Life. Death. Creativity. Remembering.

Posted on by November 29, 2019

I’d like to talk about art, and creativity and missing people when they’ve died, and how their makings – and our makings – make it different …

 

David Bowie

This musing has been triggered by strong sad-yet-appreciative feelings swelling up recently when I randomly hear David Bowie songs playing. Or “Faith” by George Michael… that transports me back to a very specific time and a new dress. So grateful Bowie made music. Does particular music take you back, too?

Ursula K Le Guin

I’m so grateful she lived and thought about stuff and wrote … I found Ms Le Guin’s books by way of some quotes floating around when she died early in 2018. I’ve started to read her Earthsea books and have just finished and loved the first one. I ‘specially enjoyed the behind the scenes notes from the author (in the form of the books forward and afterward), including the deliberate choosing not to write about military style solutions and  ‘goodies’ versus ‘baddies’. Most intriguing. I’ll work through the books one by one … can’t wait to see what she writes after the 20-year gap! Have you read Ursula Le Guin?

Carrie Fisher

[Warning: if you click her name above you might get a few tears from the 1 minute and 18 seconds of clips! I did.] I watched episode 8 of Star Wars last week, the last one Carrie Fisher was in, though who knows what will happen next with such great computer generated work being done now. And that sad-yet-happiness welled up in me again! So sad she died quite young (60). So so grateful she made all the things she did, said what she said. She had a bunch of sexism in her industry to deal with, and had (thankfully) addressed and commented upon it. Here’s a written ‘remembering’ article. [Damn, I’ve made myself cry.]

Margaret Olley

Legendary Australian still life painter, Margaret Olley, made and made and made. She modelled “art before housework”, which you can see in the recreations of her studio at the Tweed River Gallery. She was painting right up until she died. So much appreciation for someone who “… held over 90 solo exhibitions during her life time”! That’s a lot! Here’s a briefer life summary.

Do you think the happy + grief thing is heightened partly because they were alive and making in our times?

Transformative

Read this article by artist Jessica Swift to hear how painting transformed her grief after her husband’s sudden passing … from bleak grief into an experience that had rich positive aspects too … so  fascinating to read how art transformed. [Perhaps I’ve said the word ‘transform’ enough now.]

Whenever I feel like things are pointless I do a bit of drawing and readily feel more centred and purposeful.

Getting older

Remember I wrote this post about The Old People Lesson on Kind Over Matter? [If you click through, something’s happened to the pictures – don’t worry it’s not you!]
I feel lucky that ageing-as-it’s-portrayed-now has had the sting taken out of it’s tail by the observations and comments that were gifted me as a child.

Why do we even say “ageing”? It’s just living. Do you think marketers decided to popularise that term to sell us stuff? It wouldn’t surprise me!

Letting her hair go grey was just the first step as Louise Pendry writes in the article that this quote is pulled from:

“Going grey was, for me, the conduit to a more spirited enjoyment of life after 50. I have grown bolder in word and deed, less afraid to stray outside my comfort zone. I’ve taken on new projects that challenge the notion that older women become invisible or matter less…”
~ Louise Pendry

Where are you at?

Who are you glad created things? Has their life and legacy helped you? What do you create? Experiments? Outfits? Poems? A kind culture in your home? Do you have thoughts about creativity and missing people? Getting older? I’d love to hear below in the comments or on my Facebook page.

Feed the good wolf today, you beautiful, quirkalicious marvel :)
Love Meg x o

 

 

 

PS Here are a few ways to join the (good) tangerine Tribe:

Bold Interview 18: Yaisa Nio – Yoga Here and There

Posted on by October 9, 2019

Dearest of hearts, Welcome!

Meet Yaisa Nio from Yoga Here and There. Yaisa Nio has crafted a life embodying both centred calm and worldly adventure. Scroll down to read the why, what and who!

Is there someone bold you’d like to learn more about via a Bold Interview? Message me and I’ll see what I can do…

Love Meg x o

 

Hi Yaisa! I’ve 5 (+ a few) questions for you…

1 What do you love most that yoga gives you in life?

The beauty of yoga is that it can give me everything I need. It gives me focus when my brain is scattered. It gives me distraction and takes my mind of things when I’m too uptight about a job or a project. It opens my body when have tension, gives me energy when I’m feeling low. It takes my hunger away on the days that I’m fasting but can also awaken my appetite by doing a stronger physical practice. Yoga inspires discipline as well as kindness to myself. It helps me to think twice before I speak my mind and encourages me to speak my truth when appropriate. The best of all, is that I can choose all of the above and more. Yoga is a way of life that I can choose, nobody imposes it on me and I am free to grow on its foundations as I see fit. Yoga gives freedom.

