Finding the Key to Happiness

Finding the Key to Happiness

24x28 inches

Ink and Dry Media on Polyester Canvas

The human pursuit of happiness has always fascinated me and each of us has our own path to find that elusive key. This artwork barely touches on all the different ways we individually try to search for that inner peace and joy.

I am eternally grateful to my wonderful husband Stephen, for encouraging me and supporting me in my own pursuit of happiness, when we both know how much better off we would be financially if I went out and earned a salary. He has given me the greatest gift of all - happiness (xxx - for Step)

Please Don't Go - a change of media

Please Don't Go

8x11 inches

Ballpoint pen, micron pen and Inktense pencils

on Polyester canvas

Recently I received an email from one of my friends with a photo of her son's HSC art assignment. I was fascinated to find that the majority of the self portrait had been done with biro, or ballpoint pen and this inspired me to do some research and experimentation in the use of ballpoint pen as a serious medium for use in art. There are quite a few artists now who used the ballpoint pen in their artwork, one of them most notably is Juan Francisco Casas who creates huge photorealistic artworks in blue bic pens. Another artist Allan Barbeau spent 96 hours doing an amazing reproduction of the Mona Lisa using only ballpoint pen.

Mostly I have tried to use ballpoint pens with an ISO 12757-2 rating because this ink is the most archival, but I also used bic pens for some of the finer work. Working with the ballpoint pen gave a mixed sense of satisfaction with the way lovely gradients of shading could be achieved from soft right through to deep and dark, but also some angst, as there really is no room for error, so in that way, it is quite an unforgiving medium. For now though, I am hooked and for my next artwork, am aiming to work on a bigger canvas, so will probably need to post progress shots.

The Big Harvest

The Big Harvest

9.5 cm in diameter

Coloured pencils on wood

Here is another little drawing for the upcoming Miniature Art Exhibition, inspired by my husband's attempts to grow a vegetable garden. Unfortunately our backyard doesn't get a lot of full sun, so we carefully chopped the two tiny carrots he lovingly grew (the only two to sprout) into six small pieces, so all the family could share in his endeavours. It has long been a dream of his to have a fully fledged vegie patch, but I feel it probably won't happen until we move house! :)

Finally finished - Peeling Back the Layers

Peeling Back the Layers

30cm x 30cm

Coloured pencils and pan pastels on a breadboard

Have you ever started on a piece, filled with inspiration, only to find by the end that you have lost all passion and enthusiasm for the artwork and it feels like a chore? This was just that artwork - by the end if felt like one of those school assignments that you have put off and put off and finally you get it completed. Part of the problem with this one, stemmed from the fact that I got halfway through it the first time, and found that the pencil wasn't adhering to the board (probably my fault because I had given it a very light sand before commencing), and so had to sand the whole thing back and start from scratch, this time using a different primer. In the meantime, I was also having problems with my miniature from the previous blog. As I'd also mentioned, I felt I needed to do some Still Lifes that didn't have any sign of life (or mice) in them, but still wanted that trompe L'oeil feel and this was the result, but I miss my little critters :)