Post-Exhibition madness!

So I'm back home finally, after a week away looking after my little exhibition, staying with my in-laws and being treated to my mother-in-law's marvelous cooking (I swear if I stayed too long I'd put on about 10kgs!), enjoying the peace and friendliness of the lovely town of Nannup in our beautiful South-West, and some rather odd (and slightly disturbing) Autumn weather.  Odd in that, although we did get some much needed rain (rather a lot actually, I was slightly worried I might open up one morning and find the floor under a foot of water), it stayed stubbornly, UNautumnly warm.  Almost tropical on some days.

But all-in all, I had a wonderful time, lots of lovely people came through and told me how beautiful my work was (always a bit dangerous, you don't want to find your head has swelled so much you can't get it out of the doorway!), and BOUGHT some!  In fact, a lady walked in five minutes after I opened up on the first day (which also happened to be my birthday), wandered around for a few minutes, then came up to the front table and said, "You see that big one down the back?  Consider it sold!"  I think I stammered stupidly for a bit and looked blank, before I managed to answer.  So "Shipwreck Coast - Tethys" now has a new home.  And shortly afterwards a couple came in and bought two landscapes.  I think I wore a stupid grin for the whole rest of the day!  The final sold tally was 7 paintings (3 large, 4 small), 2 larger wood hangers, and a lot of cards and prints.  So costs covered, a small profit made, a very pleasant week spent and a whole lot learnt.  Although, sadly, I still haven't learnt how to tell beforehand what might sell and what won't. It seems to be a complete fluke each time, and utterly unpredictable!

View from the outside, with my extremely last minute prayer flags, and a couple of signs/posters that in retrospect are too small (but these are the things we learn!)

 View from the doorway.  You can just see the red dot under 'Shipwreck Coast' down the back!

Me with very much needed coffee in hand, and a big grin that hung about all day.

This is the lady who bought 'Tethys'...I'm probably stammering "sorry, WHAT?...are you serious?!"  And my two munchkins in matching 'galaxy pants', which they love and will wear till they just about stand up by themselves!

A blurry munchkin in front of the cards and prints.

My girls spent quite a lot of time in the gallery with me, they were good as gold and did some gorgeous drawings themselves.  So I put them up on the wall too, and they got at least as many comments as I did!

Talesingrs in the display cabinet.

Small paintings, including a couple of blank spaces where two little autumn leaves were sold and went home with their new owner straightaway.

'Rain Coming' in the corner, one of the two landscapes that sold.

The back wall after I decided to shuffle things around and put something that hadn't sold in the 'magic spot'!  The landscape on the RH wall, was hanging where 'I am the Temple' is hanging, and it sold as well.

'Titania' also sold, she was the out and out favourite of all the Midsummer Trio, I sold quite a few prints and cards of her as well. Always interesting to see which ones will prove the most popular, and seemingly impossible to predict! I might do another (although different) Titania, because I think the other two actually need her, they don't work on their own so well.

Cordelia in the corner, for when I got bored sketching or stitching.  I got some very nice comments about my music as well!

So now...all I have to do is clean my house (my family room looks like something exploded in it, the bathroom is looking feral, and I have boxes and crates and bubblewrapped paintings that all need to go somewhere!), then I have to start working on the next exhibition...because they've asked me to come back in August!  Oh dear, here I go again.............!

Exhibition madness!

It's a whole month since I posted last, and the last week or so I've barely even checked my blogroll.  But I haven't been sitting on my laurels.  I've been BUSY!  Getting ready for this:

And so I've been busy painting, painting, painting...new things, and finishing off old things...like this one!

Blackwoodwife

Here's a quick preview of some of the other bits and bobs I've done.

I know some of these pics aren't the best...but I wanted to let you all see what I've been working on.  There's more, but not photographed yet.

This is my first ever solo exhibition, so exciting and scary...and so much still to do!  Wish me luck!

