Sulea's Art Box

New Blog

2011-02-01T06:08:00.000-08:00

Hello,

I thought I might give blogging another go but wanted a new look with new ideas for 2011. Couldn't quite bring myself to press the delete button here yet.

For now, my new blog is located at:
http://suleasartbox.blogspot.com/

Hope to see you there :)

love
Sulea

Card making again

2009-08-09T05:30:00.000-07:00

My friend Kerin has gotten me back to making cards again. I had thought I would have to wait for Christmas before I made anymore cards since I lost my cardmaking mojo....but she must have flicked on some dormant switch...

There are some photos here over the weekened of what Kerin and I got up to... the photos aren't quite exactly card related but it was fun. Go see... lol

I have been straying ... a little jewellery making... a little tin altering... teaching myself how to quilt.. so far i have done a sample quilt but still yet to learn how to bind, fingers crossed i can understand the book instructions.. an unfinished landscape of a little shed/shack out in the paddock, not sure when I will pick up the brush again..
.
Anyhow, here are some cards.. you can't quite tell from the pictures but the stripes are all 3 dimensional.. not patterned paper :o)

Yayyy it's finished

2009-04-04T22:01:00.001-07:00

I am sooo sooooo happy right now... i didn't think i could do it but i happy with it...
.
YAYYYYYYYYy i hope my dad will love it... i think he will comment on the lack of animal factor... will a cow drinking from the river be too weird... i've only ever seen them in the paddock.... he wanted an autumn scene... but i'm too scared to paint red and orange trees..
.
This was the first time i painted on loose canvas and i really don't know why i have never done it before. Weird i thought after i painted on it.

You can see a close up version of it at this link on my flickr album. I actually loaded a larger size but looks like flickr resized it.

River gum

39 by 50 cm

acrylic on loose canvas

Lang Lang and father at Carnegie Hall - Horses

2009-03-15T04:26:00.000-07:00

I recently saw a concert by the pianist Lang Lang on tv and then found this clip on youtube. It's so cool how the clip clop of horses can be done using the chinese string intrument.. thought I would post it here :)

2 gum trees and a lonely cow

2009-03-15T01:50:00.000-07:00

I couldn't wait to post.. This painting has been going on for weeks and each week a little is added to it. It will have more cows, some pebbles in the sand, some grass fixing.

.
I don't know if I was passionately motivated to finish it like my other paintings in one sitting but there was a lot of patience, silence and a curious persistence to carry on.

My dad has requested an autumn landscape but the idea of painting red and yellow trees make me cringe because of the difficulties in it. I'm not sure I would understand how to balance bright colours. If that fails, he is getting this gum tree painting.

Apart from this painting, nothing much else is going on in my neck of the woods. Anyway, here is the painting.. You can see a larger version of it here (Flickr album)

acrylic on canvas

Work in Progress - oil painting

2009-02-09T02:28:00.000-08:00

Hello,

i'm back to teaching myself how to paint ... it feels like i'm fumbling in the darkness trying to work out how to make things look the way i wish they would look. It is all very frustrating.

This painting actually started 6 months ago. It was a bluer picture then with little brown or yellows. Then i decided to make it a brown yellow painting. May add some more cows later, i'm not sure yet. It's alright........ by far not where I would like it to be. Oil painting seems harder than acrylic. Maybe i'll try painting the same scene in acrylic and see what happens.

I had a disaster with apples few weeks ago and abandoned it. i dunno. i lose interest so easily but have this desire to work through the difficult issues. I will paint a million gum trees if i have to and grass.. why is grass so difficult to do.

Anyway.. this painting isn't finished yet. I thought i would post something...

PS at least the cows look cute.... hehe

Blogging break :)

2009-01-22T12:11:00.001-08:00

Just a little note to say I won't be blogging for the next few days but will pick up the Misty January journalling again on monday.

Yellow and pink

2009-01-19T02:35:00.000-08:00

Yellow was better than i thought but i have never used it on it's own. It was always a colour i used to enhanced another.

But it wasn't as bad as pink.. I am not a pink person. There is a story behind it.

When i was a little girl, my mum decided to paint my room pink, and along with that were pink pillows and bedspread. It wasn't a nice light pink.. it was a brighter than bright hot pink and when night came, we had this orange night light at the stairway next to my bedroom... and it shone into my bedroom... and the hot pink became red like a furnace. The stairway light would cast long shadows from objects in the bedroom, towering across the ceiling and i would be shaking in the bed terrified. I must have thought it was hell. I cannot quite remember what happened after because many many years later when i visited that room again, it was no longer pink. So while others think of nice pink bunnies and flowers, pink reminds me of monsters...

