Flowers, Frida, Beads and Birds … bumped in!

Greetings, dear hearts :)

Julie Frahm and I have been conspiring, planning & creating for months to make our window exhibition happen. On Sunday we set up the display … Here we are! We did it!

The wall of colourful goodness is open now at T’Arts Collective for your perusal and delight.

Can you believe: Our names are on the window! [Haha, we hadn’t yet put away the ladder when I took this photo!]

That’s the display, through the glass (lightly). Wait ’til you see it, there’s just happiness-inducing levels of light in this venue – a great ambiance for our enthusiastic colours.

Small details: open hours 10-5 everyday ’til June 26, except Sunday and the public holiday Monday. Click this for my info page for our FLOW(ER) exhibition.
More about our three creative challenges soon…

Be well,
Meg x o

 

PS if you’re thinking to come to art lessons in June, book in now, we start Thursday!

Picture 62 in my 100 Pictures Project: Adam Cat

Did you know that I create custom cat portraits? I’m booked out for this year, but if they sound intriguing to you, read more here, and message me to get on the wait list for 2022.

I mention this because I’m slowly wending my way through a long-term 100 Pictures Project and this custom cat portrait is number 62. (IRL I’m up to picture 90 cos I’ve been working hard, but blogging reportage has yet to catch up…)

Here’s Adam.

I’ve been wanting to create pictures of more ‘breed’ cats, but it takes a while when I’m naturally accompanied by a delightful moggie.

Adam’s human asked me at a Cat show “… what about a Devon Rex?” And here is her elfy beauty, Adam, surrounded by Devon and UK wildflowers and patterns thereof …

What else is going on?

  1. Bookings are now open for my June Art Lessons! I released them first to my mailing list (get on that BTW) and spots have started to be taken up already.
    A recent student said:
    “Definitely these are great classes for ovecoming fear of drawing and painting” due to the “… relaxed approach. No demand or expectation of perfection”. I’m SO glad they got that out of the sessions.
    Another said she’d recommend the classes, they are “suitable for complete beginners as well as someone with a bit of experience.” Click this to read more and book!
  2. Exhibition approaching: My first second exhibition of 2021 is in June. I’m so excited to be working with a brilliant local jeweller – we’re readying our artwork for a light-filled Adelaide venue. Get on my mailing list to hear the details first, in my May newsletter! If you can’t make it to Adelaide in June, there will be some components available by mail order :)
  3. I now have created enough new pictures (12) for a the next round of calendars! The cals will be for the year 2022 – yikes! Way. Too. Early. To. Speak. Of. It’s only May, but good news all the same, right? Also true: it’s already May.
  4. I’m enjoying re-reading Glennon Doyle (Untamed if you’re playing along at home) and Martha Beck. I like to read Finding Your Way in a Wild New World once a year if humanly possible. I’m a late comer to discover Women Who Run with the Wolves (Clarissa Pinkola Estes) and getting a lot out of the archetypal stories.
  5. I still watch TV, and also have just let Netflix go for a while, in a flurry of tight-arse-Tuesday-ing. On Free-to-Air, I’ve been enjoying Dr Who – I have a lot of fave episodes it turns out, mostly relating to art and forests. What’s going on with the time slot though, ABCPlus? It’s been 8pm weeknights for a couple months and this past week it quickly moved later and later until it started at my (important-to-me) bedtime. So sad I missed it. I’ve just done an internet search, and it looks like it might be a bit earlier again so I can again keep up with regenerations, aliens, villains and companions!
  6. What is it with life and feelings? It seems like feelings are our navigation and our anchor, our balance and our trueness indicator. Surprisingly, with life generally playing out, a funeral and misunderstandings it’s been a cathartic, exhausting, and centring few weeks! Laughing and crying brings me back to feeling human and vulnerable and not in control at.all. Did you know this is how we move through our human life? Was there a memo? I feel like I did not receive it.

What’s happening with you? What’s your lockdown status? What have you learned about yourself? What are you reading/watching/enjoying? Are you a Whovian? Are you doing ok?

