Magnifying Age...

The challenge over at Artists Play Room this week was 

Magnify

which to me means magnifying glasses

remember being a kid and getting that close up look at the world

checking out ants walking across leaves 

freckles on siblings

and burning holes in paper

note I didn't say that I used a magnifying glass to burn the ants 

no serial killer tendencies here...

of course now magnify takes on more sinister meanings

now it is you are getting old and you need to magnify to get through the day

which sucks because I am only 44 

and I love middle age

no I'm not kidding, I actually love being right where I am

but I was not blessed with great eyesight

and I wear glasses , and have to change to other glasses for working

and yes my glasses are graduated and it should work

but I also need a magnifying glass for detail work 

and graduated and magnifying glass aren't the best

so my day in the studio is often a circus of changing glasses

wrong glasses with magnifier, which means head spins and almost falling off my chair

and hunting for the correct lenses

which mysteriously get up and walk and hide in the oddest places

but its all part of the process now

the problem becomes the ordinary things like

directions on packets

reading recipes, school notes, newspaper, junk mail etc etc

and to get by I have all these different magnifying do hickies 

stashed all over the house

but the one that drives me nuts

and induces cursing every time

is the all important plucking of the eyebrows

I need to be under a spotlight and about 2 inches from the mirror

to not be in danger of taking my eye out

or plucking hair off my head

and yes I could get them waxed

but then I wouldn't have an excuse to swear 

and hop around the bathroom

which is kind of fun

and I was pretty happy how this painting turned out

I used a nicer magnifying glass because mine is a bit ordinary

and the tweezers are suitable tweezerish

and the faces in the background came together nicely

except the one between the glass and tweezers

which took on quite a ghoulish look

but could be minimised by a few well placed lines

and the gouache toned them down nicely

so all in all magnify is done and dusted

Head over the Justaddwatersilly.com 

to check out other magnified creations...xx

Links to my last few blog posts...

Packaged Distraction...

Just Outlines...

Packaged Distraction....

Tuesday is all about Tea

and while some of you may think that I think every day is all about tea

Tuesday is a bit special

because I have Phantom around for the weekend

and Sinus has Sunday , Monday off

and while I adore and love them both

daughter and husband

and they are remarkably self reliant

it does mean a 3 day weekend every week

so Tuesday morning is a return to peace and quiet

and that first cup of tea when I return home after school drop off

is something to look forward to...

It is also cold and windy and awful

not freeze your butt off cold

but enough to make you go looking for a patch of sun

which is exactly what I have done this morning

while I sip my Republic of Tea Blueberry Green Tea

which is beyond delicious

so delicious

I didn't work on the million unfinished projects I have on my desk

I sat and did a little sketch of the lovely packets

how could you not be distracted and want to paint them

they are just so inviting and inspiring

I have been totally suckered in by the amazing packaging

 which I first saw on Andrea's blog

and then after scouring the website 

and deciding I needed to move so I could get my hand on all this tea loveliness

I found out the Republic of Tea ships to Australia

so of course I now have a selection to try

and I am loving the packaging 

and have them on the top of my file draws waiting to be drawn up over the coming weeks

I just can't bear to put them in the pantry just yet

they are just too pretty

I am working my way through the Superfruit Sampler

and hoping they make me smarter, quicker and more coordinated

and that they magically make the paint go exactly where it is supposed to

especially as I am attacking the gorgeous photo of a peony in a tea cup 

Pat over at Artfully Ooglepops 

has so generously made available for people to play with

click on the link for more details

haven't got too far yet

but thinking the Superfruit tea is just what I need to attack all those petals....

Happy Tea on Tuesday everyone...xx

My most recent posts....

Just Outlines...

A Phantom Birthday....

Just Outlines...

Sundays are sort of becoming a work in progress

I keep having great plans of having finished work by the end of the week

but all that is happening at the moment 

is more and more projects at outline stage

and not much further than that

so either life has been a bit busy 

or I am just developing some bad creative habits

kind of think it is a bit of both at the moment

my lack of organisation when it comes to my work

was bound to catch up with me sooner or later

I am going to have a week of finishing off I think

try to clear a few pieces off my desk and

get my brain in order

and don't snort and give me the as ifs

it could happen

not likely, but it could

I have the drawings that I started last week of the spoons in the cup

and this one of all my favourite

travelling drawing sketching supplies

and I wanted to have a go at drawing up some oranges on a cake stand

no clue why I thought oranges should go on a cake stand

but hey its a look

and I saw a fluted cake stand which I am now madly coveting so it is in there too

and tea cups

always bloody tea cups

but I do love them and the apples that I had planned to place on the third got eaten

so tea cups it is, and while they have presented a bit of a scale issue

figuring it will work out in the end

and if it doesn't it will just go to live in the dead drawing draw

Lots of talented artists will be posting their Sunday Sketches 

if you would like to see more finished work

just click on this link or the one on the side bar

and Phantom Steve would like me to write a public thank you 

for all her birthday wishes

especially Jen and her Mum who even made her a birthday video

she had a great day and says that the blogger world is just the nicest world ever

I agree whole heartedly...xx

The last few blog post links

A Phantom Birthday...

