1st February

Bright Hope


Standing on hilltops with our bright hopes leaping and tossing about in the winds of life, we can only gaze at their joyful dance, colours glowing in the sun, and trust that our lines don't get tangled, causing a rapid descent to the ground and an end to our optimism.

31st January

Thirty One Pictures!


Last day of January and I am still here - cause for celebration and a small, self congratulatory pat on the back! I am enjoying playing with paint, pushing it around and letting the colours mix a bit on the page. There is something a bit strange about this expression, something a little assessing, and a bit wry. I guess that is ok, self assessment isn't a bad thing, as long as I remember to be kind to myself as well. I do like the energetic brush strokes and the colour range, which also reflect the feeling of the day. It is sunny, blue skied, with the wind playful and not hot. The best sort of summer's day. I noticed the horse chestnuts are just starting to change colour - they are the very first mention of the approaching autumn. I feel ambivalent despite the gorgeous leaves and still days that autumn brings. Focus on the now, not the coming days, is essential or I will descend into a melancholy!

30th January

Keeping All Your Balls in the Air


The beginning of the academic year is about to begin for me - if you can call the jewellery course I attend academic - and suddenly there are all sorts of things to be thinking about. There is a large area of mundane things that need attention as well, there are so many things I prefer to spend time on, and several areas creatively, as well as planning to make a little more income from my sales of glass and jewellery. So many things ticking away in my brain. This is the way I like to function, plenty to keep the little grey cells busy, and the playful creative part of me getting lots of opportunity to play too. 

29th January

Cityscape


I have always wondered if high rise buildings would feel less oppressive if they were a warm, sunny, pink, instead of grey, or white and metal colours. Wouldn't city life feel more cheerful? I couldn't help but smile when I saw brightly coloured buildings along the edge of a canal/river in Spain, and buildings in 'undercoat pink', and intense vicks-bottle blue cottages in the UK. Perhaps we should be paying more attention to the colours we surround ourselves with, maybe carefully chosen colours would make the grimmer parts of our cities a little less grim.

28 January

Flitting About


Today has been one of those unexpectedly fizzy days with lots of little jobs, hunting out some new paint, paper, a quick peruse around a couple of recycling places - one wooden step ladder that needs a little TLC-  and looking for a particular shaped bead for my latest idea in the repurposed object jewellery arena! And the sun is finally showing her face - boy does that make a difference.
So here we have a trio of energetic creatures, flitting about, energy to burn, and having a grand time of it! I have used some liquid acrylics instead of my other stuff, and I think it is going to make small details easier to control - yay!

27th January

Whispers


Whispers in the halflight, gauzy curtains, a cool breeze through the window laden with scents from the garden. Close your eyes and what do you hear? Rustling leaves, the little chirrups of small birds, the air moving through treetops. What words would you like to hear in the quiet?

26th January

Mine's Bigger than Yours!


Ah, sibling rivalry! It seems impossible to avoid. My solution was to become extremely non-competitive, and tease people when they seem overly obsessed with winning. While this has had its successful moments I have to wonder if it has meant I haven't exactly striven to do my best! Even if the rivalry is not so close as the sibling variety it is difficult for me to know how best to respond. Another lie we are told as children -'Ignore it, and it will go away'. It doesn't often, and can suddenly rear its head from the shadows and bite you on the bum! All I can do is laugh at all concerned, myself included, and make myself absent from such situations. It is so important to have supportive, nourishing people in your life who take you for who you are and don't care about what you have or who you know!

25th January

Keeping Calm


Pausing to drift and think calm and happy thoughts. Stroking a cat is supposed to be beneficial, but I think this is a case of the cat enjoying a cuddle too! I am finding using acrylic paint at this little size a bit of a challenge - maybe I need to dilute the paint with something other than water to get a more controllable, but still dense colour, paint on my brushes. I suspect a bigger canvas would suit me better, but then where would I hang it? 

24th January

Does Anybody Write Anymore?


I bought an ancient typewriter the other day, at an auction. It is old enough to have a cast iron frame, and I got to thinking about all the things that had been typed on it and how much things have changed since it was all new and shiny. Then I got to thinking about my own experiences as I first learned to write, and eventually got promoted to an ink pen when I started at high school. We were on the cusp of changing over to biros, which were still frowned upon. I had a teacher who refused to mark anything written in biro. My hands were always covered in ink and I never did manage to develop a beautiful flowing script, mine was all points and splatters, all different sizes and slants! But I still love seeing handwritten pages, and my heart stills lifts and runs a little faster when a letter arrives in the mailbox. I love communications of any kind, but the knowledge that the envelope received has come directly from the hand of the writer, and traveled all the way from them to me is still something wonderful. The person's handwriting is as individual as they are and the process of forming the thoughts and transferring them to paper is almost magical - a moment translated just for me!