2 What is your unique offering as a yoga teacher?

Students tell me that I am down-to-earth and authentic. I believe it’s important to stay true to oneself and I do not believe in a one-size-fits all kind of yoga practice. Every person is different and needs something different, depending on their intention in life and their physical, mental and emotional condition of that very moment. I teach a variety of yoga classes and my teacher training courses are multistyle, showing our students that yoga has something to offer for everybody. And all the while, I stay myself, acknowledging my shortcomings, my skills, my qualities and my weaknesses. As a yoga teacher, that’s the best gift I can give to the people practicing with me: the belief that everybody is just perfect the way they are, including their best efforts to become an even better version of themselves.

3 Why do you write what you do, whether on your own blog or when guest blogging?

Writing blogs is a great tool to share the knowledge that has been passed on to me and personal experience that I believe can be of benefit to others. I like the idea of inspiring people as I have been inspired by others, with my own spin. This in turn, hopefully motivates people to inspire others too. Sometimes, writing is also a way to put my own thoughts in perspective. When I write, I attempt to express precisely what I feel or think, giving words to my emotions and opinions, forcing me to reconsider or nuance.

4 Can you tell us how living in alignment with your values and priorities relates to the lifestyle you’ve designed?

It’s always work in progress, a subtle balance between what I wish as an individual and what is possible in the society that I choose to live in and with the people I share my life with. Mundane things, like time, money and other finite resources are restrictive. My personal dreams and wishes are infinite and so are those of the ones I love. In the middle of all this, I try to walk the fine line that makes me and the people around me the happiest. Some of my priorities in life are the friends I have made over the years, living the healthiest life I possibly can for myself, being as kind as I can for nature and sharing my passion for yoga with as many as are willing to listen to me. The problem is of course that some of these priorities require conflicting actions. Teaching yoga is not a huge money making machine, whilst money is necessary to buy the healthiest food and fly around the world to see my friends. Flying around the world is not very kind for the earth. I could try to grow all my own food, but then I wouldn’t have time to teach as much as I would like to. And so on and so forth. I endeavor to find a balance between all these things and more, knowing that compromise and sacrifice are often necessary but never regretting any choices that I make.

5 Your business name is Yoga Here and There … How do you keep your life cohesive when you live in so many places in one year? What do you find special about the Fleurieu Peninsula, that you’ve chosen to base yourself here for the longest period of the year?

Despite my nomadic lifestyle, there are many elements in my existence that keep me anchored and sane. Stefano, my husband, is probably the most important one at this stage in my life. He is earth element itself. Grounded, balanced, with his feet always firmly planted (preferably in the sand while fishing and often also with his hands in the soil as he gardens or forages), extremely caring and supportive. Even though we are not together several months a year, he is one of the most stabilising factors in my life.

Another big influence of stability in my life is Darja, my oldest friend, soul sister, business partner, the yin to my yang when it comes to running Yoga Here & There teacher training courses. I’ve known her forever and though we are not totally not the BFF-joined-at-the-hip kind of friends, my life would be quite different without her in it. In Bali, she is my buoy.

Next of course, is the practice of yoga. Even when not on my yoga mat, the yogic lifestyle values are something I carry with me everywhere I go. I’m not pretending to be an enlightened being, far from that. Rather than an imposed, dogmatic set of rules, yoga is like a compass to me. I can choose to ignore the direction it points me towards or I can go forth and explore. Whether I am in Bali, in Europe or in the Fleurieu, the values of yoga are the same and they give me a strong foundation in life.

In between all that travelling, the Fleurieu is my home. The vibe in the Fleurieu is very special to me, both Stefano and I felt it the very first moment we drove into the region without any expectations. The balance in nature of sea, vines, hills, space, the climate, the eclectic collection of people that live in the area and the magical property we are privileged to live on are the main reasons for us to want to stay here for the better part of the year.