Love and Peace,
Meg x o

Let’s start 2021 here…

Something has been upended, and it can’t be put back the right way. My sense is we haven’t acknowledged the underlying thing, yet now want to ” … get back on with it ” before we fix – or even name – the broken thing.
Not sure where I can plug in my experience, or what to write … so, I’m gonna start writing as true as I can & feel the uncertainty. Let’s see what emerges …

The global costs of the pandemic have included loss of life, revealing of systemic weaknesses, and a variety of leadership effectiveness. I-wish-it-was-but-it-just-isn’t only about Ben Lee’s dear, true song, We’re All in this Together (here’s a gorgeous version). Yes we are. And: not equally. The exisiting social unfairnesses have been highlighted: racism, sexism, poverty, and more …

Supermarkets and toilet paper companies have done their parts well. (Here’s a link to a deliberately ethical loo paper co with a funny name.) However:

Supermarkets – their convenience camouflages where
food actually comes from.

[Spoiler: Food actually comes from the earth.]

Also true

We aren’t going to resolve anything by hiding our goodness, imagination or creativity! We need joy and rest (they are the revolution!) in order to live well, have something worth living for. This world wide wave has highlighted the soul sustenance we gain from People Who Make Things. And, we need walks and knitting, conversations, kitchen dances and Creating Beautiful Meals that will Never Get Put Online!

The Collective Heart Project I started (too?) early in COVID times feels like it kind of went out of date or didn’t go deep enough, before we could even finish it. Thank you if you contributed, your photos are filed and safe, and I still hope to complete that little film at some stage.

I offer here thoughts, mini listicles and some books and podcasts that have kept me company and my heart uplifted …

Listening for your heart and soul – mini listicle of podcasts

  1. If you want to hear a heart-recognising, at one with nature, poetic, soul activating podcast, try this: On Being episode with the late poet, John O’Donohue.
  2. It seems worthwhile to highlight some unexpected positives (silver linings, if you will) that have accompanied the obvious huge and crisis-y upheavals. Here’s a wonderful episode of The Guilty Feminist podcast where they talk about silver linings and helping refugees (in the UK but we can do it in Australia too). Deborah the host even talks to former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard (speaking of – which we weren’t – people who have left politics and are doing no end of wonderful things).
  3. If you’d like to hear Amanda Palmer and Claire Bowditch have a chat about life, making music and attending to one’s mental health as everyday activities, listen to this one. And this episode when Amanda Palmer talks with KT Tunstall, normalising women talking about creativity and life is also a heart balm.
  4. Governments? Haven’t they shown what they really think? Yikes! The Australia Institute podcast wrapped up the year. If I could ask the leaders to listen to one, this would be it. Listen to the podcast… it will be clearer than me writing patchy, second hand recollections. The Australia Institute shows that there are indeed some sensible adults in the room.

Connecting

The lockdown revelation for this introvert was that introverted life can get too isolating! Who knew? At some point – quite suddenly – I needed to prioritise connection with others, for the sake of being fully human! That has looked like: deliberately nurtured local/in-person friendships and online sisterhoods  …

It was explained to me (cos I can barely imagine) that in lockdown strongly extroverted people have palpable social needs not being met. Sorry to hear this, extroverts, it must(‘ve) be(en) so painful :/ Hang in there <3
Is the intro/extro-vert thing more a spectrum than an either/or switch? I reckon it might be situation dependant, too… What do you think?
Introverts, and extroverts, and all along the spectrum (if it is one) … we’re all human: all different, all beautiful.

Art Lessons for the first complete year! Now what?

Towards the end of 2019, I trialled just 12 Drawing and Painting lessons for adults, which were enjoyed by me and the attendees. See what some of them said here.

For 2020, I scheduled 5 blocks of 5 lessons … We made our way through the Autumn sessions via Zoom, which didn’t work quite as well for us … We accepted that was our option at the time, and it was way better than not doing art together at all!

This year, 2021, we’ll do another 5 blocks of 5 lessons on Thursdays, in fact we’ve already completed the first block. We’re trialling a few in-betweeny, stand alone lessons on public holidays :) If either of those sound good to you, now is a perfect time to book in for April lessons … some spots have opened up, ‘cos a few of our number are heading back to Uni for the year, or attending to family commitments.