23rd January

By the Sea

I took myself for a wander along the shoreline at Sumner yesterday afternoon despite the grey, showery weather. I walked across the expanse of beach to feel the touch of the ocean on my feet and found, to my surprise, it was quite warm. I enjoyed the lack of people about and the salt in the air as I walked, looking out to the horizon and up into the sky. I think this picture comes from there, with an added dimension of warm sunshine, and a sense of the life above and below the waves.

22nd January

Ommm...


This meditative mermaid has her face and hands based on a photo of the Bodhisattva of compassion I saw in a magazine. I love the curvy eyelids and sensuous mouth that so many Buddhist deities have, they almost seem at odds with the calm state they present, more blissful than cool. Anyhow, here she is all lovely and having a quiet moment in the coolness of the ocean.

21st January

Feeling My Way in the Dark

Sometimes I really don't know what to do next. I reckon keeping on moving is the best approach, something will emerge eventually. Maybe something new and different, maybe not. This is a picture that reflects my belief that even if you think it's dark and nothing is out there, if you look hard enough and keep moving there is richness to be added to your experience. At night you need to look at things with the edge of your vision to see anything, listen harder, pay attention to changes in the air, and sometimes life is like that.

20th January

Lists


I am an inveterate list-maker. Lists of what needs to be done, materials, wishes, stuff for the house, gifts to get/make, things that need to be done financially, aims for the future, changes to make.... and now a list of lists! Halfway through this drawing I got really fed up and had to give the girl in red an out. The sign that the bird is holding says, 'Grab my wings and fly.' So now there's hope, and every chance that an escape will be made from the tyranny of undone things!

19th January

Not Much of a Summer So Far


It hasn't been a great summer. So far. I know I was really hot at the beginning of the month, but that has pretty much been it. Good for the garden growing, not so good for ripening your tomatoes, and not good for the desired summery feeling we come to expect at this time of year! It will probably fine up once everyone goes back to school!

18th January

An EleFantasy

She just looks gorgeous and I couldn't resist playing a bit! All decked out in her finery and smiling broadly she is confidently facing the world, expecting nothing but love and good things. I am not suggesting such expectations should be a fantasy, we shouldn't be expecting anything less!

17th January

Letting Go


This started off as a collage about creative power, with a whole lot of words that came to mind as I was dwelling on the jumble of things that affect me as I work on something, or even just think about working on something. It reached a messy point where I nearly gave up. This is a good place despite the anxiety involved, because then I can throw caution to the winds and let loose. Hey it can't get any worse can it? So I changed media and decided to practice my face proportions and play with paint and shadows, trying to capture a face with some liveliness expressed. Here she is, grinning, thinking about something amusing. Maybe the humour I feel as I watch myself fighting to enjoy myself, until I just let go and the tension lifts!

16-1-10

Three Wishes


What would I wish for if I could really have three wishes? Aside from all the alturistic stuff like feeding the world's hungry, world peace etc of course. Working this out might be useful to focus my aims over the next little while. Other things that are unlikely to be attainable; the energy I had in the 20s, the absence of complaints from my body, unshakable confidence, a belief that what I create is anything other than supreme self-indulgence... the list could go on! On the other hand, I wouldn't go back to being as quick to please people or bend myself into the shape other people felt I should occupy to be 'acceptable'. I can't see how I was so sensitive to all that once, I am altogether more feisty than I once was and it feels pretty good!

15th January

Daybreak

A new day all fresh and cool and full of promise. A perfect moment before the business of the day takes hold and we stop looking at the beauty around us. Something to put away and bring out later like a precious thing, reminding us of what really matters, how the world goes on regardless of we busy humans and our supposedly important matters.

14-1-10

Feeling the Wind in your Hair


I love the feeling of the wind in your hair and the smell of the sea. Something within me calls out for the salt sea air and the sounds of the sea birds. If I am away from the sea for too long I start to feel all stodgy and hemmed in, as if there isn't quite enough air to breathe, and no space in my head just to experience being. I get so busy being busy sometimes that I forget the need to breathe, take a pause and just listen, feel the air on your skin, the wind in your hair, and be.

13th January 2010

In The Pink


Despite foul weather last night and lots of rain and wind, all be it with patches of sunshine, today and waking up with a nasty migraine, I am actually feeling pretty perky! Not only feeling good but I have also rediscovered a box of inks on my shelf, and have given the pink a bit of a whirl. It is VERY pink, probably will have to take a break from pink tomorrow - great in small doses but you can have too much of a good thing!!

12th January

Everyone Requires a Little Carnival in their Day


Don't ask me where this one came from, it just kind of emerged! Must be feeling a bit over the top, but it's true that we all need a bit of  celebration just for its own sake. Sometimes you have a grey day and you really need to break out and be crazy for a while. I love that feeling of exuberance that strong colour creates, a real uplift to my spirits!

