{milestones}

 

A magical moment on my way to work this morning.  I clocked 3,500 km on my bicycle odometer.  It's been just on 3 years since I started bike riding & it's been one of the most joyful discoveries of my adult life {except for the hills and wind!}.

Thanks for the awesome ride Betsy!

{sunday snippets}

 

 

It's been a lovely, fun filled, sunshine filled weekend of good things.

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How was your weekend?  Have you got some snippets to show?  Post some photos to your blog so we can see what your weekend looked like.  Leave a link in the comments if you're joining in. I promise I'll get a linky list organised one of these days.

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In other news I finished my studio reno and it looks fantastic.  I delivered the latest commission work, and Ms L and I are in the early stages of planning our dream trip to Morocco, Spain and France next year.  Life is good over here.  

Pictures and more words coming soon.

{renovating}

 

I'm giving the studio a complete overhaul.  

Making the space more functional and beautiful. 
Back soon.

{sunday snippets}

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Did you have a lovely weekend?  Are you playing along with {sunday snippets}?  Post some images of your weekend to your blog and leave a link in the comments.

{escape plans - part II}

Dreaming of a solid escape plan now.  It feels pretty damn exciting.

{escape plans}

Still dreaming of escape!

Have a great weekend peeps.

{blissful thoughts}

 work in progress

how i'd love to ride off into the sunset this week.  pack up my wagon and leave all my cares behind.  wouldn't it be lovely.

{on hope}

 

work in progress

"I was annoyed from the start by the attitude of doubt by the spectators that I would never really make the flight. This attitude made me more determined than ever to succeed."

— Harriet Quimby, just prior to her flight across the English Channel, 1912

{sunday snippets, and a winner!}

 

If you're playing along this week leave your link in the comments so we can come and have a look.

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And now for the winner of the giveaway ...

Congratulations Sarita.  The original painting and a copy of Patti Digh's 'What I Wish for You' are all yours.  Email me at tinniegirl/at/optusnet.com.au with your postal details and I'll pop the package on the mail to you.

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Hope you've all had a lovely weekend and didn't find yourself sitting in a broken down car in the middle of the Eastlink tunnel fearing for your life!  There's one experience I hope never to have again!

{riding the waves}

The Endless Sea*

work in progress

spray paint, acrylics & pitt pens on canvas

10 x 10 inch

That's how it's been this year.  Moments of sheer determination, periods of complete despair. An endless sea.  Ebbs and flows.  Life.

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*I've been taking part in Juliette Crane's How to Paint an Owl e-course.  I love Juliette's work and particularly the amazing backgrounds and landscapes that she creates for her characters.  It's always great to learn from other artists, to take their techniques and ideas and then bring your own interpretation to them.  Juliette's class has really stretched me in new directions.  It's been wonderful.

I know exactly where I'm going to take 'The Endless Sea' and the other two in the collection.  They'll become a series of three called 'The Ways We Travel'.  I'm even thinking I might reopen my Etsy shop and put them up for sale.

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Last chance if you haven't signed up for my giveaway yet.  I'm going to draw a winner tomorrow.

{connections}

linda of two pink possums wrote an interesting post last week asking is facebook the new blogging?  she talked about the immediacy of conversation that happens on fb and the more interactive nature of it.

i've been thinking a lot lately about connections and community.  thinking about the ways that i'm connected and the ways in which i want to connect. i was a late joiner to fb, but i too have enjoyed the sense of community and the ease of connection that happens there.  like linda i enjoy being part of various creative groups and connecting with other artists, writers and creative souls.  i also enjoy the casual banter that seems to go on.  on the other hand, after giving twitter a 'red hot go' for a while i found it to be way too fast paced and superficial to keep me hooked.

mostly though i've realised that blogging is my medium.  i love the depth that it offers, the opportunity to really tell a story by bringing together words and pictures.  i love the beauty and creativity of it. to me it's another form of art.  i like that it seems to be the 'slow' version of social media.  

like everyone i struggle to find the time to catch up on all the blogs i like to read, i struggle at times to be really present on my own blog, i struggle with feelings that i'm talking to myself.  but blogging is definitely my thing. it's a huge part of my life.

it was my good friend louise gale who helped me consolidate all this thinking.  i had a wonderfully inspiring conversation with her recently. about community, about me, about who i am and where i'm headed.

one of the things that i decided as a result of that conversation was to really be present in the places that give me the most joy.  i've been seeking out opportunities to connect and join in.

the photo at the top of this post is my contribution to louise's creative colour challenge.  the challenge was to celebrate colour and make a colour wheel.  i wanted to take a different approach rather than painting something so i decided to combine paint and photography as my medium.  it didn't quite come together in the way i'd planned so i made some prints of the puddles of paint.  for some reason blogger won't let me insert them into this post so you can check them out here and here.

