Quirkyartist

Smart Alex

2008-12-01T08:23:00.003+11:00

I get my hair done at Smart Alex. Well. it's really been Smart Brian for a long time now. Alex died about the same time as Diana. Like her, he was English, blond, and liked a bit of drama. I picture them up there, blond heads together... Diana is filling in Alex about life with the royal family. In this image, Diana has just told Alex a story. His response, which you can see she appreciates, is "She what ? She NEVER!"

This image was put together for World Aids Day. I still miss Alex for his stories.

Note: No disrespect is meant to the Queen. It's just that this image always springs to mind when I think of Alex and how much he would have loved to have a gossip with Diana and know the inside story.

Wordpress is playing games with me so I'm back on Blogger.

This blog has moved....

2008-07-02T17:34:00.002+10:00

Hi everyone.
I had to start up a blog on wordpress for a course I was doing. I've moved over there, for a while at least, to see which one suits me best. Come & visit http://quirkyartist.wordpress.com

Blogging course

2008-05-25T09:00:00.007+10:00

Hi everyone,
I'm currently doing a blogging course at lvsonline. Click on the logo to see! You can see the details of the blogging class here. I've done a squillion courses with them - well, OK, not a squillion, but HTML (2) Photoshop (6), Illustrator (2), Flash, Fireworks (2), Bryce, KPT, Painter, Digital Artists Studio, to name a few. I'm currently doing TWO courses (which is madness). At the moment I'm working on some web development, and although I know Dreamweaver, I'm learning it again from them. It's for two reasons. One is that I need to get up to speed with Dreamweaver CS3 and the other is that when you learn from them, you get a thorough knowledge. Ask my friends about my Photoshop skills - all from lvs.

They are all 6-week courses. You load down a pdf file with each new lesson on a Saturday, then you do the lesson throughout the week. There's a class message board where you can ask questions and meet with other students. You post any queries there and the tutor replies. The pdf files alone are worth far more than the price of the course. You know how much computer books cost - well the notes you get from lvs are the equal of any book. The price is right too - even for Australians. The first course is $US25 and any subsequent ones are $US20.

There's a lot of cameraderie happening on the blogging course. We start very simple, and learning as we go. I've set up a blog on Wordpress as part of the course. That's why I haven't been very active here. If you want to check my progress, go to http://quirkyartist.wordpress.com

Finally - bookmarks with credit card paper

2008-05-12T14:26:00.004+10:00

I promised to put these online a week or more ago. A lot has been happening in my life. I'm working about three days a week now and as well as that I'm going to a tutors-only life drawing class at Sydney Community College on a Monday morning. I've just got back from that. I teach Painting in Acrylics there, both on Wednesday night and Wednesday morning.

Now we're ramping up for some more book/paper art classes at Artwise the Amazing paper shop. Hope to finalise all the dates today. These will be a two-hour Saturday morning class. First we make the credit card paper (which I learnt from Kelsey's blog). - then we make the bookmarks. There will also be a flag book class. You can see some of the flag books in previous posts on my blog - here.

As well as that I'll be doing the star tunnel book class again.This link is to a little variation of it we learn the skills for if we've got time. We have some new classes that haven't been offered before - art books and decorative papers. Watch the Artwise website or give them a call. Dates should be finalised today.

An iconic flag book...

2008-05-01T11:03:00.005+10:00

This is my latest student sample flag book. I've had the images cut out for a long time but it's been on the backburner due to my other deadlines. You might remember that I taught a photograph flag book late last year and used free postcards for the images. The original instructions came from the "Bonefolder" newsletter here.

In that article, there is a flag book using images of Elvis. It said to make the photographs recognisable in a flag book, one must use iconic images. I wanted to do one of my own. Got books from the library and had to make the choice between Audrey and James Dean. Audrey won. I printed the images onto cheap watercolour paper. The endpages are credit card paper made using Matisse Silver and Carbon Black. Instructions for credit card paper can be found on Kelsey's blog in this post.The front cover has four square diamantes glued onto four consecutive dots. (Breakfast at Tiffany's).

It's not spag bol......

2008-04-30T09:33:00.006+10:00

No, it's not spag bol ! This is the page spread that illustrates Bologna as 'la grassa' - the fat - meaning it's a great place to eat. This is a type of tagliatelle called 'paglia e fieno' from the Emilia-Romagna area. The cutaway at the top of the page is from a famous Bologna roofline.

The date-and-time page spread is the date and time of the strage di Bologna. The station clock is always left set at that time. I suppose you'll think I'm weird that I'd do a book about this massacre so long after the time, and from the other side of the world. The family I lived with in Rome were communist intellectuals. They said I must go to Bologna, and I just adored it. The thing I remember though, in my first visit in 1975, everyone's luggage was searched at the train station. Such a thing was unheard of, and it stuck in my mind. It took me thirty years to get back, and I loved it just as much.

This third page is to illustrate the massacre at the railway station and the collage is Italian words to do with murder and terrorism. It is sooo hard to find Italian magazines for collage in Sydney. Leichhardt, the Italian area, which is near where I live has not one op shop.

Playing with Bologna bits and pieces

2008-04-29T17:14:00.008+10:00

Glad you liked my Bologna book. Yes, it has been submitted for the AGNSW exhibition - that's not to say it will be accepted. I'll post more pages when I've had time to crop them & so forth.

This is something I did to let off steam when the book was finally finished and all the deadlines met. I had all sorts of little bits and pieces left over. I have been selling some art books on ebay, and I quite often put in a handmade bookmark and I was running out. I've also used some credit card paper and a piece of itajime paper. The second set is what you see through the window when you pull up the red blind.

This artist comes from Bologna.

Who is he? Alison, from scribblesadagio has been using him for inspiration.

I also did some bookmarks with credit card papers glued onto matt board I bought at Reverse Garbage. I'll show you them soon.

Bologna book finally finished.....meets deadline.

2008-04-26T11:12:00.012+10:00

Thirteen days of rain and finally today is sunny. I've finally finished my Bologna book, photographed it, and it's ready to deliver in time to meet the deadline for the exhibition. Aaaaaaaaargggggh. It took so long.

Bologna is one of my two favourite cities in the world. (The other is Barcelona.) When I saw a wonderful Peter Lyssiotis artist's book of Paris at the AGNSW, it was very abstract to me, who doesn't know Paris at all (I'm a Rome girl). It gave me the idea that I could make a Bologna book, which would also be an ode to red, and possibly incomprehensible, unless you know something about Bologna. Each page is painted, in a sort-of faux fresco in many layers of acrylic paint and medium like the red buildings in Bologna. Then I let the paint cure before working on the images. On the cover I have used three colours of bookcloth to abstract Bologna's famous towers . The endpapers are copies of an oldish map of Bologna I got on ebay, scanned, printed and treated with shellac. The book starts with the things that Bologna is famous for - not only 'la rossa', but also 'la dotta, and 'la grassa.' The book begins with the lighter side of Bologna, but then becomes political and 'dark' and leads towards 'la strage di Bologna.' Bologna is full of arcades, and I have made stencils from photos of the light and shade that is created by the pillars. The image with the arrows is where the book begins to become political. The arrows point right and left (destra e sinistra) - the choices in politics, and the arrows made by the stitching on the spine reflect this too. And guess what is behind the red blind when you lift it up?

Old Darling Harbour - in acrylic paints.

2008-04-09T09:46:00.017+10:00

This last week I've been struggling to finish two projects at once. This one is DONE. It's a small acrylic painting for my entry in the Pyrmont Art Prize.
This photograph is 25 years old. In 1983/4 I worked in Glebe and lived in Edgecliff. I used to drive home across Darling Harbour towards the city, and at this time of the year, in the late afternoon, the whole city is bathed in golden light when seen from the west. At the time I was heavily into photography, having done a two-week summer school at UNSW with an inspirational teacher called Clive Jarrett (Anyone know what happened to him?) Late one afternoon, a friend and I went to Darling Harbour to take photos of the city. A that time it wasn't the tourist precinct it is now, but a wasteland of mostly unoccupied wharves, unused railway lines, and empty warehouses. I'd been planning to go to Pyrmont to take photos THIS Easter, so that I could paint an urban landscape. then it rained and rained and rained. So I ratted around and found these old photos.
In the Pyrmont Art Prize, you get a canvas supplied with your entry fee (what a great idea!) so all the canvases are the same size and format - 30cm square. So my first act was to crop the photos in Photoshop, decide on a composition, and do a study in watercolour pencil.Once that was done, I drew it up on my canvas (underpainted with yellow oxide) in chalk pencil. Then I painted.
This is my first urban landscape painting for some time, but I hope not the last. I certainly want a more grungy look in future, but this time I was trying to capture that gold of the light in the late afternoon. I was aided in this by Matisse's new transparent glazing colours, Transparent Yellow Oxide, Transparent Venetian Red, Transparent Umber, and Transparent Red Oxide. These colours are wonderful for glazing (I used Spreader Medium with them) and I've had a lovely play. Most urban landscapes don't have foliage, so I hope it's not too 'country cottage with roses round the door' because those are WEEDS.
I sent my photo to the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority hoping to identify the building. However the very helpful people there tell me that warehouses very similar to this were all over Australia and used for about 70 years.
You can see on this page a map that shows the Pyrmont area, and my warehouse was definitely on the other side of the water -the Sydney side.
I'm now on the last leg of my artist's book about Bologna, which I hope will be accepted for the exhibition in the AGNSW. I just have to actually pierce the cover to bind it and that's pretty scarey.

