Salamanca Market May 22, 2021

May 23, 2021 ~ theunfurlingartist ~ 2 Comments

With the car packed to the ceiling, including the passenger seat (lucky I only have to merge lanes once driving to and from the market), I arrived at the market in semi-darkness, and eventually, despite having very cold toes, a stall emerged from the collection of folded tables, gazebo, crates, grills and the like.

A couple from Wollongong, who took advantage of the Take the Spirit of Tasmania sale, without an extra charge for your car travelling with you, were in a bit of a pickle. They didn’t book their trip back and found out that the earliest sail back with available car spaces is July!! He’s on leave from work, but he doesn’t have that much leave!!

A young Russian couple, permanent residents of New Zealand, stopped in and bought four greeting cards. They are taking advantage of the New Zealand and Australia travel bubble that has been negotiated between the two countries, with both currently experiencing low COVID infection rates.

A lady bought “Lazy Days” to post to her best friend’s four year old daughter that is living in Israel and scared with the bombs and sirens.

An A-3 sized “White Faced Scops Owls” print is going home to Melbourne and a Large “Salamanca Saturdays” tote bag is going back to the Central Coast, NSW.

A Salamanca Saturdays tote bag, made in Australia and washable

A young man from Melbourne, looked through all the greeting cards, and said that this was his favourite. He loved it and bought it. This painting came into being through my involvement with the annual #Inktober Facebook Challenge, which happens every October. The challenge is to do a drawing everyday for the entire month of October. Prompt words are provided for each day. The prompt word for this drawing was “poisonous”.

A couple purchased two prints to post to the United Kingdom. They bought “Lazy Days” and “Salamanca Fresh”.

A paramedic from Brisbane, taking a 10 day holiday, purchased “Afternoon Siesta” and “Sea Life” prints.

A couple of ladies, from Warrnambool, Victoria, just visiting for the weekend, purchased a whale print and “Who says emus can’t fly!?”

Quite a few “Under My Red Umbrella” tote bags went and five of my small original paintings sold, including my last little platypus painting. I thought of a new idea for my platypus paintings during the night and unfortunately I got so excited about I couldn’t sleep!

One of the small originals, titled “Diggity-dig” that sold yesterday

Wishing everybody a great upcoming week and thank you for your continued interest and encouragement of my art.

Cheers, Patricia (PJ)

P.S. Prints are available at http://www.pjpaintings.com

Salamanca Market Update, May 8, 2021

May 8, 2021 ~ theunfurlingartist ~ 2 Comments

Salamanca Market was quieter than a fortnight ago. I think that people went to Agfest, which was held in the north of the state. Nevertheless, it was busy at the PJ Paintings stall.

I had a young man, around the age of 10, choose “Emus can Fly!” for his Mum’s Mother’s Day present. She rides a motorbike. He asked me if I had any pictures of skeletons. Apparently, she really likes motorcycles and skeletons. The dad said it’s true and that Mother’s Day is interesting at their house. She sounds like a cool mother!

Emus can Fly!
available at www.pjpaintings.com

Two ladies visiting from Narooma, NSW, which I had to look up to know where that is, https://www.aussietowns.com.au/town/narooma-nsw purchased a cushion cover of “Hair Accessories” and a “Salamanca Saturdays” print.

Hair Accessories
available at www.pjpaintings.com

Three young ladies from Sydney, one originally from the Ukraine, bought some wombat and unfurling prints. One of the three kept referring to it as a koala, so eventually I said, “I’m sorry to say but it’s a wombat.” She laughed and really thought it was funny. I assured her, she is not the first because you are much more likely to see a koala than a wombat in a tree, actually, you will never see a wombat in a tree! Anyways, she’s decided to name the wombat “koala”.

Afternoon Siesta
available at www.pjpaintings.com

Two young ladies, one from Townsville and the other from Brisbane, met in Brisbane to fly here to have a Tassie holiday together. They bought “Iconic Aussies”.

Iconic Aussies
available at www.pjpaintings.com

A couple visiting from Brisbane, asked if I had a single Yellow-sulphur cockatoo painting because they have a pet one at home named Charley-barley. (I had a dog that we called Charli-warli!) They bought “Double Date” and “Lazy Days” zipper pencil cases.

Lazy Days pencil case, available in small, medium and large sizes at http://www.pjpaintings.com

A lady, from Queensland, dropped by to tell me that she bought “Salamanca Fresh” and “Richmond Bridge” prints two years ago and that everybody that comes to her house always comments on how much they like them. That warmed my heart.

Salamanca Fresh available at www.pjpaintings.com

Lovely Olivia, doing her first year of university in Tassie, studying Marine and Antarctic Science bought a greeting card. She does watercolour paintings too and showed me some of her sea animal paintings. They are stunning. She is hoping that she will be able to combine the two passions by doing scientific illustrations.

