Inspirations | Wildflowers and Soft Springtime | September 29 2016

Hello friends, I find it hard to describe this feeling I have inside. This feeling I get when I see land that can blow with sheets of hot, dry, dust battling imaginary adversaries across ridges of rock and dead wood, come ever so softly and perfectly alive with the fall of rains and the slow warmth of a wet springtime.

I have seen the baking hot shimmer lift the life away from creatures large and small, and felt it zap the spirit from me, yet all seems forgotten or at least most certainly forgiven as we all creatures great and small feel as though we dance and sashay together through a giant soft fairy floss world.

It is of course a pink fairy floss world. As pink and lolly gorgeous as you can imagine. For this is the colour of the incredible Calytrix Starflowers whose sugary-sweet bursts dot the land and blanket the vistas among sisters of equal dramatic presence. The Mulga trees have lifted with a slight lime tinge to their silvery cool facades; the fluorescent sweeps of herbages and natural grasses wave on cool, damp earth in the shade of the desolate-defending canopy above; grass-trees sprout fresh tufts of brilliance atop thick, charred stumps; birds trill, chirp and chase through soft climates, chasing fat, thriving insect gluts; and cows browse gently and calmly through a smorgasbord of herbivorous delights. It is surely soft Springtime in the Mulga country, and I could not be more overjoyed.

I wander the centre stage spotlight pockets, and bask in the beauty of life. There is of course never, ever a loss without a gain—I remember this as I flit from spray to vivid spray, drinking in this full world celebration as I go.

As the sun sets and throws his most graceful rays over the tiny colour scape, I open every pore of me and seep and soak in this other-wordly moment. I etch the softness and the peace and the overwhelming beauty into my heart. I drink in the tranquil theatrics, I fill my world with the colours, the lines, the patches and the sweeps, and I breathe deep the sweet promise of good times. 

This is where my art begins. It is felt, it enters my heart, a glinting whirl of pink, purple, red, mauve, blue, white, lime, cherry, lemon, cad yellow, magenta, scarlet, vermillion, cornflower, umber, sienna, charcoal—and there it stays, whirling all the while until I open the door and let it flow. This for me is peak inspiration. This is where my art begins.

LDxx

Pops of lolly everywhere  

Happy girls  

Posies

Never more joy

Hop Bush

On my table | Live-Paint Cleaning Carrot | September 25 2016

A gorgeous Springy day today, and all is fresh and humming with love and life. Being a weekend, I thought I should definitely draw the work line and give a few other plates a spin... like the housework for example! 

I decided I may well fashion a sign: Our preemptive apologies—children's bathroom, enter at own risk.   Tell me this is the case for other mothers out there?! 

And so in amongst the grout scrubbing and toilet bleaching (gahhh!), I gave myself a little milestone reward and sat down for a quick paint. Here's a little video of what was on my table today.

I hope you enjoy it and I hope you had a joyous day. 

LDxx

Those tiny ponies a gallop 💛 

LD Artist Journal | Painting is not Weeding | September 24 2016

Hello friends,

It was a lovely sunshiney day today. I had the most wonderful moments playing with different mediums and letting little thoughts develop into bigger ones down the road.   

I took a lot of joy from little moments in our garden with birds a chirping and blooms a blooming. 

I especially adored the last moments of light today. I mayyyyy have been a bit cheeky today, in that I planned and set out to do some weeding, and was completely romanced by the sensational afternoon light dancing across our world. So I swapped my gloves for a brush and paper and some gorgeous tubes of my favourite Aussie Aussie Aussie made Art Spectrum paints, opened my heart and began capturing some of the feeling.

It felt incredibly good, and if not for the gangs of flying guns for hire masquerading as mosquitos, I would have stayed and painted every surface in sight. 

There is really and truly nothing like being at home. A whole beautiful world to delight in. 

LDxx

Painting happy

On my table

Garden glamour

Inspirations | Wildflowers and ponies on the plains | September 22 2016

Today was a heavy work day as I reworked my LD website, got some Pony Ink orders sent and blocked out tasks. 

Sweet inspiration flowed thick and fast though this morning as I test drove our new 'buggy' with my boy admiring wildflowers and our surrounds; and this afternoon as our babies rode their ponies around; as I stole the tall blonde streak's pony; and as I crouched in the grass looking towards the setting sun and they cantered all around me.  

The birds chirped, the hosses snorted Spring pollen and fat pony protests, and the light clouds in the sky carried the colours of the sun in their own beautiful way. It was truly heart lifting.   

Here are a few little images. 

LDxx

Blue bells

Tall blonde streak and his beloved hoss. 

Fields of flowers. Paper daisies.  Not the real desert kind, but still so beautiful.

And just like that, they look like donkeys 😂🙈 

So inspired by pattern right now, and coming up with new pony patterns! Pony Ink inky pony pillow waiting for wrapping and the post.

LD Artist Journal | Creatively Invincible and LD Blog no.1 | September 23 2016

Hello friends, first post on this blog, and it feels like wonderful timing.

Along with Spring, I welcome so joyfully a burst of unbridled creative freedom! I feel like I have just stepped up to a whole new level of openness, creatively, and feel completely free and without boundary or impediment to bring to life this wonder I feel inside. I feel like a grown-up all of a sudden.

I understand for a number of years as I have been beginning and then building my artistic path, I have had outcomes in mind at various stages, and have curbed things a little accordingly. This is all well and good and as it needed to be, but it seems as this world becomes ever more saturated with imagery and creative 'sharing', and trend-centric visuals, originality shines brightly. Whilst I was feeling slightly suffocated a little while ago, with open and shameless copying having become so rampant and seemingly so accepted, I feel I'm experiencing a creative-bra-burning liberation of sorts; a realisation that with this IP free-for-all comes a whole new hero level for originality. 

I am openly okay with being a bit of a weirdo. Walking my own path, dancing to a wholllllllle other drum and laughing to myself along the way... Its how I roll. And I like it. It seems to work. It means I look mostly inward for response and approval, or to those close to me, and along the way (whilst laughing and dancing!), another little rainbow brick of identity gets added to the castle. When I wish to draw upon creativity, its like I run through the castle, roam through the grounds and whirl through that world, and its all glistening full of those little rich pieces collected on the journey, through introspection. Not so normal, but, it seems to work. And I think the same is true for all originals out there.

So I feel that the restrictions are off, the creative floodgates are open. Its time to live creatively large and free. And originality... if you've got it, balance it with a dash of practicality, pepper it with open hearted goodness, and beammm it to the world. I predict things are about to get pretty interesting creatively, and that brings me enormous joy!

So my first artist's diary got a little serious, but I aim to share where I'm at creatively along the way, and I am most certainly, firmly here! I cannot wait for all the wonder that is ahead.

Much goodness to you all, may you find your drum and bang it loudly!

LDxx

Landscape commission workings rediscovered and oh so inspiring!