More Oh Boy Bok Choy

I’m still playing catch up. These paintings were done in August last year and the draft has been gathering dust for an entire year. You will remember I painted a watercolour for Oh Boy Bok Choy! - South-eastern Asian kitchen and bar. 

This painting became a larger than life feature in the restaurant,  appearing on the menu and placemats.

 

The cocktail menu at Oh Boy Bok Choy has an array of enticing sounding drinks. 

How about The Enchanted Forest, Breath of the Dragon or The Queen’s Garden? 

I was asked to paint these delicious concoctions and had such fun painting them. 

All watercolour on paper. 

The Queens Garden 

 Budding Lotus

Dragon’s Breath

Mandrake Gin

The Enchanted Forest 

The King’s Chalice

Numb Numb Juice

Oh Boy Bok Choy

Some of my favourite commissions have been for restaurants - Milk Cafe was one. This commission grew from an urban sketch I had done in the cafe years previously. More about these paintings can be found here. and here.

In August 2020 I had been invited by the lovely owner of Farmhouse Kedron (previously the owner of Milk) to conduct a drawing and sketching class at the restaurant. This was a great way to interact with students in person after using Zoom for months. 

A new venture for the owners of Farmhouse was their new baby - Oh Boy Bok Choy located not from from the Kedron restaurant. 

I was asked to paint Bok Choy to be used in a backlit box above the bar. Bok Choy is a wonderful vegetable to paint and to eat as well. 

Incidentally, if you haven’t ventured to the restaurant yet, do yourself a favour and go - now - the food is fantastic!

And just to whet your appetite a few of the delicious dishes…


Top LH: Wok tossed pad see ew, Bok Choy, Gai lan, tofu vegan oyster sauce,dark soy (VG)

Top RH: Wombok veggie dumplings

              Whisky Tamarind Pork Belly

              Oh Boy fried rice

              Crispy Silken Tofu, Red Dragon sauce(vegan)

Bottom LH: MYO Bao buns with pickled salad & crispy pork

Bottom RH: Oh Boy Prawn toast, yuzu mayo 

(Re) Finding direction in Art and Life

Experiments with a sword liner brush. Watercolour  on paper 

My blog, Art Matters, has a sub heading my thoughts on art and life. I added this primarily because eleven years ago when I started the blog in preparation for my move to Australia I hadn’t settled on a format or content outline for the blog. The subheading gave me leeway to divert from strictly art content. I’ve mostly stayed true to only art content. A recent post about my visit to the Emergency Room was a rare diversion. 

2020 - 2021 - 2022

It’s been an odd time well it’s been an odd two years plus now for everyone, I guess. The pandemic has changed the way we live. It’s added extra pressures, forced us to find new ways of working and living. In some ways, I think the slowing down which fosters more introspection has helped many find out what’s important. 

COVID 19 has forced health matters to the forefront, we cannot ignore its presence. Experiencing the pandemic now in 2020 - 2022 rather than decades ago, makes me particularly thankful for the extensive developments in medicine. We have vaccines to protect us just as in the past these eliminated Smallpox, Polio and Diptheria as well as a host of childhood infectious diseases.

I’ve always considered myself to be a healthy person. I’ve never been the sporty type but in recent years I’ve given more consideration to diet and exercise. The events of September 16th brought this all into sharp focus. I’ve realised this year more than ever that how we feel gives direction to the type of art we create.

Renovating 

It’s almost eleven years since I arrived in Australia - a decade plus of living here. I decided that I need to give my home a makeover. I arranged a painter, added new bench tops and sinks to the kitchen and replaced the carpets. That quick sentence makes it sound so easy but the reality is somewhat more complicated. I needed to tidy, sort and de-clutter to make the renovations possible. There were boxes of items that had travelled in the container from South Africa and many had remained largely unused. It was time for them to go. I realised I had been extremely productive - so many paintings too many to hang in my home, just too many. 

