diary of an artist

Gallery Girl strikes again!

2010-10-19T18:46:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone...anyone? Well, I guess that answers the questions of why we write, paint, create...because we CAN! not for the audience, but simply because we were born to do it.
So here I am again at Gallery One, surrounded by exquisite art work and listening to spanish music. I have been surfing the web to find gorgeous hand made jewellery, art and other pieces for St Barts', our lifestyle store here at Ferry Road markets. It certainly is shopping - even if it is just the virtual variety - for lovely hand madey things! I have been browsing in ETSY.COM ...aaahhh and have just discovered www.artisan.org.au for all kinds of stunning hand made in BRISBANE art pieces, jewellery etc...check it out!

Gallery Girl

2010-10-18T18:15:00.000-07:00

Today, once again, I am at the beautiful Gallery One at Bundall, indulging my love of ART and being paid for it! Sometimes I pinch myself that I get to paint, or discuss art, or sell gorgeous paintings all day, and that is my job. I am privileged to have such an awesome job. Don't tell my boss, but I would volunteer for this!! hahaha....no really, keep paying me...please...

Right now I am looking at an exquisite group of landscapes by Katherine Boland, and some dramatic abstracts by Conchita Carambano, and Jonathon Hayde's latest paintings have everything you'd expect from his intricate collection of images, but there is something more in these...layer upon layer of shapes and colours placed in the most interesting but harmonious ways. All of these works could be hung in the latest restaurant or in the most relaxing resort... that adaptability is an amazing quality of abstracts...

If I lived in Paris...

2010-10-04T02:09:00.000-07:00

My Photograph - Pont Neuf at Night - taken in Paris in 2006

If I lived in Paris...I would go to Ladurée Champs Elysées tonight for dessert!

I would have peppermint tea and macarrons...

http://www.laduree.fr/

Then I would stroll down to the Grand Palais and across Pont Alexander III and watch the monuments light up one by one across Paris.

2010-10-02T03:11:00.000-07:00

What Have YOU Done?

This is pretty fun. TAG if you are reading this!
(Thanks for the fun ideathe Jensens Blog)

To participate, just copy and paste in your own blog, and bold all of the things you have done.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child (no, but I was adopted!)
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty (no, but I walked to the 2nd stage of the Eiffel Tower!!
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill (my child was, so I guess it doesn't count!)
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke (in Japan and Thailand!)
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa (does Egypt count?)
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie (been on TV though!)
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a cheque
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. been snow skiing
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book (written but not yet published!)
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible (waiting for the movie to come out;)
86. Visited Canberra (parliament house)
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life (got my child to the hospital in time so someone else could!)
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Been to the Great Barrier Reef
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Seen Mount Rushmore in person
101. Learned to play an instrument (then promptly forgot again once I passed the exam!)

so there it is! I changed a couple of things to be more Aussie:)

2010-10-01T20:30:00.000-07:00

Today.... if I lived in Paris, France... I would visit the Musee D'Orsay. While I love the Louvre, and the Orangerie is my favourite gallery in Paris, I haven't visited the Musee D'Orsay since 1994. I have no idea why we didn't go there in 2006. My son would have loved it, since it was originally a train station!

If I visited the Musee D'Orsay today, I would make a beeline for the Manet's Olympia (pictured above, picture borrowed from the Musee D'Orsay website - what an amazing site - almost as good as being there....)

Today there is a concert of Brahms, Mendlesohn and Reger to complement an exhibition of Gerome's paintings. It's amazing to think that the tide turned so dramatically against the academic painters as soon as the art establishment and the wider community realised that the Impressionists et al were the future....interesting!

MUSEE D'ORSAY website --- http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/visits/welcome.html

I read Ross King's THE JUDGEMENT OF PARIS recently and the last chapter talks about the rejection of the academic art in favour of the avant garde. Perhaps now the art community and art critics are so prepared to accept anything as art...sure an upturned urinal is art...sure a shark in a tank is art....sure an unmade bed is art....because they are dead scared of turning their noses up at the next Manet (will there ever be another?) that EVERYTHING is the next big thing. Incidentally I read Tracey Emin's book 'Strangeland' recently and now I understand her work a whole lot better,,, especially the 'My Bed' installation that so impressed the Tate judges http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/turnerprize/history/1999.shtm

does art always have to be so controversial??

