I do consider myself reasonably organised person but it is a shame that the unforeseen keeps interrupting my plans demanding my attention for this past week. As much as I tried to complete the sketch for my next painting on a 840 x 960 mm canvas to post today, it didn’t happen and I don't want to stuff it up by rushing.

I am quite excited about this planned oil painting of the Chambers Gorge area in the Flinders Ranges and if you haven’t checked my SnapShots blog, do take a look at these following links because it will give you an idea of the area for my next work.

• Chambers Gorge

• Chambers Gorge Snapshot with water

• Chambers Gorge, looking back

There will be more photos posted of the Chambers Gorge area over the next week so don't forget to check that blog out if you are interested (and why wouldn't you be!).

Anyway if you are reading this you have made me a happy artist because I know you haven’t given up on my post altogether.

Catch you tomorrow!

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technorati tags: Snapshots, chambers gorge, oil painting, flinders, flinders ranges, blog, excited

Mount Remarkable WIP seven "Finished"

Wrong wrong wrong!!! When I brought the branch down through the centre so that the limb was connecting to the mountain, it was placed in the wrong spot. With a gentle touch of a bristle brush I removed the layer of pastel then made repairs to the sky and mountain. I then lengthened the branch towards the right of the mountain. I think it now introduces the second large tree by leading the eye to it. If you compare to previous post I think this is much better?

Moving now to the base of the closes Eucalyptus Red Gum tree, it is time to finish that area. I used the side of broken pastels like a brush and scraped colour on; leaving some of the paper showing through. I pass over once more with another colour of similar value (the two used were a mid value of Cuput Mortuum and Scarlet Lake). I find my doing this the colours don’t look flat. Some parts of the colour will blend and yet in other spots it does not. I then start putting some of the smaller marks it that is needed to add depth to this area; using lights and darks. These old trees do have lots of nooks and crannies at the base and it is always my aim to bring them out.

Time to tweak the middle ground now. To the left of the largest tree I lightened off the smaller trees so that the large trunk would “pop” out more on the shadowed side. I worked where I thought it was necessary across the whole painting in an effort to bring the whole painting together.

I am not signing the painting yet as I am sure there will be another area that fresh eyes will consider it should be worked in one way or the other. Gee this painting has been a long winded affair and because of that, it will be good to start on something new.

Note: The purple looks very strong in the image behind the second largest tree where the mistletoe is hanging, this is not the case when standing in front of the real thing. All the same I do wonder why it is picking that area up like it does, thinking perhaps it could be toned down a bit.

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• WIP 1
• WIP 2
• WIP 3
• WIP 4
• WIP 5
• WIP 6
  

technorati tags: wip, pastel, art, artist, landscape, mt remarkable, mount remarkable

Mount Remarkable WIP six

These trees are many hundreds of years old and I feel it is taking just as long to paint this work. To get my head back into this painting I commence on the trunks at the top left.

! When fussing around getting my easel at the right height so that I can use it comfortably while sitting, the pastel fell on the floor. It was like slow motion when it all happened and thankfully after the painting did a somersault and landed upright without any damage. The pastel dust l I was collecting at the base of the painting is now scattered over the mat but hey I can live with that. That will teach me to make sure that the top of the easel clamp is well and truly tucked over the board that I have my pastel taped too.

Looking for the dark and light patterns I slowly move down towards the base of the tree. Putting and taking when I realize that some areas attract too much attention from what will be the main focal area, which will be that massive trunk.

Back over my shoulder out of my large studio window I see that maybe we are going to be in for another storm this evening with billowing thunder clouds forever churning out bright cauliflower shapes. We seem to be getting them every day lately with sometimes rain, which is welcomed by giving some relief from the humid weather that is being experienced the last few days.

I am not happy with the large mass of shadowed area on the large tree on the right. Right from the beginning I knew it would bug me, the area looks flat ………

………. now that is much better! There is actually more than one trunk in that spot, pays to open ones eyes to see these things, can you see the difference from this post?

