NEW WEBSITE

Hi Everyone...its been a while since I have posted here but I have been painting up a storm! I also have a new website and a brand new series of paintings that I have been working on which I would love to share with you! Please take a look at my new website heidishedlock.com

It has a gallery, a SHOP, information on where to find my paintings, places to find me on social media and of course a Blog where I share not only my work, but inspiration on leading a creative life. I also share a monthly NEWSLETTER (yes I'll ONLY pop into your busy email space once a month) to keep you updated with lots of exciting inspiration, new work, special offers and tips for creative living...I would love to continue to share and stay in touch with you, so please SIGN UP for the newsletter and lets remain friends!

Wishes from my new studio

Heidi

'Serendipity' Exhibition

"Serendipity" showing at artSPACE Durban 14 October - 2 November

I have been extremely quiet on this platform and you would be forgiven for having forgotten about me altogether, unless of course you follow any of my social media feeds. 

I have been feverishly working on a new body of work for an exhibition that opened at artSPACE here in Durban on the 14 October. For those of you who have followed my Paintings in the post for a long time, you will know that flowers are one of my favorite subjects to paint (there were LOTS of postcard size floral daily paintings!). I am very excited about this body of work and the work I have planned moving forward, so I hope you will continue to follow my painting journey. I have also been quiet on this platform as I am busy updating my online presence and will hopefully have some interesting news to share soon!

If you are in Durban and haven't yet managed to see "Serendipity", you have a bit of time left as the show only comes down next week on the 2nd November. If you would like to see more images and some work from the show you can see more on my Instagram account at heidishedlock.

The support in Durban for my exhibition has been fantastic....thank you Durban with all my heart!

Purchase paintings at Heidi Shedlock Fine Art

Time for tea #763

Daily painting #763 6"x6" oil on primed panel (unframed)

Time for tea....and Elderflower cordial, Stilton cheese and a host of other yummy English treats that I can't wait to get to my hands on! As I sit this morning drinking a cup of Five Roses tea in my studio (I start the day with coffee always, but its cold and I can't drink coffee all day), I am starting to get a little flutter of excitement in the pit of my stomach. We leave soon for a family holiday  in England. 

You may not know that I lived in London many years ago. I came home for a short period with every intention of returning (once visas were sorted) to this vibrant, exciting city that I called home. But life had other plans. I met my husband here in South Africa, got married and only returned  to England almost 15 years later. I went back for the first time again 3 years ago. Some of you who have followed Paintings in the post for a long time, might remember I was well into my 365 days of paint and so I travelled with my painting things and painted and blogged every day while traveling. This time I won't be traveling with my painting things, although I always have a sketchbook, pens and a tiny traveling watercolor set on hand. I won't be sharing pages from my private journal though. I will however share some photos and lots of inspiration on my Instagram account so you can follow along there if you would like to stay in touch (click here to follow my Instagram account).

I haven't painted any little paintings for Paintings in the post lately. I am frantically working towards an exhibition (of larger work) here in Durban at Artspace gallery in October. So it seems fitting that as I tie up the last little bits in my studio and tidy up before closing the doors until my return, that I sit and do a little painting. There is something spiritual about these little studies for me...I have discussed this many times before. Just me and my paint and a little space! So tea it is...almost time to feed my painting soul with some English inspiration...and my tummy with a host of English treats.

Purchase paintings at Heidi Shedlock Fine Art
(Click on the highlighted writing to view gallery of available little paintings)

Permanent Rose #762

Daily painting #762 6"x8" oil on primed panel (unframed)

I have been working on many large paintings lately. I am not sharing all of them online as I am working towards an exhibition in October and I have also not been doing as many little postcard size studies as I would like to have. I really miss doing them. The time spent doing these little studies is quiet, intimate and meditative. They are good for my soul and besides, any time spent closely  observing, is good for any artist. 

So after all the flowers this week...a rose of a different kind...a Permanent Rose. The oil paint pigment Permanent Rose by Winsor and Newton. The irony is that  although I paint numerous roses and other flowers, this colour is never used! Hence the fact that the still plump, full tube of paint is rather bent and buckled from lying around for a rather long time! So a little rose for you today...but not of the floral variety!

If you have missed any of my social media posts lately and would like to see some of the large florals that I did share, here is a little peep...