5a Bonus Lightning Round (short answers are fine here): What are your recent most memorable in the following categories?

1 yoga venue: I have so many favourite yoga spots that it’s difficult to choose. I’d have to say the shala at Kelapa Cottage where we conduct the teacher trainings. The reason why it’s the most  memorable one is because of all the intense and beautiful memories we have created there, together with the trainees and the teachers.

2 food: Good food is a big thing in my life and I have countless memorable moments involving food. But one recent experience that I won’t lightly forget, is the sushi at Kaiko, a small Japanese restaurant in Amsterdam last July. It is so memorable because it was a treat by a very good friend, and aside from the fact that quality sushi is a bit beyond my yoga teacher’s income (not the sushi train quality we get a shopping malls), good company makes a meal even more unforgettable. Downside however, is that eating sushi is not a very sustainable activity… But boy, was it ever so tasty!

3 environment: The most recent impressive moment in nature was a trip in the Sahara desert in Egypt in September. The vastness, rawness and power of the landscape was beyond words. [see pic below ~ M]

4 event: A most amazing recent event was a family reunion in August with my dad, his two brothers and all their children and grand-children. Including partners, we were 21 people and we came together for a week in Italy at the Garda Lake. This was the first time we had a reunion of this kind ever and the purpose was to share stories about the past so that we, my cousins and I, can pass on the stories to the next generations.

Amazing tales of the childhood years of the three brothers, who were born in Indonesia where my grand-dad set up regional hospitals and research centres. They then roamed around Europe as illegal refugees before emigrating to China, living there during the apex of the Cultural Revolution before fleeing China again and finally settling down in the Netherlands.

The whole reunion, the re-newed connections we forged among family members and our partners and these extraordinary stories blew my mind away. And of course there was lots of good food and wine to enhance the experience.

5 unexpected awesome sight. Seeing my little brother as the airport in Amsterdam in September. I had said good bye to him a month earlier not expecting to see him before next year May again. I was due to fly in from Egypt the next morning but my flight was rescheduled to the evening prior. He was due to fly in from a business trip to Monaco earlier that evening but his flight was delayed.

So my mom ended up picking us up both at the same time and we had an hour to catch up as we drove to his house. A very precious one.

About Yaisa

When Yaisa is passionate about something, she usually finds a way to turn the hobby into a vocation. After discovering yoga in 2007, she trained to become a teacher in 2013, definitively leaving behind a banking job and a scuba diving career. In 2015, she emigrated to South Australia and founded Yoga Here & There.

The name of her business reflects her nomadic life style but mainly the holistic nature of yoga. It can be practiced anywhere, anytime and at many different levels, in different ways.

She settled in Sellicks Beach, teaching yoga here and there. Now also a registered yoga teacher training school, Yaisa runs yoga classes, workshops, courses and trainings in Australia in Spring and Summer.

The rest of the year, she runs teacher training programs in Bali and travels around the world to catch up with family, friends and former yoga students.
Her two single best choices in life were to marry Stefano and not to have any children.

Visit Yaisa online at www.yaisanio.com

 

 

SALA Festival draws to a close

Posted on by October 8, 2019

Hello Lovely! The SALA (South Australian Living Artists) Festival has wrapped up, and the exhibition-my-artwork-was-part-of has been taken down. The exhibition “Flourishing Fleurieu” was really fun – a riot of lovely art and colour! I felt most welcomed by the community of artists and locals at my chosen home, the Fleurieu Peninsula.

The photo below was towards the end of the exhibition – late August – and was the first time all 8 of us – plus our intrepid curator – had been in the same spot!

The names of the fabulous Fleurieu artists shown above (L-R, front to back) are: Chris Olsen, Roe Gartelmann, Tracey Atkinson, Jenny Esots (curator), Thia Elliott,
Donna Chess, Denise Maddigan, yours truly, Lynn Chamberlain. Thank you to Trevor and Jenny for making this photo happen.

Also in SALA, on the second Sunday of August, we had a larger-than-usual Willunga Artisans and Market in the bigger venue next door. [Back to the usual hall the Saturday after next.] New friends and old were hugged and laughed with. Art went to good homes <3

Here’s a collage of my pictures that went to good homes during SALA:

 

Thank you for your support, South Australian bold souls! When you buy art from living artists, you not only support generalised “art” – which is a great thing to do in civilised society! – you support a living artist, a fellow human, to actually make a living. It’s a brilliant way to increase your own quality of life, too, with the artist’s heartfelt energy resonating in your home and giving you enjoyment every day…

Would art lessons add some goodness to your days?