2010-10-01T18:21:00.000-07:00

http://www.chasingmatisse.com/

Check out this amazing book and the wonderful website that accompanies it. Whenever I am feeling a little lost as an artist, I read James' book. He manages to say so many things that light up parts of my brain, the arty parts, but also the philosophy of why we are driven to paint.

I've been a complete goose!!

2010-10-01T16:19:00.000-07:00

I can't quite believe I got so distracted from what I love about art. I travelled so far from the truth I almost couldn't find my way back. I was in the garage studio packing everything up because I need to paint the walls, and I thought, 'what if I never paint again' in a musing sort of way. It should have panicked me, made me feel sick, but it didn't. I was actually quite calm about that idea...

wrong, Christine, very, very wrong.

Where did I go wrong? I love my job - I get paid to paint! The income I earn there should free me up to paint waht I want at home...but I got to thinking that every painting I do at home has to sell, that every painting should preferably be sold before I start painting it. I swapped creativity for liquidity! passion for economy! my love for art was sold to the highest bidder! okay, enough with the drama!! So I have 2 paintings sitting on the easel that are sold, and just have to be finished off, varnished when the rain stops and hardware installed, and then I am free.

To quote my former teacher, Kevin Taylor, If every painting turns out the way you want it, then you are just not trying hard enough!

Yacht Reflection Painting wins 2 competitions on RedBubble

2010-04-12T13:37:00.001-07:00

My oil painting 'Yacht Reflection' has won two challenges recently on Redbubble. The first was the 'Got the Blues' Challenge a few weeks ago, (see the write up here - http://www.redbubble.com/painters-in-modern-times/forums/306/topics/112431-christine-betts ) and then last night it won the Wondrous Water Challenge! (write up to follow!)

I am so looking forward to getting my new work done to see how it compares, because I think my new work is 10 times better than this!

Ebay Sales

2010-04-09T15:19:00.000-07:00

Ebay

I have turned to my old friend Ebay to help me clear out the paintings that I picked up from Treasured Interiors that hadn't sold. I posted this one last night and I already have a bid, so that's exciting. It can be found at the address below.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Aqua-Pandanus-View-To-Surfers-Paradise-diptych-canvas_W0QQitemZ130381792125QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAU_Paintings?hash=item1e5b5c437d

I'm also posting an image of my new space. I will be throwing myself into this in 5 weeks as that's how long I have left at the Studio. I will have 12 months to really hook into it! John Squires got ready for his last show in 30 days! OMG! but then that's John Squires and I like hiw work, but I wonder how many people buy it for the celebrity factor? He'd be annoyed at that comment, but it's a fair comment, I think. On the easel is my latest boat. It is going well. It is very different from the last one and so much better. I am very happy with it, although now I look at the last one and I think it is so bad! How could I have thought it was so good? amazing!

great article from the Weekend Australian

2010-03-28T14:30:00.000-07:00

Very interesting article from the Australian Weeekend Magazine. would love to hear others' opinions on this!

Eyes wide shut
Christopher Allen
From: The Australian

Wilderness: Balnaves Contemporary Painting Art Gallery of Nsw, Sydney. Until May 23.
WILDERNESS, the new contemporary painting exhibition sponsored by the Balnaves Foundation at the Art Gallery of NSW, has a promising subject.