Time to take a photo as the East light will fade from this time onwards and I do prefer to have as much natural light coming through my studio window as possible so that the painting is well lit as I don't use a flash.

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technorati tags: pastel, art, artist, landscape, mount remarkable, mt remarkable, southern flinders, flinders ranges, eucalyptus trees, gum trees

I Love these Dirty Pictures

Hey get you mind out of the gutter, it is all about art!

If artist Scott Wade drew on my car I would never want to wash it again....nor get it dirtier for that matter!

Check out his website , in particular the Dirty Car Art Gallery; there is some really cool drawings.

Julian Beever's is another Artist who likes to use an unusual support for his drawings. You can see some amazing 3D sidewalk drawings by going to Pavement Drawings website with many thumbnails to click on for a larger view.

In the previous post I said about pain in my right leg; well tomorrow X-rays will be done on it as it is no better. I am sort of getting used to living with the pain now though some days it does get on top of me, especially at night when it seems worse and I want to sleep.

One thing I do know, I need to force myself to start painting again even if sitting while doing so. Finishing the pastel that is nearly finished is a good place to start....... just not tomorrow as by the time I get home from attending two appointments in Port Pirie plus take advantage of the trip and stock up the pantry, the day will be nearly gone.

Hopefully soon this blog will be back on track with regular post and thanks for your patience while waiting.

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technorati tags: artists, art, drawing, draw, x-rays, pain, dirty car, pavement drawings, dirty car art gallery

Injuries and Art do not mix

Well for me it doesn’t because pain blocks the creative juices and the pain killers the doctor ordered tends to make me fuzzy so avoid taking them as much as possible……. What am I talking about? read on!

Monday was supposed to be spend preparing a large canvas for an oil painting and has not eventuated right up to today. About a week ago I somehow manage to hurt my right leg. No idea what I have done to it though yesterday my doctor seems to think I have pulled a muscle. Mmmm….. the only way I may have done this is from a shopping trip to Port Pirie with a trolley full of groceries that once heavy is hard to maneuver. Nearly a week later, shopping once more I noticed an empty trolley made my leg well and truly hurt and that is when it twigged it may have caused the leg injury.

What compounds all this; other than very small works, I stand to create my paintings and consequently not working because of the injury. Over the years I have tried to work sitting down but find my hand doesn’t flow quite so easily with a much tighter finish to the overall painting. So sitting down on the job does not work for me. The link is just a bit of dry humour from me.

This is an old student chair that has been converted into a stool (or should that be a tall chair?) by my husband and just might be a useful "idea" for you. The longer axis pole allows the height of the chair to be adjustable in the same way the shorter vision did. The chair sits back from my painting and is used to sit on while contemplating my work. When putting some extra time in front of the easel and because it is then a very long day standing on my feet I may sit on this chair in short bursts while painting.

As you can see I am very lucky to have handymen in my family. For those that don't remember my son made a stand for my laptop. That post can be found here.

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technorati tags: Stool, chair, sitting down on the job, injury, art, artist

Welcome to the February 14, 2007 edition of Arts and Stuff Carnival.

Welcome to the February 14, 2007 edition of Arts and Stuff Carnival.

For those that don't know what a blog carnival is my first post will explain more.

Okay without further ado, this is the list I have made up out of many submissions for this months of Arts and Stuff blog Carnival.

Art Creativity

Sean J. Vaughan (on behalf of the author Dan Barker) presents Dancing with Death posted at Reason and Rhyme, saying,

"This is an original painting from Jacquelinne with a lighthearted look at considering death."

Marty Weil presents Interview with Art Deco Travel Brochure Collector David Levine posted at ephemera.

"David Levine collects Art Deco travel brochures of the 20s and 30s. These pamphlets are wonderfully designed and equal to the graphic impact of the more widely collected Art Deco posters. David spoke with us about his Art Deco brochure collection."

The Bizarre Jokester presents Painted Hands.... or ANIMALS??? posted at Amazingly Bizarre.

David Trager presents Dream Flight by ~blindedangel posted at Feel Good Vibes.