And finally...

Puck...with my Fox mask.

I'm still not 100% happy with this one, but I think it's mostly to do with the fact that Puck is such a rich and many layered character, with so many emanations from myth, folklore, pre-christian religions and so forth, that I could spend the rest of my life painting versions of him and still not get it.  He is, for me, also the Green Jack, who is the Green Man, and Herne/Cernunnos, and Robin Goodfellow, and probably Robin Hood, and Pan, and Loki, and many others too.  So not an easy chap to define.  But then, I don't really want to define him...that would diminish him.  I like his mutability, his changeability.  That's how he adapts and survives...even now.  He's still out there, I'm convinced of it.  I certainly hope so.

Oberon, King of Faery.

Well, I started working on Puck, but being the Trickster and Shapeshifter that he is, he refused to be pinned down.  So I left him alone to have a think about it (he AND I!) and went on with Oberon.  Hopefully he will be a little more contrite and co-operative now, and let me get on and finish his portrait, otherwise he won't get to hang in the gallery next to Titania.

So here is Oberon.  Looking a little alarming perhaps, but then, the King of Faery is no sweet little thing with glittery wings.  Faeries are not to be trifled with, and I've always thought Oberon had a bit of a dangerous streak (it's a pretty mean trick he plays on Titania) and he's always seemed to me to be the sort of faery you DON'T want to get on the wrong side of!  So here he is imagined as a kind of night faery, with crow feathers and skull, and eyes that can look right through you.  I THINK he's finished, but as with Titania, I'm still unsure whether or not to add some text down the side as I did for the Green Jack.  I rather like them as they are, so I might not.

Right, time to wrestle with Puck and try to get him to stand still so I can get a good look at him!

First painting for 2013...

I've been doing my usual trick, painting in my head instead of on paper or canvas.  It's fine for a while, tossing ideas around, mentally turning things around about to see how they look from different angles, or in different styles/media.  But ultimately there's no substitute for getting down to business and starting.  Because it's only then that the real magic starts, new ideas/directions appear, paths to take that you might never have discovered if you just kept going over the same ground in your head.  But still, I keep doing it and then find that actually starting gets harder and harder.  I have a little exhibition booked for late April, and though I have some work, I need to do more for it.  So I've been turning my brain in knots thinking about all manner of overly ambitious and complex possibilities, when there really isn't time for that, and what I really need to do it just get started on something, anything really, to start the year off and get back into the creative flow.  So today I stopped thinking and started doing.  This is the result.  Titania.  With gum (Eucalypt) leaves!  Acrylic, graphite and pencil on 20cm x 20cm canvas.  Though I don't think she's quite finished yet.  I might add a quote from the play down the side.

I recently saw another production of Midsummer Night's Dream that was rather lovely.  I've lost count of how many I've seen over the years, I think it's my favourite of Shakespeare's plays.  One of the most memorable was way back in 1990, Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson's Renaissance Theatre production in London.  Wonderful stuff!  So I think there will be a Puck (though of course, the Green Jack is another version of Puck), and possibly an Oberon too.

And for an excellent blog post on the need to stop thinking about painting, or writing, or whatever, and get on to doing, check out Terri Windling's latest blog post On Beginnings.

Still here...

Yes...it's been a while I know.  There isn't really a good reason, just lots of silly small ones I guess, you know, busy with things that often aren't really important but they take up time and more importantly, energy.  Boring life stuff.  Mojo a bit low too, and feeling that I haven't really got anything particularly interesting to tell you.  And at the same time, weirdly, too much to say to know where to start.  And good old procrastination of course.  So I won't rabbit on a lot now, just dipping my toe back in, and to show you a couple of things I've done in the last two weeks.  A big and a small painting, with a bit of scribbling on them.  Because I am, as I'm sure you well know, an inveterate scribbler!

