messy Miss Kate

The #1 Voice

Lately I've been doing lots of painting & along with that, lots of thinking. They go hand in hand. As I push paint around, trying to make some sense of it, there's lots of time to sort the accumulation of jumbled fleeting thoughts & to try and make sense of them. 

This past week, in snippets here & there, I've been working on a whole blog piece about 'finding my voice'. My blogging voice. I haven't completely unravelled or unscrambled it yet. But I hope I do so I can share it.

I don't think its necessarily something I want to always do, sharing the inner thoughts & thought processes about why I blog & what it is I'm still doing here writing all this stuff years & years down the track. But I think I have something I want to say. The wind is blowing, the direction is shifting, a tiny bit. The focus is becoming clear. Soon.

Tonight I've been watching The Voice Australia re-runs on TV amongst other potterings & in the ads listening to an angel singing on YouTube. It got me thinking more about my voice & the post I am writing. All these connections...

Anyway, once upon a time something you wouldn't know about me is that I secretly used to daydream about being a singer. Silly huh? I think I've only ever muttered that pipe dream to one other person on the planet.

Yeah, a singer. All the colour, self expression, creativity & peace it brings. Poor self esteem, lack of confidence & not a very good voice however, meant that I wouldn't ever make anything of it. Regardless, I used to spend hours as a teenager in the 80's with my ghettoblaster & cassette tapes, listening, singing, pausing, scribbling down lyrics, singing them back over & over until they were ingrained.

I still do sing alot & now my kids sing alot too. And I still today, play beautiful songs over & over & Google lyrics so I can burn them on my brain.  I sit and sing alone, and with my kids and with my sister.  Its pure joy. Creative joy. I would love to write my own songs & play music & sing. Maybe one day. I think I will have some free time when I'm in my 60's.  Not too late right?

I'll leave you with the voice of an Angel & the lyrics so you can sing along too. Be sure to check out her Youtube channel here. You will be blown away. xo

Do you have a secret little pipe dream? Are you enjoying The Voice?

 

A Thousand Years...

Arty Things: Its SALE time!

If you have been following my blog these past few months you'll know that I have finally been getting some good studio time & doing lots of new creating.  The orginals, some older, some never listed & some brand new are kinda taking over the place around here and my print cabinet is full to the brim too.

So what better way to try and reduce stock on hand than to have a little sale in my shop.  I'm adding more stock all weekend but there's a whole pile in shop now ready to go.  After Mothers Day I'll be loading in some originals for sale & I'll load in my most recent work as soon as I've had a chance to get it to my printer so check back soon for those.

PRINT SALE IN SHOP NOW!

To start with, I'm offering 50% off all prints in stock when you add $30 or more to your cart in my shop.

So that means, buy 2 or more prints [to the value of $30 or more] & you'll only be charged 1/2 price.

$30 value = pay ONLY $15.

$40 value = pay ONLY $20.

$100 value [maybe 5 prints or more prints] = pay ONLY $50 etc.

HERE's HOW:

Add two prints or more [$30 or more in combined value] to your cart.

Then use COUPON CODE: MOTHERSDAY2013 when checking out.

Your 50% discount will be automatically applied when you checkout.

TERMS:

Applies to prints in the MOTHERS DAY SPECIALS category until 12th May 2013 [Australian Mothers Day].

BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE:

As an added bonus, I'll also be including an extra surprise free print with every order.

 

AND EVEN MORE!  GIFT VOUCHERS IN STORE NOW!

Yes, I'm going to trial Gift Vouchers.  And because I have a sale on & I know there will be people waiting on new work coming, I'll be offering the first limited batch of Gift Vouchers at 15% off.

So buy a gift voucher before Mothers Day & you can use the voucher up until 31 August 2013 - on everything in store - including new originals & new prints coming soon! 

HOW TO & TERMS:

If you want a gift voucher + the print offer above, you must do them in two separate transactions as each has their own Coupon Code.  

So checkout and PAY with your prints using MOTHERSDAY2013...

THEN

In a new transaction, add a voucher to your cart from the GIFT VOUCHERS category [until 12th May 2013].

Then checkout & PAY for your gift Vouchers using the COUPON CODE:  VOUCHERLIMITED

 

Make sense?

If you have any trouble whatsoever, please don't hesitate to convo me in ETSY. iPhone is basically stuck to my hand so unless I'm sleeping, I can answer you promtply!

Thanks for visiting my shop!

Living to 100: Get busy living...

Its one of my favourite quotes, 'Get busy living or get busy dying.' - Shawshank Redemption.

This weeks post is short but important & I for one want to make it habit.  Last week I wrote about finding your passion.  This is like that, but its also different.  Some people have passion for things and either are or are not pursuing them. Choices.  Personally, I cannot imagine living a life without passion & I am so grateful I have rekindled passion for one of mine.