A couple from Mt Gambia, South Australia, bought “Hanging Out”. He said, “there are too many people here. It’s lovely and peaceful in Mt Gambia.” With COVID restrictions there are only about one fourth of the usual amount of people allowed in the market, so it’s good he experienced the seriously less populous market.

Hanging Out
available at www.pjpaintings.com

A young lady is sending a “Salamanca Saturday” print to the UK to her dad for his birthday. For their first baby’s nursery, parents bought “Lazy Days”, “Spiky Bunk Beds” and “The Three Amigos” prints. Another couple bought “What the Devil!?” and “Bunk beds” prints for their children’s bedrooms.

What the Devil!?
prints are available at www.pjpaintings.com

It was a fun and interactive day at the market. I’ll be back in a fortnight. Until then, take good care of yourselves during this challenging time of living with a pandemic.

From PJ Paintings

Sold

March 17, 2021 ~ theunfurlingartist ~ 2 Comments

The final original painting, titled “Afternoon Siesta”, of my Sleepy head series has sold. A young lady, from Sydney, visiting Tasmania, saw my artwork at Artefacts Inc Gallery https://www.salarts.org.au/portfolio/residents/artefacts_inc/ She bought three prints, including Afternoon Siesta, and returned home.

Artefacts Gallery in the Salamanca Arts Centre, Hobart, Tasmania

About a week later, she phoned me because she couldn’t get Afternoon Siesta out of her head. She was so excited about making the decision to buy it. It’s her first original art purchase. She’s originally from Norway, and has lived in Belgium and France too and now she’s living in Sydney, Australia.

We agreed that this wombat is the most relaxed looking of the wombats that I have painted. I can’t help but feel more relaxed whenever I look at this painting. It looks like every single bit of stress has dripped out of its paws. Now, it’s on its way to its new owner.

High quality prints of Afternoon Siesta are available at https://pjpaintings.com/collections/wombats/products/sleepy-head-series-afternoon-siesta-a-print-of-a-wombat

I hope that your day and week has been feeling pretty relaxing too.

Cheers, from Patricia (PJ)

Bunk bed Trio

March 7, 2021 ~ theunfurlingartist ~ 4 Comments

I finished my painting I’ve titled “Bunk bed Trio”.

You know the feeling when you can hardly keep your eyes open and you are well and truly ready for a nap, while at the same time this doesn’t seem to be the same case for the little people in the family. They are alert and ready for more adventures. I hope that Mother-Wombat gets her well-deserved rest soon??

Prints are available at https://pjpaintings.com/collections/wombats

I hope that you are enjoying a peaceful and restful weekend.

Cheers, from Pj Paintings

Commissions and Challenges

February 15, 2021 ~ theunfurlingartist ~ Leave a comment

I’ve finished one commission and I am currently working on another. For the first commission, I was contacted by parents, who wanted an original painting to give to their daughter, at her surprise party, celebrating her graduation from medical school. They requested a sleepy wombat wearing a graduation cap, in a decorated hammock, using safety pins to attach the decorations to the hammock.

Prints of “Graduation Siesta” have been made as this would be a great gift for anybody graduating/completing any qualification, schooling and/or training. Prints are available at https://pjpaintings.com/collections/wombats/products/copy-of-sleepy-head-series-bunk-beds-wombat-watercolour-1

While I was finishing off this painting, I received a request from somebody who would like to give a friend a painting of her favourite animal …. (I bet you won’t guess what her favourite animal is!!). She has recently left her job as a zookeeper and already has two prints of mine: a wombat and echidnas in hammocks. She wants to make them a feature in the nursery she is setting up, so her friend requested that I paint her favourite animal in a hammock to make it a set of three.

Suspense is over… her favourite animal is the potoroo. I’ve never drawn potoroos. I drew and erased, drew and erased, and drew and erased. I was just about to write an email to say sorry, I can’t draw these little cuties. But something happens when you keep trying and drawing, somehow you start to get to know the curves and proportions in the faces and body and it more or less came together, I think, I hope.

Adding more paint… and hopefully tomorrow I will be able to add even more paint

Potoroos are a small marsupial. They are a suborder of the kangaroo and wallaby. I’ve seen them in my back yard quite often and most recently while I was walking along the Derwent River in Bellerive, Tasmania, I saw one with its baby in the grass along the side walk. So, so cute!

If you’re looking for a challenge… well here’s one… try drawing and painting these little guy’s noses!

Thanks for visiting and I hope that life is at a nice level of challenging for you.

The Inktober Challenge

October 3, 2020 ~ theunfurlingartist ~ 5 Comments

It’s Day three of the Inktober Challenge and so far I’ve managed to keep up with the pace of producing a drawing a day. For me, it’s about quantity, and quality is secondary with this challenge. What’s important for me is exploring new ideas and being creative. The idea/concept can be refined and reproduced as a quality piece of work later on.

