Tree Girl Revealed

Tree Girl - Belinda Lindhardt, Ink and Wash 8X10inches, 20X25cms

I can finally reveal this one :) It was a christmas gift for my very dear friend Marion, of whom i wouldn't nearly be half as sane as i am right now without her friendship.

So here it is i hope everyone is having happy and safe holidays :)

Happy Holidays to all my Readers

Well the holiday season has began! or the silly season as some people call it.

I wanted to take this opportunity to thank all my loyal readers of 2008, its been a tough one for me but thanks for sticking with me looking forward to a fantastic 2009! I sincerely hope its a happy and safe one for you all.

More Tree Girls and Facebook

So, i have been working, working on things which are unfinished and for other reasons i am unable to show you right now.

Here is part of one i have been working on :) Just so you can see i am :)

It's such a busy time of year isnt it? i have had event after event, job after job, thing after thing to do, and we havent even had christmas yet.

Anywho, while we are here i thought i would point out for those of you who like the social networking thing, i am on the following social networks and have created a Belinda Lindhardt artworks facebook page where i upload some of my latest works as i work on them (just an alternative to the blog i have noticed some ppl prefer it :)

You can my facebook page here.
You can follow me on twitter here.
You can also join me linkedin profile here.

So in the interest of getting to know more people and filtering out things i dont need, if you are contacting me via any of these avenues, i really would appreciate you introduce yourself so i can know who i am adding, rather than some random spamming person. :)

Thats it for now, i am off to wrap some christmas presents before the children are back from kindy :) shhhhhhhhh

AAF Christmas Swap

This year i participated in the Australian Art Forum's Christmas Swap.
It's something that i have wanted to do for many years but always found some silly excuse as to why i didn't have time. This year i did it and for those who don't know how it works, basically everyone who participates in the swap does a 5X7inch painting or drawing whatever you like.

The organisers in this case the wonderful Michelle, (who i was so lucky to meet earlier in the year), draws a name for each person and sends you their details and you send them your work. The great thing about this is that you dont know who is sending you your present until it arrives, so its all very exciting to see who you finally get.

"1st cuppa for the day" - By WinneRose

I was sooo lucky to get this absolutely wondeful little painting from WinnieRose :) .
Its just soooo absolutely gorgeous and makes me smile everytime i look at it :) i have it right here by my desk.
I was able to send Helm a painting and this is the one i created for her.

I have been doing a few of these tree girls lately i just love them. It was soo exciting to hear what she thought when she got it :) What a wonderful idea its just really warmed my heart :)

WHO are you, and WHERE are you going ?

Isn't this a question we ask of someone when we meet someone new (in our minds anyway) ? How many of us can REALLY answer that question without hesitation, preamble and most importantly with confidence?

I know I can't right now but in the last few weeks i am taking steps to getting there.

I have been doing alot of reading and thinking of late, many of you have probably been wondering where i have been? am i ok ? So, I thought i better let you know, i am here, plugging away at the usual things, preparing for Christmas and getting some artworks done (which i will post over the next few days).

As i am doing all of this there has been a new plan emerging, i don't know exactly what it is yet or where its going (hence the hibernating in my shell) but that's what i am here working out. Once i know what it is you will hear all about it !

This whole frame of mind for me has stemmed from the end of a really big year for me, a new life, new direction, which is all very predictable, but its also coming from a general feeling of what i have been doing the last few months and years in my business hasn't been cutting it, what i have been doing hasn't been working and i am not prepared to give up more of my precious time and energy into something that just isnt giving me what i want. I am allowing myself the excuse that because X,Y Z... i haven't been able to give it 100% but now as the end of the year is approaching its now time for everyone now including myself to have some direction of what lies ahead.

Yes yes yes (i can see you nodding your heads), we have all heard it all before, we all make New Years Resolutions and plans. What i wanted to highlight and to think about and (what is most profound for me) is that i need to work out what I want for my life and what are the steps i need to take to get there. Just because circumstance or things have happened or i do things a certain way doesn't mean i need to be limited by that, it doesn't define who i am or where i am going. I think if you met me on the street your perception of me would be quite different to the person I am and that would be different to the person i think i am. So why is that... isnt that confusing ? It should pretty much be the same, i think its like that because I can't answer those questions above. They are pretty important questions i SHOULD be able to know the answers to them all and once i do all my other decisions will fall into place as long as they align with my original vision.

Hand in hand with all of this is identifying that my artwork is my business, as is my graphics and illustration. If i am taking time away from my kids and out of my life to do this, the time i do spend needs to be well spent well and with purpose. Obviously with art there is a fine line here as its all about being creative and i enjoy it, but I am not going to be a slave to that creative process or to the art. At the end of the day one of my goals for the present is to be supporting myself and my family through my business which is my design & art. If i don't acknowledge that and have that vision for myself then its not something i will ever be able to achieve. Hoping that it will happen while i do "my thing" is not going to work.

So, as i wind this post up, I am thinking and will be thinking. It might take me a little while to identify my direction but its an important one to take time with. :)
I hope you all are doing well in your preparations for gearing up for the holidays, Christmas is just around the corner!