sketches . process

 

 

hello! 

there has been a lot of sorting in the new place and in my brain! a lot of picking up of what's crucial to my being/happiness and even more throwing away. some of the throwing away feels premature and like more of a wish to be in a free-er place than an actual way of being in a better place but i'm doing it anyway!

i've been trying to get a feel for where my work is at/can be at ~ it's been on the outer for a while and what i was doing before doesn't all seem relevant anymore. which is ok! the trick is to have a little time and somehow slip into a peaceful process rather than be overwhelmed by the panicky stuff of not knowing. you know the feeling? so, working on what felt comfortably familiar {camper at the bottom} and exploring new stuff in quick acrylic and pencil on paper sketches. 

a very good thing to come from the sorting/getting back into work so far: i realise now how much i had been ignoring my intuition, for however long ~ something i don't intend to let go of again! yah!

i hope your weekend has been a fun one!

inaluxe special mail

look what arrived in the mail today! the top one is an original acrylic painting by kristina sostarko and the bottom one is a print from the new inaluxe series. aren't they beautiful? the print is so aptly named 'new life'. i'm sorry that i was too impatient to take a pic of the parcel with inaluxe wrapping paper in tact! thanks so much kristina + jason, i love them xx
i can't wait to put them on the wall ~ i'm more determined than ever to get my art collection up and visible. will post some photos of the results!
check out the inaluxe shop + blog {if you are not already a big fan}.
happy friday!

it's been an insane year so far!

hello again, after an even lengthier break this time . . . life has been all consuming here. painting has been put aside while things have been gradually unravelling at home. some hard news: my husband has left. so i am looking for a new place to live and thinking about a new way to live with the kids. i'm still in shock and trying to process what's happened while trying to recover from treatment . . . and there has been the best news all year in amongst the worst: the results of the minor surgery from a few weeks ago are all clear. which in my mind means that everything that has happened treatment-wise has been working and well worth it!

i started this painting a few months ago when we were thinking about buying a house with some friends. looking around at the property market and the realities involved was a bit much. it was going to involve a lot of change and it started me thinking about the ideal home on a basic level. while those house plans are now completely out of the picture, new ones are slowly brewing.

have you ever had a year like this? i kind of want this one over with!
xx

*** update ***

thanks so much for your supportive and lovely comments xx
i got the place i applied for {a first! i've never got the first house/job/thing i've applied for before!} which has a great feel about it. the kids love it too. we are moving on monday so i imagine i will be without internet, other than my phone, for an unknown amount of time. . .  hoping to catch up with everyone as soon as i can.

giveaway over on christina's blog!

hello!
i've been wanting to do a giveaway for ages but have been so busy with treatment etc* that it's remained on my list of things to do when i get back in the swing. thanks to christina for stepping in with the offer of doing one on her blog, and her beautifully written description.

click on over to enter. good luck!!

* thankfully the chemo is finished! i'm still recovering energy~wise and attempting to get ready for the next steps . . . thanks for all the comments and emails along the way, they really help xx

new work!

:: grasses . acrylic on wood
:: hex garden . acrylic on wood
:: birds . acrylic on wood

1 recently finished painting and 2 new ones.

yesterday was the 4th out of 6 chemo treatments and for the last two i've been needing to wait an extra week for blood counts to come back to safe levels to go again ~ kind of frustrating and scary but it does give me a bit of good painting time. generally once the nausea part is over, the inspiration is still there. so baby steps!
these will be in the shop soon. i've also been slowly adding diy garland packs and garlands to the shop . . .

hope you are all doing ok and planning something fun for the weekend :)

jibby and juna earrings

have been meaning to show you these gorgeous earrings ~ a present from genevieve of jibby and juna! thanks so much genevieve xx

happy friday!

instagram

i jumped on with instagram! perfect for quickness and keeping up with the flow. thanks for the tip and as always , thanks for the comments and support :)

i had a weeks delay between treatments this round, waiting for blood levels to come up, and took the chace to start some painting. also bought this amazing silk/cashmere/merino lace yarn - it was fun even to make a ball from the skein - so bright and luminous. what to make!!

ps the photos are not showing up it seems and i will pop back when I figure out how to share the links! . . . . ok, got the pics here by downloading through facebook!! am sure there must be a more direct way?? my user name is gretchenmist or maybe belinda kemp ;)

hello! it has been a little while . . . . i thought i'd pop in and share some photos i took with my new iphone {yes, i've joined the 21c!! how good is it?!}

i'm in an ok place this week with the treatment. the first round was extreme: 2 good days then 9 days of hideous followed by 6 days in hospital. a couple of things have been adjusted and it seems {i hope} that it will be pretty rough in the first week then ok for the next 2 so long as i'm super careful to rest a lot and stay away from sick people {tricky with kids}. i'm really missing my work time, especially painting, but am busy making sketches and notes and taking photos for later.

