The postman's been

All the way from Mexico!

I've really enjoyed following Geninne's development of her own personal style. She's incredibly open with her tools and processes which I think is really generous. And I'm really drawn to her botanical subjects.

I look forward to getting this in a frame and up on the wall this weekend.

Mini breakthrough

The Pikaland bootcamp continues! There was an opportunity to participate in a couple more assignments and I jumped at the chance. I was a touch hesitant because I was unable to finish the last set task, I also wasn't overly happy with the work I'd been producing, even though I was happy that I was actually making time each week to put pen to paper. I've found it tough to partake in the critiques due to my lack of formal art training. But this week I had a mini break through. I produced something I'm relatively happy with.

Shiny

I first saw images of Donna Marcus' "Re-entry" over at The Design Files. I had to see the sculptures for myself. Aluminum kitchen ware has never looked so good as it hangs from The Atrium at Federation Square.

More Sydney

We spent the last morning in Sydney hanging out in Hyde Park. I had my first decent coffee in 3 days and tasted my first white Tim Tam. Tasty! But my expectations were low, given my 'tour guide' thought they were going to be awesome and was disappointed.

I've digressed, we checked out the Sydney Life photographic exhibition as part of Art & About the contrast of huge vibrant prints against the green of the trees was striking. Sadly we didn't have time to check out the trees with jumpers in Kings Cross. Had I have known that was on, I would have been on a mission!

The weekend's here

Both Mum and I had a Fridays we'd rather forget, earlier though we'd booked tickets to see Julie & Julia. So glad we kept our movie date, even if it did meaning going back to work afterwards. Gah. For a couple of hours there I forgot about deadlines and was enchanted by the thought of living in Paris and/or mastering French cooking. A thoroughly enjoyable screening.

This weekend I'm looking forward to flipping through the magazines that arrived this week, a hens lunch with tapas and plenty of wine, packing for Sydney and hopefully a little road trip come tomorrow. It's our first weekend in ages where we don't have a long list of chores to do. Woo hoo. We can make the most of the spring weather!

As for sketch Saturday, well I think it might be back. I started Botanical Illustration during the week and I'm pretty excited. Still life got a good working out this week. I'm no artist, but it's good to be back.

All the colours

Monday night was my last Foundation Drawing & Painting class. Unfortunately I didn't meet my own expectations with regards to my 'art', so I'm keen to undergo further instruction, I think my interests lie more in botanical illustration and watercolour. Watch this space! Best not hold your breath though.

The last two classes were focused on painting (I'm still mastering circles and squares), which initially I didn't get into. That said, the colour theory we learnt was invaluable. As per the second photo, I love the fact that 3 colours and white can produce a number of swatches. Very very handy knowledge indeed. I'm looking forward to putting it into practice.

30/30 Challenge: 60 mins cycling

Fear is a Forest

I got the idea for this little piece as I was driving home from art class a few weeks ago. I heard an interview on the radio where the musician (I thought it was Sarah Blasko, but it might have been Jen Cloher) mentioned 'fear is like a forest', I can't remember the exact context I think she may have seen a painting with that title. Whatever the case, it stuck with me for some reason, probably because I was (still am?) struggling with the fear of a blank canvas.

And I finally I put it in a frame, now I'm just playing with where to put it.

Oh and there's another thing I get to cross off my list of '9 things in 09'. I went to the dentist today, for the first time in years. It wasn't that bad and now my teeth look so much better. And now I'm going to share the keyword of the day. Floss. Your teeth will thank you.

VCA Student Gallery

I work in Southbank which I see as both a blessing and a curse. A curse because it's not quite in the city and much like the Docklands, because of the high rises it's a major wind tunnel. That said it is close to the city and is known as the Melbourne arts precinct that incorporates many a gallery and performance space. All within walking distance.

So at lunchtime I decided to break free of the screen and headed to the VCA gallery at gate 4 to check out Now or Never, a painting exhibition curated by Dawn Tan who has a lovely blog Handmade Love and was recently featured on The Design Files. There were some great works, but no information about any of the artists. You could pick Dawn's work though - a long bag of marshmallows. It made for a nice change of scenery.

The student gallery changes almost weekly showcasing different disciplines, so I'll be dropping in again no doubt.