happy new year and some daily sketches

I hope you all had a nice New Year's Eve! It was fairly quiet here. After a yummy vegan dinner, we played cards — 5 Crowns.  Then we ended up watching my favourite Narnia movie — The Dawn Treader. It finished not long before it was time to ring in the New Year. Brad and I did break with our tradition of staying up all night and ended up going to bed around 1am. However, we were back up at 3:30am to greet the first dawn of 2022.

 

Towards the end of December 2021, my art studio had yet another refresh. It went from this  —

To this —

We moved one of the tables that were in the centre of the room over to the wall. So I have an extended surface space to work on.  As we had two sliding doors adjacent to each other in the living area, we decided to treat the one in my studio as though it were a wall. I love the new layout. It works so much better for me.

I think this studio refresh motivated me to attempt another 365 Day challenge. So the plan is to sketch daily. This can mean a sketch done in graphite, charcoal, ink or watercolour.  I won't be posting daily here but I have been posting daily over on Instagram, so far. I plan to blog my sketches here every few days or once a week. 

So here is Day 1 — A fake rubber tree plant

I'm not afraid to admit that I nearly fizzled out on the first day of the challenge. I was feeling so tired from the late night and lack of sleep. I'd even gone off to bed BUT thoughts of the challenge gnawed at me until I grabbed my sketchbook and, from my bed, sketched the fake rubber tree plant in my room. 

Day 2 — A toy giraffe which is actually one of the dogs' toys

 

Sketched while sitting in the lounge-room

 

Day 3 — Weights

I find it hard deciding on what to sketch each day. Yesterday (3rd), after much procrastination, I settled on a pair of my weights. I plan to actually use them this year. lol 

And that's it for now. I haven't settled on a subject for today's sketch yet. Wish me luck...

 

An quick update on my Mum - The Aged Care Home, along with over 10 others, is now in Lockdown. Apparently, a fully-vaccinated staff member tested positive for Covid as well as a resident who caught it in hospital and tested positive after returning to the Home. This means that we are not allowed to visit Mum until further notice. Thank goodness for her iPad as it's Mum's connection to us. We message frequently. She tells me that residents are confined to their rooms, close contact staff are wearing hazmat-style protective gear, and they are taking her temperature frequently. I'm glad to hear they are taking it seriously.

Australia, particularly Queensland, had been doing so well until they opened the borders, State and International. Currently, Queensland is 86.6% fully vaccinated which helps to prevent a Covid infection becoming life-threatening but there are those of us who are vulnerable and have underlying health conditions.

 

Prior to our borders opening, Queensland had 0 to 5 cases daily whereas NOW, we just had 4,249 new cases in the last 24 hours and 487 of those are in Metro South, my region.  Those numbers will continue to grow. Currently there are 10 people in ICU in Queensland.

New South Wales just hit a record 24hr case total of 23,131 while Victoria hit 14,020 new daily cases. 

We just had a man in his 30's die from suspected Covid in his home at the Gold Coast. Things are getting scary for us! I wish they'd kept our borders closed. Life was fairly safe and normal for us until they opened the borders. I'll feel better when my sons and I have our boosters. I worry about my kids in the workplace and being exposed to it.

I hope you all stay safe and well.

Love, Light and Peace