One may hope that we shall encounter artists who are looking at the world with fresh eyes, shaking off the cliches of the art school and the routines encouraged by the market.
Can all the energy generated by ecological awareness and green politics conceivably wake aspiring artists from their self-absorption, pull them out of their dreary stylistic ruts and make them face the infinite complexity, suggestiveness and ineffability of the natural environment? Not this lot. Unfortunately, Wilderness is a disappointingly obtuse collection of works whose only common thread is the overriding concern to achieve a distinctive brand identity.
Landscape has a rich history and, because its subject is ultimately the place of humanity in nature, its evolution has been intimately involved with philosophical and spiritual ideas, and with the scientific and technological changes that have objectively modified our relation to the environment.
As a distinct genre in painting, landscape emerged from the background of Renaissance pictures and attained full maturity in 17th-century Rome. One of the factors that helps explain the new authority of the genre at this time is that formal religion, for all the energy of the Counter-Reformation, was losing its monopoly on spiritual experience and nature was beginning to appear as a complementary or alternative focus for such aspirations.
From very early in the tradition, various categories of natural site had specific associations. If to most people the natural environment was associated with the hard work by which they earned their livelihood in the fields - the regular cycle of the labours of the months surround the portals of many cathedrals - the classical landscape evoked a different and harmonious communion with nature.
Bucolic verse, one of the important sources for these pictures, was inspired by the relatively leisurely life of shepherds and goatherds, in which the long hours minding their animals are passed in music and singing, usually about love and its vicissitudes; the pastoral landscape is infused with eroticism and melancholy.
In contrast, a landscape of wilderness was imagined from the beginning in poetry and from very early in painting.
Unlike the pastoral world, uninhabited forests and mountains tend to be associated with virginity (hunting, the main activity associated with such localities, seems to be symbolically the antithesis of lovemaking in mythology); Christian ascetics retire to the wilderness, or the desert as it used to be called, to abjure the flesh and meditate on other-worldly matters.
Wilderness was one of the canonical varieties of classical landscape in the 17th century, represented above all by Salvator Rosa. The romantic period, fascinated by the darkness that lies beyond reason, found it above all in those terrifying and thrilling subjects that were called sublime: the ocean, mountains, avalanches, volcanic eruptions or great storms.
What inspires classical and romantic landscapes is the same thing: the sense of the life of nature and the desire to capture that living presence. It is not a matter of merely sentimental response to the environment but an intimation of something outside ourselves, yet potentially connected.
The experience can be interpreted in psycho-physiological or theological terms. Inherently, however, it is a purely ontological intuition, whether it takes the specific affective form of beauty (in the classical mode) or terror (in the romantic). But is there any sense of beauty or terror in the pictures gathered in the present exhibition? Unfortunately, the answer is that there is very little, if any, of either because the artists are too wrapped up in their own stylistic games, too self-enclosed, to be open to anything that is so radically other.
What we see here is each individual desperately trying to create a signature style.
This premature demand for a distinctive look can be a terrible trap for young artists. They find themselves in a dead-end: producing a saleable product, but one that is limited and formulaic, offering no way forward. Mary Scott is a good example: she paints monochrome pictures based on a display of birds in the Natural History Museum in London. Having found this one idea, no further thought is required.
Exacerbating the mental laziness of such work is its reliance on photography; time and again, it is not painting we are looking at but a painted-up version of a photographic image, which the artist may not even have taken. Indeed, there is added kudos in working with found images. The trouble with this kind of work is that the real intelligence of the painter is articulated in the act of painting, or more precisely in its many stages, from planning a composition to executing the nuances of form, tone and colour. When artists copy photographs, there is no more immanent intelligence in their work than in house painting; and when they try to disguise the banality of their material, they never achieve more than painterly effects and gimmicks.
Thus Fiona Lowry reproduces photographic images of nature or of figures in faint pastel colours that are meant to make them prettier and imbue them with significance. Daniel Boyd copies pictures of zebras and lions in an illustrative style and adds cutesy captions to imbue them with political connotations; it oozes arch self-satisfaction.
Julie Fragar is on to a good thing, copying photographs of blokes with the animals they've shot; and when the result is too boring, she can always add words over the top. Stephen Bush has an illustrator's talent that he tries to camouflage with deliberate ugliness, combining kitsch images and executing them in lurid poster colours. Over all this he pours a kind of Dale Frank sauce of painterly excess, but the result is neither convincing nor appetising.
Among those who can paint, Louise Hearman is a curious case. Her early work, a couple of decades ago, was striking, but she seems to lack confidence in her ability to think in painterly terms; perhaps afraid of looking old-fashioned, she falls back too often on trivial or even ludicrous conceits. As for Del Kathryn Barton, she has gone so far down the path of eccentricity, mannerism and an almost hysterical self-indulgence that the work has come to resemble outsider art.
James Morrison, with his quasi-naive love of minute detail, almost falls into the same category but is saved by a sincere, if obsessive, passion and quirky humour.
The case of Tony Clark is rather more complex because he has richer material to deal with than hand-me-down effects borrowed piecemeal from contemporary stars such as Gerhard Richter and their local epigones. He has one series based on the figures from the Portland Vase that the catalogue compares with breathtaking silliness to the act of the vandal who attacked the vase in the British Museum in 1845.
Clark's pictures are not an act of vandalism of his source. They are playing with rediscovering the actions of the vase by setting them in imaginary landscapes.
Also by Clark is a sequence of landscape sketches from a series called Myriorama. It was inspired by an early 19th-century game in which cards with landscape elements and a common horizon could be joined together to make a variety of compositions.
It is striking that there is more irresistible evocation of the life of nature in these little images, even though they are derived from a debased and cliched use of the classical language and clumsily repainted by Clark, than in anything else in the exhibition.
Apart from this echo that reaches us across the centuries, the only other pictures in which we feel the pulse of life are those of Andrew Browne. The painterly surface of his pictures is profoundly unattractive, but he manipulates the forms of trees and rocks in a way that is expressive and based on an understanding of the inner life of these things. In better company, his work would be more impressive.
The rest of the works in the exhibition are inherently incapable of conveying any sense of that ontological recognition of being that is the experience of nature.
Introverted in sensibility and trapped in sterile, self-referential stylistic routines, they are the embodiment of narcissism and alienation. There is not a breath of the life of nature here, much less the thrill of wilderness.
How can anyone take this work seriously? It is by virtue of the spurious dichotomy - enshrined in the secondary art curriculum - between conceptual practice and material practice. Whatever one thinks of this separation in other domains, it is particularly inappropriate in art.
It means, in practice, a fundamental depreciation of the integrated and concrete kind of intelligence that is proper to art. It allows the artist to omit all the profound work of picturing the world, use shortcuts such as photography, concentrate on creating a brand look, then fill the deficit of meaning by claiming there is some political or theoretical motive behind the work.
Sales patter aside, the distinction between conceptual and material practice is simply nonsense.
The bad news for the painters of Wilderness is that art isn't easy after all.
You have to work a bit harder than that to make paintings that will be striking, memorable and enduring. And to make landscapes, you have to look at a world beyond your own uncomfortable yet exquisite interstices.

