something fishy this way comes...

It's been a fairly busy month and I even did some painting. Aaron, my son wanted an aquarium scene done for his bedroom and, typical of Aaron, it had to be done 'yesterday'. 

So it was rush-rush...and not a small piece either. I designed it on the go over three days...

Aaron wanted it done in a similar style to the previous fish painting I did for him years ago....so NOT my usual style. 

 

Background first....

Then painting in some of the elements

Some refining of the pebble base with more elements...

Some fish, refining rocks and more plants...

This (see below) is where Aaron called it finished because he just wanted it on his wall. lol You will spot the Angel fish and the Betta fish. However, the Neon Tetras (upper-mid right) and Corydoras (lower left) are not so easy to see in the pic but more visible in reality. A Bristlenose Catfish and some Epistogramma Cichlids were also planned but I didn't get the chance to paint them in. Maybe at a later date...

 In its new spot on the wall 

In keeping with the fishy theme, I thought you might like to see some of the goldfish in Aaron's pond on the back patio.

 

There are Shubunkin, Oranda and a couple of Telescope-eyed, butterfly fish — all goldfish species.

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On another note, are any of you participating in Sketchbook Revival hosted by Karen Abend? I've been watching the videos and doing a little here and there. Some are not my cup of tea but I do like to watch the videos regardless. Inspiration can be found everywhere. 

Anyway, that wraps up my post for today. I hope you are all keeping well. 

Love, Light and Peace

 

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. 

Coooooo-eeeeee! I'm back!

Hi everyone!

So I'm finally back after months away from Blogland. It wasn't intentional. I don't really know why except I just lost the urge to blog or post in my Social Media platforms. I don't like Facebook so I rarely post there anyways. The state of the world and this pandemic weighed heavily on my mind.  While Australia has done reasonably well in the face of Covid19, there have been far too many losses around the world. It's heart-wrenching!  

I do need to get back into the swing of things though so here I am — finally! 

I've done a little sketching here and there but nothing worth posting.  I also managed a couple of acrylic pet portraits on paper during my absence. Aaron, my son, wants portraits of all his pets so I still have 2 more to do.

Meet Arlo, Aaron's Sun Conure

Sorry about the glare on the glass; couldn't be helped.

A few of the stages in his progress below

Arlo was painted with Acrylic Gouache on 360 gsm Acrylic art paper. 

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Speaking of birds, the neighbourhood plovers have babies! There were 4 but sadly, there are only 3 now. Plover parents tend to inadvertently put their babies in harms way which is why their babies often don't survive. Out of four babies, they would be lucky if one makes it. The parents usually sit on the footpath beside the road and their babies go out onto the road and hang about there. Yesterday, I had to slow down two passing cars and warn them of the baby plovers on the road ahead of them. Thankfully, they slowed right down and the babies eventually moved onto the footpath beside their parents. 

The thing is that, when the plover parents see a car, they call out loudly telling their babies to hide —  and hide they do — by staying put and curling themselves up into a ball of fluff — in the middle of the road! And that seems to satisfy the parents. Thank goodness, those little baby fluff-balls didn't become flattened pancakes yesterday. I have been quite a worrywart over them whenever they are in our street. 

Not the best photo quality as it's taken from some distance away through a dusty window. Do you see the baby? Another one is nestled under the parent's tummy. You may notice the extra pair of legs if you look close enough. They were in our back yard. 

Again, not a clear pic, but this is one of the babies. It's covered in those sticky grass seeds. 

Then Miss Kya suddenly spots them and says, 

"What the heck is that?!!!"

Then settles herself on the windowsill for a closer look and some CatTV.

I'm so glad Kya is 100% indoors now otherwise I'd be a nervous wreck.

So that's it for today. I will fill you in over the coming weeks on things I did in my absence from blogging. 

Thanks to everyone who messaged and commented asking how I was. It's nice to know I was missed. I hope you all stay safe in these times of uncertainty.

On a side-note - It looks like Blogger is forcing us to use the new format. They took away the option to go back to the previous format. Not happy about that but it's a free service so I can't complain really. I'm grateful for this free blog. That said, I did try this new format a while ago and didn't like it because it was so sluggish and it took forever to upload photos. Hopefully, they've improved on it since then.

African Sunset COMPLETED

....and it only took a year! 

I did have a good excuse though 

with my Dad's illness taking a priority. 

Progress images are below,

Colours may vary due to the time of day and lighting.

In the beginning,

there was a mess

More progress

Yes, that is part of my car you see.

 I was painting the beginning stages in my garage. 

Back when I did actually have an area set up for my arts and crafts.

Big changes meant no more art space for me 

so now I set up the dining area in the house when I need to paint.

