Very Nearly Finished Girl!

Hi There

After months of waiting patiently for me to get my act together, I bet you were starting to think I'd ~never~ finish my latest painting, didn't you? For a while there, I must admit that I was starting to wonder myself.

I confess that I was living in a near blissful state of procrastination with my half finished painting on my easel until Mother Nature managed to make me so feel incredibly guilty, that I just had to get my act together. I bet you are wondering, 'Kate - How on earth can the big M.N. be responsible for this?' Well, it's like this...

All the beautiful jacaranda trees around Brisneyland have been in spectacular bloom these past few weeks.  Because of this, from the moment I look out my bedroom window first thing in the morning, until I close my bedroom curtains at night, all I can see is this beautiful haze of purple. A haze of purple which continually reminded me that I hadn't finished my latest jacaranda painting.* Way to go, Mother Nature for making me feel guilty inspiring me to take action!   Following a couple of hours work this morning, I present to you my nearly finished painting.  The current working title for this artwork is "Don't You Forget About Me"  (Love my 80's Simple Minds music!):

Don't You Forget About Me (I'll Be Alone, Dancing, You Know It Baby...)

Looking at it now, I think I like this painting.  It's hard, because I'm so used to it that I currently can't see it with fresh eyes.   To try and rectify this, I'll put it away for a couple of days and then bring it out, to see if I can see any little spots here and there that require attention.  In the meanwhile, what do you think?  Like it?  Stuffed it up?  Any areas that require particular attention or parts of the painting that are "rooly special"?
I'd love to know!  Don't be shy now...

Anyway, thanks ever so much for stopping by, I'll be sure to see you around again soon!

Kate
x
* I swear, the feeling was worse than when I hear the following exciting exchange between my children in a car trip to the shops: "Mum - Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? When will we get there? When will we get there?  OUCH - You hit me!  No, it *wasn't* an accident! I'm gonna dob!  No, *you're* not dobbing, I'm dobbing!  MUM!  MUM! WAAAAAAAH!!!"

Kate's World Record Attempt!

Hi There!

Bet you don't believe me, do you?  How on earth could I, Kate, possibly have anything to do with breaking a world record in relation to something to do with art?

Well it is simple.  I took part in a world record attempt in Brisbane last night for the biggest ever "art class" to take place at one time in one sitting.  Except it wasn't really an "art class". Guinness made them say that. It was actually a record attempt at life drawing (or "rudie-nudie drawing" as my children prefer to call it).  It seemed like such fun, that a group of friends and I went along to try and break the record!

A 15 minute sketch.

As I'm still pretty new to this art journey business, I can honestly say I've never done any rudie-nudie drawing from real life before.  And because of this, I have to admit to you I was a little scared when we arrived at the Greek Club, where the record attempt was being held.

A series of 1 minute sketches

Most of the time, I like to think of myself as being a mature, worldly woman.  Last night however, all that worldly maturity left my body, so much so that an in depth discussion ensued with my fellow brave rudie-nudie artist friends to calm my nerves.  It went something like this:

Kate: "Oh My!  What if I have a bloke stand here and then drop his robe right in *front* of me and his 'delicate parts' are suddenly right there in front of me.  And you know I mean right *there* in front of me?  What on earth should I do? I mean I have no idea what the right facial expression is for such a moment in my life. Indifference? Glee? Excitement? Horror? A wink?"
Fellow Rudie-Nudie Friends:  "You'll be right, Kate.  Here's a brown paper bag for you to breathe into if it gets too much."
Kate [getting increasingly anxious]: "OK.  But what do I do if he drops his robe and I involuntarily start to giggle?  Honestly, it's true, it could happen!  It won't be a giggle meaning to hurt his feelings, it would be a giggle because I'm nervous.  You see, I can't help but feel it's a pretty personal thing to do within three seconds of setting eyes on each other for the first time.  Should I at least say hello and introduce myself first? Would that make things more comfortable?"
Fellow Rudie-Nudie Friends:  "Breathe IN two-three-four; OUT two-three-four; IN...."

5 Minute Burlesque Sketch

After what felt like ages, the models came out and disrobed.  My eyes may have widened slightly, however I am proud to say that I merely raised a slight eyebrow and then set to work drawing what I could see.

It was really interesting to me that over the course of the next hour or two, "body parts" seemed to disappear and lines, contours, light and shadow became far more of a concern than what I was trying to draw at any point of time.  (Well, *most* of the time, anyway.)

These sketches are a few of my drawings that I completed last night.  I know, they aren't very good.  And I have to admit I felt just a twinge of sadness when I looked around me and saw all these people who could draw beautifully and mine felt like something a first grader could do.  Still, I just reminded myself that this is my journey and it didn't actually matter at all whether I can draw beautifully yet.  All that really matters is that I enjoy the process while I am doing it and take a moment to rejoice in the beauty and wonder of the human body.

Thanks so much for stopping by, I'll see you again sometime soon!

Kate
x

PS:  Sadly, we didn't break the record.  It didn't matter though, because it was still great fun and a really interesting experience.  If you ever get an opportunity to take part in something like this, I'd urge you to get involved!