Consequently, I’ve been taking a more minimalist approach to my creativity. I am doing more work on paper, more drawings, more watercolour and a lot more digital work. Both my iPad and my sketchbook have become my constant companions. It’s almost a relief to work small. 

Drawing Inspiration 

I regularly listen to a podcast called Drawing Inspiration hosted by Mike Hendley. In December his guest was Marta Witkiewicz. The episode was titled ‘Taming Inner Demons with Pencils and Magic At the end of the podcast Mike always asks his guest to set some homework for the listeners. Marta urged us to find somewhere quiet and consider  our creative why. 

This time of self reflection and perhaps some introspection is so necessary. We need to check that we are following our planned direction - are we in fact on the right path?

What is your why?

A special anniversary - eleven years in Australia

As we approach the end of the year, it’s a time of reflection. A time of taking stock and planning for the time ahead. I am reminded once again of the anniversary of my arrival in Australia now it’s eleven years since I landed at Brisbane airport to start a new life. 

And what a life it’s been. In July, six months later I moved into my own home and started teaching in my studio. Thanks to the wonderful support from loyal students I have been able to  earn a comfortable living and as a bonus make really good friends along the way. 

My home with its little garden has been a comfortable haven. When I moved in the garden had nothing but vigorous weeds and a few tall trees. With the help of my son in law, Craig, the garden was transformed into a lush haven, the water feature encouraging local birds to come for a drink or bath. 

Eleven years ago - the garden in the process of construction. 


My colourful visitors 

Recently, I gave the front garden some attention adding a bed of bromeliads and Agaves. The struggling lawn was given a makeover with Sir Walter grass, now it’s green and soft underfoot. The perfect spot for my early morning coffee. 

(Re) Finding Direction in Art and Life

Another post started and not posted…

The draft of this post is dated 8th December. I’ve had to revise and edit to make the content relevant but the essential premise is still valid. Periodically an artist need to stop and assess one’s creative path. 

2020 - 2021 - 2022

It’s been an odd time - it’s been an odd two years plus for everyone, I guess. The pandemic has changed the way we live. It’s added extra pressures, forced us to find new ways of working and living. In some ways, I think the slowing down which fosters more introspection has helped many find out what’s important. 

COVID 19 forced health matters to the forefront, we cannot ignore its presence. Experiencing the pandemic now rather than decades ago, makes me particularly thankful for the extensive developments in medicine. We have vaccines to protect us just as in the past vaccines eliminated Smallpox, Polio and Diphtheria as well as a host of childhood infectious diseases. Now during this pandemic people mistrust the science, mistrust the long standing defences against disease. It becomes a divisive element in society.

Art matters

My blog, Art Matters, has a sub heading my thoughts on art and life. I added this primarily because eleven years ago when I started the blog in preparation for my move to Australia I hadn’t settled on a format or content theme for the blog. The subheading gave me leeway to divert from strictly art content. I’ve mostly stayed true to the art content plan. A recent post about my visit to the Emergency Room was a rare diversion. 

I’ve always considered myself to be a healthy person. I’ve never been the sporty type but in recent years I’ve given more consideration to diet and exercise. The events of September 16th brought this all into sharp focus. I’ve realised this year more than ever that how we feel gives direction to the type of art we create.

Renovating

It’s almost eleven years since I arrived in Australia - a decade plus of living here. I decided that I need to give my home a makeover. I engaged a painter, added new bench tops and sinks to the kitchen and replaced the carpets. That quick sentence makes it sound so easy but the reality is somewhat more complicated. 

I needed to tidy, sort and de-clutter to make the renovations possible. There were boxes of items that had travelled in the container from South Africa and many had remained largely unused. It was time for them to go. I realised I had been extremely productive. There were so many paintings -  too many to hang in my home, just too many. 