You can stay in touch with some more little studio shares by finding me on Facebook at Paintings in the post and on Instagram @heidishedlock

Have a wonderful weekend...its back to the studio for me before its time to pick up my kids from school! 

Purchase paintings at Heidi Shedlock Fine Art
(Click on the highlighted writing to view gallery of available little paintings)

Bakers Choc-o biscuits #761

Daily painting #761 5"x7" oil on primed panel (unframed)

April is a month of celebrations! We have four family birthdays in April, two of which are both my children. Yip...bad planning from this mum! April is thus a busy (and expensive) month, but a happy one too! It's a month of celebrations, parties, entertaining, family get-togethers and way too much yummy food. 

Needless to say in April (like December) we kind of fall off the sugar-free wagon a little, if I have to be honest. I am fine with that though as life happens and it's not worth stressing over, so although way too much sugar has crept back into our eating of late, the important thing is getting back into eating as sugar-free as possible again. It is easy in that I just don't purchase or keep anything containing any form of sugar in our house. But it is SO darn hard to give it up, that we are reminded about how damn addictive the stuff is and how quickly your taste buds change. The motivating factor though is that we all feel so much better when we illuminate any kind of sugar and it makes me jump for joy when I hear my teenage children say they can't wait to detox from the sugar again because it effects so many things like sleep, bloating, skin, concentration...to name a few.

So it's time to say cheeri-o to choc-o's or any of the remaining party food in the house. The problem is that I love to paint all the things that we shouldn't eat! They are always so colourful and interesting to paint (although I regularly paint the beautiful colours of natural food too). Perhaps that's a good thing... to obsess over painting the food that we obsess over, rather than eating it. I obsess over the juicy paint and mark-making (don't worry I don't plan on eating any paint) and somehow I always forget about what it is that I am painting anyway...it is always about the paint! So although we won't be eating any of the sugary treats for a while, I can't promise that I won't be painting them! 

Purchase paintings at Heidi Shedlock Fine Art
(Click on the link to view gallery of available little paintings)

Plum talk #760

Daily painting #760 6"x8" oil on primed panel (unframed)

This Saturday I was fortunate enough to be invited to chat and do a painting demo for a group of local artists at the Highway Art Group. I painted these vibrant plums for them, but the talk had very little to do with plums! 

We spoke about daily rituals, habits, painting for the love of painting, our painting egos and of course about our inner critics. It was a wonderful morning of sharing, meeting new people and inspiring one another in our creative journeys. I feel privileged to have been able to share my story and my Paintings in the post journey with them. Speaking of inner critics...try painting in front of a room full of people while you chat about your process which in contrast is actually a very solitary, meditative process...a huge contrast to painting while your heart pounds with people watching you and asking questions all while your inner critic is doubting that you will ever get this done because talking, chatting and not concentrating is definitely NOT how you would normally paint! That being said it was a wonderful morning and perhaps a true example of how to shut your inner critic up and paint anyway for no other reason other than because you love to paint! I was pretty happy with how the plums turned out...big kick up the butt for my inner critic (HA!) Thank you Highway Art group for inviting me to your meeting, I thoroughly enjoyed my morning!

Another weekend happening that makes me want to sing and dance and jump for joy, is that my parents finally moved! What an upheaval to leave your home of almost 30 years! But it is done...we are all exhausted but happy! I just can't believe that the little cottage they are living in was once my messy, crazy, busy studio space! It cleaned up pretty well...

Now to get back to some serious uninterrupted studio time again. Time for me to focus...on painting!

Purchase paintings at Heidi Shedlock Fine Art

Recharging... Where? What? Why?

I have not been very present or prolific on this blog lately.

In fact you could be forgiven for thinking that I had given up on it altogether. 

Well I definitely haven't...I just desperately needed a break...and some time out. 

Some recharging....in many areas.

I decided to give myself some time off and set the week after Easter weekend as a date to make a come back (on this blog). Now don't go thinking I had some kind of break down or emotional upheaval (not that there is anything wrong with that) but I decided to have a break BEFORE I ended up having some kind of emotional explosion! I think it is very important to recognize when one needs to have 'time out'! So here are some of my reasons for knowing it was time....

