Who's been eating the snowpeas?!!!!!

I was just sitting having my breakfast when I saw movement outside in the vegetable garden. I flash of bright colour. Double take. There he was. The villain who's been munching his way through the snowpea part of the vege garden. I didn't want to disturb him while I took this shot. It's a little blurry but I think it captures him. He was still. I tried to be, too. He did all sorts of acrobatics to secure his feed. Munch. Munch. And then he flew off.

Couches and other boring objects

I challenge myself to sketch things that otherwise you would overlook OR things that are clearly hard to draw, so very much a challenge. I do this so that I don't fall in a rut of always drawing portraits of pretty girls. I actually like the challenge. I love to be challenged which is why I generally say "yes" when asked to do something different. I'm not shying away from things or finding excuses to be somewhere else. With this courage comes a newfound assertiveness (just quietly creeping in..). So that's why I drew a couch. It's very comfy!

Saturday in Windsor

Today, Saturday, we headed off to Windsor. I wanted to show Bryce the Hospital where I am conducting the antenatal classes... and from here, have our mandatory Saturday tete-a- tete. It was an absolutely gorgeous spring day. Not a breath of wind. Just warm sunshine. (I was supposed to be attending The Big Draw Australia at the National Art School in Darlinghurst... but after a long hard working week, I knew more than anything else that I needed to take it easy... no added stress. So I sent my apologies). Here we are at The Vault. This is in Windsor. It was once a Bank. This courtyard is rather pleasant. I had Green Tea, and Bryce a Long Black. Then more wandering through the shops in the Windsor mall. Looking at all the old architecture around this town, I make a mental note to come back for a day of sketching in Windsor. Then we wander past a cute cafe called Short Order Long Black. We decide to "Seize the Day" and wander in for lunch. We have a vegetarian wrap (half each) and a Long Black each. Ahhh! This is the life. But it is the last Saturday in September, and you know what that means. Grand Final Day. Magpies versus Saints. Go Saints! Home we head. Bryce and Grace are all prepared for a day in front of the TV, and I think my pens and pencils will call me.....
(See also 365 Blog)

antenatal class night #1

I think it all went well. About 11 couples present. We chatted about a variety of topics, including finding out you are expectant parents, initial feelings, health so far, plans for feeding the baby, and finally labour. A lot to cram into 2 hours. The drive to the hospital and again, from the hospital was very relaxing. The set up and pack up took about 70 minutes on top of the class. So a long night. I think it was creative. And I felt quite passionate at times about my subject matter. I tried to be creative. And I think I was :)

Creativity in antenatal education

I have been to the hospital to meet the nursing unit manager and to look over the antenatal class venue, check out DVDs and Videos, look at the material they possess and generally get things organised for tomorrow night(Week 1 of 6). There are apparently 14 couples on the list of enrolled attendees... I hope they'll go easy on me. It's one thing to teach, and entirely another to abide by hospital protocol of what actually goes on at this establishment. I got my whiteboard covered with what I want to talk about (2 hours!!!!). I have lots of text books to read. I guess it will be a week by week thing. I know if I were a participant, I'd want my speaker to be "PASSIONATE" and "ENGAGING". I hope I can be that. Rachel (the CNC) is going to come tomorrow night just to help me settle in. Well, Good luck to me, then.

brasserie bread 19/9/10

Today Bryce, Gemma and I went to Botany to a newly discovered (by us) bakery cafe called brasserie bread. It was a gorgeous day... just like yesterday was. This cafe/bakery has been much publicised on Masterchef and consequently there were no available seats when we got there. But a quick turnover of clients meant we didn't have to wait too long for a table. While waiting for a seat, Gem and I tasted the samples of bread and jam (Mmmmm... peach and passionfruit) only to be interrupted with the too quick locating of a table for us. We ordered brunch and drinks. B and G chatted whilst I took the opportunity to sketch a few patrons. Food took ages to arrive. B investigated. Yes our order had gone to another table by mistake. But a new order was placed. Drinks arrived. Then food. Then a bonus croissant. They were nice and so apologetic about it. We bought from the bakery before we left. Yuuummm!!! Then headed home via the streets of La Perouse and Maroubra (places I never get to). They looked so enticing, I will be back. Sydney's a big place.

ANTENATAL CLASSES....