Time to get serious

A giraffe makes an appearance.
I sketched the tree and all the animals free-hand
and made up the layout as I went along.
I think that sketching free-hand in pen has helped me a great deal

Then an elephant and her baby complete the scene

with some reflections too.

Aaron was very happy to be able to finally hang it on his bedroom wall

I am so happy it's finally done too

Currently, I'm re-vamping an old painting for Mackenzie's nursery. 

Time is running out as she is due to make her big entrance next month.

I'm also crocheting like mad to get her bed blanket finished in time. 

That one may have to be a little late.

I'm off to add some more touches to the painting now.

I hope you are all enjoying a beautiful weekend!

It's been a while...

I haven't posted since December 28th so I guess this is HAPPY NEW YEAR from me to you!  

May 2015 bring you lots of love, light, peace, and many blessings.

 We brought in 2015 at Michelle and Alex's place and we made a special toast to Dad shortly after. As you know my Dad hasn't been well and is now classified as Palliative Care so it's been a tough start to the year for us.  They have stopped all his medications and the plan is to keep Dad comfortable and pain-free.  It's not an easy road and this is part of the reason I haven't been posting on my blog, let alone keep up with friends' blogs.  I've been spending a lot of time visiting Dad at the Home.

Here is a recent photo of my beautiful granddaughters, Mikayla and Madelyn,

enjoying a treat while their Poppy sleeps peacefully in the bed beside them.

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Mum had been sleeping over a couple of nights a week from October up until New Year. We're already looking forward to her next sleep-over.  As Mum and I love jigsaw puzzles, I couldn't resist buying one for us to work on together while she was here in December.  I also bought one for her to take home and do by herself.  We became quite addicted I can tell you. 

FINISHED!

It was fairly large too at 1000 pieces.

The total measurement being 700mm/27½" x 500mm/20". 

We were very pleased with ourselves when it was done. 

Bradley even helped here and there too.

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I haven't done a lot of sketching since my last blog post but I will share the ones I have done in future posts.  For now, I wanted to share a work-in-progress I'm painting for Aaron's room. It will be a silhouette of African animals against a rich sunset.

First layer

Second layer

I've had this painting on hold also but I'm hoping to find some time to finish it this month.

Stay tuned for more posts very soon....

Christmas celebrations, choir, and ornaments

I hope you all had a beautiful Christmas!

I was actually quite sick with sinuses and asthma 

but I did manage to put on a smile 

and spend time at my daughter's house 

for Christmas celebrations with my beautiful family.

We all had a lovely time!

 Michelle got a selfie-stick from Alex for Christmas
and it was put to good use on Christmas day.
I want one!

 Michelle wasn't feeling the best either
but we both put on happy faces,
with a little help from some Christmas wine, perhaps?
I only had one, I swear.


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On December 16th, our Mater Sing for Health Choir
sang Christmas Carols in the Mater Mothers Hospital foyer
after only four weeks of practise.
On December 17th and 18th, we repeated our performance
at the two Mater Volunteers' Christmas parties of
approx. 100 people at each.
We were very well received by our audience
and we even had them join in for a Christmas round at the end.
We all had an absolute blast!

 Photo courtesy of Mater Hospital - Queensland


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I haven't been doing much in the way of sketching

but I have been painting.

As always seems to be the way,
I was frantically trying to finish ornaments in time for Christmas.
I had planned to start them early, like in September,
but my life was turned upside down when Dad became ill
and ended up in a high care aged facility,
so I kept putting the ornaments off until later.

Since the birth of my granddaughters,
I started a tradition of painting them a Christmas ornament  each year.

This year, I decided to recycle two light bulbs.
I have done similar in the past
and they are a lot of fun to transform.
Do you like my state-of-the-art bulb holders? hehe
Plastic bottles filled with pebbles for weight,
then the bulbs held in place securely with Blu-tack.
They worked perfectly!

First up, two coats of All Purpose Sealer.
That stuff is fantastic for using on slick surfaces.

Then a few coats of Jo Sonja Warm White.

Now, the fun begins.
Scarves first up.

Then, their little faces.
Brown eyes for Maddy,
Blue eyes for Mikayla.

And, of course the Christmas holly.

All dressed ready for the Christmas tree
wearing polar fleece for hats
adhered with Helmar quick-set Craft glue.

Just hangin'!

You can see the ornaments I painted for previous years
at the following links.

2013
2012
2011
2010
2010 (part 2)

I'm feeling almost human again today
and I'm looking forward to babysitting Mikayla and Maddy
while Michelle and Alex take in a movie at the cinema.

It's been pouring rain since yesterday and I'm loving it!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
Any plans for New Year's Eve?