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I was a little stumped with this week's Illustration Friday topic, clumsy. All I could think of was a giraffe tripping over (don't ask me why, there must be some psychology behind that, let's not investigate.). Then, while listening to my trusty ipod, came "I feel Jesus in the clumsiness of young and awkward lovers" sung to me by The Hold Steady in Citrus. What a great line! It got me thinking about all the Bella and Edward teenage wanabee's you see everywhere these days. I've seen them on trains, at the beach, shopping centres, all romantically intense and overly affectionate. And while they're walkin' the walk, and talkin' the talk, so to speak, that "clumsiness of young and awkward lovers" still peeps through.  Now available as a sweet valentines day card in my Etsy Store! P.S. That song ends with the line "I've had kisses that make Judas seem sincere". Great huh?
puff...puff...puff...puff... Excuse my panting, I've just reached the end of an epic Benny Hill style chase scene (you know, double speed with amusing music... minus the exposed boobies and horny old man) to capture a giant hungry looking silverfish that had been dashing around the catastrophe of mess that is my desk. Silverfish eat paper, so having one in my studio with prints, all my illustrations on watercolour paper, and my BRAND NEW $100 pad of lovely big paper, isn't ideal. But after many foiled attempts I finally caught him trying to exit stage left. Not sure what the point of me telling you this is (actually why am I telling you this? What has my life become?), just that I needed to share my triumph and relief with someone. Yay, phew!
Because you asked for it, and because I like you so much, I now have cute little prints of "Winderness" in my Etsy Store!I'm so pleased with how they turned out. Good thing with prints... you can make them look even better than the original ;) I will endeavour to relist them if they sell out, but if you can't see one, please let me know and I'll make one especially for you. Actually that goes for anything :) Also, if you're in Australia and you'd prefer not to use ETSY please let me know. (I will be listing lots of new things over the next week. I also have a new range of postcards on the way too. They're in the mail to me now).
 SUNDAY: Wrapping up this week of cheer with... - Making new friends - Watching our kitty nod her whole head to watch her ball bounce, rather than just her eyes. Actually dogs do this too and it's just all kinds of good. - Being sent this incredible sand art performance. And finally, discovering my newest obsession, moss graffiti. You see I've secretly always ALWAYS wanted to be a graf artist, but deep down I'm such a goodie-two-shoes I could just never bring myself to be that daring. But this may be the perfect solution! Mosstika (aka Edina Tokodi) seems to be the queen when it comes to moss graf. I bow down to her; bow down on my soft-moss supported knees.   And check out Abe's (aka Anna Garforth's) amazing work too. She works with Eleanor Stevens, and what they do is stunning, poetic and, well, mossy. She also does wondiferous things with leaves.  There are recipes online of how to make up your moss paint too. You make up this concoction, then paint it on a wall, water it now and then to keep it moist and wait for it to grow. If we ever buy our own home I am gonna moss that place up BIG TIME! So so so good! Big big big smile! Much much cheer!
SATURDAY: Lots of laughing with some dear old friends who visited on their way through to a holiday further north. Dolphins at the beach again. Making fresh mango smoothies for dessert.
FRIDAY: When we got to the beach for our swim today there was a big pod of dolphins in the water. That's pretty lovely. :)
 My first contribution to Illustration Friday in years!
THURSDAY: Today, forgetting about the stuff that isn't happening in broader life, and concentrate on being in the present moment, on the stuff that IS happening, I can say I've had a really lovely day. All week I have spent my days in the garage painting a mural, sitting in the garden to take a break now and then, and swimming at the beach to cool off in the afternoon. It's Summer, warm and sunny, and I have new tunes on my iPod. All perfect ingredients to cook up some cheerfulness. I mean, really.... life is pretty damn good... in the here and now.
