some trees

Some new work, titled - some trees.  Being printed as we speak!  Excitement +

I'm making the most of my weekend painting, as I've been flat out with work lately, but it's all for the greater good of my bank balance, and being able to pay my rent! ha! And of course, pay for my indulgent art endeavours - which I cannot seem to leave behind. :)  Hope you're all having a blast of a time. xo  As soon as time permits, I will post again.

Brendan Halyday Feature

Brendan Halyday
Artist / Illustrator
Melbourne Australia

I want to share a bit of an insight into the talented (and way awesome) Melbourne artist Brendan Halyday.

An illustrator/designer living in Melbourne, Australia, Brendan has worked in the industry since 2002, illustrating childrens books, educational and chapter books, posters, comics and more for both children and adults, working on original and licenced properties. Prior to working as an illustrator, he worked as a designer and continues to do so on a project by project basis.  He's a man of many talents!

I first found Brendan's work on Etsy. I think I was cruising for comics and zines....

So, there I was going through check out, and here I am some many months later writing about how great he is.  I love his sense of style, humour, honesty, and personal approach to his work.  I also have to say that getting packages in the mail from Brendan is like getting a present. Even the envelope looks amazing!

In a recent email exchange, Brendan filled me in a little on what he's been up to, what's happening, and future plans. He has also (quite excitedly) just completed his Diploma in Illustration.

"I have recently finished a new collaborative zine called the garbage truck failures with James Andre, it has an awesome cover by Bobby N too. I also have a small zine called The Funnies that I did earlier in the year. I have illustrated a couple of comics for other writers this year, including a three page story for the Tango anthology published by Cardigan Comics, and a 10 page story that was recently published in the anthology Kagemono: Tooth and Claw. At the moment I am working on 3 projects (i like to work on multiple projects concurrently, so if I ever get bored or hit a mental block with one I can just switch to another. I find working that way always keeps me fresh too).

The first project I am working on is sketchbook four, and I am working really hard to get this finished asap. The drawing is pretty much done, it's just the writing that is holding me up with this one. I am writing about some pretty personal stuff and have been struggling to express myself the way I want too. I'm also working on a comic anthology that will be about 32 pages in colour. It's about half finished, I hope to finish it this year. I'm also working on a small little kids book, hope to get it done in the next month but we'll see.  All these are projects that have been in the work for a while and are slowly moving towards completion. I have another couple of projects that I've agreed to do but havent really started yet, but hopefully soon..."

Below are examples of some of Brendan's work. You can purchase some of these delights here :)

Check out Brendan at these locations!
Brendan's  website, shop, & blog

Thanks heaps Brendan - you're a champ!

big red tumble of love

It's my day off from my day job, which means I'm working around the studio, and catching up.... so much to do.  So much so, I found myself wanting a bit of adventure, and even though I have quite come to dislike sewing, I took out my machines, and well, they did not drive me bonkers with broken threads, empty spools, mish mash mess with my overlocker... it was surprisingly without incident. (I did have to change the thread though - that was almost enough to make me stop! - told you I dislike sewing).

The part about sewing that I do like is what you can achieve. I think this is what motivated me in the first place. I didn't like the sewing machines, but I loved making the dresses, cushions, etc.

I don't think I'm ready for dresses just now, but I did sew some cushions today.  This one "big red tumble of love" is quite huge. It measures almost 60cm square. Nice! Shown here with soft down insert, but I made more of these - smaller ones... I might put them in my etsy shop, but I'm not sure.... see what happens....

I love your venation

V
       e 
             n
                   a
                          t
                               i
                                   o 
                                         n

Main Entry: ve·na·tion
Pronunciation: \ve-'na-sh?n, ve-\
Function: noun
Etymology: Latin vena vein
Date: 1646
: an arrangement or system of veins (as in the tissue of a leaf or the wing of an insect)

this is a new series of work exploring the delicate nature of life. The nature of extinction, and how precious plant life, and animal life is. Each work is a celebration of nurture, and how we go about each day on this planet.

I've been thinking about donating some money from some of my sales for some time now, and I'm taking the plunge!  I'm not sure how many I will make - see how they go in the shop. I will donate $10.00 from each sale to the RSPCA.

I wish there was something in check out where the $10.00 could just go straight to the RSPCA, but I will have to do this manually.  I've never done this before, and not sure how it will go. If you've had experience in donating some of the profits from your work to a charity, I'd love to hear how it went, any hiccups, what you'd have done differently etc.

winter wonderland

After much deliberating, I managed to come to an agreement with myself that I quite like this piece, so it is now on its way now to Bec at Blanket Magazine for the calendar submission. I call it Winter Wonderland.  Winners will be notified this Friday the 20th November.  Not long now, but I'm not holding my breath: there's so much talent out there, it's amazing. :) I'll leave you with the birds for now. Off to Bunnings, because when you're an Australian, that's what you do on the weekends! Ha ha ha.

