Happy New Year

January 2008 is more than half gone - hasn't time just flown by?

My first task for this year was updating my website. I hope you'll find it a refreshing update. I have some free time for the next 6 weeks and I'm hoping to create a number of new works.
There are a couple of art events coming up and I'm in the process of deciding which to participate. When the decision is made, it will be posted here.

For now, I have four new works on order which I need to complete by end of February. Two of these will be interesting as they are variations of my current designs. I hope to have the photos up when they are really.

Season's Greetings to all

It's been a while since I've blog.

Running a 'real life' business is 100 times as hard as doing my one man show. In between these busy times, I've managed to complete a couple of small orders for my artwork. Hopefully once this silly season is over, I'm able to create some new Art Deco ladies as my stock (as can be seen on my website) is running low. No stock, no sale.

Wishing all a safe and happy Christmas.

September 2007

Phew! What a well-packed 5 weeks I've had since opening our new business on 23 Aug 2007!!!
To update, for just over 4 weeks my husband and I have been running our cards and gifts shop namely, Wild Cards and Gifts at Eastland.
During this time, a winner for my artworks has been announced for the Babyology.com.au competition. I'm trying to find time to complete the paintings and so far have made a good start. The winner had chosen a couple of lovely designs and I look forward to posting a photo of them in a few weeks time.

Month of August

Long time no blog! A thousand apologies.
Before I get to my excuse, Decoart Creations competition is now on at Babyology, so check it out and enter.
Why haven't I been blogging?
My husband and I have been preparing to open our first Wild Cards and Gifts store due to start trading on 23 August at Eastland Shopping Centre, Ringwood, Vic. If that's your local centre, you'll notice two boarded up shop sites on the ground floor near Mrs Field's Cookie & Coffee place. The one next to the fruit shop is ours.
For our preparation, we've been pricing and checking all our opening stock and there are some really fantastic items for Father's Day so do drop in. You'll also be able to find selected Decoart Creations artworks for sale.
Our second store is due to open in April 2008 at Doncaster Westfield once the renovations are completed.
If you'd like to find out more about Wild Cards and Gifts group, click here.

How time flies…

July is nearly half gone and I don't know where my time went.
I've been busy setting up a new business with my husband and we hope to start operating in mid-August.
Meantime on the art front, I've just completed a couple of orders. Attached is a photo of the latest order from my favourite client for a christening.
Also, I'm working on more images for an editorial and competition to be showcased in August in www.babyology.com.au - a fabulous site to learn about all things new and cool for 'little' people. Don't wait! Check it out now!

Creative Mums Exhibition

I'm proud to announce that I'm a finalist in the Creative Mums Frameworks Exhibition to be held at Manly Art Gallery and Museum from Sept 6 onwards till March '08.

My artwork is titled 'Two Faces' and is a combination of two of my Art Deco ladies - Philomena and Claudette.

For more information and to have a look at my submission, go to http://www.creativemums.com.au/

Large canvas

I've just completed a 90 x 75cm canvas in acrylic with hand-beading. It's titled 'I'm like a bird'. As mentioned in my last post, it started off as an abstract of swirls but once the shapes were defined by the colours, my 'in-house' critics namely my husband and two kids pointed out that they can see a bird. Subsequently, I decided to name it after Nelly Furtado's song - I'm like a bird'. The title emphasizes the freedom I had when I was initially sketching the swirls on the canvas.

This canvas will be added to my website and for those who wish to purchase it, please click here

New mini canvases

I've just completed 5 mini canvases for my forthcoming Hawthorn Arts and Craft market stall. It's this Sunday, 3 June 2007 from 9am to 3pm.
In the meantime, I'm working on a very large canvas which started out as an abstract of swirls but has kind of ended up looking like an abstract bird. The colours used are rich - deep chocolate, pink, orange and green. At the moment, I am adding some beading to it.
So, watch this space - I hope to post a photo of it very soon.

Three Shoes

I've been a bit under the weather. Nothing major, just a sniffle and a head-cold but it didn't stop me from finishing my latest order for a very lucky girl named Michelle.
My brief was three paintings of shoes in lime green, pink and purple that's suitable for a 10 year old girl. I hope I've created something that will last longer than her teenage years.
Love to hear some comments because I am thinking of adding this new range to my website.

Canterbury Art Exhibition

The exhibition is now over but it was a fabulous even to be part of. Sadly, I didn't sell any but you may have a look at my two entries here.
If either of the ladies take your fancy, please don't hesitate to contact me.

I'm currently working on my latest commission for Mirjana, my favourite client. It's a set of three shoes and I can't wait to post the final result. I have completed the final drawings and will start painting very soon. I should have some images to post by late next week. Keep watching.

As for Mother's Day, it's still not too late to make a purchase or order.

