Yes, I am officially the worst blogger...IN THE WORLD EVER!

I am always reading blogs but never have anything to add to mine. Well, that's a lie, I am just lazy sometimes.

At the moment I am feeling a bit light headed with life and how quickly it is moving and changing. The gallery is going really well although it still feels fragile. You can get quite obsessed with work/life/money/goals but sometimes I suppose you need to just 'let things happen' and hope for the best.

I feel a bit like the girl in the picture above ... but with more of a gormless face at the moment.

:-)

Back from holiday and feeling refreshed with a bit of a tan. Had a very relaxing time mainly doing a lot of this:





Of course, we had to take over at karaoke! Back to normality now with the Gallery etc. Seem to have 10 ton of work to do but that's okay. I have also managed to plant my veg at last! Hopefully, it will grow and we can look at getting some chickens!

Well, since we opened our gallery lots has been happening. Apologies to all the poeple/friends who have emailed me recently. I haven't had a chance to catch up!

I am off to Spain for a week in the sun on Saturday. Hopefully this will give me an opportunity to relax, take stock of what's been happening these past few months and then work out how to move on. Oh, and get a lovely tan!

Well, at last I can finally share my news.  I didn't want to jinx it until we finally got the keys but my business with my Mum has now moved up a notch.  On Thursday we got the keys to our first ever Gallery!  It is situated in Yoxford, Suffolk and was once an art gallery so all the lighting etc is there already.  We have now started moving in our bits and bobs and are busy painting walls, taking down shelves, building desks and finding great artwork!

On display will be a selection of fine-art, sculpture, prints and ceramics (only the very best of course!).  So far, we have around 10 artists and are looking to open up on the first weekend in May so I am a bit nervous.

As you can see from the pictures the gallery needs new signage etc and there is a  temporary sign in the window-luckily we can pull down the blind behind the window display at the moment as it's a bit of a mess inside with all our paint!

Oh...and it's going to be christened 'The Art Garden Gallery'......

More updates soon......

Changes, changes, changes....

At the moment there is a LOT of exciting things happening on the horizon. They involve Old Parish Rooms, a little village, some beautiful paintings and lots of hard work.. I can't say just yet but I promise to reveal all in the next week or so... :-)

This week I have impressed myself - I have managed to get three print jobs to the printers in one day! Hows that for stress?

Only one has come back so far so I am still waiting for the other two which is the nail biting part! Here is job number one: I had to get it set up in one day for a rush mail out which went out on Thursday. It is a double sided A5 flyer which promotes digital 'one-to-one' workshops by Tony Pick. It had to tie in with the wedding booklet I made previously but have a separate tear off booking form - I have used a similar colour scheme etc.

And, guess what? I am famous! I am on one side as I have to model for any portrait/lighting workshops. The day the picture was taken it started to snow and I was absolutely freeeeeeezing! Check out the wellies........

FRUSTRATED.....

This is about the only image I have been able to 'squeeze' out of me in the past six weeks or so. Do you ever find you loose all sight of what it is you are trying to achieve because you are simply trying to do too much all at once. I have a dreaded 'to-do' list literally as long as my arm and currently getting longer (the list, not my arm).

Today, I could not concentrate on ANY of it so instead made even more 'to-do' lists to see if that would help...it didn't. So instead of doing nothing (which I CANNOT physically make myself do) I wrote a list of 10 things in my life I am currently happy with to make myself feel better:

1. Matthew
2. Carrot cake
3. The thought of organising my garden and perhaps getting some chickens
4. Making sales
5. Daffodils in my garden
6. Living by the sea and going for a walk there every week
7. Online shopping
8. My woodburner (I have no heating at the moment)
9. Smell of clean clothes
10. And how could I forget......wine...

I also wrote a 'things that are really pissing me off' list- this is highly recommended if you are feeling frustrated because you can go back and read it and it will make you laugh. Plus, it gets you off facebook if you want to waste some time! :-)

Well - what have I been doing all this time? Not blogging very much for a start. ButI haven't been lazing about. Not much to show on the Illustration side of things but I have been doing some graphics work for the gallery I work in.