Day #1 – for the prompt word FISH, I drew the critically endangered Tasmanian spotted-handfish

Water coloured inks and watercolour paints were used to paint this picture of the Tasmanian spotted-handfish

Day #2 – for the prompt word WISP, I drew a waft of steam.

Day #3 – for the prompt word BULKY, I drew a “bulky” load in a small hammock

Tomorrow’s prompt word is RADIO. Do any ideas come to mind for that word??? I’ll post my drawing for Day #4 – RADIO tomorrow.

Until then, take care and thanks for stopping by.

Gallery duty

September 7, 2020 ~ theunfurlingartist ~ Leave a comment

It was my first day back at Artefacts Inc Gallery today. It was slow but that meant that I had some time to draw. This is what I drew today at the gallery.

I still need to do more drawing, add paint and then title it.

This is a brooch that is for sale at the gallery made by Caz Francis. The beads are so small and it is such intricate work.

Enjoy your week, stay safe and thank you for visiting, from PJ Paintings

Delivery Day

May 4, 2020May 4, 2020 ~ theunfurlingartist ~ Leave a comment

I received three website orders for various prints with all the addresses in southern Tasmania. In this current isolation period due to the Coronavirus Pandemic, this presented itself as a great opportunity to be able to legitimately leave the house.

The first stop was Glen Huon. The country side was so beautiful and green.

Glen huon sml — Just after dropping off an A-2 and A-3 size print in Glen Huon.

Glen Huonsmlhouse — a quaint house in the Glen Huon countryside

I dropped off an A-2 sized “Meet Me at the Gate” print and an A-3 size print of “Orca”.

Meet me at the gatesml — An A-2 size print of “Meet Me at the Gate”

The next two drop offs were both “Bunk Beds” prints. The one delivered to Snug, was going to be hung up in the baby’s nursery and the other Bunk Beds was delivered to a house in Ranelagh.

In Ranelagh, there is a awesome bakery called Summer’s Kitchen. They was a queue, partially due to the only-one at a time allowed in the bakery rule and the bakery’s reputation. I ordered a coffee and a gluten free blueberry baked cheesecake. Yummo!

While I was taking my time, savouring each mouthful, I sketched the Ranelagh General Store, established in 1993. It’s about a block from Summer’s Kitchen. There were so many colours being reflected in the windows. This made the windows more challenging than windows already are.

Ranelaghsml — My sketch of Ranelagh’s General Store

It was lovely to be out after many days in quarantine.

Take care everybody and thanks for visiting. 🙂

Salamanca Market March 7, 2020

March 7, 2020 ~ theunfurlingartist ~ Leave a comment

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 relaxing wombat print https://pjpaintings.com/collections/wombats/products/sleepy-head-series-wombat-lazy-days

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.

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.

This wombat has given its hammock a rather Christmas festive appeal. Prints of my original painting are available at: https://pjpaintings.com/collections/christmas/products/christmas-christmas-siesta

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 sml — 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

P.S. Tote bags, pouches & prints are available at www.pjpaintings.com

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pjpaintings@gmail.com

Salamanca Market Feb 15, 2020

February 15, 2020February 15, 2020 ~ theunfurlingartist ~ Leave a comment

I got up in the dark but by the time I got to the market it was light and thankfully calm. The wind is now howling and gusty.

My first couple that visited the stall was from Belgium, Florence (also my cousin’s name) and Antonin. As per my usual tradition, I asked if they would mind having their photo taken with me. They agreed. I’m so disappointed that unbeknownst to me, there was no storage left, so I don’t have a photo of them! Florence was my height, fine bone and dark hair. I think the younger me and her would have often been asked if we were sisters. They bought a “Lazy Days” print.

A lively group of four women debated and eventually selected an A-3 sized print of “Afternoon Siesta” for their retiring colleague. They work in a government lab in New Town, Tasmania.

A framed black & white print of a wombat that I drew is going for a long journey to Ontario, Canada.

wombat4

A “Fairy wrens”, “Christmas Siesta” and “Afternoon Siesta” print are heading to Poland.

This wombat has given its hammock a rather Christmas festive appeal. Prints of my original painting are available at: https://pjpaintings.com/collections/christmas/products/christmas-christmas-siesta

An “Afternoon Siesta” print is going to Winchester, UK. A “Hanging Out” print is going to New Zealand

The most popular prints today were the wombat prints from the Sleepy Head series.

A thought to ponder: “To be an artist, you need to exist in a world of silence” Louise Bourgeois. My day job is teaching, so this doesn’t apply to me but I accept that this is Louise’s perspective about what she feels she needs to make art. I would think that if I did live in a world of silence, I probably would create more art until I found myself way too isolated and craving noise!!