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. 

A sketch and some home decorating

It's been three and a half weeks since my carpal tunnel surgery 

and I'm pleased with where the healing progress is at 

despite some recent days of bad pain.  

At first, I thought it was getting infected 

but I think it's more because I'd worked my hand too hard. 

At this stage of recovery, 

I still can't twist lids off, apply pressure...either pushing or pulling, 

nor can I lift anything heavier than 2 kilograms.  

If I do push it too hard,
I suffer for it later.
I found that out the hard way.
According to the specialist, 

it will be at least another 4 to 8 weeks 

before my hand will be fully healed. 

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I missed a couple of weeks of doing Sunday Sketches 

so I managed a quick sketch today.   

Pen and watercolours in Holcroft A6 Travel journal

You can check out the other Sunday Sketches participants HERE. 

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After having a green and turquoise colour scheme in my bedroom 

for over seven years now, I decided it was time for a change.
Of course, finances being as they are
meant a shoestring budget.

So, this Buddha got a new look
with a simple coat of paint.

from this...

to this

I opted for mostly white in my bedroom with grey and black accents 

with some greenery.
The grey cushions and throw were from Kmart.
The floral painting is one I did ages ago
and swapped over from my lounge room.
The black shelf pull-outs also came from my lounge room
which now has even more blue and green accents. 

I love it! 

Cody approves 

Speaking of Cody, 

Rita, I thought you might get a kick out of seeing his DogTV. 

This pic makes me think of Karma. hehe

I hope you are all enjoying a beautiful weekend! 

Time to rest my hand...

Painting a chevron pattern

My daughter, Michelle, redecorated their bedroom recently 

and I offered to paint a chevron pattern on a couple of canvasses that she had. 

I found a template which was available for free at this link. 

Thank you, Billie Monster! 

I used the template as a guide only because my chevron strips were different in widths. 

It's not an easy task to mark out a precise pattern 

on canvasses that aren't perfectly squared but, 

after some trial and error, I managed to fit it okay. 

I used blue low-tack artists' tape to mark out the chevron shapes

for each colour application. 

Then I had to lighten the yellow a little so 

I just free-handed the last couple of coats with a flat brush 

because I couldn't be bothered putting the tape back on again. 

The yellow was the last colour applied.

They look pretty good on their bedroom wall if I do say so myself. 

Does my daughter have a talent for interior design or what?!! 

I just LOVE their new bedroom look!

No, I didn't paint the zebra canvas. 

It was a canvas photo print from Kmart.

I very much enjoyed splashing acrylic paint around again.
I didn't realise how much I had missed it.

My name is Serena and I am a bookaholic!

Hi everyone!

It's been another busy week with Aaron 

starting back at school for another term. 

I've pottered around at home and, 

since getting my new glasses, 

I've found myself being a bit of a bookworm again
and loving it!

I have missed reading books regularly.

James lives hand-to-mouth by busking 

on the streets of London. 

He is also a recovering drug addict and,

one day, he finds a ginger street cat 

which is injured and in a poor state of health.
James named the cat, Bob,
and the two fast become inseparable. 

James shares their adventures together and 

how it transforms both of their lives.  

This is a true and heart-warming story.
Being the animal lover that I am and, the fact that my heart always goes out

to the underdog, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book.
It also gave a busker's perspective of how things work on the streets.
It has certainly given me a higher appreciation and respect for buskers
 and I'll no doubt be wondering about their personal struggles too
the next time I see them performing on the streets of Brisbane.
I loved the fact that I was able to track down 'James and Bob' on YouTube.
I wish them all the best.

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Despite the tumour-shrinking miracle drug that bought her a few years, 

Hazel has never been anything but terminal since the time of her diagnosis. 

However, when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears 

at the Cancer Kids Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be rewritten. 

This book was recommended by a  friend on Facebook and
I'm very glad I followed up on the recommendation.
It made me smile, laugh, and cry!

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I've been re-reading a few of my favourite author's earlier novels lately and
I was thrilled to see that Dean Koontz also has a new book 
on the shop shelves which I quickly snapped up! 
I confess to being a little disappointed in his last novel -
Odd Apocalypse - but I'm hoping this one makes up for it.

From the inside book cover -

In a sinister encounter with a rogue truck driver, 
Odd - who has the gift of seeing the dead and the soon-to-be-dead - 
has a disturbing vision of the slaughter of three innocent children. 

Across California, into Nevada and back again, 
Odd embarks on a road chase to prevent the tragedy. 
But he is to discover that he is not up against a single twisted sociopath 
but a mysterious network of evil men and women whose resources 
appear supernatural.

Luckily, in this world that Odd finds so beautiful and full of wonders, 
and deeply odd as well, he meets a collection of like-minded eccentrics 
who will help him to take the next giant step towards his destiny.

Odd is a recurring and likeable character in a few of Dean Koontz's novels.
I'm enjoying it so far.....

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In the images above, you can see my new coasters.
They are the Boathouse series by Australian artist, Sarina Baker.
I love her beach/bayside themes!

Here is the whole set of coasters

This framed picture is on the wall behind my computer desk.
I cut the picture from a calendar I bought featuring Sarina's artwork some years ago.
It was a little hard to get a decent photo with the glare from the glass but
I love that I happened across the matching coasters this week.

Have a beautiful weekend!

