Well, ‘Bits and pieces’ is the perfect way to describe the last few weeks. I seem to have had lots of little jobs to catch up on. You know the feeling when someone asks, ‘What have you been up to?’, and you say ‘I’ve been really busy’ but you can’t actually remember just what doing.

I haven’t been posting much on social media or writing this very blog for weeks because….well…I’m busy.

On what exactly…. Well, I decided to give my website a tidy up and something I had been wanting to do for a while was to get photos on my home page that link directly to the shop pages. Working on the website is not my favorite thing, the tutorials are great, but I do have to watch them about a million times to understand.

Figuring out how to do that took a couple of days, and several false starts and I’m pretty sure I have already forgotten how I did it.

I did discover (bit late to the party) the wonders of ChatGPT, I was like having a tutor sitting right beside me! One that didn’t roll its eyes when I asked really basic questions.

Working on the website - not my favorite thing!

The art room needed a tidy as I’d been just dumping stuff in there again and while I was at it, I also sorted through my works in pencil.

I thought it was time I put some of them up on my website. I did originally have all my work up on my website, but it all looked a bit chaotic and like it came from several different artists. At the time I was working with bright bold colors in painting, papier mache monsters and the drawings, all in quite different styles.

The sculptures I am doing now seem to be a closer fit to my drawing style, so I thought they fit ok now. Plus, I’m feeling the need to do a couple more of these large, detailed fantasy works again. These drawings are more of an ‘elaborate doodle’ really, I have a rough idea of where they are going but essentially start at the top of the paper and work my way down, making things up and working out composition as I go. I enjoy the challenge of making the parts work together, light, dark, scale, detail and areas of space. It’s like a little journey where I don’t know the destination.

I’ve been making some small dragons, a request for a special project got me going and I wanted to see how small I can make these things. So, as is normal for me, I needed to make lots to find out how small I can get with them. I must say, little dragons that fit in the palm of my hand are a bit cute!

Think I’ll work on some small flying ones too.

I am thinking of getting a few prints made and figured my photography skills weren’t up to it. I can take a pretty good photo for website and social media etc. but felt a bit out of my depth for one that I would want on a print, so I got the help of a very talented photographer who took some fantastic shots. I got the pics back and was absolutely stoked!

As well as the whole figurine photos she did some stunning close-ups.

I have a Featured Artist week coming up in the Otago Art Society gallery which should be great fun, I’m organizing a Christmas decoration-making day with grandkids, and really all the business of December. So, a few more ‘bits and pieces’ to come yet.

Bits and pieces

Floofs, Dragons and happenings