Normally today I would be running my Pj Paintings stall at Salamanca Market but due to the Coronavirus Pandemic, like most of the world, it has closed down. The Hobart City Council launched a Salamanca Market online shop, attached to their website, to try to help stallholders with their income losses: https://salamancamarketstore.com.au/. It looks great! I have a few items on view in the new Salamanca Market Store and all my images at http://www.pjpaintings.com
Instead of my usual Saturday activity, I got my sketching stool out and plonked it down in the kitchen…
my urban sketching stool
…. and drew what was in front of me….
my view – the counter top was pretty much at my eye level and the rest I was looking up atI drew some rough lines with a light blue water colour pencil and then inked it up with an Artline penand then I added paint
I must admit that this day, unbeknownst to me, has passed me by my whole life but this year I know about it so I will endeavour to hug a gum tree and thank it for being what it is – wonderful.
National Eucalypt Day celebrates eucalypts and the important place that these unique trees hold in the hearts and lives of Australians annually on the 23rd of March.
I often paint eucalypts, and for some reason that I haven’t been able to figure out why yet, I feel very peaceful when painting their soft green leaves. I like painting the gumnuts too because with artistic licence you can add so many different colours into the mix, which makes it fun. The flowers are more tedious and not as much fun to paint but they are worth the effort because they are such an outstanding, colourful feature of the trees.
I have a collection of teas and teapots that sit on my counter. Today, I noticed how colourful the current collection looks, so I drew it up, straight in with ink, quickly and trying to not worry about accuracy, and then added paint.
No pencil, just bravely started drawing with inkA bit of fun after working all day
Thanks for stopping by and take care during this pandemic.
I had the car packed on Friday, ready to go for Saturday’s Salamanca Market, but at the 11th hour I decided not to go because of the Coronavirus. I imagine that it will be officially cancelled next week because Prime Minister Morrison of Australia announced that starting tomorrow, gatherings of over 500 are to be cancelled. I’m not sure, but that is my guess.
In the meantime, it gave me some time to paint and finish off some of the paintings that I have started.
I’ve started a “Down by the Seaside” series. I think I will name this one “Footsies”There’s a hole in my stocking, dear Liza, dear Liza!!…. and I’m trying to paint some baby wombats
It’s International Women’s Day and it is well worth celebrating women.
More women are moving into leadership and executive positions in traditionally male-dominated industries. For the past 30 years, women have earned more bachelor’s degrees than men and are also employed as long as males (McKinsey & Company 2018). Women make up 49 per cent of the global workforce, but only 10.9 per cent have senior executive positions among the world’s largest 500 companies.
Researchers still don’t know exactly why companies with women perform better but it is worth reflecting upon on International Women’s Day.
Stronger business and economic results
Studies support that recruiting women boosts companies’ bottom line. Research into Fortune 500 companies who had more women on their boards financially outperformed companies with less women.
More job satisfaction for all
Gender balance in the workplace is associated with positive organisational outcomes for all. A study by the Centre for Creative Leadership and Watermark found that more women in the workplace improves work satisfaction for both women and men.
Women make more supportive bosses
One study revealed that both sexes with female bosses said they felt their employer was more committed to their career development, compared to those having a male boss. A study by an American global analytics firm Gallup found those who work for female managers were more engaged in their workplace and suffered less burnout.
Increased employee retention
Studies have also revealed that organisations with more women also attract and retain more female employees.
Women aid creativity and improve a company’s status
Studies have also identified that companies with women in top management positions experience more ‘innovation intensity’ and produce 20 per cent more patents than teams with male leaders and are also associated with higher status. Fortune’s most respected companies have twice as many women in senior management than less reputable companies.
The radio station I listen to, Triple J, has been celebrating International Women’s Day all week. Their motto for the week is “Girls Up Front”. I love this saying and I often wonder what state the world would be in if ‘girls had been up front’ more for the past three centuries???
I set up the stall in semi-darkness this morning. On Thursday, when it was raining (the rain is very welcome) I was walking to work at about 6:45 a.m., while it was dark, and my left foot stepped into a massive puddle that I didn’t see. The water went over my entire shoe and I spent the rest of the day squish-squashing every time I took a step.
A couple, whose three children, who now have children of their own, bought three prints to post to two living in Boston, USA, and the other in Toronto, Canada. (They are lamenting that their grandchildren are living on the other side of the earth). They are posting: “Emu Boogie”, “Surfing Clifton Beach, Tasmania” and “Lazy Days” prints.
