illustration

This was an easy one to do, I think to a certain degree every mother, parent or person does it. When things become too stressful you try very hard to detach yourself. One of these times in a  parent’s case it is saying ‘goodbye’ to your children as they go off on their adventures or saying ‘goodbye’ to grandchildren or aged parents. I think to keep your sanity you have to have those moments of detachment , of turning off. In my case it is often daydreaming or watching people.

‘Canned’, this was a hard one. Tried two /three different things but eventually went with canned sardines. I saw  chocolate sardines in the local deli the other day and thought that would be an interesting thing to buy, but didn’t. We have many cans of real  sardines in our pantry as we mix half a can in the dog’s dried food each day, as the vet said that it was good for her coat. I know she is one very spoilt dog; who is the ‘dog house’ tonight as she stole the sausages.

When we first moved to Queensland i could hear a ‘banging’  in the room just off the kitchen in the middle of the night. I crept down to the kitchen to have a look, my heart was pounding and I was shaking. I didn’t turn any lights on. It took a while for my eyes to get use to the dark. I then could work out a shape sitting on the bench. A possum. The culprit was a possum eating a apple out of the fruit bowl, he had come through the open window.

I am stretching the point this week. We have a lot of crows around, in fact we have a lot of crows around all the time. You see them eating all the time. I don’t know if they would attack ‘lemons’ or not. They hang around where ever there is food, like picnic grounds, school yards and paddocks.Hence the crow, picnic pattern and plate of lemon.

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I went to bed last night thinking about the topic ‘fierce’. Lots of ideas passed through my mind. Then an idea came to me, we had been talking about the fierceness of the sun in Queensland during the week. It is four times hotter and stronger here than it is in Melbourne. We have changed the children’s lunch hour at school to 11 0′clock and their second break to 1.30 so that limits the time that they are in the dangerous part of the day. We have also put up huge sails across the play area so that they can play safely. All schools that I have taught in in the last couple of years have the rule ‘no hat, no play’. So in my drawing my little lady looks unhappy…… why? Because I image as the years go on and with the effects of climate change, making ’sand castles’ will happen less and less. Sorry to be so gloomy.

It is a great topic for this week’s Illustration Friday, it is ‘hoard’. I don’t hoard much, in fact I throw too much away, as I really don’t like clutter although you wouldn’t think this is you saw my desk right now. I do have a hoard of buttons, I have my collection that I have gathered over a many years of sewing and as well I have my mother’s collection. I have them in glass jars and they give me a great deal of joy in just looking at them.

A few weks since I have done an illustration for IF. I loved the topic of ’seed’, my original idea was to have someone planting in the background and seed packets on sticks in the foreground. However, sometimes a drawing takes on a life of it owns and in this case this is what happened. Thank you for looking.

I have a problem with time. I really hate waiting like this lady, so I often cut my time too short and as a result I am often late.

photo credit: Pixi Toxicination

The school holidays start tomorrow. Hooray! I started at a new school this year and the first term has being hard ……..learning the new job has been difficult; trying to work out what different classes need and what  pre-existing skills  they have. Trying to fit in with each of the classes’  units of work  and to make what I do with the children in the library relevant and interesting. I have 14 classes over three days and although we have some grades with three classes that are doing the same unit of work and theme, how each teacher approaches is totally different. I am hoping that next term will be easier, as I have been able to sit in on two grades planning meetings and that has helped me tremendously in knowing now where I can fit in. So even though I will be working over the holidays, designing my units of work, I will be able to do it at my own pace and in my own time.

 I wish to say a huge ‘Thank You’ to the beautiful people who left a comment on my last entry. Pen I think that I will take your advice very much to heart and do what you suggest…..so that I can draw and paint more. The theme for last week’s ‘Illustration Friday’ was ‘homage’ and although I really was not in the frame of mind to do it, I still checked out the entries and some people had such wonderful ideas. I really love this one (a bit how I feel at the moment) and this one.