Consequently, I’ve been taking a more minimalist approach to painting. The driving desire to paint large canvases just isn’t here anymore. Maybe it will return, I really don’t know. 

In the last six months I’ve done more work on paper, more drawings, more watercolour and a lot more digital work. Both my iPad and my sketchbook have become my constant companions. It’s almost a relief to work small.

A belated Inktober review

I realised that it’s been two months since I half heartedly started this blog post - so maybe the time has come to inject a little enthusiasm into my blog writing. I’m trying a new writing app called Craft so perhaps the challenge of mastering a new tool will get me going.

Once again I have taken part in the annual Inktober challenge. I have mixed feelings about challenges - I enjoy the sense of achievement that comes form keeping up and doing something every day, but part of the process of working to a set of prompts is really frustrating. Some prompts just do not inspire me so. Some years I have dispensed with following them and gone off on my own personal tangent, being content with doing an ink drawing every day.

This year, the Sktchy app, now called Museum publish a set of images for each prompt. This didn’t help me very much since quite a few of the images just didn’t appeal to me. In the end my Inktober drawings have been a mixture of following a prompt and then simply doing a portrait using a muse from Sktchy. (I can’t get used to the new name!)

So without any further procrastination here are most of the drawings. I’ve used a number of different pens - ballpoint, fountain pens, and coloured ink.

A wake up call

Every now and then you experience something that stops you in your tracks. You think - is this happening to me? - it can’t be - this could be it…

Two weeks ago I had a severe, crushing pain in my chest. It felt as though there was a really heavy weight pressing down on my breastbone. Unrelenting, intense pain.  I was having a heart attack but I didn’t know it. 

Will you recognise your heart attack?

Two weeks ago…

I need to confess that the pain on Thursday afternoon wasn’t the first. I had experienced the crushing pain on both Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. On both occasions the pain went away so I carried on as normal. The sensible thing to do when I had the first severe chest pain would have been to phone 000. But because we don’t want to face up to reality/make a fuss/cause trouble/are human we ignore these warning signs. 

Thank goodness I came to my senses on Thursday and phoned 000. The ambulance arrived, hooked me up to the ECG machine, gave me an aspirin, and a spray under my tongue. A cannula was inserted into my hand so they could administer a pain killer which was very welcome!

The paramedics were so efficient and caring as we drove to the emergency department at Prince Charles Hospital in Brisbane. We waited for a short time outside the ED, all the while the paramedics checked that my pain level was manageable.

The Emergency Room

Once inside, everything seemed to move at warp speed. I was having a bit of trouble breathing. 

Someone said “let’s move her to the resuscitation ward” 

Another person said “No beds”

The Cardiac doctor: “We are going to do an Angiogram here and then a stent if needed.”

I was moved on to the treatment table. 

There seemed to be a dozen people in the ward, each doing their part in organising the upcoming procedure. All the while, the cardiologist was explaining exactly what they planned to do. 

Overwhelming and confronting...

“We will try to go into the artery in your wrist so we can use a dye to show up the arteries and to see if any are blocked. If there’s a blockage we will insert a stent to open up the blood vessel.”

And that’s what they did.

My wrist was strapped down so it wouldn’t move during the procedure, and painted with pink antiseptic lotion. 

There was a huge screen - the size of the biggest most extravagant flat screen TV - it showed large images of my heart and blood vessels . I watched the whole time as the probe moved in through the arteries  towards my heart. Then I saw the stent being inserted. 

Once it was over, my doctor showed me before and after photographs of the problem artery. In the “before” photo, the ink dye was visible for just a short distance. The rest of the artery was so blocked that it was invisible. The “after” photo showed the entire length of the now working blood vessel. 

The blockage was in the LAD artery, the Lateral Anterior Descending artery often called The Widow Maker.  Fortunately for me the other arteries were not blocked. They are not in pristine condition but are not blocked. 

