{sunday snippets}

{sunday snippets}: a collection of photos from your week.  No need for words.  Let the pictures tell your story. Pop your link below if you're joining in.

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Is anyone else out there feeling as completely wiped out as I am at the moment?  Is it the heat?  Am I just coming down off the exhibition?  I don't know what's going on but I am feeling so exhausted it's overwhelming me.  Apologies if I'm not around much at the moment, here or visiting your neck of the woods.  I'm trying to get to the bottom of what's going on with me and to restore some order to my soul.  Hopefully I'll be back soon.

{like wow, like wipeout}

It takes me by surprise every time.  The complete overwhelm and exhaustion that hits me after an exhibition opens.  On an intellectual level I completely understand what it takes to hang your heart up on a wall for all the world to see, but emotionally I'm never prepared.  Perhaps I wouldn't do it if I was.

Anyway, I'm taking some time to decompress.  But here's a couple of pics of the show for you.  More to come.

In other news I'm guest curating over at Crescendoh this week.  You can read my Art Saves story and check out some of the people and things that have been inspiring me lately.  If you're visiting from Crescendoh, thanks so much for stopping by my little corner of the internet world.

Like I said, more soon...

{too tired for words}

It was amazing!

{coming full circle}

Coming Full Circle
Acrylic and mixed-media on canvas
18 x 18 inch

Excerpt from Artist Statement
Throughout my life I've tried my hand at all sorts of hobbies and crafts that played with colour, shape and form. Big, bold flowers have always been a dominant theme.  For years I had an idea that when I became a ‘real’ painter I wouldn’t paint flowers anymore. I thought that I’d paint something more sophisticated or ‘serious’.

Blossom and Bloom is an exhibition about growth. It’s about the process we go through to find ourselves and how ultimately that process often leads us right back to our beginnings. To what we’ve always known about ourselves.
 

It's so fitting that this exhibition is being held in Ballarat, a city so close to my heart.  Ballarat has played such a significant role in my life going right back to my teens when I used to spend every weekend there hanging out with the most crazy, mixed-up bunch of fringe dwellers.  People who completely shaped me as a person to this day.

My best friends Jane and Richard, both sadly passed away, were born and raised in Ballarat.  It was their home town.  How I wish they could be there to celebrate this moment with me {and I'm sure in some way they will be}.


Detail from Coming Full Circle

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{finishing touches}

Blossom and Bloom Within

Nail enamel, acrylic and fun on toes

Approx 1/2 inch x 1/2 inch

To go with the dress.  And the paintings.  Of course.

One more sleep peeps!

{a dress to match}

You know originally this exhibition was going to be a landscape exhibition.  For 6 months I worked with the idea of painting a room full of landscapes.  And when it came time to sit down and paint the work, when there was no more time for thinking, I couldn't do it.  My heart wasn't in it.  It was my first big lesson in letting go this year and it was a huge one.

So I went back to painting what I know and what I love.  

Flowers.

We're All Tall Poppies

Acrylic, spray paint and collage on canvas

20 x 24 inch

And then I found the dress.  

A dress that looks like one of my paintings.  

A dress that I loved from the minute I laid eyes on it.  

The most beautiful dress in the world.

And to top it all off I thought I'd get toes to match.

If you're free on Friday night please join me to celebrate the opening of my first solo gallery exhibition at Red Brick from 6pm.  I'll be the one in the gorgeous dress.

{standing still}

the work is done

it's time to stand still for a moment

and to rest

{lessons in letting go - part II}

Work in progress

A good friend sent me a text today with these words of wisdom:

"remember to take time to enjoy the excitement of your first gallery exhibition in amongst all the nerves and last minute stresses"

It was the medicine I needed today.  A reminder to create space for joy and celebration, and rest.

It's always a race to the finish line when it comes to exhibitions {or any big event really}.  But there's a point when you have to stop and let go of some things.  This one just isn't going to make it in time for Friday.  

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{things i'm diggin}

My beautiful word of the year necklace from Liz Lamaroux and Kelly Barton.  I feel 'nourished' every time I wear it.

Celebrating 4 years of blogging this week.  It all started here and WOW what an amazing, life changing, soul defining journey it has taken me on.

Dana's new ARTFULL sketchbook e-course.  I love seeing friends spread their wings and fly.  It's ridiculously affordable too.  I am so signing up for this one.  Check out the great video she made about it too.

Chrissy's annual heart and seek project.  There's something so lovely about seeking out hearts and love everywhere.