The pink house below is a reminder of that pink room. I think it will be my first and last pink item. Initially i drew a pink monster... then thought i didn't think anyone would understand LOL so i painted over him and presented this tamer version of the pink monster.

Red

2009-01-16T17:44:00.001-08:00

This painting started out with a painting of a man with a tree on his head all in dark red LOL and slowly it changed into this.. not too sure if i like it but i like the background... :o)

White

2009-01-16T05:32:00.000-08:00

So this is white... she is letting out the butterflies in her tummy hehe :o)

Green

2009-01-14T05:56:00.000-08:00

Here is my entry for the colour green... :oD

Orange

2009-01-13T04:16:00.001-08:00

This is my entry for the orange theme.. i almost chickened out of the colour orange... couldn't think of anything except oranges and i had to stop the urge to paint some!!!!

Green the next colour is going to be a challenge... hmm

BLUE

2009-01-12T04:38:00.000-08:00

I can't believe how much art i have done for the month of january! and i am currently work full time!!! It has been fun so far For this week on Misty's blog, we are doing monochromatic coloured journal pages.. one colour for each day this week!!!!!!!!!!!! i don't know if i can do it... but i'll start and see how i go.

The first colour is......... BLUE.. i did this tonight. hmm next entry is orange... what can i do for orange.. hmmmm i need some sleep now... nite!!! :)

Self portrait - 'Painted'

2009-01-10T21:18:00.000-08:00

'Painted'

acrylic on canvas

i was so excited painting this portrait.. it was unfolding as the painting begun and i can't hide how happy i am that it turned out the way it did.. this painting technique was sooooo cool. In a way it's impressionistic in that there are lots of layers of strokes and graduation in colour and texture. You can click the picture to get a closer view of the textures. i love how it's not perfect and i love big buttons!!! i can't wait to try another painting like this.

but what should i paint next? i usually get my ideas when i'm stuck at my desk at work or in the shower... i'm one of those people who cannot do anything when forced.. a lot of the times i just sit and wait.. sometimes i wait for weeks on end for a particular idea to ripen and when it's ripe for the picking, then i can paint.. If i try to paint before, the painting feels like it lacks what it could be.. it's like waiting for time and movement to converge, or be in sync. The most frustrating times are when i plan to do something and my heart wants to do something else.. it is just a disaster.

The Big Red Chair
acrylic on canvas

Few hours later.....

I managed to fit in another painting for this weekend.. this was a painting i had wanted to do for a long time but never found the time or energy for... I am loving being part of Misty's journal challenge/ sharing. It has been fun discovering new blogs and feeling connected ..

More portraits

2009-01-10T01:08:00.001-08:00

I have been reflecting...

Deafened by the voice of desire
you are unaware the Beloved lives
in the core of your heart.
Stop the noise and
you wil hear His voice
in the silence.
~ Rumi

This new portrait is about the relationship between the the inner self and the form, between the 'Nameless and the Name'. Where the form is seen as the door into the love that has no boundaries.
.
It is about trying to communicate what it's like learning to live inside out, to understand infinity in form. Surrendering by acceptance, going inward and letting go, and learning about why nothingness is not empty.

More on journal - self portrait

2009-01-09T04:48:00.000-08:00

i have been looking and looking inside myself to see what made up 'me' for this self portrait exercise.. the interesting thing I realized was that if i wasn't looking for anything in particular (with no preconception of what i was), i didn't find anything. It felt like me starring into myself starring back at me silently saying " so you've seen the real me, *silence*"
.
I think I was trying too hard in the last post to paint a portrait that looked like me but i felt that it wasn't what i wanted to convey. On the surface I am this and that... but i wanted to paint what i really was about deep inside, past the flesh, the face... past obligations and should's and shouldn'ts....
.
Tonight I sat down and told myself that i was under no pressure to create.. i was just going to paint something simple with myself in mind but without preconceptions. .
I started out by underpainting the face with cerulean mixed with titanium white.. and in dark areas, i highlighted using burnt umber.
.
Then i roughly started painting in the skin with the blue mixture.. blue representing the spiritual element and then i layered on some tinted smoky white colour over the blues. So you can see the blue undertones coming through underneath. Lastly, i highlighted areas with lighter skin colour.
.
This was so much fun and although it doesn't look much like me, it does feel a little more like me than the one below.
.
I will try another one tomorrow.. perhaps with clothes on LOL
.
:o)

Journal challenge - self portrait

2009-01-07T04:37:00.000-08:00

This is a little unnerving to post.