It's a conspiracy !

2008-04-06T11:05:00.010+10:00

The planets seem to be aligned in a consiracy to stop me making art. Waaaah! I'm getting stressed. The deadline for the Pyrmont Art Prize is coming up, as is the Australian Bookbinders' Exhibition. Neither of my entries are complete. Today I am making the cover for my Bologna book, which is highly stressful - a lot of cutting & piecing. I worked on the Pyrmont Art Prize entry yesterday (stuff the planets) and it is now well down the track. Still, I want to make a major change, so it's next once the cover is made.

On Monday afternoon I had some friends round to make credit card papers. I learnt about this from Kelsey first. You can fine detailed instructions on her blog on this post. They are such fun - totally addictive. You only have a certain amount of control when you make these papers - the variables are the paper, the card, the consistency of the paint, the smoothness of the surface under your paper. We used pieces of perspex, which I had Ajaxed to get off any bits of old paint. It was very interesting with three of us making papers together. We made nine each, and when you saw them in a bunch, it became obvious that each group had a slightly different 'look.' Obviously the hand of the artist has something to do with it too.

The top one (I think) is Aqua Green Light, and Burgundy and Copper. The second is Magenta Light, then half Cobalt Blue and half Hookers Green, then Silver.

The third is half, Yellow Deep, half Yellow Light, then Burgundy, and Australian Sap Green.

The last is a bright red (I don't remember) Hookers Green and Metallic Gold. All Matisse Flow Formula paints. I did make one piece with Matisse Structure Formula but I didn't like how that panned out so much. The Structure has a lot more plasticky stuff (technical term, there) in it, and therefore the water doesn't move the paint so easily. Nevertheless. it's just a different look, and may well suit some purpose in the future.

At present I have a painting in an exhibition in the "At the Vanishing Point" Gallery. Last night was not only the opening, but the gallery's first birthday. Huge crowd, but huge cake with plenty to go around. They have a courtyard out the back and everyone tends to congregate there, because that's where the bar is. At this gallery, instead of an inch of warm wine in a paper cup, you pay a ludicrously small amount for a proper glass of wine in a proper glass, or a bottle of beer. I love this gallery because Renee and Brendan are such a pleasure to deal with, and they make everyone so welcome.

Before we went to the gallery, we ate at African Feeling. Yummm -oh! I am Thai'd out at the moment. The food at this restaurant is like the best home cooking and it is only a couple of very short blocks from the gallery (as is Doytao, our usual haunt.)

I had to tell you about this book.....

2008-03-30T14:57:00.010+11:00

You know I've been rattling on for some time about the book Fast Sketching Techniques. Well, a little while ago a friend bought this book Art of Sketching . She said, and I agree, that this book is 'the next step'. Fast Sketching Techniques is all about sketching faster, and shows one (terrific) method of doing it. This book shows many many ways of sketching. I have had a lot of different books about drawing, but after six years at art school, most of them become redundant.

This book has so much in it.....too much to tell you. But it is about sketching, not drawing. For someone who can already draw, it is chock full of ways to draw - ways to see. For the beginner - it's hard for me to say, but my thought is that it shows so many ways of sketching that it would help the beginner find the way that suits them. Two of us had a look at my friend's book and we both ordered it from Art on King right away. It is generally available in a number of shops around Sydney, and the great thing is the price. Unlike the price-tag of most art books in Australia, this book costs around $25.00.

I painted at the Royal Easter Show last Tuesday, demonstrating on the Matisse stand. It was very very quiet, apparently because it is usually school holidays when the show is on, but this year, no. I painted these two little fat canvases(as well as a big one). These are on canvases 10cm square but 3cm deep (that's about 4 inches square and 1.2 inches deep), textured with Matisse Gel Medium and textured papers, lace and gauze. I got my long-coveted rain jacket (from one of the exhibitors at the show). It's very 'country' and I love it.

Today is my first day at home for ages and I've spent most of it putting art books for sale on ebay australia. (To pay for the new one) And I'm in the middle of reading Alan Bennetts new book " The Uncommon Reader". I do love that man. It's a funny book, but thoughtful, about the Queen becoming a reader when she finds a mobile library parked outside Buckingham Palace. And have you read "The Lady in the Van'? It's fabulous. A tiny book, but it's the one that made me love him for his kindness. And the movie "The History Boys? Again, fabulous.

Expedition to Cabramatta - buy dragonfruit - eat!

2008-03-22T17:32:00.007+11:00

On Tuesday I went on an expedition with a friend to the west of Sydney, to Cabramatta, sometimes known as Vietnamatta. I'd never been before. It's about an hour's drive from here. At one time Cabramatta had some problems due to drugs, but it seems fine now, though we noticed quite a police presence. We're certainly going back!

Cabramatta is known for its fabric shops, and there are certainly a lot of them and the prices are fantastic. Next time we're taking patterns, or at least ideas of quanitities. Most of the fabrics are synthetics, but there is still plenty of interest.

The food shops are terrific. We were just looking around this time, getting our bearings, and it was so hot. Fruit and veg were fantastic. Came back with grapes, asparagus, papaya, and Vietnamese desserts to eat, and this dragonfruit to draw. It took me ages. Watercolour pencils on Fabriano Hot.

As it was so hot, we didn't spend a lot of time in the shops, as they were narrow, long and crowded with goods. We found a busy busy restaurant on the main street and went for lunch. Yummmmm!

We had soup/noodle dishes. One spicy beef dish was a taste sensation, when morsels of beef were dipped in a tiny dish of pepper, salt, & lemon juice. The other dish was 'crab with drop noodles.' That's the one that will take us back there again and again. So delicious. Trying to find out what drop noodles are, even from Vietnamese friends, so far unsuccessful. If you know, be sure to let me know.

In the gardens with the red-nosed hooter-tooters

2008-03-21T18:41:00.006+11:00

Last Monday I met up with Kirsty Hall. You can read about it on Kirsty's blog and also see the wonderful totemic photographs that she took with a tiny tiny camera. I'm not sure how I found Kirsty's blog, but I think it was on a list of '10 best art blogs'. Kirsty lives in Britain, but she was coming to Sydney. We wanted to meet up, but we both felt like a quiet day (if you look at her blog you'll see why she needed one) so we had a walk around the Botanical Gardens.

I'd been there the previous week, when I did these drawings. This time I took bread and biscuits to attract the birds & hopefully keep them still enough to draw. In fact we didn't draw. Mostly I fed the birds and Kirsty photographed them.

We fed ibis first, and tried to feed the red-nosed hooter-tooters, but they were timid and there were less of them about. They are dusky moorhen and the 'nose' is a bright red face-plate. Kirtsy has heard their call now & also calls them hooter-tooters. After a cuppa tea outside the cafe (birds) we walked throught the palm garden where there were a squillion fruit bats hanging from the trees. (They are trying to relocate them, because they're ruining the old trees.) We also went to the fern house, and the tropical gardens.This photograph was one of a few that I took with my phone. Have a look at Kirsty's photos!

On our way back out of the gardens ( along the foreshore of the Harbour towards the Opera House) we fed ducks, tried to feed hooter-tooters, but gulls intervened. Then we found a few sulphur-crested cockatoos feeding under a big tree. I brought out the bread & suddenly there were more. They came to sit all around us. One came onto my shoulder and looked me firmly in the eye, obviously saying 'I'm a very nice 'little' bird, and I have bread.' They are big birds with sharp beaks. I ended up with one attached to the nape of my neck and one attached itself to the top of Kirsty's head. The bread was all gone.

It's astonishing - the difference!

2008-03-17T19:57:00.004+11:00

Well here is my first tree. I am continuing with Lesson 2 on Kate Johnson's Watercolour Pencil CD and I'm up to 'trees'.

I went out to draw twice yesterday. In the morning I went to Blackwattle Bay. I took my sketchbook with Stonehenge paper and my watercolour pencils. Mistake. Since I have been teaching myself with Kate's CD, I made a new sketchbook with watercolour paper. I have only done three drawings in that, but you can't go back. I am obviously drawing in a different way already, and it didn't work on the Stonehenge. I liked to work on Stonehenge previously, but then I was using the watercolour pencils like ordinary coloured pencils. From now on Stonehenge=Prismacolours and Watercolour pencils = watercolour paper. This tree is Albrecht Durer pencils on Fabriano Hot.

What sort of tree do you think this is? It is in the park at the end of my street. I have no idea. I just looked for a place in the shade (we are finally having summer last week and this) and drew the tree I could see best. It has heart shaped leaves.