Portrait A5 leaflet:

FRONT:

BACK:

Small Wedding Portrait Booklet (flat):

FRONT & BACK:
INSIDE:

I am quite pleased with them both- graphics work is good fun and not quite as messy as painting!

I'm missing drawing though- hopefully in the New Year I can set aside some time to develop my skills and learn some new techniques.

The human figure is a very tricky subject- but it's my favourite. This is a quick 1 minute sketch of Matthew in the bath. I'm trying to work hard on capturing features within the form- not just draw a 'faceless' figure.

I've never been so tired... Just got back from Birmingham after the Autumn fair. It was brilliant but absolutely exhausting and a real eye opener. Mum's work: www.artgardenstudios.co.uk got a positive response and we have got some great leads for orders.

The art publishing world is a funny old game. It's full of either very genuine, nice people who want others to succeed.... but it's also full of people who wear ‘next’ suits and say 'ok yah' a LOT and who do not appreciate good art (you know who you are..).

zzzzzzzz.........

At last......

I have the internet at home! I feel like a long, lost friend has come to stay...urrr...sad. I really must get out more...

Anyway, much, much to report on what's been going on. I am now settled in Suffolk and enjoying my life in Aldeburgh. For some reason it feels good to be further South in the country...must be a 'roots' thing.

Things are going well on the 'Art Garden Studios' side of life - I am going to be exhibiting at the Autumn fair in September which is very exciting (and scary).

On the drawing front, not much has been happening. It has in my head although I don't have any time to get pen to paper. That's not an excuse though...here is the last illustration I have been working on. As you can see it's not finished yet but it was just an idea that popped into my head one day and has been fun to draw.


Okay I know...her leg is wonky...

Hello!

Haven’t been on here for a while mainly because of no internet access (shock horror). Anyway, we have now moved to Aldeburgh, Suffolk and have stared new jobs etc. It still feels a bit like we are on holiday but we will settle in once we have our own house (two weeks away!).
For now though I am enjoying the sunny weather and living next to the sea!

Just down the road sits Maggi Hambling's scallop sculpture on Aldeburgh beach. The words on the sculpture read ‘I hear those voices that will not be drowned’. Unfortunately, some people like to graffiti and vandalise the sculpture but I think it looks beautiful and sits nicely on the landscape. Another thing about sculpture is that it attracts people and they aren’t afraid to touch it or be close to it. It sounds silly but I don’t think you get that reaction with a painting or other forms of artwork.

CONGRATULATIONS! to Jack Boyce and the Dereham footy team for winning the Final today. My little bro was Captain so got to lift the trophy!

On Wednesday evening I visited Brancaster Harbour. It was very cold and windy but the cloudy weather made all the boats and buildings a beautiful misty colour.

At the moment I've come across a bit of a creative 'block'. I'm too busy thinking about what it is I think I should be be doing rather than just enjoying the moment.

I need some time to reflect on what it is I actually set out to do in the first place and not get bogged down with it. There's more to life than admin! :-)

Today Harry had his 'manly bits' removed- I think he hates me - he certainly looks confused and very sleepy.

In other news- I spent the whole of the day lugging around a portfolio and sketchbooks to an interview for a degree course. I'm now at home feeling a little bit disappointed. I got onto the course but I was really unimpressed with the college. I just got a feeling that something wasn't quite right- a gut instinct you might say. I need to think about a few things first before I rush into anything.

I just want to say- if you ever want to get fit- get a Jack Russell. They can walk for miles! This is a photo of when Matthew and I took harry for a long walk along Holkham beach. We walked for just over 5 miles and he was still full of energy!

Holkham is a lovely place to visit if you need 'space'. Even though it was a busy day the beach is so huge you feel as though you don't come across another soul.