tsk tsk

new art for Tiel Seivl-Keevers

Here's a little shop update. New original works on paper and wood have been added to both the bigcartel and etsy stores.

Perfect for the small empty wall space.

 

 

 

Sausage dog eats chupa chups and Spanish sandals

This last week has been a little full. Freak hail storms tore their way through the area over the weekend before last, wrecking our bathroom ceiling and skylights, shredding our garden, smashing external lights and bringing wind that pushed rain through closed windows and into the back of my archival printer.

Then there was a 1am dash to the vet emergency with Sesame after she decided to raid the cupboard that stores the show day lollies. It was not a pleasant experience for either of us.

And then there was the episode of my 5th pair of shoes being chewed.

With only 7 and a half days left of school for the year, I'm having mild attacks of crankiness.

I am looking forward to thinking about Christmas, sitting on a beach, gardening, seeing family and eating well. But for now it's all about squeezing in work, drama, christmas breakups, martial arts festivities, Christmas carols, ordering school books...OH I MUST DO THIS!!!, and  swimming carnivals......... It's not just me, everyone I know is doing the same thing. It's that mad rush before the end of the year. Why do the kids have to start Christmas holidays so early here in Queensland?

All of this can be seen on instagram. I try to post images that relate mostly to my work and inspiration but there's the occassional crazy sausage dog pic or two.

a trip down memory lane

Recently I made a trip to Melbourne and delivered some paintings to Glen Huntly gallery, Louey and Lane.

There are 8 paintings in total available now. Some have been framed. So if you are in Melbourne please drop by, it would mean a lot to me.

On the way to the gallery I decided to drive passed my grandfather's old house...well where is house once stood. A single fronted red brick house with a garden full of meyer lemons, a bird avery, a hydrolic clothes line and a carport that was covered in a blanket of twisted wisteria.

It was a difficult decision for me as I hadn't visited the site since he died in 1999. Even during the three and a half years we lived in Melbourne I could never bring myself to make that right hand turn on my way home from work. His house was one of the very few remaining on the Caulfield Racecourse carpark.

It was where my 68 year old mother grew up. It was where my sister and I would go for holidays or weekends as children. Where we would get up early and go to the stables, play in the bluestone alley ways, ride our bikes in the carpark, and walk to the track after a meeting to run through the tunnel underneath the grounds yelling out our names and listening to the echo. Even now after all this time I can get teary thinking about those fun days. And laugh too at my Pa's eccentric ways. He would steal toilet paper and pile it high in his loo...a habit that developed from his days of being a young homeless man in the great depression.And it was really bad toilet paper at that.

After he died, the house was sold to the racecourse officials who then demolished it in order to squeeze in a few more cars. Now stands a wire fence. But through that fence grows his wisteria.

Apart of him is still there.

So I stole some. 

Les Salles

Another delivery I made this week was to Les Salles here in Brisbane.

For those who don't know the shop, it was formely known as ici et la. Full of fantastic homewares, furniture, accessories and a range of the most beautiful indoor and outdoor fabrics for the interior. The stock has been sourced from all corners of the world to our very own backyard. Drop in and say hello to Anka and the staff if you are in the area.

I have some art for sale here, mostly smaller works on wood, but a few medium pieces on canvas and linen including this painting in the top photo titled, sunset fern.

 

Art by the River show

I'll be delivering 6 works this week for the Art by the River Show at St Ita's School in Dutton Park, here in Brisbane.

The show's opening is on Friday evening but open to the public on Saturday if you are able to drop in.

 

GIFT Cards now available

cards, vouchers, money for honey.

I have just uploaded gift vouchers in my Etsy Shop.

There are 3 values, $0, $60 and $100 cards.

Wanting to buy some art for a friend or loved one and can't decide? Purchase a gift card from my shop. 
Just tell me who it for and who it from when you order. I will write a standard message on the back saying

To {NAME}, this is a gift for you from {NAME}. Redeemable amount for {VALUE of CARD}.

OR

You are welcome to email me your own personalised message.

I will then send the card to you, or directly to the person it is intended for....anywhere in the world.

 

peonies do steroids

last week I managed to have 2 almost full days in a row painting in the studio. Blissful.

But alas there are only 5 weeks remaining until the shool year ends. So, for me that means 5 weeks of dedicated work time.

The sun here rises before 5am and I am finding myself awake with it...I must start going to bed earlier as I always hit the wall around 2pm and I need the energy and patience for tired munchkins.

Mondays are one of the best days for me to carpe diem. And this Monday I feel really alive and ready to make new work. Spring is really humming out there, full of beauty and colour. My white magnolia tree is flowering and shop poenies look like they are on steroids.

6.42am. Tea x 2, toast, banana consumed. Where's the coffee?

South Tasmania in 3 days

Traveling to Tasmania for 3 days with two kids is challenging.

There was no lingering in cellar doors. No long lunches. No sleep ins. It’s all about balance.

We hired a car for our stay as we really wanted to venture to the surrounds of Hobart at our own pace.

What we did…..

MONA

Our visit here was shorter than I would have liked due to our arrival time. But we all loved it. The setting, the architecture, the curatorship, and the diverse works on display were all exceptional. And it was fine for the kids. Yes, we had heard about the ‘sensitive’ art works on display, but we just told our two that there were certain art pieces just for adults and kept them occupied elsewhere. And what was there, wasn’t really that sensitive.

The building really pulls you in, right down to the depths below making me feel drawn to return again.

ROAD TRIP.

We drove from Hobart to Port Arthur, occasionally steering off the beaten track and discovering special places, both touristy and hidden, but all magical.

The kids wanted to know what my favourite part of Tassie was and it was by far the flora. The wildflowers on the roadside, the colours of the valleys, the water life. So abundant and vibrant.

Port Arthur itself was fine, it is a spectacular place, well worth going to if you have never been to Southern Tasmania before, but if you miss it, then there are plenty of other things to fill your days.

 

Tasmanian Devils. Well as I said earlier, we went with kids. We couldn’t drive by without stopping at a conservation centre and the admission fees go to a very good cause.

We also drove down through the Huon Valley area to Cygnet and had many stopovers. The landscape is stunning. The fact that my two were on top of Mt Wellington playing in snow one day and then running around on the beach the next (albeit rugged up) is pretty special.

 

MARKETS and FOOD

If you are an Australian, you know that Tasmania offers some of the most amazing food and beverages. Google it if you have been living under a rock. We drank lots of quality wine, ate at a few nice restaurants, did the Salamanca markets….which are OK…there’s a lot of crap, but plenty of individual artisans and producers that are worth the look. I managed to walk to a few shops, and drink a few coffees here and there.

 

But for me it was about the landscape. I left dreaming of buying a cottage on a grassy hillside. Somewhere with a few open fires, walking distance to the rock pools on a beach, white wisteria falling over a stone walls and a backyard full of wildflowers. A place to retreat to with friends and family. Then I remembered how cold it is in winter.