Dark and shadowy for WOYWW

Here's my desk mess this week.

I sometimes wonder how on earth I manage

to paint in that, but I am a grot

and can't create if I'm not surrounded

by mess.

That big mess on the wall at the right

is my telephone directory.

I don't have a little book to keep phone numbers in

so I just write a phone number on a piece of paper and staple it

to the last one I put up there.

Sounds crazy but I always seem to find the number I need.

The bits on the clips on the wall 

are school notes for Little Miss

and the rest is my mess.

 

I am doing a dark and shadowy painting for APR

this week.

The theme is shadows.

It's still at the rough in stage

but will be a staircase disappearing into the darkness

when it's finished.

I will be posting the finished picture 

along with a few photos

of the painting as it progresses

later in the week.

Well, this painting won't finish itself,

so I had better keep going.

Now you've seen my mess for the week,

hop on over to Julia's

Stamping Ground

and see what all the others

have on their desks

this wednesday.

I hope all the bloggers on the east coast of America

are all safe and well

in that awful storm.

A pair of ballet shoes for APR

I'm in doggy mode at the moment.

I'm half way through a dog portrait 

and I have another waiting to be 

done, so I have to go down my 

drawers to find an old piece of art that can fit

this weeks APR theme of Pairs.

I think I did quite well with this pair of ballet shoes

in oil pastels.

 

Now a ballet dancer I certainly am not,

nor will ever be.

I am the true meaning of fairy elephant.

I was sporty in my younger days,

playing tennis, squash, volleyball

and roller skating but ladylike

and a delicate ballet type

I was not.

When I jumped for a ball or hit a tennis ball,

my legs would go in all directions and bodyparts

would fly and collect any poor soul who was brave enough to

stand next to me.

Don't get me wrong, I was really good at sport,

I just had (as my PE teacher called it)

a very unusual style.

Which I think meant klutz.

I have a friend who was a professional ballerina.

She was so dainty and still is, then there was me,

arms and legs everywhere.

So I guess the best I can do is draw those ballerina shoes

cos I'm never going to be

a dainty ballerina,

just daggy old me.

And I'm happy with that.

Because I'm a fishy person at heart,

I just had to add one more 'pair'.

A pair of angel fish in water colour pencil.

I'm going back to my doggy painting,

so why no hop on over to Jenn's

Artist's Playroom

and see what other pairs

are there.

 

Another doggy for WOYWW

I am painting another doggy

on this wonderful

What's On your Work desk Wednesday,

hosted by the fabulous

Julia over at the Stamping Ground.

I am just roughing him in

so there isn't much to see yet.

Here is a close up

There is only black and gray at the moment,

next comes his blonde moustache. 

I am just starting the eyes so they look a little freaky at the moment.

I also finished gorgeous little Berkley the parrot

and here she is.

If you were visiting last week,

I promised to put up a picture of the doggy

I had finished and here it is.

Well that's it, I have to keep it short and sweet this week

as I still have heaps to get done.

So now you've seen what I've been up to,

why not hop on over to Julia's 

and see what everyone else has been

doing this wednesday.

I am sorry if I didn't get to return visits last week,

I had no power on friday, thanks to a naughty council worker

and a backhoe and I had visitors from Sydney on the weekend,

plus it was a pupil free day on monday, so no time for me

to do much at all. 

Celestial cheat for APR

That's celestial cheat

not serial cheat,

just wanted to clarify that.

I had planned this ethereal painting

with a nebula all bloggy and gloopy

in the middle of the universe

and a sextant, with a person peering

at the stars, in the bottom corner.

But that didn't happen,

so you get this
for this weeks APR's celestial theme.

Yes that is a lousy cut out sextant just stuck on

and no I didn't get to the person, you will have to use your imagination.

I tried using salt but it didn't work and it got stuck to the painting.

It does make pretty stars though.

 Here's a galaxy of iodised salt stars and

here are some twinkly sea salt stars.

I have good reasons why I didn't have time to finish this painting.

No1 excuse (er reason) is 

look what arrived!!!!!

I know I can't afford them but I got them anyway.

These are Silks Acrylic glazes and they are so bright and pretty.

I can't get the sparkle to come out in the photo, so you will have to take my word for it.

I can't wait to use these to embellish my coral and underwater paintings.
Had to sit and stare at them for a while.

No 2 excuse is:

I finished my commissioned pet portrait (picture of it in my sidebar under pet portraits)
and the lady ordered another one (yippee)

but I had already promised to start this gorgeous little girl
and so I started her today.

It's only at rough in stage.

She doesn't have pimples, they are the dots of gloopy stuff that you put on to stop the white getting coloured.

This beautiful girl is called Berkley and she used to be a pet owned by our lovely

Jenn, so you can see why I have to do her justice and not waste time on salty paintings.

My third and very important excuse is that my Charlie parrot 

(there is a portrait of him on the right hand side of my blog down a ways)

had to have surgery on monday.

The silly boy hurt the inside of his bottom eye lid and had to have surgery to fix it.

