Run Away Violet

It’s Mail Art Time again

Latest Art Works, Mail Art, My Art No Responses »

Mar 092012

So I really enjoyed doing my first ever mail art swap with the talented and gorgeous Mindy Lacefield a little while back as you may know. (see this post here if you missed it)

When I saw that the amazingly wonderful Micki Wilde from The Secret Hermit was embarking on a mail art extravaganza of her own I knew immediately I wanted in. I absolutely adore Micki’s art. From the very first moment I saw her quirky little characters and lovely ladies pop up on the Willowing picture gallery I was drawn to them like no other. You know how sometimes you just see an art work and it jumps out at you and you instantly love it. That’s how I felt about ALL of Micki’s paintings.

So I signed up and got to it. I was a bit worried that my art was not going to be awesome enough compared to what I would receive in return but Micki was quick to assure everyone that was sooooo not what mail art is all about so quit worrying and just create something from the heart.

Anyway I won’t blubber on too much. I know you just want to see the pictures. So without further ado here they are.

The beautiful piece I received from Micki. Can you believe it’s even my favourite colour in the whole world and it also has my “word” for 2012 on it (see here if you want to know about my “wanky word”)

I love her. She is perfect. I am so thrilled to have my very own piece of art created by the ever fabulous and gracious Micki Wilde. I will treasure her forever. Thanks Micki!!

Here’s the piece that I sent Micki. I really hope she likes it.

Also just a quick thank you to the inconsiderate post office lady who unceremoniously plastered my lovely painted envelope with really big fat ugly stickers when I went to post it. Grrrr!!!!

And a better look at the one I did.

I’m telling you now you just have to go check out the awesome photos of all the wonderful art Micki received from all that took part in her mail art swap.

It’s a sight to behold. See it here.

Big thanks to Micki for allowing me to be a part of her mail swap. I loved every minute (well maybe not the stressing if my art was too lame bit but everything else)

A wrap up of The Sketchbook Project

Facebook, Latest Art Works, My Art, Sketches, The Sketchbook Project 2012 6 Responses »

Mar 062012

One totally awesomeballs thing I’ve done in the past 12 months was to participate in The Sketchbook Project.

“What’s that all about?” I hear you ask.

Well in a nutshell the lovely folk at The Arthouse Co-op send you out a blank sketchbook to fill with whatever takes your fancy then you send it back to them and they catalogue it into a big fat travelling art library.

The sketchbooks then head off like good little rock stars on a boozy world tour so people everywhere can check them out. Once they recover it’s back to The Brooklyn Art Library where they shall remain indefinitely. The library is accessible 7 days a week to the general public so hipsters and arty peeps and basically anyone can peruse them whenever they choose for ever and ever.

My theme was Heroes and Villains. I didn’t stick to it totally as you will see. To find out more about each one you can visit my Sketchbook Project profile or it’s all on my Facebook page too.

Ok so enough blabbing, here are my sketchbook pages.

And here is my cover which has absolutely nothing to do with my theme or the art within it for some reason. I don’t know why it turned out like this. I was just doodling away on it and this is what happened. I like it but probably would have preferred to have something that actually reflected the contents of the sketchbook. Oh well perhaps the old ‘Don’t judge a book by it’s cover” will ring true for whoever selects it for a look-see.

It was heaps of fun. I’d love to do it again next year however this time I’ll have to try not to leave it to a few weeks before the deadline to start. Mmmmm!!!

Evolution of The Blue Belles

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Feb 272012

Once again I’ve been a bit slack with the old blog posts. Life is busy. What can I say?

Here is a quick little post about my last painting for 2011. As usual I didn’t have a title so I put it out to my peeps on Facebook and the lovely Mel from Meliesque Art suggested I call them The Blue Belles. I loved it so that became the title.

In my mind these girls were upset with their lives so decided to become runaways, sisters who were willing to escape to anywhere as long as they were together. So they waited until the middle of the night and crept away to a better life.

That probably sounds ridiculous but hey that’s what was going through my mind when I created them.

Anyhoo here are some progress shots of “The Blue Belles”.

