A New Year

Summer has been pretty wonderful this year and today, New Years Eve, is sunny and mild.  In fact the sun is just going down here.  The birds are still chirping, but soon they will say their goodnight, the cool air will creep in and crickets will begin their song.  Mosquitos too, gotta love em!

I'm looking forward to the new year, whatever it may bring.  I have lots of irons in the fire and whatever emerges will be all good!

I hope you are open to whatever may come too!  Best wishes for a Happy New Year in 2014!

Family at Christmas

This Christmas is the first we will be spending as empty nesters, our youngest having just set out on his own.  We wish him well and will miss him immensely!

However, it makes our family get togethers all the sweeter when they happen.  Today we shared a Christmas brunch with my daughter and her partner.  Tomorrow, time with above mentioned son and on Boxing Day, a get together with my side of the family.

I hope you get to share Christmas with someone special too!

Wishing everyone a Happy Christmas and a safe & prosperous New Year!

Looking Back

Tonight I pulled out my old art journals, sat down and browsed through them.  A good thing to do!  It was sometimes surprising, sometimes mundane and sometimes enlightening.  I get to know myself in these journals, both through writing and creating art.

These days, because of a few days a week of work, I have less time and energy to be able to lose myself in art journaling like I used to.  I miss it a lot!

It is good to off-load ordinary day to day living and peel away the layers, to find out what it is that you are really feeling passionate about and to discover the sweet spots in your art.

Still, I journal when I can.  Sometimes a little bit every now and then is better than nothing at all!

Woman

This is a section of a painting I'm in the midst of.  I need to paint every chance I get these days and managed to capture some quality time yesterday!  Loving the emergence of this strong and intelligent woman.... what is her story?  I'll post the finished painting on facebook if you want to check out the end result.

I hope all is well in your part of the world!

In The City

This weekend I headed down to the city to help my sister celebrate her 60th birthday.  It's a hard life!

Kirribilli

I stayed with my daughter and began the weekend with a picnic lunch beside the harbour.

My Daughter

 Then later we dressed up and headed into the city to my sister's apartment for the weekend for cocktails. Then off to dinner with family at a harbourside restaurant at The Rocks.

Sydney Harbour Bridge

Sydney Opera House at Night

In the morning my daughter & I walked across the harbour bridge to gather again with family for a hearty breakfast - poached eggs & bacon.  Afterwards we wandered around the Sunday markets before hopping on a ferry back across the harbour, getting off at Luna Park.

Luna Park

 

 

My sister had a ball and so did we!

Contemplation at the Villa

I've been busy in the outdoors this Spring, creating a meditative area complete with sunlounge, praying buddha and a few plants.  This spot used to contain our rubbish bins (now relocated) and is now transformed into a private, contemplative spot.

This is my front courtyard enjoying the sunshine.  I need some herbs planted here, they would love it!

My painting efforts have slowed down a little.  Springtime is for the outdoors and I get antsy if I have to sit inside for too long!

However, we still need our quiet times indoors reading and I recently bought a book called Gypsy by Sibella Court.  A lovely look at interiors & colour through the eyes of a seasoned traveller.  Very inspiring, I can recommend it!

Spring Colours

Bromeliad

Our garden at the villa is putting on a show for us, with even more plants laden with buds, ready to pop open any minute.  Love the colour of this bromeliad!

Parlour Palm

These parlor palms sit in my sun room.  They enjoy the shelter and warmth there.

Red Geranium

Geraniums are always good value, very hardy and pretty too!

Pink Geranium

Lavender

 Lavender.  I cut it back hard after last seasons flowers finished and it has burst into life again.

Tahitian Lime

 This is one of the few edible plants in our garden.  Lovely limes, perfect added to a cold glass of sparkling mineral water on a hot day!

Bottlebrush

We have three mature bottlebrush trees in our garden and the lorikeets love them too!

Happy Springtime!

Frangipani Tree

The start to Spring has been a warm one and we have been out in the garden weeding & tidying up.  Yesterday, we planted a Frangipani Tree.  I have always loved them - their shape, flowers and fragrance are amazing!  This one is just beginning to sprout and will soon be full of glossy leaves and white & yellow flowers.  I can see the tree from my dining room window and the scent will float around my front entrance.  Lovely!