WEDNESDAY: These next things are not new. They've been around for a while, but both still make me beam as much as the first day I saw them. My very dear blog friend and art mentor/patron, Susan, steers many a great ship, including her lovely blog art esprit, and her gorgeous gallery artstream. My cheerful points today both come from her... The first is the side bar on her blog... *blush* And the next is a photo she took in her gallery...  Those little girls are posing next to my artwork!!!! I don't know who they are, but I love them! Susan told me: "They kept walking around the gallery hand in hand then coming back to this piece. Finally they asked me if I would take a photo of them by it. They kept saying ohhhhh she is so pretty." *blush* Yup, still makes me happy. :)
I've been having a poo-stinky time over the past month or 2. I wrote a big venting post about it all, but didn't post it. WHY? Because I'm sick of feeling shitty, and the last thing I need is a reminder. I just want to feel happy. So I hereby declare the rest of this week "CHEERFUL WEEK!". For the rest of the week I'm challenging myself to post something everyday that makes me feel happy, cheerful or inspired. MONDAY: Over the weekend I watched Elizabeth Gilbert's TED talk. Have you seen these? I highly recommend at the end of the day when you're winding down, and there's nothing but crap on TV, to watch one of these 20 min talks. In her speech, Elizabeth Gilbert spoke about the nature of creativity, how we can become tortured by it, and ways people have learned to think of it differently, freeing themselves of the pressures associated with it. It was so inspiring I LOVED IT! Check it out : Elizabeth Gilbert, TED talk. TUESDAY: Today I found just the thing! The prefect medicine by none other than the amazing Kerri Smith. She has an Artists Survival Kit free to download. The intro paragraph had me crying out "YES", and the exercises had me intrigued and chuckling.  So if you're up for it, grab the button and join with me in this week of cheerful. :) Let me know if you do and I'll link to you. Make a little cheery group of happy-happy-joy-joy.
SCENE 1: End of a hot day, at the end of a yucky emotional week. Mr You and flossy-p pull on their swimmers, grab their towels, pull the gate closed behind them and walk off in the direction of the beach, eager to cool down, cleanse and cast off.
SCENE 2: Mr You and flossy-p ambling down the street together, cars rolling into driveways delivering workers home, cicadas squealing in tree's as they walk by chatting about their day... [MR YOU] - "I was eating a handful of almonds today, one, two, three, (re-inacts nibbling the almonds from his palm), four...four...four! I had the fourth one in my teeth but I couldn't pick it up... It was my ring! I thought my wedding ring was an almond and I was trying to eat it! (flossy-p giggles, cheering up immediately) I'm still not used to having something stuck to my hand." SCENE 3: Singlefile they walk through the little bush track and come out into the clearing by the lagoon. Kangaroo's congregate, pouches bulging with joeys, little heads, feet and tail tips simultaneously poking out the furry openings. Some pouches stretched so far they nearly touch the ground. Mr You points at the too big joeys and laughs... [MR YOU] - "Hey, what are you doing? You're too big, it's time to move out." SCENE 4: Serenity Beach is their favourite. Calmer than the others. They are quite often the only people there, today there is only one other family. The water is calm, the waves are occasional, lolling in slowly in sets of three, then disappearing back into a smooth rolling calm. The water is clear, they can see their own shadows cast on the sandy ocean floor beneath them.
They float and play in the water, stretching their weary bodies, relaxing into the rhythm of the sea, reminiscing and re-inacting their favourite childhood wave games. flossy-p swims over to Mr You... [MR YOU] - "Hi, what's this?" [flossy-p] - "I'm coming in for a sea cuddle." [MR YOU] - ""Sea cuddle"!!??? Pfff. It's not a sea cuddle, it's an "aqua hug!"" (flossy-p giggles, cheering up immediately)END.
This time last week we were selecting outfits with the most "give" in the mid-region... getting ready for our NYE feast. We were invited to a dinner party at Chunky Chooky's house, to take splendour in an gourmet 8 course degustation evening.       It was amazing!
Hope you all had a lovely Christmas. Ours was nice... firmly stomped our carbon footprint on the Earth though, as we drove here there and everywhere to see everyone, with only a few hours, or a day snatched at home inbetween. But overall it went down very nicely. Gifts given seem to be well loved:  Which is also good for us, seeing her settle herself on her new lounge at the end of a hard day's preening in the sunshine is just about the cutest thing we've got 'round here! And gifts received are certainly well loved too:  A bright little tea set with yummy tea from my Sister Sparkle.  A gorgeous salad/fruit bowl "handmade in Mexico" from Mum.  And my beloved new pillowcases from Mr You, via my visit to the Finders Keepers Market in Sydney last month, after a momentary hyperventilation when I first saw them. These made by Sunday Morning Designs. All things with drawing/painting on them. Just the way I likes it. How 'bout you? Tell me about your hot item! :D
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