matouenpeluche

Yvonne + friends

Yvonne

OK! Monday is finito - well the hard part anyway! It was the strangest, coldest, odd weekend I've had in a while - I think there was a lunar eclipse or something and then there was also the Winter solstice at the end of the week - so taking those things into account, I think that pretty much explains it. I think!

I hope everyone both sides of the equator had a good weekend. I managed to draw a couple of drawings! Goodness only knows what would happen if I didn't at least manage one drawing on the weekend - I think I'd be in trouble! So, above is Yvonne. Uber goddess of the haute couture. What would you do if she entered a room you were in? I think it would be that classic "Gradually the room grew silent. One by one they turned to see the vision that had just entered - their power of speech was entirely taken away from them". (Hmmmm...don't give up your day job Sam!)

Below is something different - along the same theme that I started exploring last weekend - cat portraits. This is Felix and the drawing is called Out and About. This drawing is actually modelled on a cat I befriended in Double Bay - the next bay to where I live in Sydney. He was such a personable cutie - I have been thinking about drawing him for a while.

 
Out and About

I have a real soft spot for tuxedo cats!...and finally: Evening Soiree. My go at pattern and design.

Evening Soiree

More mermaids next week with any luck! It depends how my muse is feeling!

Have a super week all!

Cruise ship + spider action!

Sunday is Shadow Shot day! My photo this week is of a cruise ship sneaking out past the heads whilst a spider fixes up his web in the foreground amongst the shadowy leaves of McElhorne park. Yes, it's all happening!

I took this photo in summer which is traditionally cruise ship season here in Sydney. We have so many cruise ships come into harbour that they run out of space for them at Circular Quay and Darling harbour and the huge beasts have to drop anchor in the harbour itself. It's quite exciting!

Shadow Shot Sunday is a terrific Tracy of Hey Harriet meme! I strongly urge you to check out this weeks fellow shadow chasers HERE at Tracy's blog! If you'd like to join in, here are the instructions on how to do so!

Happy Sunday everyone!

Ground Work

Constants of Motion

Confetti

I'm sorry but you were holding me back

Fungi

Good company

Happy Thursday gentle readers! I bring you utterly sublime Ground Work. I love these pieces so much - they fill me with a wondrous oceanic feeling of calm. How does she do that? I tips me lid to her! For more Ground Work beauty be sure to check out her shop here---> Groundwork.

As for the week that nearly was - mine was a heavy hitting slug fest but finger's crossed I think I got through it! It was test week at school which is traditionally a week of high emotion, knife edge deadlines, soothing of shattered egos and flat out hard grind! ...and that's to put it mildly! I hope everyone else's week hasn't been too fraught and that we all manage to cross the finish line Friday afternoon in one piece! Phew!

And now for something completely different...

Blue Eyes

I really don't ever do "portraits" of animals. I've always sort of avoided them as I have found animal portraits to be pretty tricky and I always think I'll leave it up to the experts. However, for some reason I felt compelled to draw this plush siamese cat I saw in a 1960s advertisement. I've always liked siamese cats for their get up and go - I've had many half siamese and half something else cats but never a full siamese. I here they are VERY chatty to say the least!

The other drawing from the weekend is a rather angular looking blue blood: The Countess. She looks quite interesting. I think I was inspired after reading all those reports in the press about the Princess of Sweden (and the next in line to the throne) marrying her local gym instructor boyfriend of eight years. Gee, he was in the right place at the right time wasn't he! 

 

The Countess

In other news I have a set of three prints in the Help The Gulf Coast Etsy shop. Here's my listing here! There are nearly 400 items in the shop now so if you feel like having a browse I'm sure there'd be something to tickle your fancy!

Happy, happy new week lovely people!

Red Leaf Library.

Here is my shadowy shot for the second week of June. It's a photo of a very grand and unusual library that is about a 20 minute walk from my house along the harbour foreshore. It's Red Leaf Library which used to be some stunning water front mansion many years ago. Either side of this property there are still some privately owned mansions from the same era (maybe the turn of the last century). My boyfriend and I usually pass by this pretty building and park on our weekend walks. As a matter of fact, it's highly likely we'll be walking by this very spot today!

