Oh this?

Some days I am so overwhelmed by everything, or just so out of sorts that I feel like I am faking everything I do.

On those days I wonder if it is really obvious - just how much I don't know about what I'm doing.

Some days it probably is, but other days less so. 

In any case, it helps to remind myself that everyone has their own issues that they're carrying around. 

Maybe not as obvious an animal perched on my head... but still. 

I drew this a few years ago. My brother just let me borrow his computer monitor and so I have been able to get back into a whole lot of my art that has been locked away for months since my screen got wrecked.  

On Beauty (and death)

I drew this in 2007.
I posted it on deviantart and there it has lived for all the time from then to now.  I have typed the smaller text below so that you can read it. It makes the whole story more understandable.

This is a true story.
It happened long long time before I drew it.

BECAUSE DAWN IS VERY SAD...

HER DAUGHTER HADN'T COME BACK IN THE MORNING

IT WAS LIKE GROWN-UP COT DEATH

SHE WAS LOST

SHE DIDN'T KNOW THE WAY HOME

SHE WAS LOST

For a really long time she was my ideal for what beautiful was.
I would lay really still in my bed with my hands on my chest and hope that I looked as beautiful as she was.

wild horses

When Gabriel was born we would take him to visit Ky's parents and his dad would take Gabriel in his arms (sometimes immediately) and take him out to be sniffed by the horses.
I thought it was kind of cute, if not the spiritual experience he assured me it was.

The first animal Gabe could identify? "Horse"

He would even pick up sticks at the park and ride them around calling them 'horsie'.
So when we got the call that there was a rodeo, we got in the car and drove up to see more horses.

Gabe slept much of the way to the Valley waking up only for Maccas (typical) but as soon as we got to the house his eyes popped open and recognising where he was he demanded to see the horses.

These photos aren't from the rodeo, they're from April this year of Gabe and Flame, hanging out through the electric tape fence. Ky's dad just sent them through.

 

at least he knows now not to touch the tape... he learnt the hard way...

I painted this for Gabe a week or so ago. It wasn't finished when I took the photo, and still isn't. Gabe carries it around sometimes and manages to spill things on it nearly every time he touches it (the paint has run...and it looks very messed up) but at least he is deriving some kind of enjoyment from it.

Mixing things up

I really enjoy working with ink, and prints are even more fun to make now that I can use rubber blocks instead of lino.

But sometimes you just have to add things to them. So I cut the waves, boat, and general shapes of the animals and then coloured it all in with pencils and used ink to add faces and the moon. There are several more prints to come, and I like the idea that they are all pretty much the same, as prints are, but are still unique due to the colours and expressions I draw on them.

The Owl and the Pussycat - one of the most random couples to be found in children's rhyme.

This is the first one, so I have put it in a rather grand frame, but I like it. Cheesy gold frames are awesome.