D.A.N. presents Untitled Ink Tessellation #1 posted at Sights & Sounds from the Fifth Column.

"This is an ink drawing done with a tessellation pattern. I really like how this piece turned out even though I created it nearly 5 years ago."

D.A.N. presents Untitled Abstract Ink Experiment #1 posted at Sights & Sounds from the Fifth Column.

"Created using technical pen and various other drawing tools, this drawing has a technical feel that makes it seem like something out of some science fiction show."

D.A.N. presents Untitles Abstract Ink Experiment #2 posted at Sights & Sounds from the Fifth Column.

"This is part two of my exploration of technical abstract ink drawing. This one had a small challenge in that it was designed to be no more and no less than 10 lines that cannot cross."

MissMalaprop presents Etsy Upcycle Recycling Contest posted at Miss Malaprop - independent, sustainable, eco-friendly shopping, film, art, fashion, crafts & design, from New Orleans with love, saying,

"this is my most recent attempt at creating art out of what was once considered trash."

Denise Thea presents 2007 January 22 « Glintlit Gloss posted at Glintlit Gloss.

"We’re etching the edges of the windows all over the house with our personal symbols. A dragonfly is mine, befitting a slightly over energized person. Paige with the vibrant personality has the butterfly. And Ryan, a summery sort of guy with regular sparks of enthusiasm has the firefly."

Philosophy and Thoughts about Art

D.A.N. presents I Could have Made That: Why I Don?t Get Minimal Art posted at Sights & Sounds from the Fifth Column.

Note: This is an interesting article and worth reading, Susan

"So what exactly is minimalism as it applied to art? Basically it is based around the concept of “Less is More.” This concept can be applied to anything from paintings to sculpture and allows the artist to use only the most basic elements that are required to create the desired effect."

Andrea Dickson presents Buying and selling art on eBay posted at Wisebread.

"What would you say if I told you that I filled my entire living room with completely original works of art for less than $300? We're not talking kid's stuff - no crayon drawings, no attempts at self-expression. Art by real and struggling artists, both schooled and self-taught?"

Dan presents It takes Determination, not Talent, to Make Great Art posted at EmptyEasel.com.

"I can’t imagine what would be like to paint the entire ceiling of the Sistine Chapel – the enormity of it just blows my mind. What was his secret? How did he accomplish such a Herculean task?"

RJ Lavallee presents bent spoon -- art, literature, image and text, opinion e-zine and blog - Could it be? posted at bent spoon -- art, literature, image and text, and opinion e-zine, saying,

"What will you find? You know you have been searching. You know there's something out there that you need. Something so succulent, so simple, so sweet, so pure. And you hope that you find it in something so perfectly packaged."

Julie Heath - More4kids Inc. presents Bonding With Your Kids Through Arts And Crafts posted at More4kids.

"Arts and Crafts are a great way to bond with kids, especially when the whole family get involved. These days kids (and parents too) are so consumed with technology that they often don’t even know what making crafts means. Crafts can be a great idea for family time, especially in the winter when we don’t go out so much. Here are some of the benefits and some ideas for your family ‘craft’ time."

Derek Andrews presents Repetition as a design element posted at The Tool Rest.

"One of the simplest methods of making our work more visually interesting is to repeat a motif."

Best Post for Unrelated Story to "Fine Art"

Laura Young presents I Got Out of the Tub posted at Dragon Slayer, saying,

"How did a hobbyist photographer get a cover shot on a magazine? Fortune favors the bold. Remember there is a difference between having a theory of breathing and actually breathing. Here's an example of what can happen if you just take that first step."

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of:

Arts and Stuff Carnival
using our carnival submission form.
Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Upcoming Edition Dates:
Submissions deadline: March 8, 2007
Next edition will be post on Arts & Stuff: March 11, 2007

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• Submit to Arts and Stuff Carnival
  

technorati tags: carnival, arts and stuff carnival, blog carnival, Art Creativity, Philosophy

Help Dosh Dosh

Dosh Dosh needs your help!