Book Listicle, what I’m loving

  1. Our bodies are the first bastion of equality and fairness.. we have to do our own inner work as part of our activism work. Get hold of Your Body is not an Apology if you possibly can. I’ve mentioned it before… the author Sonya Renee Taylor is some kind of genius. It’s a dense book with much to teach…
  2. Margaret Salomon, a qualified clinical psychologist also says we need to do our own work, face our own climate fears and the reality that we could’ve already doomed ourselves, if we want the courage to do the activist work… Here’s Margaret talking with Sarah Wilson.
  3. I’m adoring The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams. Turns out she’s a South Australian local – bonus!
  4. Playing Big Tara Mohr. This book has the most definitive chapter I’ve ever read about imposter syndrome and what to do with it. The following chapter is about accessing your inner mentor. It’s gold.
  5. Regarding physical health, Emily and Amelia Nagoski address why and how to complete your Stress Response Cycle in their book Burnout. That’s been A Key Thing to know this past 6 months or so. Daily walking for the win! I know I’ve mentioned this book before … it’s important information for humaning, and clearly written.

Thank you so much for reading bold soul! I dearly appreciate your attention and support – and [I know you can’t help it >>] your blatant wondrousness!

Wishing you peace & love,
Meg x o

 

PS While I will be at Willunga Artisans and Handmade Market on March 13, I’m not doing markets every month at the moment. If you need cards in between market days … click this to go to my greeting cards page… Meanwhile here are 6 of my designs. There are 150+ by now.

PS2 Keep in the loop with my eNewsletter, if you want first looks and first dibs when new paintings are finished, join my email list!

PS3 There are a few 2021 Bold Art Calendars left – now $31…

PS4 Reminder: book for Art Lessons here!

Picture 61 in my #100PicturesProject: Health and Society

Welcome to the next piece of art in my 100 Pictures Project, and a time-stamp of what I’ve been listening to and thinking about lately…

Jidda Krishnamurti an interesting character. He said:

It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a sick society.
~ Jidda Krishnamurti

It makes you think, right? … Are we aligning our activities, actions and even conversations with our own values and beliefs or with what we think ‘everyone’ expects of us (which ‘they’ largely don’t because they are busy with their own things!) Krishnamurti was bullied and beaten as a child … luckily someone thought he’d make a good leader and decided to protect him, and he went on to live a long life…

What are we doing to ourselves?

If we go back to what many people call normal [I’m not a fan of the word ‘normal’ myself] we’ll create the next pandemic. Or, the next <insert huge surprising-yet-predicted-by-scientists-years-ago global situation here>

Here’a a lovely graphic of Sonya Renee Taylor’s recent-ish thoughts on ‘normal’:

Here are two articles (one from Ohvec last April, one from medium) who refer to Sonya Renee Taylor’s ‘normal’ quote from different angles.

Our previous practises – the ones we say we want to return to – are ruining stuff. Not just random doesn’t-matter stuff, the actual air and soil and water and bees we rely on. We are so so connected. And, dependant on earth for our very survival. [Side note: have you watched Kiss the Earth on Netflix?] … Food for thought.

My favourite stuff right now

  1. If you like to tune in to conversations about sensibly caring for earth, climate change, mental health and more, you might like Osher Günsberg’s podcast Better Than Yesterday. Here’s a recent episode I enjoyed, with environmentalist policy writer, Ayana Elizabeth Johnson. << click for more info and to listen
  2. Emily and Amelia Nagoski are twin sisters both with doctoral degrees, who are fun, smart company, refer frequently to pop culture, and have salient information for humans-who-live-in-the-world-who-have-bodies-and-stress. You too might like their podcast, the Feminist Survival Project 2020, in which they go through the info from their book, Burnout, in segments. I dearly want to listen to the podcast fast, but also need to take time between episodes to process new and valuable information! For a short read to get an idea what they talk about, here’s an online article similar to the Bikini Industrial Complex episode. [You are the new hotness.]
  3. I’ve become an ambassador for Jamie’s wonderful trio of Adelaide eco stores, EcoLateral … It’s awesome to know of and be involved with this emporium of beautiful vegan and otherwise eco things – I love that the chosen product range is so vegan that if products are not vegan it’s on the label! [I am not vegan but I appreciate the care to reducing damage to mother earth.]
    If you click this link and buy online, yey, you’re on the bold soul team… we accrue points with each purchase and when we get enough, I’ll nominate one of the donate-to-charity rewards. Sound good? Good. Join in if you want. No pressure though :)
    One of my favourite products is my dish-washing brush, with beautifully designed bamboo handle. When the bristles eventually get worn from use you swap out the replaceable brush head. I’ll share another fave item next time.
    You can use the code at EcoLateral online and at their stores at Magill, Brighton and  Blackwood. [All the links to EcoLateral online above are ambassador links. If you want a non-ambassador link click this.]
  4. Wouldn’t it be cool if we got Jamie in for the Bold Interview series? [Redacted this bit as was self-serving and probably annoying.] :) Here are a few other bold interviews.
  5. Aussies: though the intent is to keep older Aussies safe from covid, when they are in lockdown over the festive season, they might feel isolated … Would you like to send a message to older Aussies in care? You can send a message online here.

