a penny for my thoughts please...

have been doing lots of soul-searching lately about what direction to go with my art.  am feeling as though my 'voice' isn't there, and have hit a bit of a conteplative cloud square on.  wondering why we paint what we do, make the choices we do, and the style we have.  probably feeling a little tender at the moment with a few anniversaries coming up and special days that were once special but now less so.  and in all of this, trying to remold and re-fashion these memories into something still beautiful and yet different, so i can keep them with me and smile at them rather than cry :)  

a little illusive i know, but the details aren't important.  just that we find ourselves in these times that make us stop and think deeply about where we are, and which direction we're going to take next.  and all of this collides with our creative selves to place new challenges in our paths.  

for me, my art is almost always a reflection of where i'm at in my life journey, and comes out in each and every piece...

so these moments are integral to me.  working out who i am now, and how i respond to these little hurdles, the decisions i make about how i will react to these memories/feelings etc are so important because it continually redefines more and more of who i am, and what i paint and why...

the quiet way...

Coalseam National Park Wildflowers September 09

i just read this poem from a post by Christine Mason Miller (aka Swirly) and it sums up completely how i feel about the transition from 2009 to 2010.  it is beautiful.  have a read...

At the End of the Year

The particular mind of the ocean

Filling the coastline's longing

With such brief harvest

Of elegant, vanishing waves

Is like the mind of time

Opening us shapes of days.

As this year draws to its end,

We give thanks for the gifts it brought

And how they became inlaid within

Where neither time nor tide can touch them.

The days when the veil lifted

And the soul could see delight;

When a quiver caressed the heart

In the sheer exuberance of being here.

Surprises that came awake

In forgotten corners of old fields

Where expectation seemed to have quenched.

The slow, brooding times

When all was awkward

And the wave in the mind

Pierced every sore with salt.

The darkened days that stopped

The confidence of the dawn.

Days when beloved faces shone brighter

With light from beyond themselves;

And from the granite of some secret sorrow

A stream of buried tears loosened.

We bless this year for all we learned,

For all we loved and lost

And for the quiet way it brought us

Nearer to our invisible destination.

~ John O'Donohue ~
Taken from the book To Bless The Space Between Us (in the U.S.)and  Benedictus (in the U.K.)
 © John O’Donohue. All rights reserved.
http://www.johnodonohue.com/index.html

love tenderley, now...

well, here 'tis!  the before and after photos.   i experimented yesterday with some spray paint and some groovy stencils that i've had in my scrapbook stash not knowing what to do with and that was it, i was hooked!  if it's not nailed to the floor then you can be sure it will get spray painted!  i've attacked all the paintings that are unfinished with spray paint as well, it really is addictive!  so blog friends, what do you think?  does it look better?

x me

love tenderly...

i worked on this painting until late last night, completing the gold leaf work on the heart rubble under the birdie's feet.  and although i had planned that it would be finished at this point, i cant help but wonder if it still needs a little something in the space/area around the lower third of the paiting around birdies legs?  i'd love to hear your opinion...  what do you think - does it need a little something more - or leave it as is...

i look forward to hearing what you think blog friend...

x me

notice the sparkle and embrace your inner stork...

i've had this painting sitting around in my studio for a while, it had reached 'the ugly phase' and i just didn't have the head space to work on it or know what direction to take with it.  but yesterday i just decided to make a go of it, so i dipped my fingers in a pot of paint and had a play!  i'm really feeling very in touch with how precious all the little moments are, especially now that i have these 10 days all to myself.  i know i probably wont get another chance like this all year, and so i am relishing every tiny tasty sparkly morsel...

and on a bit of a different note...

here's another birdie painting.  i'm just inspired by bright and bold lately.  loving these colours...

this is the largest painting i've done to date.  i wasn't planning on working on this panel in landscape, but i accidentally told the framer to put the hanging wire on it that way, so it got me thinking in a new direction.  a happy accident i'd say!

the words read 'embrace your inner stork'  i wont explain, it may kill the humour!

have a happy day wont you!

x me

Collaborart!

last night a dear friend Miss M and i got together for some collaborative art - or collaborart (this word keeps popping up in my head !)  inspired by mati rose and kelly rae's 2009 expermentation in colaborating on a canvas together, Miss M and i joined forces for a wonderful evening and came up these to show for it.  punctuated by drinking many cups of tea and stopping for a mango break (required snack right?!) we had an awesome time.  we had purposely not arrived with any preconcieved notions or ideas about what we wanted - and just gave each other the freedom to do whatever we wanted - no mistakes right! 

as it turned out we took turns on each others' canvas, stopping when we felt we'd worked on a section/notion/idea enough, and then handing over to the other person.  and i think the results are awesome.  they're so bright and full of childlike sparkle!

it was such a freeing way to work, thinking only about the next one small part, and not being able to respond until each other had finished.  so there was not too much planning, and just lots of being in the moment and enjoying the process.  it really was awesome fun. 

we plan to do more of it too - with other friends and have even more collaborart ideas brimming, but you'll have to watch this space for those.  2010 is definitely gonna be a hot year!

  

and here's my finished piece! (we each took home one piece to hang on our wall)  miss M chose the word 'wonderland' for it which i totally love.  my wonderland is my studio, it's my creative space both literally and figuratively - love it!

stay tuned for more collabrart soon, x me

enjoy now with all your heart

here's the latest from my studio titled 'enjoy now with all your heart'

if there's one thing i learnt from life last year, from all the ups and downs it's this.  this life is not a dress rehearsal.  this life is short.  s.h.o.r.t  and we cannot waste time being bitter or angry or dwelling on things that may not have turned out how we would have liked.  there is always joy to be had, each and every day and i for one am trying to live by these words.  this year, i'm going to find life in the small and seemingly unimportant things.  i'm going to enjoy each and every now with all my heart.  and i hope you'll join me...

x me