A Portrait

'Naara' 2011 - Oil on canvas board

This is one of my latest paintings. I started in quite a few months ago and have only just finished it a few weeks ago. It's a portrait of one of my very good friends.
I hope to do a series of portraits following this one. So keep an eye out :)

Been Awhile...

It's been a long time since I last blogged on here so I thought I would say something at least...

I have been without proper internet for a long time and have been very busy moving house so I haven't had much of a chance to blog anything. Sorry about that.
For some of that time I was overseas, having some fun with friends where I hadn't been before: The US of A :)
We had a lot of fun over there and it was really good to see my friends again and to act like uni students again ('cause that's who we were with ;)).

Hopefully once things get a little more organised at my place there will be more regular blogs happening. Thanks for being patient.

K.

Jetsetting...

I'm supposed to be going overseas tomorrow but have been delayed by ash cloud. It's pretty upsetting but we're only being delayed by one day, so I guess I shouldn't complain.
Hopefully nothing else will stop us from leaving the country.

So, while I sit here waiting I decided to blog, but I have nothing really that interesting to blog about. Hmmm...maybe I should leave it at that and say until next time...

ciao

Do you ever feel like...

Do you ever feel like...

A withering flower,
Wiltering in the Winter.
Frozen and dying,
Trying to breathe.

Do you ever feel like...

A suffocated flower,
Hidden amongst others.
Struggling to survive,
Trying to live.


 I do.

Discovery...

This afternoon I discovered...Paul Newman. : )

He was a rather striking man. Even in his old age. I'm a sucker for beautiful eyes, and his are beautiful.
I was watching Cat on a Hot Tin Roof for the first time ever, after hearing about it a lot of times before. It's a rather good movie, which I was surprised about. I've always been rather hesitant about Elizabeth Taylor movies. But after watching this, I may have come to a better understanding of why people like her so much. She was a rather good actress and Paul Newman was a good actor.

In case you don't know what he looks like here are some pictures of the beautiful Paul Newman:

All photos found on Google Images

My Art Works

I wanted show some of my artworks. I'm hoping to sell some and am looking for some advice on how to do that, and which ones might be favourites to sell.
So here they are, some are from a few years ago and some are quite recent. Happy looking :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Malpas Dam 2005

 The above painting is not from one of my most proudest moments, but it was my first oil painting ever. I painted it in school with a teacher who wasn't a very good teacher hahaha

Still-Life, 2007

My second oil painting. This one was completed in my first year of university. The exercise was a white-on-white still life. It was rather hard as all the pieces set up were various whites. Another of my least favourite works, but an improvement on the last.

A portrait of J.Free, 2007

My first portrait painting. I was quite proud of this painting when I completed it. It was completed in a class at university where we had a fellow student sit for us over a course of 3 or 4 classes. 

Missy's Kennel, 2007

Acrylic painting of our dog's kennel up in the paddock where we used to live. I like that there is detail in the kennel and the surrounds are more or less out of focus.

Missy and an unnamed cowboy, 2007

This acrylic painting was painted from an image I conjured up in my mind, except for the dog; I actually half painted that from life. Not a completely accurate painting, but I kind of like it anyway :)

Inspired by the film 'Pollack', 2008

I had a go at trying to paint Jackson Pollack style after watching the film starring Ed Harris. Unfortunately I didn't have the right paints for it, but I still had fun making it, and I quite like the result.  

Elvis, 2008

This was supposed to be a portrait of Elvis Presley. Although it doesn't look very much like him, it was inspired by him. 

A mixture of emotions, 2008

This was a painting inspired by how I felt at the time. A loss of friendship, the feeling of being trapped and suffocated by family, among other emotions.

Piano Man-A tribute to a friend, 2008

I painted this after a friend, and fellow student at uni died in an accident. He was an awesome piano player, and an all round fun guy.


Well there is just a taste of some of the paintings I have done...I'm going to post some more later on...
So until next time...keep smiling :) 

A Few More of My Favourite Things...

