Studio Tour In Paint....

The epic studio clean up of earlier in the week

led to me rediscovering all sorts of parts of my studio that were interesting

and inspired me to get in and sketch some

I had grand plans of doing a really detailed sketch

but that got lost in a haze of tea, chocolate, gossip magazines and crap tv

which is great for the soul occasionally

there is something so therapeutic about seeing stars without makeup,

hurling snorts and scorn at reality tv

and complete wonder at the sheer magnificence of the Great British Bake Off

but it does take up sketching time

I felt totally justified in having that trashy lazy afternoon

because I had documented evidence that the studio had been cleaned and sorted

thanks to the last post

and it appears from lots of comments for a Tuesday post

that plenty of you like having a good old sticky beak at other people's studios

I know I stalk those studio boards on Pinterest like a mad woman

but it got me thinking what other things I would like to have a sneaky sticky beak at

Scarily I couldn't really think of anything exciting

Ok studios... any studio

that goes without saying

but my lack of curiosity pulled me up short

Of course I would love to set up a nanny cam and see what the mutt gets up to while we are out

especially as when we get home he either looks like he has been dragged through a swamp backwards or he is very sheepish and can't look us in the eye

and I would also love to take him in the car when we go through a car wash just once

it would completely do his head in I think

but those sort of things are a given

I have to be curious about more than mutt antics though

after all how can a brain that shares a scary resemblance to a hoarder's front room

not spit out more interesting things to sticky beak at

so I am going to contemplate it while I get into some more perfume bottle paintings

plus I am also attempting to write up a post for Tuesday about how I drew my pen container

in the photo below

which I am hoping will be more interesting than it sounds written here...

Happy painting all... xx

 linking with Paint Party Friday 

Epic Studio Tour...

The earth must have slipped slightly on its axis yesterday

because I have a clean studio

it is a rare, rare thing so I thought I would immortalise it while it is so tidy

and give you a little virtual tour

Who knew it was possible to have such a clean palette

almost scared to mess it up again

I even tried to scrub the paint scum from the water bowl

 well a half arsed effort... but it is cleaner than normal so I will take it

The shelves are sort of organised

nothing spilling out at least

we won't open the draws and look at the piles of work strewn in them

which is one of the downsides of liking to work on paper as well as sketchbooks

although I did organise some of the sketchbooks and journals as well

and the different pencils are even in their correct pots 

Desk is relatively clear

and computer area almost tidy

 the reason for the less comfy stool in the computer area

is to both discourage too much time on the computer

and also to stop certain members of the family hanging out too long while I am working

Next to the printer is the white box that I use for photographing work

which is now clear and relatively dust free

and the storage under the printer holds everything from less often used paints to paperwork

to bookbinding supplies, cards and different papers

I would be lost without this set of drawers and love them

even if I do bash my elbow constantly while at the computer

I must type with enthusiasm or something to bash myself so often

but totally worth it for all that storage

the new baskets for holding sketchbooks and things are working a treat

they were actually pots for plants that Sinus screwed onto the wall for me

Sinus and Pinterest are quite the combination it turns out

these are a perfect solution for such a small space

I love this corner of my desk now

basket for work waiting for paint

a favourite old photo of my sister and I from when we were young and glamorous

some little apple oil paintings that I did years ago

and the new shelf for all the paints I commonly use

I also love my box of index cards from the Cuppa With Friends project

which is starting to ramp back up

especially as it is behind my beloved little box of squashed marshmallow rabbits

I mean look at those poor squished bunnies... hilarious

I also love my half teapot which holds the chords for the cameras

Not to mention the leis that cushion the teapot chimes

I love the chime but the bloody mutt sleeps up against the door

and every time he moves he rattles them which wakes him

then he gives me the hairy eyeball like I am somehow responsible

One of the best things about doing this yesterday and this morning has been that it has got me looking at the studio with fresh eyes and inspired me to draw up some sketches

so I am going to leave it there and get busy adding some paint to them

happy painting all...xx

PS... within a half hour of publishing I had four emails asking about how i stored my work

so here is some pics of the drawers

I have one with pieces of work in plastic sleeves to protect them

but I have been very lax with that lately so this drawer

is filled to the brim with ones that have to be sorted and popped into their protective sleeves

a huge job to sort them though so it will wait for another day...

The Picorgi....

 Some of you know me very well it would seem

and I was sent this gem of a gift

which is genius on so many levels it makes my brain hurt

Some might see a flying pig

and start to make all sorts of smart arse comments

about things that may need to happen in my world before pigs actually fly

things like joining a gym, giving up chocolate

or not laughing like a madwoman at the fart soundboard thing that Phantom found

that I mentioned in the last post

there is one called Oprah Wind-fry, and another called the Bowels of theTitanic

I swear anyone would get the giggles

but I look at this little beauty and I see not a flying pig

but the perfect companion to our Solar Queen...

I take great pleasure in presenting to you

our Picorgi... 