Okay I was supposed to do a self portrait for the journal challenge and it wasn't an easy task but at least i tried it... it was a surreal experience.

Art Journal continued....

2009-01-03T02:49:00.000-08:00

i tried to scan and also take a photograph of the latest journal entry but couldn't quite get it to show all the textures on the picture... white is a hard colour to scan!!! I applied crackle medium to the entire painting.. then painted over it.. so that it looks aged. What i learnt is that while the top layer of paint is still wet, you can actually scratch marks by just scratching it with a sharp point , pen nib etc... Part of the face has been drawn by scratching and later enhanced with colour pencils.

It's been so much fun seeing what everyone else is doing on their journals. There is a list of blog sites on Misty's blog.. I am feeling so inspired but work starts on monday.. i realized at a friend's place yesterday that i may have forgotten my work computer's password.. oops

Let's see if i can fit more playing tomorrow :)

Here's to a Great Year!

2009-01-01T04:36:00.000-08:00

Well, it happened. 2008 came and left in a hurry. As I went about treating the day as any other normal day, I started to become conscious that today was the first step into 2009. Maybe slightly superstitious but i thought that perhaps anything that ocurred today would set the precedence or standard for the rest of the year.

So I made it a point to do some art, as I didn't think a year without art would go down well... I listened to something on my ipod that was good for the soul, I didn't snack on account of my ongoing diet... tried to stay out of trouble as i often do... all up I had a pretty good day. So here's hoping for all, a great year with good intentions.

There was an invitation on Misty Mawn's site to work on our own art journal for 2009 . I hadn't worked on my own art journal before and thought what a great idea to compile a book of mixed media art with journalling... so I started my cover page today. I am naming my Art journal "The Story of the Nameless and the Name'. Have no idea what else is going into the journal but here's what I've done today. It's all paint, finger painting too.. i did try to do a gel medium transfer but it failed... LOL.. oh well...

Happy New Year everyone!

Matisse Varnish transfer ATC

2008-12-31T00:07:00.000-08:00

I tried out an image transfer today using Matisse Polyurethane satin varnish. The idea was to paint about 5 layers of varnish onto a photocopy, letting each layer dry in between. Then soaking the image in water as you slowly rub the back paperoff.

No mishaps while getting the paper layer off and what was left was a thin see through varnish layer with photocopy image.

What i then did was rub some skin toned paint colour onto the back of the transfer to give the image some colour. You can't quite see it in the photo but she does have some colour on her face and arms.. Then i layered the image onto some dictionary paper and some of the writing has come through areas where no paint was applied.

Any marks you see on top of the images are due to my sticky fingers which had residue paint but i think it gives it a nice aged effect, don't you think? :oD

I stumbled across this technique on youtube of all places. Enjoy! :)

Ah the other cool thing i stumbled upon was the Matisse Iridescent Medium. Basically you can mix this medium with ANY acrylic colour at all and voila, you have instand shiny paint!!!!! I haven't tried it out yet but the jar sitting on my desk is calling to me... imagine all the tubes of acrylic paint you have... YES you can convert them all to sparkly iridescent paint.

I''m not trying to sell Matisse Derivan products.. they were just there staring at me while i was at shop buying canvas boards.

Faux rust

2008-12-30T04:14:00.001-08:00

2009 is approaching. Funny how it often starts with new year resolutions this time of the year.

My new year's resolution included trying out some new techniques that I had been meaning to try for years. Unfortunately it still qualifies for 2008 ... so I guess i tried out faux rust painting onto ATCs in 2008!!!

I started out with painting Jo Sonja 'Celadon' using the credit card technique as described on one of Kelsey's blog posts. Then I proceeded to using a tooth brush to splatter some random sprays of waterred down celadon and then copper paint. Needless to say my pyjamas are covered in paint splatter again. Using my fingers, i finger painted the alphabets, key and keyhole with the celadon and copper paint. Then with a paintbrush, i brushed in some burnt sienna in spots... and after that painted in some areas with prussian blue. Was kinda fun. :o)

Painting - The Wounded Heart

2008-12-30T02:23:00.000-08:00

The Wounded Heart

The heart's light loves
and in that loving, i have come to be
.