I've also been prepping canvases to demonstrate on the Matisse stand at the Royal Easter Show. I'll be there next Tuesday 25th. Come and say hello.

Eruption - WCP efforts with Kate's CD - and a tag

2008-03-10T09:30:00.008+11:00

Finally, after three attempts I am happy with a landscape. This was done with a low-key triad - not quite Kate's 'low key primaries' , because I knew I wanted that Indigo. I used Indigo, Yellow Ochre and Venetian Red. I am happy that I have somewhat more captured the mood of the scene. You can see the original post here, which explains the weather & also has the photo and my first drawing from it. Now I can move on with Lesson 2 on Kate Johnson's Watercolour Pencil CD. The only advantage in not doing the course with Kate (for which I am still kicking myself), is that I can do an exercise till I'm happy with it, before I move on.

I have been tagged by Amanda. These are rules:

Once you are tagged, link back to the person who tagged you.

Post the rules on your blog.

Post 7 facts about yourself on your blog.

Tag 7 people and link to them.

Comment on their blog to let them know they have been tagged.

Seven facts about me ( again.)

I recently sponsored a little Balinese girl through Bali School Kids which is a Rotary project between Swan Valley Rotary in WA (that's in Australia - lol) and Denpasar Rotary in Bali. She is not quite seven, and she lives in a village not far from Bedugul.
I went to the Archibald Prize today. That's the major Australian portrait prize. The winner was Del Kathryn Barton, but you can see all the finalists on this page. The winning portrait was nicer than it looks in that particular image, as she is a wonderful colourist and that image doesn't do it justice. I also liked it for the fact that it was mixed media. The standard was very high this year and my absolute favourite was the painting of New Zealand musician Neil Finn (Split Enz, Crowded House). The surface and finish on that painting was just wondrous, and having seen Finn interviewed recently, I thought it portrayed the sort of person he is.
I drew red-nosed hooter-tooters today in the Botanical Gardens. May actually have been a 'dusky moorhen' but a hooter-tooter anyway.
Also drew ibis.
Went to Parker's Art Supplies (Aladdins's cave) in The Rocks, but bravely didn't buy anything. (You can look at the webcam on Sydney Harbour from that link.) Found that Strathmore watercolour papers are no longer available here.
Struggling with my conscience about whether to put an order in at amazon.com while our dollar is high. Have many books already.
I am currently doing 'morning pages' from The Artist's Way, not for the first time. Though I think it's a terrific book, and the pages are a great tool... I DO find that it eats into the beginning of my day. My hand also gets sore. What does anyone else think about 'the pages'?

Batur eruption - another WCP exercise

2008-03-09T09:44:00.008+11:00

This is yesterday's drawing. It's less overworked than the one of the 'cow place'. It was a lot quicker to do, and what I prefer about this one is that you can see the drawing - see the pencil strokes. I have discovered that my aim is to be able to work with WCP more quickly and more in the way of sketching rather than drawing. The large mountain in the background is Mt Batur (that's in Bali), and the what appears to be a smaller one in the foreground is actually a cone on the side of Mt Batur that is erupting. In the darkish area in the middle of the drawing there is a village. We were standing on a cliff edge, and my friend was cavorting up and down saying " I don't believe it. They're living in the volcano. I am happy enough with the way that I get the sense of distance, though I'm not particularly happy that the ambience of the drawing matches the reality. The colours in fact are a tad more subtle than the scan. In fact it was a dull day and the mist only cleared for a short while so we could see the volcano. I am going now to draw it again, first in monochromatic Derwent Indigo (I'm quite fond of their Indigo, though generally I far prefer Albrecht Durer. Then I plan to use some other colours, perhaps some of Kate's 'low key primaries' which I'm breaking my neck to try. Oh, and it's on Fabriano Cold again.

The Cow place & Kate's CD

2008-03-08T09:03:00.008+11:00

I got Kate Johnson's Watercolour Pencil CD recently, and I'm working through the lessons. Though I've drawn with watercolour pencils for quite some time, I hope to be able to use them to their full potential in the future. In the past, I've used them very much as coloured pencils, on cartridge paper, or maybe Stonehenge, with a little water. Now I want to be able to use them for their watercolour properties as well.

Disclaimer: I am not a landscape artist.The first thing I learnt is that I didn't know my greens. Well, I knew my blue-greens, but not my yellow-greens. So I spent yesterday afternoon & evening making test patches of all my pencils - the 48 set, the 36 set, and the mix-mash that I actually use - the ones that I'm phasing out so I can go all Albrecht Durer.

I learnt a lot from doing this drawing. It isn't at all how I want it to be. I want to simplify, which means knowing the colour of your pencils - particularly when they're wet, really well. I can tell you at least ten things wrong with the drawing.

So it's the 'cow place'. It has been cut down from a larger photo I took in Switzerland where we stopped for morning tea between Bern and Gruyere. At the cafe, there were at least twenty life size painted cows, that had been done by different artists. I chose the photo because of the progression from warm to cool colours. I may do it again later when I've learnt to simplify. I'm going to try the volcano Mt Batur in Bali next.

Bologna La Rossa

2008-03-04T11:29:00.007+11:00

This is the first preview of my artist's book about Bologna. The thing about Bologna is that it is RED. Both visually and in politics. I was inspired to do a book about Bologna, when I went to the Peter Lyssiotis exhibition in the AGNSW. (It's on in Brisbane now.) He had a book about Paris and the content was somewhat obscure to me, not knowing Paris well at all. So I am doing a book about Bologna, where the content will be obscure to those who don't know Bologna. But it will be colourful! I have prepped all the pages in various colours of red and ochre in many layers.I told you yesterday that Kelsey has a tutorial on her blog for credit card papers. The paper that I have used to represent the explosion was made with Matisse Magenta and Yellow Deep. I already had the inkjet transfer of the train on the page, and I used the credit card paper to represent flames.

I first went to Bologna in 1975 and fell in love with it. One thing I remember was that my baggage was searched at the railway station. That was just unheard of in those days so I asked the man why they were doing it (in Italian, and I was very polite). Not like "Border Security." Of course those were the days of the Bader-Meinhof gang and Brigata Rossa, so they must have been expecting a terrorist event. Five years later came la strage di Bologna . I was in Bologna again more recently, and I still love it. So I decided to do an artist's book. It's coming along slowly. Time I got on with it!

Kind Hearts and Coronets

2008-03-03T13:55:00.012+11:00

Mellanie gave me this Kind Heart Award. I must say it was very kind of her. Now I need to pass it on to up-to-five people.

Kelsey must be top of my list for her generous sharing of tutorials on her blog. I learnt the credit card papers from her, and right this afternoon that has solved a problem for me of how to visually portray something in my artist's book about Bologna that I'm in the middle of making. Kelsey was also very generous with her knowledge of inkjet transfers.

Carol is next, for her help with marbling, choosing a printer and a myriad other questions I ask.

Rah for his helpful information about the Tombow pens.

Lorraine for pointing me in the direction of a great bargain in Albrecht Durer pencils on Ebay Australia. Which in turn made me aware of watercolour pencils on ebay & I got another massive set at a bargain price.

OK - there are six! Kate for being so generous with her time, effort, and attention to detail in the new Watercolour Pencil CD. Also for being generous in answering question on the Everyday matters sketching list.

Luckily I saved this post. Save now! I wrote it in the course of the afternoon, because I had to look up links etc. At 8pm - boom - the power went off - totally unexpected after a sunny day. It was nearly dark, but not too dark for me to get down my long hall & get the candles on. The lights were out for over an hour, but I was happy. I recently upgraded my phone to one with an MP3 player. Then even more recently I got a pair of tiny speakers on ebay, so there I was, by candlelight, with Putumayo Presents: Nuevo Latino and a glass of Sunshine's vodka.

Anita and the Island of the Gods

2008-03-02T09:24:00.008+11:00

The postcard that Anita painted as part of her postcard exchange came on Friday. I wasn't expecting anything exciting from the mailman, because Kate's Watercolour Pencil CD came the previous day, (more of that later.)A friend was here painting with me, and when I realised it was Anita's postcard, I told my friend the story of the exchange and she looked at the card and said in an awed voice "she's good, isn't she!" Yes, she is good. It is beautifully painted. Such a wonderful choice of subject.

I have been going to Bali for about 20 years. I stay in Ubud, which is an art village. I love Bali because of the culture and the lush tropical foliage and the fact that everything is so decorative. You can see some photos here that I took in the garden of the hotel last time I was there. Bali has it's own calendar, and a Balinese year is about six months long. The Galungan days are the major festival. However there is also a festival for Saraswati, goddess of learning, and offerings are made to books on that day. When I restarted my education at my grand old age, I adopted Saraswati as my personal symbol. I have a little faux brass statue on top of the t.v., and a stone statue from Bali in the courtyard. Anita knew none of this, except that I love Bali, so it was very perceptive of her. You can see my postcard to Anita here.