Getting back into running again.  I'm doing the couch to 5k program and I love it.  I seriously love running.  I always wanted to run and I always thought I'd never be able to.  And now I can.  Ah, we so underestimate ourselves hey?

 

Making the last big push to get ready for the exhibition opening next week.  I've even got a fancy pants artist page over on the Red Brick website.  Feeling like a real artist much? Anyway, you should totes come along to the opening if you can.

 

Settling in to 2012, finding my rhythm and enjoying what feels like a busy but more fluid way of working and living.

 

Anticipating dinner with my favourite lady at my favourite food van this evening.

 

{nothing to fear}

just a world of colour and joy to be explored

big dreams to be dreamed

hope to be nourished

and all things to feel possible

for me and for you

happy weekend peeps

{wednesday already?}

So yesterday was Tuesday but I thought it was Monday.  I woke up today thinking it was Tuesday but around lunchtime I realised it was actually Wednesday.  And it's February no less.  Wow, is this year off to a flying start.  

The winner of the Lights Hunters giveaway is 74 Lime Lane.  Congrats Kellie.  I hope you enjoy it.  Huge thanks to Vivienne for the giveaway too.

Ok, back to the painting for me and the studio assistant.

*****

{stop the press}

There's so much news to share and I want to fill you in on everything that's been happening with me over the last few weeks.  BUT I've got the most sensational giveaway to share first.

You all know I'm a huge fan of Vivienne McMaster.  She's completely inspiring and I absolutely love her work.

Vivienne has generously offered up a giveaway for her upcoming Light Hunters e-course and I'm delighted to offer someone the chance to join one of her amazing courses.

About Light Hunters {from Vivienne's website}
The Light Hunting classes invite you to ignite your relationship with light. Photography is visual poetry based on the language of light. These courses invite you not only to seek out the light on the bright beautiful days but as well to seek it out in places where others may not notice it. At the core of these courses is the idea that there is always light and you are invited to look at the world around you in a different light.

Through visual inspiration and thoughtful posts, you are will find yourself falling in love with light and see an improvement in your photography!

Light Hunters, the original course, is a 30 day class. Each day you are invited to look at a new aspect of light as these daily posts arrive in your inbox!

All you need to do to enter is leave a comment.  But be quick.  I'll be drawing the winner on Wednesday.  Class starts this week. {make sure you include an email contact for this one}

*****

Here's a quick summary of other news:

• I have two new jobs starting this week.  Excellent part-time jobs that will energise and inspire me, pay the bills and leave plenty of room for my own creative work.
• Hello Soul Hello Business is continuing to blow me away and change everything about the way I see myself in business.
• Your Awesome Year was absolutely incredible.  It was amazing for the participants and for me it was like coming home after years of denying my true calling.
• I'm working on my own vision board for 2012.
• I've got my first solo gallery exhibition opening at Red Brick on Friday 17th Feb at 6pm and I'd love you to join me.
• Things feel like they are lining up for me at the moment in the most incredible way.
• 2012 is going to be an absolutely awesome year.

{flight of the ducks}

I'm off to Gleaners Inc this evening for the opening of 'Flight of the Ducks'.  

Here's a sneak peak of my work for the show.

 

Maybe I'll see you there.  If not, have a great weekend peeps!

{busy, busy, busy}

I truly don't know how I ever found time to work.  Well I do, but I also know why I decided to leave my full time job.  There simply wasn't time for creative dreams.  I've got a week chock full of creative goodness this week, and you'd be welcome to join me for any of it.

Wednesday I'll be here at home for my annual open studio.  Join me for bubbles, good food, great company and some Christmas shopping.  All the details are here.

Friday I'll be popping over to Gleaners Inc for the opening of the "Flight of the Ducks" exhibition.  I've got a couple of pieces in the show and I'm looking forward to seeing all the other ducky goodness.

On Sunday I'm having a stall at the Bend and Snap twilight market at 1000 Pound Bend, 361 Little Lonsdale St, Melbourne.  It runs from 3 - 8pm.  I'll have finkigirl jewellery and prints and cards {including some lovely new designs} for sale.

See what I mean?  Absolutely no time for a full time job in there.  And it feels so deliciously freeing not to have to try and fit one in.

Have a fabulous week peeps!  Hope to see you somewhere in my travels.

{raring to go}

Rainmaker

Acrylics on canvas

14 x 14 inch

All the originals are loaded into my shop and ready to go.  I'm really excited to release 13 new paintings out into the world.  It seems like a fortuitous number to me.  And a celebration of the decisions I've made recently.

