What a ride. We have been sick for weeks!
I have to admit, I’m kinda struggling. In the last 6 weeks my family have had:
Whooping Cough (despite being vaccinated) – (Beetson and I)
Pneumonia (me)
Ambulance Call out for asthma attack + nebuliser (me)
Influenza A requiring a hospitalisation and a trip to urgent care (Me and Chad)
Vomiting every 30 mins overnight (Beetson, and now I have an upset stomach so I’m typing this hoping I’m not about to start projectile vomiting…)
Otherwise, it has been a busy few months for work.
Here’s what I’ve been up to in a nutshell:
- Working on Secret Illustration Project no.1
- Working on Secret Illustration Project no.2
- Working on no longer Secret Illustration Project no.3
- Painting Flowers
- Applying for grants, exhibitions and entering prizes
- Getting into the Doyle’s Art Award
- Preparing for the upcoming launch of my NFTs which features 2 years worth of work!
A little more on each, below.
I had a blast creating this bespoke poster design for the kids show Fritz at Melbourne Comedy Festival. So much fun creating these characters and hand lettering!
Unfortunately I can’t yet reveal anything at all about the other 2 top secret illustration projects I’ve been working on! But I promise you’ll be the first to know once all is public.
In between these projects I have been working on a new series of flower paintings. This 2-part series draws inspiration from the amazing book: “Mangroves To Mountains” by Denis Cox, Jan Glazebrook and Glenn Leiper, and focuses on native species from the area known by our first nations as Yugambeh Country – the land upon which I am lucky enough to live. The first 4 paintings begin with flower species from the beach and dunes, moving accross to the hinterland via the saltwater mangroves, freshwater flowers, grasslands and onto the mountains, with the final two paintings to focus on the eucalypts and rainforests. It is a true celebration of my wonderful home. The series is titled: “Flowers on Yugambeh Country” to remind us all of our first nations, the traditional owners of this land.
One of the paintings: “Flowers on Yugambeh Country i: Coastal Dunes” Was shortlisted for The Doyle’s Art Award in Mudgeerabah (unfortunately my little family was too sick to attend the exhibition but our lovelty friend Kim made it down and took this photo in situe).
I’m hoping to exhibit this series once finished, watch this space for all news! For now, don’t forget you can purchase hand-detailed unique prints from my In bloom series here.
Please go to https://arkpia.com/ and follow them on socials to hear everything about our imminent release of NFTs – my first and only release of digital art. I have been working on this series for 2 whole years and it has been a total labour of love. Inspired by the song “Seventeen” by Sharon Van Etten, the 3 series of NFTs look at 3 integral stages of my life:
– childhood
– my early 20s when I was starting out as an artist
– me now, as an artist and mum
I used my 9 year old niece Etta and her 21 year old cousin Grace as my models for younger Sarah, and you’ll see so many clues to my life and loves in every hair style, piece of clothing and accessory in each piece.
They will soon be released to buy and some of the NFTs will be very affordable, ranging to much more pricey depending on the rarity of each piece. Above is a tantalising tshirt design that is only available to NFT buyers.
Etta as young Sarah.
Grace as Sarah in her 20s.
Sarah as Sarah now.
Sometimes, when you are at your most worn out and exhausted, you need to put on your best Romance Was Born dress and take a moment for yourself. The Dress below in full.
TTFN, love. health, flowers and rainbows xxxxxxxxx