Yes, Kate's CD came. What value for money. It is crammed full of useful stuff. I haven't started any of the excercises yet, but I have noted with interest the difference that different papers make, so I am binding a small coptic book from three different watercolour papers. Hope to stitch it today, and I've used one of the totally gorgeous paste papers that a friend gave me for Christmas. She knows that I have paste papers of my own, and she also knows that I find it so difficult to actually use the gorgeous ones. But when it's a gift, it's different. So I plan to make this book my watercolour pencil book for Kate's lessons.

Terrific Texture with Gel Medium

2008-02-19T11:32:00.008+11:00

I've been fiddling around with these little mixed media boards, some collage, Matisse Gel Medium, and some acrylic paint. This is the technique I demonstrated on the Matisse stand at the Royal Easter Show, and at the Matisse Open Day. My paintings at the Open Day were sold before they were dry. They are fun to do and very easy. The students in my class at the evening college often paint them, - sometimes a whole series. It's a great technique for gaining confidence. It comes from the book Celebrate your Creative Self" by Mary Todd Beam. This book is a winner! I see it as the absolute best book for acrylic techniques. I always take it to class because many of the students see a technique in there that they can adapt to their own purposes. I must have had this book at least three years, but no matter how long I live I will never get to the end of the techniques in this book.
I painted the postcard I did for Anita in acrylics on one of these little boards too. They're not suitable for watercolour, but wonderful for acrylics.
Speaking of books - I just read Without Reservations by Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Alice Steinbach. I just loved it. It's about the time she took a year off and went to Europe, but it's not 'the usual' at all. In fact I have hot pink stickies in several places, where I just want to write down what she said so I can remember it.

Dr Sketchy's at the MCA - fast & furious fun.

2008-02-16T14:01:00.006+11:00

Last night was the first ever Dr Sketchy's Anti-Art School at the Museum of Contemporary Art. It was also my first Dr Sketchy's. Such fun. We started with 2 minutes poses. My sketches from those were very dekooning-esqe, as were most other people's. There were a lot of them (but they help to fill up my sketchbook) and then we had a burlesque performance, a break, and on to the five minute poses. My results from the 5-minute poses were a great improvement. That was when I saw that the practice with the Fast Sketching Techniques has all been worthwhile. We had two ten-minute poses and it was easy to get the drawings done in the time using this technique. These are from those poses.
The models were great, with fabulous costumes. There were three of them, and we were very close to them and had a great view. In the beginning that was a challenge itself, particularly as I was working in A5 size.

There were three models for three hours, two burlesque performances in all, a free drink (and the bar was open all evening), plus they kept one of the exhibitions open in case we wanted a break. There were competitions with terrific prizes as welll. The best thing was that it was very friendly. All for $20.

MCA rocks!

Serial killer mouth

2008-02-11T20:36:00.000+11:00

In the everdaymatters sketching group, Brian is concerned about his serial killer eyes. My opinion is that I find it is usually the mouth that is more serial-killer-like. Look at me! Well, maybe both eyes and mouth. This pastel drawing was done when I was at Meadowbank College (The Sydney Gallery School) but I can't remember when.
We had to do many many self portraits at art school, and even the best of artists gets their mouth wrong. They’re actually getting it right, but it is the way they hold their mouth when they’re really concentrating. Thin mean little lips - look!
I finally finished my "10 Thai Restaurants" artist's book that I will be teaching at Artwise, starting in March. There are already people booked into the class.
I also painted a postcard that is winging it's way to Anita.
And I've cut some more stencils and just done some stencilling that is going very well, but it's wet, so can't be scanned yet.
My acrylics class starts again this Wednesday night - that's where I teach at the Sydney Community College, and the class is full as usual.

My second tag in a week

2008-02-07T10:58:00.000+11:00

OK there are SEVEN questions to answer this time. It is Celia who tagged me. I visit her blog often because she makes the most amazing things.

1. My most recent career before becoming a full-time artist, was as an I.T. project manager for 20 years - on mainframe systems in the corporate world.

2. I once worked for The Millionaire Factory for more than 6 years. It didn't make me a millionaire and I must say I didn't enjoy it.

3. When I worked in hotels, the most well-mannered guest I probably ever met was Yehudi Menuhin. I found that the really famous people- those who pretty much lived in hotels, usually treated the staff as human beings.

4. Colleen McCulloch the famous Australian writer, lived in the hotel for 6 months, and was always lovely. Once we were checking Miss McCulloch out at the same time as the Premier of Manitoba, and the computer died. It could have been ugly, but in fact both of them were far more worried about not being able to pay their bills than about the inconvenience.

5. I have one brother, who lives in New Zealand (yes, in that place.)

6. I never met my mother's parents. She had married a divorced man - my father.

7. Newtown, where I live is very cool place. That's why I've posted another page from my artist's book. The three festivals are Feastability, the Blue Moon festival ( a goth event), and the Newtown Festival which is held in the park at the end of my street. I can't go out in the car that day, because I could never come home. Have a look at the gallery for that one. It's a real doggy event.

Who I'm tagging.....

2008-02-06T18:19:00.001+11:00

I am starting my tags.... I have 12 to do. This is the first group of five, in response to tag that came from Ann.

The first requirement of having been tagged is to post five things you probably don't know about me - which I've done. Now it's up to the bloggers listed below to link back to me, and to share five things about themselves. (Now I have to think of 7 more things about myself!)

The other requirement of having been tagged is that I am to tag five people. Here are my five.
1. Jennifer Lawson - a new blog I've just discovered. Jennifer's pen & wash drawing is a little bit similar to my pen and wash, that's why I've put up this drawing from last year. I was happy with the graphic quality of this one, and that's what I really like about Jennifer's work. http://jenniferlawson.blogspot.com/
2. Frankye shares my love of cats and her blog has very interesting posts, and a still life that I really love. http://artsydyke2.blogspot.com/
3 Susan is the person who painted the great rodeo postcard for Anita. She has some wonderful life drawings on her blog at the moment. http://susansscribblesnscrawls.blogspot.com/
4. Mellanie Collins, who has been blogging about the same length of time as I have. Lovely pencil drawings on her blog. http://genxsters.wordpress.com/
5. Bec - who has lovely lovely watercolours of teapots on her blog. http://oobos.blogspot.com/

Stencilling with MiniGraff at the Museum of Contemporary Art

2008-02-04T10:46:00.000+11:00

Last Thursday it was just soooo hot. But I spent the afternoon with some friends in the air-con of the Museum of Contemporary Art. We were doing a stencil class with a stencil artist known as MiniGraff, who you can see here, talking about stencils of chooks. The class was in response to the current exhibition of the work of Shahzia Sikander which I've mentioned in previous posts. All I can say is - if you get a chance to do a class at the MCA - do it! If you get a chance to do a class with MiniGraff - do it! We first did a quick tour of the exhibition, taken around by a stencil artist working for the MCA who had helped with setting up the exhibition, and we were particularly looking for the way stencils had been used in the work.

We then went upstairs to this beautiful huge light-filled room with large round tables. There was quite a large class, but there were three people helping us at all times, and they were all so helpful, knowledgeable, and just plain nice, that the whole afternoon was just such a pleasure. MiniGraff (here's a link to her website) was just charming. She doesn't look at lot like she does in the video I've linked to above, but it is her. I think that must be her MiniGraff persona. We got a quite different persona. She told us about her art practice, and the process for stencilling. Then we started. All materials were supplied and there was source material to look at. We were even allowed to trace and cut our own stencils from MiniGraff's stencils. There were hairdryers and an iron - everything you needed.

Afternoon tea came. The BEST cookies I have EVER had. Beautiful unusual fruit juices and icy cold sparkling mineral water ( perfect for the temperature on the day.) Even better - it was all left out there till the end of the class and more than one person was snacking.

I fiffled and faffled about for a while, and then I looked at the time & just thought 'do something!'. I sometimes start decorating papers with figure-eight-like swooping movements with an inky brush. This picture is what I mean. So I did some swoopings, and cut out the spaces between the swoopings and the stencil at the top is what I got. MiniGraff helped me get organised and I put on the burnt sienna layer, then dried it with a hairdryer and put on the dark blue layer. The lighter blue layer I put on at home with acrylics. My little foam roller wasn't as good as theirs so I need some new ones.

I'm INTO stencils now! I just wished I'd done a bit more preparation & taken my own source material.I can't say my work that I did on the day is anything fabulous, but the afternoon opened many possibilities for me. I already cut a stencil that I've used in my artist's book "10Thai Restaurants," but I can't scan right now as glue is drying.

We were given notes with great links (how to make a photo into a stencil with Photoshop, for example). We've even been invited to MiniGraff's studio, which is local, lucky us.