"In the Realm of the Night."  I had two heavy, rustic wood frames made by a friend many years ago, which I've never been quite sure what to do with.  They called out to be much more than just frames, so I made this one part of the painting, with beads and fabric and bits of old jewellery all added into the mix.

This is "The Ragged Soul", to illustrate THIS poem of mine.  For anyone who has ever felt they weren't good enough, had failed, or just weren't the person they though they would be.

Acrylic, coloured pencil, pastel and ink.

Etsy Shop Update: New Prints etc

This is me attempting to sound organised, as if I do regular shop updates at precisely 10.58pm every Thursday evening...ha, ha, ha...oh dear!  But it SOUNDS lovely and organised and businesslike, doesn't it?!  But I'm not really kidding any of you, am I?!

Anyway...well yes, I have listed a bunch of new things in my Etsy shop, and there are several that have never even appeared here on my blog, so I'll be interested to see what people think of them.  Here are some of the new ones.

Shell 2, from the 'Journal Collection' (there are 4 in the set, and are now all available as A4 prints)

The Elements.  It's 'Fire' that started everything off actually, you can thank her for my deciding to give the 'professional artist' gig a go.

Babel-On.  Witterings and wafflings on the inadequacy of language...and a girl with a castle for a hat!

La Belle Dame Sans Merci.  Because I've loved John Keats' poem since I first read it as a teenager.

If you haven't yet checked out the Magic4Terri auctions, pop over there now, as it all ends in about 10 hours and there are wonderful things to be found.  I've got two offerings there, and the set of 4 A4 prints of your choice (with lots more to choose from now) is still sitting at the bargain price of $40.  The A3 print of 'Beauty Remembers' has shot up to $65, so I'll be adding in lots of extra goodies to that one.

And given that I've once again failed to be organised enough to have lots of Christmas goodies in my Etsy shop actually in time for Christmas, I'm considering getting in early and having a Pre-Post-Christmas sale.  What do you reckon!!?

Of course, that would mean getting it done before Christmas.............

Ooops!!  I forgot to mention that I've also listed these tea bag and vintage book paintings in my shop as well!  All are mounted with plain white mount, as the 2nd and 3rd photos show.

Perhaps she is finished...

Well, I have to send off a JPG of the painting to enter a local competition, so it's as finished as it's going to get for that...but I think it's quite likely I will continue to add a little here and there, at least until such time as I find out whether or not my work has been accepted.

It occurred to me today that my paintings are always more than just paintings to me.  I think it's to do with the layers of thoughts, the attempt to capture all the feelings and ideas that I have in my head AS I'm painting, and with the search for some intangible thing, some magic or meaning, the attempt (always unsuccessful of course) to encompass something too big for a mere canvas to hold.  It's the STORY, in all its marvelous, mutable glory.  But that's also the beauty of it...the story is ever unfolding, never ending.  Never to be captured and pinned down.  Always free.  Like Beauty and her Wolfheart.

The poem is HERE if you haven't read it and would like to.

Beauty Remembers...progress....

Well, I left her alone for a while, maybe we both needed to ponder the next step.  But if I'm going to enter it into anything I need to stop being afraid I might screw it up, and start working.  This will be a process of layering, and I sometimes wonder whether I'm wasting time and effort in working each layer in such detail even though I know it may well disappear completely under the next.  Quite a lot of the pencil shading in Beauty's hair is disappearing under the paint and ink line work, and then there will be more working back into it over that, perhaps with coloured pencil, perhaps with black pen...I don't know yet.  But, I can't really see it as wasted effort, I know the work is there, and each layer teaches me something about how to proceed, it has its moment in the sun, even in it must be obscured by what comes after.  And layers make story, don't they.  The more layers there are to peel back, the more complex and interesting the story.

So here is Beauty so far, the first colour 'washes' from a few days ago, and then yesterday's effort, working back into her hair, adding more colour to her and the beast.  More to do, and I can't wait too long, so I will be busy tomorrow with it.  It's quite different to previous work, but I do like it.

