It's Holidays... but I can't stop myself from painting :P

Blew up the picture that Mumoir wanted me to paint from so I could see it a bit better, tested the new paint colours underneath so I could get a look at them. Bit hard to tell from this, but the gold we bought is just AMAZING! So shiny, couldn't wait to try it out. Completely in love with the Vermilion too, v. pretty.

Prepared a canvas board that I found at a cheap shop down the road for $2.50.... bargain! With a tube of Red found at same shop. Mixed a little bit of orange in to give it depth, then left that to dry while I set to work with the gold on a purple base I prepared earlier...

Started by squidging out a line of gold then smoothed it in and scraped it off with a broken old ruler I had been saving because I knew I would totally need it one day (not because I am a compulsive hoarder).

Created quite an interesting effect. The gold in the newspaper photo is heavily applied, quite possibly used as the base, but I like things a bit more contrasty, so for these tests I wanted to start with the colour first before laying on a few coats of gold. Going to do three or four of these layers and see what sort of depth I can get out of that. Will keep you posted.

Then I took a self-portrait, MySpace style, feeling like a complete dork whilst doing so, but I wanted to show off my new haircut. It's all part of my new marketing plan. Look polished, have hair and nails done, wear paint splattered apron and somehow look like a Bohemian yet put together artiste.

We'll see how long that lasts :p

Then we have Rosie, who is my sole student at the moment. She has been with me all term and she is an absolute sweetheart (when she wants to be... as most kids are really). Rather than spending all my dosh on advertising and trying to get a whole lot of students all at once, I've focused on learning how to be a good teacher to one student. You wouldn't believe how much she has taught me! I've learnt that kids will not always want to do the activities that we have so carefully planned out for them. Kids will have trouble using scissors. They will get glue and paint everywhere and should always wear an apron. They will have chirpy days where they want to do a thousand things at once, and they will have quiet days when they just want to draw stuff and that is all.

Rosie is hysterically funny, very good at picking colours and quite the little artist. I hope she is my student for a very long time.