I was hoping that by today I would be posting the finished painting but with drawing, erasing, re-drawing, making more changes, and things just generally taking longer than I thought, (I always underestimate how long it will take me to paint something!) this is what I got done today.
Cowboy boots crossed that next time I’m able to post the finished painting. Until then, take care, from pjpaintings
I’ve finished the easier part of the commissioned painting for the 60th anniversary of the Australian Square Dancing Convention to be held in Deloraine, Tasmania in 2019 …
and now, as I step out of my comfort zone, I need nerves of steel to tackle the background…
I’m trying to keep the background light. I can always darken things up if I need to. I hope I can maintain a light, festive mood.
Hopefully with my next blog post, I’ll be able to show the finished painting. It’ll be a relief to finish it.
Until then, take care.
Under blue skies, I drove into Salamanca Market, and where I initially parked my car, is where it stayed as the gear stick refused to go past Reverse. Several stallholders tried to get it going but with no success. At least it wasn’t blocking in any of the other stall holders. Once the market finished, RACT Roadside Assistance was able to come to my aid and with some very firm wriggling around, he got it working. What a relief! We were all too scared to use the same amount of force but I guess he’s seen this problem before.
Today, I debuted a new perspex stand to display my original paintings. The Hobart City Council offered free merchandising advice for six Salamanca market stallholders and I was one of the lucky six. I was advised to get a Perspex stand for my original paintings. I was somewhat skeptical that it would make much difference, but thankfully I was wrong! I sold seven originals from the stand.
One of the original-purchaser, who bought a platypus and turtle looking at each other, had attended a baby shower where the mother-to-be was given an original painting of a sleepy wombat in a hammock that I painted. She liked it so much she came to visit my stall. I’ll have to paint more wombats, sleepy and not sleepy ones!
A couple bought an original painting of a wombat and a koala to post to her sister, who is living in the UK, for her to give to her grandchildren to help nurture the Australian connection. Another original-purchaser was from Perth, Australia and she bought four originals. She liked my sense of humour, she said.
Another visitor from Perth, Australia, who is originally from Scotland but has been living in Australia for 36 years, bought 5” x 7” ‘Salamanca Saturdays’ and ‘Salamanca Fresh’ prints.
A family from Singapore bought an A-2 sized print of ‘Poppy Fields’ and a framed ‘White Faced Scops Owls’.
A couple from Cochrane, Alberta, a small town just outside of Calgary, are visiting their son who is working at Maydena Mountain Bike Park. They’ve been cycling around Tasmania. She said that one night, she was wearing every item of clothing she had to try to get warm in her sleeping bag. They will be spending Christmas at Maydena with their son. They bought some greeting cards, which are the easiest item to fit in when you’re travelling with a back pack.
A gentleman, who was born in Hong Kong, but is now living in Houston, USA, bought a small framed print of ‘Who, Who, Who are You? II’. Shortly after the Houston resident left the stall, a man from Texas, USA walked in. The two had almost crossed paths. He bought some greeting cards. Tomorrow, he was heading home and taking a direct flight from Melbourne to Texas, a 15.5 hour direct flight. Yikes! That’s an endurance test.
A former neighbour of mine stopped by. She’s now living in NSW and is back in the state for her mother’s 80th birthday. It was really nice to see the all-grown-up daughter too. The mother doesn’t know that they are in the state, so she’s going to be in for a big surprise.
The clearly most popular print this weekend is: Salamanca Saturdays
A thought to ponder: “The chief enemy of creativity is ‘good’ sense.” Pablo Picasso
Thanks for stopping by,
from the Pjpaintings stall #30 at Salamanca Market.
All prints displayed are available on www.pjpaintings.com
More progress is being made on my commissioned piece for the 60th anniversary of the National Square Dancing Convention that will be celebrated in Deloraine, Tasmania, 2019. The emus are the fun part. I’m a bit nervous about painting the barn. I will have to try really hard to not let the painting get dark when painting the interior of the barn.
Here’s couple one and three:
… and here’s couple two
One more couple to do and then I have to start painting the barn. Yikes!!
Thanks for visiting and I hope that everybody’s week is going well.
A couple bought a ‘Hayride’ print for their dad, who drives a blue and white tractor and tows the grandchildren behind, just like in the picture they said.
A family visiting from Hong Kong settled on buying a ‘Who, Who, Who are You? II’ print. It was a difficult decision for them deciding between ‘Hayride’ and ‘Who, Who, Who are You? II’.
A young Danish couple, about to take on the Overland Track, planning to take 6 days to do it, bought an ‘Under my Red Umbrella’ print. A young lady purchased a ‘The Three Amigos’ print for her friend in Chile.
A boy, who’s in year 8 and has just moved to Perth from Tasmania, bought a small ‘Suspended’ pouch. He’s finding the heat an adjustment and misses Tasmania and his friends.
There was a five way tie for the most popular print this weekend: Hayride, The Three Amigos, White Faced Scops Owls, Salamanca Saturdays and Rising Above It.
A thought to ponder: “I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it.” Vincent Van Gogh
Thanks for stopping by,
from the Pjpaintings stall #30 at Salamanca Market.
Over 500 heel-kicking and do-si-do-ing dancers will be descending upon Deloraine in April 2019 for the 60th Australian National Square Dance Convention. I’ve been asked by the Art as Mania Deloraine Gallery (a very supportive, large, community-spirited and awesome gallery) to paint some square dancing emus for the occasion.
Some commissions are harder than others. This one is challenging too but I’m having lots of fun. I’ve done some research and I get the impression that the costumes are an integral part of square dancing. I’ve decided that I’m going to make each couple in the square wear a different colour but the pattern will be the same across all four. I have literally spent all day painting the first couple.