2010-03-26T16:10:00.000-07:00

This is the winner of the Sulman Prize... interesting.

I may have done my best to lose my job yesterday. I asked to be told whether I still had a job...not too much to ask?

my new studio is my old studio is my garage...

2010-03-24T02:40:00.001-07:00

recent work - Ultra-Close-Up Kombi!
- prints available on Redbubble.com

There might just be some Arts jobs going on the Gold Coast in a few years.
Sahba Abedian of Sunland Group http://www.sunlandgroup.com.au/ is a huge advocate of the arts and art plays a vital role in all his marvellous projects, (in fact some of my own artwork graces the walls of his projects!) and he has been quoted in the paper discussing the importance for the Gold Coast to develop a more cultural side. Shannon Willoughby followed up on Mr Abedian's Saturday story in the paper (I have NEVER bought the GC Bulletin on a weekday...that must tell you how passionate I am about the subject) today and I wholeheartedly agree, naturally. It starts this way - with intelligent people discussing it..., then next comes the fabulous building (just take a look at the GoMA in BrisVegas!! WOW!)and then down the track, art follows. It might take a few generations but at least the people that are in a position to do something regard art as being a worthwhile pursuit. I will be watching for any developments!

I've moved my painting studio into the garage. it was a move that had to happen as my house was just a mess all the time. The boys didn't mind, but I did. I have erected an elaborate plastic sheeting arrangement to hopefully keep the dust and debris off my work...shall remain to be seen how much dust gets in. I left my newest work (another reflection on the water) done in oil, out in the sun today. What a wonderful thing that was...very dry glaze but quite a number of insects met their demise. I'll upload a photo tomorrow.

God, I want more confidence in my work. I can't even fake it til I make it! I know the better my work gets, the more confidence I'll have, so I just keep on plugging away at it. More painting tomorrow...

I start my B.A. Visual Arts/Art History on the 15th of May and I am gearing up for my exhibition next year. It will coincide with my 40th birthday and will keep me working towards something. Holy Shit...and I am going to Italy and Paris next September so the exhibition will be the beginning of things for me. Now that's faking it til I make it!! Yay!! Go Me!! now back to the books....
see you tomorrow:)

another day...

2010-03-18T18:01:00.001-07:00

another wonderful product from Redbubble. Art postcards!

more paintings going to the gallery today

2010-01-31T16:15:00.001-08:00

all of these are 30cm x 15cm and I am dropping them off at the Kirra Treasured Interiors today and starting work of more. I am working on some to show my art director at the firm I work for...so wish me luck!
xx

more paintings sold!