Without it, i am not able
for it is my breath
and through it all strength
to live another lifetime
.
But the walls came up
brick by brick with each beating
Instinctively
to protect
that precious love
.
Why should a loving heart
be inflicted with so much hurt?
Yet ironically the walls
became a prison
deeper and deeper it sunk
.
We spend most of our lives seeking
for that wounded heart
buried so long ago
.
But how is it that you were able
to get up from your knees
after each painful beating
and somehow had the courage to choose
how to love and comfort
to forgive and accept
.
Deep down beyond the tenderness of pain
The wounded heart...
The love that will not die
The love that could not die
.
Unyielding in unconditional loving

Healing compassionately

.
The wounded heart endures

in order to give

love..

Owl photoshoot and some unexpected surprises

2008-12-12T05:10:00.000-08:00

i had a weird feeling about a year ago that someone in my workplace did stamping (crafts etc) and i could never figure out why i had such a thought. Perhaps because i longed to be at home stamping instead of being stuck at my desk at work LOL.....

By some weird coincidence, work decided to have a secret santa event on my floor and we were to have a person from another floor come help us out with work. By a series of unexplainable email events, we came to discover that we both stamped, did atcs and mixed media stuff... lol All this time.....I wonder how many years LOL how funny is that!!! Well... Kerin has a blog too as I soon discovered enough. You may visit her blog here!

Second surprise of the day was this stunning totally amazing canvas art that i received in the mail from Natalie Briney.. OMG.. Nat, you MUST tell me how in the world did you get the flowers and branches to be 3d... what is it? This is such an exquisite piece.. something i would definitely buy from the shop. The flowers are just so beautiful and the little black dots reminds me of spores or flying seeds. Thank you soooo much. i love it very much.

Okay lots of excitement today. I tend to get overexcited and then feel sick from it afterwards LOL. Here's a little mini photoshoot of some xmas cards I made, some for team mates at work. Thought it might be nice to make them some handmade items this year.. not too sure how it would be received. I have had mixed reactions in the past.. i was also going to bake some reindeer muffins on sunday night..

i wonder what others have done with their Collections owls... i would be interested to see...

Painting

2008-12-04T01:46:00.000-08:00

'On a Journey'

acrylic on canvas

I was holding off on posting this scene as I had sent it to my friend Natalie :)

Painting

2008-11-22T23:00:00.000-08:00

' Holding on for dear life'

acrylic on canvas

Paintings

2008-11-18T03:43:00.000-08:00

The Line Up

acrylic on canvas

Untitled

oil on canvas

Dog in Ute

acrylic on canvas

7 months later

2008-11-18T03:04:00.000-08:00

It is really strange opening up this blog page. Didn't think I'ld find my way back here.

I have been busy trying to keep up with life and making sense out of it, which really is a futile exercise if you ask me and yet stupidly I keep trying. Nothing ever makes sense and if it did, it only ever makes sense if you believe in the story you or others have made up around it. Reality is a strange story indeed.

I have often wondered which thought, all of which I called "mine" was an original thought and not a product of conditioning or any environment. To "think" that there could be such a thing as ownership of thought is hilarious, like ownership of the air you breathe or ownership of telling lies. Yet there is such a thing of ownership of land... at least they didn't go to the lengths of ownership of grains of sand.....

So... I am here for now.. The last 7 months have been filled with visitors, catastrophes, a death, accidents and dodging other miscellaneous obstacles. One day one of these miscellaneous obstacles is gonna hit me in the head... let's just pray for now as it seems the most logical choice out of an insane year.

Christmas is making me miss connecting... and remembering, wishing and hoping.

Here's some paintings I have been doing this year... will be posting some xmas cards in the next few weeks.

New Painting

2008-04-26T23:52:00.000-07:00

'Content'

Oils on canvas

'Everyone Has One'

acrylic on canvas

Some scenic stamping

2008-03-25T04:51:00.000-07:00

Painting

2008-02-16T23:11:00.000-08:00

Untitled

Oil on canvas

At the end

2008-02-15T21:30:00.000-08:00

Looking forward to the end of a day,week..

Looking forward to the end of the year,
What is at the end of these
that make longing for the end so near?

