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

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.

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

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

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 :-)

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. 

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