(photo of clucky hens)...
I was asked if I'd like to teach antenatal classes at Hawkesbury Hospital, starting this Tuesday coming and going for 2 hours a night over 6 weeks. Well, yes, I thought. I'd like to do this very much. I did AQUA NATAL CLASSES in '08 - '09 and loved it (bit challenging, of course) but I stopped teaching them because Sydney West would not pay overtime anymore. Then, they stopped the classes altogether. So this new opportunity has got me thinking HOW CAN I DO THIS CREATIVELY? above photo of "the long road ahead"

I've had a look through the program. It's all about the lead up to labour and nothing beyond labour. It's great to see the finish line when you're on a journey, but is labour and birth the finish line? I would have thought it the beginning. People will be all fixated on labour, pain relief, and recovery. I want to talk about labour, sure, but also what happens after that. I'd like to make a folder for each of the parents to fill and take home with them. Decorated ofcourse. And I'd like to do creative handouts for the parents each week. 6 weeks. The nerves haven't started yet. Guess I've still got 2 days to get prepared.

My new habits

Bryce bought me my 365 book which will take a year to fill with sketches. He also bought me a 21 days to forge a new habit... a little checklist for the new goals you want to achieve. This is kind of like New Year, only better... because Christmas is still to come! Creativity has to be accompanied by supportive habits. All positive ones. Like being healthy enough to be able to draw in my book every day (1. Go to the gym 5 weekdays), (2. Foster the water habit), (3. Drink green tea). I'm going to try to keep off caffeine. I don't think it has ever enhanced my creativity... probably it provided a venue to sketch, but with my heart rate increased because of the caffeine, it probably made me anxious about my art. Some other new habits are forging the "take time out for yourself" principle - (4. Half an hour of sun/day) and (5. Time out for morning and afternoon tea). And then a few good old health habits including (6. Go to bed by 9.30pm). Gemma was an inspiration because she goes to gym everymorning before she goes to work - she never misses. See if I can be as disciplined. And then a few art disciplines... (7. Do a drawing a day) and (8. Two hours of art on Sat and Sun) and finally (9. Read for an hour a day).

Springtime @ Geranium Cottage

One of the treats of living in the Hills district is the wonderful array of garden cafes that have sprung up over the years. One of our favourites is Geranium Cottage in Glenorie, and today was a perfect spring day to soak up the sun at this pretty spot. Bryce and I love our tete a tetes. It's that special time to "just be" together. The geraniums here are ofcourse of the vibrant and colourful type, but as well, there are a few lesser known varieties. The coffee was to B's liking and the green tea was refreshing. I took a moment to sketch a young couple who were enjoying their sojourn in the sun. Bryce captured a few flowers and so did I. Such a beautiful day. A real treat. Then I came home a sketched our lavender and our driveway. Then water colours were lightly applied for more depth. I started a book Bryce bought me from KIKKI K called 365. I plan to fill it with sketches... one day at a time. Hopefully I'll see some artistic growth as the year evolves.

Look at all the talent around me...

I am so impressed by the artistic work of all the people in the art groups I now belong to and it is such a treat to look at the websites of SYDNEY SKETCH CLUB and EN PLEIN AIR sketch club. They are each producing some very inspirational works. Then I look at the photos uploaded on flickr and the art works in some of the blogs I am following. I am a proud member of a few online groups now. Being a member gives you a sense of the group thing, and inspires you to play your part by contributing. I uploaded my first photo onto the cloud appreciation group's flickr site. yesterday/ 24 hours later there are another 3 pages of worldwide photos added to the site... some amazing cloud photography. I went to a movie tonight. It was a New Zealand movie which won acclaim at the Sydney Film Festival, winning the audience award. The graphic design within the movie was refreshingly different. Art plays such a part in movies these days. We saw an Australian movie called "look both ways" many years ago. It seemed to set a new standard of art infused movie making, and many later movies imitated this or were inspired by the style. One that particularly stands out was "Juno". Anyway, this seems to be quite common these days, which must be great news for artists. Apart from lots of sketching/ painting, I would love to make the soundtrack for a movie. I just need a mentor, and a lot of luck, and perhaps a lot of $.

It's sad when you lose a post...

