The "Don't Know if I can Bother Finishing It" Painting

Hi There

Ever have one of those days?  You know the ones - You start something, feeling full of energy and gusto, yet as you work, you can slowly just kinda feel the energy draining away until you reach a point of  thinking to yourself "Think I'll stop now and have a packet of crisps."  (Can you tell I'm trying to be on a diet? ;-)

The "For some strange reason, I think it probably looks better here than in real life painting"
AKA "The Kate got bored painting"

Is it because I have finally reached the point of having painted enough sunflowers to last me a life-time?  Is it because I am psychic and when you clicked open this post and thought to yourself "Stop Kate!  Enough with the $*&!@ Sunflower Paintings, already!" I actually "heard" you and that is why I put down my pastels?  Or is it just because I'm in one of "those" moods? Who knows. I can't be bothered trying to analyse it.

Whatever the reason may be I don't feel like finishing this painting, I just have to say that it this ability to stop any-time I want that is one of the things I really like about my experiments this past year or so with all things art.

Thanks for stopping by to see what I've been up to these last couple of days.

Kate
x
PS: I am pleased to announce that I did actually manage to finish eating the packet of crisps.  See, I can complete *some* tasks!

Juice or Tea?

Hi There

I don't know about you, but I love a hot cup of tea first thing in the morning followed by a fresh cup of orange juice with my breakfast.  Such is my love for tea and juice, I decided to paint this little study in honour of my long time breakfast tradition.

I know that in the art-world, the practice of painting fruit such as oranges for a still life painting is pretty standard.  I have to be honest and say I have no idea what possessed me to think "I know, I'll go and instead of painting a tea pot, I'll paint a tea bag - It's sure to be a winner."  One of life's little mysteries I suppose.  I do like to be different sometimes, you know.  Maybe that explains it?

Juice or Tea?

I'm not sure what I think of this one - I think I may have gone a little far in the "creative stakes" this time.  I'll have to think about it.

One thing I *do* like about this artwork is that I've used a slightly different style of pastel painting from what I've been trying lately.  It's slightly more "free" and impressionistic in style.  It was fun trying something new to keep my artistic journey fresh.

I'll finish up here and say thanks for stopping by - I'll see you soon.  I'm off to have a cup of tea!

Kate
x

Peekaboo, I See You! (Finished)

Hi There!

I know that I usually wait a couple of days in between posts, but my little peekaboo possum was just so cute, I thought I had to share the finished product with you all!

I hope maybe this makes you smile just a little.

This little picture has been painted in honour of all the wildlife carers out there who take look after our injured native animals.  I can tell you that it takes a very special and incredibly dedicated person to take the time and make the effort to look after these precious creatures in order to give them a second chance of life.  Thank you, from me to all of you! :-)

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

Kate
x

Peekaboo, I See You! (Part 1)

Hi There!

I hope that you've all had a wonderful week full of fun, love and adventure. (Don't you just love it when I'm in an optimistic mood?  Must be because the kids are actually cooperating this morning as they get ready for school.  A miracle, perhaps?)

Today's offering is the start of a pastel painting I'm creating of a baby possum wrapped in a blanket:

I ask you, what is it about babies being wrapped in a wee little blanket?  It just makes them so adorable!  This little baby has been created using a mix of pastel pencils on Mi Tientes paper, with a violet/grey type hue.  It's taken me around two - three hours to get it to this point so far.  Time flies when you are having fun!

Wish me luck as I continue on with this little artwork.  The next part to tackle is the little knitted blankie that the possum is wrapped in (which is the outline you can see).  Given I've been known to drop the odd stitch or miss a row when I've tried knitting in the past, I have a feeling it might become a bit of a battle.

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

Kate
x

My (Hopefully) International RAOK - Finished!

Hi There

Well after a lot of posting about her, here she is - the finished pastel painting of a lady from Mozambique:

The only issue I'm having now is that I worry she isn't up to standard.  Not only that, I don't think she looks like my model.  See:

I *so* want to say a filthy word right now.  But I shall try my best to control myself. (*$!#&@#)

The idea of creating a painting of someone and then anonymously sending it to them is indeed a wonderful and noble Random Act of Kindness gesture.  However, I'm a tad worried that this isn't good enough and may well have the opposite effect and inadvertently impede world peace if I was to send this painting to Mozambique.  I'm thinking that maybe this is a good first attempt and to try again?

Sooooo.....In order to determine what I should do with this painting, I am going to conduct a wee poll.

You'll be able to vote if you look over to the side of the screen.  Voting closes Saturday, so be sure to have your say.  It's a simple case of majority winning!

Thanks for stopping by.  Talk to you soon!

Kate
x

POST EDIT:  The poll results were 80% in favour of sending the lady to Mozambique.  This shall happen over the next week or two - I'll provide you with an update if there ever is one.  Thanks so much for participating with my little poll!

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!!!"