2012 Happy New Year

Last night someone one asked me if I had a new year resolution. I had not actively thought about it until then but I answered immediately " Do everything the same, just better" When I think about that sentence,it makes me feel very happy that my life is so good that I cannot think of a specific need or want that I would verbalized other than to improve. To be a better painter, to heal my runners knee and become a better runner, to be a better parent, to manage my time better, to spend more time with my family...all the same things ,just better. I am very much a " can't see the wood for the trees" kinda girl, but this morning, as I sit in my studio snug,reading through the lists of things I set myself to achieve this sat year, seeing my paintings on the wall and space where some have sold,writing I this blog, I can actually say I see where I am going, how I have got to this place and what I need to do to keep going. it is a good feeling. Thank you for getting me here, folks. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

autumn in Glenorchy

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Bigger psycho cows.

I painted these girls big.....I mean, very big! It is unusual of
me and I must admit I struggled to find the looseness and the same vibe as the smaller ones painted earlier in the year.

I am back to painting smaller, an achievable task given the boys are both at home for the holidays and seem to sense when I wander into the studio that the games can begin!!! I often surface after an hour of painting to discover that a raiding party has made a successfully bid to free the chips from the pantry, the sweets from the cupboard and there is jelly powder sprinkled on the kitchen bench.

I shall have to find an excuse to pop into town to the art store to buy a few more canvasses 8" x10", my new favorite size.

but first, I have to do battle with me broadband service provider....sigh.I feel very David and Goliath, but without the stone, right now.

I

Boxing day painting

I managed a quick paint after a supremely relaxing and surprisingly wholesome Xmas weekend, spent with friends.

My Xmas tripod has yet to arrive and I have used the iPad to take these photos...blurry but it,s all about the vibe, anyway!!




Hamilton train station platform, looking south .
6x8 inch(15 x 20cm)



Rukuhia road at the junction of Herman road, looking towards Mt. Pirongia.
8x12 inches ( 20 x25 cm)




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

better photo

I hope this is a better photo of the Thomas farm, posted earlier today.

Travel at this way every Wednesday, on the way to the kids Karate lessons. I love the way the silo's catch the light...I will have to ask what is in them one day...

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Ngahinapouri road

walking home from Dinsdale

Saw these two girls walking back to Templeview from Dinsdale,hoodies up ,late on Saturday afternoon.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Hamilton Train station

I used to bring Lucien to the station on a Saturday morning to see the Overlander, the train that travels cross the north island from Auckland to Wellington.My parents, the boys and I had a memorable trip on it a few years ago...for all the wrong reasons!!!
But Lucien has outgrown trains and Julius was never interested in them, so we have not been down to the station in years.

I was passing by and nipped in to see what had happened to it in the interim years....Not much,it would seem. the station and platform looked sad and dilapidated.






- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Tuhikaramea road farm

This is a farm just outside of Dinsdale, towards Templeview,on Tuhikaramea road.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Unexpected solitude

Charles and the boys have gone trail riding today and left me at home. It feels weird.But let's not look a gift horse in the mouth, now, sunshine!!

I have made the hay while the sun is shining...I have painted my socks off. But I have to rest now...I just rinsed my brush in my cup of tea( sure sign of tiredness!).

It's a bit blurry, but you get the vibe.This is the Thomas farm down Ngahinapouri road.



I will post the others when the camera comes back from trailriding.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

across the peat to the Kaimai Ranges

I had a good day painting today. I Need to paint fast to eliminate detail and fussiness. I am going to buy a kitchen timer clock for my studio.Yet another thing to cover in paint. The camera, kettle,door handle......you name, it, I have managed to get paint on it! sometimes the only thingI Paint is my immediate environment.

I digress.I liked this painting. I painted another of a building and it was TERRIBLE! Really, I mean it....I threw the entire canvas away. Then I fished it out the bin.....and threw it away again ,just for good measure.



-
I have to start selling some paintings. I am fast running out of space but am at a loss as to who to approach and how to proceed. I also want to fund a workshop that I am interested in attending next year and have set myself the goal of contributing to the workshop cost through my art. so, if anyone has an idea, let me know!!!


Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Quality control...aka your photo's suck!

I have been told that the last few photos, taken with the ipad( lazy me!!) are not really good and do not feature any of the brushstrokes etc that you might wish to see. I agree. I love seeing brushstrokes and paint texture and the last few photos have fallen well below par, so my apologies, and back to the camera we go( head hung but lesson learned)

Today,s efforts. once again, all down Rukuhia road, towards Mangatautari.

I shared the studio with a freaked out bird( the cat is vengeful.I threw him off the kids bed this morning. when. Came back from the school run, he had left a poor, freaked out bird in my studio.Not sure if we are even yet) and a gazillion insects. I had to leave all the windows open to offer an avenue of escape for the bird, but it seemed I offered an invitation of a morning paint party to the insects who crawled all over the palette and wet canvas .I had to paint a cow in where a large fly went SPLAT across the canvas!

still, I am happy.That is what counts.

Ps. The party went well because the radiation therapists are such good event planners! all I did was smile and wave!
PPs. I give up...the photos are still not great. anyone have any suggestions. Mike, I am directing this at you!!

the tea break made me do it!!

Sorry, I had a cuppa tea, came back and changed it!!!! not much, but I like it better.You?


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Gillard Rd,Ngahinapouri,New Zealand

rukuhia road...again

This is another interpretation of a photo taken yesterday.Still on the easel !!!



I have been a productive and busy bee today. I refrained from any family drama's this morning and got everyone to school on time.Score! I then packaged up all the raffle hampers for Sunday's Fishing competition raffle.Then I came home, went for a barefoot treadmill run, vacuumed, cleaned and did a general tidy up before settling not some painting. Now, why can't every day be this productive?! I even had time to watch the farmer next door re- fence his trees to protect them from the frisky horse abuse they seem to attract. The grass is long in the paddocks and I encounter harvesters, balers and monstrously oversized tractor machines on every country road I travel at the moment.


And now, I shall clean my palette and brushes,make a cuppa tea and settle down with a book and await the return of the heathen children. Then it will be "batten down the hatches "time all weekend.But I am set up for it because I got to paint.Score!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Gillard Rd,Ngahinapouri,New Zealand