The Bookmark Stash...

A Phantom Birthday...

By the time most of you read this 

especially if you are part of Paint Party Friday,

a miracle will have occurred

and Phantom Steve will be 16 years old

and while this painting 

isn't true indication of the love and pride I feel

and I had a great painting all planned in my head 

to celebrate the milestone

of her surviving our somewhat haphazard parenting

but in our defence parenting dear Phantom

hasn't always been easy....

16 years ago I was swearing like a sailor

and experiencing the joy of an endless

and I mean endless, 30 plus hour labour

throughout which Sinus insisted on playing cards 

so he could finally beat me at gin

but eventually she showed up

just as I got a good hand mind

and the fun began

There was the infamous cat stage

where she would only eat off a plate on the ground

and answer in meows

there was the naked or ballgown stage

the I will only wear tap shoes stage

there was the stage of pretending to be a lion

and insisting on scaring the living bejeesus out of

poor unsuspecting travellers at Narita Airport

the hanging out in boxes and bag stage

there was the sleep walk and stand next to the bed stage

which took about 10 years off our lives

there was the I won't eat foods that are touching each other stage

hang on that  was still making an appearance last week

the I am going to dunk my snakes in the tea stage...

the I am going to teach you physics if it the last thing we all do stage

I am so hoping the end is in sight for that one

the I love Liza and all things musical stage

again hoping that one comes to an end soon

the endless name changes, from Cat,  Aurora, Peg,

Beaver.... yes Beaver.... Peg 2, Chris and Rex, through

to the more recent Cub BBQ as homage to Bear Grylls

Phantom Steve, Batman Steve

and back to Phantom

which even poor Mushu finds confusing

no wonder he doesn't answer to his name

he probably thinks everyone has a million names

There have been endless school pick ups and drop offs

lunch boxes and uniforms

and of course

the ridiculously huge number of moments

when she has made us teary and proud

with her obscene list of achievements

and her complete and utter wonderfulness

it has been a ride if nothing else

and we have been blessed to have her hanging out with us

and for those of you concerned that this may be a bit

over sharing and embarrassing for her

I will refer you back to

30 

plus 

hours 

of labour

and now the cake making awaits!!!!


birthday update....my birthday post for Phantom was trumped
by Aunt Jen over at Just Add Water Silly and her birthday tribute to
P.Steve... nice one Jen...xx

Other gems from this week...

The Bookmark Stash...

A Delicate Attempt...

The Bookmark Stash....

Bookmarks

You would think this would be a safe topic for the 

Artists Play Room Challenge

especially as Jen chose it in honour of Phantom Steve

and our reading challenge

which I am still winning if you were wondering...

it seems safe enough

not normally associated with angst

you don't often read about book mark trauma

or see them on a banned list somewhere

or plastering a wanted poster for various crimes

but in our house they are a slightly controversial object...

I may 

on occasion

be known to acquire stray bookmarks

now some picky souls may say that I in fact steal them

but steal is an ugly word

personally I prefer pilfer

pilfer is a cracking word isn't it

I feel that any bookmark within the confines of our home 

are actually a shared resource

and this drives Phantom crazy

usually because they are her book marks that are being shared

but it is actually her fault that I have developed this bad habit

I used to use any old scrap of paper that was handy

which inevitably led to some unfortunate accidents 

concerning school permission slips

not that they couldn't be hastily taped back together

or on one memorable occasion when the tape had gone walkabout

a somewhat punk-esque stapling back together

which I thought was quite creative and funky

but has led to Phantom holding onto all slips 

and only presenting them to me with a pen at the last minute

and then whisking them back into her school diary and safety

so now I am reduced to acquiring anything that isn't tied down

Phantom hides her stash

and I have no clue where it is

she only uses ones that she knows I don't like

like those metal ones

or ones with tassles

or pink ones

which I always think make books smell oddly like musk

and yes I know that is mad

but I was the victim of a terrible musk incident when I was a child

and I have smell flash backs at the sight of anything even musk pink coloured

ever since

or more often than not she has now taken to using a folded post it note

her current reading pile is a veritable pile of bookmark rubbish

and yes we both have piles like that on the go at any one time

and we are as bad as each other at reading 10 books at once

which leads to huge lack of bookmark issues

so now I use iTunes cards

yellow scrap paper

and

one rather tired old ribbon and bead one

which always gets caught up in the cover and makes my pile unsteady

it is criminal what I have to put up with

all because my beloved daughter won't share...

but in the spirit of setting an example for the little sod

I have made some bookmarks to share with my blogger friends

and if you would like one I will send it to you

of course if more than nine of you want one

then I will have to do the random draw palaver

but lets deal with that if it comes to that

just leave me a comment and let me know you would like one

and I will contact you to get addresses etc...

and show Phantom Steve how it is done

maybe she will open up her bookmark stash

not likely

but I can dream....xx


Update....
 I have made extra bookmarks 
so don't stress if you aren't in the first nine...xx

This Weeks's Posts...

