Beach Dreams...

I have holidays on my mind in a big way this week

 the beach is beckoning and I am feeling the need to feel sand between my toes,

 revel in that crusty crunchy feel of salt drying on your skin

 hair that takes on mild dreadlock tendencies

 which should be something as it is so short now

 afternoons spent walking the long stretches of beach

 cups of tea while floating in the pool

  and most importantly going to sleep to the sound of the waves 

of course there is also a downside to all of the beach loveliness

there is the sand that gets everywhere

the nuclear level burns on the bottoms of your feet getting from your towel to the waves

constantly having blurry sight from salty air coating your glasses

not to mention the whole crap shoot that is my packing method

I prescribe to the pack with abandon and chuck it all in in ten minutes school of packing

I believe it adds a touch of random fun to the holiday

the family will grumble the whole bloody time of course

The one thing that isn't packed with abandon is books

this is a deadly serious process

Phants and I start building our piles a few weeks before

then there are constant revisions and discussions

until we get the right balance of literature and beach reads

not to mention we have to have sufficient variety for every possible reading mood

we are nearing our final piles but they aren't quite there yet

we deviated from the process this process last year after heckling from Sinus Man

 and then we had to go to the bookshop as we ran out of books

the shame ... no fear this year though as the process is happily back in place

not many sleeps to go now

happy painting all...xx

Ps there is a new youtube video

and Barry tries to steal the limelight of course...

Bazza...

It is time to introduce you all to Barry

 the cat who adopted us... we think

 he is here all the time, and makes himself totally at home sleeping on beds and laps so we think we are now his owners

 For many months he used to pop over and say hello then disappear for a day or two

 he was here so much that we started giving him a name as calling him cat seemed wrong

 this is despite the fact that my childhood dog was called Dog

 anyway we tried out a few, but Barry seemed to trump them all

 but then we noticed Bazza was getting skinnier and skinnier

 and despite our efforts to find an owner he appears to be a stray

 He has been spending more and more time here... full time in fact

 and we couldn't watch him get thinner by the minute so of course we fed him

 and now he has moved in

He is a lot more handsome than this sketch indicates

turns out they are quite the challenge to paint 

but he is quite lovely for a cat and appears to have a bundle of quirks

some weird phobias, the iron , spaces behind doors, and fresh ginger... yep a knob of ginger shows up and he is freaked out and tries to attack it before beating a hasty retreat

he is weirdly uncoordinated, does a great slinky impression, loves being on your lap or in your arms, drools when he purrs, which is a lot btw, and is insanely vocal... he literally yell-meows at us left right and centre, but he is training us up nicely and we seem to be communicating better now

He is not a dog... and he is no Mushu the wonder mutt, but he is a lovely addition to the clan

happy painting all...xx

Painting demo...

Early last year I made this painting for a project for a class for Soul Food

 It was a great experience, but sadly Soul Food is no more

 so I decided to re-edit and cut to the interesting bits and make it available on youtube...

 because I started a channel over there which was Phant's idea

 I kept saying there was all sorts of things I would like to include in classes that didn't really fit with the subjects but would be handy for people to know maybe

and so Phants sat down and opened a channel in about two minutes flat

told me to stop boring her with all this stuff and post it instead and promptly walked off muttering about inept mothers

now I was mildly put out as I feel I listen to her endless discourses on subjects such as literary theory, the perils of the wrong mascara, and why Halsey is the voice of a generation

but it had some merit so I am dipping my toes in..

of course in true style it is still slightly dodgy and the narration on this one is a tad tired

because it took twenty six thousand takes or there about

because the bloke next door would yell at a kid, I would sneeze, I would record over part, but not others, I would forget to blank out old narration so it came through as a chipmunk in the background, I forgot what I was saying and started just chatting randomly, well you get the idea... so it sounds a tad flat and tired, because I was weary and tired and so sick of watching the bloody thing and seeing those same bloody tea mugs...

So if that magnificent introduction has sold you on it, then here it is to have a watch...

  Outside of doing all of that palaver, there was the sending out my first newsletter,

setting up delicious paint on a new platform... not finished by a long shot btw... and opening the print shop on my website.

All of which has made me wish I was either twenty years younger, or that I didn't have the attention span of a gnat when Phants is explaining things to me

Once all of that was behind me I got in and did some drawing, which calmed my whole being into a place where I lost the mad look in my eyes and the twitching of my left shoulder
tonal drawing just settles me and calms my brain back to a manageable state
I also completed another page in the sketchbook I am using for the Colour Me Positive prompts... two weeks and still sitting at 100%... small miracles abounding left right and centre around here at the moment

thank goodness for art to restore my sanity after a wrestle with the computer

I have to say a cordless keyboard may not be the best thing for me as I end up very tempted to hurl the bloody thing at regular intervals

maybe it will grow wings on the way down lol...

happy painting all...xx

Holiday Wrap Up...

Christmas and New Year are done and dusted and thoughts are turning to the fun ahead

 but I wanted to take a moment to reflect on all that was wonderful in the last few weeks

I found the greatest candle ever to exist... a giant pink flamingo candle

I mean come on people this is the very definition of kitsch genius

this is closely followed by the joy of now owning a fart whistle

yep.. my life is now almost complete

well close to it... a blow up donut floaty thing for the pool would complete it

My mum came out with the quote of the season when she declared

It isn't Christmas until Grandma is flashing

not touching that one... will just leave you with that image lol

Jigsaw madness ensued as is the norm at this time of the year

we even had to set up outside for meals over Christmas as we couldn't use the dining table

as we had one in progress and it wasn't done yet so it took table precedence

this was finally finished and promptly followed by setting up a new one

with Phants and I spending New Year's eve on an epic quest to complete a 1500 piecer

in record time in a 12 hour window... we party hard here I tell you

sadly it took us until 1.20 am so we fell short of our midnight deadline

but it was impressive none the less... 

and an honorable mention must go out to my MIL Loretta for her early help

a dishonourable mention to Sinus Man who was bloody useless in our quest and did not contribute one stinking piece

we appear to have been adopted by a cat who we have called Barry

he gave us a test run last year for a time but he appears to be back full time

downside is that he loves to sleep on the shade cloth on the pergola outside the back door 

and every time we use the door he drop bears us

my nerves are shot I tell you

plus he is unexpectedly dumb and uncoordinated

we are talking tripping up stairs, trying to hide behind a single spindly branch and having a meow that is like a whole song of woah

some light painting has recommenced with some sketchbooks dragged out

and the palette and pens are at the ready

I even managed to do the first prompt for the Colour Me Positive Challenge 

which means I am sitting on a 100% strike rate for that challenge so far which I call a win

we have also commenced the declutter of the century

the studio is almost done and a few rooms are finished which is truly fabulous

 loads have been going to the tip and charity shops and the cull continues with abandon

of course the only reason I have embarked on such a venture is that I want to get a book on decluttering when I am done and then be smugly read that sucker knowing there are like three extraneous things left in the house, one of which is the book itself

nothing like a smug self help reading to make you feel good about yourself

happy painting all...xx

PS... my first newsletter will be going out next week with all the details on when online classes are starting for this year... if you haven't signed up head up to the top of the page and sign up...