STILL COLD

second last selfie - this one is a problem, i started it last sunday when i was on duty at the makers hall and it just won't come together.  
still working on it

 this is how it is right now, i've scrubbed off a lot of paint

i'll attack it again soon,

with a bit of distance

the portrait above was started on a day with people talking in the makers hall while i worked, it definitely makes a difference, breaks my concentration

LAST WEEK i moved into the loungeroom to paint, not because the studio is cold but because i needed the fire on inside night and day to keep the house warm, so why not paint there.  it was cosy and i got a new aspect to paint a self portrait in.
The new curtain i made
is keeping the warmth in the living area perfectly
:0) 

i spent last weekend with
fire, some champers and
snacks and painting on
the go.  very nice

this is the last of the 8x8 canvases - i can't find
any more in mildura but maybe i've finished these.

bad pic of my new coffee table, just what i was looking for
- good ol' Cheap as Chips

FINALLY this week the cold snap ended and it's been sunny and mild the last few days.  my week has been a bit all over the place with the installation of a new dishwasher and hallelujah!!  a gas cooktop.   cupboards had to be emptied,  the mess at the back of cupboards and three mouse skeletons behind the old dishwasher were all pretty disgusting to deal with and i ended up with cupboard contents all over the benchtops.

goodbye crappy

old electric

cooktop

two days of the plumber in the house with wife and baby in tow was all pretty disruptive so now it's all done i'm delighted.  i'm about to paint all the cupboards a lighter colour and then probably retile the splashbacks, also lighter.  new S/S door handles and it'll be a new kitchen  😊

I'M VERY HAPPY to welcome the Mallee Ring-necked Parrot to my place, they're new arrivals, so brilliantly green in flight

PICTURES OF THE MOON & SKY this week

blossoms in the orchards on the road to mildura

    shining in through the bedroom window, early morning

very chubby little fella down on my riverbank

COLD SNAP

I'M SNUGGLED UP in the loungeroom, fire going strong, new curtain hung across the kitchen doorway to keep the heat in here, i'm so pleased, it works like a charm.  and it looks ok too  :0)

last sunday i sat at the makers hall for our open day, did a self portrait while people talked and looked on,  it really changed the character of the painitng, it'll be interesting to see what happens this sunday.  i've done 15 selfies so far, lots of them need more work.

dee and ash and some of their work

progress on the painting during the four hours i was there

morning walks to the island

I had a kangaroo here for a fair part of the day, spotted him out the kitchen window, when i went outside he took a few leaps across the driveway towards the fence, but he must have decided i was ok so he just stayed and was still there late afternoon.

               more visitors

went to see a film with sue,  Late Night with emma thomson, pretty lightweight fare that could've been a lot better with some decent writers working on it.   i always enjoy a couple of hours in the cinema though

the weather's been gorgeous, chilly mornings and beautiful sunny skies and still days but it's changed suddenly,  really miserable.  but i'm happy inside, getting ready to have a new cooktop and dishwasher installed, paint bought to do the cupboards, and i'm going to re-tile all the splashbacks with a bit of mosaic (the cracked tile look).

Still doing a self portrait a day, i can't find any more of the 8x8 canvases so i'll start reworking the ones that need it, almost all of them.  I'm getting so i don't know what i'm looking at any more, objectivity is gone and i probably need a bit of distance. so i'll have to think of something else to paint.   still life?   my book ideas??

                     changing from julia gillard into . . . who??

UP IN THE WEE HOURS

SIGH, been watching movies since 3am so i'll update the blog. i've been walking, painting every day :0)  and pilates has started up again, very happy to be back in that class. and now it's in the morning i can walk there and back, about 1/2 hr each way so great warm up time.

down at the lock

take off for this little wren - just caught him

 i woke up to a beautiful foggy morning this week

one of my
favorite
visitors -
the yellow
rosella

Feels like spring, the birds are all getting frisky and i spotted the 

first blossoms for the year on my last trip to mildura

on the way to pilates, a really nice walk

pilates teacher's mum
marg and hilarious
baby layla. 

an encounter on the road, this large fox crossed the road
in front of me then came back out to cross back, saw me
(lining up the camera) and took off.  i saw him twice more
as he tried to cross back again, close to my house

the fairy wren has his blue breeding feathers back, spring is getting closer

i'm up to ten
self portraits now,
fascinating how they're
all so different, i never
know how they'll
turn out

SELFIES

my small self-portrait project has really got me back into the studio - a good feeling. so far they've all been done without glasses - it's helped me to be looser and broader with the brush. now i'll start some with specs, i'm wondering if it will make a difference

LAST WEEKEND

 JENNY & FREDDIE ARRIVED ON SATURDAY and stayed two nights. the weather's been perfect, blue sky, lots of sun and no wind.  we've had a cruisy time, dinners at home, movies in the evening with scrabble,  a trip into mildura to Cellar Door for wine in the sun then lunch just up the road and on to Fossey's for a gin tasting paddle.    Fun :0)

morning walk
on saturday

 SUNDAY MORNING - brilliant pink sunrise but a nice day followed

                    at Cellar Door                 

fossey gins,
mountain pepperberry,
desert lime and
kaffir lime

latest self portrait, above
with mouth in the wrong
place, right - just plain
grumpy :0) 




lovely pic of helen that jenny got from don this visit