A is for...

I must admit that I'm not exactly sure what possessed me to buy a giant a, but I did and now it's done. I'm sure I'll find a place for it somewhere, but for now it's lurking from room to room, scouting out a place to call home. My husband is very anti lettering/text in homes so this was a bit risky from the beginning. But I couldn't resist the bright colour and the shape of it, and it's so big! And what does he know, anyway...

And a few more things I've been picking up recently whilst op shopping, including a sweet little bird house(?) and a great new medicine cabinet for our pantry. The pile of morning vitamins and tablets was getting quite high, and with little people in the house it seemed the safest bet to have a lockable place to keep all this stuff. 

It did seem a little odd to be installing this early on a Wednesday morning, but a girls got to do...

a little bit exciting

Why am I excited on a Monday morning? Because this week we bought our plane tickets to the ol' US of A! I'm finding it very hard to contain my excitement. We still have 7 months before we actually head over (I'm a little relieved, given what's going on over there right now - I assume I'm not the only one who's surprised there's a hurricane heading for NY?).

So, over the next half a year I'm going to be very busy planning a 6 week (mostly) road trip across the US with 2 small children in tow. It's not long enough to see everything, of course, but we're hoping to pack in as much as possible. Any hints?

via Midnight Umbrella

See America print via Wallblank

A little bit of art for a Friday. The painting on the right is by Jennifer Davis, whom I've admired for years for her quirky, colourful and intriguing paintings. This one, titled 'Kiddo', always gets a reaction from visitors, who are never quite sure how to take him. The other two pieces are my own work.

We are looking forward to a quiet weekend, how about you?

A few things that I picked up when I visited the 'Resource Management Centre', a very kind name for a junk yard. You really never know what you might find. I immediately spotted this beautiful old handmade tool box, which was full of old, rusty nails. A bit of a wash and I now have the perfect paint storage box.

I also scored myself a great little tray table on casters - it was a little sad with it's laminate peeling off, but a quick coat of white paint (because lets face it, it's going to get covered in all sorts of colours, I needn't spend much time on it) and it came up beautifully. I also found this sweet little doll, which after a little guesswork and research, I discovered was a Maori doll from New Zealand, c1930-1950. No idea whether she's actually valuable, but I knew as soon as I picked her up that I had to have her.

All in all, a very fruitful trip, and the studio is now coming together - yay!

in progress...

Some small fragments of a painting that I just can't decide how to progress. I'd really love to bring in some pattern, particularly after all my experimenting, but I'm struggling to bring it together. TBC.

A little something for holding precious items. I bought this as a gift for my sister, and I was very tempted to add it to my growing collection of small bowls. Maybe I will...

We had the most chaotic, disorganised, yet fun weekend with all of my family, new and old. Our guests were staying in my studio, which forced me to take everything out, and has given me the opportunity to start re-creating the space into something much more useful, and hopefully more beautiful!. I also managed to pick up a few (junk) things, but that's another post.

What better way to begin my Saturday than finding an unexpected package at the door? I love packages, but on a Saturday? Unheard of. And to get my new copy of Design*Sponge at Home, weeks ahead of when I thought I'd get it, brilliant!

And I have to say, it really doesn't disappoint - at all. In fact, I'm fairly sure this book was written for me. It is the kind of decorating/design/DIY book I never knew I always wanted. Full of beautiful, eclectic, creative homes (and when I say full, I mean it - a lot of effort has gone into this), as well as some great ideas and advice. I haven't even read it yet and my head is already teaming with ideas, so much so that I had to take a trip to the junk yard to get materials for some projects I want to take on over the next few weeks. Exciting!

I cannot wait to take some time out to really get into this. Highly recommend!

new directions

Finally transitioning into a more 'solid' body of work, though I'm still playing between styles quite a bit. 

I have my sister and her family coming to stay today! Very exciting, and actually part of a larger family reunion. Enjoy your weekend!

Kind of loving this vintage dress I spotted on Etsy the other day. I only wish I'd seen it at the beginning of Autumn.

