I made the local press

I was lucky enough to receive a lovely write up by the local Cambridge newspaper about my work at The Garden Art Studio. The work there is a mix of my plein air landscape from last year and some of my newer works. Click below to read about me( on page 23.)



Welcome to Cambridge Edition - E-Edition



At the moment I am painting daily before I take a months hiatus to travel with my family. I am not sure if I will have the time , but if I do, the  landscapes will be quite different.



But you all know the landscapes are just a metaphor for my state of mind, don't you?!

Sailor talk and Ngurunui beach.

I usually paint outdoors (really quiet and peaceful, birdsong, insect  noise, rustle of grass, the odd cow noise, maybe a distant tractor or two.) or in my studio( peaceful but with music of my choice and indoor plumbing). It's nice. I get into the zone, really focus on what I am doing or sometimes get REALLY into the zone and paint in a meditative state, only really coming- to when the painting is done. That is real bliss.

Saturday afternoon saw me with time on my hands. Kids were post sport and occupied and Charles wanted to change the tyre on his motorbike. His man cave is right next to my studio. Nice, I thought. We get to hang out in proximity but each do our own thing. Cool. Living the dream.

Um, no.

I should have known. My even-tempered saint of a husband manages to cope with a hectic job, an artist wife and two semi-feral kids with great grace, but mechanical issues are another story.

The huffs and puffs started about 20 minutes into the operation.Spanner throwing came soon after and sailor talk and shouting then lasted a good 40 minutes. It was hectic. I offered to help (I know, I know, but it's the thought that counts) and was asked to leave. "I have to do this myself. If I get stuck out in the woo-wops and have to change a tyre, no-one is going to be there to help me so I HAVE to do this myself".(cue more throwing of spanners at offending tyre. They bounced back and hit him in the shin. Insult leading to injury. I ran before I laughed). I now know that if he does get a flat tyre in the Australian outback he will die. If he is anywhere in New Zealand, he might still survive(because farmers love to help) .

I  went to check that his life insurance was up to date.


So, not really not an atmosphere conducive to painting, but I soldiered on, music full blast ( I need headphones!) and eventually I painted a totally acceptable piece that I like.

Ngurunui beach, Raglan, New Zealand
Oil on canvas
50 x 75 cm

The tyre is now on the wheel. It is the thing of which we do not speak. I think he is still trying to straighten out his back.Post Tyre Traumatic Stress Syndrome.

PS. The sands on the west coast of New Zealand are often  black due to the volcanic action the islands have seen and still experience. We are not called Shaky Isles for nothing!

In need of a canoe and a clone.

It was a busy and wet week.

Firstly, here is the wet.

new meaning to "overflowing drains"
(all the farms around me are on peat and dig drains between paddocks to drain water...supposedly)

Rosy, I swear I saw a periscope!

Then there is the busy:

I delivered paintings to various galleries on monday and some to the framers. I had an interview with a local journalist from Cambridge and it proved to be an interesting experience.  Midweek saw me return to my student occupation of waitress  at Fieldays, the largest agricultural show in the southern Hemisphere. Tractors, cows, effluent systems, milking systems, pumps, sprays, feed, etc etc. its amazing.  I did this as a fundraiser for my son's school....the company  paid us to be their waitrons in their stand and it was heaving! I have never served as many coffee and pies as yesterday! This was the day after my dominatrix trainer decided a leg day would be nothing without 100 squats, 50 lunges and an assortment of other tried and tested tortures in the name of fitness.
I ran non-stop from 9 am till 3 pm. Then I ran no more. I came home, sat still and caught up on some Breaking Bad ( I am still on season 2...no spoilers,please!) as my legs twitched like some zombie attachments.

Tractor pull and display of tractors

I did not have time to take photos..these were at the exit as I waited for the bus to take me to my car.

Today my boys are home as it is a teachers only day at school. I also have a few extra's, but that actually helps. We went into town to have sushi lunch, ok some frames and walk the dogs.

Not complete yet.

What I need is a clone.Anyone know how close the science is yet?

Everyday I'm shuffling....

I spent a good deal of today driving and hanging paintngs and then driving some more. I am tired but very excited . I delivered 13 paintings to the Garden Art gallery and 11 to the Riverlea gallery, received news I had sold two more paintings and delivered 6 more to the framers!

On the way to Cambridge I ran into these gals.They were being moved from one farm to another along the road, herded by farmers on four wheelers and in a truck, with a cheery grin and a wave!

Life in the country, eh. Always something to marvel at.

I wanted to share some of the paintings that are off to galleries.

Fenceline
61 x 31 cm
oil on canvas
$440

Fog, morning light and pines
41 x54 cm
oil on boards
$510

Town and Country
Oil on canvas
31 x 61 cm
$440

Square Route
61 x 61 cm
oil on canvas
$900

Haze
oil on board
32 x 32 cm
$240

Autumn
20 x 41 cm
oil on canvas
$190

Blue Barn
oil on board
20 x 28 cm
$135

Getting my moody on

I have been painting with a palette knife a lot recently. I still start and block in the paint with a brush, but I seem to finish with a palette knife or whatever flat surfaced thing comes to hand...credit card, spatulas ,paint-shapers....they have all taken a bow at the end and pulled the painting together with their magic marks.

I painted this over a disaster painting. God moves in strange ways. Sometimes I swear I paint like a twit just so that I have something to paint over the next day!

I called it " Shelter-belt and shed" 25 x 35 cm, oil on canvas.