Maki needs 40 or more participants to test out Pageflakes. I have already signed up using a link provided on the Dosh Dosh blogsite.

I can hear some of you already saying what is Pageflakes? Pageflakes is a personalized start page that you can add feeds, weather, address book along with many other items. This image will give you a larger sample of what is on offer. Google have something similar though I am not sure if the Google version of a personalized homepage has a tab like Pageflakes that can be shared with the internet community by making it public if you choose to do so.

The original post can be found Make Money with Pageflakes - An Experiment. with a follow up post Turning Commissions into Donations Update.

The following quote from Maki's update will give you more idea of what it is all about.

The goal of this experiment is two-fold: Firstly, to test Pageflakes’s affiliate program in order to confirm if it is legitimate or accurate with their data reporting.

Secondly, I thought it’ll be a creative way of getting everyone to contribute to a good cause - namely to support Mercy corps ’s effort in helping the recent massive flooding in Indonesia, which has made around 200,000 people homeless.

When there is more time for myself I will have a play with Pageflakes but for now I am up to my elbows with a lot of other things. The GST bookwork that I mentioned in an earlier post went without a hitch. I only need to fill in the the final paperwork, which I will do shortly once this post hits the internet. It is only copying figures across on one sheet of paper so nothing hard in that. It is a shame #2 daughter doesn't live closer to home as she loves working with formulas and numbers and if you read my past post you would know she never inherited that desire from me.

During my coffee break I came across a way to install a clock on my blog. It is for a little bit of fun but at the same time it helps my visitors to work out quickly what time zone I am in. This is especially helpful when I have mentioned a day I am doing this and that and when to expect an update on my blog about said subject in relationship to your own time zone. Clicking on the clock will take you to the website where I acquired mine with extra information about my time zone. The clock can be configured to look the way you want then grab the html and add it to a Page Element in your blogger Layout or template. It isn't necessary to sign up to anything, which I did not and will wait to see what happens.

Want one? Go to directly to Free Clocks for Your Web Site to get yours or if you prefer click on Time and Date for more information about it.

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technorati tags: Pageflakes, Dosh Dosh, google, maki, experiment, donations, gst, gst bookwork, time and date, free, free clock, blog, page element, blogger, blogger layout

Full or should it be Short Feeds?

What are your habits when reading RSS feeds in readers such as Google Reader or Bloglines? Do you dislike not being able to see the whole feed because the blog owner syndicates the first paragraph or 255 characters, whichever is shorter. If you tut tut or grumble about blogs that do this please consider not doing the same with your own blog.

My own habits are as follows when viewing RSS feeds in Google Reader:

• Speed reading as I have a huge list to wade through and for this reason hate shortened feeds with more time taken to load up blog sites.

• A shorten RSS feed, the 255 characters will have to catch my attention to visit the blog, which often they don’t so I delete that feed without visiting. Possibly I miss out on good content further down the blog but what I don’t see I don’t miss.

• If full RSS feed content is interesting I will often click to the blog site to get the feel of the post on its site. Don’t know why, just do. Perhaps it has something to do with a well designed site that makes a longer post easier to read.

• Reading a full feed often encourages me to comment on blog sites as I have the time to absorb the information quickly.

• Moved away from Bloglines as I couldn’t view images in the feed; love images when they are available.

• Recently deleted blogs from my Feed Reader, as I found I wasn’t visiting their blogs at all with the first paragraph or 255 characters, whichever is shorter in place. Still a few I am mulling over as to delete or not.
  

There are also gimmicky tweaks to blog templates that shorten a post on the owners blog site. These have to be expanded to read and once more I will often pass over these as I can’t speed read without extra clicking involved. I always thought a blog was about sharing your words so why hide them and make your visitor have to work that much harder to find the content to the heading? I find these blogs are also not pleasing to the eye and make the page relatively hard to read, where I prefer a newspaper style where different text format will spark my interest to read more.

