Making Frames

B.E. (before Earthquake) I had started to exhibit some of my works in a local Gallery. The comment of the proprietress was, that my works would look so much better in frames. So my husband and I started to figure out how to do them. And he already bought materials and started some samples, actually he was working on them at the time the earthquake hit us. Now that we are almost 3 weeks on from the main event and we now have power back on and running water (yay !!!!) we have resumed this project. (The Gallery unfortunately got badly damaged, they opened it up last Sunday for us artists to come and retreive our works ad now it will be demolished and the owners had enough and moved away, they also lost their house, it's all very sad) Luckily I got my panels out undamaged.
And here's the first one finished
"Mother Earth in frame" (excuse the quality of the pic, my camera got damaged in the quake and I am using another one at the moment, also the weather is very gray and dull...click on the pic to go to the original post for her, the colours are like that)

Felt Aid - donation

I have donated this set of two (2) folded cards with envelopes in mainly gray tones to Felt Aid. The insides are blank. FeltAid is an initiative by "Felt"- a place where New Zealand Indie designers sell online. They are trying to raise a bit more $$ for the rebuilding of our devastated city. The cards are printed wit archival inks on the highest quality Strathmore heavy canvas cards One of each taken from Mixed Media works by me, they are "Shattered" and "Pensive" Two paintings close to my heart and that embody the feelings stirring in me from the recent Earthquake

Treasure Earth - Safely Landed

I just received a lovely message from Deedra in Canada about the blog-post she made about my painting she won in the latest One World One Heart bloghop.

I posted it the day before the EarthQuake and hoped that it would have already left te country and not ended up in piles of rubble somewhere on the way out. Lucky for us both, New Zealand Post is wonderful and fast and the painting must have been flying safely in the sky when our grounds started to shake. The beautiful coincidence that this painting as well as myself escaped these tremors unharmed. I am really glad my "Treasure Earth" has found it's destination safely and I am really happy that Deedra likes it so.
Please hop over to her blog by clicking on my pic here and pay her a visit as well, she makes the most wonderful dolls amongst many other things.

Beautiful buildings

It must have been a blessing in diguise,
the fact that we have not had power and thus TV etc. for a week.
I normally am a very visual person,
but I am glad that I have not had the chance of seeing too many images (except for the newspaper ones)
during the first week after the quake.This used to be our beautiful city centre and this is now:

and it's just one of the many beautiful buildings...
It will be very strange once we'll be allowed back into the CBD and...Who knows?...
I might get my car back from the parking garage ?!
-What bugged me so, was that I left a bag full of $ 100 art supplies that I just bought in that car !-

POWER !!!!

We got POWER !

YAY !

I am skipping an jumping and singing

♫♪♫ tjolla hop !

After a week of having dinner by candle light (very cosy and romantic of course)

and going to sleep and waking up with the chooks,

we just got power restored to our little valley suburb.

We still have no running water

and our area is still waiting on the coveted portaloo

(oh, let's hope we'll get one of the fancy ones that are on their way from the States...)

But to tell you all the truth, it's all not that important.

I was in the centre of the city when the quake struck

and I am just so happy to have made it home alive.

I left my car in the parking garage

(will it ever come out ? probably not, the CBD is a war zone)

I escaped the office building I was in when it started to shake like mad

and made my way into the street

and eventually out of the CBD on my way home.

Partly hitched a ride, partly walked and waded through the liquifaction and flooded areas. Walked the long stretch of coastal road where the cracks in the pavement were out of this world, I felt as if I was walking in a movie or a computer game or something, it didn't really feel real. A week on and it feels as if it happened yesterday and also it feels as if much longer time has passed, very strange still. Our house still stands and therefor I am so grateful and for the fact that my family and the friends and people that are close to me here are all accounted for and okay. But sad that this second time around Christchurch has not survived this earthquake without casualties. As I mentioned, I just got the power restored, so I will now hop to all the places and emails to leave a sign of life and to say I will be back with more news soon.

Take care and lots of love

♥ Aroha ! ♥ Love ♥

♥ One World ♥ One Heart ♥ 2011

This is it...it's the 17th !
(well at least here DownUnder it's just past Midnight and so....the 17th.)
Here is my finished doorprize, she now has
inks, paints, coloured pencils, gesso, stamps,
stencils, collage, a tiny bit of glitz, glass bead gel and beeswax
and here she is:


I am going to have some zzzzz's now
and then I will do the draw on Thursday night
exciting !
Thanks to everyone who left such wonderful comments
and have decided to become my friends and followers.
It's been a great ride and I am so sad that this is the last
One World One Heart
But keep posted.... for te winner will be revealed tonight !!!

Treasure Earth - update

The next step in my W-I-P "Treasure Earth"

-the doorprize for this year's One World One Heart-
To be in the draw, leave your comments in the original post
(just click anywhere in this post to follow the link)

One World One Heart 2011

Hi I am Joyce, welcome to my Art Blog
I am not much of a talker, I am a dreamer
I believe in fairies and meadows full of songs
and flowers and rays of sunlight.
I was born in the Netherlands and moved to New Zealand about 16 years ago. This is where I had my kiddos, a boy and a girl.
I am a Mum to 2 school aged kids, life partner to a great guy who lets me play with my art supplies and a visual artist, I love mixed media in many forms. I enjoy sketching, painting and drawing faces and human forms, but I'd love to start tackling more animals.
For this year's One World One Heart (my first one)
I started making this painting ...but I haven't finished yet...
I call it "Treasure Earth"
I will be adding more layers to it before the OWOH finishes on February 17th. That's when the winner will be drawn !
So, if you like where I am going with this and would like a chance to win this painting,
leave a comment to this post
with a way for me to contact me if you turn out to be the lucky winner ! (I will post the process and the final shot of course)
Oh, and it's open to bloggers worldwide, but you don't have to come all the way to New Zealand to pick up your prize, haha !
I'll send it out of course. step 2:

Toadstools & Ferns

This is one of my own favs from the book for Mum

Earth Goddess / Mother Earth

8x12 inch pine (20x30cm)

'Oh Earth what changes hast Thou seen ?'

[Alfred Tennyson - British Poet 1809-1892]

...I breathe the forest in, to the rejuvenation of my weary soul...