Not thinking, I took him to the vet (his first ever visit and he's 22 years old)

in a cardboard box.  Well that was destroyed when we were half way there

and I had to hold him for the rest of the way in the car.

 He fell in love with the ladies at the vet surgery,

the little suck up, and they were all over him, cuddling and tickling.

I didn't think he would want to come home.

We had to go and buy a steel super strength carry cage to bring him home.

That was the easy part, he came through the surgery with flying colours and came home.

They gave me some drops for his eye and a syringe to administer pain killers

via his mouth.  

It's easy they said, just wrap him in a towel and hold his head

and there you go.

Who do they think they are fooling.

That bird knows when it's medicine time and he goes up and hides in his box

(I can't reach it). I even used my little miss as bait to lure him out

(he doesn't like her and attacks if she comes too near).

When I do catch him, and wrap him

I swear he can do a 360 deg turn with his head 

as it just won't stay still.

I have learned to let him grab onto my shirt and quickly squirt the medicine into his mouth

then when he lets go in disgust,

I grab his beak and hold it down just long enough to get a drop in his eye.

An hour later it's all over, but I have to do this two times a day for a week!!!

So you can see I have three valid reasons why I don't have a 

good painting for this weeks theme.

After all, they can't turn out all the time 

can they.

If you're still awake after all that,

hop on over to Jenn's 

Artist's Playroom

and see what 

the others have done for

celestial.

Celestial mess for WOYWW

I'm having a spot of bother this week.

I can't seem to drip, drop or splosh

water colour paint around

like I want to.

I wet the paper and wiggled the paint 

around in an attempt to paint

a sort of star nebula

for this weeks APR theme of star gazing/celestial.

I can see it in my head but it won't 

drop out onto the paper,

I even shook my head but it won't come out.

I have a book that shows how to make cute squiggly things

with salt.

Looks easy til you try it.

Not a lot happening here.

 This is where I put the table salt

and this is where it is staying.

The book said let it dry and brush it off,

mine is stuck fast.

Looks really purty when the lights shine on it,

so I might keep it there anyway.

 
 

I have sea salt on there now,

goodness knows what will happen when that dries.

Might have to rethink the theme a little

and try something else.

It was fun though.

I did finish my first commissioned pet portrait

this week.  I can't put it on the blog until

the owner picks it up from the store

as she should be the first to see it.

Will show it next week.

Now you've seen the mess I've created,

hop on over to Julia's 

Stamping Ground and see what others

have on their desks,

this WOYWW wednesday.

I hope you noticed that it was short and sweet this week Julia.

It doesn't happen very often!!!

Masquerade for APR

This weeks theme for The Artist's Playroom

is masquerade and I have made it 

by the skin of my teeth.

I think in my case the masquerade is that I am a housewife,

my husband says I never do any housework.

It's not that I don't want to do it,

it's just that other more important things keep cropping up,

like art and more art and a bit more art.

I really did have good intentions of doing the housework today

and then the pool was full of leaves (from my neighbours tree, grr)

and I had to clean them out, 

then the nice lady, who I'm doing a pet portrait for rang

and I entered the art room to discuss the portrait and never left.

It's not really my fault.

Of course while I was in here

I decided that I would quickly do something

for APR, that quickly turned into an hour

and now I have to do this post, then it will be school pick up time.

Housework nil, art wins again!!

You'd think my husband would

 hire a house cleaner,

it would make my life easier!

I had intended to make the eyes scary

but they turned out feminine

and then I was going to leave them pencil,

but they were too pale,

so I inked them

but they were too dark,

so I coloured them blue

and that's the end of that!

The school holidays are over

and let's hope

life returns to normal next week.

I can take off my mummy mask

and put on my artist mask,

(notice I didn't say housewife).

Ah, the masquerade.

Well that's me, so why don't you

hop on over to Jen's

Artist's Playroom

and see what the others have done

for masquerade.

Getting back to normal for WOYWW

The spring break is over (sigh of relief)

and you have no idea

how good it feels to hold a paint brush

and actually paint on paper.

I have spent the last two weeks

doing no art at all.

I have been fertilised,

yes been fertilised not fertilising.

I got in and cleaned out our duck pond

which had over a foot of sludge

from 17 years of ducky doo doo.

I had welly boots on but I'm sure I have grown and inch since I shovelled

out all that stuff.

I did get to wield a paint brush though.

I decided to repaint some garden pots.

This is the before shot

and this is the after shot.

It really brightens up the garden and patio area.

Today I am getting back to normal

and painting a commissioned

pet portrait (my first).

Here is a peek

I have only just started so there isn't

much to see yet.  I've just put in some darks

and I'm developing some colour.

At least I have brush to paper,

I really missed that.

Now you have seen mine,

hop on over to Julia's Stamping Ground 

and see what everyone else is doing

on their desks this fine wednesday.

PS. I have some pet portraits advertised in my Etsy shop now (see side bar),
if anyone is interested in having one done.