I am still painting whenever I get the chance, this time Poppies in a glass vase.  A different palette and style for me.  I am enjoying creating this one!  Will show you when it's completed!

Happy Days

Gerberas in a Glass Jug

I love this painting, it makes me smile!  It's a completed commission for a lovely lady, so I hope it makes her smile too!

 

I'm still loving Cold Wax & Oils and have begun another painting, this one involving cat and fish interplay, some whimsy too, wait and see!

 

Life at the Villa is good and today I enjoyed celebrating a belated Fathers Day with my hubby and son and catching up with my daughter too!  Family always trumps all!

 

I hope your days are happy ones too!

 

 

 

 

 



Busy, Happy!

 

 

Lots has been going on at the villa - we are expecting a new roof shortly, new colour, all corners pointed and restored!  We are also welcoming a new second car into our family, making life easier for us!

Still scheming in the background, will fill you in soon!

Next week I am doing a new market, so hopefully will have a good response there.

Lots to be grateful for right now! Busy, happy ........................ !

This pic is the view from the top of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney - our beautiful Opera House floating on the harbour!

August Already!

August is here, how did that happen?

I've discovered that I need to brace my larger plywood panels for my cold wax paintings and have organized some help from my local Men's Shed.  These lovely men are happy to do all the carpentry involved in making my panels solid and free from warp.  I don't have the space or the tools to do so, so for a donation, I will have a job well done!

Today I washed my car, cleaned out my bathroom cupboard, washed sheets to be hung in the fresh sunny air and weeded my front garden.  I'm feeling Spring, even though we're not quite there yet!

I recently bought new quilt covers, sheets and pillows for our bed - lovely to sleep on and to look at!  A beautiful embroidered design, I love it!

Underway

Gerberas Underway

I've been painting Gerberas, thanks to a lovely lady who asked me to create a painting for her!  Gerberas were her suggestion and I've been having a wonderful time merging them with Cold Wax and Oils!  I've already completed one painting and this is the second one underway (50 cm X 80cm).  If it works out my niece may choose to have it as a gift.  I hope she likes it!  If not it goes in my kitchen!

I'm loving creating more expressive paintings.  They are free and easy compared to the watercolour and ink I've been doing.  Good for my artist's soul!

Lots of things underway at my place, not least thinking about replacing my cook top that has decided to go on the blink!  There's always something, isn't there?

The weather was incredibly warm for a July day today and I enjoyed pottering around the villa, tidying up, cleaning, moving things around, feeling the false Spring vibes!

And, looking forward to a new local market place next month for hand made items only.  May well be my kind of market!

Beginning Stages

This is a pencil sketch of a bunch of native Australian flowers I arranged in a large jug.  I took them out on my sunroom yesterday and studied them for a couple of hours.  It is only in the beginning stages here.  Tomorrow I will hopefully complete the sketch and tidy up the scraggy bits!

It feels great to get back to the basics of drawing & sketching.  It takes sensitivity, time and practice to get there!  I don't do this enough!

Gerberas

This painting is a test piece for a commission I will be working on soon.  Gerberas were requested and it will be a taller piece than it is wide.  This one is a little 'shabby chic' in style and looks great in full light.

I have been planning and scheming here at the Villa and will soon be taking a new direction in life, all being well!  A little enigmatic, I know!  Wish me luck!

This afternoon was a perfect winters day, full of blue sky and sunshine.  I took my sketch pad out onto my sunroom and sketched a large jug full of native Australian flowers, bought for myself for my birthday.  It's turning out nicely, with still more to do.  Also sketched Jess the Border Collie briefly, for as long as she sat still for me!

Afterwards, I took my son for another driving lesson around our suburb.  He cruises along nicely while I chill!

Smells like dinner is ready!  Have a great weekend!

Oils & Other Things

African Violet in a Crystal Bowl

We've had a lot of rain lately, making it easy to settle down inside and paint!  Cold Wax continues to entice me and I'm loving using oils again.

