Its been a little while between posts. I hope you are all well and coping being away from your normal lives. I have been drawing here and there but need to get a bit more practice in. I did have a lovely project that took me a while and it totally absorbed me. The reference photo was given to me by an art friend who also happens to be a fabulous macro photographer.
The subject.....a gorgeous rose and busy blue banded bee. I loved it immediately!
So here is a few progress photos.

This is Trevors gorgeous photo.....

What a joy this was to work on.....very happy little scribbler.
My ART Group Challenges have been a bit and miss....last week was "Beauty in the Rain "

You may remember the little Willy Wagtail I did for a friend.....

Well he now has a lovely frame and is loved by his new owner.

Because of the current situation, mail is very slow to arrive. I have been hanging out for a new book I purchased with Christmas art funds......and FINALLY...it came!
I am a huge fan of Botanical Art....have been since childhood when I used to gaze at some framed prints my Grandmother had on her wall. They always attract me straight away!

Definitely worth the wait. A beautiful book.....hopefully it can improve my efforts.
So lovely people that is me all caught up.  I have no words of wisdom on what form your creativity should take during this time......the feeling of 'HAVING TO" can be a real dampener on your creative spirit. Nothing kills creativity quicker than PUSHING! Just go where your interest takes you. It is often surprising where you end up.
Stay well and safe friends.

Namaste and blessings Michelle xxx

Hellooooooo

Hello out there and a very Happy Easter to you all. I hope you are keeping safe and finding ways to be creative in lock down.
I have been doing a LOT of stitching and keeping up with my art group challenge prompts.....
"BETTER LATE THAN NEVER"

"MY FAVOURITE MONSTER"
Had to be coffee....lol!

"MY FAVOURITE THINGS"
Too many to mention but I featured 8 of them.....

"FRUITY"
I didn't fancy drawing pieces of fruit. I  came across this cute fellow on Pinterest....so I thought a "fruit" bat was perfect!  There is a lot of negativity and misinformation about these amazing creatures and I fear they will be come victims because of it.

When they are causing nuisance to us it's usually because their habitat has been greedily destroyed to make way for more humans and they need new homes.
Anyway I am a fan and considering how many bat wraps were sewn in the recent bushfires, I suspect a few people feel as I  do.
Well that's me caught up and I wish you all a safe and Happy Easter.
Namaste and blessings Michelle xxx

Keeping Calm

Stitching and drawing have been keeping my "monkey brain " from chattering to much of late. And as my stitching and art groups have been suspended I think a lot more of that will be happening in the future. I have gotten stuck into my journal.....
In my Nature Journal .....prompts 5,6,7,8.
No. 5 - Flowers...... these are an Australian Native. Called "Silver Lady". Because the stems age into a beautiful silver.

No. 6 - Leaves....still on the Silver and Australian Native theme, I went with "Silver Dollar" renowned for its stunning silver foliage.

No. 7 - Circles.....oranges.....always wanted to try and draw an orange.

No. 8 - Seashells.....a little collage from my collection.

A bit more progress on my Kookaburras as well....a few more hours put in actually  although it doesn't look that way!

I suspect that we are all going to make a good deal of progress on our projects over the coming months.
Stay well, be kind when you can and think of ways to find some tranquil moments for yourself.

Namaste and blessings Michelle xxx

QWASI Exhibition Opening Night

Friday night was opening night for our Queensland Wildlife Artists Society Exhibition at the Logan Art Gallery. It was a great night and the artworks just beautiful! Our exhibition was opened by renowned Australian author and photographer Steve Parish. His opening address indicated firmly that he understood our passion for nature and natural and wild places.

Both my Daughter and myself are huge fans of his work so we're very excited to have an opportunity to chat to him and take advantage for a photo.

These were my entries....

I was very excited that my little blue fairy wren has found a new home.

I was very fortunate to have friend and talented photographer Kev Webb give me permission to play with his gorgeous wren photo.....I am going to miss Pretty Boy Blue.
The night was made more enjoyable by having family to share it with.
Two of my Grandchildren, who loved it and had an opinion on each and every one.

My Brother, Son, Me, Daughter and Hubby.

My SIL and I.

The world is a small place. My SIL and our lovely President Cathie are old work colleagues as it turns out lol!

The exhibition runs until the 24th April. The gallery is ***closed Sunday's and Mondays ***

I will be popping in here and there to do a little demonstrating.
Stay well and happy.
Namaste and blessings Michelle xxx

More Journaling

The fact my sewing room is getting a much needed paint job has meant I have not been able to access much except for hand stitching and my pencils and art supplies.
Two more prompts in my Nature Journal...
3 - Tree
I settled on the Oak Tree...it still amazes me that such a huge tree comes from that little acorn.

4. - Owl
As you can see I chose a native owl, the Southern Boobook Owl. Most Australians know and love their distinct "Mopoke" call.
I have progress on the Undara Kookaburras......working on the branch.

 This week my art work had to be delivered to the local gallery for our upcoming Queensland Wildlife Artists Society Exhibition.
My Sister in law had told me of a wonderful artist featuring at the gallery that she had visited recently. I was so pleased to see it was still there....finishes today I think.
The artist is Miriam Innes

And she works on large swathes of paper with charcoal in continuous strips.....the detail was amazing. You felt you could walk down these New York streets! The cityscape unfolded right around the room! No photos were allowed but you can get a taste from the catalogue.
I feel so fortunate that I was able to experience it....wow!
I wish you a weekend doing that which pleases you.

Namaste and blessings Michelle xxx

More Arty Stuff

This is the promise that I have made to myself for this year......MORE art! So just to add more zing to this promise.....I chose another Art Prompt challenge for my nature journal....40 new prompts! Call me crazy...but I love them! It really helps with the old "blank page block". This challenge will go very nicely with the challenge I am already doing with my art group....both very different challenges.
This weekend I worked on two of the new prompts.
No. 1 - "A Bird or Two "
Northern Gannets

No. 2 - " Home"
Agile Wallaby with Joey tucked up in it's travelling home.

I am also going to try and include a little spiel in reference to the drawings for this challenge.
Art Group Challenge this week was.....
"A Lesson Learned "

Finally my Fairy Penguin from Seal Rock, Phillip island is complete......loved working on those leaves and negative spaces so much! Yes I am completely crazy!

These are all wrapped and awaiting delivery for .......

It's always a lovely exhibition so pop in if you can whilst it's on. I am looking forward to some demonstrating and admiring the beautiful art my fellow members will have on display.
Namaste and blessings Michelle xxx

Finishing and Beginning

Two little finishes of the feathery kind.
My revisiting of a pretty lady Major Mitchell Cockatoo only had a little bit of tweaking to finish it.....

Also one of my favourite feisty little birds....a Willy Wagtail!

My new piece is quite a large project for coloured pencils but I am loving it.
A few progress shots.....
Sketching....

Laying down the sketch and first under layers .

A bit of rethinking the composition....

I am now happy with how the Drawing looks so I can dive right in!
This week's art group challenge is...
FLYING THE NEST...... my imagination took me to little sibling Wrens egging (pardon the pun) each other on to take that first huge leap of faith!

That's it from me.

Namaste and blessings Michelle xxx