Mother's Day

Mother's day is not far off and I've created some new artwork just for this special day. Pictured is a small collection. For a closer look, I've posted a few up on my website for sale or pop down to Hawthorn Arts and Craft market this Sunday between 10am - 3pm to check them out. I'll have more stock towards the end of the week.

Just delivered

I received a commission a couple of weeks ago to create a variation of one of my Patchwork on Paper series.
The top picture is the new commission for Giselle and below is the original (still available for sale and if you're in Kew, Victoria, pop into Little Smarties, 657 High St, Kew East to check it out).
Both have been rendered in watercolour with hand-beading and cross-stitching.

I'm back!!

Sorry to those who's been visiting my blog. My excuse? I couldn't log on for ages so I gave up for a few weeks but now I'm back.

Both my paintings are all set for Canterbury Art Exhibition commencing next Friday, 4 May 2007 - Sunday 6 May 2007.
I won't be attaching a photo of them in this blog until they have received it and done their photography for their website. I'll be delivering them this Saturday so hopefully it will on their site before the Exhibition commences.

Keep watching!

Gidget Foundation for Post Natal Depression

Today I've signed up to donate one of my paintings for a Mother's Day luncheon to raise fund for Gidget Foundation. For more information you can check out: http://www.gidgetevents.org/help.htm

On to my art matters, my WIP shown in my last post is not working out and I don't think it will be impressive enough for the Canterbury Art Exhibition. Because I'm limited to only 2 paintings I would like them to really 'shout'.
I started another on a 56cm x 71cm canvas board and it's based on the concept of my 'Blossoms…within' . The working title for it is 'Roses… within' and I've decided not to unveil it until it's completed. As it's painted on a canvas board, I'll need to have it framed which should enhance the painting.
Back to work!

WIP for Canterbury Art Exhibition

This is a re-work of my watercolour titled 'Isadora' but this time in acrylic on canvas. I am experimenting this design on canvas. This work in progress is only a small one - 40cm x 40cm. If this idea works, I'm looking to creating a couple of ladies on canvas at lease twice this size for Canterbury Art Exhibition.
So far, I've basically outlined the design and colours (bound to be altered) and added texture to the hair. I'm waiting for it to dry to see what effect the modelling compound will create for the hair. May need a few more layers.

As for my 'Rose' piece for my abstract class, well - it's gone horribly wrong and it is now living in the 'scrap yard'.

Artz Blitz

Phew! I've finally completed my entry for this year's Artz Blitz.
The theme for this 24hr competition is 'cycles' and I have interpreted it as the lifecycle of a flower. It's painted on a 60cm x 60cm canvas with acrylic.
At this point in time and I have about 2 ish hours left - I still can't think of a title.
Look forward to some comments.
For those in Melbourne, I'll be at Hawthorn Arts & Craft market tomorrow from 10am - 3pm. For more details, check out my website.

Canterbury Art Exhibition

I received some good news yesterday to inform me that I've been invited to exhibit at the forthcoming Canterbury Art Exhibition from 4 - 6 May, 2007.
At the moment I planned to show a different version of Louise and a larger version of Philomena.
For my class on Monday night, my mini 'Forest' has morphed into 'Rose' - acrylic on canvas, 35.5 x 45cm. I've started working on the design, texture and rose. I'm planning to paint the background in 3 different tones of grey/charcoal but my tutor disagrees. He suggested cream. The reason for my colour choice was I was so inspired by Cate Blanchett's gown at the Oscars. It was charcoal cross platinum with small rich burgundy details at the lower part of her dress. I'm going to stick to my guns for now because I've tested the colour combination on a small watercolour for my market stall this weekend and it looked just fine.

Forest and Bottles - update

I started a small version of 'Forest' at my class last Monday but spent most of the time adding more texture to 'Forest' and 'Bottles'. With 'Forest', texture has been added to the two beige trees in the foreground and texture has been added to the lower section of 'Bottles' to gave a bit more life to the table. Both are now available for sale on my webstore.
Meantime, I've started a 30cm x 30cm canvas of floral and butterfly motifs for my market stall in about 10 days time. I will post up a photo of my work in progress sometime this weekend.

Philomena - completed!

Philomena was completed a few minutes ago and would love to hear some comments.
I've removed my 'Bouquets' series from my webstore due to my lack of enthusiasm for it. This is probably due to the less than perfect result of my first effort even though my sketches came up really good. Perhaps I have to render them in black and white and this may be the start of a 'Black and white' series. I will give it more thought during this week.
For my class tonight, I've decided to develop my 'Forest' idea by painting a small version of it in a different colour combination.

Philomena

Just an update on my latest addition to my 'Art Deco Ladies' series. She's called Philomena. So far, I've been working on her elaborate headpiece with vibrant mauves and splashes of deep green. I've yet to decide on the colour of her hair. It's going to be either 'blondish' or 'light brown' or even a mixture of the two.