Passion aside though, when I delve into the meaning of that quote and ask myself... Am I busy living? Or am I busy dying?  Its a striking & personal question that makes every cell in my body stand up & listen.  I know I would like more quality time with my family. I know I'm busy with routine.  I know I am pursuing my passions.  I know I want to live for a long time.  

So whats the habit?  The habit is getting busy living & all that goes along with that. Not getting stuck.  Its about the balance between living in good ways & of course avoiding [!] the dying bit!  

Definitely taking every opportunity to chuck routine & the mundane [obviously not ignoring overriding responsibilities], & going out & living doing things with your most important peeps, whenever you can.  Changing the busy, a new fresh kind of busy.

Together, fresh air, new things, favourite things, things that make your people happy. Exploring.  But also resting, refreshing your mind & thoughts, relaxing, recharging.  Big picture stuff that is so important for your soul.

Does that mean chucking out the health conscious mind?  Not at all.  Sampling some of lifes sweet offerings & enjoying. Savouring.  But making lots of nutritious choices along the way & moving your body in new ways, natural ways, invigorating ways.

Right now, Jeff has some much needed holidays from work.  Its school holidays here too - my most favourite time of year!  So we're off busy living, busy enjoying, busy relaxing, busy together.

Beach walks, train rides, chasing seagulls, hot fresh corn on the cob, ice cream, early nights, reconnecting, talking, singing, walking, exploring.

Yep, thats right, we are getting busy with living right now & we are loving every minute of it.

Gen X Memoirs: Paris in the Springtime...

It was 1998.

[I know, not a childhood memory, but I was still in my 20's & I have so much from all over the place I want recorded]. 

I had recently accepted a package from the Federal Government who were outsourcing employment & training programs to the private sector.  I had already been offered jobs to set up the new units at 3 out of the 4 private providers. Before I started my new career, well exactly the same career just for someone else, I had this tiny window of opportunity.

My dad was heading to Ireland for a quick trip to take care of some business, play music & visit his family.

My sister was working for the State Government at that time & had access to leave.

We decided in one of our crazy spontaneous moments that we scrape some money together & fly any cheap crappy way we could to the other side of the world.  

We flew All Nippon Air. We had a tiny budget.

We visited lots of places in Ireland, Dublin [my dads old home], met our grandmother for the first and only ever time, met other family, went to Japan, stayed in London and spent 2 days in Paris.

Ahhh, Paris.

Our budget was so tiny the only place we could afford to stay was a decrepid but typically tiny, beautiful & French hotel called Le Artiste [!] in the seedy side of town.

We walked the streets & caught the tube everywhere.

We couldn't afford to eat in restaurants.  We ate bread & the most magical crepe with chocolate sauce by the Eiffel tower.

The buildings were exactly what I imagined. The gardens were magical. 

We walked down Avenue des Champs-Élysées & around to the Louvre.

I now have one of my collaged paintings hanging in a building somewhere on this very same Avenue. *Mindblowing* 

But it was one of those rare days of the year when the Louvre was closed.

Heartbreak.

We used the last of our money & had portraits drawn by a street artist. I still have it somewhere.

I loved being a poor English speaking tourist in Paris with my sister.

Fond memories & I'd go back in a heartbeat.

Next time, I'll make sure I don't go to the Louvre on one of the few days it is closed each year.

Next time I will have more money so I can eat more than bread & chocolate crepes. Although I will still eat both of those things too.

Ahhhhhh, lovely Paris in the Springtime. Have you been?

Family: Proud mummy moments

I'm sure other parents think & worry about similar things when it comes to their children. The big things like health & safety of course. But also the little things. Have I taught them enough? Are they coping at school? How are they perceived by teachers? Are they accepted by other childen? Its hard to feel reassured about lots of things.  Some days its hard doing this parenting gig, actually most days.  Am I doing ok or do I suck at it?  Its easy to second guess yourself, often. But you have to keep showing up each new day with your best & then trust in that, even if the day goes pear shaped.

Sometimes tiny little things around the home happen that give you back some reassurance.  Your kid throws their arms around you. You get a little love note left on your pillow. They copy your artwork.  They cry when you leave the house.  They rush to the door excitedly screaming your name when you return home.

Its just as sweet when things happen outside the home too.  

Both my school girls have been voted in by their classmates to be on the SRC. Georgia in Reception & this year, its Charlottes turn. My little darling, my feisty but also so shy little Daisy.  She was beyond excited to come home & tell me.  Last week, she made it to school on the one day she was feeling ok between head cold & gastro to accept her badge at assembly.

