New Girls

I have made a new playlist of songs to listen to while painting...

'Royals' by Lorde
'You Don't Know Me' (feat. Regina Spektor) by Ben Folds 
'Going The Distance'  by Cake
'Dog Days Are Over' by Florence + The Machine 
'Ratchet' by Bloc Party
'Going Underground' by The Jam
'Battle of Who Could Care Less' by  Ben Folds Five
'That's Not My Name' by The Ting Tings 
'We Used to be Friends' by The Dandy Warhols
'Burn Bridges' by The Grates
'Little Lion Man' by Mumford And Sons
'Rockin' the Suburbs by Ben Folds
'Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others' by The Smiths
'Take A Bow' by Glee Cast
'Gonna Make It' by Vydamo
'Payphone' (feat. Wiz Khalifa) by Maroon 5

This is my absolute favourite song at the moment. How cute is this kid? She's like 17 or something and totally awesome.


I have always strongly associated music with art and painting. I can hear a certain and song and I will instantly remember painting a particular piece while listening to it. These songs are all quite upbeat and new(ish)! Which is strange for me. I usually have  a playlist full of Janis, The Beatles, old Showtunes and  Madonna. Although there is some Smiths and one lame Glee cover of a Rhianna song in there, which I like singing, so shut up.

I used to use song lyrics in paintings a lot. I liked how words could enhance the visual and make an interesting message. I was often pleasantly surprised when people interpreted the words in a completely new way. Sometimes, the lyrics or words was alienating to people, if they didn't connect with the words. 

The paintings I am working on now are just visual. NO words. I am not relying on anything to form a connection between the viewer and the girl. Just the girl.

And I am really enjoying just sitting on the back deck, with my easel and paints, the boys playing around me (and not driving me too nuts!) singing along and painting again. I have missed it. Thanks to everyone who was so supportive of my facebook sale the other day. It reminded me that I love painting and that people love what I do. Cheers, Loves.

The boys have become quite taken with 'That's Not My Name' by the Ting Tings. 

Eli will walk around singing, "They call me Jasper. They call me Jasper. That's not my name. That's not my name." That song should be the Twins Anthem! They might start singing it at Kindy.

What's your favourite song right now? Do you like show tunes?

Little bits of my universe

What's been going on, Tessiegirl?

I'm glad you asked!

So, I had  a little Art Sale on Facebook last night- and I sold out... well almost. I still have a big platform shoe! I love that shoe. I was super chuffed that a lot of these girls (and flowers) are going to family and friends. It makes me happy to think of them safe and sound with their new owners.

I finished my monkey man this week. Look at his little bum! Needle felting is super fun, although I think my addiction has been sated for the moment. I have and urge to go and buy some canvases and start painting again..... 

I am like an ADD kid who gets distratced by shiny things when it comes to art/ creativity. I will be totally into something (like Flowcharts), then I'll go, "Oh, Look! Some Felt! I am so gonna be the President of Needle Feltland!!" 

So, then I do that for a while until I suddenly think, "Hang On! I am totally a painter! I'm gonna paint! NOW!" And I do. Until I think, "You know what would be really cool? A painting, but one created on the computer.. with lots of lines and names that flow into each other... I should totally do that"

Mr Lovely Husband came home. Yay! It's like he has been on another strange planet. It still seems surreal and odd that he now works for (large International Computer Company) and soon we will be moving to the USA. But the relocation is still a fair way away (up to a year) so there is A LOT to plan and worry about and choose and think of. My brain hurts. I should go and do some needle felting.....

This gorgeous human is still looking for a job. I wish I could just fix it all for him, find him the perfect job, make everything easy for him. But I can't and the world is kinda tough out there, you know? He is still my beautiful, first creation. Look at him.

In other news:

- Jasper puked in the car. Not cool.

- I went and saw 'Behind the Candleabra'. Funny, sad and cool. Sat next to a middle aged couple who tutted and groaned the whole way through. Why would you go and see a movie about Liberace if you are obviously homophobic? 

- I fell over while tidying up under my house and really hurt my leg. I am ridiculously uncoordinated.

- I went to the boys school to read stories for Book Week and nearly burst into tears when all thirty of the gorgeous kids sang the 'Good Morning' song for me. A.Dora.Ble

So, thats what's been going on in my universe. What's going on in yours?

My crafty habit

My Lovely Husband is far, far away. He is off being awesome in the USA and I am here, hanging with my three boys. I have almost survived (he will be back on Sunday) and I am TOTALLY ready for him to come home. I miss him, you know? 

So, while he has been gone I have watched a lot of 30 Rock, I have had lots of naps (the little boys visited Nanna and Grandad for a few days) and I have picked up a needle felting habit from my brother in law and nieces.

Needle felting is like some kind of crazy wizard magic. You poke a bundle of fluffy stuff with a tricky needle and it turns into stuff. What? I know. It doesn't make any sense. And it hurts when you stick the needle in your finger.

This little owl was my first attempt. Because, I don't know if you have heard. but I kinda like owls :-) Fro my birthday recently, I received at least 287 owls. And I LOVE THEM ALL.

