By the river

Whhooo.... what a week!
It was my first week at uni and back into study. The last time I was at uni was 7 years ago. The the driving force of me going back is for that fancy piece of paper and some acquired knowledge. Well, I'm super excited to be playing the role of student again because all my classes are based around creative thinking. So I put my thinking cap on this weekend and worked my way through the processes of creativity. I have to produce 5 works portraying my views on the trigger text, 'restrict' and 'collar'. ( I will elaborate on this process during another post) And also produce 20 photos in narrative form evolved around the text, 'Retreat'.
So I got my trusty Vivienne view ( Olympus SP-57OUZ ) out for some happy snaps.
These images are unrelated to my homework for uni, yet there are some pretty lovely shots of Perth river during sunset.
The building amongst these photos was going to be turned into an art gallery but politics got in the way and now is just sitting there all lonesome. Must get more details on this. :)

Paris 1974

Every year we get older and our folks do to. This year my dear mother hit her '30+30' birthday year. And for a lady who really doesn't like clutter or many bits and bobs, I was a little stuck for ideas. Pouring through some old photos it occurred to me that an appropriate gift would be to paint a picture of my mother. Now what do you paint? A picture of her at her dear older age of 60? Or maybe a golden era of her youth?
The most inspiring photo of my mother, is a picture of her walking up the Montmartre stairs in Paris February 1974. Its downward view into a winter bound city shows its beautiful perspective of that romantique capitale. Oh how I do like a little romance in life. Maybe that's why I was living in France for the last year and a half. Yes, I think this photo of my travel curious mother inspired me greatly.
So for this lovely 60th birthday surprise I used water colour paint, student grade and a unknown paper given to me by a dear French friend of mine.
Bonne Anniversaire ma mere.

Venn

Well I'm learning to manage my posting time around study and work. But I then realised that as this is a reflection of my creative life, work and uni is apart of this creative process. I'm either inspired by unique characteristics of customers,the way the plants droop on humid days or just generally the art that displays on the walls at work. If you get a chance and your in Perth W.A then pop into 'VENN' http://www.venn.net/ , a creative hub of local art, unique gifts and fantastic food and beverages at the cafe. To be apart of this local creative community is very rewarding and gets the creative juices flowing. :)

She has nothing but a red face.

This is an oldie but a goodie.
I was living in Staines UK at the time. ( Yes the real Staines and no I did not see
Ali G.) Most of my time was spent drawing the hours away while listening to The Smiths with my best friend :)
This was an 8 minute progressive crayon drawing inspired by a P J Harvey picture at the time.

Portrait of Hank

Late night drawing, early morning painting.

Pencil repositioning

The blogtastic world commences again after another big move. For the first time in over two years I have officially unpacked my suitcase. This means my pencils and paints finally have a place to spread their bristles and pointy bits. My creative space is still in repositioning stage until the vibe is right, you know these things take sometime ;)
Moving house, wisdom teeth extracted and acceptance into uni as a mature age student, things are looking up in my 'little' big world. So this means I hope to be a more frequent blog artist.
I thought I would share a few images of my humble space and a few things that inspire me.
Thanks for being patient folks.:)

Devil with Attichude!

I guess young boys love to draw anything that's fire a brimstone. As for my fantastic nephew Ryley and one banana smoothie later, I'm faced with his interpretation of what the devil would look like to him.

Discriptoin (description)of my Devil, by Ryley.
Attichude ( attitude) - angry and mean
Colour- red body wight (white) horns, black beard, chest hair, arm pit heras (hairs) and howvse (hooves).
What he wears- sunglasses and blue shorts.
Has a 17 pack of abs and two clestwoon (?)and muscles on each side.
P.s smokes a segared (cigar).

Well this devil certainly has attichude!

Its a bit like Chronicles of Narnia meets suburban 'Bogan' meets the Godfather.
Thankyou Ryley for your super awesome imagination and drawing skills. xx
P.S I love the way the devil is delicately holding a flower. :)

Digestion

I love working in Cafes as they bring in an array of strange characters. There is this one particular man who I dedicate this post to. Himself and another chap discovered the infection by some unidentified spiral bacterium, Helicobacter pylori, caused gastritis-associated dyspepsia and ulcers, which also increased the risk of stomach cancer.
The amusing thing about this chap is that everyday without fail that we are open, he comes in for a coffee, sits and reads the news paper until we close shop. What makes this guy stand out? Well when you first meet him you think that he might be homeless. He won't wear shoes and always has his shirt completely unbuttoned with his rough cargo shorts and quite happily lays on our couch with his feet up. If you take a closer look you realise that a homeless man wouldn't really carry four Mont Blanc pens in his shirt pocket. I just love that he doesn't give two hoots what someone thinks of him and his odd little world. Quite frankly, I admire his non conformist dress sense and quite ramblings. This world wouldn't complete without a few so called 'odd' characters. Dr Robin Warren, this picture by J.J Grandville humbly represents you. :)

What floats my boat

These two illustrators float my anthropomorphism and caricaturist boat. Ronald Searle and J.J Grandville both have shared the "french" life experience such as I have. ( my experience being not as long winded as theirs.) Both styles are different and influence me greatly in how I go about drawing.

