an april away

In an hour or two I'm heading to Sydney. I'll be gone for the rest of the month... photographing our friends wedding, going to my sister's engagement party, shopping for my own wedding attire, re-stocking the art gallery with my cards, and seeing the Curvy show. I still have to pack and I can't for the life of me find my phone charger, it's chaos so I must go get seriously organised.

Have a lovely month.

Take care .xx.

close-by commission

Last week I delivered a new commission to a lady who lives just near me. She wanted a family portrait to celebrate their wedding anniversary. Usually when I do commissions, they are for people who live far far away. But this time, being so close I got to deliver it right to her and be there to watch her open it. It was such a thrill for me!

I always get an email of thanks for my commissions, sometimes explaining there were tears of joy, but seeing it right in front of me was even more special. Now I believe it :)

I had some amazing co-incidences during this one too. No-one else in her family knew that she had commissioned the painting, but one day I recognised her husband (from the photo's she had sent me of him) when he came into the cafe I was in. I got to check out his facial features and posture, taking lots of mental notes.

Then another day, I went down the beach to take photo's of the tree with the rope swing, documenting it for the painting, and at that very moment, both the daughters walked passed with the little white dog CoCo. Again, they didn't know me at all, but I recognised them right away, and was able to take note of the clothes they were wearing, and then put them in their real outfits in the painting.

They have loads of pets; a dog, a cat, a carpet python, and a bearded dragon (they're all in there), plus a few extra's of each of the girls' favourite critters. It was a fun one. The first one I've attempted of the ocean, and the first one I've attempted of a place I'm very familiar with... my own suburb!

- - - - -

In other news, it's Mr You's birthday TODAY!!!!!! It's all about food. Last night I took him out for a super-fancy meal, I cooked him a big breaky this morning, and today I gave him a massive hamper of party food. Tonight the neighbours are coming around for dinner. Food, food, food!

Hope your day is happy and delicious Mr You .xxxxx.

Happy Birthday!

insomnia cure

"Eye Spy a new development" and "a new discovery"
(This week's theme by A little bird told me.)

I've been so tied up with other stuff recently that I've missed quite a few weeks of "Eye Spy Sunday" :(
But I'm jumping in real quick this week to try and get back on the wagon, so to speak. I'm combining both topics from last week and this week.

My discovery/development comes in the form of a cure for the insomnia I've been stuck with since early in the year. You know those nights where there's so much stuff running through your mind, and despite being drowzy, it just won't let you slip into sleep? Well I've been suffering from those for the past few months, getting increasingly upset and short-tempered as a result. Then when I do fall asleep around 3 or 4am, I dream thinking thoughts, so I don't end up feeling like I've slept at all.

To shut my thinking brain up, I tried lots of things;
- reading until I was just about asleep
- more exercise during the day
- stretching for 1/2 hour before bed
- listening to soft music on my ipod in bed
- listening to guided relaxation on my ipod in bed
- I even resorted to sleeping tablets for a few nights, (but didn't want to fall into that habit)
... but as soon as I turned off the light, or the ipod, my mind would flick back on.

Until... the new development / discovery. It's listening to books on my ipod in bed. It's working a treat! It's different from music and relaxation tracks because you're forced to concentrate on the story which doesn't give you mind a chance to wonder. I can keep listening until I'm asleep, then just rewind a little the next night to catch the bits I missed out on.

I'm listening to Mansfield Park by Jane Austin. It's a free download.

It's ideal because of the perfect mix of a gentle slow moving story, with having to concentrate to keep up with new characters, etc. Because the readers are volunteers, each one has a different reading rhythm, and accent, which forces you to concentrate to catch all the words too sometimes. Although it can be a little odd hearing such a british book being read by a very heavy southern American accent (like Forrest Gump's mum), it's always a surprise to see who'll be reading the next chapter.

Anyway, it's really working for me. I've got my yummy mindless deep sleeps back, and I'm becoming aquatinted with a new literary classic at the same time. It's great!

curvy 6

I was so so so so excited to find out I've been accepted into Curvy again this year!!!!!

And this year I have sent 3 works into the exhibition too. The show opens in Sydney tonight, and if it's anything like last year, it should be quite a bash.

The show remains in Sydney until April 17th.
(Then I think it travels to Brisbane and Melbourne. Or at least it did last year).

So if you're in the area, go see:
Mori Gallery (between Chinatown and Darling Harbour)
168 Day Street, Sydney

I'm going to see it after Easter :D

The books should be on sale soon too. eeeeeee, exciting.

weddingy wednesday 6

A Dress of White:

Last week we left off half way through the dress show, with a leaning towards white. And here we shall pick up...

White wedding dresses! Holy Cow!!!! Now this IS getting serious!

I must say it still all feels mighty foreign to me. I still just can't imagine myself wearing anything quite so fancy, and lady like, and traditional, and did I mention fancy? It all feels really odd actually. But I'm trusting everyone's advice, to go try stuff on and that "I'll know it" when it's the right one. Who knows what I'll end up with?

In preparation I've been collecting pictures of dresses that take my fancy. Not all of them I can imagine myself wearing, but in the pictures of them draped over the bodies of models, I think they're real pretty.

I thought I should reserve judgement a bit to not spoil the final surprise for Mr You (a daily flossy blog loyalist)... But in reality I have no idea myself, so there's not too much to spoil just yet anyhow. But I'll err on the side of caution in any case.

Here we go...

There's traditional full length dresses:

(Source: Lela Rose, Pricilla, Giambattista Vallis, Lela Rose, A real bride from a site I've forgotten)

Or cute short dresses:

(Source: Not noted, Fleur Wood, Posh Girl Vintage, Nordstrom)

And there's the designer ones I'll never be able to afford in a hundred years:

(Source: Collette Dinnigan, Gwendolynne Burkin, Collette Dinnigan)

I've recently realised there's a pattern emerging, I'm drawn to amazing, unusual fabrics:

(Source: Lela Rose, Rosa Clara, Cover pic from Brides Chicago magazine, Another real bride from a site I've forgotten)

I'm having wild fantasies of cotton lace and fabric:

(Source: Lela Rose, Another real bride from a site I've forgotten, J Crew)


Did you know there's a designer called The Cotton Bride? And it just happens to be the International Year of Natural Fibres. Hmmm food for thought.