At every end - failure to find the end,
All continuous fleeting joy,
endless sad illusions
and fragile connections to the living.

Do my best or worst,
the result is always the same,
left with that same 'I'
before anything was done at all.

Time forgets successes and mistakes
as though they were never born.
A puff of memory,
focussing in and out of reality,
Is it real or just a dream.

How to know where you are ,
if you don't know who you are,
Someone is feeding me thoughts,
like a life support machine..

If only they would stop

His name is RED

2008-02-01T19:49:00.000-08:00

hehehe i have the patience of a monkey when trying to sew. Awful sewing hahah... at least i had fun making him.. *cracks up laughing*

THAT"S IT!!!!!!!!!! NO MORE SEWING THIS YEAR... i had enough lol

sometimes you just got to do something silly even if it's a little embarassing.

Bit tired now... I"m sitting here trying to figure out what to do about Chinese New Year which is on the 7th of February... We're having my chinese friend and her husband over to celebrate next weekend and we are going to have steamboat for dinner.

What is a steamboat??? Well... it's basically a pot powered by gas or electric which has soup stock in it. And the entire table is filled with a variety of fresh raw seafood, meats and vegetables. The idea is to put the food you want to eat into the soup stock and cook it and then enjoy the food with a variety of yummy sauces. Pretty interactive and fun. I googled 'steamboat' and found a picture. http://oz.tranzfusion.net/Recipes/SteamBoat.htm By the end of the meal, you get the yummiest soup ever from cooking all the food. Not too sure where it originated from. China? Mongolia? The Koreans also have their spicy version probably with kimchi...

What the...............

2008-02-01T17:49:00.000-08:00

Okay. I have had such a funny morning.

If you like dolls or funky things.. you just got to visit this site. http://www.stupidcreatures.com/ what a collection of funny looking dolls. They just crack me up. Curiousity got the better of me and i just had to try and make a version of a stupid creature this morning (Yes that is what they are called) ROFL...I didn't have a pattern, so it was kinda "invent as you go". First up was to find a not so lint free bed sock interesting enough..... I didn't know how to finish the sewing of the legs so it looks like the sewing is on the inside but i think this just makes him look even stupider hahahha

Actually .. now that i think of it... I wonder if it's possible to just sew him all around before actually cutting the pattern... then inverting... it might be easier.. I'm gonna try that n ext... STAY TUNED!!! In the meantime here are some pictures of how i made my dodgy stupid sock animal.

Tadaaa poor thing really does look dumb :oD

Cooking on Youtube

2008-02-01T04:40:00.000-08:00

I am so totally amazed by Youtube lately. I can't believe the kinds of things you can find on it.

By chance I stumbled upon this clip on how to fold chinese dumplings (jiao zhi) . I thought it was so cool that someone out there has posted how to fold these things. Sometimes cookbooks just don't explain the technique as well. There were many other clips on how to make various chinese foods including those triangular chinese rice dumplings wrapped in banana leaves. Due to translation problems, a lot of different types of chinese dim sum delicacies tend to go under the broad term 'dumpling'.

You can even learn to make bread, pudding or muffin from youtube ... All you have to do is go to http://www.youtube.com/ and put "how to make muffin" in the query box.

:o)

Leonard Cohen and some art

2008-01-27T21:16:00.000-08:00

Some art I created yesterday with Stampscapes stamps...

Been playing Leonard Cohen and some buddhist music this morning. Feeling a little intoxicated at the moment. *sigh* I hope you enjoy this little clip.

The Faith - Leonard Cohen

Happy New Year

2008-01-20T01:55:00.000-08:00

Hello... am i really blogging again? Has it really been 6 months?

I would like to wish everyone a very Happy New Year. I sincerely hope that this will be a great year for you all in many ways.

I can't really explain my absence except that one day picking up a paintbrush or stamp felt like a heart heavy with dread. I couldn't. I had to do nothing, express nothing.. I hadn't meant to withdraw myself so completely, it just happened that way.

I had my first play day in 6 months with Dawn today and I was surprised to find myself enjoying creating a stampscapes scene. Dawn brought some stampboards and we had a little play of miniture art... What we did was stamp some images and sponged on some inks, and then using a blade scratched the stampboard surface. This revealed the white underneath. I am totally sold by the whole concept and can't wait to get some larger stampboards for stampscapes scenery..