I thought I was finished at this point but quickly realised they looked like they were floating so I had to whip out the paints again to fix up the bottom a bit.

Here is the final painting of The Blue Belles.

My “Word” for 2012 (sounds a bit wanky but it’s not really)

More about me, My Munchkins 4 Responses »

Jan 132012

Oh my goodness I really, truly suck at blogging. I’ve been ever so slack over the holidays but hey what do you expect? It’s not like I have a great track record for regular blog posts or anything. :)

So I had a lovely break over Christmas hanging out with all of my extended family. Trips to the beach, drinks with old friends and WAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY too much food.

I’m kicking off 2012 by jumping on a couple of bandwagons. The first is to hopefully get rid of the extra pounds that snuck up on me over Xmas by having a crack at The Dukan Diet. So far so good. The weight seems to be melting off (did I mention I’m only on day 2 though hehehehe) and I’m enjoying eating some different stuff for a change. As my BFF would say “DUKAN DO IT”. :)

The next bandwagon is to choose a ‘word’ for 2012. All the cool kids are doing it you know.

At first I just came up with silly ones like ‘Chastise’ (my youngest is about to hit the terrible 2′s) or ‘Expand’ (based on the size of my arse after all that xmas food) but then I really started thinking about it. Soon I found myself to be so ridiculously spiritual and new age that I was even making myself sick. So I decided maybe choosing a ‘word’ was not for me after all.

But then it hit me out of nowhere. My ‘word’ (yes it has to be in quotation marks every single time apparently) had appeared to me like an apparition. Like an angel whispered it in my ear from above. Well not really I’m just being dramatic I was actually just pushing a shopping trolley around the supermarket but you get the idea.

So do you wanna know what it is then?

My ‘word’ for 2012 is ‘EMBRACE’.

Shall I explain. Ok then, I’ll try.

There are a few reasons this is perfect for me and I think if I can embrace ‘embrace’ (see what I did there) 2012 will be my year.

I think of it as a chance to just step back and relax about the small stuff a little. Embrace the fact that the house isn’t always clean, that the kids are not always well behaved, that I am not always going to please everyone. Instead of stressing about these things I need to just embrace and accept that it will be OK. I just need to remove the worry a bit and know that everything will work out just as it is supposed to and embrace life instead of picking on myself for all I don’t get right.

I also will be applying the word ‘embrace’ to my love of creating. I plan to embrace and explore this art thing a bit more in 2012 starting with Life Book. I have signed up for the adventure already and am ready to get into it. 12 months of art classes = awesome.

The other part of the story is to actually physically embrace people. I’ve always been the person that kind of stands back and feels weird when people try to kiss or hug me. I’m more likely to quickly stick out my hand for a handshake if I feel a kiss/hug is coming my way. I think this puts people off a bit and I’m quite sure I come across as a bit of an ice queen because of it. So this year I’m going to get all loved up and embrace embracing people. :) So if you see me in the street don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Ok well that’s about it for now. I will leave you with a little photo of my son Eden and I. He woke up mega early one morning last week but instead of feeling cranky about being rudely interrupted during my much needed beauty sleep, I tried to embrace the moment. I chose to have a bit of fun doing self portraits with him on my phone while the rest of the house had a big sleep in. We had a lot of fun.

I’m a bit sorry I ‘embraced’ the no make up look though. Mmmmm. At least I still shared it. Something I so wouldn’t have done way back in 2011. Embracing all over the place I am. :)

Guitar Chicks ROCK!!

A Little Bit About....., Facebook, Latest Art Works, My Art, Progress Shots, Sketches, Work in Progress 7 Responses »

Nov 112011

I’ve been a bit quiet lately. Life is busy with 2 little ones to chase after and I’ve been suffering from a bit of a creative block unfortunately (creative blocks suck btw). Good news is I think the block has lifted and I will have some new art to share very soon. Yay!!

In the meantime I can finally share my finished Rock Chick painting that I did as a commission for a very dear friend of mine. This little piece was created as a gift for a Bona Fide Rock Chick from Singapore who just had a little baby rock chick of her own named Florence (hence the Florence and The Machine t-shirt). The brief was for one of my girls playing a guitar with purple as the main colour.

