Monday, April 22, 2013

Surprises In April ....





 
April 22, 2013 ~Weather wasn't so sunny during the month of April here in Perth this year. Partly cloudy with some drizzles and  cold wind. Kids are starting to complain that it's too cold and they miss the sunny hot days. Oh well... winter is coming soon so what to expect ? Lucky we are not that near the beach anymore or else .. it would be much colder and windy!

Anyways, I'm not so bothered of the weather outside our home coz I tend to be pretty busy myself with a new found activity that's keeping me much more pre occuppied than beading. Yep ... you heard me right. Someting had beaten my beading passion these days. You know what it is ?

It's my Acrylic painting activity morphing into some kind of addiction! Once I had started putting something on a stretched canvas , I just couldn't leave the canvas unless the image is finished !
 OMG!


My very 1st big canvas acrylic painting. It was my 1st commissioned painting as well of a farm Shed in Tasmania.
Painted on a 24 x 30" stretched canvas.



 
 My very 1st water reflection challenge in acrylic painting. Mind you, I'm just starting to paint and this is my 2nd biggest canvas measuring 24 x 30 " and thi is already my 2nd commission as well.
 
 
 
 
I had spent several sleepless nights trying to get the best matching colors as shown in the picture provided for me to copy on a canvas. Not only the colors but the image as well is a big challenge to paint due to the straight lines and the texture of the dead tree which was done with moulding paste.
 
 
   
 
 
I'm happy with the outcome that i even wondered myself how I did it.
Did I really do that ?
 
 
Now I have to make a pic with my work beside me before I give it to my buyer. Not easy to part with what i had created but I know the next owner would be more than happy with it.
 
My commissioned paintings had earned me more Jo Sonja's acrylic paints, more brushes, varnishes and even a brand new Mont Marte Easel ! Geeezzz I'm so happy and thankful !
 
 
 
 
 
I had finished my 8 sessions of Acrylic painting at Claremont School Of Art here in Perth about 2 weeks ago and my Acrylic Folk art Painting of 5 sessions had also ended last Sunday. My mentors are great artists in their own field. Ms Peta Miller is a very good Contemporary / Abstract artist teaching at Claremont Shool Of Art.
 
 
 
 I took the 8 weeks course of " Create Exciting Semi- representational Contemporary Painting in Mixed Media & Acrylics " in her class and this is one of the mixed media paintings I had created during my sessions with her.
 
Mixed media acrylic painting titled " Bushfire" was created directly from the images in my mind.
It was my very 1st venture with mixed media and my 1st painting that got sold.
 
 
 
 Peta Miller is Teaching :
- Term 1 Claremont School of Art 8 weeks
- Contemporary Realism Thursdays 9.30am-12.30pm
- Beginners Acrylic Thursdays 1.00pm to 4.00pm
 
Thanks a lot to Peta Miller for her time and efforts teaching me how to paint for the 1st time.
 
 while on the oter hand, my other mentor is Ms. Orna Shachar who's a Western Australian folk artist with 19 yrs experience in folk art and decorative painting.  She's  the sole leading artist of the famous Country At Best where I had ordered a painted door sign for my Beadroom as shown below.
 
 
 
 
It's just by pure luck I discovered her thru her husband . Her husband informed me that she is conducting painting lessonsin her workshop  when I happened to pick up my door sign from their shop in Coventry Square in Morley . During that day I was in their awesome shop, I was also looking for acrylic paints and brushes  for my upcoming 1st painting lessons with Peta Miller of  Claremont School Of Art  that time And I randomly asked her husband managing the shop if he knows a good place to buy acrylic paints since their products for sale uses acrylic paints. He immeddiately directed me to Orna in her workshop to get the paints for a better price and I was able to inquire about Orna's painting sessions. Immediately i signed in for her class. They're such a wonderful helpful couple and I'm happy to have found them. I had finished painting a metal teapot at Orna's class last Sunday and I was so proud of it.
 
 
 

 

Orna during the workshop as she demonstrates the varnish application on our finished painted teapots. My 5 painting sessions with her had been great and fun together with all the other ladies learning folk art painting with me. How I love the strawberries designed on the teapots !

Thanks to the guidance of Orna. She had shown me so many different hints / techniques regarding painting and the use of brushes as well as the mixing of colors. She's absolutely a great teacher !

By the way, Orna teaches only on every 2nd Sunday ( 2 Sundays in a month ) between 2pm to 4:30pm. So be fast to grab a seat in her class coz it would get filled fast !
 