I might just have to....

have a shopping adventure soon!

Ummmm....

I could quite happily have all of these.

Gorgeous resin rings from new Australian etsy store  MilkWoodDesign

Mid Century Modern Vintage Teak and Ceramic Table Lamp from SeeChangeDesign

Rose Hip Cream from Tranquillita

Slipcast hand glazed ceramic tumbler accented in gold from HappyClay

The Original. Vintage Reindeer Softie from Ethanollie

Souvenir Tea Towel Bamboo Handled Handbag - Australian Wildflowers from LoopiForYou

Western australia cushion from BillyBoyandMia

Pretty 1970s Poole Pottery Delphis 49 Dish by Angela Wyburgh from MascaraJones

Have a great weekend everyone.

my frisky garden and shredding the evidence

Well, it's Friday, and that means weekly photo collage!

This week, we have 'frisky garden action' and 'destroying evidence'.

Our Flanders poppies popped out this week, and these are the first two.  Since this photo was taken about 10 more have come out! I love these flowers. It's that black in the inner with the red that's so striking. Some appear to have delicate white rings around the tops too.... interesting.

I did some mosaic last Saturday.  It was a stinking hot day, and the grout was drying fast - but I had the best time. I'd been hanging onto these little tiles and mirror pieces for years.  I love the white and red and that turquoise, mint combination. The mirrors, well, how could I not put mirrors in!

This poor chewed up toy is one of Kibi's friends. She has quite a few now, and Jase hates the idea that she's destroying something that resembles an animal, or person. so we went shopping! and she has loads of soft fabric bones, long sausage like things, and fluffy shapes to play with. Nothing with eyes! ha ha. 'No name'  now lives on the ledge with the oregano. I don't know why, but I think it is delightful.

Last but not least, I found one of my old journal / diaries, and oh-my-goodness - how is it possible for one person to write so much crap?! love this, pain that, self pity this, longing that.... yuk yuk yuk!

I was embarassed in my own presence, and the thought of having to come across this again, or (worse), someone else find it, was enough to give me a instant pain in the chest, so I very efficiently, and with great haste, cut up all the pieces, and sent them off to the bin.  I know there are more lurking around here - quietly hiding on bookshelves, in boxes... my aim is to find them all, and destroy them without delay.

I'll finish up or now, and get into some art work and relaxing gardening weekend, but I wanted to say thank you to Deborah from kickcanandconkers for the lovely surprise write up about inaluxe on her blog. Totally made my day, and what an inspiring and fun blog. I love it. Awesome reading, and a real visual feast!

And a big thank you to Amanda Fuller from amandafullerdesigns for the spoltlight feature on inaluxe earlier this month. I have to admit, I get a bit shy about writing about features these days, and tend to put them in a link to the side, but I like the fact that we can share each others blogs these ways, and I also like to thank the person who has done the feature. It is important to me, and it's a really lovely thing! Amanda is an Australian based Graphic Designer, she's nice as, and she has such a passion for Art! Her blog is rockin' - check it out! :)

Have a great weekend everyone....

Thank you for all the kind wishes about our Mr Mingus too. xo

the artist exchange

I recieved an intriguing and rather exciting email this week regarding an artist exchange. It's such a brilliant idea! I don't even know how to explain it, or describe it, but essentially it goes something like this....

You are given the name and address of one person whom is the recipient of a piece of art work you create. You are given a week to complete the work in, and send it off. Then you are to email 6 other artist friends, with some changes to addresses and email, and they are to (more or less) do the same.

So, here is the piece I sent off... it's a nice size, gouache on paper. All brush, lots of time to reflect while doing this (it's an extention of some of my earlier mosaic works - somewhere in this blog - he he) and it's always a very peaceful experience.

I hope they like it! It's titled "together as one" well because it's the first thing that came to mind, and no matter how different we may be, we're kind of in it together.  Just like this piece.

A big thank you to Kylie.

the parts that make sense & lyrical tree

I'm not going to talk too much today, but here are some photos.

'the parts that make sense" one in a frame (which I will be keeping for myself! and some that will be available in my etsy shop for purchase in the coming days.  I felt it was important to put the actual title on the works, but will not be dating them on the front - it will just get too type heay in look. Instead they will be dated on the back, with "inaluxe" on them.

I am so happy with how they look framed. Even more alluring (I think).

