Things are moving along slowly here at my place. There’s a lot going on and zero energy to do anything other what NEEDS to be done right now. I’m sure you’ve all been there!
Well, ok, maybe I can fit in a bit of drawing here or there. That’s kind of essential though right?
Children are on school holidays for two weeks. These holidays are usually quite hard because it’s the middle of winter; which means we’re trapped inside all day every day, only emerging to attempt grocery shopping to buy the essentials for survival. Not this time though! The sun is out and our days are just feeling like crisp summer mornings. It’s quite strange but I’m welcoming it and loving it. Next week the kids grandparents arrive and then we’re off to Dunedin for a few days too. All of that equals a pretty easy two weeks for me. Sooo happy.
Over the weekend our gardens got weeded, trees got pruned and the lawns got mowed. They used a ride on lawnmower to get around the place. I knew our spot was big enough for one of those! Our backyard jungle has turned into a safe-haven for children to play in again. The gardeners did such an amazing job. We’re keeping them on for good.
I haven’t been lucky enough to receive my shipped goods for the large painting I’m working on. I’m a bit frustrated because I was having so much fun working on it. When I’m really enjoying myself the results on the project I’m working on always come out better than expected, now I’m a little worried that because the flow has been broken it won’t turn out as well as I had imagined. I’m hanging in there though! I’m just determined to get the results I want with this piece.
In the mean time I’ve been trying to get to my drawers. I didn’t get as far on them as I wanted last week. Boston is back to being a cranky pants. The one week of peace was awesome while it lasted lol. He’s teething right now and is not letting anyone get any rest. He’s up at 4am and stirring through the night. During the day he’s clinging and unable to settle, then at random moments he’s the happiest kid on the planet. We’re lucky if those moments are lasting more than an hour. Nevermind, this too shall pass!
Bloom was unveiled on Friday night and looks STUNNING. Head here to see the list of participants.
I’ve made a little bit of progress on the drawers, still a long way to go though!
Things were quiet one night while I was waiting for Andrew to arrive home so I sketched myself as the evil Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland.
And seeing as my goods haven’t arrived in town yet, I figured I’d start on another painting.
That’s where I’m up to now! I’m off to work on this portrait. I love painting.
Every year the NZ Art Guild and it’s members take part in a collaborative project. The finished product is then revealed at the Emerge exhibition and auctioned off on TradeMe to raise money and awareness for The Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand. 100% of the proceeds are donated.
This year’s project is titled Bloom. It incorporates 64 individual artworks, created by 62 New Zealand artists that were invited to interpret the theme New Beginnings and Growth. The collaborative project results in an artwork 1/3m x 1.3m.
Can’t wait to see this year’s result!
I’ll be sure to put the link up to the auction once the reveal is done.
Those in Auckland are invited to the Emerge exhibition and reveal of Bloom at Bruce Mason Centre, 6:30pm, 2nd July 2010.
I finished one painting and have packaged it ready to send back to be part of this years NZAG collaborative project, so half way to completing another thing on my list. It’s done on a small piece of wood.
The big reveal of the collaboration will be done at the Bruce Mason Centre on July 2nd in conjunction with the 2010 Annual Members Exhibition. It will then be auctioned on Trade Me. All proceeds will be donated to the Mental Health Foundation of NZ.
Right now I’m dying for some big, fresh, new canvases. Instead I only have some small fresh ones, some small boards or some larger incomplete pieces I’m absolutely ready to paint over. It’s a dilemma I know a tonne of other artists face regularly. My mind is full of ideas! I think it’s time to clear my walls so I can restore my stock and let progression take place. It’s really hard to move on when surrounded by work. Why is that I wonder?
I’ve got two shows coming up in the next couple of weeks, one in Lumsden and one in Auckland. Opposite ends of the country, yikes! Exciting though. I’ll put up a full list of details so that if you’re in the area, you can stop by.
I’m taking to sketching a lot right now. I’m really feeling the need to unleash some big bold strokes and get messy though. I just feel like I’m editing myself.
I’m usually really good at allocating time for each little thing that needs to get done but a baby really limits how much time you can spend on any one thing. He’s still going through a very clingy stage right now. I’m sure this stage will be over all to soon though and I’ll completely forget I ever had this issue. He’s into EVERYTHING. So the dilemma of keeping my gear out of his way so he doesn’t pull it on himself or eat it is always there. I have a studio up the back of the house but I rarely use it because I like being in the house. So I usually take over whatever space I can lol.
Oh well, I’ve dealt with the issue of keeping little ones away from my gear 3 times before, I’m sure I can do it once more! It’s funny how quickly you forget about these different stages.
Now, after all this talk of painting, I think I see tomorrow being filled with nothing but painting during naptime and playing with a baby.
*** Don’t forget to enter my Pick Your Print Giveaway which runs till May 15th 2010
Well, I decided to try my hand at one of the new challenges the
NZAG are putting on. The theme was ‘Graffiti’. I’ve always secretly desired to be a Graffiti Artist but feel so inadequate seeing as I know quite a few very talented Graf artists from NZ. This was a blast though and took me right back to my teens where I spent a lot of time doodling and dreaming of having more talent haha. My kids and hubby love it. My 3 year old spent the evening pointing at it saying “Wow, cool!!” and my daughter pulled out her paint so she could “Paint a picture like that one!”. I feel appreciated lol.
Interesting fact: My husband and I actually met going to a Graffiti Art exhibition being held in downtown Auckland.
I hope you all had a great Easter! I sure did. I spent most of it in bed though. Who knew a pregnant woman could sleep so much! I’m pretty sure this baby just had a growth spurt though. We get 5 days off where I live so today was our last day. We spent the day out in Riverton, a small town about 1/2 an hours drive from our place.
First we stopped by a Gallery there to drop some work in and then we spent the rest of the day at the wharf fishing for sprats. It was fun! There was a Filipino lady beside us we chatted with all day and Nas caught his first fish!!! He’s been on a high ever since.
My kids broke my camera about a month ago so while we’re saving up for the one we want I can’t show you any of my new pieces I’m sorry. Or a photo of my son with his first catch, ugh. Soon enough though!
Last week I received my piece of this years NZAG Collaborative Project. I stared at it for about a week and then completed it yesterday. Well, almost. I tried using some colour and it just didn’t work visually for me so I’ve decided to keep it very very simple. Now sometime this week I need to purchase a paint pot that matches my piece to paint over the no longer wanted colours. Then I can send it back to be put together with the other pieces and wait for the big reveal!
That’s it for now. The photos are the 2 creations I just made on photofunia.com. So fun.
