Easy as pie ...

A quiet Sunday in WA - it's a long weekend so we get tomorrow off too! Today I've been organizing my creative space I've managed to create in our room between the lounge and kitchen. Because it is a thoroughfare I need to put everything I use most in plastic boxes with lids so I can pile them up in an attempt to look neat. I will have to be good and put everything away when I've finished creating. Could be a long learning curve!

Tidying up piles of art materials and throwing out rubbish doesn't make for good photographs, so I've taken a picture of the lemon meringue pie I made today, with a lemon off our very own tree! It's been a very, very dry season this year so the crop has been minimal to say the least - 3 lemons - but we still get a buzz out of using our home grown crops!

And ... I've got to the end of my 'Every day in May' challenge! Giving myself a pat on the back for a good effort.

Dreaming of green

The only arty thing I've done today is to continue sewing my hexagon flowers - thought I'd scan it from the actual product rather than take a photo, and it's turned out all right.

Last night I had a really weird dream that I was involved in a community event and my job was to help with the cupcake making group with icing all the little cakes. I was just about to start making my masterpieces when somebody came up to me and started telling me how to do it. I remember thinking to myself "I can't believe they're telling me how to ice cakes!" It must mean something mustn't it? If nothing more than I don't take kindly to being bossed about, or perhaps that I think I know best! Perhaps it simply means I shouldn't have eaten those cheese twisties before I went to bed.

Yesterday I looked at a couple of blogs that a friend had recommended to me and they were really very good, so I'm posting the links to them here. One is called Attic 42 and features beautiful and colourful crochet, and the other is a blog by a crafter with a wicked sense of humour. Check them out. One of them showed the British countryside, and I realized when I saw the pictures that I really miss the lush green. Perhaps I will have to do some green art to soothe my soul!

Live life abundantly

We've just finished watching the film 'Seven Pounds' with Will Smith. It was a bit of a tear jerker, and a heart featured prominently which is why I felt like drawing one when I came to write the post. The character in the film also takes something remembered from his childhood that helps him on his chosen path as an adult. As a child I was always drawing hearts and am still using them as one of my main symbols in art. This one is in the form of a mandala, the spirals 'reaching out' to everyone surrounding them. It's only a tiny post, but definitely from the heart.

Oh and the title of the post is a quote from the film - it really caught my attention. I'm sure there's a painting in there somewhere ...

Busy, busy ...

My guardian doll face lying on some gorgeous fabric I bought from ebay - received today - I'm going to make a bag with it.

An amazingly productive day today! I was lined up for a creativity class, but it was a no-show; however, I did not despair and sat and produced a wonderful mindmap on a piece of A1 paper with ideas for marketing, products and workshops. If you read yesterday's post you'll know that I've begun to make a website (although I am having problems getting the domain name I want, due to purchasing rather than it not being available!) So it's not doom and gloom at all, perhaps it's just not the right time for the class, and I know I need to work on my marketing techniques. It will happen though!

After making my mind map, I made a face for my guardian doll out of air drying material. I needed to do it before anyone came home and distracted me - which would happen very easily because I've been dreading making the face! No excuses, and I sat down with the clay and my modelling tools and just started to fashion the face. And I'm so pleased with the result. It's supposed to look like a mother looking at her child with love - it does look a bit strange with no colour and no hair, but trust me, it's going to look brilliant!

Then ... I managed to do some more painting of my Celtic knots. It takes quite a while and I need to do it in the daytime, because it's hard to see how the paint is going on when it's nighttime, and we don't really have suitable lighting for night painting. Add to that it's also time for chores and feeding the family, I don't get much opportunity to paint. Can't be an artist all day I suppose. So today has been spent working on the business and in the business. It's been lots of fun, I want to do this job full-time!

Redheads rule!

I'm not blogging tonight - I refuse! I've just spent nearly an hour trying to register a domain name to be told my address was wrong time and time again. I know where I live!! Anyway, my son has been stomping around the house in a grumpy mood too, and my husband looked from me to him and back again and his only comment was 'it must be the ginger gene'. Hmph ... Back tomorrow in a better mood.

In knots!

This is the detail of the Celtic knots I'm painting on a big canvas which I did post about some weeks ago now. It's not my usual colours so I came a bit unstuck and out of my comfort zone, so I left the picture standing against the wall where I could see it until inspiration hit. In the end it wasn't inspiration but necessity that made me put the canvas up on my easel and begin painting again - the canvas has been standing at the top of a small set of steps, and unbeknownst to me somebody had been running up said steps and using the canvas as a braking board! Therefore, I've decided I'd better finish the picture and get it up on the wall where it will be safe ...

It was really hard to know what to tackle first, but when I found a tube of gold oxide my dilemma was over! Orange is one of my favourite colours to paint with, consequently I felt at ease to paint, and the colour goes well with the brown earth colour that it blends into on the Celtic knot ribbons. The paints I'm using are Jo Sonja's artist's colours. It's a slow process but I haven't given up - the finished piece will eventually be shown here!

Obsessed with a hat!

It's been another bookkeeping day so I haven't been able to do much arty activity. Having said that, I would have finished the bookkeeping much earlier if I hadn't sat down to knit the rest of my hat that I want to felt when finished. Well, I finished the hat and it was ginormous, great for bad hair/make-up days! I've spent the last 30 minutes trying to felt it, and whilst it's getting smaller it's still too long. It's now shaped over a mixing bowl and I'll have a look at it tomorrow - it may need to go into the washing machine. I know the wool felts well because I've used it before; I think the pattern may have produced a hat that is too long, so I may have to do some creative shaping and cutting to achieve the desired result! It does look fairly good though, and the crown fits my big head OK, so I know I can make this work! I'll post the funny photo of me with the too big hat tomorrow, hopefully with the beautiful finished result underneath it!

We really need the winter woollies now - it was 8 degrees this morning, which feels awfully cold to us! (As my sister in the UK says, I've gone soft!) Next project will be a pair of felted slippers ...