This lady was my next attempt. A bit more challenging amnd sculptural. You can't really tell, but she has a killer rack. I like her, but she is definately a first try at a new technique. This is like my dream hairdo to. I wanna be an eccentric old lady with fire engine red hair in milk maid braids and way too much eyeliner. And a killer rack.

I'm now working on  this little monkey. He is obviously now done yet- I think he will have a tiny little body and maybe some trousers. My Lovely Husband has a panda bear from when he was a child. Apparently, he thought it was inappropriate for the panda to be nude, so he made his mum make the panda a pair of trousers. To cover his shame. How adorable is that???

So, that's my new crafty habit. Do you try new craft techniques very often? Have you tried needle felting? Do you think pandas should wear pants?

Nap

Some days, it's the only question.

Are you gonna have a nap today?

Rose and Star

So, I am in the process of having two tattoos removed via laser treatment. This was kind of a spur of the moment decision, but I have been wanting them gone for quite sometime, so I was furiously happy when I decided to go for it!

I think there are very few women (and men probably) of around my age who DON'T have a tattoo they regret and wish would disappear. I once met a gorgeous, sophisticated fashion designer girl who had the Guns and Roses logo on her rib cage. She wins.

Yes, I am an old person and I am going to say, "Think carefully before you get a tattoo. Don't be impulsive or rash. You will regret it." Oh, and get away from my porch! Where are my glasses... 

The first one is a rose on my general upper boob area. I got it when I was 17, and had just been fired from a cafe. Yep, that showed that mean cafe lady!!! 

This pic was taken a little while after I got that tattoo. Look at that cheeky face. Goodness me.

The second tatto I am  getting removed is a star on my upper arm. There is a certain person out there with a matching one and I would rather go forward in my life without that little reminder.

(Yes, I stopped drawing my eyebrows on in the early nineties, after an intervention staged by my sister.)

The funny thing about these two little tattoos is, I want them both gone, but for very different reasons. 

The Rose- I dislike the actual tattoo. It's lame and tacky and it is a great representation of why 17 year old girls shouldn't pick a tattoo off the wall of a tattoo studio in the valley with no thought whatsoever. But I love  the memories it con jours up.  This tattoo reminds me of the crazy time when I first left home. I was alone and responsible for myself for the first time. Living in a share house with three other girls (2 of whom I am still super close with today) I made A LOT of bad decisions, this was just one of them. But I also had some awesome fun with my friends, had many adventures and looked super cute in a beret and velvet choker! It was 1992. That's how we rolled.

The Star, I actually don't mind, as a tattoo. But it evokes too many memories I DON'T wanna keep. I want that tie broken.

I am slowly shedding the things of the past that I no longer need. I have a lot of stuff. I am in the process of deciding what I want to take with me in this next phase of our lives, and what I am happy to leave behind. 

Whether it be ink, knick knacks, memories, perceptions, insecurities... I am packing some of it up. Lasering some of it off. 

And just chucking a whole bunch of shit away. 

Are you sentimental? Do you hang onto stuff? Or do you have a crap tattoo you wanna zap right off?

Everything that's everything

There is an unshakeable confidence and optimism about being four years old.

Yeah Man. You CAN do everything that's everything and you can make it happen all by yourself. You can do anything. How liberating is that thought! To think: I can do anything. Or Everything. There are no limits, no reasons why I can't. I have never done that particular thing before, but I reckon I can still do it and it will be awesome!!

Four year olds are fearless. They are unapologetic and filled with enthusiasm and passion. (They are also crazy and irrational and incredibly destructive, but that doesn't really fit into the analogy I am creating, does it?)

I have always wished for My Awesome Teenager to have a life that is easier and less complicated than the one I have led. I wished for him to have choices. 

I have always said, in my younger life, I felt I was the ball in a pinball machine- being bounced and hit from one thing to the next- not making choices, just reacting to whatever the universe bounced me into. I found it difficult to envisage the future, because I didn't believe I had any part in creating it.

I want My Awesome Teenager to be the PINBALL MACHINE. Be the one who is deciding where you are bounced. Make choices. Create a life for yourself that is actually the one you want. Whatever that is, it doesn't really matter, does it? As long as you are safe and secure and happy? 

I wish he could have the confidence of a four year old too. I want for him to be able to do everything that's everything. All by himself.

A little escape

Last week, my lovely husband and I ran away from home (and children). How lovely! My only requirement was the ability to sleep in, have naps if I wanted to and for no one to ask me to make a puppet or to wipe their bottom.

Objective achieved!!  It was nice to spend some alone time with Gavin, as the craziness that surounds us has been particularly crazy of late. So many decisions to make. So many things to do. So many huge things lurking just in the future. 

So we just put all that on hold for a minute and enjoyed each others company. And I just realised today that our First Date-A-Versary happened while we were away. Six years since our first coffee date. 

If you had told me that day:
You and your son will move in with this guy in a few months, travel around the world together, then you will marry him, have twins with him, then you will move to the USA with him.... I would have said ARE YOU SERIOUS?? That sounds totally awesome, but, come on! That's crazy!

No, silly 2007 Gil. It's not crazy. It's happened. It's happening. You should totally give up smoking first though.