dipping my toe in...

It's the new year, but I'm making a slow start! School holidays is not conducive to sitting down and focusing on painting, so I'm trying to do some sketchbook stuff

and some sewing. I'm embroidering over an old print on fabric that didn't work very well...trying to salvage it for something, maybe flags...

the last few days we've had record breaking hot temperatures (I'm glad to be back at work in the aircon for a couple of days a week) We did drag the kids out for a short walk in the bush at the weekend - beautiful!

joy

I hope you're enjoying your xmas break. This is the little charcoal sketch I based my xmas card on this year. Here are the linoprints in progress, the prints were a bit rough so there was a bit of hand colouring needed too! The monsoon is here, lots of rain, nice and cool for cooking a proper christmas dinner!!

Happy holidays!!

It has been a busy couple of weeks but I've made it! School is finished, work parties are done, the Messiah has been sung (sublime!), not to mention carol singing at a carol service and the local shopping centre. I also squeezed in a market stall at Nightcliff markets last Sunday to make up for missing all the craft fairs, it was a last minute decision and I had a lovely laid back morning, thanks to all the people who stopped to chat and buy xmas presents! I finished work on Thursday coughing and sneezing!! So have had a couple of days resting and now feel ready for my holidays...I'm looking forward to doing some baking, lots of walks by the sea, pottering about in the garden (very overgrown after lots of rain), and getting back to my sketchbooks which have been neglected lately...here are my first journal pages since July!

A few weeks ago we had our first pineapple of the season from the garden, I replanted the top of the fruit and the slips (babies) which sometimes grow round the bottom of the fruit. In pots for now, once they get some roots and a bit more growth I'll plant them in the garden, they'll take a couple of years to fruit.

I hope your xmas preparations are going well, ha ha, it's always a bit of a scramble around here!

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!

Ups and downs

The weekend of celebrations at DVAA was wonderful - well done the current committee, admin and volunteers for creating events that were so inclusive and joyful!! The opening was complete with giant chocolate birthday cake, the art fair was relaxing, so lovely hanging out on the verandahs there chatting to other artists. It's exciting to hear that the exhibition will go on to show in Katherine in the new year.

This weekend (just gone) should have been the xmas craft fair at Tactile Arts but it had to be cancelled because of an approaching cyclone which brought not much wind (fortunately) but torrential rain. How disappointing!!! I must admit I was crabby all weekend because of it. Now we are just waiting to hear if the craft fair will be re-scheduled, there isn't much time left between now and xmas, and so many other things happening it could be hard to squeeze in... if the worst comes to the worst it means I have plenty of stock ready for craft fairs next year and can get down to some painting!!! (no excuses) Which is what I did yesterday, I worked back into this one which has been waiting on the shelf for months.

And this imaginary still life.

Hope your week has more ups than downs.

discovering DVAA

Twenty or so years ago I was newly arrived in a new town, my partner was working out bush and I didn't know a soul. I saw an ad in the local newspaper for a life drawing group and summoned up my courage and went along on a Wednesday evening! This is how I discovered DVAA (Darwin Visual Arts Assoc) which became a big part of my life for the next 5 years.

Discovering DVAA meant discovering a community of artists, the chance of a studio, the opportunity to show work in exhibitions and a shared market stall at the local markets. For me it meant a part-time job in the office for a while. I made friends who are still my closest friends 20 years later, and as Darwin has such a transient population, I met lots of people who have traveled on... I met an artist called Anna Curtis who inspired me to try lino-printing again after being hopeless at it at uni. Her many layered reduction prints are technically amazing and so beautiful! I spent wonderful days in the print room, and felt incredibly lucky to have stumbled on these facilities.

Time went on and I got another job, and couldn't commit time to being on the committee, and then had kids and my art practise ground to a halt for a few years. New people arrive and breath new life and energy into the organisation and it goes on from strength to strength. This year DVAA is 30, tonight there is an exhibition opening showing work by artists who have been involved past and present with DVAA, also a photographic exhibition by Fiona Morrison of artists in their studios. On Sunday afternoon there will be an art fair/market, if you're in Darwin I hope you can come along to one of these events and enjoy the celebrations!!

Here are some flags in progress, I'll have these at the art fair on Sunday (17th) and the craft fair at Tactile arts a week later - Sunday 24th.

Reasons to celebrate

Frogs are loud this evening, we had heavy rain last night and they are celebrating!

Here are a couple of photos from my garden, a vine grows up just one palm tree. It only flowers for a couple of days a year but when it does it's spectacular!

Friday morning got taken up with framing artwork and delivering it for exhibitions. ( I hate when the whole morning is gobbled up by admin and nothing creative gets done, but sometimes it's necessary.) This lino print is for the tactile arts members show - themed 'TEXT' - which opens this Friday 8th Nov at 5.30.

Also opening this Thursday is a historical display - DVAA revisited - at Darwin Civic Centre. This is just the first of events to celebrate 30 years of Darwin Visual Arts Association. I'll have more about this next week!!

November is shaping up to be very busy, so I'll keep this short and sweet and get back to my long to-do-list! Have a great week!!