hope you are having a fun week xx

spoonful magazine

my copy of spoonful magazine arrived a few days ago and i've been meaning to share some pics. i contributed the hummingbird drawing/painting on the right in the top image. so lovely to see it in print. it's a very sweet publication.
you can buy a copy here. the website is pretty too.
{thanks anthea}

*****

in other news . . . my first day of chemo starts tomorrow. i've been trying to catch up with friends and do fun things with the family in the lead up and in a way i'll be glad to get it going, even though i have no idea how sick it will make me. i'm planning to keep the shop open and keep in touch here when i can ~ i'm hoping this can be a 'normalising' thing for me to do!
catch you soon :)

creative courage e-course + interview

firstly, thank you all so much for the wonderful comments on my last post ~ it's such a boost to read all these and i'm sure i'll pop back and re-read :)

i thought i'd post a link here to stephanie levy's excellent e-course about opening up your creative confidence. i've done an interview for the course, which is exciting! so great {and flattering} to be involved. {thanks stephanie!}. there's an introduction to the women involved on stephanie's blog.

enjoy!

upside down

the last month or so has turned my world upside down ~ i found out i have breast cancer! i've had the lump removed and my lymph nodes checked and am so very thankful to have found out this week that my lymph gland is clear.

it has been a crazy stressful time. the hardest part has been waiting for a series of test results. and also telling people ~ that's been confronting! i've wondered about mentioning it here, and decided to go ahead {especially now that i have results and a treatment plan} as i feel a connection/friendship with so many readers and also i think it's one of those things that is life~changing and pointless to try and not mention.

another positive thing about talking about it here is that i can remind you all to get onto the monthly self breast examination!! this is what has been the key positive factor in my story ~ i was lucky because i found it before it spread to other parts. it's scary to think that if i had have left it for even a short time longer the outcome would have been so much more devastating. i had my annual mammogram in march and have had ultrasounds for other things {a cyst, a strange unrelated shape thing} in august which were all clear and just a few short months later i found a lump which felt small but was actually a couple of centimeters big. please, do your checks!

i lost my mother to breast cancer when she was 39 {i was 18} and this is what has made me vigilant but also what has made this time kind of tougher.

during the last month i've changed my outlook from complete shock/fear to one of positivity {mostly!!} as the treatments now are 1000 times more sophisticated than they were 20 years ago and there seems to be an effective drug for each trait they have discovered. i have 5 kinds of medical world treatments lined up which will start mid-january as well as homeopathy and yoga and of course the love and support of my family and friends. **

and i get to have a drug~free {apart from champagne + coffee} christmas and new years.

i know it sounds strange to add, but i hope you have a wonderful christmas/holiday/silly season xx

** the book i chose to take into hospital for the surgery was marieke hardy's 'you'll be sorry when i'm dead' ~ i hadn't read any reviews and thought that it would be a funny, kind of upbeat read. then i got to the story about her friend! weird how that happens! and i want to borrow her friend's idea of the t-shirt that reads: 'thank you' {for all the love and support from friends and family}!

a new cushion design

i took this brand new cushion cover design to craft hatch yesterday ~ i meant to show you earlier but ran out of time! it was lovely to meet some blog friends and to chat with my sister and penny from pocket carnival!

the new design is completely inspired by the making of the diy garland packs! i really loved the process of choosing the pieces for each pack. the collage is on the front and the last pic shows the options for the back of the cushions. there's a lovely darker version of the original soft aqua open flower design {2nd from the left}.

there's also a version with the 'music festival 3' print on one side and '7 tents' on the other.

the cushion covers are a collaborative project ~ digital printing and production is all local and by michelle at frankie + swiss {will share a link this week when the site launches ~ very exciting!}. i'm so happy with the way they turned out.

if you would like one between now and the end of next week {dec 16th} you can order by emailing me {gretchenmist @ gmail . com}. they are $65 including postage within australia {+$10 for international post}. they will be made and posted just before christmas!

will post a pic of the market next week too.

have a fun sunday!

our creative space

printing, cutting labels, framing . . . thinking about how the display will work . . .

happy creative space day :)

to see more spaces/play along click here.

black friday weekend print sale~ buy 1 get 1 free!

a quick post to let you know about my black friday ~ cyber monday weekend print sale in my etsy shop. if you buy one, you get one free {free print = same or less value}. choose your free one and mention in the note to seller at the checkout.
happy shopping weekend!

our creative space

production mode!

making lots of garlands which is kind of rythmic once i get going. guessing about numbers . . . do i make more or pack more as diy versions? i guess the time limit will answer that question!

also thinking about black friday tomorrow ~ hoping to get organised for a print sale! stay tuned.

happy creative space day!
to play along and see other spaces, click here.