The sale will go live at 6pm tonight Australian Eastern Standard Time.

If you're a local and you'd like to save on postage I'm happy to arrange pick up or delivery.  Just purchase the piece you want and I'll refund the postage via paypal, and we'll make arrangements.  Otherwise all items will ship tomorrow morning.

I'm finally starting to settle into a rhythm of not being at work for someone else all day every day.  It feels absolutely fantastic.  I spent the morning working outside in the garden.  What a treat on this glorious Melbourne day.

As well as a gazillion of my own creative projects and dreams,  I'm working on a very exciting project with the gorgeous Louise Gale.  Can't wait to spill the beans next week.

I hope you're having a gorgeous day in your neck of the woods.

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PS.  If you'd like a sneak peak of tonight's sale you can see all the artworks over on my facebook page

{cake on a stick, and other good things}

Cake Pops by Melbourne Epicure 

I was speaking to one of my colleagues towards the end of the night and he said "nothing at all wrong with cake on a stick" and boy is he right.  They were the culinary highlight of the evening.  Thanks Cathie.

Wearing Betty Jo and Kearnsey

Cam bought me the Kearnsey last year.  I thought it was perfect for opening night.

Me dressed in Finki.  Living a dream.

It was a completely fabulous night.  It had all the ingredients of a very successful opening ~ lots of people {family, friends, arty & crafty peeps, work peeps}, really good food, excellent red wine {kindly donated by my brother-in-law}, plenty of bubbly to go round, some extra interest with pop-up craft stalls from CurlyPops and Betty Jo and of course the art. Oh, and quite a few red dots {almost half the show is sold now, which is very, very exciting}.

I couldn't really tell you much at all about the evening as a whole.  There were so many people there and I felt like I spent the whole evening having half conversations with lots of them.  I managed to enjoy a few glasses of bubbly, nibbled on some finger food and definitely enjoyed one of the divine cake pops.  

I went home elated and exhausted and have been pretty much wiped out ever since.  

Now it's time to rest.

I'll see you soonish.

{how dreams come true}

I've had some wonderful reminders recently of how dreaming big can pay off, and how sometimes we don't have to do a single thing to make it happen.

I'd been thinking a little while back that I'd really like to have some photos of myself taken professionally.  As my 40th came closer I was thinking that I'd really like to do that for my 40th.  Then with everything else happening around my birthday I completely put it out of my mind.  A week before my birthday I was invited by work to be photographed for the annual report this year, and to participate in a professional photo shoot to capture the images.  The day after my birthday the photo above was taken!

One of the big dreams on the Mondo Beyondo list I wrote a couple of years ago was to have designers want me to wear their clothes.  Last week, completely out of the blue, Finki asked me if she could sponsor my outfit for opening night of my exhibition.  I found it so hard to say yes to this amazing act of kindness, to let myself receive this gift.  If it hadn't been so perfectly aligned with one of my secret dreams I probably wouldn't have accepted it.  But I couldn't deny the synchronicity of it, particularly after the photo thing happened the way it did.

Then, just yesterday I was approached with a tentative offer {very tentative at this stage} of having the rights to some of my work purchased. This was on the list of dreams for this year, and again was something that I just haven't had the time to follow up or think about.

It's really got me thinking in the best possible kind of way.  You know how sometimes you think that in order to make dreams come true, first you have to be willing to dream big, and then you have to work your butt off to find ways to make it happen?  Maybe that's not how you roll, but I've certainly been raised in the school of dream within your limits and work damn hard to make those small dreams real.

These experiences were so completely different to that.  There was no planning, no lists, no consciousness whatsoever.  They were simply dreams put out there into to the world, that manifested of their own accord.  It has been such a strong reminder about letting go, and trusting, and all those things that I so passionately believe in.  And about being really open and able to see when magic is happening.

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Gosh, I feel so rusty in this space at the moment.  I'm missing my blog terribly and hoping that things will settle down now, and that I'll be able to be truly present in this space again.  Be present is a big thing for me.  I don't like to do things by halves.

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Speaking of being present, this evening I will be very much present at the opening night of Acts of Love.  I am so excited.  Everything is prepared and now it's time to crack open the bottles of bubbly and enjoy the achievement of my second solo exhibition.  Hopefully I'll see you there.  If not, hopefully I'll see you back here soon.

Acts of Love 

Paintings by Cath Kirwan

Opening Night

Thursday June 16th 2011

7pm

Chair 14

167 Darebin Rd, Thornbury

ALL WELCOME