You can actually get a solar corgi

which would be an awesome companion for the Queen I admit

but anyone can have a corgi

and while the actual Queen may not be ready to embrace a pig as a pet

she may be tempted if we tell her it is a hybrid

a one of a kind, a unique companion in a world of blandness

She is the woman who has everything I would think

so maybe a picorgi would appeal

I know it appeals to me

I have enjoyed having the Queen waving at me for the last year or so

it gives me a boost to see her sensible shoes and solar handbag

especially when the full sun hits her and she starts waving like a mad thing... endlessly funny

but she was looking a tad lonely at times

but now I think she looks very cheery

I think the picorgi completes her

So as I sit at the table and have my afternoon cuppa 

I now get to see the Queen waving like crazy

and the wings on that picorgi going like the clappers

and I feel infused with their combined energy

hoping they infuse you also

happy painting all...xx

linking with Paint Party Friday

3 Random Things...

-

Week 2 of managing two posts in a week

well it will be if I get my act together for Friday

but let's be positive and say I will make it on Friday

only problem with making it back to the realm of two posts a week is having decent content

so while painting up this new teacup and tea container

the tea is delicious by the way

I tried to think of what to blog about... nothing... nada

big fat blank

well actually three things cropped up but I dismissed them as being a bit random

even for me

but in the absence of anything else here they are

I think the lift and look feature on the toaster

is possibly the greatest invention of the last few years

seriously

I love being able to check on my toast because I am picky about toast

hate it under done,so it requires more than one cook

but even one tiny speck of black and these lips are clamped tight

one whiff of burnt and I am gagging and fanning the air

not that groundbreaking I know but there you have it

also in the slightly odd category is we discovered that the dog likes watermelon

thought it would be funny to watch his little face as he tasted it

but no he loves the stuff

and is hoovering it off unguarded plates left, right and centre

might try him on broccoli next

he has to make a funny doggy face at broccoli surely...

Final weird observation of the day

is that I started my day being woken by Phantom sharing a youtube video

that was a fart soundboard drinking game

yep woke up to a wide variety of fart noises

with great names like air biscuit and variety show

it was quite the way to start the day

happy painting all ...xx

Some Changes....

 

This week I have been thinking about all sorts of changes that are cropping up

Some things are getting back to a more normal rhythm

like managing to blog twice in a week for the first time in many, many months

and being gloriously haphazard at housekeeping

but there have been some significant changes as well...

After twelve years of getting up at 5 am-ish for Phantom to go to school

I am embracing the life of the mother of a university student

and not getting up until at least 6.30am

on some mornings 7 am

Sounds mean spirited but there is something truly delicious about still being tucked up in bed

and listening to the neighbours hustling their little boys into the car to get them off for the day

yes they have an early start, and I feel moments of pity for their plight

but then I snuggle back in and remember that I did it for all those years

scalding my fingers on nuclear toast, 

being sneezed on by the mutt, which is worse at 5 am let me tell you

and generally cursing a world that requires you to be putting together lunch boxes

at a time when your eyes can barely open.... Uni is sooooo much better

 This getting up later caper has led to some changes for the mutt

and I have been amazed that our middle aged dog

who has always been lazy as sin and dumb as a bucket of rice

is suddenly showing an aptitude for new tricks

Well not tricks so much as turning into a right scallywag

He has finally discovered that he can sniff at and try to get into his feed packet thing

It is in the same place it has been for ten years but he has only just noticed it

of course he hasn't twigged that the treats are on the shelf just above

and infinitely easier to get into so I don't think he is ready for doggy Mensa just yet...

He has also been trying to scam a second breakfast by sitting at the fridge door and looking longingly at me when I get up

He got me once and I muttered and mumbled through making it up for him

cursing Sinus under my breath for forgetting our poor loveable furball 

After feeding him I sent off a strongly worded text to Sinus regarding his doggy parenting skills

 The reply to this text...

You were played

Brilliant.... Who knew he had the brain power..... I was almost proud of the scally

He hasn't managed to scam me again but that hasn't stopped him from trying every single day

We also are the proud owners of a new lounge, or sofa and chairs...

Very exciting and required after the last year 

where I have not been vigilant regarding stain removal regarding the old lounge

and it would appear that me sitting on it with indian ink on my butt

was the last straw in its ability to look presentable

so a new un-ink butted lounge has been delivered and it is all sorts of wonderful

It is still at that stage of newness whereby I get a shock every time I walk down the stairs

it is a slightly different configuration and depth from the last one

and Mushu hasn't quite timed his jumping yet

Which is leading to much hilarity as he has the occasional bounce off the front of it

Before you feel poorly for him

let me tell you he is currently continuing his licking project

which requires him to systematically lick every millimetre of every surface in the house and a new lounge requires quite the commitment to his project

It is gross but luckily after the first lick or two it is a dry lick... Still weird to watch though... 