...but that's exactly what happened. I'd done my very "creative post" and then everything crashed and i lost it. The jist of it was that this weekend was spent i/ taking Laura to the airport early so she could go to Japan, and 11/ visiting Gemma in Orange. So there were a lot of gorgeous opportunities for photo taking, but not drawing. Sketching takes time and when you're with others who are not doing the same thing, then it's a bit antisocial. So no art this weekend, but the subject matter of the photographs is definitely enticing to sketch from later on:)

What's in store creatively?

After we take Laura to the airport tomorrow morning (have to leave home at 4 am), Laura will board a domestic flight to GoldCoast and a connecting international flight to Osaka. I decided I needed to take today off from work. I needed to support both Laura (with her last minute preparations) and Bryce (support is always there). I felt bad taking a day off from work, but there is no urgency with work. What doesn't get done today gets done next Monday. Work can wait. On the weekend, we are going to Orange to catch up with Gem. Looking forward to warmer days. Is that possible? So some creativity ahead. Sydney Sketch Club has a busy agenda. Most weekends are taken up with 1 or 2 days. The other En Plein air sketch group meets monthly. And there's always my own creative adgenda. As I sat in the hair dresser's chair last night (she was creative), I looked at an INSIDE OUT mag and was inspired by some designs I saw there. So fortunately, I had my sketch pad in my bag and was able to copy down a few designs. I had bought 3 Japanese design books when in Kyoto, and have hardly used them. I shall get them out and be inspired... today. When Laura and I were in Kinokuniya yesterday, I saw some other really lovely little design books. But you can clutter your life up with too many things. So I won't get those til I have made good use of the books I have. I also bought some 0.28 pen refills yesterday. They draw really beautifully. Bryce is feeling wistful about Laura's departure. He will love their reunion in April next year (Cherry Blossom Time). I will get organised for that.

THE BREAST FEEDING WEEK POSTER COMPETITION

About a month ago, I entered a competition for "promoting breastfeeding in the Community Setting" and sat down for a day creating a poster. I had my brief. I had to include the WHO points for breastfeeding inclusive community settings. So I created my work of art. I was actually really delighted with the outcome. It was just how I wanted it to be. I didn't win the competition. They gave me "Highly Commended". Another nurse did a photo of a mum and baby and superimposed a template of a jigsaw. Her thing was " there are so many pieces to the breastfeeding jigsaw". I guess it was a pretty clever concept. She won. But I must say, I'm getting so sick of seeing pictures of babies sucking on breasts. They are becoming so generic as a health promotion / advertising idea. There are so many more insightful ideas. Advertising that sticks in your mind is never boring or expected. The president of the Australian BreastFeeding Branch in Sydney brought along some great photgraphs with poignant satements. I picked one to bring back to the HCHC with a picture of a chubby baby's foot as the feature. "Breast feeding. It leaves no footprint". It was simple. It was gorgeous. The pale white foot on the verdant green grass. Beautiful. Let's see no more breastfeeding posters with breasts and babies. So Passe! You can see the baby jigsaw one in the background. If you look closely, you can see that the baby is not properly positioned on the breast. That mum's going to have sore nipples!

My last "real" day with LAURA

..... So it will be a lovely creative day I plan for her. I think we might wind our way along the North Shore world today. We are meeting at the front door at 10 am. I think it should be a bit of tripping down memory lane, no stress, no rush. Morning tea at T2 in Hornsby. Then wander down to a few interesting shops. Some sushi for lunch. Some more wandering. Some chatter. And then home. I will get her a little something to keep. A rememberance of this day together. Laura has wonderful adventures to look forward to. Today is the first day of the rest of your life. We all know the saying. I even had a poster in my room when I was 18 or 19. I remember the words as a mantra for life. Bryce and I saw this French film last Saturday "the first day of the rest of your life". It still speaks little stories to me throughout this week. It says, no matter what has gone on in the past, take this day and savour it. As Eckhart Tolle would say ..." Live in the moment / Live in the now" and as all the counselling body would say... "live mindfully". Be present. Live in the moment. Don't dwell in the past. You have only got today. Yesterday is passed. Tomorrow never comes...

