Hey there, dear and lovely-hearted possum!

I hope this finds you very well, and enthusiastically engaged. I am warm and well fed, and happy to have painted a bit more on my current pic (a little home grown pear, #31 of the current series).

This is the sixth post about my self chosen Birthday Bold Art Project of 50 paintings! You can check out previous posts using these links: introductory, second, third, fourth, fifth.

Birthday Bold Art Project. Post 6: Pictures 26 to 30

Thanks for asking, Bold Folk, whether these pictures are available for acquisition. Yes they are! Simply note down the number of the picture you like and go grab it here in my Gallery Shop!  If someone else has gotten to it first, the phrase “Out of Stock” will appear. To make this series something special and keep things somewhat simple I’m making available just the originals (no digital prints).

You can also pre-order any of the paintings… ie. secure your chosen one before it’s even finished (if you’re that kind of bold)! They’re AUD$50 to fit with doing 50 pictures, musing upon and celebrating turning 50!
All paintings are shipped unframed. They’re originals, and signed and dated by me. I’m erasing or blurring the signature for the blog post. Have you other questions? Click >> to ask :)

Without further ado here is the next group!

Painting 26 – Head for Thinking *and* Dreaming

Sometimes when I’m super busy, I start to feel like I am solely a head (for thinking about the busy), hands (for making the thing happen) and legs (for getting to the thing). And heart? Where does that come in? This pic is acknowledging both the doing-doing-doing, and the more intuitive, creative actions possible. And in a happy coincidence, the making of the picture drew me out of the thinking-doing-going-notfeeling state, too!

Head for: Thinking-thinking-thinking and DREAMING.

Arms for doing-doing-doing and MAKING, HUGGING, YOGA SHAPES, BOLLYWOOD DANCING, PAINTING, PLANTING, COOKING.

Legs for GOING-GOING-GOING and skipping, running, climbing and DANCING.

Heart for FEELING: LOVE, JOY, SADNESS, ANGER, PEACE.

Painting 27 – Cat and Patterns

This is a tribute to the elegant posture of our new (to us) feline friend. He seems to hold his head light and high, and on this occasion amazed me with his perfectly parallel front leg alignment! His colouring seems to require the compliment of blues and greens. And blues and greens need yellow and purple :)

Painting 28 – The Rainbow Crown of Sovereignty

Remember last time, I said I was obsessing with the idea of sovereignity (thanks, Pace) and the addition of “Queen” to Maiden-Mother-Crone feminine archetypes? This ^^^ is the rainbow crown I painted! Let me know if you get something out of that podcast, too. I’ve already listened twice :)

I’m thinking about making just the crown part as a tshirt design to be wearable daily. Would you wear such a thing? I think I might, as a daily reminder to behave in a sovereign manner.

By the way, I have started a Zazzle shop. There is one picture there right now, over time I will put all my designs onto these awesome 3/4 sleeve tops. I’m thinking the crown might be next, ‘specially as we longingly anticipate the cooler Autumn weather here in the Southern Hemisphere. *sips drink*

Painting 29 – Blue and White Cat at Garden Fete

This blue and white is a play with the pattern on a shirt I’m planning to put in a bag for the op shop (thrift shop). I decided I couldn’t let it go without painting it first. Haha, I may change my mind as I’m falling back in love with it! This sweet catty is at some kind of magical happy garden fete. I drew the cat first, then it needed sunflowers. Then stripes. You know how it is :)

Painting 30 – Curly Capsicums on Floral

Haha, this one was a surprise for number 30. I’d bought these wonderful banana capsicums at the Farmers Market, along with a few others, and was sure I’d make a mini landscape with them, like hills of capsicum going back into the distance… It didn’t really work out :P
I started again just playing with these cool shapes – these are the actual shapes of the peppers. The background pattern is related to the bowl they were in, with a bit of extra colour.

Progress

Now I have more days each week to do my art, I’m enjoying the more obvious forward progress! 30 pictures is 60% of the way there, hooray!

The more I delve into my ‘churn’ of painting after painting, the more I am looking at Being 50 and Themes that Recurrently Engage Me. The intent when starting this project was to not wake up the day after my 50th Birthday and go “Now what?” “Did anything really happen?”

I went to see the movie “Wild” recently – Reece Witherspoon stars in the movie from the book by Cheryl Strayed. It was harder work to watch than I expected in a couple of scenes, but I enjoyed the human journey and got a lift from the movie. Have you seen it?

Cheryl Strayed says (whether in the movie or gleaned from an online quote search, I’m not sure): “… but I feel like my hike was not about escaping so much as it was about going more deeply into life, my life.” Love that!

I feel like I’m finding/confirming my voice. Experimenting with the things that draw me in. It’s good that it’s taking a while because that’s helping ensure that turning 50 won’t be an unnoticed blip. Things have led to it, and there is depth there to dig into. I’m on the right track. That makes me feel pretty sovereign and queen like, whole. Cheryl went on a physical, bruisey journey. I’m on kind of a colourful, art-producing journey. Kind of by a different means to that same place of more self-knowing, though of course that’s a life long story.

Another bonus of doing this as a named project is talking about being 50. It’s good to keep all ages in the conversations, right?

Plus: I’ve been talking about my birthday for months and months and months! Haha!

Thanks, dear heart!

Thanks for following along as this big project unfolds here on the blog, and on instagram and facebook!

Love,
Meg x o

 

PS If the description and Add to Cart button doesn’t appear below, please click this.

PS2 The Keen for Cats Fringe exhibition is on now :)