Dog Day Afternoon

I finished off one of the two dachshund pendants at art today and got the other basecoated. Would have had that finished as well if I hadn't chatted to Helen so much. She sees art in such unexpected places from a roll of kitchen towels reflected in a mirror to an untidy line of chairs along a wall. Made me think differently about still life- it's not all bowls of fruit and vases of roses.

After lunch the lady from Workforce Development who is working with Creative Hawkes Bay to run the Professional Development Workshops came to interview Martina, Gine and myself. When it came to my turn she explained that successful working artists usually have a bread and butter line which keeps a steady income coming in as well as a more upmarket range of work such as larger gallery pieces. In my case my bread and butter are my cards and jewellery and I must look on my paintings as the higher priced items. This caused me a bit of an epiphany. It is actually preferable to diversify with creative projects rather than just stick to one medium or type of art.

On the way home Gaye, Gine and I dropped in at Esther's place for a cuppa. She brought out the most stunning alpaca scarves she has been working on with accompanying beaded clasps. It's always great fun when Esther brings out her treasure chest of beads. Gine had with her a lovely small painting of a mauve waterlily she was working on as a present and she tried placing beads on the stamens and it really made the picture pop. Then we sat brainstorming over how else you could incorporate beads into our work. I came away all inspired but of course I don't have the time to do any of these new projects at the moment due to my unsettled home situation.

I stopped in at Gaye's place and she showed me an old wooden sofa and armchair which she said I could have since I don't have a lounge suite of my own, only my present landlady's set which she left here. The sofa just needs a sheet laying over it and it'll be fine. So kind of her to think of me, especially as I've only known her a few months. But then she is a kindred spirit as Anne of Green Gables would say.