Lost Aussie on the loose

Off A-Playin'

I'm lucky to have my Art and Blog buddy Catherine of Happy Day Art fame staying with me for the week.

Since she arrived on Monday morning we have happily nattered about ART, life, love, relationships, ART, children and more.... we have also managed to spend some time playing with my NEW ETCHING PRESS which arrived not long after Catherine did and which we stared at longingly in it's big heavy crate until DH arrived at home that night and very kindly unpacked and put together.
Tomorrow we are heading into the City to visit Metalliferous, the Museum of Arts and Design and New York Central Art Supply and anything else that comes our way!

After that we plan on a day of PMC play (which is Catherine's forte) and a session working with Encaustics.....lofty goals inbetween all of the nattering that seems to take place but I think we can fit it all in! 

So stay tuned, I am sure there will be pics to follow!

Fiesta San Antonio

Well, yes...I dared to hop on yet another jet plane (or four) to make the trip down to San Antonio and back for the weekend of FIESTA!  Kind of blown away by the fact that a plane ticket down there costs about $500 more than it does to get to London and back....AND you have to pay to put your bags on the plane, there is no food, entertainment or service to speak of and you are lucky if your luggage arrives with you, on time and connections get made because you just might get left in the airport lounge because...oh by the way..they happened to oversell the flight.........very curious way of operating a business if you ask me!

As an aside, it seems very much easier to travel internationally with "PROPER" carriers that treat their customers like humans (to some extent) and get something out of the ticket price you pay for!

Anyway....US domestic airline travel woes be darned.......we had a great weekend in San Antonio.  The City put on it's best face for all the visitors.  The Fiesta parades were fabulous and the food, drink and company were all superb.
I do think I have consumed about as many saturated fat calories that a person can healthily do in one weekend, in fact enough to last me a year I'm sure....but it's hard to resist a good Texas Barb-beque, Shrimp on Skewers and the odd taste of Funnel Cake!  Good news is that there were plenty of Jalpenos mixed into the salads that I ate and THAT definitely floats my boat!

Lots of pics as you can imagine and so here are a just a FEW...with minor edits and alterations as it's late and I need to get ready for a visitor early tomorrow...Catherine is coming to stay for a week and I am way behind the 8 ball in getting ready for that!

One odd and very art related tradition that I came across while I was in San Antonio is that during FIESTA they TRADE Pins....very much like the tradtition we have at Art Retreats.  These pins are collected and pinned on a shirt or sash.  While I was there I garnered a few, including one from the San Antonio DA.  I'll share them with you when I can unpack the bag and can take some more pic's - Funky and very cool!

Oh and for those of you who are into Stenciling at the moment..you might like to check out the Horses A**es- quite an interesting canvas don't you think?

Happy Earth Day

Hmm...I seem to have Roses on the brain for some reason, not sure why!  Anyway, there's nothing that speaks to the richness of nature and the wonders of the earth much better than the glorious rose blooms to be found in my Mother's garden.  This pic was snapped while I was down in Manjimup earlier this month and even though it was not 'rose season' there was still the odd moment of splendour to be found!
Happy Day Mother Earth....and to my real Mum too, thanks for the giving and the nurturing! ..xoxo

Oh and before I forget, I am off to San Antonio this weekend....it's FIESTA TIME and I hope that DH, the camera and I have a little fun, soak up the sun and get to party a little.

I have managed to update my ETSY store before heading to bed tonight.  There's a couple of new encaustic pieces there as well as some bits of vintage ephemera that I am trying to clear out of the Studio...so feel free to have a browse!

Paint, Paper & Pixels

Ever since I fell in love with using Photoshop (oh so many years ago) I've struggled with the kind of sticky up nosey in the air attitude of people who don't really consider digital art to be "ORIGINAL".

Fortunately in the intervening years I've managed to find a lot of other professional and non-professional digital artists to work and exhibit with, so I know I am not a lone practitioner of pixel passion!  And if one can judge by the number of magazines dedicated to the digital format hanging about in the local bookstores these days...then hopefully the tide is turning!

Still, having started out my 'art-life' in the mixed media environment I continually try to find ways to incorporate my digital creations into and along with some of the other more traditional art formats.

"Light" is mostly paint and paper with a few pixels thrown in for good measure....and when the recipient gets it, she can tell you whether or not it 'feels' original :-)

 

In the Middle of the Night

Why OH Why is she posting at 4am you ask?  Hmmmm....good question!  Seems that since I got back from my travels I conk out on the couch at 9:47pm, sleep for three or four hours, miss CSI, Numbers and whaterver else I want to watch and wake up with a crick in my neck but wide awake and raring to Go!  Hopefully not a pattern that will last too long!