We’ve a new block of lesson dates at the Fleurieu Arthouse starting this Thursday (October 3, 2019): our inaugural “Spring Sessions”. <<< Click that link to read more! Book in by tomorrow, Tuesday October 1, for the sweetest deal! We’d love to see you there! Put on your Frida earrings and bring a friend if you like – we want to meet more bold souls! If this is sustainable, I can continue to offer lessons moving forwards… We’re having a lovely time! Click this to read what current students are saying :)

What’s happening with you?

And what did you love at SALA? I’d love to hear! Leave a comment below or on Facebook if you want to share!

Speak soon,
Meg x o

 

PS I’m in an exhibition at Gallery M celebrating 25 years of the The Red House group, from  4 – 27 October.

PS2 And in other news I’m doing a personal growth course disguised as Style School! Fun, self-reflection, learning and dress ups! :D

[later] PS3 Imagine my surprise and delight when I turned up on Flourishing Fleurieu launch day, to find a-kindred-spirit-I’d-not-met-yet wearing one of my Rainbow Lady t-shirts!

Student testimonials – Drawing and Painting with Tangerine Meg

Posted on by September 28, 2019

Bold souls comments about Drawing and Painting lessons…

“Enjoy escaping for a few hours each week, discovering new ways of exploring art and taking time out. :) “ ~ Karen Bruce, Semaphore

“Margie has helped me overcome my self concept that I can’t draw and has unleashed my freedom to explore, be bold and have fun. The results have been amazing and I now believe I can do representational art.” ~ Jane Bange, Mitcham


To join us, click this to read more and book in!

Bold Art Calendars 2020 – and what’s the Dutch connection with Birthday Calendars?

Posted on by August 9, 2019

The bold art calendars for this year are here! You’ve already heard if you’re on my mailing list (if not, get on that)! The early bird time frame has come and gone, and early bird individuals and stockists are receiving their goodies this week and next.

Images of 4 bold art calendars: Cat 2020, Cat Birthday, Plenty (food and flowers) 2020, Plenty Birthday, along with header text saying 2020 Bold Art Calendars by Tangerine Meg. Background is green graduated to purple.

This time, I’m trialling a new thing: Birthday Calendars

Do you know what Birthday Calendars are?

Or perhaps you know them by a different name? They are sometimes known as a perpetual calendar. You write in your friends and family’s birthdays and anniversaries as you usually would, but then you keep using the same calendar each year. When December is over you flip the calendar back to January, which means you don’t have to transfer everyone’s dates over every single year.

Is it true that Dutch people keep them on the back of their toilet doors? Let’s ask …

What is the Dutch connection with Birthday calendars?

In my limited experience, everyone who asks or knows about birthday calendars has had a “Dutch Connection”! This year I’ve printed a few in case anyone wants one! (Want to buy yours now, click this!)
Yaisa Nio, my friend who teaches yoga all over the world [remember, we did the vision board with her in 2017 and will again this year] grew up in Holland, and has this to say:

The Dutch are known for their no-nonsense and practical nature. Hence 3 reasons why the Dutch hang a birthday calendars in the toilet.

1) It’s a place you spend a quiet moment at least once a day (I hope) so you have plenty of time to check who to call or send send a birthday wish soon and you won’t forget your wedding anniversary ever again.

2) On the fridge stuff gets dirty, in the living room we prefer art or picture frames and in the bedroom people tend to sleep, not read calendars.The loo is the perfect place!

3) If you leave a pen with the calendar, visiting friends can add their own birthday (and check out how many friends you’ve got).

~ Yaisa Nio

By the way, would you like me to interview Yaisa? Good. I will. She’s an interesting and wonderful lady…

Stockist Changes

I’m learning to cope better – or perhaps simply flow with – the constant in life that is change! A really lovely stockist has closed down (sad face re Add Character at Semaphore!) and one eco one has expanded (go Jamie of EcoLateral, now at Blackwood and Magill). I now have my first interstate stockist in Queensland (on the Sunshine Coast at Nambour) because an entrepreneurial friend moved there and decided to reopen her shop! More details about my stockists here, with new Queensland details coming soon.