As well as these works, I have some new hand painted one of a kind original art works (could double as a card) in my store for sale now! They are cheap as!  At only $12.00, you get an original mixed media painting, and a hand made envelope.  Am I mental, or is this an ok price?

Other news.... stay tuned for photos of the art work I created as part of the artist exchange, and next week I will be putting up a feature on artist (and lovely person) Brendan Halyday.

Excitement +

Mr Mingus Passes Away

I've had a very sad week. Mr Mingus passed away on Monday. 

It was a very tender and incredibly heartbreaking experience. We miss him so much.   His presence is in so many places around the house and yard.  We look out for him.... slinking off quietly into the ornamental fireplace to groom himself, and have quiet time, or lazing around in his red cushion deck chair in the backyard, tapping on doors to get in,  sitting under the dining room table, just watching us, or waiting for him to come and have lap snuggle time.  We listen for purrrrrs, or meows, but... there's just silence, and little tears, throughout the day.  Jase and I just look at each other now, and there's that loss in each others expressions we have already become so akin to reading.

Here are some photos of the Minki in his last week with us.  Taken with him in two of his favourite hang out spots. The table in the undercover outdoors areas, and the deck chair. He would wait for the sun to come out in the morning and impatiently make his way to his chair. When it got too hot, he would get up on the table, and in a very languid fashion, spend some hours, having the best time.  :)

There'll never be another like him.  He was amazing.

the "name these works" winner

It has been amusing, inspiring, and an overall  real pleasure reading everyone's entries for the competition. It was also very hard to choose.  But for some reason, the one that resontes most for me is...

"the parts that make sense" - Lindsay

Congratulations Lindsay! If you can please contact me via email (there ought to be a email link on the right there), with an address you'd like me to send your goodies to, that'd be great! If you have any particular favourite works of mine, please let me know, it may help in putting your package together.  :)

How exciting!

I would also really like to thank everyone! You've all been super awesome! by way of thank you, I'd like to send each person who entered a postcard pack. If you'd like one, please email me your address, and I'll pop these in the mail as soon as possible. 

Lots and lots of warm wishes. xo

beach birds on vacation

So how good is the name these works competition going?!

I'm loving it!

If you haven't already shared your suggestion with us, it's not too late! You can still enter (see the post below this post). I'm all excited, and I'm getting to that stage where I'm doing a bit of hmmmmm.... ummmmm........ aaaaarrrrr.... thinking thinking. I love it! I'll do a proper post on this once the winner is announced.

But for today, well, I wanted to share something different. I'm thinking about trying out for the blanket calendar submission (see blanket link to the right, if your keen) and the art work criteria is

destination like snow
beach, mountains, city.
A country, a season, a scene or a place
where you may like - to vacation.

So this is what I came up with! Maybe not very vacation like? I dunno....

It makes me think of Cronulla beach, with that little industrial part you can see, or the coast in Hobart with (what we used to call) the 'Fairy Factory' across the water. The 'Fairy Factory' was actually a large industrial mass... a refinery perhaps? I can't recall.

But, well, as these things are sometimes seen as ghastly, I think they can also be quite beautiful. I'm still working on the drawing side of things... who knows.... see what happens in the next week or so. I might need to get out into the backyard, and spend some time in nature, with my paints.  these colours are murky, oh but how I like that greenish grey. 

And! here's a blue version.... this is two out of 100 different colour schemes I've been playing with. No wonder I feel a bit crazy right now. Time to stop!

Have a great weekend everyone! xo

the "help name these works" giveaway

I've never done a giveaway before.

It might be a total catastrophe,
but
it sounds like fun!

and someone out there will win an inaluxe pack of goodies... yeeeah! Just in time for christimas! I'm thinking the whole set of inaluxe postcards (which are just about to arrive anyday) ... one of these little cuties, and something else, most likely an original painting on paper. Value of the giveaway pack will be around $50.00.  Rock-and-roll!

So here's the thing....

I need a name for these new collage pieces. They are all different, but the same. Same shapes, different papers. They are a series. I don't know what to call them, and to be honest, I'm looking for a bit of fun, and fresh ideas, and not just relying on my own titles.  I'm sort of sick of myself. Ha! Please zoom on the image to get a better idea - it should come up quite large.

How to enter....

It's easy as!
All you have to do is leave a comment here with your 'name these works'  suggestion, (Entries close midnight Sunday 8th November - Melbourne Australia time), and on Monday the 9th of November I will announce the winner. The winner will be notified via my blog, so please check back on Monday to see if you won, and what next?!

