Catching up...

Some of the busy things that have been filling our days here in our little neck of the woods.

 Nigella's cheese stars for Christmas.  I made heaps and they vanished very quickly once again.  These seem to be Christmas favourite and really they are so very easy to make.

Icing Christmas Biscuits from Sophie Gray's Destitute Gourmet books.  Another favourite. Spicy biscuits with lemon icing.

What happens when you go out to the movies and leave two labradors alone with a whole watermelon on the back verandah.  Those are seeds not flies and it's been put up onto the BBQ to get away from those naughty girls.

Tree Day.  I started the tradition of tree day when my first nephew and niece were infants.  Each year I give my nephews and niece a new special decoration which we open around the first weekend or December.  These  decorations are then placed on my tree.  The kids each have a box where their 'tree day' decorations from past years are stored and they put these on the tree along with my own decorations. They then tinsel bomb the house while listening to Christmassy music.  In the early years this day was a challenge with 4 little ones all decorating up as high as your knee, and needing help and lots of supervision. This year was very different with ages ranging from 8 to 11 they were so good and independent.  A great day.

 We have made marshmallow shooters and measured how far we can shoot them around the yard and then stuff them in our mouths before the 10 second rule expires - or the ants get them....

 I've supervised lots of swimming.  Cousins, friends, play dates....

 The two J's have been busy around the yard learning new skills.  First time with the chain saw.

Since we got Sophie 9 years ago we've had a problem with this garden.  It used to be lush and full of shade house type plants.  Sophie insists upon digging here if we leave the house and not amount of scolding or punishment could induce her to do otherwise.  It drove me crazy and I asked that it be torn out and replaced with pavers as my christmas present. Master J got to work upon hearing this and his Uncle had to follow along.....

 I look straight out my kitchen window at this garden all the time and it drove me crazy.  I felt so much better looking at the area even when it had reached this state.  This photo is taken looking back along the verandah towards the granny flat.

Jeff hired a brick cutter from Bunnings and got busy making a lot of noise for a very long time.  He then got the pressure cleaner out and proceeded to make even more noise during clean up. Luckily our neighbours are a reasonable distance away.

The paving project is mostly finshed and has made an incredible difference to the visual appearance of our outdoor space but the biggest difference has been unexpected.  The floor inside stays much, much cleaner - no dogs trailing dirt in after a good dig and lie in the hole....  The dust levels are also reduced noticably.

We also have  skip bin out the front and we are tossing old garden pots, junk from the shed etc and having a pretty good clean up.

Peace for Paris.....

@jean_jullien = eloquence, simplicity and heart.....

Become a force for good people.....let's start a groundswell of love and goodwill.  Create a light so bright it dominates darkness....

Busy days

I love this time of year.  The weather is generally spectacular, my garden looks wonderful and for some reason the days seem long and lazy.  We've been very busy of late getting ourselves ready for the school holidays, dealing with jobs around the house, getting out and about and the like.  Last week I went to see my niece and nephew in their school concert and it was a blast.  Prep to year 6 is involved and it was so much fun.  So pleased that I went.  We also had sports day for the littlies at the school that my other nephews attend (the ones who live with me). 

The rain stayed away for most of it.  Master R threw a shoe in both races he ran in and never missed a beat.

It's mulberry time and my tree is simply laden with fruit this year.  We've just had a day of rain and then a day of wind so I have to go down and see if this is still the case.  I'll be bitterly disappointed if the fruit has all dropped.

 Not the greatest photo, taken from under the tree and looking up.  The dogs are spending most of their waking hours here snuffling in the garden beneath the tree and picking low hanging fruit straight from the branches.

I love how healthy the tree looks this year.  It had a severe pruning a number of years ago and has taken awhile to bounce back.

My friend Jodi and I meet once a week to walk somewhere away from our usual walking routes.  We head further afield generally and so far have selected coastal walks.  This week was no exception and we had the wonderful good fortune to see whales off shore (no photos sorry). These photographs are taken on the walk from Mooloolaba Beach around to the rock wall and river.  The path meanders on raised walkways over sand dunes, through parks, and always follows the beautiful ocean.  That's the Pacific Ocean for those who like to get their bearings.