Firstly my parents had an unfortunate incident a while back where they were held at gunpoint in their home and from that point on we decided it was time for them to make the move to come and live with us. I am an only child and so I see it as my responsibility one day to take care of my parents should they need it (a personal choice). I don't want to wait until they are sickly or there is another traumatic incident that preempts this massive change. Moving out of your home is stressful enough and I wanted my parents to make the move while they are healthy and able to enjoy the time spent with us. I wanted it to be as stress-less as possible. That being said we decided to convert my large outside studio into a little cottage for them and do other building alterations to make a new outdoor studio space for me to work and teach from. I have a small but cosy and quaint studio inside our house that I often work in at night and that I use as an office space but it is not large enough to teach or run workshops from. Anyone who tells you that building alterations are not stressful is lying to you! Not only is dealing with builders, contractors and the list of snags that always pop up, stressful...try moving your entire workspace with years of accumulated materials, paintings etc and being in limbo while building alterations take weeks longer than planned (don't they always). Earlier on in the year, knowing that all of this lay ahead, I started to put things in place that alleviated some of the many things I do as I knew I needed to 'get through' this short phase, and remain sane...well as sane as one can remain when dealing with builders and contractors and living on a construction site! Writing this blog and putting pressure on myself to complete many little paintings was one thing I decided to put on hold. I took on  no further commissioned work and declined any extra teaching or workshop opportunities. 

Another reason was that since I fell down our stairs, broke my ankle/leg and broke my cycle of 568 consecutive days of little daily paintings, I had been struggling with what or why I was still doing these little daily paintings despite the fact that I loved everything about the concept of Paintings in the post. They had become so much a part of my daily studio practice and not completing  one every single day for a purpose just felt like something was missing. But to contradict this, I also found myself enjoying spending time exploring larger work again. I realized that many people associated me and my artwork with these little paintings only, especially people who had only just started to follow my journey. This is wonderful but there is also more to me as an artist than quick little daily studio studies and so if I have painted recently (in amongst the chaos and without a studio), I have used this time to explore and reconnect with larger more exploritory work again. You can see parts of my journey which I documented mainly on Instagram (click to visit my feed). When I started Paintings in the post I wrote that I was feeling flat and uninspired after working on a body of work for an exhibition and that I wanted to just sit and paint without giving the outcome too much thought, without mulling over and playing or exploring a painting for longer periods of time. I just wanted to document what I saw. Now I found myself missing that creative exploration terribly and found myself bored (a huge thing to admit) with little increasingly realistic studies, despite how valuable the process of completing them was for me. I needed to discover and explore again. I needed to take some time to just find myself again...

So where to now?

Well firstly, I have an exhibition coming up later in the year which will show both little and larger work. All my recent exhibitions have been purely Paintings in the post related. I have also decided to consider putting larger work back into galleries. I have concentrated so much on my online presence with the smaller little daily paintings that I did not put any larger work out there for a while (unless it was commissioned work) and it's time to reconnect with some galleries again I think. So what about Paintings in the post, you might be thinking? Well there is absolutely no reason why I cannot continue Paintings in the post. I love the concept of little paintings arriving by snail mail to collectors and followers all over the world, in little packaged parcels. Who doesn't love treasure arriving in the post?! Little paintings are SO very easy to post all over the world and my paintings have travelled to more far off places than I can ever hope to visit. There is something hugely satisfying in that thought. So I will continue to do these little postcard size daily (as in finished in one sitting) paintings and share them online and sell them via my Tictail online store. I value the process of painting these little paintings so much (I have written about this many times) that I have realized that they will always be a valuable part of my studio practice but they don't have to happen every day. I can also allow myself the time to work on more process based and exploratory work and other exciting projects too while keeping the little postcard size paintings selling in my online store. I did manage over the last few weeks to paint a few little paintings and they have been added to my store although I did not blog or write about them. An example is the little donut below. You can view a few other little paintings completed during my break (I couldn't help myself, I had to do a few) by visiting https://paintingsinthepost.tictail.com

Apologies for the extraordinarily looooong blog post, but I feel like I had a lot to share. 

My parents finally move into their beautiful new cottage on our property in just a few days time. I'm  SO excited to have my Mama close by! I also have a beautiful new studio that is full of light and surrounded by beautiful trees...I feel privileged and hugely grateful for this. I also feel like I have some purpose and direction back in my art making practice, something that I think came tumbling down around me when I tumbled down the stairs. I was SO hoping to make 2 whole years (yes 730 days!!!) of consecutive little daily postcard size paintings. But it wasn't meant to be. I'll take 568 though...I think it was a darn fine effort even if I say so myself! 