2010-01-08T13:36:00.000-08:00

SOLD AND SOLD!

My Zazzle Store - nice to wake up to a couple of Sales!

2009-12-06T12:36:00.000-08:00

See my store at Zazzle

I have sold 100 of these cards (personalised by the purchaser!) in Zazzle. How exciting to wake up and find an email telling me I have sold something! Nice! I wonder if they will be used as invitation for a wedding? How lovely...

what do I really want out of all of this?

2009-11-27T05:21:00.000-08:00

the arch - oil on canvas

A very wise friend of mine recently reminded me that we need to let the universe know what we want so that we get what we want...now I am not 100% sure that we get what we want, but I do know for certain that we get what we need...what we need to learn, to grow, to be fully what we decided we wanted to be before we forgot...

but just in case we are meant to get what we want...I have been asking myself, what do I really want from my art, a career? a diversion? to leave my mark? fame? I have always been an artist, but for a long time I was a painter that didn't paint, and a writer that didn't write...then one day, the pain of not painting, and not writing, got worse than the pain of actually doing those things...so I sat down and wrote my novel (18 months of hard work, and it is 1000's of words long, but needs an epic re-write and editing session...) and I picked up that paint brush...

what I can say? What I can say unequivocally, is that painting, no, art, is my passion...I can't descibe the drive that makes us paint... is it primeval? is it the ultimate arrogance that we think others want to see what's going on inside our heads...make them see what we see when we open our eyes? Is it why I am here? to paint the reflection of boats on the water...the way sunlight hits the Arc de Triomphe in the August heat? Can it really be that simple?

Well, just in case we really do get what we ask for, I am going to tell the universe right here and now what I want from my art, from my life. I have a wonderful husband and a fabulous son, family and friends, my health and a home and I am already an artist. I am so blessed!

And now...I want to take this ride as far as it will go! I want success as an artist...and I define that by the number of paintings I am making and selling to those who want them. I am not trying to make statements or to be provocative...I just want to make pictures and sell them to people who love them!

I want the whole box and dice here...I want to travel with my art...to France...to the USA...to Spain...I want to sell a lot of paintings and be sought out by collectors...I don't want to be rich and famous, but I want enough money so I can do all the things I want to do and help my family. I want to do the work that I want to do...make the art that comes bubbling out of me...and I want to be a role model for other women and for my son...to live out his passion for music and take that ride as far as it will go.

so there you have it...is that my prayer? my offering up to the universe a shopping list for success as an artist? This is the first time in my life that I have had the guts to really ask for something! and I really believe that this will happen, that it is already happening. this year has been such a rush of firsts and achievements. In April I was miserable working in a Bathroom showroom...doing a great job but in a funk. I didn't have time to paint and it was driving me nuts! I decided enough was enough and left and within the last 7 months I am now a full time artist earning a living from my art...and now I just gotta think...bigger...!

my paintings in an advert in the paper!!

2009-11-12T02:05:00.001-08:00

Imagine my surprise when I was browsing the

local paper and noticed this advert for Treasured Interiors. right in the back of the picture, my little paintings can be seen (little rectangles of blue!) all of these have since sold, but it is exciting to see them in the paper! I have some new ones to go in there tomorrow!

my kombi painting at Treasured Interiors, Kirra

2009-11-08T12:34:00.000-08:00

We took a wander down to Kirra to check out the inaugural KirraStock festival. We had to make a stop at Treasured Interiors to see my paintings. They only have one at the moment and there it was sitting out the front (on the table between the two Adirondak chairs). Thanks Deb! we also got to meet Sammy (staff) and Bambi (cutest dog in the world). I am so excited to have my work for sale at Treasured Interiors and I am working on numerous small canvasses at the moment that should be in the shop at Currumbin by Friday!

The Taupe Kombi van...aaahhh...

2009-10-12T02:39:00.000-07:00

This week I painted another Kombi van, just for something different... This time inspired by my employers' search for a kombi. I have painted a few kombis now, but this one was a pleasure to paint! I love this colour and coupled with the experience of painting a sign for my employers' holiday rental property I had a change of plan with the colour scheme - from bright Aqua coloured van and blue blue sky, I went to the light side - taupe for the van and a dusty dirtied-off sapphire blue for the sky with a pandanus palm masquerading as a pony tail palm in the corner. I think I still need to deepen the shadows...and I just spotted a little error somewhere that I need to fix before it goes to the gallery, but I am not going to tell you!!