2021

The first block of 2021 Drawing and Painting classes is now more than half full. I’m talking to venues about a few in-between dates, too … If you’d like to collage with me this January, check out the Vision Board sessions here. And here’s a post from 2017, in case you’re wondering: What even is a Vision Board?

Thanks for reading!
Talk soon,
Meg x o

 

PS if you need cards for rainbows+connection go here, if you want some art for your beloved self or a wonderful wedding or engagement gift go here, there are a few 2021 calendars left, and high quality art prints available. [If you see a Cat calendar at one of my stockists, buy it – I have none left in stock here right now!]

PS2 The following original pictures are available for sale. You can find my framed paintings and prints at Artworx Gallery, Hays Rd, Goolwa (pic 4 below and selected others). Fleurieu ArtHouse, Hardy’s Tintara, Main Road, McLaren Vale has pics Pic 2 and 3 and selected others. All are $515 framed. Pic 1 is with me so contact me for that one.

PS3 Love and peace, wonder human <3

Link Love October 2020

How are you doing?

Lots of the things I’m reading, watching, hearing seem to be nudging me in a similar direction right now. You too? Here’s a patchwork of my inputs, and an attempt to bring the threads together…

Thought food – aka. links

  • Osher Günsberg talked with author/journalist Sarah Wilson, on his podcast, about many things, including climate anxiety, personal growth and carrying a shallow bowl. [I finally finished – and loved – her first non-recipe book, on anxiety, First We Make the Beast Beautiful. Currently mid-way though her second, more outward focussed, book This One Wild and Precious Life.Here’s her article with suggestions for when you get climate overwhelm.
  • Soak up Stan Grant talking to Osher – an elegantly articulated, eye-opening perspective on racism and the state of the world.
  • On Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps. << Start there where he talks to Osher, then check out Szeps’ own podcast by the same name. We dearly need to learn to have constructive conversations with people who don’t have the same experience and opinion as us.
  • Bridging the Divide is a wonderful series of conversations from David Byrne’s website Reasons to be Cheerful. I’ve found it uplifting hearing people acknowledging each others’ differences and common humanity … people with different views can be friends! (There’s a series of five Bridging the Divide videos, you should be able to find them from that link.)
  • Wil Anderson interviewed Julia Gillard, Australia’s first woman Prime Minister. She’s co-written a book on Women Leaders too.
  • This episode of TED RADIO HOUR on Climate Mindset, suggests amongst other things that the ‘current white house situation’ is an event. Like a wave. But we do well to know that this is not the current. The currents are good and deep and this will not change them. I got a few pangs while listening, but if you can make it, listen through to the end when the climate commentator artist performs their piece.

I do love ‘meeting’ people – and ideas! – by hearing them on podcasts … by the time I’ve listened in on a good chat, I get a fair sense whether I want to hear more about what they’re doing!

What if we review our approach to the situation?

I’ve mentioned Stasia’s Style School before [it’s not just about the clothes] and Stasia’s fantastic rants on instagram.
In the post Style School community I’ve joined, we’re learning about and practising clothing sustainability in October. Stasia is enmeshing earth and environment with getting dressed congruently. Along with the sizeably grim facts about the damage done by fast fashion and such, she made an important point I’d not properly pondered before:

It’s important to do sustainability sustainably.

To keep doing this revolution/task/shared marathon – and hopefully undo the damage we’ve already done – here on earth we must find the JOY in sustainability … Then, our environmental actions become … [drumroll] … sustainable!

What if that were true of all the sustainability and big issues?