The paint runs ARE intentional...I wanted to try something a little looser, I wanted to let it find its own way a little rather than carefully orchestrating everything.

However, I did decide that one running down the middle was a little too dominant and distracting...so I lightened it off a little.

Taken with flash above, and without, below.  The truth (as is so often the case!) lies somewhere between.  I've extended Beauty's hair, and worked colour into her and the beast.  I think I may need to darken their features a little to make them stand out, they're getting a little lost in the colour.  The trees on the horizon definitely need to be better defined.  I'm a little worried I might have to do the same with the text, but I really DON'T want to have to go to all that trouble if I can help it.

I still like the poem.

Yes, it's been a while...

I've been busy, but not everything has come to fruition.  I missed another deadline simply because I could NOT get inspired with a good enough idea.  I started a painting, worked on it for a whole day, and in the end decided it was just not worth completing and I ended up painting over it.  I almost never do that, but I think most of us know the difference between that awkward stage where nothing seems to be working but we know if we just keep at it something will happen...and reaching the point of realisation that the piece you're working on has NEVER worked, the idea wasn't up to scratch to start with, and your heart just isn't in it.

However, something did FINALLY get finished!  Do you remember this painting?  Here it is again.

Yes, it was part of a duo...a painting each for two little boys.  And I have finally, FINALLY finished them both...Phew!!!  So here is the second one, which I called 'Here Be Dragons'.  I think their mum was pretty pleased with them.  She's going to keep them for Christmas pressies, so I'll have to wait a while yet to find out what the boys think of them!

As for what else has been happening in the attic...or in the general vicinity anyway...spring is most definitely here, the McCartney rose is covered in blooms, the Apricot has almost lost all its flowers already and has all new leaves.  My silly jonquils bloomed about a month and a half ago, but we really never got a winter at all.  I don't know what the Almond is doing, it doesn't know whether it's coming or going.  We've planted out our vegie garden, and a new herb garden, and the garden out the back is actually looking nice and, well, sort of almost slightly organised...as if it had been created by someone who had a vague idea of what they were doing!

Beauty is still waiting for her colour washes, but I'm almost glad now I didn't have to rush to finish her, I think a little pondering time is often a good thing.  She will be finished anon!

Birthdays, goblins, and W.I.Ps...

I've committed myself to doing a new, large painting for an art award/exhibition coming up in a couple weeks.  It's at least a year since I last did something big, and it's a scary prospect, so I decided the best way to get myself to stop procrastinating was to provide a deadline.  So now I have one, Friday week!  I've decided to do something using the same technique I used for the 'Green Jack', a pencil sketch on canvas overlaid with acrylic colours.  The 'Green Jack' was the first piece I've done using that method, and it was only 20cm x 20cm...this one is going to be 91cm x 91cms.  So I'm a little apprehensive about how I'm going to go about it, but I know without a deadline I'd never give it a go at all.

So I've entered a painting that doesn't exist yet, called "Beauty Remembers".  If the title sounds familiar,  you might remember the poem I wrote last year.  I've had an image in my mind for a while now, so it's as good a time as any to get cracking on it.  I want to incorporate the text of the poem into the painting, and I've been scribbling some ideas.  So here's a peak at my sketch/ideas/general ranting/notebook.

And as my smallest munchkin had her birthday during the school holidays, we delayed her party so her school friends could come along.  Several faeries and a couple of pirates turned up, and it seemed like a good time was had by all.

A Faery feast.

No, my munchkin isn't levitating, unless those wings are genuine.  A robust game of Musical Statues got everyone up on the dance floor (er, carpet)!

