Blogging Talk. 04/23/2010
 Kiama Blow Hole, a great picnic spot. I had a beautiful picnic with blogging friends overlooking the wonderful rugged coastline, the other day and we chatted about free form blogging assignments we love doing and how we fit the words in to what we love writing about. She said the ones she finds most awkward to use in conversation are those that relate to diet pills as neither she nor I use diet pills. I said I just say that nature is my gym and getting out and enjoying it, running on beaches, swimming in pools and hiking the mountains is my diet pill, and I get the words in that way. It is a lot harder when I need to work a web site link, like www.dietpillsthatactuallywork.org into normal sounding conversation about what I have done today. Now, how do you do that, without it sounding jarring? . I am pleased with what I have learned about blogging since I began in May 2009 and I still do have a lot to learn. In the meanwhile, I do love all the free form writing assignments I get and I like to choose what reviews I do and make sure I love the products I review. I find writing easy, with our travelling, there is always so much I love to share in my blog diaries.   I am heading to bed early (for me), tonight because tomorrow, I finally get to meet Tina, the author of Tina Gray {dot} Me Experiencing life at several WTF's per minute! ~ Blogging about family, home, health, photography, shopping and more. My friend Tina, is one of the best of bloggers J. I am looking forward to our meeting and lol, I forbade my husband from adding garlic to the evening meal he cooked tonight, I didn’t want to have to head to the chemist for bad breath treatments on our way to visit Tina and family. How I started Blogging . I met Tina on a forum, long before we were facebook friends. At that stage I was not even blogging, was not sure what a blog was. I had done some writing and had been a reporter, then an editor for two small newspapers and had a few self help booklets published, won one poetry competition in the Argus Newspaper as a child and a writing competition probably a decade ago, with a $500. value software package prize and had been going around with my unwritten novel in my head for so long it had grown into 5 novels. I was chatting to Tina one day and she mentioned about earning an income from blogging. At that stage, I was considering penning my novel. I had done the plot draft and a few chapters and I was starting to look around for publishers. At hearing, you could earn an income from blogging I immediately wanted to learn more as I wondered if I could somehow publish my novel over the internet, it seemed if you could earn money from an essay then a novel, could be published on line and earn an income too. Tina and I began chatting more together, she was an enormous help, to me and I would not be blogging today to the level I am now, without that start from Tina. I am earning an income from blogging, in less than a year from starting from scratch. What I Gain by Blogging . I did not begin blogging with the intentions of making my blogs earn a lot of money. I just hoped they would cover the cost of the internet connection service, the computer, the domain names and web hosting service. Then with these expenses paid, in what I hoped would then be a self finding hobby, I could enjoy the creativity of blogging and be learning to develop the habit of writing 1,000 to 2,000 words a day while improving my writing skill. Then when I do sit down to write the novels, I will have the discipline knowing how to time manage and balance my writing time with fitness activity and the improvement in my writers skill, acquired through practice, through my frequent blogging. Add to this, I just LOVE Blogging and would do it even if I could not cover the expences as I am now well able to do. THANK YOU TINA :-) for helping me get started in blogging :-).      The Giveaway: In conjunction with Mummified Times Five, I am giving away up to $1000 worth of Maimeri Classico oil paints! Each prize pack includes 10 tubes of Maimeri Classico paints valued at $9.55 each…so with free postage, that’s a prize pack valued at over $100!! And we have 10 packs to give away!! To enter, all you need to do is: -comment on any post ON EACH of Kathy Shell’s blogs (listed in my blog side bar and below): http://mummifiedtimesfive.net/2010/02/01/spotlight-on-kathy-shell-giveaway/ and say why you would like to win a 10 pack of Maimeri Classico paints. (Both steps are mandatory to be in the running to win this prize) Giveaway finishes 15 Feb 2010 This blog post has been illustrated by postcards from the art of Kathy Shell. These can be orderd through the artist's postcards-art web site or purchased 'direct from the artist', in her caravan awning studio      Advance Notice. $1,000 . value of Oil Paint to be given away FREE to my blog readers during February 2010. Not just any oil paint but, quality Italian Maimeri Classico 60ml tubes. These paints are the artist’s daily bread and butter. Anyone – professional or amateur – who picks up a tube of Classico oil paints will find in it just what they need. They contain no waxes or thickeners, and pigment concentration is very high. Bright, lively colours with overall harmony in the palette, these paints from Italy are made with non-toxic, non-polluting pigments that improve light-fastness. They are versatile paints, offering exceptional value for money, but you could own a set plus postage FREE. Watch this blog and http://mummifiedtimesfive.net for further details and be the first to enter this FREE competition.   