Themes

Now you have your head around what a Birthday Calendar is, does this hand drawn chart help to explain which bold art calendars are available this year? #homemadeinfographic

FAQ* Are the Australian Public Holidays noted, or Moon planting dates?

No! They aren’t… these sell internationally and it simply doesn’t make sense to include local Australian holidays. However, in the 2020 Bold Art Calendars international unifying days are noted such as: Harmony Day, Peace Day, Serendipity day.
Oh, and Frida’s birthday :D
Moon planting? I love you Nadja’s of Nadja’s Garden but the moon planting cycles info messes with my head – and makes the design of calendar pages complicated. Sorry, beautiful bold souls, you’ll have to research for yourselves the moon planting phases!

I’ve been doing this for a while

And I blogged about it first here (look how much the inner page design has changed), then recapped on my fifth birthday of making them here (a calendar birthday not to be confused with a Birthday Calendar), and wrote about why I still get enthused about bold art calendars here…

If a bold art calendar by me seems like your kind of thing, buy yours at this link. Do you use a Birthday / perpetual / dateless calendar – possibly on the back of your toilet door?

Have a great week!
Speak soon,
Meg x o

 

 

PS If you’re in the Fleurieu in August, Flourishing Fleurieu, ‘my’ group SALA exhibition, is open Tuesday mornings and weekend afternoons at Bethany Hall, Willunga. Also this Saturday (August 10, 2019) is the SALA Willunga Artisans and Handmade Market from 9am-1pm at Festival Hall, Willunga.

* Frequently Articulated Question

Winter in Adelaide 2019

Posted on by July 26, 2019

Hi there, beauty face!

Time for a little catch up? Here’s what’s just happened and what’s about to happen :)

Artist Demonstration

I did a still life demonstration at the Adelaide Art Society a couple of weeks ago. Chris Braham from the society took these photos. The venue was just for art – which I loved – and I’m thankful for the surprisingly mild weather and the warm welcome of fellow art-lovers. You can see I’ve a microphone head set and above me was a structure with a camera linked to a projector and screen…  anybody watching who was hard of sight or hearing could follow what was happening. Cool tech, right?

SHE IS ME Movement with Libby Tozer

My friend Libby Tozer – surfer and photographer – is the brains and heart behind the SHE.IS.ME movement. She kickstartered her photo book – buy the book here – and launched it with a beautiful photography and music festival a couple of Saturdays ago. Would you like me to try to get an interview with her? [I’ll see what I can do, she’s pretty busy making cool stuff happen.]

Coming Soon: 2020 Calendars and SALA

Can’t wait to see the new 2020 (and Birthday) calendars! They’ll be ready to ship the week after next. Want to receive yours then too? Order here. Full post about the new calendars coming soon…

How is it August next week? I don’t know but it is, and with it comes SALA (South Australian Living Artists) Festival. Things are about to get hectic!

A few weeks ago, myself and some of my co-group-exhibitors [conspirators?] had a photo shoot on a chilly but sunny day overlooking Fleurieu vines.

Our Flourishing Fleurieu exhibition made the ‘paper’ – click >> here << to read. Here’s the Facebook event for Flourishing Fleurieu launch. Here’s the SALA info. I posted a sneak peek of my back-from-the-framer pictures on my instagram and facebook.

Willunga Artisans and Handmade Market is having a big market for SALA including a change of venue… here’s the SALA info.

See you at a launch somewhere, dear kindred spirit!
Meg x o

 

PS To get the freshest updates from me, join my mailing list here! You get [Tangerine Juice] eNewsletters plus blog posts direct to your inBox. Plus free art downloads and 10% off calendars! I’d love to see you there :)

What does M-E-O-W mean?

Posted on by June 5, 2019

A velvet black cat came to live with us last year and the more I get to know Mr.Inky, the more I appreciate his subtle intuitive kitty smartness!

hand lettering black on white saying MEOW, with a cat head for the O

What does that classic cat vocalisation that sounds like “meow” really mean, I wonder? I’d spell it  M-E-O-W [you too?] and it seems to be communication. But to communicate what?