  • Eating local and fresh? Amazing quality! Joyful! Low transport costs! Increase soil fertility!
  • Washing our clothes and drying them in the fresh air? Joyful! … Mmm, that sun-fresh vitamin D smell …
  • Being friends or at least respectful with everyone even if and when they look or think or behave not-like-us … Joyful! Enriching! Bridging!
  • Valuing, respecting and adorning ourselves with minimal earth impact – playing with op-shopped finds & handed on treasures – along with self respect and even love? Powerful! Low impact! Joyful!
  • many other things … I won’t try to list the world here…

Walking the path with a ton of weight on our shoulders is slow, and like stop-start driving, is not good for our engines. When I get overwhelmed I need to shut it all down, step back, and re-boot, and it takes time. See also: Sarah’s shallow bowl, and going back to the start to top it up again.

How to do this without losing our minds and our hearts

Maybe I’m oversimplifying, but here goes …
We need to fall back in love with our selves, our goodness, and our good world.
And be kind to each other.
Then work together to unf*ck the mess we’re making.

I didn’t expect to like this so much …

The current season of The Bachelorette Australia! There are a bunch of otherworldly dresses, suits, helicopter rides and other activities – and a mansion! – and there’s also kindness, respect, fun and emotional intelligence here that I’m digging. The Bachelorette sisters were on Osher Günsberg’s podcast… I’ll let you google that yourself :)

Where are you finding wisdom, groundedness, kindness and joy? What’s making sense to you amidst the ‘business as usual’ info-fog of doom?

Love and peace,
Meg x o

 

 

PS I’ve printed a small extra quantity of 2021 Garden Cat Calendars, so if you see them while out and about grab one, or, order yours here and I’ll post it to you.

PS2 Sign up for my emails! They’re fun, human, arty, good vibey … and I’m about to announce a pre-Xmas print sale just for subscribers.

PS3 I’ve been feeling better since changing to a non-fluoride toothpaste. It’s better to skip the fluoride for auto-immune / thyroid / anxiety peeps. More info from journalist Sarah Wilson on fluoride here.

Work in Progress: *Succulent, Geranium and Honeymoon Fabric* watercolour painting

I breezed past this pidture back when I started my #100PicturesProject back in 2018. This shows you the steps a little more closely that went into creating this painting …

For our honeymoon in 2009, my new husband and I visited amazing Borneo at the recommendation of a friend. It was tropical, humid [hello heat fungus on my fingers]  and we saw elephants and orang-utans in reserves, rode horses and parachute kite thingies over the ocean. We brought back gorgeous fabrics and one of them features in this still life…

For this picture, I combined a succulent plant and a geranium remaining from an arrangement from Harvest Studio, a vase and a little lidded something together and the ‘honeymoon fabric’ became the background.

I started with a loose light pencil line, then launched in with my pen and ink. Here’s a glimpse at the start of the ink work. You may just be able to see the pencil line.

Here’s a peek at the whole drawing.

Here’s the start of adding the colour. [Sidenote: Did you know this picture is number 6 in my #100PicturesProject? And I’m now up to #79!]

And more and more colour… how glorious are the colours of this fabric! Such a lesson from an artisan in a different genre.

This one of a kind watercolour painting has recently gone to a good home, purchased from my *Plenty Twenty* SALA exhibition.

Be well!
Speak soon,
Love Meg x o

 

PS There are plenty of 2021 Garden Cats and Flower+Food calendars! Get yours here.

PS2 If you want to hear first about the 2021 Drawing and Painting schedule, sign up for my eNews, here. We’re pretty much booked up for the rest of this year.

 

Picture 60 in my 100Pictures Project: A Quote from queen Brené

Crikey, we’re up to picture 60 of my 100 Pictures Project! Hope you like my hand-lettered interpretation of this pithy Brené Brown quote!

Don’t let go of you!

“What’s the greater risk?
Letting go of what people think – or
letting go of how I feel what I believe and who I am?”
~ Brené Brown.

Great question, Brené Brown – or, as I call her queen Brené! The risk looks to be much greater if we let go of ourselves, right? So important! Might I also recommend Brené’s podcast, Unlocking Us? Full of insight, compassion and warmth. Have you listened?

A Perfectly Reasonable request

The people-descended-from-people-who-lived-on-this-land when colonialism dropped it’s destructive possessive self in (embarrassedly the latter would be my ancestors) are not making a big or unreasonable ask with their Statement from the Heart! It would be entirely reasonable to say “Get out of here, now!” or “Do things our way”, but they’re simply requesting a voice to be heard in the (Brought In) Leadership system! Sounds gracious, patient and restorative. How about we walk together as allies?

