Shower Ideas – Their Refreshing Power
Friday, 5 May 2023
8 Comments
Shower ideas. I love them! What is it about the shower that inspires our creativity and unlocks our problem-solving abilities? Let’s find out!
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A Painting Buddy – Why Every Artist Needs At Least One!
Friday, 14 April 2023
8 Comments
A painting buddy can offer valuable feedback, emotional support, and motivation to help you grow as an artist. Here are five benefits.
The Art Of Noticing
Friday, 9 December 2022
10 Comments
Every day on my walk, there’s at least one thing that will catch my eye. Inevitably the camera (well, my phone) comes out, a pause to compose, and snap. And sometimes, someone else will pause to see what I’m noticing. They may even ask me about what’s caught my eye as there’s nothing obvious, that
A Sketchbook Of Thumbnails
Friday, 25 November 2022
22 Comments
The October 31-pastels-in-31-Days Challenge is well behind us now. The primary purpose of the Challenge is to get something painted each and every day. And this can be oh so hard!! One thing that helps me make this daily practice happen is having a sketchbook of thumbnails. Why is this useful? Because a lot of
Inches Are Written With Fractions…Not Decimal Points
Friday, 18 February 2022
69 Comments
Okay, pet peeve coming up! How do you write inches? Let’s say we’re talking about a painting that’s five and a half inches by seven and one eighth inches. Do you write 5 1/2 x 7 1/8 in? Or do you write 5.5 x 7.125 inches? I hope you write the former rather than the
A Powerful Question To Ask Yourself As You Start The New Year
Friday, 7 January 2022
35 Comments
It’s the start of a new year and like many, I use the first few days as a time to reflect and plan, to look back and look forward, and to begin filling my calendar with actions towards my goals. There’s a part of me that feels that I need to get a move on
My 10 Favourite Art Books From 2019
Saturday, 21 December 2019
23 Comments
I recently returned from a Caribbean cruise with my parents, my sweetheart Cam, my sister and brother and their partners. This family gathering was to celebrate my Mum and Dad’s 65th (yes 65th!!) wedding anniversary. The cruise was marvellous in so many ways. It refreshed and reconnected our souls. And it slowed me down…..I took
Grief And Art – Using Art-Making To Deal With My Sadness And Anger
Tuesday, 30 January 2018
175 Comments
WARNING: This is a very personal blog post. In it, grief and art come together. Yesterday I was shocked and stunned: I found out that Ray Dorge, my former life partner of 25 years, had died. Even though Ray and I separated 10 years ago (by my instigation), we kept in touch with the odd email.
10 Reasons To Go On A Painting Holiday Workshop
Wednesday, 27 September 2017
7 Comments
A year and a half ago, Mario Vukelic invited me to lead a painting holiday workshop with Pastel Workshops Croatia. And early this September, it happened! I had an amazing group of six students who were dedicated in their pursuit of pastel painting knowledge. There were times of concentrated silence and times of uncontrolled laughter
Just DO! Words Of Wisdom From Artist Sol LeWitt To Artist Eva Hesse
Tuesday, 28 February 2017
18 Comments
Recently I came across a catalogue of an exhibition – Converging Lines – that showed the artwork of Sol LeWitt and Eva Hesse. Yes I know their work isn’t about pastels but what I want to share with you is a letter that LeWitt wrote his friend Hesse on 14 April 1965 while she was