The water was exquisite.  The most beautiful mix of clear aqua, turqoise, pthalo greens and blues.  We are SO, SO lucky to live in such a beautiful area.  When the summer heat hits and the snakes stop waking up and moving around so much, we will head inland and do some bush walks and enjoy the shade of the trees.  There are snakes everywhere at present yet I've seen none in my wild, tangled bush garden.

A better photo.....

thanks to Don and his snazzy little camera (and superior photographic skill)!

Click to enlarge. :)

Taking Good Notes

Since beginning my art journey I have been diligent (mostly) in the taking of good notes.  I keep these notes in an blank diary and they serve the purpose of recording the process of completing a piece, the teaching points, hints and tips that Don imparts or I discover along the way.  I photograph each step along the way as a visual reminder also.  Because I do this I was able to pick up Mma Tembo and restart her with relative ease after my two year hiatus.

Here are some pages from my journal.

Here is a small copy of my reference photo (this painting is for study purposes and not for sale so it is not my own photograph, just one I found in google images that appealed to me).  Here I've recorded a few notes about elephants.

Just the bottom of the page here showing some notes on the use of colour in the piece and a picture of my palette with a list of the colours to be used in the piece.  This was brilliant to have after so long away from the painting.

 Don demonstrated glazing techniques to me on a piece of scrap canvas and I taped this into my journal as a reminder.

Recording progress photos with any notes I need to remember written alongside.  These may be techniques I've used, notes on tone/colour or changes that need to be made.

Further notes, mainly to document progress.

Where I left off at the end of my last class....

Not a great photo but it gives you an idea of how I am progressing.  For comparison, I have included the image below from the end of the previous weeks class so you can compare them. I think the true colour of the painting lies between these images.  They've photgraphed very differently.

On My Camera

In my garden.....

Baking bread...

Making pasta

Out and about - Little Yabba Creek

 

Owl in the nesting box seen in the above picture....

 

Back in the saddle........I hope.

Hello there my lovelies.  Sorry for my long absence.  I've not had it in me to blog for a long time now but I'm making an effort to get back into it.  It's a fantastic way to record bits and pieces of life and to keep a record of my art journey. So, more of an effort on my part to blog I think.  I'll wet my toes with an art post.

Long ago, in late 2013 in fact, I started to paint a portrait of an elephant. Pop into the archives for 2013 or click here to see one post about this painting.  Well, that painting has sat neglected and ignored for almost two years as we traversed courts and other draining challenges.  This week I felt like getting back into it.  I still go to a mentoring class with Don Milner and decided to work on Mma Tembo (remember 'Hatari' with John Wayne?) during my time in class.  This is how I had left the painting in 2013.

I've really not painted for quite some time so I focussed on refamiliarising myself with brush and paint and working on the top left quadrant. After a good dusting of the canvas I started by introducing colour and worked on using 'enough paint'.  I can tend to be a bit frugal in my paint usage. Don is constantly saying 'use more paint'.  He is a patient man.

Blending the colours and bringing in lighter tones. Still working on the top left quadrant only.  I was starting to relax and get back into the swing of things here.

By afternoon tea time I had a heap of paint and colour on the canvas and was feeling ready to just unleash and get into it with greater freedom.   This is where I was up to when I put down my brushes for the break.

 After our break and fuelled by caffeine I just went for it and got paint and colour onto the rest of the canvas.  Blocking in big chunks of colour and continually adjusting.  It was a challenge to keep the paint wet so Don  wet the canvas thoroughly for me by pouring water on the back and soaking it (yep you read that right).  I then used painting medium and a misting bottle to keep the paint and canvas moist and the paint moving nicely.  I went well until I got to the trunk where I forgot about form, large tonal areas and fixated on the wrinkles and creases of the trunk.  Basically I regressed right back to trying to draw instead of paint and this stopped my progress very quickly.  Don came to the rescue and demonstrated blocking in the shape of the trunk in hug big strokes.  Hopefully I'm back on track now although I admit that I am struggling not to hyper focus on the texture of the trunk at this stage.

 At brushes down I had covered the whole large (1.2m x 80cm) canvas with plenty of paint and colour.  Lots more to do as always but for the first time in ages I actually feel interested and enthusiastic about getting into the studio and painting.  I feel like I have room inside me to do so.  Let's hope it stays this way.

See you again soon.

love Sandy xx