Dawn also made me the loveliest orange sparkly doll with wild hair... i would so like to post a picture of it here but as it is part of a swap she is doing, i think we will just have to wait until the time is right ;o) Thank you so much Dawnie.
.
When I am able, I shall..
when I am unable, what can I do
but wait
for me to return
to myself
.

Oil Painting this weekend

2007-07-22T05:37:00.001-07:00

Nothing much to say lately.. have had an awful flu all week and thankfully it is on its way out the door..

i finished off my gothic arch pages for a swap today.. they will be in the mail tomorrow. And i painted my first oil painting, not my kind of subject but i have been determined to learn at least one brush skill each weekend and this weekend I learnt out create texture on these urns/vases using a brush... hmm I must say still life doesn't exactly excite me.. yet i guess this would be something i would hang up on a wall.... maybe...

Anyway, here it is.

The Urns

oil on canvas

2007-07-07T00:51:00.000-07:00

'Wetlands'

acrylic on canvas

40.6 by 50.8 cm

Collage - Make a Wish

2007-07-03T05:37:00.000-07:00

Make a Wish

Mixed media on watercolour paper

11.5 by 8.25 inches (A4 size)

Glass, soldering, fingerpainting and cards

2007-07-01T05:17:00.000-07:00

It's been ages since i have made a card... and i made 2 today!!! Background on water colour paper was mostly layers of paint, some very messy finger painting, oil pastels, colour pencils.. stamping.. few bits of torn dictionary pages.. pen.. basically anything that was around my chaotic work space.

And some dodgy soldered pendants with the same painting techniques.. only miniature. The writing "To: Su Lea" in the background was part of an envelope i was using just to put the pendants in front of in case you were wondering... lol

I also learnt how to cut a large sheet of glass... let's just say it kinda did work and kinda didn't work out... i wanted to make a glass house and got as far as what you see below before i dropped the partly soldered house and cracked the glass at the front. Butter fingers. Great huh? LOL well won't be trying to make that again in a hurry. I think i might try something smaller next time. I have cut the glass panels for a smaller house. Just got to find the time. It is extremely time consuming.

And what you see below was going to be one of the roof panels. Oh well..

I wanted to paint a scenery this weekend with ghost gum trees but time just ran out on me. Now the weekend is over... i can't wait for next weekend. :o) Time for bed.............. night!

7 Random Things

2007-06-28T03:48:00.000-07:00

I feel like it's been ages since i've actually surfed the net, let alone blogged... a couple of hectic weeks towards end of financial year and i've only just come out for air. I can't tell you what a relief it is! I hope to catch up with everyone soon.. just got to make it till the weekend.. i think i can .. i think i can... lol

okay, my friend Nat has tagged me to list 7 random things about me, so here goes, just whatever is popping into my mind.

1) i do art in my pyjamas and bathrobe which is covered in paint most of the time and i look like a mad scientist. Honest!!! i took a picture once but didn't dare post it... those of you who have seen my neat house.. i only clean before my guests arrive ROFL...

2) Give me sushi paper (nori), rice and avocado and I am as happy as a pig in mud... oh that and bubble tea (a kind of milkshake with sago balls and jelly)... and i love lipton chai lattes.

3) i have a sincere heartfelt wish everyone would feel okay about themselves. If people would just stop comparing, there would be no need for being greater or lesser.

4) i can't stop wearing brown clothes.. must be my safe colour... have a secret desire to wear skirts but i have fat legs haha

5) i have been vegetarian this week.. no i'm not a vegetarian, it just happened that way.

6) i feel like buying soldering supplies right now but i'm broke until pay day, so i am going to pretend shop later and empty the shopping cart LOL

7) I like to contemplate on the nature of being and what it means to be infinitely compassionate.

And............. I'ld like to tag (only if you want to play :) )... Carmel T and Dot C

Popping in to say hi...

2007-06-17T05:08:00.000-07:00

Another weekend gone by... I hope everyone else has had a good weekend. I didn't have anything planned and thought i'ld just put some paint onto canvas and ended up painting a portrait. Usually, i draw with a pencil first but i was curious as to what would happen if i didn't draw first. I let water streaking over the background.. leaving a watermark effect.

i don't know... somehow i do like this, maybe because it's an unpretty painting.

Have a great week everyone! I know I will try to... :o)

love

Sulea

Painting - The Nameless and the Name

2007-06-10T03:03:00.000-07:00

' The Nameless and the Name'
41 by 50 cm
Acrylic on canvas

I do not want to be

for when I am
a Thing - any thing
all other modes of you
are dormant in me

Not a Thing
Not even a thingless thing.