Oh dear - I've been tagged

2008-02-03T10:18:00.000+11:00

Ann has tagged me, and I have been thinking I've already told you everything - but maybe not.
1. I was born and grew up in the Most Boring Place in the World. It's true! It's been documented. You can read about it in The Battle for Room Service: Journeys to All the Safe Places - a very amusing book by English writer, Mark Lawson who went all the way to New Zealand to my small town to start his journey through the safest and most boring places in the world.
2. I was au pair in Italy in 1971. I looked after a four year old boy, who I was supposed to teach English, but instead he taught me Italian. I had a very happy time there. We lived in Piazza Borghese - right in the historic centre, and if I leaned out the lounge window, I could see the Spanish Steps. (Right down the street in the centre of the picture, on the right, just after Via del Corso). Filippo, the boy I looked after, followed his father's footsteps in becoming a theatre director. However I have recently found via the net, that he lives in London and is involved in fashion, and his company was reviewed in London Fashion Week. But I haven't emailed him yet.

3.I had a prior career as a hotel receptionist. I worked in hotels in London, Jersey, C.I., New Zealand and Australia. Met quite a few famous people in that way. In about 1977, when the Sex Pistols were at the height of their fame, one Sunday evening, they arrived unexpectedly at our hotel. They had a confirmed booking made by a very reputable company, prepaid, with a voucher. The reservation was in the name of John Lydon, Johnny Rotten's real name. ALL management disappeared into a huddle into the manager's office, and we receptionists were left to tough it out with the Sex Pistols. Eventually, the general manager's girlfriend (the only female) who occasionally worked shifts as a duty manager, came out & talked to the S.Ps. She told them we'd find them other accommodation, that we didn't have their reservation. We found them rooms at another hotel, and time proved that it had been a good move.

4. Bali is my second home (I may have told you that). I go to Ubud, which is an art village, and I just wander around soaking up the scenery and ambience. I have friends there because I've been going for over 20 years. This link will take you to some web pages & links about Ubud that I made when I was learning Fireworks a few years ago. I took this photograph on an early morning walk last time I was there.

5. Last Thursday I went to a stencil workshop at the Museum of Contemporary Art. It was fantastic, and I am cutting stencils, multitasking with trying to respond to my 'tag'. My next post on my blog will be all about that.

Watercolour harbour view

2008-01-29T22:46:00.000+11:00

While I was drawing the landscape with the blue-green ink background in the previous post, I was also painting this watercolour. I quickly realised that it was a while since I'd painted a watercolour, and I didn't know what I was doing. Like Nina, in the most recent post on her blog, I felt the need for drawing - for the lines. So I put them in. Also faffing about with far too much detail. My sea started out like a flat blue carpet, so I've dug into that and put some glazes over it. Still not so happy with it. Next time I need to concentrate on a watercolour and not multi-task. It is painted on a Canson Fontenay card with Dory Kanter's primary triad, from her book, Art Escapes, which I am re-browsing through, and remembering good stuff I'd already forgotten about.
It's soooooo hot tonight. Too hot to go to bed. But I'm slaving over a hot computer, and drinking a hot cuppa tea. Just finished reading an amazing book - so sad. It's called Cousins by Patricia Grace. She's a New Zealand writer who I'd heard of but never read before. It's about three Maori girls - cousins- born during WWII. Made me remember how much things have changed, - though some things have stayed the same. Brought back some things I'd forgotten all about, like blackboard dusters made from socks.

Urban Landscape on Sydney harbour....

2008-01-27T14:31:00.000+11:00

TWO mornings in a row I've gone down to Blackwattle Bay to draw. Until about 11am, if I get on the eastern side of a cove, I can be out of the full sun, while it is shining on what I want to draw.
Yesterday I drew this amazing old winch (?) I first tried to do it straight with the pen, but no. It's too complex. Second try with a pencil, then Rotring pen, then watercolour pencils worked a lot better. I plan to draw this thing again.
Today I went round on the southern side of a cove, and looked east, towards the city skyline across the water. This time I was working in the coptic sketchbook I made myself with Stonehenge paper, that I have been prepping the pages of for some time. This particular page was prepped with blue- green ink and a little snippet of paste paper. I drew first with pencil, and then with the Rotring pen & the coloured pencils.
I didn't have any white pen or pencil with me so now realise I need that in my kit. When I got home I tried my with pen ( it's one of those white Uniball Signo ones that I and everyone likes so much.) However, it doesn't work on top of the ink wash, so I resorted to my white Prismacolour. I now need another trip to the art shop to get one of those for my kit.While I was doing this drawing, I was also doing a watercolour of the same scene. It needs work.
I got a new mobile phone a few weeks ago, so that I could use the camera for occasions like this. I'm still learning how to work the phone. This week I've partly mastered the MP3 player, so I sit down by the water with my favourite music playing. Yesterday it was Putumayo Music from the Chocolate Lands. I discovered Putumayo in Bali last time I was there. I love world music. Today, I played Queen's Greatest Hits We are the champions, my friend!

Urban Landscape

2008-01-25T13:29:00.000+11:00

I did this drawing with watercolour pencils from a couple of different photographs. Then yesterday I went past when the shadows were in an entirely different position, and caught a shot with my phone camera. I want to do some urban landscape paintings, and I know which places I want to paint, but I need to do some drawings first to get it set in my mind what to paint. I may crop them quite drastically.

My very favourite of all Australian artists is Peter O'Doherty . I went to his wonderful exhibition at NGA Gallery and they showed me a video. Well, his cat features strongly in the video. It was doing figure eights on his knee, saying Me, Dad! Me! How can you not love an artist like that. Click on his name to see his work (tip: go sideways if you don't see the images - oh, the link to the video is also on that page) Peter is slightly less famous than his brother Chris who is better known as Reg Mombassa. They are both known for their rock'n'roll careers in Mental as Anything. Reg is also an artist, and I've come across him in the printmaking studios when I was at Meadowbank College. (Oh, isn't that interesting - that's my etching on the 'Printmaking 1' web page!)

Anyway what I DO love is Peter O'Doherty's soft fuzzy edges, and I love them even more when I saw in the video that he uses Matisse acrylics. That's the paint company I'm associated with. The other thing I love about his work is how he pares things down. Just fabulous. Another rather more famous Australian artist who also pares things down is Jeffrey Smart. I have to learn to simplify. I've already been doing some soft edges.

Fast Sketching at Marrickville Metro

2008-01-24T08:52:00.001+11:00

The rain stopped and I went to the supermarket to stock up. That done, I went for my flat white at Michel's. Looked for a good place to sit for some Fast Sketching Techniques. Spotted a place, but two women with prams and several children got there first, so I went in the other direction. I found what I thought was a good spot and started to draw this fellow who was working on his p.c. Unfortunately, at a table closer to me was an oldish man whose eyesight obviously wasn't very good, because he raised his newspaper to six inches in front of his face which completely blocked my view. I decided to persevere, which meant I was peering over the top of the man's newspaper. This must have attracted the attention of a lady, who came and stood behind me and watched. She said 'It's very good - are you going to go over and show him?' I said 'certainly not - he might hit me'.

Two groovy gays

2008-01-23T13:48:00.000+11:00

I've finished another double-page spread of my sample circle concertina artist's book that I'm going to be teaching at Artwise. If you remember, it's about Newtown, where I live. There's quite a gay scene here, though recently that community has been adversely affected by the closure of the Newtown Hotel under dramatic circumstances. So I wanted to put some gays in my book, and I preferred them to be of indeterminate gender and I hope I've been successful. I wasn't sure about the 'rules of earrings' for gay people, but I had a look on Wikipedia and from what is said there, where the earring is worn no longer seems to have a lot of significance. The earrings are made from Matisse glitter 3D Kindyglitz that dries hard enough to be used inside a book. The shirts are collaged from some scrapbooking papers, and I've used watercolour pencils and a Rotring pen for the drawing. The drawing has deliberately been kept as simple as possible so as not to frighten the students in the class. But bear in mind that their books will be about their own subject and not about Newtown at all. I just need the sample to look achievable.

Response to Shahzia Sikander

2008-01-23T12:48:00.001+11:00

When I went to the Shahzia Sikander exhibition at the MCA with Alison a couple of weeks ago, I said I was going to do a 'response' to the work. There were a lot of images with the pink backgrounds, so I started there. Then I did some stencilling in white, then some Prismacolour trailing fronds (for want of a better word). Then I used some acrylic and marbing gel transparent bits, then back with the Prismacolours. I think it might be finished now.
This effort will come in handy, because I have booked with two friends to go to a stencilling workshop at the MCA inspired by the work of Shahzia Sikander. Follow the link and you can read about it. We've also booked in for Dr Sketchy's Anti-art school, where art meets cabaret, also at the MCA. Sounds like fun!

Ten Thai Restaurants

2008-01-20T22:31:00.000+11:00

I haven't been getting much drawing done, because I am working on an artist's book to teach. I decided to use mostly collage for the content, because I don't want to frighten off students who think they can't draw or paint. The book is a circle concertina I learnt from a book by Alisa Golden. I started to make handmade books from these books and I'll always be grateful to her for that. I find her books quite easy to follow. The paper will be BFK Rives. I love it!

It will be an eight week course at Artwise, the Amazing Paper Shop. My sample book is about Newtown, where I live. The main street is a restaurant strip and is known for the many Thai restaurants, hence the title, "10 Thai Restaurants". I've chosen this for a subject as, being the local area, people will be able to relate to it. However, the students will be making a numbering book of their own, with their own subject matter. It will have 9 double page spreads, plus the cover, so that's a lot to do in eight weeks. Need to keep it simple.