11th January 2010

Sea Sprite


We spent yesterday driving up the coast and visiting a few of the little settlements that we haven't seen before. It was a gorgeous day and the sea was a deep aquamarine colour under a windy blue sky. We stopped at the river mouth of the Hurunui and admired the way the water from the river mixed with the ocean. The view at the end of the road was straight down a huge cliff - remarkably with a vertical wooden ladder down to the beach below. Spectacular and very wild. We also found the Napenape road which took us for a long meander, eventually right along the edge of the stoney beach with waves pounding a matter of metres away, and a glowing white cliff face at the end. Magical place, and well worth the trip. Gore Bay was also beautiful, with quite a few baches, and more spacious houses, built under the shadow of cliffs, and just across the road another wild and stoney beach - with a few brave kids jumping in the waves. Loved it. So, my head is now full of sea and sky and wind - and apparently a sea sprite has found her way onto my paper!

10-01-2010

Something Fishy - or A Taste Sensation!


 "What makes something ART?" Something I struggle with. Is it any good? Do I like it? But is it Art? I guess if I made it with any intent at all it must fit somewhere on the scale of what is called art. As to its value as art, or if it's any good, maybe that is irrelevant. Something I find appealing might give someone else the screaming habdabs! I think it is largely a matter of taste when it comes down to it. 
Here is an 'artful' picture of a queenly cat with her dreams of something divine!

9-1-10

Call me Suspicious


In my experience nothing is as straightforward as people would have you believe. Look at all the post Christmas advertising - all those special deals on stuff that you absolutely can't live without! I have just been listening to someone here in Christchurch talking about conducting your life only accessing locally grown, made, or provided goods - with the exception of coffee, beer, and wine - although they are all brewed, roasted, or fermented here if you look around, and what reasonable human being can go without coffee? His own vege patch keeps his family of 4 in veges until May - imagine that! Pay a visit to their site http://www.holisticlocal.co.nz, I think this is a good way to go - now all I need is a better ability to dig in my overgrown garden with my dodgy hip - know anyone who would like to share my vegepatch in exchange for digging?

8-1-10

The Other Way Up!


Still enjoying myself leaping around on paper. A kind of seeing how things look from another perspective. We are halfway through the last week before Steve goes back to work and the days change shape again. What does this year hold for us all? I am determined to take a big bite out of the apple of life!

7th January 2010

Tumbling


My inner child can do this sort of thing, sadly my outer manifestation never could, even when more limber and lithe! Lucky me, I get to play with the sensations on paper, where reality can play second fiddle and to hell with the consequences!!

6-1-10

A Bit of a Whimsey

These lovely creatures started their lives as part of a doodle, a playful meander of my pencil across the page. I think I am going to enjoy this chance to play about a bit, life gets so serious and I get hung up on making something 'good.' Whose version of good anyhow? This is fun and I enjoyed myself, enough said!

5-1-01

Green Fairy- Even a Snail Needs a Pat

I look out onto a fruit tree in my studio/shed at the bottom of the garden. Today the sun has been shining through the leaves all fluttering in the breeze, and that green, broken up light was what stared me off. If you look hard where the green fairy is looking you can see she is giving a snail a friendly pat. Snails are kind of like arial sheep of the forest, grazing where they will, not something we usually pay much attention to unless we are really looking. They have the most amazing patterns and colours on their shells and a quiet determination to do what they do, traveling on their wandery way in which ever direction that takes their fancy. Must be a message in that!

January 4th 2010 Contents or Contented?

What's Behind that Closed Door?

Today I have been thinking about what I would like to think the future might hold, what might be around the corner or behind the next door. This turned into a rather convoluted page of doors and different ways to shut them on paper - needs work I think. Paper closures are a bit fragile, but I think there is some potential to explore sometime. I enjoy doing a bit of bookbinding too and I can see there are possibilities for attaching little book structures too.

January 3rd

You Thought it was Hot Yesterday?

Today has dawned after a night of howling nor'westers, and is supposed to reach 29degreesC. I think it's past that already - and breathless. I seem to be telling you all about the 2nd for the 3rd - if you're confused so was I for a moment. Trouble is I really like to give myself some leeway when it comes to working to a 'deadline', and aim to have something done before the start of the stated day - that way if I have something unexpected occur I will not feel panicked, and give up in disgust. So easy to succumb to internal pressures!!

Aside from all that, it was so very hot today that I was wishing I could go for a swim in the ocean. Instead I found an old cd of dolphins and waves,  sat in the cool house thinking cooling ideas, and,'Voila!' this is who appeared.

So Hot Today

So Hot


A beautiful sunny morning, no wind, a sleep in, and day 2 of my efforts. My studio at the bottom of the garden is very sunny, and as I sit with my thoughts and gather together some materials it gradually gets hotter and hotter. I started out with some hand-batiked paper - a riot of red and yellow hibiscus flowers - and things just grew from there. Don't ask me what the significance of anything is, it just took on a life of its own!!