Lastly I hope I make you think about learning to recognize when its time to 'take a break', 'give something up' or have 'time out' when you know you need it. Sometimes we are just so hard on ourselves...I chose to be kinder to myself...I hope you can be kind to yourself too. 

It's good to be back!

(SHEW for someone who professes to be a painter and NOT a writer that's an awful lot of writing...YIKES! Candice Caldwell if you are reading, I think I need an editor... there are bound to be mistakes that I overlook! Ooops!)

Much love and I hope you continue to follow along and encourage your friends to follow too. Remember to sign up to my mailing list to see future posts. I promise they will be shorter!

That's all from me for now (finally), cheers Heidi

PS (not quite finished) A little peek at my new studio space...I am loving it...

Purchase paintings at Heidi Shedlock Fine Art

Daily painting #754 Rosey blue

Daily painting #754 8"x8" oil and mixed media on primed panel (unframed)

We are in the process of building alterations at home. I have a studio space/office that I use inside our house but I also have a much larger studio space outside where I teach from 3 mornings a week and paint my larger works from. This studio space is being converted into a cottage for my parents to come and live with us. Another out-building which has been used as a glorified storeroom for ages (i.e. not really used at all) is being converted into a new studio space for my larger work (and to teach from). We live in an old home with lots of character and it has been transformed over the 12 years we have lived here. Our home borders natural park land and so my new studio space, which is quite elevated, is going to look out into the tops of the trees. I am so excited about this...I love a room with a view! We have amazing birdlife and a troop of resident monkeys that live in the trees. However, building is never fun and I will be glad when it is all complete! 

As a result of all the chaos in my house, trying to find my mojo in my studio yesterday was quite hard. I found it hard to switch off from all the interruptions and get my head completely focussed on painting. I shared on social media a larger painting (you can see it here) that I have been working on and for every step forward yesterday, it felt like I took one step backwards too. Like a dance. Dancing is good for the soul right? So I stayed positive and kept painting. This morning instead of heading straight back to that Tango(tangle) or Cha-cha, I did a quick little study "Rosey blue" and then took some paintings I wasn't happy with and changed, altered, patterned, messed and generally played with paint to rework them (you can see this on the link too). It was a liberating way to start my morning and despite the constant drilling, hammering and thudding from outside, I enjoyed the dance and found my own beat. It's fascinating how some days things just work for you and some days they just don't. 

Dance anyway I say!

The view from my new studio space started to reveal itself as they bashed out the wall for a large window.
It made all the chaos of the day worthwhile!

Purchase paintings at Heidi Shedlock Fine Art
(Click on the highlighted writing to view gallery of available little paintings)

Daily painting #753 Blue with blackberries

Daily painting #753 oil on primed canvas panel (unframed) 6"x8"

Every time I go into a local store, I see the beautiful berries first thing as I walk through the automatic  doors. Whether it is the fact that I love to eat all berries or whether it is their beautiful jewel-like rich colors that catch my attention, I am not sure. Either way I couldn't resist these gorgeous blackberries which are anything but black. They have the most beautiful, rich colours and the magenta juice or stain they leave behind is my best (well besides eating them of course). I had to summon all my will power to place them at the back of the refrigerator (out of sight...you know what I mean) so that there were blackberries left to paint this morning!

Yummy, juicy blackberries with a little treasure off of my studio shelf!

Purchase paintings at Heidi Shedlock Fine Art
(Click on the highlighted writing to view gallery of available little paintings)

Cream and strawberries #752

Daily painting #752 6"x8" oil on primed canvas panel

New Year, new energy and time to focus on some exciting things for 2017!

Christmas cake, Christmas pudding, food, friends over, celebrations and awesome holidays at hotels with amazing food does not bode well for sugar-free eating! Lots of our good habits started to slip as the holiday wore on! But then it was holidays...and Christmas...and New Year and I am not going to beat myself up about it. 