Via Black Flaming Vintage

room

I mentioned the other day that I made a quick purchase on-line, and I'm happy to say that it worked out beautifully.

I've slowly been transforming my son's room (which also happens to be the darkest room in the house), into a bright and interesting place to be. Already he's been finding all the places he'd like to go in the world (Russia and Egypt are high on the list), and it really livens everything up. Happy.

It's been quite some time since I've posted (properly) one of my underwater landscapes. This one is recently completed, as yet unnamed.

I'm still playing around with my new camera, working out how to take photos of paintings in a way that captures all the details but without harsh flash bounce back etc. etc. Particularly tricky, it seems, for these paintings where everything is quite dark. 

This weekend was a bit of a frenzy, as we prepare our home for a much anticipated visit from my sister and her family. The thought of four children under 4 in the house, as well as four adults (and a new niece or nephew in utero) has got me a little frazelled, but in the end we managed to do more than expected.

We even managed to put up our new bathroom mirror, which has transferred a slightly more sophisticated look to the room, as well as providing a space for the prettier of my cosmetics.

And of course, what always happens when you're trying to do a little too much? Something forces you to slow down, which for me is a recurring back injury that has me home from work and resting. Happy Monday!

We decided to brave the misery outside and go visit some very wonderful friends of hours this morning, but this afternoon has seen some big progress in the studio. Slowly, slowly things are starting to take some shape, some meaning.

impulse buy

I've been looking for something extra to add some colour and interest to my little boy's room - he's turning 4 soon so I suppose he's a big boy now, and at just 4 he's already quite well travelled. It seemed only appropriate to get him this:

I really hope it's as good as it looks (and that I have enough skill to transfer it from sheet to wall!). Not the average 7:30am purchase, but on a (day job) work day I do what I have to do. Sorry retailers, on-line shopping is just too easy!

I think I've finally garnered the motivation necessary to actually, actually figure out my studio and make it the kind of space that I want it to be. The thing is, there's really not much I need. A new (not pink) drop cloth, a desk and some extra lighting will about do it. Mostly I just need space and some protection from all the paint, as well as some inspiration on the walls. As for storage for my work, I haven't quite worked out what to do with that, so for now the old lean against the wall will have to do. But I'm utterly inspired by the following spaces, which I've been busy pinning away on Pinterest.

Images 1& 2 via The Beautiful Soup; 3 via Interiors Porn; 4 via Today I Love.

The freakish sunshine and warmth was like a balm this week, and now I feel like I can survive this last month or so of cold. And we've made good use of the weather. Lots of gardening (back breaking, hand splitting gardening), lots of quiet sun-drenched play, and I think my shoulders accidentally got a bit of colour, which is very odd for August. And of course, a lot of painting. Apart from all the various experimental work I've been doing lately, I've been plugging away behind the (blog) scenes at some other, much more familiar pieces of work.

I'm still working on a series of underwater landscapes, but I've also started re-working some previously abstract paintings, which are now quite assuredly figurative. I'm keeping it under wraps for now as I work on some final touches - they're large paintings so they're taking some time, but it's been worth it.

in progress...

More experimenting - canvas' are piling up...

How cute are these felted bunny and fox's hats from VaivaNat on Etsy. Beautiful.

We are having an early spring here for just a couple of days, so we are headed out doors!

evolving

Oh my, I do get bored easily. I didn't realise it was not really that long ago that I changed this room, but the afternoon was quiet, and the urge to change was too strong.

I love that it feels clean now, it was just a little too dark and cluttered before. I hope to have a larger piece hanging there soon

Luckily I had enough self awareness to know that I would probably change my mind, so all those paintings and photos I took down were put up with little sticky Velcro thingies, so the damage wasn't too bad (though I think this wall will definitely need a paint some time soon).

But now that it's done, I can stop procrastinating over other things, like a studio room that is beginning to look like a store room again (made worse by all the pictures I just took down).