200th blog post and a giveaway!!!

Way back in September 2009 I nervously wrote my first blogpost (after reading the whole of blogging for dummies!). I never imagined I'd plod along at this for over 4 years, or that I'd get to 200 posts.

To celebrate I have a giveaway of a trio of my lino print cards. Just leave a comment on this post to enter, I'll pick a name out of the hat on 10th May.

I had intended to write a bit more about my blogging experience, but my son's laptop is at the repair shop and I'm lucky to get 5 minutes to check my emails this week so I'm keeping it brief!

If you're in Darwin there's plenty on this Saturday. The opening of the art of tea exhibition, combined with a morning tea fundraiser for the cancer council is on at Tactile Arts. In the afternoon - and on into the evening - is my favorite little festival, the Nightcliff Sea Breeze festival. All along my regular walking track by the sea, there will be stages, an exhibition and stalls. I'm hoping to spend some time at the dance stage before I get dragged by my family past all the music stages to find the food!!

Hope you're having a great week!

in progress

I don't have much to show you at the moment!! The lino from last week is almost ready to print, I've also started some sewing for the animal theme exhibition but I suppose I should keep them under my hat until exhibition time - late June.

I did another attempt at the horse painting and have been sitting looking at it for a couple of weeks and hate it as much as the first version!! So I'll be gessoing over it today.

A good spin off from doing the walking project is to be doing some sketching, either on the spot

or from my photos.

I'm hoping to do a lino cut based on the dog drawings and photos.
Hope you're enjoying a relaxing long weekend!!

quick walk 10/48

Last Sunday I set off towards my usual walk at the beach, but on the way spotted some horses, which you might just be able to make out in this photo. So I parked the car and walked back, by the time I got over to the Casuarina beach side they were just heading off, but I did have time to make a quick sketch - I might blog that next time. It was a glorious morning...looking forward to getting to the beach again this weekend!

Detours

I am still getting nowhere fast with painting. So here are some drawings from recent visits to my friend Alison's studio. Often we do a lot of talking and tea drinking and not much art making - just a couple of quick line drawings and then time to go home! If nothing else I'll draw the tea things!

Last time my daughter came too so I did some sketches of her (not a great likeness!)

Last Monday I caught an exhibition of lino-prints (the day after it closed) at Framed Gallery. One artist had already packed up, but Anna Curtis's prints were gorgeous, exciting to see her new still lifes. And fascinating to see Margaret Lees work using lino but an intaglio method rather than relief print, lots of layers gave a result similar to etching but maybe softer. Very beautiful.

Inspired by those and glad to take a break from the frustrations of painting I've started chiselling a lino, here is a corner of it still in progress.

Walk 8 and 9 to the park

The last two weekends I've been for a walk to the park. The lure of the beach is that there's always a breeze! The lure of the park is that I don't have to drive anywhere, just walk out the gate and down the hill. It's getting to the end of the wet season, still hot and humid but the odd morning has a cooler feel and a few dragonflies are about which is always a good sign!

Approaching the park

The little red bridge fading to pink!

Community gardens where I always have a peep through the fence to see what's growing.

Black Wattle in flower.

Some kind of bottle brush in flower.

Me!

This post is part of the 48 walks project, find out more at Alison's blog Chino House.

Books by my bed

I wonder what you're reading? I never have just one book on the go but a whole pile. To read at work I need something light - to fit in my bag, and easy to pick up and put down in my lunch break. At the moment it's one of the No 1 ladies detective agency books, 'The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party' by Alexander McCall Smith. 

At  the weekends I'm dipping into the 2nd volume of the biography of Matisse - 'Matisse the Master' by Hilary Spurling. I just read a few pages at a time and am savoring being in Paris and Morocco in the early years of the 20th century and looking over Matisse's shoulder as he paints!

I'm also reading 'The Poetry Home Repair Manual' by Ted Kooser, a book about writing poetry which I'm hoping will reignite my passion. 11 years ago when my twins were babies and there was no time to paint I fell in love with poetry, something that could be squeezed into tiny breaks in the day. In the last few years it's been very neglected and I'd like to get back to reading poetry if nothing else. Look it's working already ...you know how I'm inspired by glimpses of birds in every day life... come and read this great bird poem 'Hardware Sparrows' by R T Smith.

I'm also reading the latest Dumbo Feather magazine, this edition is all interviews with refugees and asylum seeker advocates - while I choose not to debate politics in this blog, I think it's important reading for Australians, a different viewpoint from the one you'll see in the mainstream media, a call for compassion. (Darwinites - let me know if you want to borrow my copy when I'm finished with it)

Well I can't do a post without any pictures, so here are some new monoprint collage cards.

walk 6 and 7 at the beach again

Last weekend I did a couple of walks on my familiar path by the beach. My walks are not really about exercise, I don't push myself to go further or faster, they're more about a breathing space, time to think away from the 'to do' list and the demands of work, home, art, kids. I've read about a Buddhist practice called walking meditation and I think the best walks might be close to that - just appreciating the breeze on my skin, the shape of clouds, flowers that are suddenly here... I usually come home in a better frame of mind, ready to tackle the next job (after a cup of tea!)

Here are a couple of photos from the beach walk, a tree clinging on after the storms,

and the boat ramp.

Hope you're having a great weekend!