Wednesday 26 February 2014

Blossoms :)







'Marri Blossoms'
41cm x 51cm
Acrylic and Ink on Deep Stretched Canvas
$120.00



This is a new technique I am exploring and it is FUN! In Australia, many of the native trees blossom as we come into Autumn, and those same trees that carry those annoying little Honkey Nuts that I talked about, are now smothered in these lovely blossoms. Ain't nature cool?

Monday 24 February 2014

"Spring Rolls"

"Spring Rolls"
100cm x 70cm
Pastel on board
 Yay, back to pastels, how I love them :) I have done this one for a country show, finished it this morning and it leaves tomorrow...nothing like leaving things till the knock! Anyhoo, below are some progress photos...thanks for looking :)

block in


alcohol wash

working from top downwards

adding some texture with colourfix primer
still working my way down

detail shot to show the colours used in the rolls

Wednesday 19 February 2014

DPW

Well I did it - now all I have to do is work out how to do all this computery stuff :)

Sunday 16 February 2014

Demo 2012

'Firebreak Demo 2012'

I did this piece as a demo for a lovely group of artists in 2012, it was the first demo I did in front of a large audience. I will never forget it. Some of them may have loved it, some may have been disappointed, but for myself, who has trouble talking to groups of people larger than 3, well just let me say...it took a few days for me to come back down to Earth! I still struggle, but the feeling of conquering the fear and sharing your passion is worth it afterwards :) I didn't do my best work, but that doesn't matter, every artist knows you have ups and downs... art is an emotional thing, it comes from somewhere inside that you don't really understand and sometimes it works...sometimes not :). The best piece of advice I ever heard from another artist (De Gillett) is to get out of your own way :)

Wednesday 12 February 2014

'Fecundity'






'Fecundity' 1m x 1m Mixed Media on Gallery Wrap canvas

So the title sounds kind of off putting but this weird word actually means abundance, fertility etc

Anyway, a weird title for a weird piece :) I have had this one brewing in my minds eye for quite a while now...included on the canvas are real leaves, bark and insects that I have preserved in gel. The nests are based loosely on Weaver Bird nests, as is the yellow bird. I am hoping this piece gives the viewer the feeling of abundance and how beautiful and important our disappearing environment is and also how fragile. I was especially pleased with how the nests and the peacock feathers turned out. There is a lot of texture on the surface that you probably can't see.When the ink is dropped in it follows the textures and does magical things all by itself...so much fun :)

Thursday 6 February 2014

Art Appreciation

'How to enjoy art' (Work in progress)
My dog LOVES art, especially comfortable art :)

'Betta Fantasy'

'Betta (or worse lol) Fantasy'
very mixed media on stretched canvas 40cm x 30cm
Hope this one didn't give you too much of a fright! I know one thing for sure...no-one will ever ask me to decorate their cake for them - piping bags are hard! Still mucking about with ideas - some good some not so :)

Wednesday 5 February 2014

Mixed Media Frenzy

'Don't be so Koi'
40cm x 40cm Acrylic, Ink opal Dust and Pitt Pens
Fooling around with mixed media again...I am going to be demonstrating for some other artists soon so I am experimenting like mad and inks are so much fun. Must remember to wear gloves though because I get a lot of weird looks when I go the shops! Still haven't done my 30 day collage yet, must get onto that :)

Tuesday 4 February 2014

title to be considered...:)

'Hmm not sure yet - don't want to call it old gum tree'

Yay I remembered to take a photo before varnishing :)