This quote (found via Sonya Renee Taylor) seems relevant now, too…

“If you have come to help me, you are wasting your time.
If you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then
let us work together.”
~ Lilla Watson

Food for thought

Have you read The Body is not an Apology by Sonya Renee Taylor? So. Good. So much to think about and unpack. I started re-reading with the intention of addressing the self-reflections instead of powering on through. [It’s very popular and I returned it to the library, mid re-read. and will await my turn again!]

Gosh, I’m grateful for libraries! Most of the books I’ve read lately have been borrowed from our state library service. Do you love libraries, or are you a book buyer? Or a hybrid who just loves to read, wherever the book is from? Do you have en e-book-reader? Do you like it?

Be well. Stay well.
Love and Peace,
Meg :)

 

 

PS Want my All Welcome Here message art colouring page and poster? Click this to read more and sign up for the [Tangerine Juice] eNewsletters and get the sweet freebies today!

PS2 Worth a look: video and info for today, September 21, which is the International Day of Peace. Join me as a voice for peace, by sharing the URL and video, too!

Plenty Twenty, the Exhibition…

If you can’t get to my in-person exhibition in South Australia [pandemic travel restrictions, anyone?], or you can & you’re wondering about the stories behind the 12 still lifes in my Plenty Twenty exhibition, then This Is For You! Here are the stories embodied in the 12 paintings…

1/January – Arcs and Iridescence $515

The *Arcs and Iridescence* title refers to both the vintage china – with pearlised surface and arched legs and handle – and butterflies and their quivering flight paths and finely scaled wings.

The sweet lidded bowl is complimented by the scarlets and oranges of nasturtium petals. The colours are divinely bright on the generous watercolour paper.

This piece radiates ‘uplift’, a sunny afternoon captured for your forever enjoyment, even during winter darkness. This will suit you if nasturtiums are your Happy Place – mine too! – for your cosy reading spot or anywhere you want glowing light and warmth!

2/February – Hazel’s Chai and Paisley – SOLD

A china cup of light infused chai floats over a paisley landscape… warming your heart with pinks and golds … mmmm, delicious!

This piece would be lovely company in the nook where you enjoy your cuppa, to gently remind you of the sheer luxurious validity of doing so!

[Side note: While painting this, I listened to a podcast of Russell Brand interviewing Brian Cox … you may feel the vibe of intelligent voices in British accents emanating from this one!
Take a moment, too, to think of Hazel, the kind elderly lady who would bequeath a sweet teaset to a new friend who was at the time an 8-year old child.
]

3/March – Wavy Glass and Marimekko $515

While helping a friend clear out a shed, this wavy glass jug came to light, beckoning me to paint it!

Gathering friendly paper maché and nasturtiums to keep it company, I also harkened back to joyful 70s simplified flower motifs for the background.

This is an individual statement of appreciation, perhaps for your breakfast nook or sunroom.

 

 

 

4/April – Picked Pears – SOLD

The white china bowl and the teapot flowers keep company with generously yielded pears. Cat lovers will note the familiar cat scrabbled fly screen!

This is a visual ode to op shopped china, feline companions and sweet Autumn offerings. An image of contentment, perhaps for your hallway.

 

 

 

 

5/May – Quinces and Crab Apples – SOLD

Pale yellow quinces slowly ripened on the tree. They come into their own with a table linen and scarf background along with dear cherry-like crab apples.

This is an image of abundance and appreciation, perfect for an altar or near the hall stand…

 

 

 

 

6/June – Succulent, Geranium and Honeymoon Fabric – SOLD

Several lovely swathes of patterned fabric returned with us from Tangerine Man’s* and my honeymoon in Borneo. I’ve not historically been a fan of succulent plants, but natures wonderful shapes and bold designs have ‘grown’ (haha) on me. The humble geranium’s leaf structure and a little lidded pot complete the composition.

This picture gives off a conservatory vibe, so if you don’t quite have a conservatory and you want one, this might be a good pic for you! Alternately the greens and patterned-with-white areas pop forwards making this a welcome addition to sunny kitchen (though not itself to be placed in direct sun)!

 

7/July – Garden Flowers (Yellows) – SOLD

Marigolds are so generous – from each seed a hundred flowers! They’re a small blossoming representation of sunshine, and their yellows pair companionably with a scarlet nasturtium.

Blues and spots are a classic foil to the shape and colour of the indian vase with garden flowers and lone pear.

This happy still life will bring cheerfulness to the space where you choose to hang it.

 

 

8/August – Still Life with Gourd – SOLD

My friend grew this cool gourd and kindly let me draw it.  I haven’t even accentuated the the colours – it was vibrant just like this!

I arranged the gourd on a sweet fabric with related colours. Nasturtiums tentatively arched nearby.

This one brings late Summer vibes. It would bring delight and warmth to a conservatory and/or tea-drinking spot.

 

 

 

9/September – Past and Future Poppies $515

Past and Future poppies… ribbed dried poppy pods, spilling their fine seeds into the glass jar holding their potential ready for next Spring.

This is a record of the delicate between-seasons keeping of seeds, while nature turns and becomes once again warm and ready to enthusiastically grow tall plants from tiny seeds.

This picture would be a wonderful Circle of Life contemplation piece for an altar, or on an always-shaded wall in the kitchen or eating nook.

 

 

10/October – Nasturtiums in Blue and White Vase 2 – SOLD

This delightful op shop vase shares its shape and particular blue twirl-and-leaf pattern, while holding friendly nasturtiums straight from the garden.

This painting will reward extended inspection with its balanced composition and joyful colour combination.

It’s a Spring and Summer reminder you can keep indoors, to lift your spirits all year long! A gracious piece for an older child’s room – or yours!

 

 

11/November – Green Cup and Child’s Daisies – $515

One by one I was gifted these daisies making up a posie so small an egg cup is sufficient vase.

In the 2021 Flowers and Food calendars, the quote I’ve paired with this picture is Dean Jackson’s, saying:

“…when a child gives you a gift, even if it is a rock they just picked up, exude gratitude. it may be the only thing they have to give, and they have chosen to give it to you.”

The foreground cross pattern and the rounded hand-shaped cup round out the still life composition with the blues and greens of fabric and background.

This picture would be a keeper gift for a child, a starter piece to encourage them to collect art from a young age.

12/December – Buerre Bosc Pears and Dahlias – SOLD

The classic shape of buerre bosc pears fits beside the hand-blown glass with swirls of white and blue. The pears greens and browns are friendly with the soft tones of the dahlia petals and their deep green leaves.

This is a bold composition, with judicious colour play and decorative elements.

Would be a perfect fit in a row with 2 other produce-featuring still lifes, perhaps behind the side board in the dining room.

 

 

Make your favourite your own!

  • An original painting will bring a unique, buoyant energy to your wall. Make one [or several if you have a bigger space] your own!
    Artworks are custom framed and your new artwork can be collected from Mockingbird Lounge after the exhibition.
    If there’s a picture you want for your very own, you can of course purchase at the exhibition venue.
    Or, if you fall in love with one of the images above – or after you leave the exhibition you can’t stop thinking about one – you can also ring them on (Australia) 08 8294 3398 message me to arrange purchase and a red dot will mark it as Sold To You.
  • Companion calendars – a collection of the twelve exhibition images combined with 2021 dates, and quotes of goodness and individuality
  • An exhibition pack of 12 cards to send your love still available at Mockingbird Lounge (and possibly on my site, soon).

In August, one-of-a-kind pictures will be available only from the Plenty Twenty exhibition venue, Mockingbird Lounge, Glenelg, South Australia. This is so we don’t inadvertently sell a one-off item to two separate bold souls!

However, calendars and cards – items there are multiples of – are available at both the exhibition and below.

[Later: remaining pictures now included below.]

Hope this is useful!
Speak soon :)
Meg x o

 

*not his real name

 

I want to come to your drawing and painting lessons … but first, can I ask you something?

What do you want to ask, dear bold soul?

I’ve replied to a few questions privately, and here are some other questions answered by students, quoted with permission.

What if I can’t draw?

A student from Block 1 this year [all that time ago before COVID] wasn’t confident that she could draw. She decided she would “watch, listen and have a go (and was) surprised by the results”. Go you, H from the Fleurieu, giving it a go! She also said the lessons were “relaxing, enjoyable and (she got) great encouraging comments”. She’d recommend the lessons as being “fun, interesting and a (giving a) great sense of achievement.”

S from the Fleurieu, said my “layman’s language made it really accessible” and it was “so doable”. She felt “calm and capable of doing it”, that it would turn out in the end.

What if I’m not good enough?

