My life as an artist.

Do you know how much mess there is when you have to paint? Honest to goodness, I have brushes – thousands – and papers – all sizes and shapes and different thicknesses – and reference books and paints, paints and then more paints. And in the middle of it all, on the table, is my mate Bonsai who can’t see what’s going on from his position on the floor. He’s only once managed to walk across Delicious-the-goose’s fat, goose feet once….so far. And that’s another thing – I wrote (because this time I’m trying to illustrate my own text) that Delicious has an orange beak and legs and feet as red as the sunset and do you know how many times I’ve messed that up! I painted orange legs and red beak and then had to do it all again about a HUNDRED times!!!! I wrote it – you’d reckon I’d remember it.

And then there’s Lilly Popple. She’s my newest little person who is about to set off on a huge lot of adventures. I’m having so much trouble finding the way I want her to look. I can write her…but I just can’t seem to capture her in an illo. But I won’t give up. She’s there in my head somewhere just waiting to get out.

I’m thinking about learning to twitter. It bothers me that I don’t have enough time to do all the things that I’d like to do but I just read on a website that I can follow JKRowling on twitter. Thank goodness she’s written not to expect too much because she’s busy with pen and paper right now. Well, do you know what? That’s what I’m about, too. My first love is writing and, now, mastering some illustrating. This takes so long – and then when I get to the other end of the day, I like to walk the dogs and look at the ocean and count the black cockatoos (apparently this tells me how many more days till the next rain – I’m hoping I don’t see any for a few days as its done a lot of raining and the garden is more like a swamp) and fiddle around and make things for my friends for Christmas (or birthdays or whatever). And I like watching movies and mysteries on tele and …. when do I do the twittering? I like talking to my mates as well – do you think people will stop talking eventually? Be a bit sad really – don’t you think?

I’m always buying a new book or two and my newest ‘old’ book is from an op shop and its called The Macquarie Bedtime Story book. It’s briliant. Ron Brooks has done lovely illustrations and there some great old poetry in there. There’s The Tale of a Despicable Puddin’ Thief by Norman Lindsay – boy, you should read that. And a story called Carpet Snake by Kath Walker (who has an aboriginal name – see if you can find it). Its such a treasure of a book – it’ll keep me happy for hours.

I’ve been busy last term and visited lots of schools. I went to Murwillumbah and had a great ol’ time at St Pat’s. Boy, do they have a yummy librarian – she’s so neat and introduced me to a great book call The Black Book of Colour – its also written in braille. Try it – it’ll be in the library somewhere near you. I’ve been all over Toowoomba – it was brilliant. And Glen Innes – wow! It was soooooo cold and wet – how do you guys do it? We were the only ones with little blue noses and toeses!

Now, time to go. A new ‘old’ book to explore, some painting to do before the goose feet finish up all over the house (thanks to a small but determined Bonsai), and a cup of soup waiting to warm me on this strange hot/cold spring day on the north coast.