Creatively different

I guess creativity can come in a host of different ways. In my recent appraisal at work, ( one of those things that apparently are supposed to be done annually, though for me I haven't had one in 4 years), - I said that I wanted to use my creativity in my everyday work practice. I did an inservice on Paternal depression following the birth of a baby 2 days ago at work. It was a fascinating topic and I found a host of great articles. I read and read, and thought that I was coming a little closer to understanding how men tick. I found that one of the research papers was written by a local Dr from Blacktown hospital. So I emailed him and quickly got a response. I have continued to communicate with him on the topic and now he is interested in working with us on the subject. I have never sought to be a big wig in nursing but always believed that you could have an influence at a grass roots level. The inservice was well received by my tough audience (my peers) and it fascilitated lots of discussion, and an interest in taking this subject and incorporating it into our daily practice. I contacted Beyond Blue who said that they have just proiduced a book on paternal emotions called HEY DAD (probably an unfortunate name given the recent controversy over the male star of the TV show). It sounds really exciting to have found a fresh new topic that is also hot on the national adgenda. So, how was I creative? I made a front cover to my "pre-reading" which had loits of opportunity for colouring in, should my talk get boring to them. No one coloured in, so that was a win-win!

FLORAL ART

I have never been good at painting "real flowers". I've mainly concentrated on stylised flowers, as in folk art designs - or simple creations as in watercolour and ink. But I've never pushed myself to do more realistic flowers. Well, that might be my next challenge. Watch this space.

ITCHING TO DRAW...

Life has been a little hectic lately. There have been so many and so much things and stuff. But now that those boxes have been ticked... I can look for new subject matter to draw. The Sydney Sketch Club drew at the Chinese gardens at Darling Harbour last Sunday and the pics on the site look very impressive. Outdoors, gardens, little birds, wistful skies, breezes playing with leaves... fragments of architecture... a hint of a cornice, a fraction of a wrought iron gate. Hmmm... Ideas. There is a most beautiful photograph of a cerise magnolia on the site.

A DAY SPENT WITRH TECHNICAL DEVICES

Sometimes time goes so slowly and at other times like today it zooms by. I have been busy with setting up photo imports, flickr, yahoo sites, google sites, windows live.... yet I feel like I achieved very little in the day. However, I'm pleased to have had a few quiet hours to myself to try to be empowered to do this sort of thing myself. Whilst it's great to learn from others, you feel so good when you get it right yourself, even if it takes 10 times as long. Anyway, a little bit more to do today. Lawns, beds, dinner, tidy up, get ready for work tomorrow. I'll see if any of my techno genius worked. See flickr site www.flickr.com/photos/kathy023

NO ART TODAY but art inspired still

Just a quiet sort of Saturday in Sydney. No drawing plans. But the previous couple of weeks have been full of drawing and careful observation. If I'm not drawing, I'm observing life through the eyes of a potential sketch. I now look at cars like, yes, I can draw a car that looks like a car. My cars used to look like the cars you drew in year 1 or 2 at school, and I used to think - "oh I don't/can't draw cars. Now, because I have challenged myself to move outside of my comfort zone, I draw things that previously I would have shyed away from. Same as when playing the piano. I used to mainly play in the keys of C major or A minor because that was easy. Now I go to more uncomfortable keys... just to challenge myself. I volunteer for things, because it's too easy to to not volunteer. I almost unconsciously say, never say never. Give things a go. And so it goes with drawing. Portraits are my comfort zone. Portraits in profile used to be always with the nose facing the left. OK- so now reverse it. Get out of the rut. Yes, do draw hands. Do draw feet. Study knees. Know the body. I used to think I knew what the body looked like, and I can understand now why Leonardo da Vinci used to take home corpses to disect- just so he could understand fully the body. There is a drawing exhibit on at the art gallery (NSW) of French drawing coming soon. Looking forward to that. Tomorrow afternoon when Bryce, Laura, Gem and Grace go to watch the Swans beat Carlton, I will draw. Perhaps paint too. And be inspired by the art I see in the blogs of others.

Art in the workplace

Work can be boring and tedious unless it has a little bit of personality injected into it. A colourful sign, some pretty cards/postcards up on the wall, a "nice" tablecloth on the table in the tea room, a batch of cakes/cookies, a posy of flowers. These are all ways to brighten up a drab place. It can also lift someone else's spirits. Well, I see that as my job at work. It can be sad though. You might anonymously do something to brighten or cheer the place up - and someone is cynical or dismissive about the attempt. But on the other hand, if it brings someone joy, then it's just nice to see their spirits lifted. This is just a little blog. But I'll be back tomorrow.