Clovelly Beach in Winter

  Since I am beginning full time work shortly, we have been trying to make the most of our days.  We went to Clovelly Beach on the weekend for fish and chips, and also in the hope of maybe seeing some whales pass by on their migration route to warmer waters.
  There where whales out there, we could just make out the splashes of them breaching way off on the horizon near a whale watching boat, but they were too far out to see anything.

There were plenty of birds to photograph though. I know many people find seagulls irritating, but I like them.

  This little Willie Wagtail was hopping all over the rockface catching insects and drinking from the puddles. His 'eyebrows' made him look very harried and fussy.   I love how much detail in the seagulls faces my new camera captured. They really are pretty birds.   The whole time we were there I could hear a flock of Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoos, but wasn’t near enough to get a photo until we drove up the headland. There were so many of them! I love the call they make.   I think my next bird painting will have to be one of these gorgeous birds! xx

Very Rustic Flower Arranging

When out on a drive recently we decided to stop the car and pick some foliage from the side of the road next to Harley's parents house. I needed some different leaves to use as a reference for some new paintings. I'm not sure what those little yellow flowers are, most likely a weed but they are pretty!

Flower arranging

I just had to snap a few photos of the gorgeous flower arrangement Mum made on the weekend. Hellebores, camellia, jonquils... It's so nice to live in a house with a garden, and have fresh cut flowers on my desk every day!

I love jonquils, their scent takes me back to my childhood. As soon as I smell them I am transported straight back to the big, leafy backyard of the house I grew up in. It reminds me of jumping on the trampoline after school with my little sister, and judging her cartwheels and handstands and generally bossing her about.

This beautiful crown vase is made up of nine balls made of glass, which are all connected. It's so lovely, and the best thing is that you only need a small amount of flowers and foliage. My sister and I bought this for Mum from Jumbled, a gorgeous homewares store here in Orange, NSW where I live. (The Jumbled pinterest page is also definitely worth a look for some beautiful bright colourful inspiration!)

Lately

Lately I have been so busy moving house and setting up my new studio that I haven't had time to post. On the weekend, I took time off to read, pick flowers from the garden, take some photos and eat good food.

1 + 2. Gorgeous yellow blooms on Mum and Dads Witch Hazel bonsai. I love the scent of witch hazel.
3. A posy of violets in a tiny vase my lovely Mum left on my desk.
4. My Dad made the best lamb pie I have ever tasted, even the gluten free pastry was delicious!
5. A sneak peek at a painting I have been working on.

Pinterest Picks: Autumn

Here are some images that are inspiring me this week.

1/2/3/4

Autumn is here and the leaves are beginning to turn in Orange, which seems to be a more beautiful show each year (or maybe I'm just getting old and appreciating these things more). I'm getting excited about cool, crisp days and long family lunches of slow cooked braises and red wine.

Big Hearted Business - Making a living doing the things you love

I am a big fan of Clare Bowditch, and after reading up on her new venture Big Hearted Business, I love her even more. The Big Hearted Business website explains that the aim is of BHB is "to teach brilliant, creative people how to build strong, successful, caring businesses, without compromising their integrity, their health, or their happiness". I'm sad that I missed the first BHB conference, (the speakers included Lucy Feagins of The Design Files and Pip Lincoln of Meet Me At Mikes) and I have signed up for the waiting list for next year.

This video features one of the speakers at the event, Kemi Nekvapil. It is very inspiring, I really urge you to watch it if you have taken the plunge and started a creative business, or if you are thinking about it. The beautiful chalk art is fun to watch too!

My First Sketchbook

I came across my very first sketchbook while organising my bookcases on the weekend. I have a memory of doing these exact pages, sitting at the coffee table, with my safety scissors, clag paste and textas. I remember we were all in the lounge room after dinner and that we were watching "Hey Hey It's Saturday".

I would have been 4 or 5 years old, and evidently I had a worrying obsession with Princess Di as she features heavily throughout the pages.




That blue and orange thing in the image above is a toilet (can't you tell?), and I know I thought that was the coolest drawing of a toilet I'd ever seen. I remember standing in the bathroom studying the shapes of the toilet to make it as realistic as I could. Not sure where the colour scheme came from! The little book cover pasted next to it is called "A Guide to Modern Etiquette."