Here’s how she started out

And below is how she finished up. My lovely friend is really happy with how she turned out and I’m really thrilled to say that so is the new owner. I hope she inspires little Florence to one day be just as awesome a musician as her beautiful Mum. I haven’t given her a name really. In my mind she is just “The Rock Chick” so perhaps that in itself is the title.

The artwork was constructed on wood panel using Watercolour, Acrylic, Ink and Collage. I finished it off with a layer of yummy resin to give it that little extra something.

I hope you like her. More new art to come soon finally. Keep an eye on my Facebook page for some progress shots.

Thank you Mr Postman!!

Etsy, Mail Art 7 Responses »

Oct 242011

Oh My!!!! So if you read my last post you would know I took part in a mail art exchange recently. Well my return mail art from the fantabulous Mindy Lacefield has arrived and boy do I LOVE it. I just can’t tell you how exciting it was to see the beautifully decorated envelope sitting in my letter box. I knew instantly my little treasure had arrived (this little burst of sunshine literally leapt out from amongst boring old bills in their boring white envelopes). I couldn’t wait to open it. I’ve been a huge admirer of Mindy’s amazing work [tell me more, tell me more]

Spotted throughout the blogosphere

My Art 8 Responses »

Oct 092011

Hi there. It’s me again. You know the chick that’s really slack when it comes to blogging. Did you miss me? What, you didn’t even notice I was gone!! Oh yeah that’s right because I hardly ever blog anyway hehehe. So it’s been a big couple of weeks in cyberland for Run Away Violet. Let me elaborate. First of all the lovely Kristine over at Living in The Moment wrote a lovely blog post about my ‘Fairy Lovesong’ painting as part of her Whimsical Wednesdays. How cool is that? I think that’s the first time anyone has ever blogged about me. [tell me more, tell me more]

Hoping to see some Mermaids

My Munchkins 2 Responses »

Sep 252011

Well that would be expected when staying somewhere called Mermaid Beach wouldn’t it? Just a quick note to let you all know I am off on a mini holiday this week with my beautiful Mum and lovely Sister and our kidlets. Can’t wait to get to the beach and soak up all the beautiful sights and sounds of the ocean. My little nephew is a crazy mad surfer and I love watching him get out there to do his thing. There’s just something so magical and rejuvenating about the sea isn’t there? I can’t wait to shake the winter blues [tell me more, tell me more]

I Heart Willowing!!

My Art 10 Responses »

Sep 182011

So I thought today I might track back a little to tell you about how I got started on this artful journey I’m currently on. You see I was innocently doing a Google image search for a whimsical painting of a girl to gather ideas for a T-shirt transfer I was going to make for my daughter and this image just screamed out at me. I clicked on it to have a closer look and I found myself on the website of a lovely young lady called Iris. I thought her girl was just so beautiful and she really spoke [tell me more, tell me more]

A Mauvelous Treasury!!!

Etsy, Etsy Treasuries Featuring My Work, Treasured!! No Responses »

Sep 172011

A Cute little Etsy treasury my “Gypsy Landslide” was in recently. Love the punny name :) ‘Darling, You Look Mauvelous!’ by beadenchanting A treasury featuring exquisite works from the v ery talented artists of the Alexandria Team! Beach Photography, Blue, Tur… beachbumchix $10.00 Vintage Baroque Oddly Shaped… TUTreasures $3.50 Lilac Dream Garden ArtBeadwork $165.00 Waterfall / Morning Falls / … RayMcMullen $25.00 Slouchy Lacy Crochet Tam Hat… LoveFuzz $36.00 Flying Witch Treat Box ljc3 $1.50 Lavender and white iris RobertPLangdon… $3.50 wedding patchwork wall hangi… tribalvintageb… $109.00 Set of 6 hang tags with Twin… ThePaperPrairi… $3.00 Heather CairineMacGill… $22.99 Recycled [tell me more, tell me more]