I've been enjoying birthday celebrations with family this weekend with more into next week.  Happy times!

I also visited my local art gallery this week to see a travelling textile exhibit - a really lovely collection of artworks,  (www.beneathsouthernsky.com ) colourful and unique!  My Regional Art Gallery is nestled in an authentic Japanese Garden (Edogawa).  So I strolled around outside, over little bridges, past gushing waterfalls and the tranquil tea house, with misty rain all around.  It's beautiful at any time of year!

I hope you enjoyed your week too!

Texture

I'm back to painting again, with lots of texture & colour this time.  This pic is a close up of my latest fruit bowl painting.

Not much to share today.  Life is treating me well with lots of work to do in the shoe store and plenty to keep me occupied at home.  Loved catching up with my family & friends recently at my nieces engagement party.  Great to see such a happy couple too!

Sundays are my favourite day for reading and tidying the villa.  So I'm heading back to my 'chill chair' in my sunroom to catch the last rays of the afternoon sun!  Enjoy what's left of your weekend x

Smooshy

I've been experimenting a lot in cold wax lately and I just love it.  Applying my own style has been difficult for some reason, maybe because others who paint in cold wax are so soft and subtle and I am always so bright.  This painting has come close to what I need to create and it is a small glimpse of what I can perhaps produce.

Very busy in the shoe store at the moment so painting has had to go on the backburner again.  Stop. Start. Stop. Start.  Hard for me as I like a bit of flow!

In the meantime I dream of smooshy paint/wax and to the time when I can get back to it!

More Cold Wax

 

 

This morning I visited my local hardware store to purchase more wood panels for cold wax painting.  These paintings are roughly 12" x 12".  The day has been cold and wet, so there was nothing better I could think of to do, than settle in for some more cold wax painting!  Some of my paintings have been soft and subtle......

 

Others have been simple.....  I have chosen trees as my theme (as you have probably guessed!) while I experiment with this medium.  Shellac flakes feature on this one (messy, but i love 'em).

 

 

Others are a little dark and shimmery, trees in the moonlight!  More to come!

Trees

 

Cold Wax! It's so lovely to work with!  If you ever get the chance to do a Cold Wax Workshop with Judy Wise, just do it!  It's a wonderful medium that has so many possibilities!

 

 

Typical of me, I have tried to make cold wax fit 'me' and don't find myself painting like Judy Wise or any of the other Artists I shared creative space with last weekend.  This is good from a unique artist point of view, but difficult and quite a challenge to find my 'voice' in this medium.

I am  really keen to nail it though and have a few days up my sleeve to produce more cold wax pieces.  It is good to break out of my comfort zone however.  Will post my next attempts!

A Challenge

I'm back home again after three days in Jervis Bay, south of Sydney. I stayed in a beautiful little cabin (with an awesome bathroom!), walking distance from cafes, restaurants and the bay.

I had a wonderful weekend sharing creative space with ten other artsists, absorbing all there is to know about painting with cold wax from Judy Wise.  It is quite a challenge to get the richness of colour while still remaining subtle and soft.  However, it is a medium with infinite possibilities, so I will be experimenting more as soon as I get the opportunity.

These cold wax pieces do not photograph well, most of the detail and sweetness is lost unfortunately, but I hope you get the general idea looking at these pics. These are the best of the bunch that I created.

I made some lovely new friends over lunch and dinner and hope to keep in touch, it was so much fun to have their company!  Huskisson is a beautiful little town and I loved every minute of my time there.

Back to earth now!

Time to Get Excited!

Rug

Today Judy Wise posted that she was 'Off' to Australia!  How exciting is that!  Next week Australian artists (including me) gather for a Judy Wise Cold Wax Workshop in Jervis Bay (south of Sydney, and my birthplace actually!)

It is time for me to get excited and I look forward to welcoming Judy to Australia!  And to painting with cold wax and delicious oils!  And rubbing shoulders with other artists and having a weekend away in a beautiful part of the world, devoted solely to art!  What's not to love?

Will report back soon on how our weekend went!

