Catch up and shut down!

Wow - a month goes by so quick when your kid breaks a bone! Actually a few other things have been happening as well. I have finally decided on a new business name and so everything will start to move in a new direction now as well. To this end I am not going to be blogging for a little while. Once I have got the new blog etc ready to go I'll be back! Take care!!

Yellow...

I have a dilemma of the nicest kind.  After my trip to Bali and camping trip to 80 Mile in July I may have decided to give alcohol a miss for a couple of months.  Don't get me wrong - generally one or two drinks is my limit anyway.  However, recently I may have overindulged to the point that my liver and my mind were in total accord that a bit of a dry out would be ideal.

But I have just finished my forth book and now I am wondering how I am going to celebrate and 'launch' Yellow without my usual glass of champers.  It doesn't seem right not to mark the occasion somehow and having a bubble bath or something equally girly isn't going to cut it. 

Oops - wait!  If I can't have champers maybe I'll turn to my other great loves - coffee and chocolate!!  I can have a morning tea launch with some really good coffee and lovely chocolate.  Excited now and must go and source some supplies...

Art awards season...

With time everything settles in.  Twelve months ago I was making the transition from scared art student to person seriously considering trying to make art / writing part of my future. 

The other day, when I was grumbling about how I wasn't totally happy with the artwork I am submitting for the Hedland Art Awards as well as chasing up whether my artwork for the Cossack Art Awards had sold, I had to stop and laugh at myself. 

When I put my book into the Hedland Art Awards last year I had to drive around the block a couple of times to get up the nerve to stop at the Gallery and hand it in!  I was almost physically ill going to the opening I was that worried about it all. 

I still feel like I am pretending just a bit but most of the time, particularly when I am in a hurry to get stuff finished because deadlines have to be met, it really feels like work.  My work. 

It'll be interesting to see what I am feeling next year!

My entry for the 2010 Hedland Art Awards

Introspection!

So much is going through my head at the moment it is a wonder it doesn't explode.  Unfortunately I have been a bit sick lately so my poor body isn't keeping up with my brain...not a bad thing really as then I probably would actually explode. 

The thing is I have a hard time setting limits on myself and I have a hard time relaxing.  Particularly because my work is self determined and self income generating.  I come up with the ideas and implement them which is great fun and I love it.  But I tend to put unrealistic demands on myself as to how quickly I can get work done and really all that then does is stress me. 

So today, being Sunday, I am officially 'off'.  As much as I would love to get stuck into heaps of different things I am actually just going to make a coffee, eat some chocolate and sit out the front and admire my sea view.  Sure my thought processes will eventually swing back around to 'business' but in the meantime relaxation is the order of the day.

Before I go here is a sneaky peak at the first finished image for Yellow - the latest Pilbara Pixies book.  Seriously - no wonder I can't stop working!!

Distractions...

I haven't been in the mood to write lately which is very unlike me. 

Part of it was sheer exhaustion I think - school holidays will do that to you.  Particularly when you chuck an overseas holiday and a week long camping trip in there.  Then there was my son starting a new school.  He of course took it in his stride but I worried enough for all of us combined. 

I think the main part of it though was that I was completing the art work for the forth Pilbara Pixies book Yellow.  I have to confess that when my mind is on a job like that that nearly everything else gets dropped.  Except reading.  Reading is my guilty pleasure and the busier and more crowded my life gets the more I need to escape into books.


Still - Yellow's images are now printed and drying.  On Friday I will scan them and then start colouring them in.  Next comes making the covers and with any luck Yellow will be ready to make its first public appearance at the West End Markets on Saturday 27 August.  By then I will be back in the writing, friendly, chatty zone...before moving straight on to book number five!!

Back to work...

I was in Bali this last week.  It was fun, laid back and very green.  I had a brilliant time with my gorgeous family and I have to admit that I may have overindulged with food and drink (can only recommend the Champagne Mojito - by far the stand out cocktail!). 

However, by the end of the week my mind started to turn back towards home and work (as it does) and I started to make mental lists of what jobs I have to do (as I always do) and what deadlines are coming up (aren't there always).

