When I run classes at any of the programs I run, including at my studio "Art in the Garden Room", I always recommend to sign the artwork and date it on the back. 
I wish I had done this when I started back painting. Fortunately, modern technology means I can work out dates based on the photos on my phone.

I love to look back and see the progression in my artwork, how my brushstrokes have changed, my colour palette and style changes. My art has always been inspired by nature, the style and colour palette has changed over time, yet my artwork continues to be inspired by nature.  Over time, I realised, I  prefer to paint impressionistic and abstract work, using mixed media. 
 
When we look back at our artwork it can trigger ideas, identify what we love, what we prefer to leave behind and monitor our development. Looking back can move you forward to exciting new ideas, spark joy in following your own artistic journey and create a sense of accomplishment.  This is why, I highly recommend having a sketchbook for practice as well as a safe private place for experimentation. 

Do you sign and date your work? Do you like looking at an artist's earlier work?
Feel free to leave a comment below.

Featured Artwork: Spring Meadow
​

Just this weekend, I was gifted a weekend to myself.  Hubby headed off to a blokes weekend in the country and I had the house to myself. As our little fluffy mate passed away over three months ago, there was no one relying on me or waiting for me.  I was as free as a bird to do as I pleased. 
The monthly paint-out had been postponed due to inclement weather.  This had been my only commitment over the weekend.

After heading out for some extra art supplies I headed back to my studio with the heater blasting and started on a project I had not had time to do for months.  The panels I had purchased had sat there on my shelving teasing me every time I went into the art shed. They would look at me and I at them, wishing I had the time to take them off the shelf, unwrap them and then cover them with creamy delicious acrylic paint. I started slowly on my idea using paper and working on my idea for the eight panels. Suddenly two hours had slipped by as I worked on a small 20cm x 20cm piece.  I was happy with the outcome.

Finally, the next day I set up in the garden room with panels, paint, water, brushes, palettes and paper towels, I was ready. I could now start on my project giving it my full attention.  Throughout the process, I mixed an array of colours, used a variety of mark-making tools and skimmed books for the right words to jump out at me for the collage.  It was exhilarating, to say the least.  I didn't stop for a coffee or a break, I was so focused and in my zone.  After many hours, I was finished, it was time to sit back and let them dry so they could be varnished. 

The gift of a weekend to enjoy creating was invigorating, peaceful and filled with what I love to do. I think you need one of these weekends once and a while. 

How would you spend the gift of a weekend to yourself?  Leave your comment below. 
 
Featured artwork: Unscaled Peaks and Uncharted Waters

I can sit and while away hours lost in paint, brush and thoughts. Often, I get lost in the art, conjuring up stories or scenarios that fit with a scene. Take the piece pictured to the left.  I imagined myself on this secluded beach, nestled in the rocks with a book, the sun glistening on my skin and the gentle lap of the ocean coming up to the shoreline. I transport myself to that place, if only for the time I am creating, even though it may be raining and windy outside. 

Some people create art for their pleasure, a form of relaxing, rejuvenation of the mind and soul and a pleasure entirely for themselves.  There is no intention for the completed artwork, only for the moment.

Hobbyist's create for the joy of a hobby that keeps them active, connected and enjoying their pursuits. Often,joining a group with likeminded creatives.

There is also the part time or full time artist who creates art for not only the joy but for the purpose of selling their works. Some are creating for the purpose of their work to be hung in a gallery or museum.

Ask yourself, am I creating this piece for:
it to be in a museum?
it to be in a gallery?
to be sold?
to hang on my wall at home?
me to have no expectation?
me to enjoy the time relaxing, having fun and forgetting what is going on in my life?
 
There is no right or wrong to any of the reasons we create art. When I am in the studio or out an about creating, I don't have anyone in mind, I don't create with the intention to put the piece up for sale.  I create for the joy, the experieince and the sheer enjoyment and pleasure of creating.  I personally think, for me, it takes the pressue off, it allows you the freedom to explore, break the rules, have fun, create without expectation.  If someone loves what I have created enough to purchase it, take it to their home and enjoy it, that is all I can ask for beyond my pleasure.    

Are you a creator or an admirer?  Leave your comments below.

To easel or not to easel, is the question today.  
When I got back into creating, I purchased a small desktop easel to hold my small canvases.  It was good enough; I didn't know if I was going to continue the creative journey when everything when back to "normal" so I went with a cheap and cheerful option which suited me at the time.   Within a few months, I realised the cheap and cheerful just wasn't cutting it, so ordered in a desktop easel which was so much better with larger canvases.  I soon learnt I much preferred standing to paint than sitting. 

