Day 8 Artist Retreat - Cockroach Medicine

Day 7 Artist Retreat - Chloe

 

For my desert friend Chloe whose birthday and hen's party is today xoxo

Day 5 Artist Retreat - Cockroaches... cockroaches...

An idea in the making.....

Sometimes I think about things for too long...too scared it wont turn out right...sometimes you just got to dive in and go for it. 

Day 4 Artist Retreat - Train Detective

When we were kids we would play car detective. We would climb onto the roof of the house and watch the street, our notebooks in hand. We would record every car that drove up and down the street and all the important details to go with it - car rego, colour, what direction, who was driving etc....just in case a crime was later committed on the street and we could pass our findings onto the police. Possibly we had been reading too many Famous Five books! 

So today with a 2 hour round trip on the train to visit my grandmother I played Train Detective. I was only caught once by a tight-lipped mother who glared at me, grabbed her daughter and moved seats. I actually wanted to offer the girl some paper and pen so she could play too. 

The moustache man is for my friend Sassy who made this little handmade notebook for me. She is always giving them to me but they are so beautiful I am afraid to draw in them. She has told me off severely so I can now tell her I am busy drawing in her books. This one has moustaches all over the cover.

Day 3 Artists Retreat - Deep within the Forest

The cockatoo came and tried to engage me in conversation today. It is possible he was just looking for "George" (my dad's very life-like pottery kingfisher he's friends with). But either way, he was very keen I pay attention to him...but that's cockatoos for you!

Eventually... I just went outside and collected leaves along the beck...all because on my troll through the mornings emails I discovered that Creative Kids Tales have a new competition called "Deep within the Forest". Competition doesn't close till September (if you're interested) so I've got time to develop my idea. But as I feel like I AM currently "deep within the forest", the inspiration was there.

http://www.creativekidstales.com.au/competitions/ckts-competitions

Day 2 Artists Retreat - They Draw and Cook "Avocado MOOOOSE!"

Woke up with the sun. Enough lolling around! Could see the sea peaking at me through the trees.Went for a run and a hop and a skip (none of which I am particularly skilled at) and jumped on a passing train in search of avocados and art supplies.

Check out the recipe and more at They Draw and Cook

Day 1 Artists Retreat - Illustration Friday "Sharp"

It is holiday time and I have taken up residency in my dad's house while he is away in Belgium. He lives in amongst the trees where solitude is found. He has stocked the fridge full of all my favourites - brie and strawberries and other delicacies. It is cold... a very different kind of cold from the sunny winter of the desert. In the morning I lay sleeping late under piles of doonas and the electric blanket. Now, mid-afternoon it already seems to be getting dark and the doona and I have moved to the couch where we are surround by paper and scribbles. This will be I think the pattern of my days. Waking and dreaming, creating and reading and watching the birds through the big glass windows that circle the house.