I believe it is a brave soul that uses the shortened version for their RSS feeds. Especially if they are not properly established in the blogsphere, because I would think a reader would have to be very familiar with the blog authors way of writing to know it would be worth while visiting their blog to read more. Familiarity often in the first place comes from a Full Feed. I do understand those blog owners that make money from their ads wanting visitors but is shortening a feed really the right way to do it? I visit many professional blogs with AdSense and other means of advertising whom do use the Full Feeds; I also enjoy visiting their blogs from these full feeds.

Apparently many busy commuters load up their laptop with feeds directly to their email inbox to read while traveling by train or bus to work. Full feeds are the order of the day, as there are often no internet connections to view the full post on the blog.

Concluding this Long winded post: I realise that every blog owner has their own thoughts on how they should run their blogs and I do respect that, after all we are individuals with minds of our own as to why things are done the way we do. I would love to know about your own RSS Feed Reader habits. if you want to share please leave a comment, as I read on another blog today, I dare you.

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technorati tags: RSS , bloglines, google, google reader, habits, commuters, blogsphere, rss feeds, adsense, gimmicky tweaks, feed reader, rss reader

Mount Remarkable WIP five & Bl**dy GST

Oops sorry about the swearing but there is a job on the family farm that some of you already know is a real pet hate of mine and that is the GST bookwork. It is on my calendar for today’s job but instead swapping it from today to Monday. Tomorrow (Sunday here; for those in a different time zone) will be spent in the office tiding it up as I hate being in a mess when trying to concentrate on the bookwork. I will then sort the pile of papers into groups and make a start on the entries into my GST software. With a bit of luck it will then be completed by the days end on Monday. Smoothness will only happen with this job if there are no discrepancies and oh boy when that happens it is often like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Oi!
"
well you didn’t think I was going to do nothing at all today did ya?
"

So it is now time to start on Monday’s job today; well you didn’t think I was going to do nothing at all today did ya? I do have the little television on in the studio which is making a noise in the background; don’t know what it is all about as it is on more for company than anything else. Ok enough of the prattle as it is time to get my fingers dusty.

Going to work on the largest tree towards the top of a trunk pastels are applied in a layered fashion. I do not blend with my fingers nor use any other blending tools. I let the pastel sticks do all the work for me with some mixing happening on the paper along with uncontaminated hues as well. This is a time consuming stage for me when I am painting these Eucalyptus Red Gums, as I am not one of those artists that can whack the pastels on quickly. Rushing for me ends up in failure with what I see in my “minds eye” not being accomplished in the final result.

I am getting fussy so it is time to move on from the tree trunk. I am trying to decide what I will do in the foreground. These trees grow on private land with often no timber laying underneath the trees as dead wood is collect for firewood. Think the best thing is to start and see what happens………..

Later…….Update on the foreground….. the boss (husband ) just spotted the foreground and said how much he liked it and not to do anymore in that area. When looking at it, I am inclined to agree with him although later may change my mind. Now it is time to take a photo and post to my blog with some time to mull over what should be done next.

Gosh I was thinking that I would be back in the Studio Tuesday until I remembered that there is another appointment in Port Pirie that day as well as the same day of the following week that needs my attendance. As I do want to start on a large oil painting the preparation work will be the next job on the agenda once I am able to get into the studio. The remainder of this pastel painting will be worked on when I am waiting for paint to dry.

No fear there will be a post tomorrow.



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technorati tags: gst, eucalyptus red gums, pastel, artist, wip

Mount Remarkable WIP four

Still working on the branches of the large trees with a lot of concentration working out where the lights and darks with various colours fall. The bark is smooth after shedding its outer rough layer at an earlier time. The trunks and branches often have complex patterns of different colours, sometimes iridescent though I do avoid painting them all as I am not into precise realism; rather showing off the character of the trees with shape, colour and values.

Getting it right
"
I don’t want it to happen as I want to sell my painting
"

It must be remembered that some of the foliage does come over the “front” of the branches and I look for these areas to break up the lengths of timber or the eye will soon be taken out of the painting, which of cause I don’t want it to happen as I want to sell my painting, not the neighbouring painting that maybe hanging on the wall next to mine.