A few more months later during one of the breaks in lockdown, my gorgeous hubby came home with a studio easel for me.  I love it and use it every day I am in the studio.  It is sturdy, holds large canvasses and is now covered in paint, I think the paint gives it character.

I found as my circumstances changed and also my painting style I needed a few different easels.  My larger desktop easel is still on hand for when I am sitting at my desk and creating, my studio easel is a must and I have a few portable easels I use for open studios and displays.  I have also been using the portable tripod to take to my art classes. 

The tripod easel I have been taking to various classes is great, yet it is bulky to leave in the boot of the car. I had been eyeing off on Amazon a tripod easel with a shelf etc. (pictured).  So last week I ordered it, and it arrived 2 days later. I was pleased to see it fits in a small bag and is so light and versatile. I can now use it at my art classes, along with en plein air excursions and also painting demonstrations.

You don't need to be like me and have multiple easels, pick one that suits your needs, ask yourself, will I be painting on paper or canvas?  Will I be creating large or small pieces? Do I need to incorporate storage?  Does it need to be portable?   Can I leave it up or do I need to pack it away?  Do I like working on an easel or on the table? What type of medium will I be using?

Once you have answered these simple questions you will have a better understanding of your easel requirements.    You can check out some of my favourite tools and a couple of easels. 

How do you like to work?  Leave a comment below.
  

A few years ago, I did a course on using a limited palette.  I found it to be a stretch initially using just a few colours and black and white.  
So what is a limited palette? Imagine you're baking biscuits, but you only have a few ingredients in your pantry. A limited palette in art is like that, it's when you choose to work with only a small set of colours instead of having every colour available, just like having only a few ingredients for your biscuits.
So, instead of using every colour in your art supplies kit, you might pick just three or four main colours, like red, blue, yellow, and maybe white.  I also like to have black or Payne's Grey.  With these colours, you can mix and blend them together to create all sorts of new and exciting colours.
Working with a limited palette is a fun challenge. It helps you focus on learning how colours work together and how to mix them just right to get the shades you want. Plus, it can make your artwork look really harmonious and cohesive because all the colours are related to each other, just like all the ingredients in your biscuits work together to make them taste great!
One of the main reasons I love to work with a limited palette, it makes me stretch myself with blending colours to get just what I need and want for a particular piece.
The photo of a work in progress in this post is using a limited palette of cobalt blue, Payne's grey, cadmium yellow and burnt sienna with white for adjusting tones.  Mixing colour with a limited palette is one of my favourite ways to paint.  

If you are just starting out, you can start with a few colours and mix your colours without buying every tube on the shelf!

So, think of a limited palette as your artistic recipe. You might not have every colour in the world, but with a little mixing and experimenting, you can create something really special!

​You can find some of my favourite tools here 
If you have favourite colours you use in a limited palette, why not share them in the comments below.

I am an all or nothing type of person.  When I start a new hobby or project I seem to swamp myself with he must haves and a few might grabs. I can't help myself.  
​There are a few essential items to have in your kit if you are planning to start creating. 

Instead of starting on canvases there is the option to start in sketchbooks/journals or pads. Not only is it cost effective, as someone that is starting our you are more likely to experiment and have fun than worry about wasting a canvas.
  
A few quality pencils starting with a HB and then a range from 2H to 6B is a terrific starting point and often can be purchased in packs. A kneadable eraser and a rubber eraser are also ideal to have on hand.  

For those wanting to explore painting a basic brush set is indispensable. Include a variety of sizes and types such as  filbert, round, flat to give you different brush strokes. A couple of palette knives are also a worth while investment.  You can buy packs of brushes with a few palette knives to give you a reasonable variety of tools. 

Choose your medium, do you want to use watercolour, acrylics or gouache?  Start with a basic colour palette of your chosen paint, this will inspire your to mix your colours and experiment.  You can always upgrade the quality and colour range as you become more comfortable. 

You don't have to spend big on palettes and cups.  I use recycled food jars for my water cups and a plastic palette.  I also use a perfect for me size cardboard and tape greaseproof paper to it.  This is perfect for acrylic paints and for watercolour I have an old plate.  One tip I do have is try and work on a whit palette so you don't change the look of the colour you are mixing by the distraction of another colour or a pattern. The photo above is of my mixing palette using the greaseproof paper. 

Finally, learning resources are something to tap into.  I run over 80 classes a year if you live near my studio or use the internet and check out some of the great resources on Youtube.

There you have it, you can get creating on a small budget and enjoy the process.  I have put together, my favourite tools as a starting point, if you are not sure where to start.

Do you have your favourite tools you would like to share?  Leave a comment below.   

I love painting, I love sketching and I love spending time in my art shed.  As soon as hubby heads off for golf with his buddy's, I have whipped open the door of the studio before he has even reached the end of the driveway.  There is something about having no one around, no distractions, no noise, nothing for me to even think about. 