Very proud.

If my children are like everybody else's, then you'll be familiar with those days when you press for info about the day and get a big fat 'nothing' and then there's those few little gems thrown in where something funny/exciting/interesting happened & they talk & talk & talk.  

Well a few weeks back, I had one of those such days when they raced to the car at the end of the day waving not just one, but two awards, one each. Voted by their teachers for being organised & getting along.  Over the course of the year I'm sure every student gets one of these awards, but nevertheless, we are proud of our girls for receiving theirs.  Its a little confidence booster & their moment to shine. 

Happy little milestones to record for our family. And making me super happy & proud of my big girls right now.

That is all for today. Happy & peace!

Arty Things: Happy happy & in the zone!

Last week I had sick kiddies home from school & kindy, almost every day a different combination of them, it started as head colds [no doubt from the swinging weather] for all of us & ended in a nasty gastro for the two school girls.  So I played nurse all week. Not so fun.  

But in between all the 'nursing' & family cooking, there were moments when I had children resting watching movies or sleeping & I had snippets of time where I could escape to the studio [a few metres away!] to create.

I am bringing to life many of the sketches that I have been working on over time & I'm just loving it.   Passion rekindled.  Remember this little girl above from back here?  She too started as an idea, progressed to sketch, then coloured up in digital on my iPad.  Now she's on canvas, growing each day.

I've written before about my struggle between digital graphic work & then loosening up doing my painting back here.  Thing is, I kinda love both. Creating digitally is alot quicker for me & there's instant gratification & sense of accomplishment.  For someone not very patient, its a pretty cool medium. I can sketch something up pretty fast. There's no drying time.  

And I am more than happy with the simple whimsical stuff I am producing.  Here's an older one I found on my iPad today. Very quick sketch up & obviously needs more work before I put it to print but its a fun part of my process & sometimes when I spend more time on them, clean them up a little, I'm happy to put them to commercial print too.

As for a future direction in illustration [my dream] I want to make my illustrations by hand.  Thats my passion. Personally I find it harder, more challenging, painstakingly slow [which ultimately means less work] but I have some sort of vision of what I can see myself doing someday. I don't know how, what, why or who might get me there but I'll keep working away as I know I will need to work extremely hard to make something, anything, happen.

I feel focussed & pointing in the right direction.  I turn 42 this year. Gee that sounds old to only just be growing up & working out what I want to do, doesn't it? Its been a long journey that I would really love to document someday in a single post but the story hasn't got an ending yet. Some day.

And maybe I don't have to choose between digital & handmade?  Maybe I just keep working away on both, doing whatever takes my fancy. Let the mediums feed off each other & I move forward in both.

Right now, I'm persisting with my painting, slow as it may be.  This past weekend, I had Jeff home both days. That has been a rare treat this year.  I spent no less than 7/8 hours painting each day, I haven't done that in a very long time.  A little painting before lunch, a little after lunch, a snippet while dinner was baking away and then a big big art session once the kiddies were in bed.  I was in the zone.  I have lots of pieces on the go and 3 or 4 nearing completion.  

Feeling better, the kids spent much of their weekend days in the studio with me & we are working out a nice rythym now where I can actually get more work done, while they work alongside me.  That is another post on its own & I plan to do that soon. Parents wanting to do art with their kids might like some ideas on how we are making things work with multiple young children.  There's plenty of resources for working with a single child in an art setting. Juggling multiple while doing your own art practice is something else entirely.

The kids have some beautiful creations in progress & I look forward to sharing more. Below I have chosen just a couple. The big girls are busting to do some blogging & more art sharing but we are always left short of time. Do we play, make art, relax or blog?  Blogging for them always falls to the bottom of the list & thats perfectly ok. We will get there.  Blogging for me when everyone is asleep, is a much easier thing. And as much as I need to paint, I need to write too. So here I am.

This little gorgeous work in progress [above] is one of Mimi's paintings.  She drew the girl herself & she's been working away at it layer by layer. I love that she took inspiration from my work. I'm her first art mentor!  This is one of my favourite hairstyles for my painted girlies & my real human girlies too.  I think its super cute & very Kawaii. 

And I'll finish with this sweet little rainbow, can never ever have enough rainbows!

Living to 100: Find your passion

For the last week or so, in between my main responsibilities, I've been keeping myself busy with things that I REALLY LOVE to do.  Its been a fabulous way to distract myself from my normal routine of fussing around, from habitually hanging around the kitchen, munching on this & that or snacking while sitting at the computer or watching TV.

It occurred to me that this is a great habit to add to the good list:  find passion in something else & keep yourself distracted, away from snacking & temptation.