Standing back and looking at the large right eucalyptus red gum tree I felt the trunk needed to be widened slightly to strengthen it up to hold the weight of the canopy. Frequently there are hidden widths at the back of trees as these beauties are not necessary rounded because they are many hundreds of years old, leaving the impression that the trunk is too narrow from the viewing side.

So often is the case in the area of the Southern Flinders the Mistletoe allows me to play with eye-catching colours in the foliage area. I do rely on the texture of the Art Spectrum Colourfix paper to pick off the colour from the ends of the pastel stick so that it looks as if there is minuscule size leaves at the same time blending and greying off some of the hues that are jumping out too much. I then use the sharp side of the stick to add a few stronger dashes to bring leaves to the front of the group.

How I wish!
"
Bet I can’t replicate that colour again
"

There is a cool iridescent colour in the base of the trunk and for the life of me I could not get the hue right until I found in my pastel box a greyed off blue that happened to be left over powder from the trough at the base of a previous painting, which was collected and sprayed with water and molded into a crude stick and allowed to dry. Bet I can’t replicate that colour again! Time to give the tree a rest; I will revisit this area again to pull the entire painting together once I have caught the remaining areas up.

Moving onto the foreground I stain the paper the complimentary colour of the grasses that will eventually be laid down. The purples are also the “mother colour” that I have used throughout the painting, which will give a relationship tonally to the painting as a whole. The pastel is rubbed into the paper using my fingers leaving a very light coverage of pastel with some areas of the elephant coloured Colourfix paper showing through. This will leave most of the tooth of the pastel paper for further layers to be added to my hearts content.

At this point I will take a photo and post to my blog so that you can see for yourself because my concentration level has just gone out the window!

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technorati tags: eucalyptus red gum, pastel, painting, southern flinders, mistletoe, art spectrum, colourfix, color, colour, complimentary colour, pastel paper

Mount Remarkable WIP three

My trip to Port Pirie went well yesterday other than a headache in the afternoon that soon developed into a migraine. Thankfully these types of headaches are not so common with me these days although getting over them still takes time. It was a late start in the studio because of being unwell but did manage to get some work done although not enough to post an updated photo.

After today the branches are now taking shape in the upper top right hand side of the Mount Remarkable painting. My hands are cleaned regularly, as I am using quite a few darks in this area along with lesser mid and light values.

Hint: Because my hands do perspire such a lot I don’t use rubber gloves while using my pastels nor do I get on using the cut off tips of gloves like some artist do. For this reason I am constantly washing my hands or wiping them on a very wet cloth. It is only just recently that I hit on an idea of applying Vitamin E cream onto my soggy cloth because I was always heading for the Vitamin E cream to apply directly to my hands and was costing a small fortune with replacement bottles. I am finding I will now wipe my hands more often and they stay lovely and soft. To keep bacteria away a clean cloth is used each day.

All in fun!
"
taking the Mickey out of Google
"

Now for something off topic from art: The Quick Online Tips post titled When Google Pen “Beta” Ran Out of Ink caught my interest straight away when it dropped into my Google Reader. Like so many of us I like to know what Google is doing and was rewarded with a most amusing story at the Ask.com Blog taking the Micky out of Google. For this entertaining story along with helpful suggestions to Scott Grieder, Group Product Manager for Ask.com through the comments section of the blog the track back (Permalink) entry can be found at Google Pen runs out. Enjoy I know I did.

This may interest my Aussie readers; some snail mail came in the post with the following information for local exhibitions near the area that I live.

