Craft in Focus is up and running at RHS Wisley from Nov 10th -14th. It’s wonderful to be exhibiting and selling alongside an amazingly talented group of artisans. I have been selling my original oil paintings, giclée reproductions and gift cards. I still have some great pieces left so come down and grab a new art work to change a room around for the Christmas/ New Year period.

My goodness it's October already! My monthly blog has deteriorated before it even started. Thank goodness I hadn't committed to a weekly Blog or I would be wallowing in self doubt and failure. As it is....acceptance of how busy and irregular my life is.

I have been out and about taking snaps of this gorgeous country as it displays its glory of Spring and Summer, and now the autumn changes are starting. We have been here almost a year, which has flown past with the craziness of COVID19, and we are still in love with all we see. Life is different to anything we expected but my Polyanna side embraces whatever comes, being determined to always see the joy.

There are 8 new paintings on the way now, hopefully to be ready for my first showing with Craft in Focus at Crowthorne on October 29-31st. The image here is a sneak preview.

Oxfordshire Artweeks is now done and dusted and the experience was so valuable for me starting up and reinventing myself as an artist in another country. It was great to see what other artists in the area are doing and to make some connections.

The month also returned some more achievements: short listed in The Artists' Lounge "In the History" competition, plus the Judges' Choice Award for "Discovering Bridges" in an International Juried competition.

So the next project is preparing for the Blenheim Palace Flower Show where I will have a number of my works on display for sale.

What a ride we have been on! Arriving in the UK one day before increased restrictions followed straight after with lockdown, which we have been in until a few weeks ago. It's funny how it affects people, being forced to keep away from each other and stay at home. I love being home but after 5 months it was seriously getting to me. I thought it would be a perfect chance to sort out my business, spend loads of time in the studio and be very productive but there were so many days where I just couldn't focus. I have managed to get some work out there but it certainly hasn't been what I expected.

However, last month I won two awards for some work in International juried online competitions, was accepted into Camelback's online gallery for a year starting with a Featured Artist spread and today was the opening on a group exhibition I'm in for Oxfordshire Artweeks. Things are happening.

This world in 2020 has been a challenge in terms of being an artist and maintaining a business. I have been fortunate in having someone supporting me throughout. Added to our disruption however was selling our home and planning a move to another country for both our business, during a pandemic.

So...it's happening and we are on our way. First stop Sydney for a few days then off to the UK as their cold weather sets in. It's probably an advantage to arrive in winter as it will be easier to hunker down and re establish my business in its new environment. Watch this space for pics of the new studio in Oxford!

Back in the studio once again after a successful trip to the UK.

After the exhibition we did a road trip to several areas of particular interest for future paintings. These ancient villages never cease to amaze and delight my artistic senses. I have returned with hundreds of photos to sift through, which does mean days and days of searching, pondering and choosing. We visited and photographed Windsor, London, Lancaster, Bowness, Oxford, Cirencester, Winchester, Chichester, Cardiff, Cowbridge, Wells, Exmouth to mention the main ones.

As always, the tricky part is where to start on return home so I’ve decided to clean up the last pieces I was working on before leaving. There were several in their “finished”stage, awaiting time to dry and have their final tweaks. This is actually my favourite part, where I turn a painting from something OK to something I love and am proud of.

I can’t believe it’s a year since my last post! The year has flown. After returning from the Venice exhibition trip I put aside my palette knife for 6 months to renovate and PAINT my house to sell. Walls, doors and trims are no longer a pleasurable passtime. The house sold quickly, thankfully, and I have been back in the studio recreating my trip on canvas. So many beautiful shots to paint…it’s really hard to choose what to paint next.

However the biggest news is that I am heading to the UK to have 6 paintings on Exhibition. What an honour to involved in the International Art scene again. These are the paintings that have gone over ahead of me.

Well this is it. My paintings ready for packing and shipping to Venice. They will arrive before us so it will be a new experience having someone else do the presenting and hanging work for me. Next time I see these, they will be hanging amongst a selection of International artists’ works. Phew! What a ride!

I am honoured to have 4 of my European paintings selected for an exhibition in Venice in December, Contemporary Venice 2018. What a wild rush now, as I try to finish an essay on French Impressionism, complete the Impressionism course and prepare for a trip to Venice, all in two weeks! Nothing like last minute living in our household. The paintings selected will be hanging on display from Dec 6th - 11th January.

From Queenstown to Sydney to Jasper Alberta. My palette and knife are wandering the world for a while, taking in and putting down on canvas some of the highlights. This latest is a waterfall near Jasper. It has been slow going building layers over the past few days, but I think something is finally coming together. With this one there have been many times where I have put down the knife and covered my palette for the night, or simply moved on to another painting for a break. It has required many steps back to view from a different angle. Once again, it would have been simpler to reproduce a realistic copy of the original pic (photo cred Phil Dakin) than to create an impressionistic version. But therein lies the challenge that I love.

I have vague memories of the colours of Autumn when I lived in Canberra, but the experience of Queenstown, Arrowtown and Wanaka was new. It was a total saturation of my visual senses every time I looked outside. I wasn't the only one being overwhelmed. My companions constantly exclaimed at the view. The colours brought out different behaviour in people, and all over town there were people throwing leaves, kicking their shoes through leaf "puddles" and rolling around the ground in piles of fallen autumn leaves, taking photographs. I have started the new series of Queenstown Autumn, and have discovered a new love. Autumn.

I find it delightful how my art direction morphs and fine tunes. It's now been a year since I left my regular source of income and returned to being a full time artist. "I took the path less travelled..and that has made all the difference". My very first introduction to the French Impressionists, by my school Art Teacher, has begun a life time love of their work and style and given me a wonderful benchmark for my own work. My focus is Impressionism and my favourite topics have become ancient villages and fields of flowers. Recent travels have now enabled me to work from my own photographic material, so my new works will cover winter in the UK/Paris, and Autumn in Queenstown. The seasons with their light and colour are what drives the Impressionist to capture it on canvas. This week I start this new series.

It's still quite a juggling act, renovating a house and keeping the lid partially on the desire to start new works. Some pieces from last year weren't quite finished so it has been quite cathartic to finish these off. No time pressures at the moment. However, a kitchen in our house would make life a little more organised. #impressionism in the kitchen and the studio!