I report to you today in the presence of my new lover …

Ohhh, how long I’ve waited for thee, brand new laptop! My old computer was taking me eons to load and alter my bundles of artsy images, so it was time for an upgrade. It’s definitely a boy laptop, but I’m not sure what to name him yet (I tend to nickname most things I love!) … Any ideas? I thought it kinda looked like a Gavin, but my friend's husbands name is Gav, so that rules that out. Sigh.

This week also heralded the milestone of my son moving out of our bedroom into his own room – which WAS my studio space. So, as a result, I’ve moved my studio out into the family room and pimped it all up to make it easy to make art.

In other news, I got a hair cut and colour. YAY!

My trusted hairdresser went off and had a baby a few months ago (how dare she!), so it’s taken me a while to since find a suitable replacement. Based on all the comments I get about my new do, I think I’ve found my new hair hacker! There’s a fine art to the way I like my hair done. I’m a cross between reckless and pedantic. Has to be choppy and unruly, but not look like it’s meant to be a style. Somehow, my new hairdresser met the brief. Hoorah!

In other, less chirpy endeavours, I received some sad, sad news about a hand-painted tea set commission I’d completed a couple of weeks ago … One of the tea cups broke in the mail

Waaahhh! I was absolutely devastated. I had triple wrapped it in bubble wrap, boxed it surrounded by those foamy bead things, plastered ‘Fragile’ all over the packaging and sent it via Registered Post for extra protection. God knows what they did with it in transit. Volleyball, perhaps. So, here’s the replacement I painted. Let’s hope it arrives safely this time!

I’ve also been having a play with some new ideas. For some reason, my prints sales have dropped recently, so I’ve been toying with the idea of more affordable mini prints …

The cardstock is still archival (and eco/made with wind power! YAY!), but it’s not museum quality like my usual fine art prints, so I think it’s a nice affordable option for those who like my work, but don’t need an investment piece. What do you think? I was thinking of putting them in my shop for around $12 a print …

Finally, I’ve been feeling a bit overwhelmed and overworked lately and strangely enough, this often coincides with me dropping my much loved afternoon walk. It’s such a nice time of year here in Brisbane – nice and cool, loads of blue skies and spectacular sunsets – so it’s been lovely to get back into it. Bub in the pram and off we go!

I know for me, it’s very easy to get caught up in the go-go-go of everyday life that sometimes I can try to rush to get everything done instead of enjoying the moment. I’ve even made artworks about this topic. Sometimes, it’s important to remember to take a few deep breaths and come back home to myself. Walking always does this for me.

It’s easy to find excuses, but once I’m out in the sunshine and amongst nature, I feel inspired and revitalised. I often come home with ideas for a painting. I’ve always been a fan of deciduous trees, so I couldn’t help stopping to photograph this pretty deciduous weed I found along the way. Or maybe it’s dead. Either way, it’s pretty in the sunset.

I hope you’ve had a wonderful July and a beautiful start to your August xx