Margaret River Independent School Open Day

This is the painting and pasting that has been keeping me busy for the last 2 weeks. Our school has just had it's annual open day where we share the children's work and throw open the classroom doors for the community to have a peek at our very special school. I was on dragon and flag duty.

Stretch to sketch challenge week 6

To help force me to practice my drawing I am going to try to keep up with Kelly Berkey's weekly sketch challenge. Each week participants will send an effort and Kelly posts them to share on her blog. I had about 1/2 an hour and Fleur's little watercolour set to hand and off I went. Fun! 

Book review of "Drawing Lab for mixed media artists"

"We all long to have a style that is fully our own. We want to find our voice and develop a hallmark look that is unique. But how do we get there?" (Carla Sonheim, 2010).

The "Drawing lab for mixed media artists " by Carla Sonheim presents lots of exercises to help you explore a multitude of styles and techniques. The exercises use easy to follow instructions that rely on the fact you are going to give it a go and play. You're not out for awards here. Fun and experimentation are the theme in this book.

If you find yourself staring at the blank page and not sure where to start, doing just 1 exercise will relieve the pressure of what to draw and get you over the hump. I found it motivating to just draw for the fun of it, oh yes - it IS still fun and surprised myself. No perfection or idea of end results, just freeing up my mind to draw.

You can use whatever materials appeal to you for the exercises and styles covered include: eye dropper faces; wrong-handed portraits; Modigliani style portraits; scribble drawings; plein-air and the list just goes on. Featured artists are interviews and share their own personal styles, which are all different.

I like the layout of the Lab series of books by Quarry. They aren't fussy or overly wordy but they are obviously choosing authors of quality who are passionate about teaching.

I originally got a copy on loan from our public library in Margaret River but if you choose to buy a copy like I did, I do appreciate your using my Book Depository link on the right banner. Thank you.

Margaret River Stompers

This is an online advertisement I am making for my sister's website which will be featured on Kelly Rae's blog in November/December. It was fiddlier than I thought but a real pleasure to help her creative business to soar.

Hi, I'm Deb, the face behind Margaret River Stompers. I have always loved bright colors and am happiest when creating colorful combinations for baby shoes. My baby shoes and boots are lovingly handmade to order from my home-based studio and shipped within 2-3 days. Come and check out the full range of funky shoes on my website.

With the help of my daughter and sister I also provide children's T-shirts and kids room art which are all unique items and not mass produced.

**International online sales are welcome**. SHIPPING is AUD $15 for unlimited items purchased for the months of November and December. I would encourage you to get together with friends to share the shipping costs.