Winter time.

Two wintery drawings inspired by the cold, and the excitement of warmth and growth ahead.

x

Thanks.

My gorgeous friend Kyla is one of those people whose warmth and joy permeates a room (and embraces you in a curly-headed hug). In her life and art practice she explores mindfulness and the beauty of nature with a lightness and playfulness that feel like a deep breath of fresh air. (You can see some of her peaceful images and thoughts here.)

Recently she took up the challenge of sharing things that she is grateful for, and asked me to do the same. I have been wanting to something like this for a while, I know that actively practising gratitude and actually making a habit of it is one of the simplest ways to recognise the good things already there, rather than falling into the sticky trap of always wanting more..because as the quote goes "Gratitude turns what we have into enough." (Not sure who said it, but it's a good one.)

But I have been lazy lately..and the act of writing down and recognising a few things that I am grateful for every day has fallen by the wayside.

So, today I start again.

Here are some things I am thankful for:

1. The luxury of working from home and being able to ease slowly into the day, with a morning walk and hot bowl of banana + coconut porridge.

2. A relaxing painting session in my backyard yesterday with a lovely friend. We ate portuguese tarts and talked about creative ruts (we are both in one..pfft). She made me feel excited about getting chickens. And let me borrow a book that I already love. Win.

3. Living near the sea. Always grateful for this. I can be caught up in my head then walk a few steps out the door and be dwarfed by the ocean and my worries no longer seem so pressing. The smell is amazing too.

4. Hot water. Simple, yes. But soooo good when it's freezing (at least by NSW standards) and definitely the first thing I miss when I'm travelling.

5. Clear winter night skies. Last night's sky was a deep, inky indigo blue. Breathtakingly beautiful.

Do you have a habit of noticing what you are grateful for? What are you grateful for? 

Costica Axinte

Two new prints of digital collages (using images from the Costica Axinte archive)

Costica Axinte was a Romanian war pilot and photographer who took over 5000 portraits of villagers, soldiers, families and couples after World War One.

His haunting photos are being meticulously archived here.

I spent about three hours last night just looking at the individual faces, imagining their lives, the inner worlds of these people who had thoughts and desires and joys just like we do. It's a fascinating collection- some of the faces seem to jump out at you and simply demand your attention. 

One of the wonderful things about this collection is that it has been released into the public domain, (yay!) making it possible for artists to appropriate the images to create new works.

Above are two artworks inspired by two of the faces that called out to me.

For me these faces have a transient beauty that makes them stick in the mind long after you've seen them.

Another Side of Bob Dylan // Freewheelin' Print

Freewheelin' Bob. Can you tell I'm enjoying this new illustration subject??

{Email me at themuccibird@gmail.com if you are interested in purchasing an archival print!}