Sunday Sketches

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Here are a few photographs of my recent trip to my parents house in Northern NSW.

I had a really nice time there and did a lot of roaming around in nature-y places.

We went for a drive up into the mountains and did some bushwalking and stopped at about five different and beautiful lookouts, saw a waterfall that fell into a cave and roamed through a beautiful old growth rainforest. It was very humid though and I would love to go back in winter some time!

On out drive home we found an abandoned stone house that would've been beautiful in it's day. It had a fireplace and stone floors and a really sweet upstairs room and I'm really curious as to what happened to it.

It's been quite cold in Melbourne, which has been a nice change from the Northern humidity, and I've started to really enjoy baking my own bread. It's so much nicer than the supermarket stuff and I find the process to be a really nice way to relax and de-stress!

I apologise for my lack of posts recently but (as I mentioned) I was away over Christmas and when I got home my internet wasn't working! (I am speaking to you now from the public library haha!) It might be a little while before I get my internet back because it will be quite expensive to fix, but I have scheduled a few more posts over the next couple of weeks so you shouldn't miss me too much haha!.

How about you? How has your summer been (or if you are from the Northern Hemisphere your winter) Let me know in the comments section I'd love to hear about it!

x Grace

Workspace Rearrangement

I did a big spring clean of my apartment yesterday and decided to rearrange my living room, which resulted in a rotation of my desk which left it facing the wall instead of the window. I much prefer it this way because I don't get as much glare but I can still look out the window if I want to (plus I get to sit next to my favourite plant!). It also means I can have a wall of nice pictures to look at while I work. 

I really enjoyed spending the afternoon going through magazines and old golden books to find pictures that inspire me and then arranging them in a nice way on the wall. I'm really happy with it and it makes me happy when I see it. I think a friendly workspace makes a huge difference and I can't wait to start working at mine (all I need now is a more comfortable chair haha).

x Grace 

P.S. Sorry for the lack of posts/art lately I'm taking a bit of a break after the busy couple of months I've had. I've been working on some sewing projects (you might have noticed the sewing machine on my desk) which I will share with you very soon.

Some University Things

It's coming up to the end of semester and I am so busy trying to finalise all of my assessments! Anyway, here are the three pieces I made for my drawing assessment:

Even Lovers Drown, Ink and Pencil,
Keep Warm, Pencil
Plant Life, Gouache and Fineliner

CD Cover

I designed the cover for the the compilation CD that the music department at NMIT publishes each year. 

They wanted something that used naive hand lettering and had an urban feel. The head of department said she wanted fox people because they are 'an urban pest, just like musicians' haha. 

Bits and Pieces

I've been really really busy for the last couple of weeks working on projects, including a huge one for university where we have to draw eight observational drawings (above is my favourite one). I've been finding it so hard to work in this lovely spring weather though!

Some things I've been liking: 

- handmade rose body spray I got from a lady at the markets (it smells so amazing, like real roses!)

- Natural Instinct Daily Moisturiser, which I originally bought because of the cute packaging, and the fact it is mostly made of natural things and it's not tested on animals, but it's actually also nice to use and it smells like lavender!

- Gardenia perfume from here, I love the smell of gardenias, they remind me of all the good things: summer, my birthday and nice walks through gardens.

- I got some really pretty crystals super cheap from a lady who was selling them out of her garage in the Burringbar Range. The huge chunk of rose quartz was only $3 and the necklace was $6!

- My lovely new quilt cover. It's so fresh and it's like I have a little piece of the country in my city apartment. It also brings out my windowsill plants haha!

I've also been super busy making zines (including this new one) for a pop up art/zine fair I'm going to in Geelong. If you live in Geelong (or even in Melbourne) you should come along. There'll be heaps of cool artists selling their stuff and I'll be there selling brooches, a super special limited edition new zine, as well as a bunch of other zines both old and new.

Watermelon Daydream

I painted this the other day to distract me from Melbourne's coldest day this year and the fact that my wisdom teeth were causing me trouble.
I like it a lot because it reminds me of my old apartment in Brisbane and warm summer rain.

Tiny Flowers

It's been getting cold here and i've started taking walks around my neighbourhood. This is the first place I've ever lived where it gets properly cold in winter and I've been enjoying the smell of woodsmoke from people's chimneys and the tiny winter flowers.

Lists

To Do

- Practice for a university presentation (Ugh, worst)

- Buy a big piece of quality watercolour paper for drawing assessment

- Eat Lunch

- Make a pineapple, orange and mint juice out of old fruit in the fridge

- Mix together different shades of ink for class tomorrow

- Work on Commissions

- Go grocery shopping

- Go for a walk and take photos of flowers

- Write letters to friends

- Fix loose bike pedal

Wishlist

- New pair of oxfords (my old ones are falling apart from overuse)
- Fun patterned socks
- Pretty dresses
- New Paintbrushes
- Stockings
- A scarf
- Flannelette sheets
- More windowsill plants

Movies to See
- Broken Circle Breakdown
- The Double
- Obvious Child
- Tammy
- Wish I Was Here

Outings
- Go op-shopping
- Visit Melbourne zoo
- Visit National Gallery of Victoria
- Go to Sticky Institute
- Go to a new cafe
- Go to the cinema

Rainy Days: A User's Manual

I made another zine! this one is about rainy days. I think I'm getting a bit addicted to zines, They're so much fun to make! (I also buy way to many but that's a whole other thing haha) You can get this one from my shop (or if you've made a zine I'm open to trades)