I open my sketchbook and lose myself in the pages.  sometimes I decide to use watercolour, other times acrylics or there are times I delve into the art supplies and enjoy the freedom of mixed media. There is no rhyme or reason to what medium I choose.  Sometimes, I flit between sketchbooks,  Just the other day, I went from sketchbook watercolour (the photo is the end result of my sketch book watercolour) to a canvas using bold vibrant colours with impasto medium.  As one part dried I worked on the other.
  
Can you believe three hours had passed by without me even knowing it. There is something said about immersing yourself in art.  For me I go to a place where worries, sadness, hurt, frustration and negative thoughts don't live.  This is a place that is void of negativity and a place where time stands still. This is a place that time forgot and peace exudes. 
Does art give you a happy place?  Does art give you a sense of peace that can reinvigorate you and send you back into the world refreshed and positive?

​Leave your comments below and let me know what art does for you and if you can relate,  

Artists that find inspiration in nature have a never ending opportunity to bring the outside in.  Nature has a certain way that it casts a magic spell over us. A walk in nature, you can hear the rustle of leaves, the lapping of the ocean or a sunrise or sunset filled with vibrant hues.

As the urban sprawl continues and medium to high density living increases, there is less and less opportunity to experience nature regularly.  Art is a way to bridge the gap between the great outdoors and the limited space indoors. 
Mother Nature offers endless inspiration from mountain peeks, rivers and beaches to the tiniest of petals on intricate flowers and everything in between. 

Art can be a conduit to the connection between nature and indoors, creating a certain ambiance melded with your own personal decorative elements.  

Imagine waking to a beautiful bouquet of flowers on your side table with water you never have to change, or a sunset that never sets on your wall.  You can have it all with art in your home.

 

I often wonder is it important to have your art fit into a style or a label. My work flits between expressionism and impressionism and sometimes slides into abstract. 
Expressionism art uses vivid colour to convey the emotional response to the subject where impressionism art captures the essence of the scene relying on the use of light.  Abstract however, is non-representational and left to the interpretation of the artist and the viewer.  I do enjoy abstract; however, I keep finding my way back to vibrant florals.
For this reason, I call myself a mixed media artist, as I use multiple media in my work and I can't really put a style or label to it. 
Should we label our style or should we be able to create to our passion as opposed to a label.  There are differing opinions in the art world as to the benefits or attributes of labelling an artist to a genre or movement. 
For me, I don't want to limit myself as I continue to experiment, play and develop my artistic skills.

What is your favourite stye, genre or art movement?

Acrylic paint was my way back into art and I loved it that's for sure. I signed up for some on-line art classes during lock down and was exposed to the world of mixed media. This changed everything for me and my art.  Also, attending art classes where you could experiment and use different mediums opened my eyes and hands to different textures and styles.
So what is mixed media I hear you ask.  Mixed media is the combination of two or more art mediums into one piece of art. Some examples would be painting a watercolour picture and then adding pen or ink to the works or using acrylic paint and then adding oil pastels to the piece.  Of course, you can have multiple mediums in one piece to get your desired effect.  I tend to use soft oil pastels and or charcoal after I have completed the acrylic artwork.  I find adding another medium gives you some amazing affects you can't necessarily achieve using the one medium. 
Mixed media can be used on all genres of art whether you love abstract, realism, expressionism or impressionism.
Vincent van Gough before his early death had been experimenting with colour combinations and mixed media, although it hadn't been named at that stage.
Mixed media for me is a new and exciting way to find expression and texture in my artwork, particularly as my art is inspired by nature and nature is full of texture and colour.

Art can be a relaxing past time, a hobby, or your way of making a living.  No matter what role art plays in your life, creating art teaches us to problem solve.  Looking at a piece of art and seeing that it doesn't quite work or quite speak to you means stepping back and looking at what is working well, what is ok and what isn't working.
​ 
When I was in a corporate role, we often as a management team would sit down and analyse the business based on what's working, what's not, what can we do to improve it.  As artists we do the same. We look at our artwork in the same way as a businessperson would look at their operations.   

Art teaches us to observe, analyse and work through a specific problem to overcome what is not working.  Do we add some texture, shape, tone, or colour?  Do we make this come forward, back, paint over it, leave it.  What will make this piece speak to the viewer?  

This process carries over into every area of our lives.  These skills are transferable and valuable to our growth, increasing our capacity for thinking in new and diverse ways.  We determine what we need to do to ensure a better and different outcome for a specific problem.

The benefits of taking time out for creativity are endless.  Keep creating! 