Reg and I continue to potter around in and about our studio retreat here in northern Victoria, planning our next tour. This year we are touring south-eastern and eastern Australia and we are currently enjoying short trips in and around northern to northeast and central Victoria. I have been working on some art, inspired by a recent visit to KidsTown in Mooroopna and enjoying being in my on site studio where we have set up the lovely new glass top open U shape desk space. It is very Feng Shui, positively invites me to want to create art and write. Even on a hot day, I have the fan on and dappled light comes through the bamboo roller blinds creating shade to keep the window surface and the studio cool, yet I can get the benefit of the natural light and best of all I can see the dappled pattern of foliage from the shade trees outside, on the blinds. I love our summers in northern Victoria, its Australian colours of green trees, gold, oat stubble and blue skies. If you would like to see more of the art work I am doing, from the trip to KidsTown, please visit my 'A Creatve Life', blog at http://www.kathy-shell.net  Caravan Painting Studio planning 12/14/2009
   Painting in a caravan Today I have been sorting the art supplies that I will be taking on our 2010 tour. Trying our the set up for painting outside, ‘on location’ or ‘en Plein air’ and also the inside the caravan studio equipment. Small changes need to be made for the in the caravan painting studio to work best. There are certain rules I need to learn to live by. These restrictions are not always easy ones to make when you are passionate about your creative pursuit, you do not always want to learn to work within the allowed space. Changes I have made to suit working within a caravan are. 1/ small palette, so I can work easily on a caravan table. 2/Odourless, non-toxic art materials because the painting studio is also a bedroom and occasional kitchen dining room and I do not like working with toxic substances anyhow. 3/Painting size needs to be small, as in this example of the painting of Daly Waters Pub. 4/Paintbrushes are best with short handles when working in small spaces. I have packed my preferred, long handle brushes for when i work out of doors, en plein air. 5/Pack everything I will need, I know I can always buy elcheapo kid’s quality art supplies in small town but the quality artist supply materials I use, are harder to find and often exorbitantly priced away from the main cities so I do not like to run out, while on a tour. 6/ If there isn’t enough space for the extra cooking pots and the art supplies, ditch the cooking gear and learn to cook in one pan, but never sacrifice art for domesticity. Lol, J About the painting subject, ~ Daly Waters Pub The Daly Waters Pub is a ‘must see’, stop over on the trip up through the centre of Australia. Each time we make the journey we stop over for the night, enjoy the famous barra and beef evening meal with entertainment, camp in the paddock (oops camping ground) shower with cute little green and pale brown frogs (dozens of them J ) and leave refreshed the next day. I have just finished my small flow formula acrylic painting of Daly Waters Pub. I have ordered some prints made from this original work. These will be ready for sale in early 2010 There are 25 A4 size prints, at $10. each, plus postage. 25 small business card size fridge magnets, these are $5. each, including postage within Australia, extra for shipping outside of Australia. 100 regular size postcards at $1. Each plus postage cost. The original work will go on tour with us, in 2010. for sale, direct from the artist, from our caravan studio. POA  I toured, last week enjoying rose and perennial gardens in the Goulburn valley, Yarra valley and in the Dandenong Ranges of Victoria. I came home to my own late spring display of Delbard, French roses in my own small cottage garden that was inspired by the plants and romantic settings in the gardens of Giverny. Today my flowerbeds have a colourful display of roses, the last of the bearded iris and the first of the summer lilies. I see the soft green foliage of grape vines and wisteria over arbours, back dropped by an avenue of poplar trees. I want to grab my French easel and paint, en plein air impressionist, garden pictures or head off into the field to paint the surrounding rural landscape. My mind turns to think about the great impressionist artists and the country that founded the impressionist movement ~ France. The French impressionist Claude Monet, in particular, has inspired my life, both through his garden design and his art. I would love to visit the great gardens of France, stay in quaint farmhouses, which have been set up as bed and breakfast accommodation and wander around the countryside of France, soaking in the atmosphere. To visit Monet’s garden at Giverny, would, be to fulfil an artistic pilgrimage of appreciation to this great artist. I already know I would love the country and climate; it is similar to picturesque parts of my own homeland. I could imagine staying in quaint cottages and farmhouse bed and breakfast accommodation so I could soak in the atmosphere and beauty of the countryside of France. The parks and gardens of Paris have been are described by others as places of elegance and artistic delight. Paris is famous for bringing the beauty of nature, right into the city. I would stay at Paris hotels, so I could tour the gardens of Paris. I adore the impressionist paintings of Parisians picnicking in parks and gardens. Sigh, (I am getting all dreamy. J ) Thinking about bed and breakfast and accommodations in Paris France, makes me want to paint even more, and plan a painting tour of Paris and France. Links