Saturday, January 31, 2015

My art blog has moved!

I'll keep this little blog running for my dog bickies and sharing of non art related goodness..

But for my art blog, you can check me out here

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Soul Mates - a Work in Progress



It may seem a little weird
(but that's ok, cause I'm a little
coo coo ka choo sometimes)
... but I like to share
the process of my paintings from
start to finish. 
And also my inspiration
for why I painted a certain
painting.

So here's the story, I was running
along one morning, kind of meditating  on a
commission piece, I had been asked
to paint. 

My friend wanted red birds
in the painting and she didn't mind
where they were or what they 
were doing, she just wanted
red birds. 

AND BAM, This happened ---->




so now I had my inspiration,
I was off on a mission.


Beginnings of the background


More colour to the background





A close up of the finished birdies





and the finished product

"SOUL MATES"

24 x 36 inches

and there you go, sometimes
inspiration happens in the weirdest of places.





Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Love Tree

Just a quick post to share my latest
painting and a few before photographs.

In an effort to always keep thinking
outside of the box but to keep my
own artistic voice loud and clear,
I tried a new technique for this background
which I just LOVED.



First Layer above




adding the tree



and the finished product

LOVE TREE

10 x 12 inches

and perfect for that
special somebody for 
Valentines Day


as always thank you for popping by

xx

Sunday, January 18, 2015

Serena - a DO OVER or RE-WORK

7 months ago, I painted the first version of "Serena"


at the time I loved her so much
and was lucky enough for a lovely
lady who owns a clothing boutique
to reach out to me to ask it would be
ok to hang her in the shop.

7 months on and it was time
to bring Serena home. After
not having seen her for that long 
and my tastes having changed so
much in that time, I felt like 
Serena needed a do-over.

So here's a few progress photo's of 
the re-work in action.



So above is the 'cover up' period ;-)

the beauty of acrylic paint is 
that if you don't like something
you can paint over it. I have ZERO
experience with oils, so cannot 
comment on whether or not it is easy to
paint over a piece you don't like.


Extended her hair
fixed her face
added a head band
changed the background
and most importantly
added a MONO BROW!
and phew I felt like
it was a huge difference
already


A little more work




and the transformation is complete!

I love the Take-Two Version
of 
Serena 
now!!

As always thanks for popping by

xx

Saturday, January 17, 2015

Introducing Rosie ----->>

So I have been working on a little side project for a few months now. It has involved making my own dog biscuits/treats and dog food. I have enjoyed this process so much, that I've started sharing a few recipe's on here for my friends/family and anyone else that happens to stumble upon this blog.

I thought it only appropriate, that I share a photo of my beautiful Rosie for anyone that has not met her in real life.





She is a 7 1/2 year old  King Charles Cavalier. She snores very loudly (and I mean rattle the tiles on the roof loud), has big floppy ears, loves the beach, adores my children, but most importantly ---> she loves whatever I cook for her!

Currently I am looking at a natural flea spray (still trialling it), and ways to combat her bothersome bad breath (without me having to brush her teeth twice a day).

So watch this space :-)

Friday, January 16, 2015

Rosie's Seriously Scrummy Dog Treats

by far my Rosie's 
favourite recipe yet!




Rosie's Seriously Scrummy

Dog Treats


160g Rolled Oats 
50 g Olive Oil
1 1/4 Cups of Boiling Water
1 Tablespoon of Vegetable Stock (**See note below**)
185g Peanut Butter 
1 Egg
300g of whole wheat flour (I used Atta Brand)



** I made my own vegetable stock in the Thermomix using the recipe from the Everyday Cookbook - page 23


Instructions:
  • Preheat oven to 150 degrees.
  • In a large bowl, combine rolled oats, oil, vegetable stock, and boiling water. Let stand 10 minutes. I used the Thermomix to weigh and measure all of the ingredients and let it sit in the bowl.
  • Next thoroughly stir in peanut butter, whole wheat flour and egg. If using the Thermomix, blitz together on speed 7 for about 10 seconds.
  • Knead with your hands until you have a smooth ball of dough. I used my Thermomix to do this process which was quicker and kneaded for 2 minutes. 
  • Take a rolling pin and flatten out the dough to about 1/2 inch thickness. Use a biscuit/cookie cutter to cut out fun shapes. If you're feeling lazy, you can just leave the dough as is and bake it like one whole biscuit. You can always break it up after it's cooked. If you want a shinier looking biscuit, you can also brush on a thin coat of egg whites before baking. 
  • Place your dough onto a tray with a non-stick baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes (depending on your oven) or until golden. 
Let your biscuits cool completely. Store in an air tight container for up to a week (if your furry friend let's them last that long!). Remember these are fresh ingredients with no preservatives, so they will not store as long in a container as a commercially bought brand of biscuits would. 

Thursday, January 15, 2015

Alice & The Fawn


My latest painting
"Alice & The Fawn"
20 x 24 inches


Commissioned piece
for a very special 
little girl named Alice



As always
thank you for 
stopping by

xx