It was bucketing down for most of the morning, but luckily the rain held off in the afternoon long enough for little people to head outside and go Goblin hunting, with prizes for the most goblins rounded up (because as I explained, my garden was over-run with goblins and they're a terrible pest, scaring the birds away and teasing poor Flynn by pulling her tail and biting her nose).  The goblins were simply pictures purloined from the web (late the previous night...it was a last minute brainwave!), printed in black and white, cut out (very roughly) and stuck onto pop-sticks and pegs, then stuck in the ground or clipped to trees and bushes.  Beloved hid them all in the garden and I gave him strict instructions to remember to think like a 4 foot tall and rather over excited 7 year old (sometimes he forgets everyone else isn't as tall as he is)...and they found them all within 5 minutes!

So...here's a goblin for you (this is one of mine)!  I think though, that he really isn't ugly enough.  An extreme makeUNDER required perhaps!?

Art Expo July 10th!

Now I realise it would be very a long commute for most of you (requiring rather more than a cut lunch and a water-bag!), but just in case you are in the neighbourhood, or know anyone who might be, here are all the details of the Art Expo that is happening next weekend.  I'll be in Hackett Hall, stand No. 7 (diagonally opposite the entrance in the far corner), with some big paintings, some little paintings, lots of Wood Hangers (including 5 'Talesingr's Children'), some prints and cards, and the small original works on tea-bags you've already seen here.  Please pop in if you're in Perth, there will be lots and lots of wonderful art to look at, as well as demonstrations, activities for kids, food stalls and coffee!  And me...of course!  And it doesn't hurt that the University of Western Australia is a gorgeous campus to visit!

Making and painting...

I've been busy the last couple of days.  Making and painting.  I've been fighting a headache on and off since Monday morning, so I gave up on housework and when it subsided in the afternoons I decided to do something fun rather than cleaning.  And I have a good reason to get moving on the creative front, I've committed to this Art Expo in a month, so need to get some smaller works done for my booth/stall.  I've never had an art stall before, so this will be a learning experience.  I'm keeping expectations fairly low, I hope I can cover my costs and learn some useful things about running a stall, and anything on top of that will be icing on the cake.

I've taken the smallest booth available, so have room for 3 large paintings, a few smaller works, some wood hangers, and I think I'll have a small selection of prints for sale, though I haven't decided which ones yet.

If anyone has any brilliant advice on what to take, what not to take, even what to wear (!) please don't hesitate to leave a comment!

Anyway, here's what I've been working on.

Two more olive wood hangers.  Beloved has just cut me a whole STACK of them, so I will be busy!

Having fun with teabags!  An ink sketch of a leaf skeleton, on an opened tea bag (post cuppa!), hand sewn to an old book page.  Biggest munchkin found the tattered book with pages falling out and brought it home because she knows mummy likes stuff like that (though she's told me in no uncertain terms that she found it so it's HER book, but I can have a few pages!)  It's in Russian, but that's all I can tell you, it could be a book of hymns or the Communist Manifesto, I wouldn't have a clue!  All neatly mounted and packaged in cello...gosh, I'm so organised!

And acrylic painting of an ornamental pear leaf on tea bag paper, with metal (gold) leaf, hand sewn to an old dictionary page.  This one is my favourite so far, it has a little bit of magic in it, because I didn't notice the words on the right until I was almost finished!  So it now has a little poem for a name.

The red 

season

harvest

the full

autumnal heart

Another pear leaf.  No mount yet (ooh, I must remember to sign it!)

A closer view

And finally, a couple of things that are not for the stall.  Do you remember this?  I think it's finished now, though I still don't know what it is or what to use it for!

And this is a choker for moi!  Well, unless someone offers me oodles of dosh for it!

We have actually had rain, REAL rain, but it's far too little.  And maximum temperatures for the next week are all around the 20ºC, so not very wintery.  Everything in my garden is topsy turvy, all my bulbs are coming up, my apricot tree hasn't lost it's leaves yet (they're just starting to yellow a little now), meanwhile my almond tree has lost its leaves, started flowering, and now has all its new 'spring' leaves!  Mad!