~ Love, light and peace ~

This handywoman RULES!!!

We have been replacing some of the hand-me-down, mismatched, falling-apart furniture we've received from family over the past 20 years.  The furniture served us very well over those years and I was very grateful to be given them but the time had come where we decided to spoil ourselves with some new matching stuff. It's budget flat-pack furniture but it has nice, simple lines and it MATCHES!!  That's where the handywoman part came in as I had to assemble numerous flat packs! My back, legs, hands, and wrists screamed with arthritic pain but I persisted until the job was done. 

This bad boy was the biggest conquest with it's gazillion parts and pieces. 

It took me just under THREE hours!!

The BEFORE photo.

The AFTER photo.

I love my new white desk!

More assembled flat-pack furniture below.

While I can admire it in other people's homes, dark wood furniture just isn't for me. 

I LOVE white furniture!!! 

The other part of my handywoman skills came in yesterday. 

Firstly, I had to remove and clean the shower drain when Aaron said the water was very slow to drain away. It's amazing how much hair and grime gets caught up in those things!  An icky job for sure but some poor sucker had to do it, namely me.

Then, later in the morning, I was brushing my ear studs with toothpaste...yes, you heard right.  Did you know that toothpaste and a toothbrush work great to clean, freshen, and add sparkle to your jewellery?!  Well, it does, but the trick is NOT to drop little ear studs down the drain hole in the sink.  Yep, that's exactly what I did.  Normally, I would lay a couple of tissues over the drain to catch any wayward pieces of jewellery but, I'll admit it, I was lazy and skipped that step yesterday.  So, I had the extra job of dismantling the S-bend under the sink to retrieve my ear studs and, while I was at it, I did a little more cleaning there too.  More icky!!!  I can also give a 100% guarantee that no plumber's crack was on show at any stage whilst I was carrying out said tasks.

I'm happy to report that,

water is now running freely again in the shower, 

ear studs were safely retrieved from vanity sink drain, 

bathroom drain interiors are now nice and clean, 

and my ear studs are sparkling!

All in a day's work for this handywoman.

Decorating with turtles and fish...

If you have been following my blog for some time, 

you will already know that I am very big into animal rights and welfare.
I've sponsored bears in the past and I have donated to animal causes worldwide
ever since I was a working teen.
This year, I'm going to adopt a baby orangutan.
No, no....it won't come to live with me in Australia. hehe
The baby orangutan will stay in it's own habitat
 but my annual adoption fee will go towards it's care and support.
More details on that in a later post.

Lately, I've been wondering about ways I can use my art to help
or bring awareness to animal causes 

OR whether it would be better to keep the two separate. 

Well, I think I received my answer the other day.

I was in the studio painting a sea turtle canvas for my kitchen 

when a knock came at the door. 

It turned out to be a guy from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) 

and he was collecting donations for their latest rescue cause...

Green Sea Turtles in Northern Queensland!

How uncanny is that?!

I've NEVER had anyone from WWF knock at my door before
and, there I was, painting a sea turtle....the very thing he was promoting! 

I'm thinking there is definitely a message in there for me 

considering the timing.

Here is the turtle canvas I was working on.

I changed the colour scheme in my kitchen from reds to blues, greens, and purples
which is my favourite colour combo.

 I already had some metal fish tea-light ornaments from Bali
so decided to go with a fishy/sea theme too. 

The blue in the pic below is more true to the actual colour.

And I did not stop there....

Aaron liked my fish art so much he asked if I could do one for his room.
Lucky for him, he caught me while I was on a roll.

So the one below was done very quickly to keep him happy.
It looks great in his bedroom where he also has an aquarium.

IT ARRIVED!!!

My artistic license validating my completion of the 75 day sketch challenge.
I still can't believe I did it.

75 pencil-free sketches using only pen or ink in 75 consecutive days!

Brenda Swenson, the host of the 75 day challenge,
sent me one of her art cards too. Lovely!

I was going to post pics of my kitchen with it's new decor colours
but I'll leave that for another day as this post has become over-long.

I hope you all had a wonderful start to the week.

~ Love, light and peace ~

Day 5 - Spoon - Blogtoberfest

When I opened my bedroom blinds early this morning,

the sunlight washed over my bed.

It felt so nice and summery,

even though I'm not really looking forward

to the dreadful hot, humid heat of summer.

A pic of my two shadows.

Well, Cody practically follows me everywhere

just like a shadow. :)

Aaron and I went shopping for the morning with Michelle and Mikayla.

We had McDonalds hotcakes for breakfast. YUM!

The day flew by before I knew it and then, by mid-afternoon,
it was panic stations deciding on what to sketch for today.

I ended up settling for a spoon!

I made a delicious salmon vindaloo curry with rice for dinner tonight.
One of our all-time favourites.

What's your all-time favourite meal?



~ Love, light and peace ~

creative play, messy art

i've been wanting to do an abstract painting for my room for some time now

inspired by alisa burke,
out came my supplies and the messy art began

my favourite colour combo - blues, greens and purples

not quite finished yet...but close

a little softening with white and....VOILA!

on the wall in my bedroom

it was difficult trying to get an accurate photo so you will just have to trust me when i say that it looks much better in reality



simple, messy but effective

it felt so good to be painting again and i'm already planning the next one....

~ love, light and peace ~