Laura Art Exhibition
14-15 April 2007
28th Annual Laura Folk Fair

Key Dates
Entries Close: 30 March 2007
Personal Delivery of Works: Sunday 8 April between 1pm – 3pm Tuesday 10 April between 10am – 3pm
By Couriers: received before Tuesday 10 April 2007
You are invited to attend the Opening Night commencing at 8pm on Friday 13 April 2007


CHRISTIANITY – An Australian Perspective
28 April – 20 May 2007
A biennial art award at Port Pirie Regional Art Gallery, in conjunction with the Anglican Diocese of Willochra and the Catholic Dioceses of Port Pirie

Key Dates
Entries close: Friday 6 April 2007
Delivery of work: Friday 20 to Wednesday 25 April 2007 at 2pm
Opening of exhibition & announcement of prize winners: Saturday 28 April 2007


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technorati tags: Google, google reader, quick on linetips, ask.com, permalink, scott grieder,hints,vitamin e cream

Adding a Second Sidebar

What a day it has been playing around with my Snapshots blog to add a second sidebar. It was while reading New Blogger Template Tutorial: Adding a Second Sidebar at Tips and Tricks last night that I decided to play around with the idea on one of my test blogs. As Peter says there are some well written instructions for adding a second sidebar at Adding a second sidebar to your Blog - part 2 which is the Beautiful Beta blog.

A lot of time was wasted during the last part of editing the template as I found the preview didn't always tell the true story with the testing blog. In fact all was well with the edited template even though the preview said otherwise. Once more this also happened with SnapShots and have to admit to having my heart in my mouth when I decided to click on save and to my delight the blog looked okay.

The columns had to be fussed around with widths to make them fit correctly in Firefox and Internet Explorer. My daughter has a Mac so she checked to see what the test blog looked like in her browser and once more all was well. I have no idea what it does look like in any other browsers. The blog still has the odd item to put back on but all in all it was a smooth transaction. The width of the whole area will not fit into a 800 wide screen with some scrolling to the right needed. The posts will be completely in view along with the important links on the left hand side. This way the page isn't crammed up.

One odd thing though is the Page Element column in the Edit Layout on the right hand side does cut off in Firefox and yet in Internet Explorer all is well. Once I realized it didn't effect the actual template I decided not to let it worry me.

For now Arts and Stuff Blog will stay as it is. I spent a whole day mucking around with SnapShots which means a day of painting was lost. Tomorrow is my big shopping day at Port Pirie with appointments involved so yep you guessed it, no painting tomorrow either.

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technorati tags: snapshots, blog, blogger, tips and tricks, beautiful beta, second sidebar, three columns

Mount Remarkable WIP two

After a very restful holiday with the daily sun, surf and sand it is time now to get back to the reality of everyday life and of cause that includes work. As I wipe my hands clean of pastel I am going to start my draft to the blog so that my thoughts are written down while they are fresh in my head. Hopefully it will lead to a more interesting post.

Getting my fingers dirty once more with pastel I commenced working on the middle ground through the central area of this work. My aim is to create distance in this area using aerial and atmospheric perspective as much as possible. To help this along I actually “shrunk” the trees between the two large red eucalyptus gum trees upwards as well as downwards. This also allowed more of Mount Remarkable to be viewed plus encourages the eye to explore this area.

Hot!!!
"
He reckons I have got the best spot
"

By the time I moved across to the right hand side middle ground my rhythm of applying pastel became more natural as my break from this medium didn’t help make it easy as when using these sticks regularly there is a more fluent flow. Once I had caught this area up to the rest of the middle ground it was time for a tall glass of icy cold because unpleasant extremely high temperatures are being experienced where I live as well as many parts of Australia. Woo hoo, I do hear though the cool change is on its way. It is while enjoying my drink that I see tweaks that need to be made and proceed to do just that although I am sure to see further areas that will need to be improved on as the painting progresses.

He he....My husband has just come indoors and laid down on the floor. He reckons I have got the best spot today with the heatwave.

Moving onto the tall eucalyptus tree on the right with a range of tones, the trunk is now taking shape. I noticed that the rounded knob on the left hand side looks as if it is part of the branch that swings down to the right, which it is not. I will give it some thought as to what should be done at a later time as now it is time to take a photo and post to my blog.

Oh and my husband did some more work as well; he washed the car.


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technorati tags: mount remarkable, holiday, pastel, atmospheric, eucalyptus tree, heatwave