Relax & Play

I am now onto the last third of a large painting and it is giving me a little grief at this point, I must admit.  So today I opened my journal again after weeks of being away from it.  It was good to just relax & play again, without worrying about the outcome.  We all strive for perfection in our art, but to achieve it without blowing a fuse, playtime is essential.

This page I divided into three unrelated sections and painted simply whatever I felt like.  More play tonight, then tomorrow back to the puzzling painting!

A Story Is Waiting

This drawing is one made in my journal in beautiful black & white, just before my birthday - a train, 'Engine No.50', running along the track past trees and houses, reminding me of some story books I read when I was small. I'm sure there is a story to go with it. 

I've been thinking it's time to do some writing again, it's been a while since there's been a poem or story in me and I feel there's one waiting there now .... a dog with a sense of humour, a bossy cat, time travel, heroics....  we'll see....

Rewind

I've been pretty busy since my last post.  Last weekend I was very surprised by a Surprise 50th Birthday party.  We went to a Moroccan restaurant in Sydney, friends and family all there waiting - it was so atmospheric ... we were showered in rose petals as we entered the restaurant, before being served up a Moroccan banquet by warm and attentive waiters.  It was such a lovely surprise and along with an overnight stay in Sydney, made for a perfect, whirlwind weekend.

This week I spent a lot of time in the studio playing with paint, and on Wednesday I went down to Sydney yet again to meet my sisters, niece and nephew who came with me to see my first ever public exhibit of my paintings!  What a feeling!!

We took the ferry down the Parramatta River out to Western Sydney where 16 of my paintings were on show.

Then when I got home, a package from the USA was waiting for me.  I won a giveaway on Olivia's blog Happyluau  Thank You so much Olivia!

A Jumble of Fish

A jumble of fish, tumbling about in the waves at night...seaweed swaying and swooshing in the shadows.  Where does one fish end and another begin? 

Finding Inspiration

Since I'm on the verge of starting a new fish painting, I thought I'd play with some designs before I start, to squeeze out a little fresh inspiration. For this design I used water-colour, inks and acrylic paint. 

Journaling has taught me that what you begin with isn't necessarily what you end up with. That it's good to take twists and turns when you're creating, take risks because you never know what might happen!  Sounds a lot like life to me too!

The Puzzle .....

Yesterday I had morning tea with some very good friends of mine at a local park, overlooking Terrigal Lagoon.  We ate warm mini-quiche's and date loaf, washed down with coffee, tea and chai.  We found some old, majestic fig trees and hugged them...as you do... 

It was so very cold, yet we sat there with gloves and scarves on, hands wrapped around our steamy mugs and talked and talked.  We were there for hours, though it was as if no time had passed. How does time go so fast & easily when you're with kindred spirits?  Time really is a puzzle!