Birthday Bold Art Project Gallery

The paintings from my 50th Birthday Project together on one Art Project Gallery page!

I will do my best to note in the headers which pictures have sold, but the website shopping cart will be more up to date! Pictures on sale, unframed until August 6th. Pictures now available for sale only from me in person or from my delightful stockists.

If you’ve bought one, I’d love to see it hanging at your place … would you send me a photo via email, or post on my Tangerine Meg Facebook page? Or, tag me on a pic of it hanging on your wall on instagram?

Scroll and scroll and follow along – you get a good sense of the journey this became.

Revisit the In-Progress blog posts here:
Introduction | Post 2 | Post 3 | Post 4 | Post 5 | Post 6 | Post 7 | Post 8 | Post 9

Birthday Bold Art Project Gallery

1 – Nasturtiums

The vibrancy of the new seasons blooms plus a wavy border. Haha, this also has a llama nasturtium!

2 – Angel / feather

Found this ^^^ feather when out jogging and used it as a prompt. What angel would have lost a feather like that from their wing?

3 – Thyroid medication container

One of my old thyroid medication containers! I’m using an empty one for an ink pot too – it’s bigger than an old film cannister, and very stable (to protect somewhat against ink spillage). For more about my thyroid journey check out this post introducing my “Thank You, Piggies” thyroid themed lino print.

4 – Yellow Daisy Cat

Third time lucky! Spring offered an abundance of blooming inspiration, finally it ‘gelled’ as a picture on my third try.

5 – Orange with blues and greens – SOLD

The colour combination I was going for has worked in this little piece with a home grown orange, juicy and sweet.

6 – Being Heard / Speak with Love / Speak Out

#blue #beingheard #speakwithlove I’m still pondering this theme – have been all year, really – more paintings on this theme will no doubt follow!

7 – Ode to Getting Grey Hair

I was surprised how many times I redid this one! 5 I think. Haha, there’s a reason I don’t do many human face close ups – they’re delicate!

8 – Starry Cat or The White Paw

That contented cat expression… loving the patterns too!

9 – Silver beet, peppermint and oregano

Gifted Greens. Silver beet, peppermint and oregano. #qualityoflife

10 – Cat in the Conservatory

This is our beloved new-to-us orange cat … he looks as though he’s in a conservatory – the background turned from a plus sign (balance symbol) pattern into a tiled wall!

Pictures now available for sale only from me in person or from my delightful stockists.

11 – Being Heard / Speak with Love / Speak Out 2

This theme is recurring for me this year. For you too? #speakout #speakup #speakwithlove Kind of looks like an elaborate neck piece, doesn’t it? Tangerine Man thought she was a painted (tattooed) lady though I’d intended the lower section (mauve with dots and bold floral) to be her tshirt.

12 – Hydration Lady – SOLD

This hydration lady has a watery dress, stripy socks, a grey streak and a bird familiar. Hydration is a wonderful thing, isn’t it? Life giving, and so simple. Mmmm…

13 – Angry Bird

Oh the things that get my goat! From socks with a hole in the toe, to a broken heart, to politics (#@%*) and dead rats… The bird colour scheme, if not the beak/shape, is inspired by rainbow lorikeets.

14 – Your Sensitivity is Your Strength – SOLD

Another of my big lessons this year! When feeling a bit fragile it’s not always easy to remember that your sensitivity is a blessing! #notbroken

15 – October in Australia (Rainbow Lorikeet)

Walking back from a friend’s house I was lucky enough to get some pictures with my phone of these beautiful local birds for reference. Remember when I got philosophical about the parrots and how they decimated our apricot crop last Summer?

16 – Cactus Flower – SOLD

I was given this delicate pink flower and told it wouldn’t last long – but its generous beauty lasted a full 2-3 days! Haha, I was expecting it to somehow disappear into thin air on the way home in the car :)

17 – Christmas Cat

Lots of pretty Christmassy red and green. I’ve had a composition sketch for this guy ready for *such* a long time, so glad he’s finally here!

18 –  Running to the shop to get thread

In stripes and a rainbow tutu. As you do.

19 – Grey Angel 1

Found a feather, picked it up. And on this day I had good luck :)
Musing upon which angel may have dropped this feather from her wing (like in painting 2).

20 – Abbie the Abyssinian – SOLD

Here I tried to draw an abyssinian cat for my friends who have them … haha, perhaps it’s more like the abyssinians have my friends?!

Pictures now available for sale only from me in person or from my delightful stockists.

21 – Sleep is Magic – SOLD

Don’t we know it? Sleep really is magic! Scientists agree :)
I’m really not a fan of “sleep when you’re dead” thinking. I like being alive and getting plenty of magical sleep! There was a brain scientist on the radio. Apparently, the little loop in our brain that runs the check “…is that true/likely?” on our myriad of daily thoughts, takes lots of energy to run. So when we get depleted (tired, run down) there may not be enough oomph to run the loop. Without it, we can become ‘down’ or make not-so-good decisions. I relate. And I reiterate: Sleep is Magic.

22 – Appreciating Flowering and Edible Nature – SOLD

There’s no denying it: We’re interlinked with our surroundings. This woman (me? you?) is entwined in vine, decorated with and amongst Forget Me Nots and marigold-like flowers, whispering birds, and awaiting the ripening of the pears. (And what a pretty dress!)

23 – Ideas Blossoming

Love this nest/hair of ideas and marigolds, with falling autumn leaves, and blue background to contrast. Like the head/nest/plums in my Thriving linoprint, creativity and ideas are forming in the eggs in the head/nest and sprouting as flowers.

24 – Black and White Cat

This gorgeous cat and his cool background are inspired by a picture posted by cassie on Instagram. The photo reminded me of our beloved black and white boy, Frank (who long ago went to cat rainbow land) and the gorgeous vintage furniture I adored in our first rental home (and was frequently inspired to paint). Denim folded washing completes the picture!

25 – Spring (Rainbow Toenails) – see sidebar for dates of group exhibition at Gallery M for SALA 2015

Put your feet up!
Yes, we really have spotty chairs! Sometimes I have rainbow nailpolish, but as of this painting I have a strawberry red colour growing out! Need some self-care time to get the rest off and re-apply! (Later: I now have a fresh coat of rich, deep purple.)

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.

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 (complement?) of blues and greens. And blues and greens need yellow and purple :)

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*

29 – Blue and White Cat at Garden Fete – SOLD

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 :)

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.

Pictures now available for sale only from me in person or from my delightful stockists.

31 – Little home grown pear on Blue and White – SOLD

We have a happy pear tree, which made this dear little pear. The fabric pattern is a shirt I was planning to give to the Salvos. Having looked at it so closely to make this painting (and number 29) though, I’m kinda falling back in love with it.

32 – Grey Haired Angel 2 – SOLD

The grey-haired angel in a night sky dress has a feline muse with a stripy tail, and a handful of colourful stars to sprinkle. Her wings are inspired by feathers on my desk that I’ve been collecting over the past couple of months! The ‘sun’ flowers are clearly the rare night-blooming moon marigolds.

I’ve been wanting to make a grey-haired angel picture for a while. So happy (that with this project) I gave myself a way to try out some of the things I’ve been musing upon. I’m sure this theme will be revisited!

33 – Trust What Your Sensitive Heart Knows

#whatineededtohear I think part of us knows what we need to hear. ‘Specially if we can pause for just a moment in a busy or unpleasant day, and just …. yeah… pause. Ask our inner higher selves what we need to hear today. We know. Part of us does.

34 – Shine Your Light. Dance Delight and Twirl in it – SOLD

This is one of the #whatineededtohear series within a series! What a rotten day I was having! What did I need to hear? “Shine your light – dance, delight and twirl in it”. Thank you art for also being therapy! So happy that #whatineededtohear is also resonating with what others need to hear!

35 – Henna Hand

My first hand drawing (close up) that doesn’t completely suck. I tried doing the pear picture with it held in my hand but that didn’t work out! Haha, there’s a growing pile of Yes-that’s-the-right-idea-but-that-isn’t-working-try-again pieces!

36 – Blue Shoes – see sidebar for dates of group exhibition at Gallery M for SALA 2015

It’s a footwear still life – of my comfy, gorgeously blue, lace up boots.

37 – Pink Shoes – see sidebar for dates of group exhibition at Gallery M for SALA 2015

Painting this favourite pair of faded Keen mary jane shoes has reminded me how much I enjoy them. The happy socks are Tibetan flower crews from sock dreams.

38 – The Shoes of Sincerity – see sidebar for dates of group exhibition at Gallery M for SALA 2015

I wrote a whole post on this one. Check it out here: The Making Of the Shoes of Sincerity.

39 – Autumn Leaves

Gorgeous coloured leaves dropping, drifting down from trees everywhere I walk. Cloudy skies in between sunshine and rain. Autumn rainbows for spectrum spotting.

40 – Autumn Walk

I wrote an impassioned piece, for a course I’m doing, about mammal shaming. As soon as I’d finished writing, I needed to do this ‘hairy legged’ Autumn walk picture. Want me to post that piece so you can read it?

Pictures now available for sale only from me in person or from my delightful stockists.

41 – Pickled Epiphanies

This is my visual response to the Pace Smith’s blog post: How to Pickle an Epiphany. Pace asked if I’d allow her to share the picture right there in the blog post. Yes, of course! Click the link to check out her good recommendations (and my pickled rainbow magic art response).

