Artists that inspire -Theodor Kittelsen

Norwegian artist Theodor Severin Kittelsen (April 27, 1857 – January 21, 1914)



"" Ekko" (Echo) 1888, Oil on canvas



" Soria moria slott", 1900


"Up in the Hills a Clarion Call rings out", 1900


"Huldra forsvant" (The fairy that disappeared)


" Hakkespett" (Woodpecker), 1912

Artists that inspire - Chafik Charobim

Egyptian Artist Chafik Charobim (1894 - 1975)

A new year, a new journey

I hope that your Christmas time, Yule time, Winter time or Summer time holy days are being filled with love and family, mysteries and magic...

And where ever you are in the world I wish you the most blessed new year.
I hope it's full of new journeys and new discoveries, new rivers to travel, new mountains to climb, new skies to fly.
But I also hope we all can learn to live without regret. Of the things we haven't done or achieved this past year or the places we haven't visited, and learn to live in this moment now. Forget the stresses of future or the past and find the joy of the present.
And spend time with those we love, because that's the most important thing.
:) xxx

Sacred Familar interview

The beautiful Julia from Sacred Familiar has kindly included my work and an interview in her latest Summer solstice newsletter. Thanks Julia! She discusses the healing power of mythology & story, and looks into the symbolism and magic of the Valkyrie of Norse Mythology.

You can read the rest of the fascinating newsletter and the rest of the interview here on Julia's Sacred Familiar site.

Shop update!

These little guys have just been listed for sale in the shop !
They are all little original sketches, unique one-of-a-kinds, ready to fly off to loving homes :)

"Norbu of the Inner City"
chief musician to the Queen...

"Keje"
little king of the underworld...



"Bedouin"
the mysterious woman of the desert land...


and finally little "Mimba of the Outerwoods"

little creature

Just got hold of this photo - this is the little mite I mentioned in the last post. This was taken just before we let her go so she was bright and perky :) Such an incredible feeling to hold such a tiny creature in my hands!

The view from here

For quite a few months now I've been meaning to share some photos of the area in which I live. I love seeing the working spaces and surroundings where creative people live, I find it very inspiring. Maybe it's something to do with seeing these artists and creatives in such normal surroundings, it helps me to remember that these amazing people are just people! While of course they have, no doubt, incredible natural skills, they have also gotten where they are through hard work and perseverance and so this makes me think that maybe I can get there too :)
Anyhoo, while I haven't really taken any photos of inside my house and studio yet (it's a very dark little house and I'm not the best photographer....) these are ones of the surrounding area of Glen Iris. I really am loving it here at the moment - we are still so close to the centre of Melbourne but with all the parks and bushland walks around here you can almost fool yourself that your out in the country (well, apart from the distant hum of the freeway!)
And I love the fact that there is wildlife around here! I love that I wake up to birdsong these days instead of traffic....
And so many birds - there's the common cheeky magpies and pigeons but also wrens, cockatoos, galahs, ducks, parrots and lorrikeets... and spooky, silent bats that float by at dusk.....and soooo many possums! Most of our neighbours really dislike them - they can make an awful amount of noise at night and can make a mess of trees and gardens, but I love them :)
Although admittedly we don't have any trying to nest in our roof or pooping on our driveway so maybe I'd change my mind if that was the case, hehe!
But I love sneaking out the back door at night time and catching them staring back at me from the fence, most of the time not scared at all, just watchful.
And the size of some of them! There was a brushtail possum as big as a cat out there the other
night!

Unfortunately our dog Jools has also discovered them...and she can be quite obsessed. A couple of weeks ago she actually managed to catch one! I couldn't believe it! Here I was thinking she was trying to catch mice in the undergrowth as she often does with no success and there was the fact that it wasn't even close to dusk, until i heard the squeeks and realized what was going on...!! Then I became this screaming, yelling, hitting banshee and thank goodness she dropped the creature and I was able to pull her away and managed to tie her to a tree. The poor wee little mite was just a baby and I found it shivering in the undergrowth with clumps of fur missing and covered in wetness which at the time I thought was blood but afterward realized was just saliva.
So I picked it up and wrapped it in my jumper and we took it off to the vet thinking that at least they could put it to sleep and save it from a lingering, painful death.
But yay! I rang back the next day and the little guy was fine! So happy to know that our Jools isn't a possum killer, phew! She obviously didn't know what to do with it once she had caught it and didn't clamp her jaws down. I hope she never learns! (it was such a disturbing sight seeing her standing there with tiny little possum feet sticking out from either side of her mouth, waving slowly in their struggles - urgg!)
So we picked up the little fellow from the vet and popped him back in his tree, and were overjoyed to see his mother and him staring down at us a few moments later! So beautiful!
Every time I pass that tree I look out for them but I haven't seen them since. I hope they are both still ok... but i guess I'll never know.

So here we go - I'm a bit slow -these were taken a few months ago in winter.
Now the trees are swimming in green and there's a completely different feel to the air. But it gives an idea of the lay of the land at least. And of course my silly little fur moppet :P

Little Nessa and Fire King

These two little people are about to grace the beautiful cards of Merry-go-round Designs.
Very exciting! I can't wait the see the finished cards :D
The folk's at Merry-go-round create amazing cards -which are fully re-usable, re-recyclable, environmental gift cards and not forgetting to mention, beautiful as well!
Fun, fun!

Daily Sketch

Some more little fellows and missys
Tis been a while since I've been here, thanks for all the lovely comments :) I do read them all even if I am terribly slow at responding, oh dear!

Dreaming in the past

Quilcene Boy


Bethlehem Child

Girl with bear cubs
Market Street, Goslar, Hartz, Germany
A Bedouin woman, Tunis, Tunisia
Native children, Marken Island, Holland


Oh, how I adore old photos....this is such an inspiring site: http://www.old-picture.com/

'Untold Stories' - Illustrators Australia Exhibition

"Untold Stories" is the theme of this years Illustrators Australia Annual 9x5 exhibition.
Wow, how quickly has this come around again!

This is my little contribution above...I didn't have time this year to do a proper painting so it's just a sketch on wood but I think it's come out alright :)
It's always a lot of fun catching up with other illustrators and seeing the incredible work that they come up with for the show. So many clever, clever people out there!
So if your in Melbourne swing by!

Opening night : Friday 17th September from 6pm
Gallery open Saturday 18th September 10am to 4pm
Where: Space 39, Level 2, 39 Little Collins St, Melbourne Vic.

And also, all the art is up for sale at a starting price of $195 (which is a real bargain considering the talent of some of these illustrators! ) To see all the art online and vote for your favourites check out the Illustrators Australia Website (exhibition section may not be up yet but should be within the week)

New sketches

"Into the dark"


"Moon Brother"

Daily Sketch

"Sophie"


"Star"

Daily Sketch

Howdy, howdy!

Daily Sketch

Daily Sketch

Ok, so please excuse my previous post, I'm not usually so negative! Ah well... all good now :)

So here are a couple more daily sketches...





This one I think will become a painting...not sure :)