I've been through all my collage bits looking for suitable stuff. Also been through my two Lynne Perella books, as a refresher for various techniques to use. They are such useful books to have. And another book The Complete Guide to Altered Imageryhas some interesting techniques. The book I bought at Basement Books last week, when I was with Alison, is a useful one for book artists, Graphic Idea Notebook. It's a type of sourcebook of ways to put ideas across visually. I've not seen anything like it before.

I went out with a friend to draw on Thursday but it was cool, not quite raining and very very windy. We'd have had to hold our sketchbooks down. It wasn't a nice day to be out and about. We went to Elizabeth Bay House to see the Linnaeus art+nature exhibition. It was interesting from a history-of-printmaking point of view but not so interesting visually.

Pomegranates and people

2008-01-15T21:34:00.000+11:00

After looking at Alison's sketchbook, and also her book,Taking a Line for a Walk: 1100 Miles on Foot, Le Havre to Rome, I knew I needed colour. This fast sketching has it's place but I need colour. So I drew the pomegranates again, this time using Rotring pen and Albrecht Durer watercolour pencils. It took me longer than I'd wanted, and I'd love to have simplified it, but all those seeds! I have to think about how to simplify it. The other thing that Friday's outing 'made me do' was to buy a brown pen. Haven't tried it yet. Watch this space.

Last night I had to starve overnight and go for a routine blood test. After that I went to a cafe and ordered some peach and raspberry bread, (I deserved it) and a large skim flat. I went to sit outside but the smokers were out there, so I went inside. Found a perfect spot to observe the people at the tables outside. That man with the cap - he's the one who drove me inside. Did me a favour in the end.

I try to remember to take my sketchbook when I go to the supermarket. If I remember, I stop in the food hall and have a coffee, and sketch while I do. Now I have got one of their little cards that they stamp each time, so I can fix it in my mind that this is a habit. This is what I always do.

I sketched the lady with the bag first, but I'd only started and she moved away. Luckily the Fast Sketching Techniques book teaches you to use the after-memory, and I was able to finish it in a rudimentary way.

The man with the specs was my next target. His specs were really catching the light and they had silver frames or something that were glittering too. I wish I'd been able to capture that, but with a big fat black propelling pencil there wasn't much chance.

Another scorcher

2008-01-13T21:12:00.000+11:00

On Friday I met up with Alison from Canberra, who I knew only online from the everydaymatters sketching group. We met up at the Art Gallery of New South Wales at 10am on another scorcher of a day. I was more prepared for the sun this time with suncreen and a hat (that I didn't wear.) First, we went to the Sidney Nolan exhibition. A large show, with mostly great work. A few works left me a little cold, probably because I don't have the affinity with the Ned Kelly legend that Australian-born people do. I loved Nolan's use of colour - just fantastic.
After the gallery we went to sit in the park, down near the harbour. Alison looked at the Fast Sketching Techniques book that I'd brought along, while I looked at two books that Alison had brought. One in particular was just fantastic, Taking a Line for a Walk: 1100 Miles on Foot, Le Havre to Rome. We'd also brought along a few of our own sketchbooks, so we sat under a tree, in a stiff breeze, by the harbour, and looked at each other's sketchbooks. Finding the breeze a bit strong and even cold, (though the temperature was 84F) we moved on towards the Opera House, and sat under another huge tree where I did this drawing . I must say it took me far too long. It's supposed to be the fast technique, and I can't say that it was in this case. It was not long after midday, so the tones of the sails of the Opera House were very subtle indeed. I was working right across my sketchbook, so the finished drawing was about 8 inches by 11 inches. Too big.
From there we went on to the Museum of Contemporary Art to see the Shahzia Sikander exhibition. Just loved it. Amazing detail from this Pakistani-born artist who has studied Persian miniatures. Also a wonderful small video (about 15 inches across, maybe) - all painted, in the way that William Kentridge draws each frame in his videos. If you're in Sydney, don't miss this one. Alison and I are both going to create our 'response' to this one, so watch our blogs (though don't hold your breath.)
The next stop was Parker's Art Supplies, in The Rocks - the historic area of Sydney by the harbour. Parker's are known to have art supplies that are hard to track down. I did a little damage to the credit card there. Bought some Schminke watercolours, hoping that I will be able to get those beautiful clear colours as Laurelines does. Last stop was Basement Books, where we each found art books to buy, although as of Friday the stock had not been replenished much after the stocktake earlier in the week.
Said goodbye to Alison, and staggered home with all my books. Thank heaven for the Matisse artist's travelpack with wheels that I won at the consultants' day last October. I was exhausted, but I had a great day.

Sketching on a scorcher....

2008-01-12T12:21:00.000+11:00

Thursday was a scorcher. We took some lunch to Blackwattle Bay plus our sketchbooks and David Rankin's book, Fast Sketching Techniques. I am still working on these techniques, and finding it a great way to get a sketch down quickly. I think I am improving at the technique, if you compare against the sketches I did a week or two ago. You can see the cats I did recently here, and my first efforts here.

We sat under the shade of a tree, ate our lunch (yummy takeaway salad from Newtown) and looked at books and did some sketches. I drew the park bench, and a tree I'm not going to show you. After that we migrated to a patch of shade under a huge tree, where I did these sketches of the yachts.

We took a walk further on, and found a path that goes along towards the city along the water. There were some fantastic places to draw along there, but the sun was in the west and it was cooking us. We plan to go back on a cooler day, or at a different time of day. There are some wonderful harbourside artifacts - old winches and so forth that will make fantastic drawing subject material. That night in the shower, I realised just how hot it has been - I have sunburn!

More Fast Sketching........

2008-01-07T21:46:00.000+11:00

Still using David Rankin's Fast Sketching Techniques I am trying to capture Casper, my blue-point Himalayan cat, as he lolls about in the heat. Casper has cardiomyopathy, and was given six months to live more than eighteen months ago. So far he's in good health. We're popping pills several times a day, and he's fine.

Casper is a true mother's boy, and always sits with me. He's also much easier to draw than my other cat Arabella, because she is black. Both of them are great balls of fluff, so there's not much definition to either of them.

This new way of drawing, where you capture the outline first, then use the black of the pencil to shade, with a paper stump, gives a very different look to my other drawings of the cats. I don't mind the look of it. It's less realistic, but it's a drawing, and it's fun. They roll around, and turn pretty often, trying to catch a passing breeze, so at least it is quick. It's good practice at the technique, and getting up speed to use it on other occasions. It's fun to catch the poses, as well. And it's one form of life drawing.

Here's a little movie of Casper, for a first-hand look at the lack of definition. Both my cats eat with their paws. Arabella uses both paws, and also drinks with her paws.

Summer fruit - in the new sketchbook.

2008-01-03T19:48:00.000+11:00

Now I'm working in the Stonehenge sketchbook I made myself - the book for 2008. The first coptic bound book I ever made, maybe three years ago. Last year, I read a great article on wetcanvas by Diahn Ott. I loved the way she prepped the pages before sketching, so I've followed her lead and done that in this sketchbook. Every time I had inks or paints out, or small pieces of decorative paper, I'd prep a couple of pages. It's not all done, because I have all the different colours of Stonehenge paper in the book also, and I want to see how the darker creams look when I've drawn on them.
A friend came round on New Year's Eve with the watermelon and a bottle of wine, so I wanted to draw what we hadn't already eaten. Then, keeping in mind my plan to try this 'two-page spread with writing thing,' I also drew the rockmelon that is my breakfast food at the moment. I already ate the mango. New Year's Day, maybe. I'll have to get more. I love mango. I love all the summer fruit, but not the winter fruit except those wonderful red globe grapes. Oh, and I don't mind bananas.

Fast Sketching at Blackwattle Bay

2007-12-31T07:38:00.000+11:00

I am reading this book from the library Fast Sketching Techniques by David Rankin. Very interesting. He draws a distinction between drawing and sketching, and the idea is to train yourself to sketch fast. I was awake early two mornings ago, and it was a beautiful morning. so I got in the car and went off to Blackwattle Bay, a harbourside park, about ten minutes' drive away. Rankin uses a type of 9B pencil that we don't have here. He only uses this one pencil and a paper stump. I tried an 8B, but it wasn't sufficiently soft. I ended up using a type of fat propelling pencil with a lead about a quarter of an inch thick. This pencil gives the same look as his drawings (except that his are more expert than mine!) My pencil and the refills are all no-name, so I can't tell you more than that.

For a first try, I am quite satisfied, although I must say it surprised me how long it took me to do a pretty ordinary drawing. The second one took 15 minutes. But I plan to carry on with this, and maybe in the fullness of time, I can join Gabi Campanario's plein air sketching group.

