Silk

'Silk'
1m x 1m 

I did actually finish this piece in time (last week). It felt a little rushed but overall I am really happy with it. I have been a little bit obsessed by the whole silk manufacturing process lately, but its out of my system now :) The top picture is the finished piece and the other shots are some close ups to show the silk worm cocoons, the glass dome over my hand-made moth and some of the different textures I used, which included plastic garden wire to represent the grids that they sometimes farm the silk worms in. The words 'Bombyx Mori' are the scientific name for the silk moth. I am actually feeling the lure of my pastels again, but we are still in the midst of building my new studio so I don't want to get out another pile of stuff and make even more mess...anyway, cheers for now :)

Little? Visitor

Who says Australia is scary? Look at this lovely furry fellow that came to check out my progress on this piece this afternoon! He wasn't very happy when I scoop him up in a cup and took him outside :)

Playing with Paper

I got some beautiful paper this week, I could have just put it in a frame by itself it is so lovely. tearing it was HARD, but, I had fun trying to make a Silk Moth (Bombyx Mori). These are the moths that are involved in the Silk making process and they are little furry white balls of pretty :). The piece I am currently working on is about the silk process, inspired by some lovely little silk rods I bought on Ebay (in the same photos as the moth). The bottom photo is all the silk worm cocoons I have cut in half and filled with Moulding Paste. I think I might be somewhat disturbed :P Lately I have been thinking a lot about meaning and narrative in artwork, every piece I have done this year has been preceded with a lot of research and sketches. For me, this has really made me enjoy the process so much more. Even though I like to paint 'by the seat of pants', the preparation helps to spark the beginnings and is helping me through the problem solving parts. The down side of this is it is also slowing down the process so I am getting a little behind...:) (I wish I had a little behind HaHA) Cheers!

Back on the horse (sort of) :)

It's so hard to work at the moment, my studio is in disarray and I am teaching again now. I'd better get a wriggle on though cos this is due in a week. On another note - sold the 'Ornithologist'...bit sad really because my husband was very fond of it and there was quite a bit of hard to replace assemblage in it but the lady who bought it is lovely, she has a couple of my pieces now and it's nice to know they are going somewhere where they will be enjoyed :) Cheers for now!

Ups and Downs

'Smoko'

'Night Vision'

So sorry I haven't posted in so long, it's been such a weird start to the year. We recently embarked on a project to build a new studio for me and in the middle of all that, one of my adult kids (who has had some health issues for about a year) just found out they have Graves Disease, at least we know now what's wrong now :) Then there has been other personal things going on (as they do!) so there hasn't been much space for painting :( On the up side, soon I will have a new studio AND last night I got some great news...the painting 'Smoko' won a Highly Commended prize at this years Wagin Woolorama and my mixed media piece 'Night Vision' won best Mixed Media. I am so excited! It's only the second prize I have won with a mixed media painting so I feel confident to keep going in this direction now (at least for a while!) anyway, cheers for following all my little ups and downs :)