The final change is that Sinus has put up some shelves and storage baskets in the studio

Which means I now have sketchbooks and paints to hand

And a place for unfinished sketches and scraps of paper with ideas have a home

So I managed to finish some things off this week

Hence the slightly mixed bag of paintings in this post

I actually had even more fun painting the Chanel bottle than I did the Dior one

thinking I should do a whole series

they would make great post cards I think, or prints... they would be great prints

Even more exciting is that the eyeball that has resided on my desk since this time last year is now at eye level

And I get to eyeball the eyeball.... 

happy painting all...xx

linking to PPF

A Wrap Up ...

I am finally finishing up homework for the first session of Sketchbook Skool

which in itself is a bit of a miracle

because homework is one of those words that makes my soul freeze over a little bit

except when I was teaching in a high school

and then it was delivered with a relish that I am not proud of

but I can happily say that the personal homework demons have been put to rest and I completed all assignments except one

which is pretty good going for me and testament to how inspirational it all was

 I love drawing in all its forms

it soothes my brain which always seems to be permanently stuck in frenzy mode

ink and watercolour is an instant mood changer

and stops me from stabbing people in their stupid beady eyes with forks

it saves me from having my head explode at least a few times a day

and gloriously allows me to ignore the permanent state of disarray that exists in our home

Sketchbook Skool was a great way to transition back into my creative life

now that treatment is done and lefty is recovering

I am madly growing crazy tufts of badger coloured hair

and the final half an eyebrow has started to show up

so I no longer have to spend half my day trying to will those eyebrow hairs to grow

and all that extra energy means that I find my brain craving creative outlet

and a return to regular doses of ink and paint is a very good thing

I shared some pages from early in the course

you can find that post here if you are interested

but I figure a wrap up is in order so I decided to show a few more bits and bobs

it really was a great class to take

and it had my brain fizzing and popping in a good way on numerous occasions

so much so that I am counting down to the next session in a few weeks

a bit more brain fizzing and popping sounds like just the thing...

happy painting all...xx

Where The Fairies Go....

 I have had quite the traumatic day or so and it is all because I had to do the dishes

this situation came about because the newly adult 18 year old daughter

Who thanks all of you for the birthday wishes by the way

Toddled off to uni and didn't unpack the dishwasher

Now some mothers may just get in and unpack it, shaking their heads and smiling at the forgetfulness of their spawn

But principle dictates that I do no such thing and let her lazy sod arse off the hook

So I did what all normal mothers do and passive aggressively muttered about doing the dishes by hand and started to fill the sink

I pushed the strainer plug thingy into place and turned the water to full bore Niagra setting because it isn't hand washing unless there are suds up to your chin

and happily squeezed in some dish liquid and it was then that I saw it

In that horrible moment I realised where the cleaning fairies had gone

In my hands was the most disturbing thing I have ever seen... 

Ok not the most disturbing, after all there was the time I picked up what I thought was one of Mushu's old toys in the yard but it turned out to be some sort of disgusting fur ball instead... That was gross on a level that can only be imagined

But it was pretty horrifying to think I was washing dishes with a bottle of liquidised fairies

my immediate thought was to abandon the now traumatic experience of hand washing in favour of the dishwasher

but I then realised that maybe Sinus had also changed our dishwasher tablet brand as well

And you guessed it... More poor fairies... These ones were blue and green and squished up into little pillows of horror.... so many levels of wrong right there

Now I'm not saying they deserve it but my fairy was nothing to write home about

 Never bloody turned up and did a rather ordinary job when she did

but even slack arse fairies don't deserve that I expect

  And though I do confess to being a tad curious about what sort of machine is used to squeeze the lemony smelling cleaning essence out of fairies

 I am feeling a bit worried that maybe they are being bottled into extinction. 

Making it all worse the label has a crest/ crown thingy

which makes me think all this has the Queen's stamp of approval

the fairies have obviously done a rubbish job at Buckingham Palace at some stage

moral of the story is to not get on the wrong side of the Queen obviously

Added to the potential horror of the Queen approving wholesale slaughter of fairies

there is also a confusing baby on the label... A very purposeful striding baby 

Why? .... Is he the fairy catcher? .... Is he a special baby that poops fairies and then they bottle them? ... Is he striding off the label in some sort of baby outrage? .... Or  is he so jaded he is bored by the whole thing and is popping down the pub? 

No clue why he is present, or what he has to do with the large scale kidnapping and juicing of fairies, but he is striding with great purpose...

Confusing striding baby aside I was now left with a quandary

Do I wash the dishes in poor fairy juice seeing as the sink is already half filled or do I take a stand and refuse to use any more fairy products?

Of course it isn't going to help the fairies already bottled for my cleaning convenience so I decided to honour those poor glittery souls and do the dishes as planned

See the trauma that not unpacking the dishwasher can lead to

there is a lesson to be learned from all that...

happy painting all...xx

linking with Paint Party Friday