Chinese Garden Journal Page

Happy New Year Everyone! I hope it has been kind to you so far! It was nice to be able to sit back and enjoy the holidays; relaxing, reading, listening to various pod casts, going to the movies and then picked up the pace with a jam-packed weekend in Sydney.

If you are visiting Sydney, I can highly recommend the State Library. It has a couple of great exhibitions on at the moment, including the illustrator Lynley Dodds works of 59 original drawings from her popular children's books the Hairy Maclary series, the Schnitzel Von Krumm series, Slinky Malinki and Scarface Claw. I love the humour she incorporates into her delightful characters and stories.

One of my favourite places to visit when I am in Sydney is the Kinokuniya Bookstore, a place you could get lost in for hours! And directly opposite you can hop on the sushi train at Sushi Hotaru Restaurant.

The Chinese Garden of Friendship is a beautiful oasis in the middle of the hustle and bustle of Sydney's Darling Harbour. We took the light rail there. It is well worth a visit, this amazing walled garden has everything from waterfalls, lakes, pavilions, exotic plants, koi fish, birds and the odd lizard or two! The charming Teahouse is the perfect place to have your tea or lunch while taking in the tranquil scenery. As a memento of our time there, I thought I would do a inspired journal page and show you some of our photos from that day.

  Chinese Friendship Garden

  The Teahouse

I hadn't worked in this particular art journal for a long time, I quickly realised the reason why - the paper! A bit disappointing when it clearly states the journal is meant for mixed media. Next time a couple of coats of gesso on the back to make it more durable might do the trick.

Even with the limitations of the paper I love the way this page turned out. I wanted to include the rich vibrant oriental colours, which I feel add some drama and mystery. Lots of layers of collage papers, acrylic paint, watersoluble crayons, ink, copic markers and coloured pencil were used on this journal artwork.

There are a couple of exhibitions showing that I would like to attend before they finish, but more about that in another post.

Have a great weekend!

Until next time, Happy Creating!

A Koala Christmas

They don't call it the silly season for nothing! I have been feverishly catching up with everyone and everything and trying not to have a meltdown, as the festive season gets into full swing! Making list after list and then forgetting where I put them!

I have had so many things to be grateful for this year, among them teaching on Life Book 2014 thanks to the terrific and talented Tamara Laporte. It has been so amazing seeing everyone's artistic growth throughout the year. Equally amazing seeing all their wonderful art bound into their own Life Books. If you have not heard of Life Book, check it out Here! Registration is open for Life Book 2015.

Australia's festive season is certainly different to the cold Irish winters I grew up with. It still confuses my mind seeing all the imagery of winter snow scenes in the shops, then you step outside and you could literally fry an egg on the rocks! Especially when it get into the high temperatures. Spare a thought for the farmers who do it tough in drought-affected areas.

Since time was so pressing, I thought my colouring pencils would be a nice quick way of bringing this adorable koala character and scene to life. Firstly, I sketched my idea onto 140lb hot pressed watercolour paper using a mechanical pencil and clean up any areas with a fine eraser.

 I wanted to include this little Charlie Brown inspired Christmas Tree as a reminder to embrace the true spirit of Christmas and not to get too caught up in all the commercialism.

So...with that in mind, I want to take a moment to thank you for all your love and support and to wish you and your family a wonderful holiday season and a happy 2015! Be well, enjoy life and keep moving forward!

Until next time, Happy Creating!