Picasso is in Town

Roses are Blue

I'm not sure if it's because it's so close to Valentine's Day or the unusual colour, but these pretty blue roses caught my eye when walking past a shop window today. Since I had never seen blue roses before I was wondering if they represented anything so I looked it up and interestingly, in literature and art a blue rose is a symbol of love and prosperity... for those who seek it. Unlike red roses, they don't exist naturally and have to be especially created, which got me thinking about creating our own love and prosperity in life versus waiting for it to come to us... hmm, it's no wonder the blue rose is so rare.

Paint with a Basketball?!

A Malaysian friend sent me this You Tube link today of his fellow-countrywoman, artist Red Hong, painting a portrait of Yao Ming with only a basketball and red paint...quite impressive! Loving street art these days..

Online Art Project 1 (January): 3 colours

I have found that one of the best ways for me to keep motivated is to have a set goal or deadline. This ‘forces me to do it’ as such and since I have not been painting nearly as much as I'd like to, I have decided to commit to completing a painting a month for the next 6 months as part of about.com’s monthly painting projects.

For January the task was to create a painting, in any style, using a limited palette of 3 colours  being a blue, a red and an earth brown (and white). I chose to work with cadmium red, raw sienna and ultramarine blue and decided to keep the subject matter simple and paint a couch and vase in my room (as I only set myself an afternoon to complete the task). 

I have been looking at a lot of cubism inspired art of late and so decided to add some of these elements in my painting by ‘squaring off’ the vase, flowers and couch. See photo below as an example of the actual vase vs inspiration I found in another painting.

real life setting vs style influence

 Final Submission

These elements turned out to be more subtle than originally intended but I don't mind the final outcome and like the feedback I got in that this "gives an edginess to a serene domestic scene".

Couch in My Room|Oil on Paper|(c) 2012

 

I was pretty excited to get some feedback on my work and the submission was a great way for me to step back and critique the final outcome. Click here to view complete submission featured on the about.com website

 

'drive through' art

I always notice this giant print driving to and from work. At first I didn’t make much of it, but it really grew on me the more I looked at it when stuck in traffic along Sydney’s Parramatta Road. Ever since I googled the artist, Anthony Lister, I began to notice more of his work around Sydney both in galleries and in public streets & places.  His work is amazing...it didn’t take me long to become a fan.

Anthony Lister billboard, Parramatta Road

A New Toy: Canon Powershot G12

I hate to say it but the consumer in me wanted a new camera to go with my new blog (plus, I haven't had a 'proper' camera for a long time as I'd learnt to rely on my iphone so thought it's about time). As soon as I started asking around, a friend of mine recommended the Canon Powershot G12. After satisfying myself with the online reviews I decided to buy one off e-bay as I thought it was good value, good size, and not too over the top with functionality. After playing around with it a little I decided that I was quite impressed! I like the manual features and the various ‘scene selections' on offer...here are some shots I took as soon as the package arrived to my office (I contemplated reading the manual first but decided against it. I couldn't wait to go out and play!)

Street in Darlinghurst (using 'vivid colour' setting)

..same Street, different camera setting

I don't normally like foliage photos (find them very boring!) but now that I am taking them myself it's another story. I had so much fun with this, and the quality of the pics was great that I ended up taking almost 20 shots of the same flower bed.

Flowers in the Domain (using 'foliage' setting)

A view of the CBD and the lovely St Mary’s Cathedral from the park. 

(I think the setting for this one was 'nostalgia')

There are so many options and functions and I ended up taking lots & lot of shots that day...So in summary, a new camera and a great town makes for a great 'lunch break'!

Accidental Snap

 I was testing out my new camera this morning and accidentally took this snap while stopped on a set of lights on Oxford Street. 

How cool is this guy's expression...

...worthy of a stroll across Abbey Road ;)