I grew up in what was once a sleepy town on the outskirts of Perth. Our house was surrounded by bushland with a peppering of houses until the development of the land started.  Our primary school had a special "Australia Garden" with a man-made creek, rockpools and native flora and fauna. It was an ideal surrounding for kids who played in the bushland, built secret cubby houses and hideouts.  I think this is where my love of nature truly began.  The photo you see here is the bushland that still exists near my parents' house.  The land has been preserved to continue the growth of wattle, wildflowers, banksia, and eucalypt trees. 
I now live in a beautiful part of Victoria with our house backing on to public open space which has beautiful bushland, wetlands and bird life.  I don't know how I would leave this place, it is so beautiful and inspiring.

I am inspired by nature in my artwork, whether it be landscape, abstract or florals.  Nature is perfectly imperfect.  No two flowers are the same, an aging rose is as beautiful as a newly formed bud.  A walking track can take you to the most beautiful parts of a bush or the most treacherous.  A flower can bring back a memory and a smile to your face. You can change someone's day by sharing some nature with them, even if it is a small, handpicked posy from your garden.
You can even have nature in your home every single day of the year with a piece of artwork inspired by nature. 

I love music, I have an eclectic taste in music which I was able to indulge in for 10 years as a radio show producer and presenter.  I could pick and choose what to listen to in between the on-air interviews. You now have access to any song, genre and artist and thousands of podcasts with apps such as Spotify, Apple Music, Iheartradio and the like.
​
I have also had two successful podcasts in the past both interviewing guests and sharing knowledge from LBA (life before art).  You can probably tell I love sound and can be highly auditory given the nature of my past exploits. 
For me creating art is intensifying my visual skills and has reduced the need for auditory stimulation.

Initially when I started creating again, I sat in silence and got lost in the paints. It was so relaxing and peaceful.  It was also at a time that there was a lot of negativity and sadness in the world with the pandemic. 

Over the years I transitioned to a playlist for creating.  It is easy to listen to and has intermittent songs I can hum or sing along to. I know of many artists that prefer to paint and create listening to music from various genres such as classical, heavy metal to easy listening.

Occasionally I listen to a podcast from my favourite art podcasts such as Art to Life, Art Chatter and my all-time favorite Art Juice. 

Lately, I have opted for silence.  I have been enjoying creating florals and being present in the moment of creating in silence.  The stresses of everyday life slip away as the paint glides on, and time gets lost. What a fabulous feeling.

Do you prefer music, podcasts or silence when you are working?  What is your favourite podcast or music?
   

In July 2022 I entered my first art show.  It was an amazing experience to go through the process of putting together the requirements for the online application. I was as nervous as a kitten.  I didn't know what I was doing, what some of the questions meant or what I was supposed to write. Would my artwork stack up with other entries, was my work worthy of being accepted? Am I an imposter?  All the questions came bounding up to me as I sat there with the computer screen in front of me and the online form bouncing from the screen and the questions swirling in my head.  I took a deep breath and thought, what is the best thing that can happen? So, I entered my first art show, was accepted, and sold my painting.  Not bad for a first time attempt.

There are so many great reasons to enter art shows and art competitions. I find one of the most important processes to come out of entering is being able to explain your work.  It gives you a chance to consider the piece you are entering, what is the emotion you are trying to evoke, what you were thinking, how does it relate to the show if it has a theme.
 
I remember another show, the piece had to have D hooks.  I had no idea what a D hook was or how I was going to fix it to my piece as I was entering artwork on a board which was only 3mm thick. After countless YouTube videos, practice on scrap boards I devised a solution.

How do you pack a painting to go via post to an art show or exhibition? This was another hurdle I needed to overcome.  I needed to protect my piece, the corners, the canvas, what is the best way of packaging?

In the past I did not have to deal with postage as my art sales had been local and drop offs.   

All these little nuances prepare you for sales, speaking about your art and allow you an experieince to prepare you for future sales and exhibitions.  Next time you see an art show advertised, give it a go and if you happen to be attending one, keep an eye out for me. 

When I started back creating, I had nothing in my kit of supplies. Most of my creations of late had been on the computer in the form of social media posts and writing articles, eBooks and training manuals.
I purchased two large canvases on sale and hubby came home with some paint brushes and paints.  The paints were small tubes, the brushes were cheap and cheerful, but it was a start.  I then purchased some small canvases 20cm x 20cm and artist boards 25cm x 20cm to practice on.  Hubby and I spent hours painting and enjoying the process.  I started off with student grade paints, and those cheap and cheerful brushes. By the way, it was weeks later we painted on the large canvas, after hours and hours of practice.
If you plan to start dabbling in art for a hobby, start with what you have and what you can afford. Enjoy creating every day without worrying about wasting paint or messing up an expensive brush.  Have fun and enjoy the moment.