Thank you all for your lovely comments too. I appreciate feedback :)

La Fontaine

One sunny afternoon in France a come across a fable by Jean De La Fontaine, The Fox & the Crow. Have you heard of it?

'A Fox once saw a Crow fly off with a piece of cheese in its beak and settle on a branch of a tree.

"That's for me, as I am a Fox," said Master Reynard, and he walked up to the foot of the tree.

"Good day, Mistress Crow," he cried. "How well you are looking today: how glossy your feathers; how bright your eye. I feel sure your voice must surpass that of other birds, just as your figure does; let me hear but one song from you that I may greet you as the Queen of Birds."

The Crow lifted up her head and began to caw her best, but the moment she opened her mouth the piece of cheese fell to the ground, only to be snapped up by Master Fox.

"That will do," said he. "That was all I wanted. In exchange for your cheese I will give you a piece of advice for the future: "Do not trust flatterers."'


A fable is a succinct story that provides a moral lesson usually in verse or prose that features anthropomorphism (given human qualities).

I was originally attracted by this particular fable as I thought I could play on the vanity and flattering perspective for an art portfolio. And I love its child like simplicity.
So this is where my creative journey begins....(to be continued)

Pigment + H20

I spent the last couple of days cooped up in my creative space getting some much needed practice with watercolour paints. So I thought I would share some paintings with you.
I'm currently trying to get my head around an art portfolio project, which I will share bits and pieces with you tomorrow. Have a grand Sunday.

Henny Penny

Once again I'm inspired by the life of the chickens that live in the backyard. This afternoon doing a little drawing and was playing around with a mix of J.J Grandville style verses Ronald Searle, throw into the mix, a nerdy chicken with egg and this is what you get. 'Henny Penny had an accident'.
And for the chicken named Ethal who fell of her perch last week, may you rest in peace. Life continues with only three chickens now.

"Energetically Yours" Ronald Searle 1957

Energetically Yours

Amongst a few old posters at the Jazz festival markets in Nantes, I found the above print. A Ronald Searle lithograph, unfortunately unsigned but a true Paris litho print. I become infatuated by the comedic drawing and heavy lines and ever since I can happily say that Ronald Searle is one of the best illustrators of all time. Do you remember, The Belles of ST Trinians or Molesworth?
Ronald Searle heavily inspired countless illustrators, one of my favourites being Quentin Blake.
His work took me on an illustrative journey of French caricature. I will explain my journey another day.But for now I would like to share a few findings with you to help you see my process.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oy0oE4vMk-k

Just a quick squizz

A few old drawings of mine just for fun.

Shape What’s to Come. For You. For Your Community. For the World.

Shape What’s to Come. For You. For Your Community. For the World.

Jimmy Muscle

Awesome bike huh! And guess who owns it?..... My mum and her husband. Yes, the folks like to ride around in style no matter the age. The bike is rather of the original kind because of its second dinky seat at the back. It was adopted into our family last year and only this year it was given a name. 'Jimmy Muscle', this name come about when my brother was given one of mum's knitted toys that she created earlier in life, it was then my brother come up with the name. Although legend has it, the name Jimmy Muscle come from a older source, possibly my grandfather. Anyhow, This awesome bike has had its first movie debut on a local independent short film called Tepid, created by On Track Productions. It was a humble little night down at F.T.I. I like to support small local get togetherness like this that help keep people interested in the arts or crazy Grandma bicycles.
I took a few more photos of the old Woolstores just next door. Hope you enjoy the photos.

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Lets dig up the past

Since being back in my home town, I've dug through some stored boxes of mine eager to find my old artwork. I wanted to see my change in interest and skill since having a lull of creativity for many years. Relationships, travel and myself got in the way of nurturing an important part of my life, art. So last Sunday, I pulled out some old drawings and realized that they weren't as bad as what I'd thought they be.
Most artists suggest that when frustration hits you need to step away for a while and then come back with fresh eyes. Maybe a I got a bit extreme with that suggestion and went to the other side of the world.:)But it helped. So I wanted to share a few pieces of art with you to see what you think. Most of these were during my teenage years so they my express some adolescence, but either way tell me what you think. Please remember that from then to now I've had no professional guidance with my art. I am seeking to do so for the future.

Poulette of choice

Chickens are the future pet that gives back to you. My mum and her husband recently bought 4 pet chickens that are slowly revealing their personalities. It took a while to get the peaking order like most teenage females of any species, but now they are living in harmony after a couple of weeks. We can learn from the humble chicken, for example, remembering to eat our greens and take some time to roost. I'm a tad disappointed though as I like to cuddle chickens, their cuddles remind me of hugging your grandmother, strange but true.( my grandmother had chickens too). Also on New Years Eve at a party in France I remember a friend of friend who invited his pet chicken along for the party. Yes, Les poulettes like to their groove on and party the new year in too. I have a photo to prove it. Its another seven years till its the Chinese New Year of the rooster, so lets get our poulet on and become sustainable house holds with our beloved chickens and make the most of 2017.