Reflections on 2020

 Well, what a year 2020 turned out to be.... with covid keeping us close to home we spent many weekends hiking in the local national park.

I spent winter crocheting blankets, my favourite being a baby blanket as our daughter in law is having our grandson in late January 2021.

I took an online art course - Kaleidoscope 2020 - as well as a couple of other free courses too....

And I had fun creating gel print collage landscapes....

Holidays - we went up north for a week to see the wildflowers...

Health - my multiple myeloma returned to the point where I needed treatment and have been taking chemo tablets for 6 months and am in remission and will continue on the maintenance dose until it returns.

All the best for 2021 - my One Little Word will be Family as we are celebrating the birth of our grandson in January ..... so excited.

Reflections on 2017

Reflections on 2017...

Art I created:

Crocheting:

Holiday to South Australia:

30th Wedding Anniversary:

Health update:

Another year has passed and I am finally pain free most of the time and my Myeloma is still in remission. Though I have lost two friends to cancer this year, both diagnosed after me, I hate cancer.

I hope you all had a good 2017 and have a great 2018, I'll be back tomorrow with my One Little Word for 2017.
 
Love and hugs, Shells....

Reflections on 2016

Reflections on 2016.....

Highlights of 2016:

Art I created this year

Art is You - Art Retreat

Ever After

Nursery Art For Sale

Holiday to Germany:

2016 Roundscapes Calendar

Health News - I'm doing very well, still have numb feet from the peripheral neuropathy but I'm going fine.
I hope you all had a good 2016 and have a great 2017, I'll be back tomorrow with my One Little Word for 2017.
Love and hugs, Shells....

Myeloma and Art Update

This time last year I was in hospital recovering from a Stem Cell Transplant due to my Multiple Myeloma so I thought it would be a good time to give you an update on any art I've created over the past few months and my health.

Petra, Mixed Media

Gift for my cousin Petra.

ART:

I've been doing an online course called Ever After which has a variety of teachers creating artworks related to Fairy Tales.

Here they are in a variety of stages of completion.  I intended to create one piece at a time but got bored waiting for paint to dry so started on another.....  They have been great fun to make and I've learned so much from the talented teachers.

HEALTH:

My Multiple Myeloma has been in remission for over a year though treatment has continued this year.  I was taking Thalidomide but my Peripheral Nueropathy has advanced to a stage where it is better to stop the medication so the nerves can get better or I would reach the point of no return which would leave me with pins and needles or it feels like you're walking on glass - for the rest of my life.  At the moment my toes are numb and my feet and legs have a slight numbness - but they can still feel the cold.

LIFE:

I August I went Germany and spent a week in Hamburg with a friend and then hopped on a train 2 hours south-west to visit family for a week.

 I'm looking forward to creating more art in the Ever After online class as well as to the warmer weather and Spring arriving.  Take care, love and hugs,  Shells xxx

Art is You...Perth

I recently attended the Art is You Australian Mixed Media Roadshow in Pinjarra, 1 1/2 hours south of Perth and had an awesome time.

Created in Andrea Matus deMeng's In Your Face class using one of her face stencils from Stencil Girl.

I took classes with Andrea Matus deMeng - Power Play and In Your Face

and Seth Apter - Collage Camp and 52 Card Pickup.

Everyone was friendly, encouraging and inspiring. It was great to be able to chat with the teachers after dinner and get to know them better.

If you get a chance to attend one of these classes then you will love it too. I learned so much and can't wait to put into practice all the new techniques I have learned.

Health News:  I'm doing really well and am still in remission.

January Art and News

In January I did some art journalling, created some girls and started crocheting.

I've joined Guada's Art Club - I've really enjoyed and learnt from Guada's classes in the past so I couldn't wait to join her club and loved the first class which was in the middle of the month - creating art work inspired by Rex Ray.

Here's what's involved - If you havent read about the club let me tell you a bit about it.

I provide two kind of video lessons each month:

• Every 15 of the month I share an inspirational video based on an artist, a color scheme, a pattern, a picture or anything that makes me steo out of my comfort zone.
• Every 30 of the month I share an instructional video where I share mixed media, portraits, drawing, watercolor techniques my way.

As a member you also have access to coloring pages, collage papers, backgrounds to print and collage :)

 

Rex Ray inspired art work using scrapbooking papers and monoprints.

 

I'm going to some art workshops in July. Art is You 2016 Australian Mixed Media Roadshow is coming to Pinjarra - an hour and half from Perth. Such a great opportunity and I will be going to classes with Seth Apter and Andrea Matus deMeng. 

 

Monoprints I've created this month.

 

 

Health News - I had a bone marrow biopsy and blood tests in the past couple of weeks and get the results from the haemotologist next week - to see if the stem cell transplant worked and the cancer is still dormant.

This year I'll probably only blog a couple of times per month, I'll concentrate on getting enough granny squares crocheted to make a rug by winter....lol. I have crocheted 4 squares so far!

Ciao for now....

New Art and New Hair

I am doing another online course with Guadalupe Brizuela Cabal aka Guada called Book Of Trees. We have made a book with great backgrounds to create our faces, hands and flora on.

Here's Week 3 - a 3/4 portrait with watercolour and collage branches and nest.

Here's Week 2 - a front facing portrait and tree.

Here are my backgrounds:

During the week I bought a wig:

If you are new here then here is what I have previously looked like:

Have a great week...