A very firm plastic strap was wound around my wrist to put pressure on what was now essentially a hole in my artery, and to stop any bleeding. I was moved to the Cardiac Care Unit. All the while I had been attached to an ECG machine and blood pressure monitor. These remained in place the whole time I was in hospital. The fixed unit was replaced by a portable telemetry unit the following day so I could move around a little. 

Recovery 

Three days later I was moved to the General Cardiac ward, and was discharged five days after being admitted. 

Now I feel so much better than I did two weeks ago and have started some gentle exercise. 

I am really fortunate that I had a chance to face reality, to call for help and to receive excellent medical care. I have to come to terms with daily medication and ongoing lifestyle changes. 

The big bonus is that I am here to tell my story. 

Some thoughts

• Do not disregard the warning signs - these not always dramatic - the symptoms can be vague and hard to explain.
• Take action immediately - rather go to the Emergency Department and be told “You are fine, it’s a false alarm”. If you wait it may be too late. 

NOTE: photographs from My Heart, My Life a guide to improve heart health issued by the Heart Foundation, Australia.

N.B. PLEASE CHECK THE EMERGENCY NUMBER FOR YOUR COUNTRY. 

Lethbridge 20,000 2013 to 2021

On Saturday evening the Lethbridge Gallery celebrated twelve years of hosting the Lethbridge 20,000. I love hearing Breet Lethbridge tell the charming story of how in Europe 20 years ago, he got his big break, and starting his artistic journey. For twelve years he has given back to artists, opening his gallery and holding the annual Lethbridge exhibition, originally The Lethbridge 10,000 , the big prize was increased to 20,000 a couple of years ago. 

The opening event was special since last year the event was confined to a video opening. Since the Lethbridge Gallery has expanded to include the adjoining premises, the Exhibition HD room to breathe making viewing the paintings such an enjoyable experience. 

My congratulations to all the most deserving winners - wonderful inspiring work. All the paintings can be viewed here.

I first entered the Exhibition in 2013 and have been extremely fortunate to have been selected as a gallery finalist six times, and as an online finalist three times. 

This year The Wind Scatters the Golden Leaves is a gallery finalist.

 The Wind Scatters the Golden Leaves - oil on canvas 610 mm x 610 mm

All the paintings can be viewed here

#30Faces30Days wrap up

A week into June and the 30Faces30Days challenge seems ages ago. It was such a busy, exciting and inspiring experience. There was a video tutorial each day, with some of the first tutors appearing again for a second session. 

Since each tutorial was almost an hour long, and each portrait could take anything from  an hour to a few hours to complete this entailed a considerable amount of time dedicated to the challenge. 

Sktchy Art School

The videos were posted at the Sktchy Art School website, available from 6.00 am (Brisbane time).. using]The Mighty Network is available for both IOS and Android users,  an advantage since the Sktchy app is only iOS. I would watch some of the video and if I had time do some work on the portrait. The reference photos grade been previously posted on the Art school site so we were able to do a preliminary sketch. 

Sometimes the tutor would start in a different way, such as using the reference photo selecting sections to use in the final work. We learned how work with multiple layers (trying not to get confused) and how to experiment with the many interesting facets of the Procreate app. 

Such a lot to learn and absorb - I know I will need to go back, take one tutor at a time and really master each particular approach and technique.

What is digital painting? How do you do this? 

These are questions put to me recently by a friend when talking about the challenge. She was complimenting me on the portraits I had been posting on Instagram and Facebook. When I said that these were all done digitally using the procreate drawing app, she couldn’t picture how this was done.  Then I realised that for the last few years I have been dabbling in an art form foreign to many. 

Essntially one is drawing or painting on digital device using a stylus or even one's finger.

There are any number of apps that allow one to draw and paint digitally. 

Procreate

Procreate is in a league of its own. The wonderful talent behind Procreate are based in Tasmania. Their business model is unique in this age of subscription based and in app purchases. It’s a ONE TIME PURCHASE - and that includes EVERY NEW UPDATE - FOREVER! 