Instead we are straight back on a sugar-free crusade and the best part of it is that the whole family agreed that the moment we arrived home from our holiday, we were all on board for a sugar-free lifestyle again! The interesting thing is that all four of us noticed changes again as sugar started creeping back in...changes in skin, weight, irritability and moodiness, altered sleep and both my daughter and son at some point had stomach cramps and funny tummies (particularly after eating puddings, chocolate etc). The dreaded 3am monster woke me nearly every morning, despite the fact that I was relaxed and on holiday and should have been sleeping like dream! I felt tired all day with no energy and at night I couldn't sleep! The frightening thing is that I can't even say we consumed large amounts of sugar...just the odd thing creeping back in and lots of eating out and celebrating...what a difference it made! Scary stuff!!

So strawberries with maybe a little drizzle of cream if I am feeling decadent is about as close as we are all going to get to any kind of after dinner treats for a while! I am happy about that!

I have been splashing, sploshing, experimenting and being brave with paint for the last few days, to try get back into studio mode! Its SO good to be back in my studio! I have also been reworking some large canvases that I was working on last year....but I always come back to spending some time doing a quick little study. So a little painting for you today. These little studies ground me. They make me observe, be still and contemplative and really focus my attention. They are like my little studio meditations. 

Wishing you all a fabulous 2017...it is good to be back!

Purchase paintings at Heidi Shedlock Fine Art
(Click on the highlighted writing to view gallery of available little paintings)

Daily painting #751 New Year bunch

Daily painting #751 22cm silver circle, oil on primed surface

My last painting for 2016! 

A fun little bouquet on a silver circle. A bouquet of flowers from me to you to wish you a happy and healthy 2017! I look forward to all that 2017 has in store for me and thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your interest in my work. I am looking forward to some exciting things in 2017 and can't wait to share them with you!

I am going away until the 5th January for some quality family time and for the first time in over 3 years, I am not packing my paintbox. I feel like I am leaving my right arm behind! But I think my family deserve some undivided attention from me and so no painting on this holiday...only family time (and maybe a good book). That means I will not be sharing paintings or work on my blog or any social media sites until I am back in my studio on the 6th January. I am going to be bursting to paint by then and will hopefully feel renewed, refreshed and energized for all that the new year has to offer!

So in 2017 may you be brave, be fierce, be grateful, be kind...may you find time to do something new or do something that challenges you...be excited, go out and make things happen...and most important of all may you be loved and give love abundantly! 

2017 is almost upon us...may it be gentle and peaceful and kind!

Happy New Year wishes from South Africa

Much love Heidi

Purchase paintings at Heidi Shedlock Fine Art
(Click on the link to view gallery of little paintings)

Daily painting #750 Christmas reds

Daily painting #750 8"x8" acrylic on primed panel

My house is full of beautiful blooms for Christmas and so I could not resist just one last little painting before I close my studio doors to enjoy Christmas with my family. Some red blooms from my home to yours...to wish you a wonderful and blessed Christmas. May you enjoy the time with those you love. 

Thank you so much for your interest in my work and Merry Christmas to you all!

lots of love, Christmas wishes and blessing... Heidi 

Purchase paintings at Heidi Shedlock Fine Art

December SALE

It is hard to believe that there are only 10 days left until the start of a New Year!!
2016 has been an awesome whirlwind of ups, a few downs and plenty of painting. It has been an awesome adventure and I look forward to lots of exciting things to come in 2017.

With only 10 days left of 2016, that means only 10 more days left of the Paintings in the post DECEMBER SALE, so pop on over to my Tictail store here, click on Daily paintings and see which ones are still available. A few of the ones shown above are part of the December sale....

10 days left of 2016....yikes...happy holidays!

Purchase paintings at Heidi Shedlock Fine Art

Daily painting 747 & 748 Pink on silver

Daily paintings 747 & 748 oil on primed silver board, 5" round

I have been finishing off my painting classes for the year, working on some larger pieces and working on ways to sell my larger work online too. At the moment only my little paintings which form part of Paintings in the post, can be purchased worldwide online. Other than sharing images of my larger work via various social media platforms, my larger work is not actually for sale online and one needs to contact me personally (or through a gallery if it is on show there) should you be interested in a particular work. Well I am trying to change that....and hopefully in the New Year I will have more exciting things to share. I will still show work at galleries and those pieces will still need to be purchased through the gallery, but hopefully one will be able to purchase some larger  pieces online too! Shew... for this technologically challenged girl, this is posing some major headaches...and eating into painting time!