45 cm x 90 cm - gouache (acrylic) on canvas

Julie/Julia - my new favourite movie...well top 3 anyway

2009-10-11T05:00:00.000-07:00

I saw a movie today. Julie/Julia with Meryl Streep and Amy Adams. An excellent movie with depth and a message but also a thoroughly enjoyable watch. My cousin Rose and I sat there laughing and getting a little teary eyed as Ms. Streeps Julia Child showed us how to 'bloom where you're planted' and make lemonade out of life's lemons. She was unable to have kids and it obviously hurt (when here sister became pregnant even moreso), but she lived with such joy, loved her husband with such passion and cooked with gusto. But the best thing about this movie (and hopefully it was true to the real Mrs Child), she was unashamedly real. She didn't give two thoughts to waht other's thought of her, but she was kind and real and in the words of her husband, Paul, she brought out the best in everyone, even the French. She loved Paris, loved to cook, loved to make love, and loved life. The sheer joy of this movie has stayed with me all afternoon and I have nearly finished another painting - (a taupe kombi van!) hopefully photos uploaded tomorrow.

Now to my next project, well a simulaneous project; my book. Entitled - From there to here: Via Paris. I am in the process of an epic edit and re-write. Re structuring the whole book away from my survival of illness and the loss of my first husband more towards a joyful tale of my trips to Paris (past and future!!) - the adventures I had there in the past as a young, single woman, as a newlywed and as a mother, and in the future as an artist and mother of a musician. I want to bring people joy and lightness and happiness and beauty and passion and laughter and brightness and love and did I mention joy?

Below is one of my life drawing sketches done with Charcoal and pastel. I am quite proud of the energy in this one. It was a quick sketch - probably a 5 minute pose.

2009-10-08T17:51:00.000-07:00

Two Hands/One Heart

Christine Betts

Charcoal on Paper

This work can now be seen on Sarah Bentvelzen's Website at http://www.sarahbentvelzen.com/rich_text_33.html

along with many other lovely images by other emerging artists.

Thanks so much to Sarah for giving me this opportunity!

Of course all my work is available to see and purchase (prints, cards, calendars, etc)

on my Redbubble site

and please contact me directly for commissions and to purchase originals.

2009-10-05T00:45:00.001-07:00

A recent Oil on canvas done of the Currumbin Alley for my friends, Paul and Louisa. I have recently touched up the clouds but other than that this is the finished product.

below is some info on the Cite des Arts residency programme in Paris that I hope to be eligible for in a couple of years.

http://pagesperso-orange.fr/citedesarts/cite-internationale-des-arts-english-presentation.html

I am getting my passion back! I am dreaming about Paris every night (must be the books I am reading!) and my painting is going very well. Not only am I painting at work, but also painting at home. I am completing a few realist paintings (kombis etc) but I am about to embark on a new phase of landscapes and impressionist style work, keeping the super-real stuff for my boats. I am intending on entering the Brisbane Artists Academe scholarship show. I just have to get in and get stuff in shows...

My son is going very well with his cello, so I am sure when the time comes for me to head to Paris for my residency, he will be able to accompany me and attend some classes etc.

I finally have a zazzle shop!

2009-10-04T13:30:00.000-07:00

Check out my new Zazzle shop for all your Christmas present buying!

At left is a mouse-mat you can buy for your computer with my charcoal drawing Two Hands/One Heart printed on it.

There are so many other items available too - from t-shirts to cards, to key-rings and even hats!

Enjoy!!

http://www.zazzle.com/writerpainter

Sales!!

2009-09-10T23:30:00.001-07:00

Marnie sold 6 paintings for me!!! woo hoo!! thanks Marnie:):)

yes, I am still here...

2009-08-27T15:02:00.001-07:00

what a ride it has been! the last 2 months have been so busy but I have to admit, I have been remiss in not updating here. The new job is going very well and we are just about set to embark on our huge project - supplying the art work for numerous new resorts! It is so exciting! - it has affected my ability to focus on my own painting at home though but I just have to remain focussed on the prize - to spend a month in Paris in 2011, painting and writing and brushing up on my French! I am still selling my little realist paintings down at Treasured Interiors at Currumbin Beach on the esplanade - and Marnie is such a great ambassador for my work:)

so much has happened...