What does M-E-O-W mean? [A Human’s Ponderings]

NOW: I’m desperately hungry [even though you just ate, kitty?], can I get some food, please?

pen drawing on white background of a vine-decorated cat sitting beside and empty cat food bowl

Or OW! Maybe the little fellow is uncomfortable in the belly. I’m learning to remain calm and let him go do what he needs to do [litter tray related, perhaps] and he seems to settle down after that!

I’m thirsty!

There’s a secretly-for-him-but-pretending-it’s-not cup of clean water on the stairs that I don’t draw Mr.Inky’s attention to – he seems to like that metal vessel rather than the plastic one near his food bowl. I read this article from Purrington Post about the dangers of cat dehydration, and one of the recommendations is to use china or metal bowls. The article says cats prefer not to drink from plastic bowls … plastics retain smells a bit and cats don’t like that when they drink. I’ve now changed the plastic drinking bowl in the kitchen over to ceramic, too.

Clean out my litter tray! Please.

Let me in or out the door? [I get that one, usually … ‘specially when Mr.Inky is situated right by the door – or halfway up the fly screen, claws engaged!]

It’s a lot like learning what different baby cries mean!

cat by door drawing, asking to go OWWT

I am worst at guessing

I am worst at guessing: when he wants to play with a cat toy (with me) or be lap snuggly. Part of why I’m writing this blog post is as a record of these less-pragmatic-more-quality-of-life cat wishes. Settle down, says he, and make me a lap to sit upon. It’s good for both of us! Sit DOO-OW-WN!

“You’re burning your food” / Something’s not right in the kitchen

Could Mr.Inky really have been telling me that I’d forgotten about something on the stove?

One particular day, I could not figure out what he was saying, but he seemed intent upon it. I mentally went through a list: food [done], litter tray [clean], etc … I’d been reading after dinner and left the stove unattended (and on) and I believe he was trying to alert me to this. I know that sounds like crazy cat lady talk, but I could find no other meaning to his keen meowing! #hessosmart #imclueless Thank goodness! Thanks, Mr.Inky!

pen drawing of a frying pan with food burning

What else?

On occasion, Mr.Inky seems to say “DOWN” from the top of the stairs, to encourage me to accompany him. Sometimes he scampers down really quickly, and I need watch him and my feet so I don’t trip over the little guy. #luckytohavestairs

cat at top of stairs saying DOWN

Sometimes even after his dinner is no doubt filling his belly comfortably, Mr.Inky will get really weav-y up in my grill if I’m still working on the computer – like he’s telling me it’s time to take a break! Quite right too :)

Learning to speak ‘cat’?

I found myself calling to Mr.Inky with a little “…purr-rooou…” [with rolled Rs]. I think ‘purrrooou’ is cat for namaste. Or, “Come here please, this’ll be fun!”

If Mr.Inky can understand English, I hope he thinks his name is “You’re the Best Cat Ever!”
I feel lucky to have Mr.Inky’s gentle, engaged company.

What does your cat meow for?

Tell us a story or give us some Cat Talk tips in the comments, below or on my Facebook page!

Talk soon,
Meg x o

 

PS There are only 5 spots left for Custom Cat art portraits in 2019! Click this to find out more

PS2 Check out my Pinterest boards for CatLovers, Cat Art (mine and others) and my own Cat Art creations.

PS3 If you’re reading this before 8 June 2019, this Saturday is Willunga Artisan and Handmade Market from 9 ’til 1 at the Old Show Hall, Willunga.

Work in Progress: Sunny Afternoon watercolour painting

Posted on by May 22, 2019

Hello lovely! I’m glad you’re here!
I hope you’re having a great week and month so far. May has thankfully brought rain to my area and turned the hills green. Dozens of nasturtium seeds waiting below the surface have sprouted up, which makes me appreciate the rain even more.

There’s a by-law here that houses must have a significant rainwater tank for each house – big enough to last as long as possible through the year. Knowing the tank is topping up each time there’s rainfall feels so wonderfully abundant!

This is a picture I completed last year on a sunny afternoon … sunshine fell onto a handful of nasturtiums in a nice old china jug.

I composed the flowers and china, including a non-matching cup, into an arrangement that I liked, and began to draw. Here’s the beginnings:

Notice in the next photo on the right, sweet Erick – my second to last Custom Cat from last year – peeping up.

I’m mad about nasturtiums, and I know lots of you dear readers are too, because you tell me! Mmmmm, the light behind the petals makes them glow.

