Ready...Steady....

9 little sketches, a triptych, and 7 A2 watercolour paintings have been selected to feature in my upcoming group show “A Mese Három Arca”, opening in one week’s time in Győr. I will be exhibiting along two other very talented young women, similarly working with themes from Hungarian stories and fairytales. I have exhibited with Farkas Zsuzsi twice now, and I’m delighted to be showing with her again!

Here are my lovelies, awaiting matt-board cutting and frames. I won’t see them again till the 20^th!

In other news relating to exhibitions: the very next day one of my works will feature in the "Téli Tárlat" Exhibition, on show at the Napoleon House in Győr. I will get to personally accompany the illustrations I create for the Children's Book Illustration Salon held in Poznan, Poland during the 3-5th of February. And finally, the date for my Solo Exhibition at the Eszterházi Palace (the main building of the Museum of Fine Art in Győr) has been penciled in for the 4^th of May – a most auspicious day for me, as that is my name day! Which also means my return date to Australia will be postponed till after that. Until then, I continue to live the life of a full-time bludger, I mean…. Artist!

Illustration Salon

In early February a few of my watercolours will be traveling further abroad to feature in the annual Children’s Book Illustration Salon held in Poznań, Poland. Fellow Győr illustrator Farkas Zsuzsi and I were selected to represent Győr and Hungary at the Salon with roughly 4 illustrations each, relating to the children’s story written by Janusz Korczak titled“I. Matykó Király” in Hungarian, (or the original Polish version: Król Macius pierwszy, Nasza Ksiegarnia, Warszawa, 1955.) The Poles are renowned for their high quality Children's Book Illustrations, so this is a wonderful opportunity for us! (edit: Apparently, I might get to go!)

In English, the story title would translate perhaps as “King Matty I.” and it is the story of a young prince who suddenly becomes King at the passing of his father. I’m desperately reading snippets for inspiration, as we do not have very long to complete the illustrations themselves, seeing as the Salon will be held between the 3^rd and 5^th of February! Hopefully I will squeeze in a quick photo shoot with my young muse early this coming week so that I can get to work!

The size specified is a little larger than I have ever worked on. Since my desk is not big enough to accommodate this scale, I’ve moved my “workspace” to the wall beside my bed. Now I can truly say I just stay in bed all day!

Beautiful Secrets

The working title for this piece was “Remorse”. However, as I neared completion she began to look less and less remorseful, so I gave her the title of one of Sarah Blasko’s songs instead, “Beautiful Secrets”.

I managed to get my greedy hands on a beautiful ornate frame, and it feels incredibly decadent to have one of my paintings framed like this. If I could have my way, all my paintings would be exhibited with such glorious frames at my solo show later this year… but alas, I would need a small fortune!

Pastel Presents

 

 Little portraits on their way to new homes....

Customer Appreciation

A wonderful little lady who purchased one of my prints sent me these darling photographs she took when "Fireflies in the Marsh" arrived. I liked them so much I thought I'd share!

Thank you Annina, you're an angel!

 

Framed and Hung

Visitors to the Szalai Restaurant in Győr, Hungary can now dine in the presence of my painting... even the soup matches! The wait-staff get a kick out of it, so I am thrilled!

A precious gift....

Right before Christmas, far from home, family and friends, I was pleasantly surprised with a wonderful gift. Even though I knew to expect a package from far away, I was still caught unawares when I un-wrapped a beautiful portrait drawn for me by artist Astera Torralba.

I received it on a day when I had just seen snow for the first time in my life. I’d had a spout of illness and troubles in the weeks beforehand, yet on this day a calm and tranquility settled upon my soul, and I was perfectly happy.The detail she infused this piece with is intricate and obviously a work of love, I am very very humbled to have received such a wonderful gift! She writes a beautiful post about the process on her blog, here.

 Thank you dear Astera!