2009-07-12T14:12:00.000-07:00

Life certainly takes us in all sorts of interesting places, and it is with great excitement that I tell you about my new work with a great firm here on the Gold Coast. Well, I can't say too much, but I am very excited to be working for an Interior Design firm, creating artwork for their projects. I will still be doing my own work, but I am viewing this as an apprenticeship of sorts, so in a way I am being paid to learn. Jobs like this come around once in a blue moon, and I have to that the wonderful Colleen Sutton at Cutter's Art Supplies on Currumbin Creek Road, Currumbin, for putting my name forward to my new bosses!

thanks Colleen!!

I have been doing a little bit of work. Terrible photo but it shows the gist of what I am doing here. Was thinking of entering the John Flynn Show with this one. I have to enter by Wednesday so better get moving on that!

Below is a widget for the Gold Coast group I am co-hosting on Redbubble. Check it out! You can buy prints, cards and t-shirts designed by amazing GC artists and photographers.

So there you have it! You are up to date. well, kinda...have a great week:)

2009-06-22T15:19:00.000-07:00

2009-06-22T15:14:00.000-07:00

http://www.redbubble.com/people/christinebetts/calendars/3285669-2-gold-coast-icons

I have created a number of calendars over at Redbubble.com (see the link above) They cost $26.40 plus postage from Redbubble, but orders of 4 or more calendars (same or different style, even different artists) attract free postage I believe!

Exciting news this week. I sold a t-shirt on Redbubble. My first sale! See the image at the top!! woohoo!!

2009-06-17T18:20:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness this is a shocking photo of me but what the heck!! I did this painting as a bit of a test for me to see if I could just replicate someone's brief. I am happy with the result.

;)

I have been researching the Cite des Arts site and feel I have a decent shot at applying even if it is direct and not with a grant from the Australian Government. I have found out to apply for a grant you need to have graduated from a fine arts degree (I have not) and I am not controversial enough I don't think!!

2009-06-17T00:56:00.000-07:00

Breaking News - I have been given the opportunity to do a trial run for a Studio here on the Gold Coast that will 'apprentice' me if they are happy with the trial. It reminds me of times past when art stundents and wannabe artists would join the 'atelier' of an established artist and produce artwork 'In the School of'. Now many of these artists obviously passed into obscurity, but every well known artist during the renaissance and many of those that came after, right up to the Impressionists and probably beyond, came from an atelier. I have been looking for ways to learn more about art, but did not want to go to 'art school' yet, as like a lot of other painting mums, I feel I can't really give it my full focus until the Boy is a bit older. Anyway, wish me luck with the trial...I have been painting today and doing quite a good 'abstract landscape' I usually want to 'see' something figurative in the image.

My painting today has been to the stirring and uplifting strains of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata...exqusite music!

My paintings hanging in Treasured Interiors at Currumbin

2009-06-14T02:51:00.001-07:00

I am so excited by the lovely display of my artwork
at Treasured Interiors at Currumbin on the
Esplanade.

They are right above the desk and unmissable.
It is so great to have my work out there for people
to see and buy!

The ladies at Treasured Interiors have the most
wonderful taste (and not just because they have my
paintings hanging in there...). They have incredible
homewares and furniture but can renovate your whole house or apartment for you! Amazing I know.

I went to the Coolangatta markets on the beach front today to do a bit of 'recon' and I think it would be a goer to take some of the small paintings, cards, t-shirts, and the laminated prints would be great.

I have been working on a large oil and it is coming together beautifully. It is important to approach these things fearlessly...it's only a painting after all!!