The big difference was how ridiculously excited I was by all this.  I couldn't wait to get home and now that I am I've been running around like a mad fool getting back into work.  Rather than some high pressure, underpaid, repetitive (read boring in there!) admin job I am drawing, carving, printing and painting.  My work rocks!

While I was away I had an article in The Pilbara Echo and I've popped a copy below.  Hope you enjoy!

The Pilbara Echo, 9 July 2011

Heading Down the Highway…

Looking for adventure and whatever came our way.  We were three intrepid artists bearing six gorgeous artworks created by Hedland artists to Cossack on Sunday 26 May. 

Our mission was to safely deliver these artworks for submission to the Cossack Art Awards.  Now I have been on my share of road trips in my day but I’ve never done it with artists and let me tell you it is a whole new experience.  Rather than whining kids asking are we there yet (actually to tell the truth that is usually me) there was much more artsy stuff going on. 

There were conversations about artistic style, merit, pricing of artworks, what sort of paint to use and how and when.  Technicalities were discussed in detail and then in even further detail still.

There was lots of looking at landscapes, noticing colours, shapes, light play etc and wondering how anybody could not be fascinated by the Pilbara landscape. 

We also had some deep and meaningfuls about the West End Markets that we had all worked the night before and how sometimes your creations just sell, sometimes they just don’t and how good it is to keep perspective and confidence in what you are doing. 

When we got to Cossack we handed the artworks over, ensured they were labelled up correctly and stopped for a spot of lunch.  Here again the conversation turned to landscapes and colours but also just the general feel of Cossack – the peace and stillness of it that wasn’t even marred by 4WD’s and boat trailers zooming about. 

After lunch we did a tour around Cossack and all agreed that it was such a gorgeous place that we needed to spend more time in and pretty soon, you guessed it, there was more talk of what could be drawn or painted.  After deciding that we had to do some sort of artists’ camp in Cossack soon it was time to head home.

On the way home there were a few more stretches of quiet - we had worn ourselves out with too much talking.  I reflected on how important hanging out with other artists can be.  So much of art happens in your head and in a lot of cases artistic production happens on a solo basis too.  But just like any other profession – a bit of chatting, a bit of networking and even a bit of reassurance goes a long, long way. 

The Cossack Art Awards is on from 17 July to 7 August at Cossack’s Bond Store and Post and Telegraph Building. 



Leny, Nomes and Amanda heading to Cossack...




Nomes is handy with a camera as well as a paint brush!



New tools...

Running an art business is lots of fun but not necessarily a huge money making exercise...yet!  I economise wherever possible which means not buying as many new clothes (easier than I expected) and reusing whatever I can. 

However, recently my carving tools got to the point that I was ripping lino and mdf rather than cutting it so I ordered some more.  They arrived today and I got down to carving.  My oh my, it was sheer bliss and I have to say no matter how hard times get I am never going to use blunt carving tools again.  It was a bit too easy to cut lino though and I had to force myself to slow down a bit because once it is cut there is no going back.

I have had a lovely week because my mum came to stay.  She didn't realise it but every time she hung out the washing or did the dishes it meant that I had a little bit more time to get my own stuff done and for that I am extremely grateful. 

She also shocked me senseless by buying quite a bit of my work.  I am quite used to people wanting to buy stuff off me now but not so much and all at once.  I got really embarrassed and tried to explain that she was under no obligation to buy anything.  She reassured  me that she did actually want the stuff so there you go. 

I know it sounds weird - if I am going to stay in business I do need to sell stuff.  I just don't like people feeling forced into buying stuff - I even hesitate to give my art as a gift because I am worried that people will then feel obliged to hang it etc when they don't want to.  Clearly I have to get over this - that or find a good salesperson to spruke on my behalf!

So perhaps along with my new carving tools I need to develop some new mental tools and step up to the sales pitch line.  Not over it mind you, never over it - I can't stand pushy sales people.  But if I don't take the sales opportunities when they present themselves perhaps I am really only selling myself short. 

Photo courtesy of Elise Batchelor