineapple) so hopefully we'll have ten to eat next year.

Bye for now, have a great weekend!

too busy!

Sorry I haven't been around for a couple of weeks, I've been busy getting work ready for the last (and probably biggest!) craft fair of the year, next Sunday. Here are some new cards I've been making from the monoprints I did a couple of months ago.



Also had a lovely evening out at 'Off the page' our local spoken word event - Bronwn Mehan, another Darwin poet describes the evening on her blog, I also braved the open mic and read a couple of poems (and won 4th prize!!) best of all I'm feeling very inspired about poetry again.

I hope things are creative for you too!!!

That was the craft fair!

The last couple of months I've been very focused on getting work ready for the craft fair, it finally came around on Sunday. Here's a shot of my stall.


We made some cards and bookmarks from the kids prints, here's my daughter looking after them.
I really need to make some more of these...bird fridge magnets!

We had a nice day, I managed to sneak off a few times and look at some of the other stalls. Now I'm looking forward to a month or two of being a bit more experimental, doing open-ended work, following my nose just to see where I end up.

a couple of new paintings

Here are a couple of (blurry) photos of new paintings. I did these 2 or 3 weeks ago. The one of the woman in the boat was sparked by my 7 year old asking why did boats have those old tyres ?...
They are supposed to be for the craft fair that's coming up fast in 3 weeks! But the boat painting sold already. So I'm busy at the moment finishing off little birds, fridge magnets and lots and lots of cards. Hopefully I'll squeeze in a couple more paintings too.

Craft fair and more

I'm a bit late posting, it was a hectic weekend with the craft fair on Sunday. It was well worth doing, I had plenty of sales and it's great to get feedback, amazing the number of people who say 'oh I never knew your did art'!!

Here are a couple of the last minute paintings I did.

My 12 year old has decided he wants to learn to crochet. We've seen a lovely book of amiguri animals, so I'll be splashing out some of my earnings on crochet hooks, wool and the book. It's a very long time since I did any crochet...I think when I was about 11 to 14, so I'm hoping it'll come back to me. I was a crafty kid but then was won over by 'art' (and less interested in sewing at school when it became serious dress-making), my sewing like the sock-monsters seems to come from that child-like place.

I'm still mostly managing the poem a day, some of my poems this month have been about art and art school, here's one (below) that still needs a lot of work. (I'm taking a leaf from Jessie's book, I'll leave it online for a few weeks, and then take it off to re-work and hopefully send out.)

I've had my first rejection of the year and still haven't submitted anything for March or April - must get my act together now the craft fair is over!

Back from the abyss

It's so good to be back online!! Feels like I've been away for months, but it's only a couple of weeks.

The craft fair is only a week away now. I have a couple more paintings ready to take along.

This week it's been school holidays - for some (annoying) reason I just can't paint when the kids are in the house, so that all ground to a halt. Instead I've been doing some sewing projects, things I can pick up and put down when the kids yell. I've made a batch of felt brooches - I don't have photos of these yet. And this is my first attempt at a sock monster.

I've been admiring these on the net - there's a whole group devoted to them on flickr! We've been saving odd and too small socks for a while...

April is poetry month (officially in the U.S. but there are no boundaries in blogworld). I've been flying solo doing a poem a day while my computer was down. It's nice not to have the pressure to upload to the net every evening - which takes up valuable writing time. So hopefully I'll keep on to the end of the month. I didn't submit anything in March (blame the computer) and wll have to do double this month to make up for it!

Grooving on!

I had a good productive week, perfect timing with the craft fair coming, sometimes a deadline is just the kick in the pants I need! Here are a couple more new paintings, I'm especially pleased with the red bird one.







I've also made some fridge magnets - collages of different papers on heavy cardboard with a little saying or thought. It's a chance to get on my soap box!! and say 'read some poems' 'plant a seed' 'change the world with kindness'...







Now I'm reading High Tide in Tucson, essays by Barbara Kingsolver on a wide range of subjects. Here is a lovely quote from one titled 'Civil disobedience at breakfast' about parenting and creativity.



The remarkable poet Lucille Clifton was asked, at a reading I attended, 'Why are your poems always so short?' Ms Clifton replied, ' I have six children, and a memory that can hold about twenty lines until the end of the day.'

I would probably trade in my whole Great Books set for an epic-length poem from the pen of Lucille Clifton. But I couldn't wish away those six distracting children, even as a selfish reader, because I cherish Clifton's work precisely for its maternal passions and trenchant understanding of family.



Reading this put a big smile on my face!! What an amazing woman, what do I have to complain about with only three children!! It gives me a great feeling of encouragement, reminds me that I'm not the only one trying to juggle all these things. (the world of blogs tells me this too!). And it also sends me on a quest, I don't know if I have ever read a poem by Lucille Clifton, I definitely need to track some down!


Later note ; I just googled Lucille Clifton, and discovered I do know and love her poem Blessing the Boats. And sadly that she died last month.