 
 
 This is my unfinished painting that I would have to do these coming days. It wasn't even finished yet but it was already sold to an Australian couple living in Mundaring, WA. Now, that gave a smile on my face knowing it's already expecting a new home that fast. Geeezzzzzzzz
 


 
 
 
Now that I got more paints, more tools and more ideas ... next step is to paint , paint ... paint !!!! So expect that more painting surprises would gonna come out soon ....
 
 
Thanks For Reading This Blog !
 
 

 
 

Wednesday, March 27, 2013




Just past midnight here and I'm cozily laying down on my bed remembering what had just happened a few hours back. Earlier tonight I was at the Perth Radiological Clinic for an MRI of my Neck / Cervical Spine. It's been urgently requested by my attending GP Dr Gina Messiha upon learning that I had been experiencing numbness on my fingers /hand / arm over the last 2 weeks or so. She just told me on my last visit in her clinic last week that it was not a good sign for someone like me who had been in pain for quite a long time. She suspected I have a nerve problem in my neck and needs to see a neurosurgeon. OMG!
 
As far as I can remember, I had been in pain... suffering from a continous upper back pain since 2011. Such recurring pain even landed me in the hospital last Dec. 2012 for having allergic reaction to Mobic ( painkiller ) that I took to combat the chronic pain I had on my back. I also even had a CT Scan to identify the real cause of my back pain leading to the discovery of a bulging disc and a cyst in my right neck due to thyroid problem. As you can see ... these problems had me going in and out of clinics and hospitals over the last 12 months. Due to my back pain I had already been to 3 different physiotherapists here in Perth and none of them was able to get rid of the chronic pain at all. the second one even made my condition worst and the 3rd one had even tried acupuncture on my poor upper back but the pain had never ceased. Each and everyday i had to bear the troublesome pain hindering the works that I do with my dominant hand. My right hand is starting to drop things and loosing control from time to time. When my back hurts.. my arm's numbness all the way down to my 3 middle fingers automatically follows up.My last physiotherapist even told me that I might be suffering from Carpal Tunnel Syndrome due to my on going symptoms.  I felt so helpless sometimes especially when i wanna do houseworks or do some of my favorite things like beading and painting.
 
 
 


 
 I had temporarily stopped my beading for quite a while making me sad big time coz You all know how I love beading. It's been my passion eversince. But,  I had jumped into painting about a month ago to try something new too.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
I had been doing well with my new painting hobby not until my arm gets numb and my paint brush falls down to the floor from time to time caused by lost of control in my dominant arm.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 I get frustrated in some ways when the numbing of my fingers and arm come and my upper back  starts to feel the stabbing pain over and over again... sighhhhhhhhhh ! I just can't do much when pain is there.
 
Anyways, result of my MRI will be ready for pick up by Thurs and I will be seeing my GP afterwards to discuss the findings. Fingers crossed that my back pain shall soon be resolved ... finally.
 
Wish me luck !
 
 


Wednesday, February 13, 2013



 
 

~ HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY ~



 
 

Valentine's Day
 
 
Saint Valentine's Day, commonly known as Valentine's Day, or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is observed on February 14 each year. It is celebrated in many countries around the world, although it remains a working day in most of them. Wikipedia
 
 The origins of Valentine's Day are not clear but many sources believe that it stems from the story of St Valentine, a Roman priest who was martyred on or around February 14 in the year 270 CE. Valentine’s Day has become increasingly popular in Australia over the years, particularly during the late 20th century, and it continues to be observed among many Australians today.
 
Many people in countries such as Australia celebrate Valentine’s Day by giving flowers, chocolates, jewelry or other presents of all shapes and sizes to their loved ones or those they admire.


 
 
 
 

Monday, February 11, 2013

Year Of The Snake...


 
The 2013 Year of Snake
 
 
 The 2013 Year of Snake
 
 
 
 The Introduction of 2013 Year of Snake

2013 is the year of the black Snake begins on February 10th shortly after the New moon in Aquarius, the humanitarian of the zodiac. This 2013 year of Snake is meant for steady progress and attention to detail. Focus and discipline will be necessary for you to achieve what you set out to create. The Snake is the sixth sign of the Chinese Zodiac, which consists of 12 Animal Signs. It is the enigmatic, intuitive, introspective, refined and collected of the Animals Signs..
 
 
 
 
 Ancient Chinese wisdom says a Snake in the house is a good omen because it means your family will not starve. This could be taken metaphorically to mean that a Snake could never have a problem with his family starving because he is such a great mediator, making him good at business. Or it could mean that a Snake would be willing to sacrifice his possessions, something the Snake has a lot of, in order to pay for his family’s food. Any way it is interpreted is representative of the Snake’s character and is a measure of the value he puts on his material wealth. The Snake is keen and cunning, quite intelligent and wise.
 