I have scanned these images with my new Epson CX8300 all-in-one inkjet. I decided on this one thanks to a lot of research and the advice of some book art bloggers, Carol, Gail and Lee. I bought it yesterday morning, uninstalled my old scanner and printer on a very hot day, and installed the new all-in-one. I've tried printing and scanning and so far it seems to be great, and in my little terrace house, what I love is that it doesn't take up much space.

Santa brought Graphitints.....

2007-12-28T10:04:00.001+11:00

I asked Santa for a set of Graphitint pencils after seeing Roz Stendahl's Graphitint drawings. Aren't her drawings amazing! I got a set of twelve (colours as shown) and yesterday afternoon, needing a slow afternoon, I sat on my bed, propped up with pillows, and put the pomegranates on a plate, on a sheet of white paper and drew them with the Graphitints. As you can see by the result, the colours are very different to the actual (which the previous drawings represent,) I used Port for the red, and Aubergine for the purple, and Chestnut where I needed to introduce some yellow or orange. As you see, the result is brownish. Maybe I would have done better to use more Aubergine and use a blue for the shadows, and I'd get a more purple look. I have the card of all the colours, and there is one that might be a bit more reddish, and a green that is very yellow. So I have to go to the art shop this morning.
I have one more page only in my current sketchbook, so I have space for one more Graphitint drawing, then the very final page will be for my rough list of goals for next year. (Finish the Bologna book, finish the sewing book, draw urban lanscape a lot more in preparation for paintings, try Pampe's pour technique with acrylics, think about a Sekala/Niskala painting for the exhibition At The Vanishing Point in 2008.) ATVP is a newish Newtown gallery, where I have had a couple of things in exhibitions, and where the people are absolutely a delight to deal with.
So then I wake up this morning & Benazir Bhutto has been assassinated. That will be on my mind for a while, because I have a good friend in Lahore who went to art school with me in Sydney about 3 years ago. I spoke to her on the phone a month ago, and she was trying to ignore the political situation. I hope that doesn't become impossible.

The pomegranate is finally broken open.....

2007-12-26T18:29:00.000+11:00

These are some drawings I did once the pomegranate was cut open. The one on the left is Prismacolours and the one on the right was done with conte crayons on canson paper on Christmas Day. The little collage bits are torn off bits of Christmas paper from my gifts and some tiny offcuts of chiyogami paper that I was using to make some Christmas ornaments. I got a whole lot of art things for Christmas, including a set of Graphitints, a Derwent Pencil holder, a portable palette for watercolour, and some Chinese brushes paper, inks and even a soapstone to cut and a cutter. Did you get any good art stuff?

Writing in my visual diary........

2007-12-22T09:13:00.000+11:00

I have been reading Danny Gregory's book " The Creative License." Danny writes in his visual diary, but I never have. As he says, nobody would be that interested. I am not interested in keeping a diary myself. Nevertheless I do think that a little bit of writing gives the visual diary a better 'look'. I think Danny gives good advice then he says that what is in your visual diary should be upbeat. ( Yeah, so what do I do? Start with a double page spread about Marc Bolan being killed in a car accident.) Still, he was a happy memory for me, with his cute shoes - well cute all over really.

So another thing that Danny Gregory said, was that you should consider each two-page spread to have a composition as a whole - like an advertising layout. I'd drawn the pomegranates again - Prismacolours - so I thought ' what else?' I'd bought a mango to draw, so I drew that. Then I ratted around in the fridge and came up with this slice of papaya. After that it was easy. My second home, Ubud Village Hotel , probably my favourite place in the world, used to have a choice between fruit juice and 'fresh fruit cuttings' (fresh fruit salad) for breakfast. It always had lots of lovely papaya, wonderful with lime juice. Then in my blog-browsing last weekend, I came across some artists who were drawing circles, so I decided to use those to complete the double-page spread.
So I'm still in two minds about writing in my sketchbook. The pages since I started writing have a much more integrated look than those before. Maybe I should do nonsense writing, or write so tiny that it's illegible. I think I just have to press on with the writing and maybe I'll get a solution in the end. So what about you ? Do you write in your visual diary as well? How do you feel about that?

Massed flag books....

2007-12-18T18:52:00.000+11:00

Last night was the third class of the 'flag book series' , Because it was such a small class, we managed to make the flag book for which the class was designed and do a lot of other fun stuff as well. In the photos, you can see two of these books at the back, made with beautiful chiyogami paper. The books in the front are just 'models', made with free art postcards, so that we all now know how to cut the flags to make a flag book with our own photographs. We didn't make covers for those books. It was just an exercise to learn the process, and to have a model to use in the future.

Thanks to a post on Lee Kottner's blog and a video from the Paper Studio we also had time to fold a little book that can also be an ornament. And we made another very simple but beautiful ornament found through another link at this address. I'm not sure who to thank for this link, but Lee's site sent me on a long journey where I found all manner of wonderful things. So now I'm on a Christmas break! Maybe I'll get a chance to work on my artist's books.

Pomegranates in the new sketchbook

2007-12-16T12:47:00.000+11:00

Well, yes, I do have a few pages left in the old sketchbook, but not many. My new sketchbook is a coptic bound book covered with chiyogami paper. The pages are Stonehenge paper, so it's lovely to draw on. In my quest to make my sketchbook more interesting, I have prepped the paper on a lot of the pages. The second page spread has been prepped with Matisse Transparent Gesso. It gives a wonderful grainy surface that you can really dig into. I used the Conte Crayons again, and it is a very different look from the one on the Canson paper. The opposing page will have the pomegranates again when I cut them open.You can buy Matisse products in the USA through Jerry's Art-a-rama.

The last drawing is with Prismacolour pencils. Unfortunately
one of the reds is one that keeps breaking. Maybe I will have better luck when I replace it. They certainly do give a wonderful 'hand of the artist' look. Then, if you don't want that - I've seen amazing hyperrealism done with them.

I got some amazing little rubbers (oh, should I have said erasers?)that are about the size and shape of a guitar pick. I've been using them for pulling out highlights. The pomegranates are quite square, and the highlights sometimes go along the edges of the square, so they're perfect for that.

Pomegranates and a Rock Legend

2007-12-16T12:26:00.001+11:00

I'm currently reading Danny Gregory's book "The Creative License." I'm trying to get my sketchbook to evolve from just a drawing on a page to something more interesting. This is one of my first attempts. I'm drawing these pomegranates with every media I have, and these ones are with Pitt Pens. I think it is actually my favourite of all of them - amazing when you think that Pitt Pens don't have a warm red.

While I was getting dinner Radio National played a T-Rex song. That, for me, brings to mind Marc Bolan. He stayed at Hotel de France in Jersey (C.I.) where I was working, for about a week. He only came to the front desk once, and he was very quiet and sweet and polite, and what I will always remember are the little red shoes he wore. About 6 weeks after he went back to the mainland, he was killed in a car accident. So I drew the shoes and then I realised that they had been the colour of pomegranates.

New Albrecht Durer Watercolour pencils -

2007-12-16T11:53:00.000+11:00

Pomegranates again. This time with the new Albrecht Durer watercolour pencils I bought on ebay Australia, thanks to a tipoff from Lorraine in the USA.

What a bargain! I love these pencils. The pencils are terrific, but the tin is definitely pre-loved, which makes it all the more interesting. I feel that someone has had a lot of good use from it over a long period of time, and been replacing the pencils. I plan to do the same.

Pomegranates for my birthday

2007-12-13T11:40:00.000+11:00

For my birthday, a friend gave me two pomegranates and some Conte pastels to draw them with. I have instructions to do some drawings, then to tear them apart, then to draw again, and then cut them into smaller sections and keep drawing.

This is yesterday's drawing. I plan to try to draw them in various media before I start to take them apart. I don't think I even saw a pomegranate before.

Today's drawing was with a variety of felt pens. Just any old sort. I didn't have a variety of reds though, so I have used some brown and some magenta. The thing is with felt pens - they're not subtle, are they?

Venturing into art history...

2007-12-08T09:37:00.000+11:00

This term's hardworking and productive 'Painting in Acrylics' class at Sydney Community College have been venturing into art history. In the post-modern sense they have found images from art history and given them their own 'take'.

This one is a Klee. He was a favourite last term, and a personal favourite of my own.

The next one is from a Warhol, done in one evening only - a massive effort.

We also have a 'Blue Rider', shown part-finished but it was
finished on the night and turned out fantastic! A beautiful blue-green textural painting, with a touch of the complement. This painting was enhanced by two coats of Matisse MM7 gloss varnish, for the 'wet look'.

A lovely minimal abstract expressionist painting with beautiful surfaces in golds and reds, and a fantastic landscape, that later acquired a bird.

There are lots more photos of other paintings but I am running out of time.

Maybe tomorrow. All

these photos taken on the camera in my new little mobile phone.

Seagull flag book

2007-12-03T11:10:00.001+11:00

I made this book yesterday. It is only a 'model'. It was my first try at using photographs for a flag book. I am starting teaching another flag book at Artwise tonight. You can see the book we're doing here - just click on the small image to see a larger one.

