Reading | Generation X - Douglas Coupland.
Listening | Tame Impala (I have listened to the new album at least 25 times in the past week) & Lianne La Havas.
Watching | Chef (amazing food porn!), Skeleton Twins (loved it!) & Offspring (hooked!).
Consuming | Jammy buttery toast (feat. incredible jam from my favourite Evandale market stall lady called Just Add Moonshine).
Making | Biscuits (these ones and these ones drizzled with white chocolate) and cakes for pals. Lots of paintings with tiny, colourful shapes.
Looking forward to | Heading down to Hobart to attend the Marriage Equality Rally next weekend with Jaine, staying at the Alabama Hotel and getting some retail therapy on (T2, Lush, Dangerfield, JB Hi-fi, the MAC counter, etc).
This month I spent a lot of time painting for my little Sweetbrew show, had many delightful times with Theo, lovely social times with friends and a smattering of freelance work and sleep-ins. I am so looking forward to being on the other side of Winter. I love so many things about it, but when my house is always cold, morale is low. Scarves, coats and hats though, they can stay for another few months please.
I've decided over the last few weeks that I'm going to take a break from freelance work, for at least a few months. I love that people ask me to make them things and to work with them on excellent projects, but at the moment I'm working my supermarket job, doing a great design course through Tractor Design School online, finishing up my last university unit and hanging out with Theo a couple of days per week and the thing I toss and turn at night about most is the freelance work I'm supposed to be doing, emails I've not yet sent, mock-ups I'm halfway through. One day when I am not so time poor, I hope that I will be able to look at freelance more seriously and with better organisation - because I do really love it. I've always said "Yes" to everything, even when I haven't had the time to dedicate to the projects and that lets the client and myself down. Right now I'd like my spare time to be spent recreating or working on my own artistic projects. I feel exhausted and burnt out. I'd really like to be able to read a book or watch a TV show without feeling guilty about all of the other things I'm not doing. Pip's book has really helped me to get some perspective and let myself make some choices.
I hope that you enjoy whatever you do following this.
Ps. I made a Facebook page for my illustration work recently - you can like it if you want to.
I did some little abstract paintings recently to go on a wall in the back nook of my favourite local cafe, Sweetbrew. I also did a little chalk mural in their front room.
I used wooden boards, did two coats of black gesso and then painted freehand with tiny paintbrushes and gouache. Each board probably took somewhere between 10 - 15 hours each.
I was a very anxious child and up until recently I couldn't remember a time when I wasn't very anxious. Doodling is a bit of a cathartic practice for me. I do it when I'm anxious and when I finish doing it, I feel a lot better. So this suite of paintings is called 'Worry Is A Misuse of the Imagination'. Use your imagination to make art instead.
They'll be hanging in the cafe for a few months. They're $85 each.
I thought I'd share some very lo-fi shots of the little chalk mural that I did in the front room at Sweetbrew too. I did it over about 4 hours on a Sunday afternoon after close, standing on some trestles. I sketched the basic idea first, scanned it, printed it out and then had it blown up and printed at A0 size so that I could scribble chalk all over the back of the print, tape it to the chalkboard wall and then trace over the line work with a pencil to transfer the basic layout and shapes. Then I used chalk and chalk markers to refine the lines. I printed the coffee paraphernalia sketches onto A3 sized paper and used the same method to transfer them. I'd love to work on something like this again!
Ps. Sweetbrew have the best coffee in town - if you're in Launceston, you have to go there. Or, if you're not big on coffee, their Prana Chai and banana bread are my favourite.
One of the ideas on Keri Smith's 100 Ideas list is to write a letter to someone you admire. So this week I did that and painted this makeshift postcard using the back of an old children's book and sent it to Pip Lincolne. I painted it with gouache and a tiny paintbrush and sealed it with some fancy new gouache varnish I found at my local art shop (I had to video chat with my brother as soon as I got home after finding the varnish because I knew he's the only other person who would be as excited about it as me and he was!).
Recently Pip wrote a really delightful book. I knew for a while that she had a new book coming out, but I didn't know what it was about and when I picked it up at my local bookshop I expected to see lots of cute crafty projects, but instead, it was full of really excellent advice about being a creative person (with some crafty projects interspersed for good measure of course).
"You Make Me Happy" is a really sweet song by Clare Bowditch who wrote the foreword in Pip's book.
It is full of lots of practical solutions to issues that crop up in the life of a creative person and it gives great advice about having nice times ("I like great times, ace times, rad times, but nice times are generally what I'm aiming for"), waking up early and having a daily morning ritual, making movement/exercise part of your daily routine, writing your own mission statement and life rules, how to spark ideas and ways to look for inspiration, ways of doing new stuff, the importance of connecting with others and about being authentic and being yourself. It has some greats lists in it too including ideas for morning rituals and routines, things to do to spark ideas, inspiring people, project ideas, tips for doing good work, nice moments to be made and goal ideas.
I loved reading about Pip's daily routines and simple things she has implemented to make life more enjoyable. At the back of the book are a bunch of great crafty projects like Pip's pompom rug, safety pin bracelets and cute knitted blankets. There are also some fabulous recipes.
It is the best book I've read in a long time in terms of what I got out of it personally - it was like a breath of fresh air and I've found myself revisiting it several times over the past few weeks when I am lacking clarity or need a bit of a pick me up. I've been carrying it around with me so much that my copy is a looking a bit battered and grubby. Five glittery stars from me. I now want to buy a dozen copies and give them to all my friends.
If you're in Australia you can get a copy here.
Here are a few pictures of some mail I've sent out recently. I don't get a chance to send out much mail for fun these days. The image above was a commissioned piece for a little girl's room that I finished up a couple of weeks ago. Would you like to know how long the illustration took to paint? I'm going to estimate 20 hours, but I really think it could have been longer. My eyes will never be the same!
I decided that it was time to send my friend Pip a little parcel of goodies. She lives on a tiny island at the bottom of New Zealand and I sent her some chocolate, my favourite tea, a bracelet, a tea towel, some Body Shop moisturiser and a little letter.
My friend Mary is doing a fun puzzle piece art project at the moment which she asked me to be involved in. She sent me a large blank puzzle piece and I decorated it and sent it back. Unfortunately I lost the SD card for my camera for a short while, so these photos were all taken with my iPhone (which I desperately need to upgrade).
I really love sending mail. I started my blog waaaaaay back in 2009 to document my life at the time, which mostly revolved around sending out a huge amount of mail. It is something I always enjoy revisiting.