Finally finished Merida

Well, you may remember the Brave poster I drew back in April 2012, well I lost it at one point, then I found it, then I put off finishing it off. But today I finally decided to finish it because I didn't want to look back on it and regret not finishing it so maybe I'll get back into drawing again... If I can find anything I want to draw...

The scanner made it really really bright so some of the colours look a bit fluoro but oh well.

If you have any suggestions for me to draw please let me know either here, on my tumblr or on my twitter. Remember I drew this 2 years ago so my drawing skill may be slightly improved since then. Then again maybe not much. Even though I didn't execute the drawing very well I'm still proud of it since I don't often draw and I only started drawing in colour a few years ago.

I'm so sorry I didn't post any photos of the Easter Show and I haven't posted for ages but the longer I I didn't post the more nervous I got about posting as I'm sure if you are a blogger you can understand. Plus I didn't really have anything interesting to write about but hopefully when I've gotten myself sorted there will be more blog posts. And if it's any consolation, the Easter Show this year turned out to be not as fun as I was hoping for it to be. We ended up not going on many rides. It's really hard when your going with a large a group of people because everybody wants to do different things and sometimes you have to do things other people want instead of what you want. Anyway, hopefully the next time I go it will be more fun. Well anyway, on Sunday I went to a painting workshop at the Art Gallery of NSW held by painter Peter O'Doherty. He was very nice and even though painting isn't my strong point I still got through the day and had fun. Well I'm not a very good painter but here is one of the things I painted

Although I wasn't very good at it and I was in a room full of older women who were practically proffessionals in comparison, I have been inspired to do some more painting of my own and so this afternoon I bought some canvases and brushes and this weekend I'm going to get some more acrylic paints.

Well on the agenda for this month is a four week workshop at the Museum of Contemporary Art at Circular Quay. It is on Thursdays starting this week and I'm slightly nervous but king of excited at the same time. I don't know what we will be doing but apparently "Teens will experiment with unconventional approaches to expressing their creativity whilst applying contemporary techniques and concepts using a range of unusual materials" so I am slightly curious and nervous about that.

Then I've got Work Experience which everyone in Year 10 must do. Don't get me wrong I want to do it but I've been having trouble finding a place. I don't think I'll be able to find a place that is in the same kind of career path I'm thinking of for the future so I might just have to work at a local business which I don't mind it's just a shame is all.

Also, I'm excited for Maleficent which has come out now and I plan to watch it with my cousin. I don't want to get too worked up about it though otherwise I may get disappointed coming out of the movie. I will probably enjoy it more watching it with my cousin though :) What movies are you excited for? Do you have someone you enjoy watching movies and spending time with?

Fashion drawing by Hayden Williams

Anyway that's all from me, hope you've all been having an okay term. My half yearly exams ended last week so thank goodness for that. I hope if you are a student that you did okay in your exams or good luck if they are coming up! Other than that, be happy, be merry, be whatever you think you should be, remember, smile and the world smiles with you so lift your chin up and enjoy the day. Don't wish you had done things different, just do them now.


Lots of love,
Jody xoxo

Melinda Young's Natural Material Jewellery Workshop

Hey guys,
I meant to post this last Saturday because last week I attended Mel's jewellery workshop with found natural materials at the Botanic Gardens. The reason I am only writing about it now is because I left my camera at my cousin's place and couldn't get it until this weekend which was a bit annoying.

Unfortunately the lighting was really bad in there so I didn't really get any photos. However you can see some of the fabulous jewellery made on the day on Mel's Instagram (@unnaturaljeweller). It was a wonderful day. I got a bit overwhelmed though as I always do. Even though we had the whole day to work, I still felt the pressure of what should I do? Should I try out some techniques? Use tools I'm not able to at home? What idea should I try out? What should I do first and will I be wasting time? Very stressful indeed but I did get like two pieces of jewellery out of it and started one. There's so much more I want to do though, I really want to make jewellery with chopped up pieces of wood. I realy want to make something like Mel's 'Aborescence' piece, with both natural and unnatural pieces. She has not made a blog post about the day as she has not really been blogging for a while. Bloggin is one of those things that you feel you should do but don't seem to have the time for it. Mel is quite busy and trying to keep in order blogs, Instagram, work and family can be quite tiring sometimes. I do try and encourage her to blog when I see her so maybe hopefully she will start blogging again sometime soon.

Although I didn't get any people pictures due to the poor lighting and me not asking to open the blinds (just one of those things you really regret not doing), I did still get some nature shots as we were in the beautiful Botanic Gardens which, if you don't know what I'm talking about, is in Sydney next to The Art Gallery of NSW.  My cousin and I walked around for a little bit but it's just so big that we only did a small loop because we wanted to get back to jewellery making and we couldn't really find any gum nut type trees if you know what I mean.

Anyway, it was a great day, the weather was nice and the jewellery making was fun. As always I wish I got more out of it. I was a little tired and so that made it hard to concentrate which made even more stressed out and gosh I am really stressed out. I don't think I can stand another week of school, I need a holiday, now.

Well I hope none of you are really anxious, conflicted, stressed or drained although you probably are feeling one or more of those things if you've been going to school or working. I must say Year 10 is harder than the previous years have been. I'm in all the top classes too which doesn't help because the teachers expect so much of us, move really fast in the topic and give us tonnes of extension work and homework. They're all trying to prepare you for senior years and what not. Anyway I should probably do some homework now I guess...

Jody

Melinda Young Jewellery Workshop

Book for Melinda Young's workshop at the Botanical Gardens!

Aborescence – neckpiece by Melinda Young

All the information is in the link but basically it's a full day workshop at the Botanical Gardens making lovely jewellery from natural materials i.e. gumnuts, wood etc. with the lovely contemporary jeweller, Melinda Young! Morning tea and lunch is included. Bookings are essential. It'll be a great day and even if you can't come, please spread the word around so it doesn't have to be cancelled because it would be a real shame if that were the case. By the way I'm pretty sure it is meant to be for adults.

You can visit Mel on her blog, website, facebook page or instagram. I'm not exactly sure where you can see her work right now but lots more information in the links!

Thank you!

Jody

Weaving workshop with Michelle Morcos

Some wonderful baskets by Michelle Morcos

Starting off....

Getting the hang of it...

Early Christmas lunch with Melinda Young.
My basket to the left, Mel's basket to the right.
So much fun!

Finished product (Not finished very well though..)

Check out Michelle's blog here --> http://www.tinytrappings.com/

Sorry the photos are really bad quality. I took them with my iTouch.

Jody

What I've been up to lately...

Here are some pics of what I've done recently

'Sturt desert pea' neclace I made

Cupcakes I decorated at a a cupcake decorating workshop

'Lavender' brooch I made at Melinda Young's (my aunt's)
workshop at Craft Punk, Powerhouse Museum, December 1st

Jody