So close to Christmas it is a small class, so they may get through the other flag book very fast. If the main book is finished quickly, which I expect to happen, we'll all make a model like this, or at least go through the design issues and cut the flags. You can get the instructions for using photographs to make this flag book from the "Bonefolder" newsletter here

I just used some of the free art postcards that you can pick up in various cafes and other venues around town. It takes seven photos, and I didn't want to go to the expense of getting photos printed in case it didn't work.

I haven't done anything to the back of the cards, so it's just a model to work from, but if you wanted to use postcards you could glue paper to the back of them or paint the back. Obviously it did work OK. It isn't difficult as long as you are thinking clearly and are a bit organised with your flags until you attach them. The second one will be a breeze (I think.)

Wendy gave me some flowers

2007-11-30T18:28:00.000+11:00

She gave them to me because I photographed some of her art work and put it on a CD for a gallery. She brought them round & said ' here's something for you to draw'. Don't ask me what sort of flowers they are, because I don't know. They are different from each other too - see the leaves?

Don't be confused. There are two Wendys. Me and Other Wendy.

So I drew them. I haven't drawn flowers for a long time. I used to paint flowers a lot, before I went to art school. I painted them because they are beautiful. You can see some of them on my old website on this page. At art school they have a down on flowers - they prefer art to be innovative. Sussie said, what's wrong with art being beautiful'. I agree.

I'm not going back to painting flowers. I've learnt to look around me and find beauty in a lot of other things since then, but I do think that to decide flowers are 'uncool' and turn your back on them as a subject for painting is just being pretentious.

Something architectural - urban landscape

2007-11-26T19:04:00.000+11:00

These two drawings are from my local area. I plan to paint some urban landscapes and these are pre-work, from some photos I took. I can't seem to mount the colour cartridge in my printer, so I printed the photos in black and white, and drew them in pencil, just to start getting a handle on the subject.The first image is a disused factory that was being used as artists' studios, but is currently being upgraded. I think it's interesting how I inadvertently got some three-point perspective happening on this image. I wasn't worrying too much about the verticals, just the tonal values.

The second image is the back of the shops on the main street of Newtown. I've gone round the back alleys taking many photos of urban landscape, and plan to paint some acrylics.

Casper

2007-11-22T11:14:00.000+11:00

Last night when I got home from teaching at the evening college, Casper sat on the end of the bed. On Monday, at the supermarket, I found a pack of 'magic pencils' and I drew him with one of them. I really like the colours in this one. And I'm pleased with the drawing because it looks just like Casper.

Red on red

2007-11-21T09:28:00.000+11:00

I decided to continue with the theme of drawing in one colour only. I bought this red chilli to make a curry, and I thought I'd better draw it before I chopped it up. I found a piece of red paper to sit it on.

I am using a normal cartridge paper visual diary, so it only takes so much media before it gives up. I was using watercolour pencils, and I would have liked to put more colour on, so instead, I wet it with my Japanese brush with the water well in the handle. I also sprayed it with workable fixative, but it still won't allow me to put more pigment on the page. I hope to finish this book by Christmas and then I will have a Stonehenge visual diary.

Drawing on black

2007-11-20T11:16:00.000+11:00

Oh I wish I knew where my white charcoal pencil could be!

That was going to be my media of choice for this drawing of my frying pan on my black Matisse apron (thanks David). I found some Conte crayons, and used a white one of those instead. Now it will be on my mind till I find my charcoal pencils.

Sun Triad experiment

2007-11-16T10:07:00.000+11:00

Over the last two days I painted this A5 ( about 5.5 x 7.5") watercolour, using the 'sun triad' from Dory Kanter's book Art Escapes . I used EDM Challenge no 18, which is the view from my kitchen window. It was a challenge, all right, because it was primarily greys and I was painting them with magenta, cerulean blue & new gamboge.

The drawing is not wonderful and the watercolour looks too played-about-with, but I was concentrating on getting the tonal values right. The brightest part of the scene was the tin roof.

The house I painted is 'across the paddock'. Although I'm only 4km from the absolute centre of Sydney, there's been an empty block there for years. The house that was there burnt down long before I came to live here in 1984.

Painting with Acrylics - new camera phone

2007-11-15T09:08:00.000+11:00

These are works in progress, done by students in the class I am teaching at Sydney Community College. Last week I bought a camera phone. I had been thinking for a long time that I need a camera to carry with me - my other digital camera has a large Leica lens, so it's not for carrying in the handbag.

Last week I saw a student walk out the door with a newly finished Diebenkorn style painting - a really GREAT one, and I instantly regretted not having the camera. I bought this camera on Friday 'learnt'

it over the weekend, and took photos last night. It was a small class last night, but they all had two

paintings on the go and were making amazing progress.

Star Tassel book

2007-11-14T12:34:00.000+11:00

This is the little book we did some extra skills for, during the Star Tunnel Book class. The students were so quick that we needed something else to do. We did another, more accurate way of making a concertina, and we each made a pop-up panel. Now they should be able to go home and make their own version of this book.

Star Tunnel Books

2007-11-13T08:44:00.000+11:00

Last night in the class I was teaching at Artwise we finished our Star Tunnel books. They looked fabulous in all the gorgeous colours the students had chosen.

We even finished early enough to learn some more skills to make another version of this structure, and the students were given another pattern so that they can make it at home.

I'll be posting a picture of that one soon, - as soon as I've taken the photos. I took 47 photos of the star tunnel books last night, including some action shots of the works in progress.

We plan to do some more classes soon with new interesting and unusual structures.

Drawing something white

2007-11-09T09:50:00.000+11:00

The idea to draw something white came from the wetcanvas 'Artwork from Life' forum's Scavenger Hunt. I find it fascinating how much colour you can put in an object and still have it 'read' as white.

Watercolour pencils, no water.

Draw something square

2007-11-07T11:23:00.000+11:00

This is my response to the challenge to draw something square. It is the square jar that normally holds my parmesan cheese to go with my pasta, but as I'm trying to be 'good' and cheese is 'bad,' I washed it out last night and it will have to find a new function.

Watercolour pencils but no water.

Two blank journals

2007-11-04T11:22:00.000+11:00

These are two new blank journals that Rosemarie from Artwise Amazing Papers taught me to make. They have soft covers and beautiful cream pages. In the case of the gold one, the endpapers are the same chiyogami paper as the cover. The green one has a green Florentine design Italian endpapers. The hardest thing about making these books was to get the slits in the cover to line up with the slits in the endpapers. Worth it though. They're lovely to hold.

New Matisse primary colours

2007-11-03T12:42:00.000+11:00

I'm really on a roll with using triads to paint watercolours. Two weeks ago I was given all seventeen new colours of Matisse acrylics and I'm still trying them out. Three of the new colours are

Primary Red

Primary Blue

Primary Yellow

This is what I've used to paint this little 'watercolour'. It was on a Montval watercolour pad 4" x 6", but I've cut it down, because I wished I'd zoomed in more. Chillies, red curry paste, and baby green peppercorms - something hot.

Matisse acrylics can be bought in the USA through Jerry's Artarama, though I doubt if they have the new colours yet. The press release only came out two days ago in Australia. There are several new transparent colours and they are just AMAZING for glazing.

Matisse acrylic paints & Micron Pen.

Primary triad - my herb pot

2007-11-01T17:14:00.001+11:00

I don't consider myself a watercolour artist. In my new book "Art Escapes," the author uses three colours only - the 'primary triad.' I used this triad to paint this small watercolour this morning. The colours work well together I think, so I will buy the 'sun triad' next.

This was prompted by an online challenge to draw my herbs & spices. Please note, although it is not quite a faithful realistic reproduction of what I saw, I did draw the weeds.

Primary triad watercolours & Rotring pen.

Photoshop Masterclass

2007-10-30T18:28:00.001+11:00

Today I went to a Photoshop Masterclass at Darling Harbour.

I drew this palm tree from the balcony of the convention centre during the break. The speaker was Julieanne Kost who classes herself as photographer, although I would call her an artist. If you are familiar with Daniel Giordano's work, in his books "The Art of Photoshop," her composite images are similar in construction, I think.

First she demonstrated Adobe Lightroom, which is a database program, suitable for professional photographers, to help them keep track of their images. Then she did PhotoshopCS3 Extended (which I have). She introduced a lot of new features - very fast - but I took notes, and at least I know these things exist so I can look them up. She said 'set yourself projects', and it's great advice, that I will take. So my next project will be book art using Photoshop. I just have to think of a theme.

Collage - paper triangles

2007-10-29T21:54:00.000+11:00

This small collage is in my A5 sketchbook. When I make a hand-made book, I cut the corners off the cover paper and I'm always left with four small triangles. After a while I started saving them and at the weekend I turned them into a collage.

Most of these papers are paste papers that I've made myself, but there are some pieces of chiyogami paper and one small piece of embossed Indian paper.

Starting Monday night.....

2007-10-28T21:53:00.000+11:00

On Monday night I start teaching a Star Tunnel Book over three weeks at Artwise, the amazing paper shop. This book has been made to showcase some of their beautiful Japanese papers. You can see some photographs of the book on the Artwise website.