Elspeth & Selene 1st draft

Sometimes when the summer sun enticed her out to play, Elspeth liked to go swimming and pretend she was a mermaid with a lusciously long flippery tail. Selene did not like the water so much.

This is from my first draft of my children's picture book. Just recently I completed a short course in Adelaide with WEA called 'Illustrating Children's Picture Books' taught by the very talented Sally Heinrich. She's a published author and illustrator and just the right teacher for me at the right time. It has been a huge dream of mine to create a picture book but I didn't really know how to go about it. Sally has opened that door for me and now it's up to me to walk through. I've been madly writing (and getting ideas for several other books in the process which is exciting) and filling up sketchbooks creating my 2 characters - a girl named Elspeth and her cat, Selene. The above pictures are the first version of them in watercolour. I actually want to do all the images for the book in embroidery but it was helpful to start the playing around with colour and the way they look in watercolour. Wish me luck!

Yasmin detail

Hummingbird detail

Yasmin & the Hummingbird

This is the second hand embroidery I've just finished. It's inspired by the hummingbirds I watched while house-sitting in West Vancouver during the northern summer of 2007 not long before I left Canada. The house I was looking after had a gorgeous view out to the ocean, and on the deck the owners had hummingbird feeders. These tiny birds would come buzzing in, their wings whirring in the sunlight. They seemed quite magical to me.

Detail of 'Koala Dreams'

Koala Dreams

I have finally just finished this hand embroidery. I've been working on 2 hand embroideries as I've been moving but it's been slow going with all the distractions but here she is: a sleeping Koala Girl and baby koala.

Mt Barker

This is the view from the Mt Barker summit looking down on the township of Mt Barker. I've found it's a lovely walk to do with my dog - around the mountain; and a good thinking and inspiration spot.

New Horizons

Well here I am, finally making new posts on my blog, it is a relief. Over the last few months I have been moving from my family's sheep station to my new home in Mt Barker, South Australia which is about 25 minutes from Adelaide. The photo above is of a sunset over one of our sheds on the station on one of my last evenings before I moved. It was a huge, stressful move but I'm really happy in Mt Barker. I've been busy nesting, exploring, settling in my dog and cat, building Ikea furniture, and setting up my new studio which is in my house. I really love it, it's small but cosy and looks over a really sweet garden of roses, raised beds, a lawn and some fruit trees. It's been wonderful to be creating new art in my new studio in my new home.