Shadow Shot Sunday is the brain child (I love that expression!) of Tracy of Hey Harriet fame! If you'd like to join in all you have to do is read these very simple instructions!

----> P.S. Tracy is also a very accomplished photographer and has a super Etsy shop! She is having a Winter SALE in her shop at the moment!

Happy Sunday everyone!

The Owl(et) and the (super large) Pussy Cat...e.t.c.

Awww! People! What's going on here? Well, it is in fact a baby owlet that apparently fell into a lion enclosure at a zoo in England and just hung out with the lioness and then wandered off three days later - unhurt! Full story here!

In other news, there is an amazing $100 giveaway of goodies over at Under The Shade of The Bonsai Tree.

I am in a cool giveaway with 23 amazing artists over at Pikaland called the Pikapackage!

Finally, here are some items I am coveting on Etsy...what do you think?

 
 Long Flapper Necklace ,

 To The Moon Ring and Pink Metropolis.

Sea Farer's Charm Bracelet.

Happy Thursday folks - it's

only one more sleep until

the weekend! EEEEP!

P.S. Thank you everyone for

the Bird Cage Dress love -

much appreciated! XO's   

Happy Monday!

Bird Cage Dress

Happy Monday all! We had the day off here in Australia as it was the Queen's Birthday so I had a pretty good Monday to say the least! Love those four day weeks too!

Here are a couple of drawings I managed to squeeze in over the weekend between walks and movies and playing with my Dad's cat Harry. Top is Bird Cage Dress as modeled by the adorable Audrey. She adores her bird cage dress and who can blame her? She does look pretty fetching in it!

Below is another chapter in the mermaid saga. A quiet moment as Jemima and Miranda have an afternoon nap. Meanwhile, Gaylord and Gloria float about.

An Afternoon Nap

I hope everyone had a lovely weekend!

Friday Je t'aime.

Hello Friday my old friend! This week zipped past so fast for me I think I've got a bit of whiplash! Also, I don't know whether it's a good thing or a bad thing it flashing by so fast either. On the one hand, it's Friday which is always a plus as far as I'm concerned, but on the other hand, it's also my life flashing by, isn't it? Hmmmm...food for thought.

Anyway, I've been perusing my old Kathleen Hale Orlando (The Marmalade Cat) books yet again (see previous blog post about Orlando here) and I feel the drawings still knock me off my feet with their gorgeousness. So here's some more!

Happy Friday to all you lovely people out there!

 

For more Orlando loveliness you can find Kathleen Hale's books available on Amazon here!

Weekend drawings...

Harlequin

Happy Tuesday everyone! It's finally ceased raining here in chillin' Sydney. Boy, are we pleased about that! I went out to the post office last thursday which is approximately two blocks away and got absolutely soaked through. We had twisters destroying houses down at the beach and floods in the CBD that totally submerged cars for goodness sake! It was wild I tell you! But now it has calmed down and it's business as usual.

My top drawing is a girl Harlequin. She's even wearing a diamond print body suit in my favourite colour - pale blue. Below is another drawing from the weekend. It's an old Chinese proverb I am very fond of about books and reading: A Book is like a garden carried in the pocket. It's quite poetic I think!

A Book is like  Garden

In other news, I have a new keyboard which I am so enjoying! My old clunker was making my fingers tingle with all the thumping I had to do on it. This new keyboard is so sleek and new and delicate. It's a pleasure to use!

Hope everyone's week is going smoothly and that the weather is behaving itself where you are!

Flying Foxes!

My Shadow Shot photo this week is of a colony of flying foxes (bats) flapping high above Oxford Street. In Summer they roost in the Botanic Gardens and then in the late afternoon hundreds of them fly off to - well we've not quite sure. They always take the same route up Oxford street. It's a real Summer sight to behold!

Unfortunately, I read that the bats are destroying trees in the Botanics. I think 30 - 40 trees have died as a result of their roosting in them. So, they are going to play the bats loud and disturbing noises to move them along. One of these "disturbing" noises is the sound of a car engine starting up. I wonder how the Botanical Gardens people found that out!

Here are some more flying foxes silhouetted against the afternoon sky:

 

Shadow shot Sunday is a Tracy of Hey Harriet meme that is a lot of fun and open to everyone! You can join in - here are the instructions on how to do so. Happy weekend all!