42 – Egg, Autumn Leaf and Fabric

Autumn leaves are all around here in the Southern Hemisphere at the moment – it’s been a late start to Winter proper (cold though, brrrr). The colours of the leaves make me want to paint and they’re almost heart shaped.

43 – You are Glee. You are You. You are Beautiful. You are Enough.

Take that message to heart, dear reader.
Another in the #whatIneededtohear series within a series. It’s cool how a bit of a pause + art can lift your whole day up even if you start off a bit despondent. (Note this one has an instagram filter on it making it out of focus at right. In reality the whole watercolour painting is sharp!)

44 – Purr Therapy

This time it was a therapeutic cat who made my day. He’d woken me up at ridiculous o’clock and I was tired and cranky. The very same orange cat visited me when I was about to start painting, got up in my grill, and purred and purred and purred. Needless to say: I felt better. Has something like that ever happened to you?

45 – Spring Cat

Definitely from my imagination … It’s Autumn-Winter-cold-feet-and-fingers-time-of-year here in Oz (haha, I may have mentioned!) I enjoyed painting and drawing rather loosey-goosey on the blossoms, as I had none to work from, just imagination.

46 – I Have what I Need

This has become a evolution of inspiration sharings! #whatIneededtohear This is a simple idea, shown off with an elaborate dress and curlicue hair! Peace doves! Happy flowers!

47 – Mermaid’s Tail – SOLD

I’m so happy that @Kyeli asked me on instagram whether I had any mermaid paintings…
It was fun to make this lady with colourful scales and hair – I even included a black cat like Kyeli’s cat! I’ve been wanting to do a sister mermaid to go with Rainbow Lady for some time :P

48 – Yellow Daisies

This one came about while pruning the daisy bush – hoorah for bonus flowers to bring inside! The layout is very much influenced by Jessica Swift’s Pattern Camp … This could potentially make a cute fabric design, so I didn’t crash the flowers into each other like I might usually, but kept them apart so as to leave the option open to rearrange/repeat later!

49 – Embrace the Flawesome

I’m enjoying the self acceptance with this one. There are things which my picky eye didn’t like part way through this, but in the spirit of the self-acceptance, I’ve finished it and now I love her! #embracetheflawesome (I invented a useful word!)

50 – Queen’s Birthday

Just a couple of weeks before painting this, Australia had a long weekend to celebrate the Queen’s Birthday. This also relates to our earlier discussion (back at painting 28) re: sovereignty and the bonus new archetype of women (Queen, between Mother and Crone). She’s (we are)(or are aiming for being) independent, happy and knowing her own preferences. And that’s good place to end this journey.

Pictures now available for sale only from me in person or from my delightful stockists.

My original intentions. With comments from today in pink

Here are 2 of the things I’ve learned about myself in the past 20 to 50 years:

1. I can do all sorts of things – even big things – if I tackle them one step at a time
2. I adooooooore colour, and experimenting with combinations thereof

How about a series of 50 paintings?

The doable part is they’ll be small. The challenge part will be completing 50 of them!

Mini watercolours. Happened.

Or very small lino prints. That bit didn’t happen.

Frame-able little moments. Happened.

Talismans, records of the feeling, intrigue or flight of fancy of the day. Happened.

Or musings upon 50. Maybe about getting more grey hair and crinkles, or the lessening of the inclination to keep quiet when something needs saying. That sort of thing. Happened.

To acknowledge changes or growth that have happened and perhaps visually setting some intentions for how I’d like to proceed. We’ll see. Happened.

Very likely little noticings and appreciations of the everyday. Happened.

And color. Colour. Color. Happened.

What this is not going to be: Daily. Having a set end date. Haha. Perfect. Rubbish (if it’s not looking too good at a point I’ll recognise, I’ll record with a photo, shred and start over.)

What it is going to be: A small marathon. A celebration of little things. A possible yet hard challenge. Happy, perhaps. Colourful for sure.

I’ll post phone photos as I go on my instagram. That way I don’t need to have a big scanning session to keep up. It’ll be more immediate. (I can scan later.)

I trust myself to make my effort (one of the benefits of getting older!) without a bunch of parameters that I already know I can’t work within. General Doing Things will also continue.

I think it’ll be nice to surround my birthday in art :)

We don’t want this post to be ridiculously slow to load, so I may break the 50 images up amongst 5 or 10 blog posts. Happened. Also, collected here for the record!

I’m really happy that so much of what I’d hoped for happened. And still *amazed* that a project I thought might take 2 months, took 10 (ten) months! Haha, got there though, right? Thanks for being here, bold soul!

Remember: on sale for $50 until August 6th. Click here to buy your favourite in my online gallery shop. Pictures now available for sale only from me in person or from my delightful stockists.

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