I better ‘Allemande’ myself back to painting. Thanks for visiting. Have a great week. Cheers from pjpaintings
Under blue skies, with Ocean Monarch, a huge drill rig that was towed to Ralphs Bay in the Derwent River for maintenance and repairs, the Christmas Pageant, and a Falls Prevention in Aged Care Conference, Salamanca Market took place.
Participants of The Point to Pinnacle, a tough half marathon, from Wrest Point Casino to the top of Mt Wellington/kunyani, were checking out the market. The race is on tomorrow.
A couple from Carolina, USA, purchased a ‘Tassie Map’ tote bag, depicting emus’ varied Tasmanian adventures. A ‘Helping Hands’ print was purchased by a mother-to-be for the baby’s room. It’s their first baby.
A young man bought a ‘The Three Amigos’ print to take with him back to China. A young lady, who now lives in Townsville but used to live in Launceston, purchased ‘Afternoon Tea’ and ‘Off to the Races’. A lady bought six greeting cards and told me all of them are going to be sent to friends and family living in New Zealand. A lady, visiting from the UK, whose mother had sent her two of my dancing emu prints, bought a ‘Scarlet Robins’ print to add to her pjpaintings prints.
There wasn’t a most popular print this weekend. The most popular item this Saturday was pouches and tote bags. Here’s one little girl, who was pleased as punch with her new tote bag (her mother gave me permission to post her photo).
Duck Crossing tote bag
A thought to ponder: “The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance” Aristotle
Thanks for stopping by,
from the Pjpaintings stall #30 at Salamanca Market, http://www.pjpaintings.com
About half of my paintings are emu themed. I have the privilege of displaying them at Salamanca Market in Tasmania, which on average has 20,000 visitors on any given Saturday. As a consequence, I hear quite a few fascinating pet emu stories. For example, one that grew up with a herd of goats and acted like it was just one of the herd, another who thought it was a dog and would immediately drop onto its back for a belly scratch when it saw its owner and another who thought it was part of the human family. Emus seem to take on characteristics of those they grow up with, whether animal or human, and develop steadfast bonds. I have had several former pet-emu-owners shed tears when they told me their stories about their pet “Priscilla” or “Jasmine”.
Another case of unusual-emu-bonding was recently discovered in North Carolina. An animal shelter rescued some animals from a property whose owner suddenly disappeared. Among those rescued was a male donkey and female emu. The shelter tried to house them separately but the donkey started distress-braying and the emu became extremely anxious. They quickly ascertained that the donkey doesn’t like the company of other donkeys. The emu and donkey have an inseparable bond and they even cuddle and sleep together. Therefore, they have to be adopted together.
I’ve also recently discovered a special animal-emu bond.
Have you seen an unusual bond between animals?
Wishing you a great upcoming week.
Special thanks to McPhocus (Averil McPhedran Hall, photographer extraordinaire) for alerting me to the story.
Today the weather was a pleasant contrast to last week’s, thankfully! I couldn’t cope with too many Saturdays like last week. My nerves would be shot!
The morning started with somebody visiting the stall wearing the most gorgeous, blue felted-wool hat. It had two beautiful felted flowers attached to it. It looked stunning. I was tempted to ask her if I could buy it off her! She used to live in Townsville, Australia, and now lives in Phoenix, USA. She bought a tote bag and some pouches to take back with her.
There were quite a few students about. The university year is finished and people were off on well-deserved holidays. A young couple from Greece, bought “Spanish Eyes (Red)”, a Dutch couple, she is doing a PhD in Sydney, which is focusing on sleep with people with Celebral Palsy, they bought “Bonnie & Me!” and a student studying at the University of Tasmania (UTAS), from Maine, USA, studying seaweed (polyculture – seaweed, shellfish and fish, a proposed more environmentally friendly fish farming methodology) bought a couple of stickers. A young lady, from Indonesia, who has finished her Master’s degree, bought two tote bags for two of her friends, who also finished their Masters degrees. The three are going back to Indonesia.
A lady, visiting from San Francisco, USA, bought a “Two to Tango” and “Hoo, Hoo, Hoo Merry Christmas!” tote bag. She said that she does tango dancing and that outside of Argentina, San Francisco has the largest population of tango dancers. It is a very popular dance in San Francisco!
A couple, with his sister visiting from the UK, bought five different small dancing emu prints. They are going to hang in the billiard’s room. Then, a man from Borneo, purchased an A-3 size print of “Poppy Fields” and “Salamanca Saturdays”. He said that he is going to design his house-build around these prints! I don’t think there are too many Pj paintings’ prints in Borneo.
A packet of Christmas cards were bought to be posted to the UK. A framed “Salamanca Saturdays” print will be adorning a wall of Dunromin B&B in Mountain River, Tasmania. A “Salamanca Fresh” tote bag was purchased for a Secret Santa present. A “Salamanca Fresh” print is heading to Townsville, a “Salamanca Saturday” to Brisbane and Adelaide. I think a lot of people are taking advantage of the direct flights from Adelaide to Hobart. A young lady, from Brisbane, bought “Scarlet Robins” and “G-Day” and then returned with her friends, who also bought a “Scarlet Robins” print. A “Duck Crossing” pouch is going to Minnesota, USA.
It was a welcome relief to put my feet up at home and enjoy a cup of tea after a busy, but interesting and good day at Salamanca Market.
The most popular print this weekend was: The Three Amigos
A thought to ponder: “You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have”. ~ Maya Angelou
Thanks for stopping by,
from the Pjpaintings stall #30 at Salamanca Market (prints, tote bags and pouches are also available at http://www.pjpaintings.com)