A framed “Duck Crossing” is going to her first grandchild, one year old, Ava, in Adelaide, SA. Wendy, affectionately named ‘Wendy Wombat’, after walking the Overland Track about nine years ago, her reactions and love for wombats earned her this name that has stuck over the years. She’s has a lot of wombat pictures and ornaments but she couldn’t resist the Sleepy head wombat series of prints.
Duck Crossing
A couple, he originally from South Africa and she from Australia, purchased “Christmas Siesta”, “Lost Worlds”and “Rising Above It”. Actually, about four Christmas Siestas sold today. Another “Rising Above It” was purchased by a young lady from Brazil.
A couple bought a “Glamour Girls” print for her sister who lives in Germany and is a hairdresser. A young Scottish couple, both doctors who have finished one year of working at the Royal Adelaide Hospital and are heading back to Scotland, purchased a “Sea Life” print.
Then I met Arianne from Saint Julienne, Canada.
Arianne and I at Pj Paintings, site 30, Salamanca Market
Once again, I took the opportunity to try to haul out my French from the crevices of my long-term memory. I told her it was easier to maintain my French speaking skills in Canada, where everything you buy is written in English and French. I used to read the products’ French instructions and blurb daily, which went a long way to helping me retain my French. In Australia, virtually everything is presented only in English. Arianne said I should have my prints’ back information in both French and English, reflect my heritage. I thought this is a great idea and could help people in the same situation as me, trying to keep ourselves from losing our first languages totally. She gave me a little Canadian pin. “What the Devil!?”, “Christmas Siesta” prints and a “Lazy Days” bag are now accompanying her on her travels and adventures.
While I was packing up three original paintings sold: “Fancy Pants”, “Walking with Flair”, “Blue Whale”, and earlier in the day, the framed original painting of a blue butterfly sitting on an emu’s beak sold.
The most popular prints today were from the Sleepy Head wombat series
A thought to ponder: “Art is the concrete representation of our most subtle feelings” Agnes Martin
Wishing you a creatively happy upcoming week,
from Pj Paintings, stall #30 at Salamanca Market, Tasmania
Wind was not forecasted but it presented itself nevertheless. The update on the weather app said gusts of up to 54 kmph, so I had to unexpectedly batten down.
I tested my collapsible stool that I bought at Bunnings yesterday, on special, for $17. It serves a dual purpose for me, to stand on to help me reach high gazebo-spots and to sit on for urban sketching. It is light weight but sturdy. My next door stall holder loved it too (she borrowed it for most of the day to sit on).
collapsible, sturdy, lightweight, with a convenient carry-handleA sturdy seat
In the morning, a couple from Perth that became quite enraptured with my art, ended up buying seven prints: “Entanglement”, “Family Outing”, “Hayride”, “Bonnie & Me”, Spiky Bunk beds”, “Devilish Siesta” and “Afternoon Siesta”, and a “Lazy Days” tote bag. A couple, from the Hobart suburb of Sandy Bay but soon moving to the mainland of Australia, bought a “Lazy Days” print.
A lady visiting from South Africa told me that she visited my stall two years ago with her granddaughter who bought a zipper pouch. Her granddaughter instructed her to buy a PJ Paintings print for her. She’s taking home “Who, Who, Who are You II” for her. She’s just turned 13, about to start high school at a boarding school in South Africa. A man from London is taking six prints back with him.
Who, Who, Who are You? II
I met a young lady from Newcastle, NSW, wearing her water polo team jumper, but she was visiting Hobart with her year 12 art class, not her water polo team. She purchased a “Bunk Beds” print and a “Beachside Chatter” tote bag.
Beachside Chatter tote bag
“The Three Amigos” and “Double Date” are travelling to Holland, and “Who, Who, Who Are You? II” and “Hayride” prints to Taiwan. A couple from Nelson, New Zealand, top of the south island, are new owners of a “Salamanca Saturdays” print.
Salamanca Saturdays
A couple on a three month holiday from the UK bought an A-4 sized print of “Bunk beds”. They want “Bunk beds” to be the centre piece and put photos of their Australian trip around it.
Bunk beds
A young lady doing environmental studies at the University of Adelaide, from Rhode Island, USA, bought “Glamour Girls” and a lady from Colorado, USA bought a “Lazy Days” zipper pouch.
Lazy Days zippered pouch, Made in Australia 100% Polyester
A couple that visited the stall last week, returned after their tour of Tasmania, and bought a small original painting from my Op-shopping Emu series. She told me that her and her daughter op-shop together and this is for her.