Then as if this isn’t enough, the choice of brushes native to the app is vast. (All the tools are called ‘brushes’ even though you might be drawing with a charcoal or crayon ‘brush’)

As with Photoshop, layers are available so each section of the painting can be drawn on separately, and when combined make the finished work. 

Procreate records each stroke that you make to create a timelapse. This allows one to view the process of the painting. There of few of these portraits on my Instagram page which will give you an idea of how the painting evolves. Here is one of them.

 

Exhibition at Cafe Lagarto Samford

This week an exciting opportunity presented itself - an exhibition at Cafe Lagarto, Samford. The following day, I met with the lovely Cafe owner to view the space. The Cafe is part of the Lifestyle Centre on the Mount Glorious Road just outside Samford. A cottage across the pathway from the main area of the Cafe has become additional space for the cage patrons allowing good social distancing and as a wonderful bonus, a charming gallery space. 

A welcome bonus is that the 2021 Samford Arts Trail, with perfect timing, opens this weekend and runs for the month of June.

My paintings are hanging one of the three rooms, alongside two other artists, a painter and a photographer. 

I’ve kept to a floral theme, in keeping with the cottage atmosphere of the building. All paintings are for sale. 

During the course of the exhibition, I'll be adding more photos and videos to my Instagram page. In the meantime, here are a few of the paintings:

King Protea  - oil on canvas 700 mm x 700 mm

King Protea - above the fireplace 

Cilla’s Flowers - oil on canvas 460 mm x 610 mm

Proteas with a jug - oil and cold wax on panel 405 mm x 405 mm



Dragon Vase with Magnolias - oil on canvas 610 mm x 610 mm

#30Faces30Days in Procreate with Sktchy

I posted my first ink drawing in April 2015, having heard about Sktchy through my friend Joan Martin.

 

Sktchy is an online community that fosters creativity with a particular focus on portraiture. Members upload photographs that are used as inspiration. It’s also a friendly supportive place to creations. The artwork is displayed alongside the inspiration post - revealed with a swipe to the right. 

In the beginning my portraits were all analogue, using ink and watercolour, as well as some in oil and a few in acrylic. I had one of the smaller iPads and used an Idonit stylus - one step up from the stubby black finger like cheapie stylus which covered most of the line one was drawing. Frustrating to say the least!

I started adding digital elements about August of that year as seen in this work with text added:

#WAXTIP 

and this digital collage:

#WAXCOLLAGE

In April 2018 my digital progress made a dramatic leap forward with the release of a smaller, more affordable iPad that supported an Apple Pencil. It was definitely a game changer to have a drawing tool that was touch sensitive and very responsive. 

I have done a number of online classes with Sktchy, with various artists who have contributed so much to my knowledge of digital art, and Procreate in particular - it’s the best art app by far. 

This brings me to the beginning of May and the start of #30Faces30Days. This online challenge features a daily full length video tutorial using a muse selected by the tutor and concentrating on their own unique style. Each day brings new approaches and ways of working in Procreate. It’s excellent value for money. I decided at the beginning that even if the days style/approach was not my ‘jam’ I would endeavour to complete something using the tutor’s techniques. 

So May is all about Procreate and a portrait every day. I’m very pleased that so far I have kept up and have finished a portrait every day. 

Here are the portraits up to Day 15.

Term 2 in the Studio

The weather is changing and the temperatures start to drop after the heat of summer. It’s my favourite time of the year - I always feel much more energetic.

The Easter break seemed to go so quickly and all of a sudden the first class of the second term starts this evening.

I have just updated the Art Class page on this blog. We are all enjoying the creative time spent face to face while still observing a COVIDSAFE protocol. 

We are all enjoying the face to face creativity. A couple of artists have opted to continue to join via Zoom and this is working smoothly. Should you wish to remain isolated, there is still the option to continue using Zoom concurrently with a physical class, where the student can login to the class and take part online.