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if you'd like to see more of louise's creative colour challenge then pop on over to her blog and check out today's post.   you can also see lots more in the flickr group.  it's not too late to join in if you'd like to make your own colour wheel as part of the challenge.

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don't miss out on my giveaway if you haven't already popped your name in the hat.  i'll be drawing it anytime now.

{sunday snippets}

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If you'd like to join me in sharing some Sunday Snippets post some photos of your weekend to your blog and leave your link in the comments.  I'd love to see what you got up to.

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If you'd like to win an original painting by yours truly then check out the previous celebratory post.

{it's possible ...}

 Birds in Paradise II

Acrylics on canvas

11 x 14 inch

• to fill your life with colour and creativity.
• to lose your way and find it again. repeat.
• to make your mistakes and learn from them.
• to live with your heart open wide.
• to find your community.
• to tell your story.
• to invite abundance in.
• to be brave, and strong, and determined.
• to know.
• to hope.
• to be.

this is my 500th blog post.  over two and a half years of sharing my joy, my grief, my accomplishments and discoveries.  over two and a half extraordinary years of hope and loss, giant leaps and painful falls.  stories of friendship, and art, and life.  500 moments in time woven together in what has become my story. 

i'm marking the moment with a giveaway.  the original painting up above along with a copy of patti digh's beautiful book 'what i wish for you', which includes a piece of my artwork.  leave a comment if you'd like to be in the draw.  i'm happy to send anywhere in the world and no need to be shy if you're not a regular commenter.  i'll draw a winner sometime next week.

thank you for joining me on this journey.

{dear winter}

let's face it, we've never been the best of friends.  in fact there's been many years where we've barely been able to tolerate each other's company.  this year however, you've really excelled yourself.  i'm loving every minute of your warm sunny days.

{release}

Yesterday I let everything fall away and gave myself permission to just be.  I realised that relentless searching unearths nothing but angst and confusion.  Surrendering, on the other hand, brings crystal clear moments of clarity that taste so sweet.

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I have something to celebrate on Friday and a little something special planned so do pop back then.

And if you'd like to read a little more about my creative journey I've just recently been interviewed by Monica over at The Creative Beast.

{the wrap}

My exhibition 'Acts of Love' wrapped up last week.  For those of you who didn't have the opportunity to visit I thought you might like to see some of the work. Below are all the sold pieces.

T is for ...

Collage and acrylics on canvas

5 x 5 inch

Here or There

Collage and acrylics on canvas

9 x 12 inch

Some of my lovely bloggy friends bought the pieces above.  People who've been supporting my journey for a long time now.  It means a lot.

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Lay of the Land

Acrylics on canvas

12 x 12 inch

One Perfect Poppy*

Acrylics on canvas

5 x 5 inch

Arrival

Acrylics on canvas

5 x 5 inch

Lay of the Land, One Perfect Poppy and Arrival sold as a set.  They're going to look gorgeous hanging together in their new home.

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Belonging

Acrylics and spray paint on canvas

8 x 10 inch

Some dear friends that I hadn't seen for about 15 years came along to opening night and purchased this piece.  It meant so much to have them there and I'm even more delighted that they decided to purchase some of my art.

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An Act of Love

Acrylics on canvas

10 x 10 inch

There's a great story about this piece.  I wrote a post about exercise in October last year comparing it to painting, and used this painting to illustrate the post.  My personal trainer visited the exhibition alone one day and chose this piece to purchase.  So serendipitous.

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Acts of Love

Acrylics on canvas

24 x 30 inch

This of course was the title piece for the exhibition and actually sold 2 weeks before the show opened.  It's going to live with my SIL and BIL and I'm so pleased.  I love this painting and I love that it's going to family and that I'll be able to continue to enjoy it when I visit.

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In the Forest of the Mind - Part I*

Acrylics and collage on canvas

15 x 30 inch

This is the first painting I completed after starting back at full time work this year.  One of my colleagues at work named this piece and another colleague purchased it.  The title seems perfect for the new owner and the strong connection to my workplace is somehow fitting.

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Gently Gently

Acrylics on canvas

 4 x 12 inch

Field of Dreams

Acrylics on canvas

4 x 8 inch

These two are some of my absolute favourites from the show {alongside Acts of Love and a couple of others}.  They have been in progress in my studio for well over 2 years, since before I really even considered myself to be an artist in fact.  They've spent huge amounts of time just sitting on the studio table waiting for their next step and were only finished in the days before the show opened.  They've also gone to live with a work colleague.

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If you're interested in any of the remaining work from the show I've put it all in a special Flickr set of original works for sale.  All the details are listed with each painting, including size and price.  Just get in touch if there's anything of interest to you.

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*In every exhibition there are always pieces you could sell 10 times over.  These are the ones from this show.   In my experience they are always the ones you least expect.