Note on the door: Gone shopping

School holidays are over, troll boys are occupied with the workings of the world, lovely husband is still tied to his 9 to five( although it's more like 7 till 6 these days)....and I needed to breathe deeply and enter the world again.

I drove up to Auckland to drop paintings off at The Original art Sale (16-18 May, Telstraclear centre, Auckland), then on to buy some studio lights and then lunch in POnsonby. It's as pretentious and fabulous as a name such as Ponsonby WOULD be. I took Christine, a friend from pilates class, with me for the ride.. We trawled design shops, small exhibitions of oddities and several places I swore were not anything but turned out to be something. She made me laugh ...she touched EVERYTHING and would ask, quite loudly, " Now what is THIS all about?!" at some conceptual pieces. Very refreshing. It would appear that a highly groomed dog is the "in" thing to have in a design gallery. Nearly every one we entered sported this intellectual breed.

Feeling peckish, we strolled  up a flight of stairs, through some seriously S&M chain curtain ..."uh-oh," I thought, "shady as f..." ......into an asian food court and it was fabulous. I had a vietnamese noodle salad that was beyond a delight.I could have chosen from Laos, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, India.....but the vietnamese family group cooking(yes, I decided they were a family. Let me have my fairytale.) were the happiest and the food looked amazing..and it was.Grandpa took my order and money(in that order) Sister suzy cooked as her brother chopped some mint, shredded carrots and chopped chillies. Grandma brought me the delicious offering. I asked to be adopted.I am not sure the language barrier didn't work in their favour.

So, tummies full, we sauntered down Ponsonby Road, popping into galleries, decor shops, art stores, some one's office(whoops! Sorry!) and generally having a good look at just about everything. I felt very much like a country mouse but it was fine, It is what it is. I love that the big smoke leaves me giddy. Everything is so shiny and so grimy...all at the same time.

Too soon ,the clock chimed. Soon we would have to collect our pumpkins from school and resume our life. We drove home in a chatter of ideas and "note-to-self" moment.

I love my lights.4 x  35 watt 5500 kelvin daylight bulbs, on a tall stand.......yeah, baby! It's Showtime!! Now I can paint instead of sleep. Nah, don't think that will happen, but it could if I wanted.Just saying.

Yummy lunch

Easel solicitation

Dog tie at shop front

Going with the flow

Sometimes, you just need to throw paint at a canvas.

When I walk into the studio and realise I have NO IDEA what I want to paint that day, I just start. I choose some paints and I just place them willy-nilly on the canvas .Most times, something comes from just making a start. I quite often cock it up on a monumental scale, but that cock-up is usually a great opportunity to see something I may not have seen, worked out a method, failed, succeeded...it all doesn't matter because I made a start, I committed to just showing up and being there and sometimes, if I am lucky, that is enough to get me going.

I am starting to really use artistic license and imagination in my work. NO idea where it is going, but I find the retropectoscope usually allows me to figure that out later.

Origin
60cm x 120 cm
oil on board

I am reading a lot about artistic processes of various artists that I admire. Isn't it wonderful that we live in the internet age when sharing is so possible?! Their insight and ideas offer me some avenues to explore for myself and I am so enjoying this on-line teaching. From artists who lived hundreds of years ago to contemporary ones, the learning continues.

Today is day 4 of the easter long weekend. I am very keen to get painting again soon but have to occupy/exhaust the kids before I can do so. Tomorrow I am missioning into town to get some equipment, provisions and hopefully, some diversions for the brutes.Who says you can't solve a problem with money!?

Anyway, I need to throw paint at a canvas and soon...it itches not to.

Some of the photos of flying

Some of the photos taken whilst flying....the drought was in full force!

Some of the results from the  inspiration flights

Hello again!

I have not painted cows in ages, but I had a commission and it was time to revisit them again. The client gave me such a great brief" I want cows but do your own thing". Wheyhey!

So, this is what I painted.

So lucky

I am so lucky.

Let me share some of my daily views.

View from the house

ditto

again, from the house

my sunday walk on the beach, 40 min drive

the beach at Raglan

From the house

on a dog walk

walking the dogs through the asparagus fields next to the apple orchard

All these photos were taken in the last 7 days. I see these views at least once a week and then I get to paint. I am very mindful of my blessings.

It is what it is.

Someone recently suggested to me that it might be better for my art career if I did not "share" as much of the struggle/joy of painting on this blog as much I do. They suggested that mystery was appealing and would make people more interested in what I do. I think the concept of "treat 'em mean, keep 'em keen" is what they were alluding to.

Well, sorry. What you have with me is chatty with a penchant for over-sharing. I am nothing if not transparent. The idea that I would not tell you about what made me happy/sad about a painting experience is anathema to the way I think and behave. If it were not for other artists who share their insights so willingly I would still be a frustrated artist trying to replicate things and not the fulfilled one I am now knowing that I am happy in the way I am painting and evolving, translating my experience of the world onto canvas. I would like to think that this helps others find their voice and, if nothing else ,makes them glad that you don't live in my head! Its noisy!

So, no mystery here, I'm afraid. Just the truths, the ups and down, the learning curves that are not always smooth, the EUREKA moments, the WTF moments and the occasional ramble and rant.

I am on the hunt for gallery representation at the moment and it is very difficult to a) find galleries to suit my style and visa versa, and b) convince them to take a chance on an unknown. There's a cute term in art used to describe artists that are unknown or maybe just becoming a bit established : emergent. Like a butterfly emerging from a coccoon. Am I emergent? I think I am but a moth probably thinks it's as cute as a butterfly too.

People ask me all the time."what is your style" I know what they mean but it is hard to describe.  I paint like me: A cocktail of impressionism, realism, abstract,expressionism. I am a contemporary painter. To make matters worse, I am an immigrant and self taught. How dare I !!!! Bah! I dare and I do! Someone has to. We cannot all be the same, think the same, paint the same , have the same credential. Wildcards are important, underdogs are popular. I say Go ME!

67 x 60 cm
oil on board
It is what it is.

YouTube debut

I made two videos for my exhibition to give a little insight into my painting process, both plein air and studio.

This is the studio version. The first half ( without sunglasses on my head) takes place whilst my children are at school, then you notice my sunnies and the light through the window change and I have just made the mad dash to the bus-stop to collect them!

http://youtu.be/jjtrNc7seG4

This is the final painting.

So, I debuted on You Tube. I announced this with great delight to my kids. They were fairly unimpressed . One actually said: cute" . Having done quite a few themselves ( they review games...give me strength) they deem themselves experts. Sometimes I have to remind myself that the option to eat them at birth has come and gone and I am no tiger.

Wait till they have to learn to drive a car, though.......mwhahhahahaha!(very evil laugh)