Art & stuff of Amanda Hone: April 2007

Swirly things

Now this one I'm really pleased with. Another circular canvas and this one is swirly and bright... not for the faint hearted. I was sorely tempted to title it Walnut Whip in honour of one of my favourite and much missed childhood chocolate treats... whatever happened to them? Do they still exist? I certainly haven't seen one for years. In the end I decided on "Jacuzzi" which makes me really quite tempted to find one, fill it up with a load of different colour paint and turn it on... just to see what happens.

How to mow the lawn

It's not every day that you wake up to find a horse in the neighbour's garden! I guess it's one way to keep the grass short. She's a very pretty little thing... yes I do mean little. Barely bigger than Pickle. I'm quite tempted to entice her into my garden... it could do with a bit of a chew as I haven't bothered mowing it yet this year.

Computer problems are still abounding but I have managed to get some semblance of normality for the moment. It's amazing how unsettling it is to not have your computer doing all those little things you took for granted.. and worst of all I've lost my running total on Spider Solitaire!!!! Rats... I'll have to start again now.
Studio output continues to be high and I am more than a little encouraged by another sale at Big Rock. One of my circular pieces this time. It amazes me that someone can pop in there for a cup of coffee and come out having purchased a painting. Honestly Big Rock is doing better for me than any gallery... and they make the best coffee for miles and miles.
Latest painting is another triptych and is titled Custody Battle.

Friday 13th eeek!

Pure coincidence maybe? Or perhaps a virus slipped past my scanner and lurked in my drive just waiting for the dreaded day... In any event I switched my computer on, on Friday morning and whammm.... the hateful blue screen with messages of registry failure. It's taken me nearly two days to get some life back into my computer and that only because I have had to reinstall the OS into a new partition... just don't ask... I have no idea how I did that. I seem to have the knack of solving computer mishaps by sheer luck. Nevertheless, all is not well. I have managed to retrieve my files but all my programs have disappeared and I am reluctant to reinstall anything which requires rebooting the system. So... raiding my emergency piggy-bank, I have ordered a new computer. It's not going to be here until the 25th so until then, my computer stays powered up, just to be sure.
Fortunately I can still upload pictures.. just as well, given that my livlihood relys on it! And of course I am spending more time painting now that the computer is less fun to play with! Here is yesterday's output from the studio

Tailwind

Tick Tock

Clocks! That's what today is all about. I am creating clocks.
Well to be precise I have created one clock, but I am excited about it so I think I may have to create more. This first one is sort of rough and ready but it's given me enough of an idea to feel that the next one might be rather funky!

Meanwhile, the latest painting to emerge from the studio is a triptych on three 16" x 20" stretched canvases.

Fractured Loyalty

An arty day

Dutifully ignoring the housework and piles of stuff that needs doing, I decided to devote all my energies to art today. Seems like a long time since I last did that. I've been working on 7 different paintings so far and in between times I've made a few of my stitched collages in aceo size. Slightly tricky sewing in such a small space but they came out OK.

It's been the first day, this year, that I've been able to throw open all the windows and the door from my studio to the garden. All that gorgeous sunshine, it's really quite hot in there. Luverly. I adore this time of year. Too early for hoards of flies to come and stick themselves to my drying paintings and yet sufficiently summer-like to inspire the soul.