An update and my latest painting

Happy October everyone! 

Can you believe we are in the final stretch of 2020?! What a crazy year it has been so far with this pandemic looming over us. 

UPDATE on my brother - Thanks so much for the caring words regarding my brother's horrific ordeal at sea. He has been released from hospital now but will continue to see his doctor for blood tests and such until he is fully recovered. Billy's Creatine Kinase levels are continuing to drop. His leg swelled up quite badly from a large hematoma which they will keep an eye on. He is resting and very glad to be home. Charlie, his wife's brother-in-law, is also out of hospital and checking in with his regular doctor for follow-ups. 

I'm just so very relieved it wasn't worse and that my brother and Charlie are both alive to tell the tale. 

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As I mentioned in a previous post, I have another painted piece to show you. Meet Chico. You have probably seen Chico featured on my blog in the past. He was called Phoenix for a while. 

Here is the framed finished piece (sorry for the glass glare - can't be helped)

And some of the progress pics. 

I usually start with the eye

Laying in more feathers

And more feathers, 

I work in layers so more layers will follow

Layering and building up the feathers for more depth

Starting on the head features

And pretty much finished. 

Acrylic Gouache on 360gsm paper for acrylic paints - 5"x7"

Framed together

Next up on my desk easel will be a miniature poodle.

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It feels so good to be back blogging again. I thought you might like to see some gorgeous sunrises I've taken over the past few months from the front yard. I'm a sucker for skies!

One morning in June - 6:30am

One morning in July - 6am

One morning in August - 6:30am

One morning in September - 5:30am.

Red sky in the morning, 

A sailor's warning.

We are officially in Spring although our hot, summer-like weather is not far away. Here in Queensland, it's more like two months of reasonably cold mornings and evenings which we call winter, and the rest of the year it goes from hot — to hotter — to downright unbearable! We are now in our 14th year here and finally got around to asking our landlord for air-con. He very kindly obliged so those dreadful hot and humid days will be more bearable now. 

Our lounge-room air-con above the painting. YAY! 

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Recently, my soft hyacinth woven laundry basket started breaking away near the base so I bought a new basket. I sat the old one beside the dining table and Kya loves it! She sleeps for ages in it and likes to shred it too. 

I think Kya may well be a frequent model for my blog. She is so photogenic! I will do a follow up post soon on Kya's story to let you know how we ended up with her officially. For now, I wish you a happy week. Stay safe and well. 

Sketching, painting, and creative play

I'm still working on finishing the double-page spread from our trip to Wellington Point last weekend. I decided to do a pen sketch from one of the fig tree photos I took that day. I gave it a stylised look which I really like it and it gives the double spread some interest.  I was inspired by Jeremy Collins, a climber and artist/illustrator.  I have his book titled Drawn and I also bought his documentary movie which featured him sketching. The book is amazing and so inspiring filled with his sketches and hand lettering among many photos too. You can see a great review of the book which includes lots of pictures HERE.

Here is the link to the trailer in case the video trailer won't play for you -
https://vimeo.com/100062478

Drawn trailer from Jeremy Collins on Vimeo.

Linking up with Sunday Sketches again this week...and again, a little late. 

To see the work of the other participants for this week, click HERE.

I never did get around to posting photos of the other two abstract/decorative pieces I whipped up for the new colours in the house.  These were done in a flash, free-hand, and they were a lot of fun to do. The one below is in the family room area.  I went with a pattern to kinda tie in with the cushion.

And the following is my bedroom.  

It was impossible to get a decent photo of this one due to the lighting in my room 

but, trust me,  it looks so much better in person. 

When I was driving home from dropping Aaron at school through the week, I noticed a large group of ibis in our street.  I just had to stop and take a pic as it's been quite a while since I've seen so many ibis together in our area.  

No doubt they have been pushed off their local habitat as even more housing developments are being built in our area.  It worries me to see even our local bush areas bulldozed down for human take-over. Where do they expect the wildlife in those areas to go?  It makes me so sad that we often label displaced animals/birds as pests when the real pests on this planet are humans. Our numbers have multiplied to unsustainable levels and we literally destroy whatever is in our path. It's always the innocent who suffer.  I am trying to live more consciously and be more aware of the footprint I leave behind.

I had the pleasurable company of these two adorable artists on Saturday.  Mikayla on the left and Maddy on the right.  We had a wonderful day together!  Painting, sketching, doing collage, even a picnic in the back yard....it was a blast!  I adore time spent with my Grandkids!

 I'm working my way through some online courses and having lots of fun! 

I'm thoroughly enjoying Andrea Joseph's Creative Lettering class.

 We even played with graffiti....my name in graffiti below. 

These are all quick and rough references for future use. 

There are tons of graffiti styles to play with.

And that pretty much sums up last week.
I hope you all have a lovely and creative week ahead.

Home Decor - Abstract painting

It was a cold, bleak morning in Brissie yesterday.  Brrrrrrr! 

I love winter so I'm not complaining.

As short as they are, our winters are often up and down 

when it comes to temperatures. 

Never constant like the winter I remember in Wyoming.

Our winter mornings and evenings are cold (for us) 

but our winter days can actually get quite warm, even hot.  

Last week, we had a few summer-like days 

in what is usually our coldest part of the year. 

It seems that our winters like to toy with us. 

Moving on... 

As you may have seen in a recent post, 

I changed the colour scheme in my bedroom 

from blues/greens/whites to blacks/greys/whites. 

As the ensuite is connected to my bedroom 

I changed it over to match the new colours. 

I needed a painting for above the toilet so 

a quick abstract was in order to tie bedroom and ensuite together. 

I realise abstract art isn't everyone's cup of tea but I quite like it. 

This is probably more decorative than true abstract anyways.

I painted over an older painting with black acrylic paint,

then the fun began. 

The initial stage 

The end result 

I had to force myself to stop because it was quite addictive.

I will share a secret on how to get those crazy, squiggly lines.  

ACRYLIC HOUSEHOLD PAINT!

HEADS UP - Artists acrylic paints won't cut it
because they contain more acrylic resins than regular household paint.

I bought a couple of affordable sample pots in grey and white 

To get the desired effect, 

I simply dipped a wooden skewer into the colour pot, 

then working quickly, 

before the paint dropped from the skewer, 

I just flicked it back and forth over the canvas. 

I made some circular movements too 

just going with the flow.

The elasticity of the latex paint holds the paint together 

like a very thick syrup. 

You can get some nice, swirly effects with it. 

I did three layers all up - dark to light 

using grey, light grey, and white. 

I allowed each layer to dry thoroughly 

before going onto the next.

the finished piece hanging in the ensuite 

now everything matches the new decor colours

I LOVE IT!!!