Signing off

All of us here at the Villa are full of anticipation for a lovely Christmas Day with family.  Whatever your year end entails, I hope you enjoy the rest of the holiday season and take time to re-charge ready for another year.  Wishing you the best of health and happiness in  2013!

Signing off here for 2012 - see you in the New Year!

Test Run

Fish Test Piece

I've been having fun playing with shells, mosaic tiles, paint and shiny cardboard.  This pic shows my simple test piece, made to ensure that the glue sticks and the paint adheres properly to the 'corflute' board (a strong lightweight material) I am using.  So far so good!  I have a large piece to go inside a frame that I will work on over the next week or so.

A solution has been found to my market woes - I will be displaying my paintings in a few large wicker baskets for people to sort through, with maybe just one large painting displayed on an easel.  Although my stall won't have the gallery look I had previously, it will still have a nice market vibe and will no longer be prone to gusts of wind.  Amy who runs the market tells me that there are volunteers available to help me set up, so it's all systems go for the next market day in February 2013.  Yay!

Mirror, Mirror...........

This mirror I found today at my local Salvation Army store.  It's in really good condition and I am going to sand it and paint it.  An amazing find!  You can see Max sleeping in the background after a night shift then a hot and muggy Saturday.


His car, left as usual at a train station overnight, was broken into and vandalized yesterday.  Not a good day for him to come home to!  Thank goodness for insurance, hire cars and tow trucks!

Lately, I am making mixed media fish using my collection of seashells and other materials.  So much fun and a change of scene from simply painting!  Will show you soon!

Sunday

Kalanchoe

 

Today, as I usually do on sunny Sunday mornings, I walked up to buy the newspapers.  I love to make myself a coffee and sit outside under the shady umbrella and read/drift away in meditation for an hour or so............... 

The shoe store has been very busy this past week because of a summer sale.  Then in January it really ramps up with 'back-to-school'  ie. hundreds of school kids needing to be fitted for black school shoes!  I'm not complaining though, I really enjoy the buzz in the shop when it's full of people!

I have put my art market on hold for the time being, a pity since I will miss the potential of a pre Christmas market.  I have had problems with strong gusts of wind blowing over my paintings (not good for business!) Also, I no longer have a market buddy to help me set up since my son became a working man.    Not sure where I will go from here, so I'm taking a month or so to think about things.

The christmas tree and twinkling lights are up, a few gifts have been bought and wrapped and I will be spending Christmas day with extended family in Sydney, something we haven't done for years!