Well enough of that....as I have shared with you on many occasions, when my headspace is chaotic, I need to paint. So everything else got put to one side this weekend and I went back to my little ritual of painting a little painting in one sitting in a short space of time. Actually I painted two in one sitting...my headspace must be really chaotic (I giggle and cringe simultaneously). This weekend I changed it up a bit though by experimenting on a different surface...a shiny silver round!

But enough rambling for today, I will share more about this new surface in another post. I have a few more little ones to add to my online store which will soon be having a DECEMBER SALE! Some great bargains on little paintings coming up...so keep your eyes peeled for Paintings in the post Tictail SALE announcement!

Here is a close up of each new 5" round on silver board which have both been added to the online store if you want to take a look!

Purchase paintings at Heidi Shedlock Fine Art
(Click on the highlighted writing to view available little paintings)

Daily painting #746 I see red

Daily painting #746 8"x8" oil and oil bar on primed panel (unframed)

There has been a whole lot of craziness in the world lately and scanning social media and, even worse, the news has been quite a painful affair! Don't worry I am not going to start my own political debates or share political opinions here...we have enough craziness going on in our own political arenas in South Africa for me to start ranting on other world affairs. I am in no way blinkered or one of those people that sit on fences or stick my head in the ground. But that being said, I have chosen to escape much of what has been going on lately and chosen to find solace in my studio instead. Perhaps that seems quite lame but maybe it is my way of adjusting or mulling things through and subconsciously working through my emotions. You will notice I haven't posted much lately...

So I have beavered away in my studio with my paintbrushes and paint and have attempted to find some beauty to sooth my soul. The thing that saddens me the most is that anger, hate and disregard seem to be so prevalent and when watching what is happening around, both here in South Africa and other parts of the world, I have to fight hard to not become angry and bitter and resentful myself. I have to fight to not respond in a way that encourages the worst in me too. So I paint away, subconsciously finding some light and beauty when I am not really seeing it or feeling it at all. I choose to make a difference by harnessing my emotions and encouraging love and compassion to be my guide. One simple change of mindset that will be encouraged in our family, for some things cannot be altered...but we can alter the way we react. How we respond is our choice...and we must make it count in every small way we can. 

A bouquet from me to you. This week I really had to find the beauty even if all I could see was red!

Purchase paintings at Heidi Shedlock Fine Art
(Click on the highlighted writing to view gallery of available little paintings)

Daily painting #745 Studio protea 2

Daily painting #745 6"x8" oil on primed panel

The second little studio demonstration from this week where my painting 'students' explored working with a palette knife.

Below are some of the interesting marks that I photographed in their work...after all when choosing to work with a palette knife the focus does turn to the beautiful mark making.

Purchase paintings at Heidi Shedlock Fine Art
(Click on the highlighted writing to view gallery of available little paintings)

Daily painting #744 Studio protea 1

Daily painting #744 6"x8" oil on primed panel (unframed)

This week two of my studio classes have been learning to work with a palette knife. Personally I find it quite limiting to work with just one tool. But it is important for them to explore this tool. I am a believer of using whatever it is that makes the mark that works for you. As a result I use and rely on many different tools from traditional brushes and palette knives to a variety of different treasures, many of them from the hardware store rather than my art supply store!

I completed two little VERY quick demonstrations for them, highlighting some points that might assist them. This is the first of the little demonstrations and tomorrow I will share the second. We painted some beautiful proteas...oh so typically South African!

Below is an example (incomplete) of just one of my 'students' little paintings...they were all SO different which is fabulous...and they were all GORGEOUS! Way to go ladies...happy teacher!

Purchase paintings at Heidi Shedlock Fine Art
(Click on the highlighted writing to view gallery of available daily paintings)

Daily painting #743 Inky blooms

Works on paper. Ink, pastel crayon and watercolour

I have been working on larger oil paint floral pieces but took some time out for some 'play'. So some inky, watercolor and drawing fun....

It is a lovely rainy day today so sloshing around some inky puddles of water just felt right!

Have a fabulous Friday!

Purchase paintings at Heidi Shedlock Fine Art
(Click on the highlighted writing to view gallery of available little paintings)

Daily painting #742 For Amy...a ballerina's bouquet.