A Delicate Attempt...

The Rise and Fall of Batman Steve...

A Delicate Attempt...

Had a go at delicate and sweet today

didn't quite pull it off

not delicate and sweet as a person

cause trust me there is nothing delicate about me

I tried drawing and painting delicate and sweet

turns out it is harder than I thought as well...

I have all these lovely delicate tea cups

many of which I inherited or was given 

and I had this idea

that they would make a lovely series

and of course French Macaroons 

are just what is needed to induce 

the right mind set to tackle it

if you were wondering why

 the raspberry one in the pic looks a bit dodgy

it is because it was eaten before I got it included in the sketch

I am thinking I need to work on these a bit more

before I find the style I want to use

this isn't quite it

maybe the giant mug of Autumn Spice tea might have contributed

it is robust to say the last

might be more effective if I try a nice lightly flavoured tea

Off to tackle another tea cup 

and hope it is closer to what I can see in my head

don't you wish you could just 

I Dream of Genie it onto the page sometimes

so much easier

Happy Tea Tuesday all... xx

My latest posts...

warning to tea on Tuesday visitors... this post contains coffee references!!!!

Just Add Gorgeous Silly...

The Mighty Haul...

The Rise and Fall of Batman Steve...

The Rise and Fall of Batman Steve....

For the last 18months our breakfast room

which is the fancy room for the useless bit tacked onto our kitchen

has been graced by a rather oversized blackboard

which is testament to the fact that my dear husband, Sinus

does nothing by halves

and while it is impressive in size... the room is not

and it has had the disturbing effect of making the end wall

appear to suck all the light out of the room

sort of like having our very own black hole

and to make it worse it has become the repository of dead formulas

Dear Phantom , bless her science and maths loving heart,

seems to think that the blackboard was put there 

so she could torture her parents 

by explaining different maths and science concepts to us

now I am sure in her heart of hearts she is trying to help

but the reality is I have bugger all interest in Japanese script, 

or matrices, or refraction theory

which might make me a bad parent

but I just don't give a toss

but I have sat dutifully and concentrated on my eyes not glazing over

as she has attempted to enlighten me

but joy of all joys

this morning it was time to paint it over

and I suggested to Phantom that she might like to take the opportunity 

to do a bit of cathartic graffiti

which ties in with an attempt to get her to be more messy

inspired by Lisa and the Messy Book Group

this is what she did...

a freakin bat signal

an almost 16 year old is given a black wall and a pot of paint 

and she does a bat signal

and not even a huge bat signal

a very neat and contained bat signal

it just isn't natural

and the Mess message is just not sinking in

but wait

 it gets more surreal

the bat signal became Batman Steve

and then 

Batman Steve with a crown

which I assume represents the King part of her name

so given the chance to paint anything at all

in the whole world on a wall

she paints this...

So Batman Steve huh...

not Phantom Steve

did I miss something ????

not really she says

just couldn't remember how to paint Phantom

and anyway thought you would like Batman cause Clooney played him

and now I kind of like it, and there was no purple paint

So it appeared Batman Steve King was the new name...

and even though Sinus has painted in over

in preparation for the gorgeous colour I have chosen

I was a bit disappointed because I have come to love Phantom Steve

and it was doubly disappointing because Jenn

has dedicated this week's Artist Play Room Challenge 

to one Phantom Steve, or P.Steve as she calls her

which is kind of cool in that P. Diddy kind of way

and B. Steve is just not as fun

but before we all go into mourning,

 it seems in the face of such coolness 

Batman Steve was in fact, 

as short lived in life

as it was on the wall

and the Phantom Steve I know and love is still with us

and Batman was just a temporary blip in her long history of name changes

and it really was just a case of couldn't paint a Phantom and no purple paint

 no clue why she couldn't just write Phantom like she did Steve

the teenage brain is indeed a mystery...

All of this rise and fall of names has meant a somewhat distracted morning

and the two drawings I had hoped to have finished for Sunday Sketches

are unfinished

the zine page is still half complete

no surprise there I know

and my new cutlery drawing is just shadows and paint

but now that all is right with the world and Phantom is restored

I am thinking I can dedicate my afternoon to Sunday Sketch world

and being super ready for next week...xx

The last few blog posts...

The Mighty Haul...

Just Add Gorgeous Silly...

The Opposite of Easy...