Thankfully the 'normal' day hours are productive.  More gardening done and tonight we stopped off at Home "Despot" and procured some new plants which will contribute to the ever evolving garden.

I'm pleased to report that "Springly" events have not been confined to the outdoors. Today I rearranged the Studio (AGAIN) into what DH describes as a more 'refined and defined' workflow - yep, he can Six Sigma just about everything!....fortunately I describe it as just 'making life easier"!!

Inbetween heaving furniture and sifting through piles of "artistic mess" I have managed to fire up the Photoshop and fiddle around a bit.  I bought a stack of new fonts and filters before I left and have not really had the chance to give them a good road test until now.....which is OK, but my poor processor has a major headache :-))

And now I guess I had really best get to bed!

Ciao for now

Back Across The Pond

After nearly 4 weeks away I am finally "top-side" again in New York.
My return journey was broken by a 4 day stay in the UK where I visited with Family and dropped #2 son off at Wellington College where he will be spending a semester as an exchange student.
DH even managed to tear himself away from the corporate rat-race long enough to join us for the trip through windy lanes and hedgerows as we wended our way towards my Aunt's house deep in the Herefordshire countryside.

For a change, England turned on some sunshine and while we were there we enjoyed a trip to Hay-on-Wye where we fossicked for antique books, local yarns and other delightful crafts before donning our "Wellington Boots" and trekking up the nearby bluff.
On Easter Sunday we joined the Family for services at the local and very ancient Church - which apparently does not "tolerate" heating!.....just as well the feast of snapshots of the adjacent graveyard had ignited a good glint in my eye before hand and made the penance of freezing worthwhile!

And now....the suitcases are emptied, the laundry is done, phone calls made, sleep had and I have even managed to get to the nursery to grab a few dozen pansies and planted them in my forlorn entryway.  Spring is much less evident here than it was in the UK - wonder why? but nonetheless, I feel the pull of the sunnier days, note the weeds that have managed to grow in my absence and think that in not much more than another 12hrs I will be donning my garden gloves and having AT IT outside....

Onward Journey

I've been hiding out in the UK for the past four days, visiting with Family and getting ready to drop David off at his school exchange placement.

I'll catch up on here a little more when I've landed somewhere else!

ciao for now

Me MeME and....

 Well I got tagged by A New York Magpie's Eye to participate in her MEME.
So here goes...

What is your current obsession?
walking on the beach every day

Which item from your closet are you wearing most lately?
a little Esprit skirt and a sleeveless linen top - oh and my bathers!

What’s for dinner?
tomatoes!! - what else?

What was the last thing you bought?
a seriously lovely summer dress

What are you listening to right now?
NOVA 93.7 - you CANNOT beat Australian radio!

Favorite vacation spots?
Switzerland, the Bahamas, Paris

What are you reading right now?
Some trashy crime novel and a Photoshop magazine

What four words would you use to describe yourself?
Left of the middle

What is your current guilty pleasure?
I confess I am addicted to NY Housewives on reality TV too!

What will be the first spring thing you do?
Plant 250 impatiens in my garden when I get home to New York

Where are you planning to travel next?
to London on Thursday

What was the best thing you ate or drank recently?
A killer Shiraz from Victoria, Aust

what flower are you most anxious to see bloom this spring?
My peonies

what is are you most happy doing?
being Mom, and pushing the art envelope

care to share some wisdom?
Life is like your bank account...you get out of it no more than you put in!!!!!!

Rules of the meme: Respond and rework. Answer the questions on your own blog; replace one question that you dislike with a question of your own invention; add one more question of your own.

I tag Catherine, Carla,Chris & Deborah - who gave me the Sisterhood award across the way on her blog!  Thank you so much for that :-)  I'll save my nominations to pass on for that until tomorrow!

Ciao for now

Things Seen on the Road

I hopped into the "O" mobile at the end of last week and headed down to Manjimup to see my Mum and da Wolfe (he who was not so well in a recent post).  Glad to say that I found everyone feeling much more chipper and ready to treat me to a yummy dinner of local prawns and bowls full of freshly grown tomatoes.  I was in heaven!  It's always nice to get a bit of spoiling from your Mum!!
I then brought her up to Perth so that she could spend a little time with her Grandsons and extend our nattering for a few days!  Rare and precious moments!

Anyway, the trusty camera enjoyed the trip out and on our way back we stopped a few times so that I could catch some pics of the local colour!
At Yornup I found lots of wonderful rusty and crusty things that caught my eye!  Unfortunately I was wearing dainty shoes and not quite dressed for tramping among the grass and debris...next time I will be sure to pack some boots so I can explore this old car yard a little further!