“Relaxed approach. No demand or expectation of perfection”, said M from the Fleurieu, “These are great lessons for overcoming fear of drawing and painting”. Someone else said the lessons gave her “time out from the distractions of everyday life” and “freedom to play”.

Thank you so much

M from the Fleurieu said “(Meg): you really have a wonderful approach to helping people engage in art. And a beautiful, generous, kind presence”. Others commented that “Meg creates a supportive and very enjoyable space to freely create and enjoy art,” and “Meg is a natural teacher. She is clear and playful; accomplished and welcoming; and paces the classes perfectly”.

I’m not sure that I have time

When you’re scheduling your weeks and your trips, check here for the dates and see if they work for you. For Block 2 we went online. But now we’re ba-a-a-ack!

S from the Fleurieu says the classes are: “informative, relaxing, challenging, creative”, noting that  “everyone sees things differently – every picture is different”. Another benefit was “meeting people from different backgrounds. Would she recommend the classes to others? Yes, they were “fun, relaxing, (and) confidence building”.

D from the Fleurieu enjoyed the “new – bold and colourful – techniques”, the “nice afternoon with good company” and found the lessons “fun and not too daunting”.

Fortunate legacy

In the art world I grew up in, I was lucky to be taught and mentored by Ruth Tuck and her wonderful, mostly women, teachers. They modelled (and still do) being a working artist, how to see and appreciate and having a good work ethic. It’s a rich and important legacy for me, and I hope I can share a little of it.

Was this helpful?

I hope this was encouraging! If you still have questions, not covered here or on the Drawing and Painting lessons info page, contact me via the contact page

If it sounds like a fit for you, come join us!

Sound good? if yes, put on your Frida earrings and book yourself in for a lovely series of creative afternoons in 2020. Click this to book in and join us! There are 3 spots left in the August block and 4 spots left in the October block, as of this writing.

Speak soon!
Meg x o

 

PS If you’re in Adelaide, South Australia and want to visit >>> *Plenty 20*, my SALA Festival exhibition <<< click that link for more details! We’ll be in the on-line SALA program soon…

Let’s visit Mockingbird Lounge

Mockingbird Lounge is a second hand book shop and more!

Did you know? My SALA (South Australian Living Artists) Festival 2020 exhibition of still life paintings, *Plenty 20* is at a wonderful book shop and café in Glenelg South called Mockingbird Lounge?

Mockingbird Lounge is a cosy café, community space, secondhand book shop, art gallery and gift shop, where almost all walls are full of books (except for the exhibition area in the main hallway) and the rooms are full of book clubs. In the café they use actual china cups and saucers, just like you’re at home. Beautiful and planet friendly.

Want to read some others’ thoughts about Mockingbird Lounge? Here are articles from Australian Traveller and from Adelady.

SALA (South Australian Living Artists) Festival

Aren’t we fortunate (and it’s not just luck, folks put a lot of work in) in South Australia to have SALA – an actual Living Artist’s Festival, celebrating creativity as a month-long community practise?! The format is a little different this year, with some extra creativity coming in to play due to COVID pauses and practises. Usually there’s a small newspaper guide of hundreds of exhibitions and thousands of artists. This year the guide and some of the art itself is online.

Lucky for me, with a COVID plan, my exhibition is happening in the physical location that is Mockingbird Lounge. By the way, if you want first dibs on any of the 12 framed paintings, go to my exhibition page up to August 6th where you can pre-purchase the pictures. From August 7th to September 3, visit the exhibition in person!

Plenty 20

When I’m feeling ‘flat’, I tend not to paint … maybe I walk or write, to try to untangle thoughts and worries … When I’m painting, I’ve made it through the writing, wandering and pondering, and there’s a genuine buoyancy that’s embedded in the artwork. I named my exhibition Plenty 20 to remind myself and viewers about gratitude and sheer good fortune for our Australian abundance of fresh fruit and garden flowers, colours and patterns a record of every day plentitude. Basics perhaps, but like Tara Schuster says, “The basics are the luxury”.

I’m grateful to be alive and well. How are you doing?

Speak soon,
Meg xo

 

PS Sign up today if you’re thinking of taking some art lessons with me. We start again on August 6th (3 spots left as of this writing) for 5 weeks. The final block for the year starts on October 1 (4 spots left). We have a COVID plan in place and are returning to our first venue.