We usually start each class with some discussion about a particular theme or artist using a PDF which scan be shared blithe in the Studio as well as on Zoom. Learning to assess and critique other artist’s work aids in developing an editing eye for one’s own art.

The core of my teaching approach is to foster each artist’s individual creativity, so the emphasis is on personal creative projects. In the Studio in Hamilton Road each artist explores their own themes. This may take the form of a series of drawings, a painting in watercolour, oils, or acrylics.

During each class there will be some demonstration of technique as well as individually mentored tuition.

The weekly class timetable remains the same.

The weekly class timetable remains the same.

Term 2 2021

Wednesday 12th April to Saturday 26th June

Weekly classes

Wednesday 6.00 pm - 8.30 pm
Thursday    9.00 am - 12.00pm
Friday        9.00 am - 12.00 pm
Saturday    8.00 am - 11.00 am 

There are some vacancies in each class so if you have been thinking of enrolling in classes at the Studio now is a good time to do so. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me should you have any questions. 

Catching up with drawing every day.

I realised that almost two months have passed since I wrote about my 2021 project of drawing every day. Since then I have had mixed success. There are days with regular drawing and documenting the drawings, then at other times days go by with no work photographed. 

There’s been a mix of digital and analogue; a mix of media - ink, water soluble graphite, watercolour and charcoal. Some days I have a long extended drawing session, other days it’s a quick scribble, and I’m actually fine with that, it’s how life is. 

Subject matter has ranged from flowers and objects used for some of the classes in the Studio to a series of figure studies using photographic references. The figure drawings have been done with water soluble graphite pencils and a water brush or ink and water brush. This allows for a quick tonal drawing using easily portable materials. I like using the Derwent Sketching pencils which come in Light, Medium and Dark wash. 

There are also a number of Sktchy portraits done using Procreate. When drawing digitally, I aim for a result that has the look of an analogue drawing or painting rather than being obviously digital. I also make a concerted effort to limit the number of brushes used in a single work. This way I get to know the individual characteristics of that brush. 

I also realised that when a few days went by without a dedicated drawing being done it was when I was busy with all the animal mother and baby watercolours, so I wasn’t being a slouch!

So here are some of the drawings for February and March. 

, 

A new commission

I received a different type of commission recently. My daughter asked for my help in decorating a special album for a friend’s Baby Shower. It was especially important to be able to customise the book. There are a variety of memory books on sale, however the drawback with most of these is that the layout is quite prescriptive, set out according to someone else’s idea of what to remember. And what happens in real life with a new baby, the enthusiasm to record all this information tends to wane and the book is often abandoned incomplete. When you have a blank canvas you can add whatever you wish and aren’t faced with incomplete pages. 

The family of the mother-to be lives in South Africa and with the current state of the world, they were unable to travel for the big event. A way to include messages from people far away was the answer.

The plan included blank cards for guests, both here and abroad, that could have messages added, either handwritten or printed. These, together with photos, would be added to the album. Illustrations of animal mothers with their babies would be the finishing touch.

The planned nursery theme is African animals. On assessing the paper in the book - a crisp white, and quite different to most watercolour papers, the solution was to print the illustrations on the same card as the messages. This had the additional advantage of keeping the originals available to be framed and displayed in the nursery. 

I got busy finding suitable images for the watercolour illustrations. Now that the Baby Shower has been held I can reveal the paintings. This is the best photo for an artist to see - someone’s face when they see your work for the first time.

And you’ve guessed correctly - it’s a boy! 

Coming soon - Red Bubble products

A few of these images have been added to products on my Red Bubble page. You’ll be able to purchase a variety of products including cups, phone cases, kids clothing, tote bags and many others. 

Coming soon - Bespoke Baby Books

A new listing for your own bespoke Baby Book is coming soon to my Etsy Shop.