Fingers Crossed that the other shop will have had the other 6 paintings hanging all weekend and they've all sold!
Have a great creative week, everyone!
;)

welcome to my new 'followers'

2009-06-10T00:25:00.000-07:00

hey hey, how exciting. four people want to know about my art!! Thanks so much for your interest!
So, today I wandered in and met the amazing Pelita at a wonderful little place in Mermaid. Now the chop next door is The Mermaid Beach store of Sea-life, an amazing place (also at Palm Beach) that has sea-inspired home and gift wares and hopefully my paintings hanging there by the end of tomorrow! wish me luck!!
I am being choosy about where I put them as I think they will work in certain shops and I want 'work' with like minded people who won't rip me off. I am folowing my instincts every step of the way with this.
But having said that, I was having a minor panic today as the car service etc has cost me over $1000 in the past week. These things have to be done and the car has had no work other than services in the 2 and 1/2 years I've had it, so I can't complain too much, can i? But I have to get moving on this and will begin markets sooner rather than later. although I might be putting the cart before the horse on this one, as my goal was to commence in September. I don't like the markets on the coast and the early start times just don't agree with my delicate constitution and my love of all things doonah!! anyway, will pop down and see the market at Cooly on Sunday and see if it is for me???
Happy Art-ing Everyone!!!

2009-06-08T23:17:00.000-07:00

One of my latest paintings. It is 30cm x 20cm and acrylic on canvas. It along with many others are available at Treasured Interiors at Currumbin Beach. The phone number is 5536 5233 and they are located on the esplanade at Currumbin, right next door to the Deck Cafe which has lovely coffee, awesome vegetarian turkish bread and a great view of the beach. Just pop in and see the lovely girls there and they will help you.

2009-06-07T03:28:00.000-07:00

well people, I sold a painting today...very happy! Thanks to the gorgeous Deb down at Treasured Interiors at Currumbin. Deb is an amazing woman who doesn't take no for an answer and is blazing a successful trail even when others are closing their doors and crying in their beer. She is a role model for me.

I have also uploaded some great new works onto Redbubble so check them out:) http://www.redbubble.com/people/christinebetts

2009-06-01T02:18:00.000-07:00

wow, today was a mammoth painting day and i'm happy with the output

my Pandore collection is coming along quite nicely. The canvases can be mixed and matched to each person's taste. I am rapt with the collection so far:)

2009-05-29T20:30:00.001-07:00

great new art gallery on the GC opening this Friday night
http://www.antheapolsonart.com.au/index.php
see them on Facebook too.

2009-05-29T13:59:00.001-07:00

I found this great website that helps you create a business plan
http://www.theartrepreneur.com/career_planning/overview.asp

business plan

2009-05-29T13:26:00.001-07:00

yesterday afternoon I started (and got a good way through) my business plan. I read on Tracey Keller's (google her, what a great artist and inspiration!) website that she prepares them for artists and most don't action them. So mike helped me write mine up and will help me action it too, because he wants me to succeed almost as much as I want to succeed. I have done 3 month, 6 month and 12 month and while I need to work on the 12 month one and a little on the 6 month, the 3 month is underway, even though I have started it from June, so I am getting a head start. I have also broken the week up into manageable pieces, with 2 solid painting days - Monday to get the week off to a flying start and Thursday, from 8-30 to 2-30. and factoring in a class once a week at least. I am going to try a new lady teacher this week on wednesday, to see how she is. I am going to work on the large oil paintings in class. I am in a 7 year, but I have to remember that I did start all this stuff back in 2001 and even before that...I just have really hit it since moving here in 2007. Number 6 houses are great for creativity.

Quote for the day -

You can't cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water.

-- Rabindranath Tagore

don't want to go the way of Vincent

2009-05-25T01:23:00.000-07:00

just watched a dvd on Vincent Van Gogh...and oh boy, the idea of trying to get a group of artists happening and getting my own career happening scares me....it is what I want most in the world is to be a successful artist, and I have to put aside this fear. I think what held Vincent back most of all was his mental illness, not his ability as an artist. Also, I am the most boring house wife, I'd never be tempted to cut part of my ear off and send it to a prostitute...mmmm....

art is life

2009-05-24T23:29:00.000-07:00

okay, so here is my blog. I am not so sure about what to write, but the intention is to diarise my journey from being a basically self taught artist through to the hopefully eventual result of success. This is probably coming across as quite niave, after all I am a woman of a certain age and have a family...but therein lies what might interest others. I am not a fashionable young artist, I have not attended art school and as I have just said, I am a mum and housewife. I am attempting to not only develop my own art, but to also develop a group of women painters to exhibit together and support one another. I will also be attending the Southbank Lifestyle markets soon, with a combination of original artworks, prints and art products like mugs and t-shirts.

below is a sales widget from my redbubble site:)