If I sound surprised by the light and the glow in this painting, it’s because I am. Art is schooling me in all it’s possibilities! All the things they say art can do, it can do! The shining happiness brought by the sun is embedded in this painting!

But I’m imagining you already knew that… haha, perhaps I’m a slow study.

Did you know?

There is no white paint in watercolour painting! You either use extra water so the paper shows more through the translucent paint, or choose to leave an area white. I love that it takes discernment to leave areas white on a picture. It requires unhurried time to think it through, to decide what will work for what you’re after.

Delight:

Russell Brand talking to Karamo from rebooted Queer Eye, on How to be a Loving Man. I listened in my podcast app, without video, but that link ^^^ is to the same chat on YouTube. Let me know if you enjoy it.

Have a great rest-of-the-week,
Cheers,
Meg x o

 

 

PS A friend bought the original Sunny Afternoon on the weekend – so glad it’s gone to a good home – but I thought I’d still share this The Making Of … Let me know if you’d like to see this painting as a print or cards! Check out my newly located online Gallery Shop here.

PS2 If you’d like blog posts just like this to fly direct to your inBox plus access to the Tangerine Treasury plus first dibs on paintings and lessons plus more members’ fun stuff, join my mailing list using the sign up box at right or below!

PS3 There are just 5 spots in 2019 left to commission your Custom Cat portrait … <<< check them out today. Payment plans are welcome.

PS4 If you see any of my card pictures on social media, and don’t see them yet in my shop, message me which ones you want and I’ll organise it for you.

Work in Progress: Hazel’s Chai and Paisley

Posted on by May 2, 2019

Welcome! I’m glad you’re here, and glad to be back, too – I’ve missed the relaxedness of typing on a full size keyboard! #technoluxury

… Let’s talk about art and cups of tea :)

Photograph with a top view of a white china cup and saucer with tree design, with marks showing the gradual drainage of the cup. The background is a blue, cream and deep red/brown patterned fabris. The blog post text is overlaid in white.

Here are some work in progress photos of me creating of Hazel’s Chai and Paisley!

In the photo above and below left, the fabric under the chai cup is the pattern featured in Geranium, Succulent and Honeymoon Fabric.

Hand holding tea cup with patterned fabric cloth. Right hand side image is beginnings of drawing the cup

Here’s the drawing in progress. You can just see (in the right pic above and left below) a little of the light pencil sketch from working out where on the page the cup and saucer would sit. That gets erased before painting.

In the right picture below, you can see a small papier mache container at left of the shot… that’s where the paisley came from! The dark-red-with-flowers fabric (a gift from a friend – hello sister J!) got a colour change and became part of Rapidly Ripening Figs and Nectarines!

on the left, a line drawing of a cup and saucer with patterned background. On the right, the same drawing with painting started and some of the items on the table behind the painting in progress

Watercolours are such a perfect medium for the watery sweetness of a cup of chai, aren’t they? Here’s a section with the tea, and a close up of the tea:

Painted cups of chai tea

At left below there’s a finished section containing a bit of everything: cup, saucer, table cloth, plus vase and wallpaper from the background … At right a close up while painting the background and intricate patterns.

This piece would be lovely company for your cuppa nook – perhaps having been framed by a local framer – to gently remind yourself of the sheer luxurious validity of taking a moment to savour life, tea and beauty!

[Side note: While painting this, I listened to a podcast of Russell Brand interviewing Brian Cox … you may feel the vibe of intelligent voices with British accents emanating from this one!]

There’s only one actually hand painted by me, and a limited number of gorgeous quality art prints here. Scroll down to make this picture your own if its speaking to you!

Talk soon!
Love Meg x o

 

 

PS Want to join my mailing list and get sweet sweet free downloads? Click this to learn more, or sign up below (technology willing and the creek don’t rise).

PS2

Pictures 39-48 of my 100 Pictures Project

Posted on by December 6, 2018

Wow! It’s December! How’s your 2018 been so far, dear heart? [It aint over ’til it’s over, right?]