Remembering

Fruit Cup

Today is ANZAC Day in Australia, a day when we remember those who died fighting for our country.  As usual I bawled my eyes out!  It's a subdued day, until after the dawn ceremonies, when beer flows and Two-up is played, mates on the battlefield remembered!

If you follow me on facebook you will have seen this pic already.  I love making these mosaic look paintings.  I hope you like them too!

Big Fish

Big Fish

Not the best painting in the world, but I love it anyway!

Exhausted after a big market day today!  It was a Mad Hatters Tea Party theme and the kids loved it!  I was happy to be in a different part of the market this time, away from the noisy entertainment where we used to be!  A little more peaceful, but still in the flow of people traffic.  I sold a few paintings, some of them my favorites, and was happy to be on the receiving end of many compliments about my art!

Ready for an early bedtime now, so I will say goodnight!

A Good Weekend!

Red Tree

I enjoyed painting this design!  My holiday recharged my creativity, I believe.  Daylight Savings is over, now autumn is here, so it will begin getting darker in the evenings in my part of the world.  I always look forward to a little hibernation with candles and cosy slippers, at least for the first few weeks of winter.

I went to an outdoor Youth Concert this afternoon, where my son (a guitarist) was performing Metalcore music with his band.  Pretty heavy metal/punk you could say! It was an alcohol and drug free event and luckily, was a beautiful sunny afternoon with lots of people turning out to listen.  I had a great time watching the guys in the mosh pit jumping around!

I hope you had a good weekend too!

New Discoveries!

Blossoms In The Wind

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter break, mine was a very full one, thankyou!  A visit from my daughter and lots of time for rest and relaxation and of course, painting!

Max and I went for a walk this sunny Easter afternoon and discovered a beautiful stretch of road surrounded on either side by bushland.  The air is filled with the sound of bellbirds and smells absolutely amazing!  We will be going back there for sure! Crazy that we didn't know it existed before now!

I invite you all to visit my new website www.pattibourne.com.au Please visit my online store for paintings not featured on the rest of the website.

You can also find me on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/BlissFruitStudio so please come along and like my page!

Home Again!

Shoal Bay View

We're back home again after a week away up the coast.  Shoal Bay is a very tranquil spot and there are plenty of restaurants, eateries and shops to keep you interested.  We did a lot of reading, gazing out at the view from our balcony and simply 'people watching'.



Looking towards Tomaree Point

Morning walks before breakfast, evening walks after dinner and lots of walking in between, dipping into the bay for a swim afterwards. We even shared the water with a pod of dolphins one afternoon! Priceless!

Anticipation

Studio Pic

I'm happy to say I'm officially on holiday!

Life has been pretty busy at the villa, so it's great to be able to take a break.  I also have planned another exciting break later on in the year to attend a Judy Wise Cold Wax workshop in Jervis Bay, the place where I was born.  It's a beautiful part of the world and Judy has been an inspiration for so long, it will be wonderful to finally meet her and spend the weekend immersed in painting!

I love the way the year rolls out new and exciting things to put in the diary and anticipate!

My new website is still under construction and is coming along very nicely.  It promises to be very colourful with an online shop too.

Autumn weather here is sunny and warm and hopefully it will stay this way for the rest of our break.  Enjoy your weekend!

The Latest

Above is a sneak peek of the latest painting I've been working on..........  more fruit, I know, I know!  Lots more to do on this one before it's finished.

Another market day coming up again for me and some exciting news - I have a website under construction!  Stay tuned and I'll let you know when it's complete.  It's lots of fun helping my website man put it all together.  I think I may have the easy part though!

We are looking forward to a well earned holiday soon.  Some time to prune our thriving garden and to do things around the Villa.  More opportunities for painting and also a chance to go away for a week up the north coast for some sun, sand and wave action!

Colourful!

Did I ever show you these?

These are my story boards, the first one finished, the second my favourite, the third in progress!

I love telling children's stories and love painting in bright colour too, a match made in heaven!

I had a market day today, assisted by my daughter and son.  Not so successful in terms of sales, though we did a lot of networking and talked through a possible large commission.  Fingers crossed for some good results there!  Lots of positive feedback on my art in general too!