Talking about my favourite things makes me happy...which is good for the soul, in my opinion :)
So here are a few more of my favourite things:

My favourite hobbies:

Photography (photo by Naara Lee)

Painting (photo by me)

Watching movies (photo by me)

Photography is my passion. I love it. I love film cameras and digital cameras. I love, love love it! :)
Painting is also a passion of mine, but it is not quite as deep as photography. Painting allows me to escape from the world, and makes me happy (most of the time).
Watching movies is another way of escaping from the real world. I enjoy watching movies when I am painting or scrapbooking or even when I am all snuggled up in bed on a rainy afternoon (especially then :) )

Seeing as we are talking about watching movies I will tell you my favourite movies. There are so many to choose from, so bare with me, as the list may be long :)

The Sound of Music

Singing in the Rain

Moulin Rouge

Strictly Ballroom

Notting Hill

Where the Heart is

Love Actually

Ever After

Music and Lyrics

The Man From Snowy River

So there are a few of my favourite movies. I know they look like they are all from fairly similar movie genres, but I do like all kinds of genres. I'm just a chick-flick type girl most of the time :)  I love Australian films. I think they are under-rated, which is sad. They have some very good stories and actors in them. I also love musical type films, as you can see. Not all musical movies are good, some just have too many songs lol. I also love English films and TV, they are usually the most funny.


Which leads me to my next favourite thing, TV shows:

SeaChange

The Simpsons

Friends

Dawson's Creek

Ed

Gilmore Girls

House

Keeping Up Appearances

Kath & Kim

I don't watch much TV, even if it does look like it. Most of these are older shows which are no longer on TV, I watch most on DVD now. I like the older TV shows, new shows on TV don't catch my attention as much as they used to. But I do enjoy watching TV shows because you are envolved with the characters a lot longer than you are in movies.

Well that is all I have for now on my favourite things :) Until next time...

A Few of my Favourite Things...

Ok, so I know that is a very over used phrase...But I wanted to share some of my favourite things. Things that inspire me, and things that I enjoy and love :)

The first thing that comes to mind are my favourite artists. They inspire me and I love their works.

 

 

Claude Monet  (Photo from unknown source)

 

 

Frida Kahlo (photo from Fashion's Most Wanted blog)

 

 

 

 

 

Some of my favourite artworks from my favourite artists are:

The White Water Lillies by Claude Monet

Water lillies 1919

Water lillies 1914

Family Tree by Frida Kahlo

Two Fridas by Frida Kahlo

My Dress is Hanging there

Henry Ford Hospital by Frida Kahlo

The reasons for liking these works are the emotions that come with them. When I was in High School, my art teacher asked me to do an assignment on Frida Kahlo and she expected me to come back to her and tell her I didn't like her, but I came back to her filled with inspiration. I loved her works. They convey emotions and stories that you don't find in many works. I felt an imediate connection to her. 
As for Monet, it took me a little longer to appreciate him. I can't remember what drew me to him, maybe it was his use of colours and his techniques. After going to Paris and seeing his works up close, and going to his garden in Giverny, my love and inspiration was renewed.

That leads me to my favourite places in the world:

Paris, France (photo taken by me, 2009)

Monet's Garden, Giverny, France (photo taken by me, 2009)

Sydney, Australia  (Photo courtesy of Bridge Climb, Sydney)

Because I haven't been to very many places in the world so far, I haven't got a very wide range of favourite places. I am sure that will change once I have been to more places though.

I shall leave my favourite things there for now and will come back to them some other time.
I hope you enjoy :)

Finding Positives :)

I said in my last post that I needed to start finding positives in my life. So here goes:

• I have a place to live

• My parents charge me less for board than I would have to pay if I had a place of my own. 
• I have food to eat

• I have money (even if it isn't very much)
• I have a family who I believe love me
• I have friends, even if they are far away
• I am very lucky to have technology of my own, such as a computer and camera
• I was lucky enough to go to university and get a degree in Art

This is all I can think of right now...If I think of more I will add it to my next post :)

Until next time...:)