Recently I have rediscovered my passion for painting & creating art.  I mean, I'm always passionate about it & I am ALWAYS thinking about it but I've just recently decided to force myself to get back into my studio. And the creativity has been flowing.  My studio doors are wide open, the music is on & the kids are coming & going all day long.  I stop to make meals but I'm not snacking or getting bored or walking past the fridge.  I'm busy and I'm loving it.

I've given myself permission to spend time doing something that will break the cycle & reacquaint myself with something I love. You could do it too!  It might be phoning a friend, like with a real telephone & chatting for an hour, enough time to let those cravings go!!  Maybe its getting out into the garden?  

Everyone is so busy all the time. But it is possible to just stop.

Maybe it'll have to be after work or on the weekends. Spend minimum time in the kitchen, just the time you need to prepare food for the family.  Do projects around the home if thats your thing. Take your kids to the park.  Forget about making beds & sweeping after every meal & scrubbing skirting boards with toothbrushes. Even just for a week.

Sometimes behaviours & habits are difficult to break, sometimes we just need new ones to replace the not so good.  What better way to do that thing you said you never had time for?  Break the habit. Build in more time distracting yourself.  Fall in love with reading all over again. Watch a favourite movie. Get painting!  Play scrabble.

Its up to you, its up to me. From my perspective, its a no brainer. Do what you love. Drop the bits you don't need.

Enjoy some wonderful distraction this week. xo

Arty Things: Bunny & friend

So I've been working away on my next eCourse assigment project & have finally finished her!   Here it is in its various stages with some close ups too.

I've got so many ideas bursting from my visual art diary so I'm experimenting with those, along with the eCourse material & mixing things up a bit.  I love love custom Blythe dolls, particularly those with painted & decorated lids.  I've been wanting to use that as inspiration for some of my painted girlies for a while.

This months assigment was to use some items from magazines to create a girly. So I found a pair of legs & arms & I've used those as a basis for my painted & collaged girl. SO FUN!  Love this idea.  Great edge & can really mix up a painting & change the mood of it.  I LOVE how she's totally out of proportion.

So here's a canvas below I started a while back with patches of paint on it.  Whenever I overestimate the paint I need & have surplus, rather than let it dry up I just slosh it on a blank canvas or canvas sheet. It eventually gets covered up & you cannot bottle the kind of random colour that happens. I love it.  Alot of this base was covered up by the time all the layers were put on but it still definitely was the inspiration for the finishing colours.

So here's my little lady with her glued on arms, sketched onto the messy patchy painted background.

She's a little more along the process now and sadly at the 'ugly stage'.  It takes incredible restraint not to let paintings dry at this stage.  Just want to paint over & make all nice!  But a good dry layer leaves a great foundation for more layers to come. Patience.

And now she has a bunny friend. So timely, I painted this over Easter!

And here it is almost finished [right]. She did originally have a blonde pineapple 'do' but I am just not comfortable doing the lighter hair colours.  I think I need/want the bold so she pops out of the canvas a little more.  I'll try to experiment with this a bit more on future paintings but for now, this girl is a redhead!

A few patchy areas of interest included. Can't let my obsession with scrappy patchwork go.

I'll blog the final canvas & ETSY listing details soon.

Kitchen: Big Salad week

The other week I blogged about how I was going to try 7 new salad/veg dishes [combo of hot & cold] within the next 7 days.  

Here's some of my pics.

So last week I made 5 out of the 7 new recipes.  The week of course coincided with Easter & that long long weekend brought about spontaneous & changed plans.  I did make one of the new salads twice however to share with family and also squeezed in one of my tried & true [and delicious] recipes too.

Here's all recipes & /or links below...

Living to 100: Accountability, is there an App for that?

Being a huge Apple computer & device lover, I'm often checking out new apps in the App Store.  I've come across a few lovely health & wellness related ones I thought I would share this week.  

In the past I've used My Fitness Pal, Runkeeper & Livestrong to track exercise & calories in & out.  They are still all right up there in my opinion as excellent daily trackers of performance.  Because I'm trying some different things this year & trying to make positive changes rather than get fanatical about calories, I'm looking around for other tools to help make me not only more accountable but to give me the encouragement & inspiration I need to make good choices.

This weeks habit:  using an App or some other method to help make you accountable, give you inspiration &/or help you track along to achieve your goals. And of course it doesn't have to be digital. It might be engaging a personal trainer, keeping a food journal, asking a friend or partner to be your sponsor, setting a daily alarm for exercise/seeking out new recipes/working out your weekly meal plan. Wherever, whatever help you need the help most.

So, here's some cool apps I'd like to share...

 

1]  Green Kitchen

This isn't an accountability tool, its for inspiration & its FULL to the brim with beautiful green food options.