 
 
~ Beaded Snake Lariat ~
 
 

Sunday, December 30, 2012

Better Late .. Than Never !



 
 
December 2012 ~ Dec. holiday travels, before and after Christmas events , up- coming New Year's celebrations ... busy, busy, busy....OMG ! So many events had passed and I was never able to write anything about any of them... awwwww. I was even supposed to write a blog about the outcome of the X-mas tree my daughter and I had set up for the 1st time here in Perth. We had been living here since Aug . 2010 and never did I ever put any Christmas tree  or trimmings anywhere in the house for Christmas. So Dec. 2012 was somehow a bit different than the previous years.

It's because of the existence of a Christmas Tree ! Wow ...

 A promise is a promise ...as a continuation of my previous blog,  here are some pics of the Christmas decors and the Christmas Tree itself :



Color theme was Red & Gold
 
 
 
 
Brand New X-mas Tree was out of the box for assembly ... Tacha was excited to help me set it up .



 

Almost there ... good job Tacha !

The tree in its spot ...

with a bit of trimmings ..
hmmmm this tree needs more decor in it ...doesn't it ?

Now it's looking much much better !

Looking much much better after all the nice things hanging in it ...

but still, this tree is missing on something ... can u guess what ?
Of course, how can we miss the life of it ... the lights what else ?






Yeheeeyyyy... now the Christmas Tree is finally complete.


 
Kids & I were happy to see it well lighted especially at night. It actually gave more life in our boring looking dining room.
 
But I was not able to maximise the aura of it coz I left for Philippines on 22nd Dec. Few ays before Christmas. But anyways, kids and hubby were home to keep the Christmas tree some noisy company ...
 
I'm sure they enjoyed Christmas with a Christmas tree lighted up in a spot that used to be a dimly lit bare corner.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas with their families & friends . I had .... and I even got 2 lovely gifts from my cute 2 year old grandson and a nice Diary from my daughter Tacha. Ohhhh.. my son Tristan got me a nice bag for Christmas gift too.

 Thank You !





 

Friday, November 30, 2012

Somewhere Along The Way ....




Nov. 30, 2012 ~ I'd been missing seeing new places. Been a while since I'd been on a holiday.

 
 Last trip I had was out of Perth to Philippines, to my hometown last July 2012. About almost 6 months ago. I had fun and was very busy keeping my cute 2 yr old grandson some much needed company during my stay there.



 I miss the little guy and I know that he's missing me too. Siggghhhhhh ....

Anyways, I am now again gearin up for the next upcoming holidays . Few weeks from now is Christmas and here in Perth, I can see the festive season approaching real fast. Malls and shops are now filled with glittering x-mas decors , well packaged x-mas goodies , giftwrapped chocolates and other delightful gift items ranging from perfumes, bath items , candles, etc. Oh how i wish i could get some .... it would be nice for sure !

What kept me busy wandering around over Perth over the last 3 weeks is my mission of  scouting for & collecting some decors & x-mas tree items to put in the house. Funny part is, most of the things i had checked in shops are either made in China and guess what ... Philippines ! Well,, I'm proud of my country being able to compete in the international market. Good job fellow filipinos ...



 I never decorated the house for christmas since I arrived here in Perth last Aug 2010. We never had a x-mas tree here in Australia .But , for this year, I'm gonna put up one x-mas tree i had bought in BigW shopping center. Just a cheap plastic tree but hey... it makes a lot of difference once all the trimmings and lights are there. You will see once we had set it up ... I'll show you the outcome  in my next blog comin in the next few days.


183cm Albany Pine Tree (Tree No. 3)
183cm Albany Pine Tree (Tree No. 3)

Just a simple x-mas tree that is a bit taller than me LOL.  It will be filled with red and gold trimmings / ornaments. Some of them I had made myself out of plaster of paris painted with gold  acrylic paints and wirewrapped beaded items like wreaths I accented with ribbons and gold strings.


 
 

 I'm sure my kids would be very excited to hang the trimmings and decorate the tree themselves for the very 1st time here in Perth..

My beading had come to a slow pace this time of the year due to my back ache which is until now not being healed by my physiotherapist. So I was not able to make any Christmas themed jewelries much due to my back pain . Nevertheless,  I made sure I had made a few pieces for this year 2012.

 Nothing can just stop me from doing my passion... ... so with or without pain, somewhere along the way I would  still be here with my beads & crafts to cheer you up ...

 
 
 

 
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