New Outlet

Martina was our model for portraiture yesterday. Other artists are wonderful to draw as they instinctively know how to pose. Martina in particular got into some challenging positions so in revenge I made her look distinctively grumpy in all my pictures. Actually I did that by accident- I seem to have some difficulty drawing people I know well.

Gay shouted Gine, Martina and I to lunch at McCauley's Cafe. This time it was much emptier than our first visit (which was on the occasion of its opening) so we were able to wander round and look closely at all the paintings and other items displayed. After fortifying myself with a cup of hot chocolate I asked to meet with the owner and showed her some of my work with a view to perhaps selling some of it. In the end she took my greeting cards and asked me to paint some small stones with an Art Deco figure on them to match the age of the building (1930). At least now I have another outlet and will be able to do some different work to what I usually do.


When we arrived back at the rooms at 1.30pm everyone had left except Marie so we sat and worked and chatted for 45 minutes. Working in the afternoon is really a peaceful experience and you get much more done. I began painting a "maybe" commission for someone on Trademe. I say maybe for although they asked if I could paint their dog on a pendant there was no firm agreement that they would want to buy it when it was done. Always a risk with doing commission work.

In the evening I rang my cousin who lives just north of Melbourne but fortunately she is not affected by the fires at the moment. It is hard to comprehend the scale of the devastation in Australia, all the deaths both human and animals, the loss of habitats and homes, or even why someone would want to deliberately light some of the fires. It makes you realise how insignificant your own problems are compared with what is happening in Australia.