Daily painting #742 6"x8" oil on primed panel (unframed)

I don't often paint the entire vase of flowers. In my larger paintings I never do! It is the flowers and the floral bouquet or arrangement and the sentiment of the flowers and the act of giving them, receiving them, having them in your home or picking them that interests me. The form and colour of the blooms that catch my eye. The vase holds little interest for me.

However this one is different. I want to capture not only the emotion but the entire arrangement as it stands, proud and tall. I want it to be visible long after the petals have fallen and the flowers, stems and leaves have decayed. I want it to be remembered long after the vase has been reused...or packed away in the glass cabinet in my kitchen that holds my large selection of vases. You see, we all need some things to be captured for eternity. We all need something that we can turn to as a reminder of just how strong we can be...

This weekend, as you would have known if you read my last blogpost, my daughter danced in a show. She had 5 performances over the weekend. She also did an audition for the New York American Academy of Ballet Summer school program just hours before her first show. Her dance teacher suggested she give the audition a try as it would be good experience for her as one of the younger girls auditioning. Most of the girls were much older than her, have more experience on ballet  point shoes and some have even been to New York before. She came out of the audition with eyes like saucers and cheeks bright pink, "It was SO DIFFICULT, Mommy!!" We didn't have time to think about it, the show was starting on the other side of town in an hour and we had to fight Friday evening traffic to get there! I gave her a kiss on the cheek, told her how proud I was of her for trying and experiencing it (the choice was hers I might add), handed her water as we dashed for the car and roared across town to get to the show. In all the post-show exhaustion and trying to focus on end of year school exams which are now looming, I hadn't even given the audition another thought...neither had she!

Well imagine my surprise when I opened my email to read that she has been accepted for a weeks intensive ballet program in New York at the American Academy of Ballet...my heart nearly stopped and as a Mommy would do, I burst into tears! We are supposed to be going to London next June/July so the logistics need to be looked at, but I am SO incredibly proud of the perseverance and determination of this girl! Sorry to sound like a boasting Mommy, but I really need to learn a thing or two from my daughter...and perhaps so can you. Always give something a try, you just never know. Don't let fear or insecurity stop you. Don't use the excuse of "I am too busy" (I really tried to convince her that on the weekend of a show we didn't need to do an audition too)...chances are there will always be an excuse not to do something that takes you out of your comfort zone. You may not always feel good enough, but do something anyway, because you have a passion! If you show up and do the work and keep at something you are passionate about, you will be rewarded in some way. Always make your passion and sheer love for what it is you do, be your motivator! Love what you do...

I need to remind myself of all these truths and maybe one day my daughter might need reminding too! So this little bouquet for my little ballerina (every dancer deserves flowers after a show) is off to be framed with a special note on the back from her Mama...I hope it serves to remind her many times along her journey that she can do it...if she just tries!

Love you to the moon, my Amy-bee xxx
(Sorry it's a really soppy and sentimental post today...but I shared it with you anyway!)

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Daily painting #741 Last of the red

Daily painting #741 6"x6" oil on primed panel (unframed)

I have been out of my studio for a few days. Mama duties called! My daughter danced in a show and she needed my help backstage. So other than drawings of ballerinas and dancers in my sketchbook, I haven't picked up a paintbrush for a few days. If truth be told, when I walked back into my studio, I felt overwhelmed...creative mojo lost...

Walking back into my studio I felt like an impostor. Half finished paintings and dried up palettes of paint had been deserted. Forgotten brushes had been abandoned (and probably destroyed) in pots of turpentine or water. The beautiful fresh blooms that filled my studio had dried in their vases and dropped petals on the floor, leaving the studio with a musty smell of decay.... 

Fear, doubt and insecurity were sitting on my shoulder like unwanted guests and my instinct was to close the door. Where do I start? How is it possible to summon up that illusive creative spirit that fuels my energy and draws me to this sacred space, which today felt so foreign. 

So I took a deep breath and started deep within the safe and comfortable arms of familiarity. I squeezed out some rich, creamy oil paint. Wiped off my trusty favorite brush while I cursed myself profusely for abandoning it dirty in a pot of turps. I grabbed a little familiar Paintings in the post  primed board and the only flower in my studio that looked vaguely alive...a drooping red rose that really was on its last.

And then I painted...and the world, my little world, just felt like all will be well after all.

Painting isn't a job or a chore or even a pleasure, it is a necessity! 

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