I’m sure you’ve all heard by now about the devastating floods which have hit my home state of Queensland. I’m feeling very grateful right now to be one of the lucky ones – my house is fine, and my friends and family are safe. Not everyone is so lucky.
I do feel quite helpless right now as it’s very hard to us to go anywhere because many of the roads near us are still cut off by floodwaters.
One thing I can do to help, however, is be a part of the fundraising effort for the flood appeal.
It’s fitting that the topic over at Illustration Friday this week is “Resolutions”, because one of my goals for this new year is to participate in prompts like this as often as possible.
To illustrate this topic, I’ve chosen to do a ‘zentangle’. I found out about zentangling a while back through DUST (my fellow Aussie Etsy sellers), and have wanted to try it ever since. Especially since I realised I’d been doing this kind of artwork years before it was ever given a name – for example this artwork was completed when I was at uni, more years ago than I’d like to admit.
This fits in to the “resolutions” theme because it’s the first painting I’ve done in a long time that’s for me – and it was one of my goals for 2011 to have a go at some of the ideas that have been rattling around in my brain for the past few months.
I’ve called in ‘tangled’:
My plan was to add colour to this when it was finished, but after painting the background blue I decided I liked it the way it was with the patterns black and white. I’m still interested in trying one with colour though. What do you think?
It’s hard to believe a new year has already begun – 2010 flew by, but I’m really looking forward to a great year in 2011. I thought I’d share with you some of my goals and plans for this year:
– In 2011 I plan to start the year by painting for me again – I finished out 2010 with a few commissions, and while I really enjoyed the challenge of completing them and was really proud of the results, I had a bunch of other ideas in the back of my mind that I didn’t get a chance to try out. So this year I’m going to try to get a few of those ideas down on paper or canvas.
– Speaking of too many ideas running around in my head (no wonder I’m having trouble remembering what day it is) – I also plan to keep an art journal close by, so I can put down ideas as they come to me, so when I don’t have time to paint they don’t end up getting forgotten.
– This year I’m also looking forward to starting a commission for some friends of mine. Last year I sold one of my favourite paintings, Colours of Nature, and while I was thrilled to have made a sale I was just a little sad to see it go. So I’m really happy to be painting a big version on canvas for friends – that way even though I’ll be saying goodbye to it I’ll be able to visit! I’m looking forward to getting started on it.
Colours of Nature (SOLD)
– I plan to participate in prompts like Illustration Friday as often as possible. It’s a great way to push me out of my comfort zone to try something new.
– I’m going to try to paint at least once per week, and update this website at least once per week. OK I know this is the type of resolution doomed to failure. Sometimes other things (like working full time in a demanding job) get in the way. Nonetheless, it’s a goal I’m going to do my best to achieve. Now just stay tuned to watch the excuses come rolling in.
– Finally, one of my biggest (and scariest) goals for this year is to actively seek out places to exhibit my work, and to consider doing a solo exhibition.
Participating in the Handmade Expo markets and the Soulful Spring Sounds market. One of the best decisions I made all year was to participate in these markets – they’re a much more personal way to sell my work than online.
