Today marks my second day of my Corona Residency at KIRA St. Andrews (KIRA= Kingsbrae International Residencies for the Arts).
Usually international artists are juried to stay at the KIRA main house and create in their own little private studio. Due to Covid19 and the restrictions to travel and life, KIRA management has invited
local artists of various disciplines to make their home in one of the five studios.
I got invited and feel so honoured to paint alongside some amazing local heavyweight professional artists such as Geoff Slater, Alanna Baird (Tin Fish), Ann Manuel and Stephanie Robb.
Well, as per usual, I am flying at the seat of my pants (is this a right expression???). Monday morning I rushed home started packing my stuff from my 'home closet studio' only AFTER the official welcome at KIRA.
But, Mathias' school year is finished as of last Friday (happy mom, happy kid), so I am NOW calling myself a full time artist/creator for the next month! YEY!
The kids will happily fend for themselves for the month- eating KD for lunch and likely cookies for breakfast and watching TV all day long (Markus hopefully chases them outside to play in the yard, maybe he has them help him work around the house a bit). They loved the news about mom going to KIRA for a month, coming home to prepare dinner and do the dishes, haha!
Man, my little ones are growing up so fast! I am proud of them and hope Markus and 'da gang' will have a bit of fun while I'm painting.
The good thing about taking time away as a mom is that every time I spend a bit of time away, my 'stocks' are going up, aka: I am appreciated more than when I left. This could be a test 'how life would be if mom would work full time'. We shall see, I'll keep you posted on the feedback;-)
Anyhow, back to my paintings... as said, today is day #2 for me and you can see my efforts pinned to the wall. I decided to portrait one flower each day and slowly fill my wall with little vignettes of what comes and goes into bloom during my time here.
First day painting was of the last few orange/red poppies I could find,
today was a buttercup-type flower (which I didn't write down its name). The gardener told me they are on their way out and I better paint those soon.
The afternoon I spend by the lower pond below the wind mill. The pond has a natural look with wildflowers growing around it and in between mature woodland trees. It has a bit of the feel of Monet's pond.
There are beautiful lupins blooming right now, so I decided to park my easel by the pond under a mature oak tree (and on top of a large red ants nest). I didn't finish the painting as the sun moved and the colours of the landscape changed (and the ants drove me crazy). So, will go back tomorrow. Here's a pic of my hangout by the pond:
Usually international artists are juried to stay at the KIRA main house and create in their own little private studio. Due to Covid19 and the restrictions to travel and life, KIRA management has invited
local artists of various disciplines to make their home in one of the five studios.
I got invited and feel so honoured to paint alongside some amazing local heavyweight professional artists such as Geoff Slater, Alanna Baird (Tin Fish), Ann Manuel and Stephanie Robb.
Well, as per usual, I am flying at the seat of my pants (is this a right expression???). Monday morning I rushed home started packing my stuff from my 'home closet studio' only AFTER the official welcome at KIRA.
But, Mathias' school year is finished as of last Friday (happy mom, happy kid), so I am NOW calling myself a full time artist/creator for the next month! YEY!
The kids will happily fend for themselves for the month- eating KD for lunch and likely cookies for breakfast and watching TV all day long (Markus hopefully chases them outside to play in the yard, maybe he has them help him work around the house a bit). They loved the news about mom going to KIRA for a month, coming home to prepare dinner and do the dishes, haha!
Man, my little ones are growing up so fast! I am proud of them and hope Markus and 'da gang' will have a bit of fun while I'm painting.
The good thing about taking time away as a mom is that every time I spend a bit of time away, my 'stocks' are going up, aka: I am appreciated more than when I left. This could be a test 'how life would be if mom would work full time'. We shall see, I'll keep you posted on the feedback;-)
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| My art studio wall day #2 at KIRA |
Anyhow, back to my paintings... as said, today is day #2 for me and you can see my efforts pinned to the wall. I decided to portrait one flower each day and slowly fill my wall with little vignettes of what comes and goes into bloom during my time here.
First day painting was of the last few orange/red poppies I could find,
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| Painting the last poppies at Kingsbrae Gardens. |
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| Red Poppy, Plein Air, oil, 6x6in on hardboard, available |
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| Yellow Buttercup, 6x6 oil on hardboard, available |
There are beautiful lupins blooming right now, so I decided to park my easel by the pond under a mature oak tree (and on top of a large red ants nest). I didn't finish the painting as the sun moved and the colours of the landscape changed (and the ants drove me crazy). So, will go back tomorrow. Here's a pic of my hangout by the pond:
