Greeting Cards and Prints Christmas Sale

I am having Christmas sale on my Greeting Cards and Prints. Woo hoo!

Christmas is a perfect time for giving gifts so I figured why not make it easy and see if anyone wants to give a fabulous artwork print or stock up on greeting cards before the new year. This sale will only last for 1 week, (as we are running out of time before Christmas) so get in fast to make sure you get them in time.

See my Christmas sale page here.


And while i am shamelessly promoting myself :) (someones gotta do it :) I have also been meaning to remind you all about my calendar i posted about a couple of weeks ago. I bought a few and have since received them in the mail. They look absolutely fantastic! Even if i do say so myself. Redbubble do a fantastic product the quality of the printing is great :) If your an artist and want to get some self promotion products i definitely reccommend them. Ofcourse they arent the cheapest and as with most things you get what you pay for but in this case its well worth it :)

Two Paintings finished

Today i have finished two paintings that have been brewing for a time, its good to call something done.

They are quite large, and i have been enjoying working on them. Here they are sorry the photos aren't the best:

"Lifelight" Oils on Canvas by Belinda Lindhardt, 91.5cm X 91.5cm



"Light Path" Oils on Canvas by Belinda Lindhardt, 76cm X 101cm

Belinda Lindhardt - art and design studios

Belinda Lindhardt - art and design studios

Well there you have it, it sounds pretty business like.That's the point ! :)
I have to admit i initially felt a little silly putting this sign on the door, but i can't begin to tell you what a motivation it is just having that little sign there. It's like i have given myself permission to look at my art as a real business, this is my studio and i am doing it !

As some of you may know, i recently moved about 4months ago, truth is i am still organising some areas to sort out they way i want things and to declutter wherever possible. In my painting spree at 12am the other night i realised that i really need to have two studio areas setup. The reality is, in fact I already have 3! (the third being in the main house which is a tiny room that is my base of operations, I wont show you that one its not as cool as these ones).

Now as i write this, I sense some of you turning green with envy just the idea of have even 2 artspaces and can i just take this one moment to relish in this little joy say I abosolutely LOVE it!

So here, are some photos of my studio setup as you can see i have two doors one to the right which is my "design and art studio" and the other to my "art studio". Yesterday I setup what was otherwise known as a "shed/garage" to from henceforth now be known as my artstudio / storage area.

From here i will do all of my large paintings and canvases and i will reserve my small artworks and coloured pencils for my design studio basically because well, the smaller artworks are less messy and require less floor space.


When working on my larger artworks the very nature of them tends to be messy and I am worried about getting paint on my carpet / walls and furniture etc so this space allows me to be a bit messy with out worrying about it all too much. Another great thing about this space is that not much else is happening in this room so as all you mums out there can appreciate if i am called away all i have to do is close that door and my paint palette, canvas etc is out of reach of little hands and inquiring minds
.
Another great this i discovered as i was getting it all organised was that there already convenient "canvas hanging hooks" on the walls (ok, ok so they are nails) but basically i can easily hang half finished or finished works to store or for photographing. There are two windows in the studio so it has good light.






I made this little desk area where i can put my paints brushes etc as well as an area for the boys to do their drawing, craft or whatever else takes their fancy on a table that doesnt matter if they make a mess on. They think its fantastic they have a little special area for themselves so i am hoping it works in for all involved.Currently you can see their easel which is what i am using as my easel as the one i currently have doesnt hold my larger canvases.

So onto the design studio here is my setup, much more neater and formal looking but it also has a very good purpose.

I have a big art cupboard for materials which is just out of view, as well as a fantastic cupboard with bunches of drawers for all sorts of materials. a little desktop easel there that i can work on small paintings and cp pieces and an area for my books. I also have the usual assortment of scanner, computer, printer, stationary, files etc.


What i also in this studio which i absolutely love is a great big window with heaps of natural light coupled with my new fabulous drawing desk which was donated to me by my two most dear friends Marion and Brady. I absolutely love my desk and even tho initially i thought i was being a bit greedy by having such a big desk with already having so much room, I find it sooooooo goood. Not only does it allow me to keep my artwork "out" while I work on other design projects but it allows for room next to it for all the parafanaila such as pencils, watercolour etc that i wouldnt have if it was all on the one desk, as well as room to see my computer screen easily.

So there you have it there is a vist to my studios. It's so great to have such a wonderful setup, i feel so privledged to have it that i feel like now i have no excuse and really have to work hard i keep my end of the bargin and get all thework done :)

Before i finish up on this, let me leave you with another part of my studio setup which is our local bluetongue lizard which i have found lives under the step which is the entry to the studio this morning we found himself getting a bit of tan next to the big rock, can you imagine the excitement of the boys ? They loooove lizards :)

Untitled Update

Here is an update to the previous post. Still not finished yet but on its way i think :)

'Untitled' WIP - a new painting era

Here is my latest.
Its currently "untitled"as its evolving WIP and i am not sure what exactly it will become.
My initial idea for this one came from a few places, i recently received some lovely comments on my artwork "contemplation" and there has been a request from a few sources to do something similar.

I have been thinking alot lately about my style, etc and where i want to go from here. My conclusion being that i think i need to create a series of series if that makes sense :) To elaborate, I realise I seem to have a few recurring themes that i like to create in my artwork ie. stilllifes, skys, tree girls, contemporary coloured paintings, portraits so i need to build a series on each of these themes not just one or two paintings.

Different people like different types of art, i enjoy creating each of the various themes for different reasons, and i have sold pieces from each of the various styles and themes. So for me there is no reason to stick with just theme or style of art, but to present myself as a creator of all of these various themes if you like. Maybe a particular series would appeal to a particular target market or gallery but if i were to have an exhibition currently it would all be a combination of everything and i dont have enough of a particular series to offer ie. i dont fit into any particular "boxes" which makes marketing myself hard. This is something i need to work on next year.

In light of all of that, this painting came to me in the middle of the night, or rather "the drive" came to me. I was woken by the boys as often happens these days with colds, bad dreams and wotnot afterwhich I couldn't sleep. I lay there thinking about all the outstanding things i haven't done nor have i the energy to do for the past few days / weeks / months really. I was thinking about how lately i just can't seem to fit the painting or art in and how i need to do this not only for my own sanity but also because this is my livehood and i need to keep it going.

I started to think about a post i had read earlier in the day which was from an male artist talking about how he would stay up to all hours of the night painting while his children slept. when i read that post i thought, i thought to myself "yes well i bet he isnt a single parent" and has to get up and deal with kids on his own all day because I know by the end of my day i am just completely wrecked and exhuasted.

Then something hit me! I asked myself well, here you are awake in the middle of the night 12am you have total peace and quiet, you cant sleep why not get up and do it ! I contemplated it for a bit and then did! I painting and sketched for over an hour ! It was FANTASTIC !
Ever since then i seemed to have a renewed energy. I seem to be getting on with not just art but also all the endless other tasks i have to do.
I dont think my list is any less than it was a week ago but all of a sudden it all seems a bit managable rather than hopelessness it was before.

Basically i think what has happened is i have changed the way i think. I have changed my focus and direction and reminding myself AGAIN that its work for everyone I have to do the work if i want to get the rewards, and the only REAL thing that was stopping me from doing it was myself. Its not really good enough to say that i am too tired or exhausted or it really just was another excuse. If the only way its going to happen is if i get up in the middle of the night and do it then so be it. I wont be doing that everynight, but if the opportunity presents itself i need to grab it and go with it.

So, i guess what this means is I am getting on with it. This artwork is just another one on the journey but its already woken me up to realise a bit more about what i have to do to get to where i want to be. The painting is supposed to have a girl in it but lets see what happens :)