I’m half way through my 100 Pictures Project and this is the latest gather up! Click this to see the finished pictures in my online shop. Here’s the original project explanation in which I optimistically think I’ll complete it in one year! Har har har! << Hearty Laughter of Hindsight :D

The past 2 months have been full of surprises, and I’m grateful I’ve been able to continue slowly, surely on this project …

Picture 39 – *Erick* – Custom Cat

Happy cat owners taking delivery of their custom cat portrait

How are my customers so completely delightful? They really are. [I must ask Rosalie where she gets that gorgeous mauve hair dye from.] This is the human ‘owners’ [cat servants, you and I both know I use the term loosely] of beautiful Erick collecting their framed Custom Cat portrait commission. Mwah!

40 Luna’s Garden and 41 Heinz the Jack Russell cross

Project in progress image, with black cat under a night sky at left, and painted happy dog at right; overlaid with text reading “100 Pictures Project” and the URL tangerinemeg.com

I’ve been wanting to do nasturtiums on a kitty for a while now – #mixandmatch – and Luna is where it happened. As I aim for 10 dog pictures in this project, the friendly chap on the right is a fit character I met at the beach … funnily, I already knew his owner!

42 You are my Audrey

2 You are My Audrey drawings - one with print and one with connected writing

The Facebook community around Osher Gunsberg’s podcast know what this means!
I haven’t decided which writing for ‘Audrey’ I like better. First thought I’d like the print, but now I think I like the loopy! Which do you like better? I might even re-draw… #workinprogress

43 Sunny Afternoon and 44 Decorated Hand drawing

I like that these two are both intricate and spacious. I feel I’m better at drawing feet than hands, but this hand practise drawing turned out better than I expected, ‘specially once it’s decorated. Lucky me to have one hand for drawing with and another hand to draw (which I did while on vacation)! The still life, Sunny Afternoon, definitely gives off a sunny afternoon vibe … Meet me at a market/open garden and see it in real life, and you’ll see what I mean!

45 Feel Like Me and 46 Find Humility before Humility Finds you and 47 Light within you.

Two and a half drawings in black pen. Maybe too colour? We'll see...

These are part of a drawing phase when I arrived home from my vacation. Since then my world has offered many (big) surprises, which I may elaborate on once things have died down a little. Just half of the drawing on the right is revealed deliberately as it was for a bold soul friend who made her rainbow journey. She certainly hasn’t left our hearts, and it feels like it’s at least half private … It reads: Light within you. Blessings upon you. Love flying to you. The first of those three was a wish for a particular day (a variant on Words of the Day) and the middle one is generally a good thing to keep in mind!

48 Pointy flower and 49 Illusion of Separateness!

line drawings, part of Tangerine Meg's 100 Pictures Project

Misspelled. Then repaired.

See how I misspelled ‘separate’ with an e instead of the first ‘a’ (middle section)? D’oh! Lucky there is Photoshop!

What’s next?

The next #100PicturesProject picture – number 50! – is a portrait of another gorgeous kitty … Can.not.wait to show you! Being a Custom Cat portrait the ‘owner’ gets to see it first. Keep an eye on my instagram and facebook pages. I feel like this cat portrait process would be a contender for a reality show, with a big reveal at the end – after a cliffhanger / ad break of course! :)

Let me know if you want me to bring a particular card, picture or calendar for you to a market … sometimes I simplify pack/set up and we don’t want the-thing-you-can’t-stop-thinking-about left behind! Think of it as an in-person “click and collect” service!

South Australian bold souls: if you’re out and about in Adelaide city this Monday, you might like to check out the launch of the Safe Harbour project.

Have a great week with lots of gratitude, cat cuddles and peace in your days!

Talk soon!
Love Meg x o

 

PS One of the small things we do that add up over time is that our contribution to TPRF humanitarian aid has just cracked $6000. Wow! Go us! The reports of success of the Food for People Project are heartwarming and wonderful.

PS2 Time to order your 2019 calendars? See below to order if technology permits or go here. The themes are: Bold Women, Cats, Plenty and Backyard (<< that one’s for your Aussie ex-pat friends who have everything).

PS3 If you want original art & prints or numbered Giclee Prints for gifts, order this week is you possibly can, so the wings of the postal service/s can get them to you in time! Many originals are reduced by $50 so you can get the art and get it framed for under $500. #indieartcollecting

PS4 Are lino prints really original art? I answer that query here. (Spoiler: yes!)

PS5 How come so many of my gifts on my pinterest gift board are t-shirts lately? #expressyourself