Hopefully I'll come across some more drawings from my younger years soon! Happy Wednesday!

Pinterest Picks

Inspiring images from my Pinterest boards for the weekend. Happy Saturday! Have a great weekend!

1. No. 1-3 Recycled Canvas Buckets by Harabu House via Ez Pudewa
2. Cactus by The Brick House via mrs. french*
3. Room by Uncovet Blog via Amy Moore
4. French Bulldog via Cristina Ramirez

Seed pods

A collection of seed pods Mum and I picked up on our walk today in the park. This tiny little spider came out of one of the cones when I was photographing them, he was so tiny I don't think he even realised I was there. These were collected for an artwork I am working on tonight.

Handmade Canberra Markets - Designer Interview

I am featured today on the Canberra Handmade Market blog with a designer interview! Click here to read it.
I will be at the next market (they are on Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th Sept but I will be there Sunday only) selling original art, hand printed stationery and other goodies.

I was browsing the Handmade Canberra website and found these designers who will be showing their wares at the next market.  The items are all handmade and all beautiful!

1. Ink & Weave tea towel
2. Temono bag
3. bilingual ring
4. Bumble Australia candles

Today

Usually Friday is the most productive day of my week. I work in my studio all day, at least twelve hours but often more, and get a lot of drawing or printing done.

Today I accidentally took the day off. I went for a walk with Mum which turned into lunch with Mum, which turned into shopping.

After that I ended up at her house rifling through some of her childhood things while she sewed another pillow for her dogs after they chewed the last one to bits.

1. My mum's old salt and pepper shakers
2. Her and her brothers' childhood stamps, with beautiful little packages made from vellum paper. I love the classic design on the pastel book and letter card. There is also a receipt from Fosseys (department store) dated 1966!
3. Lovely little bundles of stamps. As I've said before, I am a total paper nerd, and these made me very happy!

I hope you have a good weekend! Hopefully you have a day off too.

Pinterest picks

For those of us in the Southern Hemisphere (well for me at least), the winter months are dragging on and on. Harley brought up the idea of us heading on a road trip this summer, and since then I've been dreaming about sun, sand and the opportunity to wear less than three pairs of socks at one time. Until then I've been trawling pinterest for holiday inspiration.

1. Colourful popsicle
2. Ice Cream Truck - original source
3. Tide - original source
4. Umbrella by Vicki Dvorak

String and Twine

My sad collection of string and twine and some beautiful examples of why I love kraft paper and twine so much.
1. Black/Gold metallic Baker's Twine by Knot & Bow

2. Ana and Aaron's Wedding invitations by Scout's Honor Co. 

3. One Fine Dae packaging and branding

My Mother's Things

I am a hoarder, my mother is a hoarder and her mother was a hoarder. As a result my parents house is filled with beautiful old knick knacks and things. Pictured are vintage wooden soldier skittles and a wooden toy dog on wheels, my Great Grandfathers cigar tins and old books, and a collection of broken shards of china and ceramics found in the backyard when gardening. I'm lucky to have such sentimental family members who hold on to these things.

Etsy Faves - French

Harley had a birthday last week, and I made him French inspired paper goods/flags/straws to go with dinner, cheesecake and a pancake breakfast and make it a bit more special (this was a big deal, I am a disaster in the kitchen). Here are my favourite French inspired goodies from Etsy at the moment.

1.  Postcard Set - Paris Postcards Collection, Red by TheParisPrintShop
2.  Eiffel Tower Lariat Necklace by SilentRoses
3.  French Farmhouse Sculpture by ARTISANIEeurope
4.  Water Proof -Cross body bag by ikabags
5.  French Macarons - 12 Assorted French Macaron Box by Janjoupatisserie
6.  Cream French Rotary Princess Phone by OceanSwept
7.  Retro Cola Candy by VonDulce
8.  Hand Cut Paper Map of Paris by vellumandtrace
9.  matchbox diorama - Magasin des Chapeau by lindasarahs

Collection

Postage Stamps

A collection of postage stamps given to me by a lovely friend of mine. I know it's nerdy but I've always loved stamps. They're like miniature artworks. These ones have beautiful colours, and so much detail.