Paris hotels hotel paris metro mouton duvernet hotel metro saint augustin Right now, though, I’m going to pack my French easel and go paint on location (en plein air), while I am feeling so inspired by the city and country, known internationally, for its fostering of the arts. J ,   June Gover is a sensational senior, she is an amazingly inspiring lady who painted the work in the photo above, using Vegemite, on canvas. I had the enormous pleasure of meeting and getting to know June Gover and her family on visits to Western Australia. June is 81years young, and she has refused to give in to her rheumatoid arthritis despite being told about 35years ago that she would be in a wheelchair in 5 years. She is the mum of one of my very best friends, who tells me with great pride in her mother, that her dad used to call her mum, a "Pig headed Aussie Bitch" with affection of cause , and this is why she drove a car until recently, displaying with humour and pride,J the number plate, PHAB. It was June’s determination to not be beaten, that saw her, even though severely affected with this dreadful rheumatoid arthritis, walk the Busselton jetty much to the admiration of onlookers and the intense pride of her family. June Gover, had always wanted to learn to paint (not an easy task when you cant hold the brushes properly) and her family, and myself, are very proud of her efforts. June’s children and grandchildren mean the world to her and it is reciprocated, I am told that they feel she is a good friend as well as a good mum and knowing the family, I can vouch for the closeness and love you feel within the close family. June’s daughter tells me that her mum is generous in spirit and actions, as she has been known to go up to strangers, particularly young frazzled mums and give them $50 to treat themselves when she could ill afford to do this. June has a young outlook on life and no topic is off limits, I know, because I love spending time with this ‘young’ spirited womanJ. June used to enjoy a nightly nip, not so often now (darn medication) but is allowed to occasionally still have the odd one. June loves to read, enjoys quirky things in the garden (she is looking for a skeleton or mannequin for a bath in the garden at the moment). I think June’s landscape painted in Vegemite, shows outstanding artistic talent, the light and shade and composition are excellent. Absolutely inspiring work, JuneJ. June actually offered to give me this work, and I was so touched by such a generous offer but declined, not because I did not love the work nor value the generosity of the gift offering, June, but because I did value it so highly that I would not take such a beautiful work away from you or your family, it’s something for you all to treasure , as I will the photo I took of you with your painting you told me was inspired by my work of Brachina gorge, Flinders ranges, South Australia. June it took me a lot many more years of experience than you have had, before I could paint as well as you can. J. I think your fantastic and I treasure all my memories of meetings with you and your family. How NOT TO, paint a wall. 09/20/2009
 Firstly assemble all your equipment.  Mix the paint. Feel happy, ‘it’s going to look nice’ J Move the bed out from the wall and place precious hand painted lamp on the bed Climb the ladder with can of paint and streaky effects brush in hand. See Indigo our poodle, making a running jump from the doorway to her favourite snooze place, the centre of the bed.  Pick up the broken lamp pieces. Yell for ‘help to find glue’. Thank helper, for glue and begin to repair, favourite lamp.  Feel happy. You’re going to be able to save the lamp.   SCREAM loudly, ‘HELP’ as it all begins to come unstuck  Finish painting the wall. Paint the old étagère in special effects streaky greys and creams with mother of pearl, to match a set in bought wardrobe, opposite wall. J, I love painting ‘special effects’J.   Return lamp to spot beside bed, remember to lock the dog out of the room next time I put delicate items on the bed and get insurance quotes plus update home insurance before beginning project. Turn lamp on and enjoy the effect of the mother of pearl wall behind the lamp and the bed, and be pleased that all that fancy paint work in permanent enamels, I did to unify it into the colour scheme of my bedroom, helped hide all the repair work, just keep the lights dimmed and you would never know Thinking how well the silvery pipping trim on the lamp shade, works well with the mother of pearl wall behind the lamp. Feel Very pleased with the work. J. Think ‘I must write into my time management essays how work always has a tendency to expand into the time available and beyond if you don’t plan properly. LOL,’ J          This morning I began the upgrade of my Art Cards, Website, starting with the cards depicing some of my flower paintings, in oils, pastel, watercolours and acrylic. I unbundled the selection of eight cards from a grouping of eight and put them as individual items that can be purchased one at a time. This will make purchase easier and over the month of September '09, I will upgrade all my art print, art craft and original art web sites to make all purchases on line, from my web sites easier. Postage within Australia is included cost and international shipping is arranged at cost. Check out my first upgraded page :- http://artcards.weebly.com/folded-card-flowers.html | Kathy Shell on Facebook  Advertisers, This 160 x 160 advertising space, could be yours. See our advertising page above then contact Kathy to arrange your advertising package. Kathy Shell,
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