Hip Emu
“Sea Life” is travelling to Cairns, and grandparents bought an “Afternoon Siesta”, “Devilish Siesta”, “Hayride” and “Bonnie & Me” prints for their four grandchildren. She said you can’t take money with you when you go. True.
Sea Life
The most popular prints today were from the Sleepy Head series, Hayride and Who, Who, Who are You? II.
A thought to ponder: “A beautiful body perishes, but a work of art dies not” Leonardo da Vinci.
Wishing you a creatively happy upcoming week,
from Pj Paintings, stall #30 at Salamanca Market, Tasmania
A message came across Urban Sketchers Hobart’s Facebook feed from David Steeden, from Manchester, UK, asking if anybody would like to join up for a sketch when he was in Hobart, Tasmania. I recognised, and knew, that this is a name of significance in the urban sketcher world! I organised a Sunday meet-up at Franklin Square in Hobart, and then much to my disappointment, I couldn’t make it because I had to do gallery duty, which I normally enjoy doing but…..
Luckily, David was available to meet up on Monday, which we did. We had a brilliant, peaceful time sketching in Bellerive, Tasmania. Firstly, we sketched Fair View, an ornate house on Victoria Esplanade, Bellerive.
This was my view of Fair View
The Victorian sandstone residence was built by the O’May family, pioneers of the Bellerive ferry service. The O’Mays emigrated from Scotland in 1856, settled in Bellerive and in 1864, Thomas and Robert started rowing passengers across the Derwent River in an open boat. The O’May brothers ran scheduled crossings and their reputation for reliability stood them in good stead culminating to purchases of larger vessels.
Our sketches – mine on the left, David’s on the right
Then we wandered down the street for a coffee. After a coffee at Gastown East in Kangaroo Bay, Bellerive, half a block down the street, we sketched the mounted remnant of the Sydney Harbour Ferry, built in 1911, arriving in 1975 and broken up in 1991.
The Kosciusko at Kangaroo Bay, Bellerive, TasmaniaOur sketches – David’s at the top, mine underneath
Some of the helpful tips that David imparted are:
Draw vertical lines for feature corner stone work and then join together
Draw extra ink spots in random corner of pavers and bricks to make them look more realistic and grounded
Draw dark in between fence posts
At home, I added paint to today’s drawings.
9 Victoria Esplanade, Bellerive, TasmaniaKangaroo Bay, Bellerive, Tasmania
Thanks David for an awesome afternoon of sketching.
We were lucky again today. We had a sunny and windless day. I replaced my 37 kilogram gazebo with a 24 kg one and it was so much easier to set up.
My first visitors to the stall were two from 120 delegates attending a conference in Hobart. They purchased “Bonnie & Me”, “Hayride”and “Outback Glamping” to present to some of the speakers.
I had a lot people from North America visit Pj Paintings today. One lady from California, USA, bought “Red Ute”. She thought her husband would get a kick out of the title.
Red Ute
A mother and daughter, from the same state, bought a set of Cheer ’em Up cards. Another mother and daughter but from Vermont, USA bought four prints to hang in her bathroom she said: “Family Outing”, “Hayride”, “Joyride” and I can’t remember the fourth.
A couple visiting from Parry Sound, three hours north of Toronto, Canada, living in the bush, purchased “All Ears” from the Cheer ‘em Up series.
“All Ears” his friend needs a listening ear and even though it’s hard work, and his beak is getting crumpled, he’s sticking to the task.
A couple from Trail, B.C., Canada, purchased “Double Date”. Another couple visiting from Prince George , B.C., Canada bought “Lazy Days”, “Spiky Bunk Beds”, “Devilish Siesta” and “What the Devil!?” for their four grandchildren. One of their children lives on Vancouver Island, in the same neighbourhood as x-royals Harry and Meghan. Their son has seen them going for walks in the neighbourhood and on trails around his house. He’s told his parents that the community is really good about respecting their privacy.
What the Devil!?
Girlfriends, visiting from the Gold Coast to attend a country wedding taking place today in Huonville, bought “Allemande Red” for the couple.
Allemande Red
A couple bought my “Flame Robin” and “Yellow Wattlebird” original paintings. They said that they are going to a Californian retro bungalow in Perth.
A young man, visiting from Japan, bought “Family Outing” and “What the Devil!?” as his Tasmanian souvenir.
The most popular prints today were the wombat prints from the Sleepy Head series, prints from the Cheer ‘em Up series and Hayride.
A thought to ponder: “If I close my eyes, I see things better than with my eyes open.” Henri Matisse This is true for me too – sometimes!
Wishing you a creatively happy upcoming week,
from Pj Paintings, stall #30 at Salamanca Market, Tasmania