Good luck, and thank you in advance!

envelopes

So I was reading the Etsy emails that get delivered to my inbox the other day, and there was a story on packaging and presentation. It made me realise while I have gift tags, business card, and wrap things, I didn't really have anything handmade as such to put my little business card in, or thank you note. So.... this is what I did. Made little envelopes with note cards for two days.

I found all these amazing papers lying around my house. From manila folders I would never use, to luxurious velvet gold papers, and some of my gocco print experiments, lino cut proofs, wrapping papers, craft paper, scrapbook sheets,  vintage maps, vintage papers, and on and on.  I used a rubber stamp I have with some metallic ink on some too. 

I totally adore these, and more importantly making them was such a pleasure. I found it exciting, and really quite a focused effort. Tracing each envelope out in pencil, cutting it by hand with scissors, making sure those rounded corners are round, and smooth, assembling, looking at them, and then assembling the machine stich bands that go around them. It was quietly reflective, but also purposeful.

I have heaps, and I am sure next time I need a break from other life things, I will sit and cut paper, and make little envelopes.

On sale here

A visitor out of the blue

Yesterday was very warm, and following the heat of the day came that sticky lifeless air.  This morning is different. It has rained, and the landscape has a beautiful clean, crisp, and invigorated quality.  All I can hear are birds.  Going about their business, alive, and energised. 

What happened next was a sweet surprise.

I was sitting here working away quietly, when I heard a rukus in the bedroom. I found Mr Mingus sitting on the floor, eyes wide open, staring at the wall. Perched on top of one of my paintings, right above the bed was a little bird. I had a second look, and sure enough I was not mad, there was a bird sitting on my painting!

It looked fabulous! Like it was supposed to be there. Nothing out of the ordinary at all.

By the time I got the camera, which was a minute or two later, the bird had freaked out and moved over to the window.  I took two photos, opened the window, and took Mr Mingus with me, shutting the door as we left. Not even ten minutes later, our little friend had gone.  So smart!

And what a lovely way to start the day.

We've been here some six years, and this is the first bird visit we've had. Special!

365 + art = mental person

The title is tongue in cheek! Of course I don't feel mental thinking about art! however, my mornings go something like this...

arrggghhhh, hmmmm...
no....
that looks crap! 
Start again...

blah, yuk, ok, not bad, hmmm
no
Start again...

Ok ok. I confess, there is a touch of melodrama here, not to mention (most likely) it must read like complete nonsense! I apologise. 

It's a   s t r a n g e  time with Mr Mingus, life, happiness and sadness... but!

My life is... pretty amazing!
A bag of mixed lollies... or a box of chocolates :)

The best thing I did yesterday was take a break from painting, to play with my fabric pieces, and paper goodies. I made some collage works. I like their strong design element. Takes me back to some of the graphics tasks I had to do in school. It's been fun. I might make more.... we'll see.

You can buy these little hotties here

I might even throw in a inaluxe hand made tag, or a nest pattern postcard. Oooooohhhhhhh ahhhhhhhh.

Which is your favourite?

It's annoying but I'm so indecisive about which one of these works would make the best christmas tag, card, notecard, etc. I'm in a state of...

d o u b t

and I don't know which to get printed up.
I think I need more fun, and less thinking today.

Please let me know which you like best - it would be very helpful. 

1. Pear Tree

2. Dancing Snowflakes

3. Seasons Bird Song

Not necesssarily the titles, but it might help you to help me? he he he.

Looking forward to hearing which one you like best - even if only slightly.... :)

inaluxe postcards!

O M G !

I was so excited when these arrived this morning - I've been waiting and hoping they would turn out well, but as this is the first inaluxe postcard I just didn't know what to expect. And I have to say they are way cool! and it's so nice to see my art work reproduced in a way that looks good, and will hopefully be something people will want to buy for a cheap-as-chips sort of price!

Well see.... ha ha ha.

They're in my etsy store, and my madeit  store.

So excited!

for the love of r e d

below is an idea I've been working on - it's all to do with tattoos, fabric, and well, psychadelic pattern. I have way too many projects going on at the moment, but I am enjoying this zig zag process. Sometimes you've got to go sideways to get to your destination - but then, who actually cares about the end of the road? It's the journey! the journey that matters!

long live the journey
and red
and
red flowers!

bird in the hand

These little artworks are small enough, they almost fit in your hand. 

A bird in the hand is.... well, it's a very special thing! Unless it decides to go to the toilet on you, which these promise not to do!

I'm slowly adding to my etsy store... they are original little one of a kinds. Buy one, collect more... I think they would look amazing framed in a group - a row, or box or any way you like.  the textures are beautiful, and I'm really loving working with paint and paper at the moment.