When I am a Thing, I become
a container of limitation.

When I am not be-coming any Thing
reciding in the silence
uncontrived
what more
to be said

StampCamp 2007

2007-06-10T01:55:00.000-07:00

What a week it has been! Such a wonderful time we have had at Stamp camp last weekend. I have met and gotten to know so many new friends.
I sat right next to a very special, warm and down to earth lady called Chris Cairns at camp, whom I really enjoyed talking to. Chris was kind enough to give me a ride to camp and loan me a hot water bottle. It sure got cold at nights in Busselton. Thank you very much Chris :o)

I also got to meet the wonderful Julie H and the vibrant Dotee and also the lovely Jacky for the first time. It was really nice to spend some time chatting and sharing with Jacky and Julie. Throughout the weekend, there was so much Dotee art everywhere and Dotee's vibrant and enthusiastic personality was infectious. I was lucky enough to be spoilt with these wonderful gifts from Dotee. The little house was part of my mystery muse gift from Dotee. Julie was so generous in showing everyone the finer skills of jewellery making and her talent is just amazing and awe inspiring. You can see on her blog some more photos of camp and her gorgeous handmade jewellery.

Jane P totally blew me away by her fabric art. I couldn't believe how gorgeous the felt fabrics she had handmade were. You can see some gorgeous handmade hats on her blog which several people at camp were lucky to receive. Much to my amazement, Jane made me this bag at camp eventhough she was sick from the flu . It is currently one of my favourite items. How lucky am I!

And the gifts kept coming... I received 2 more lovely atcs, 'Goddess' (just love the stamp and background!) from the lovely Peta J who kept me company throughout camp and even drove a bunch of us girls on a spending frenzy at Makro and Bunnings. Ever seen a group of stampers go nuts over very cheap eyelets.. it is not a pretty sight. LOL I also received "Haunting Betrayal' atc from the very talented Kelsey who was giving demos on the soot technique, transfers and transparency atcs. A stunning atc using a transfer and water soluble crayons.

I am thankful for stamp camp 2007 and especially to the caring and kind hearted Dawn who really took the time to make sure everyone was enjoying themselves and sorting out pre-camp stuff.. and thanks to Sally G for making this year's camp so enjoyable for so many.

Am really looking forward to the next camp......... :o)

lots of love,

Sulea

Stamped scene

2007-05-24T00:52:00.000-07:00

I did this scene for a scenery swap I'm in. Luckily we only swap copies because i don't think i'ld survive after 15 originals. The scene scanned darker than it actually is.

Painting - Giving up Good and Bad

2007-05-20T00:36:00.000-07:00

' Giving up being good or bad'
acrylic on canvas
30.5 by 40.6 cm

I have spent most of my life wanting to be good, but always falling short of expectations. By desiring to be good, i found myself having an attachment to not wanting to be bad. In the quest to do good, was an endless array of things not done that i could have acted out in order to be good in my eyes. So all the time, all i succeeded in doing was proving how bad i was. How awful to be so incapable.

I am not a bad person, i just care too much, judge too harshly, forgive too quickly and see too much, often seeing things that don't exist at all. I have come to learn that even as one may be good, there is still room to be misunderstood. You can be liked and disliked by anyone at all for all kinds of reasons, that has nothing to do with being good or bad. Bad people have friends. But i also learn, that those bad people are not really bad. They too are going through the learning process of what it is, to be a person. So i learn to forgive when i am hurt, forgive them for not understanding. ignore the irrational and i learn not to have expectations.

I want to give up the attachment to being good or bad and live in the freedom of choice without listening to judgement from anyone. Peace of mind, validations good or bad does not exist here.

Kindness

2007-05-09T21:35:00.000-07:00

"What you do for yourself any gesture of kindness, any gesture of gentleness, any gesture of honesty and clear seeing toward yourself will affect how you experience your world. In fact, it will transform how you experience the world. What you do for yourself, you're doing for others, and what you do for others you're doing for yourself." ~ Pema Chodron

Painting - The Burden of Thoughts

2007-04-21T20:05:00.000-07:00

The Burden of Thoughts

acrylic on canvas
30.5 by 40.6 cm

Perhaps i should say something. .. there always seems like there is something say, and then i get to a point where because the thought had passed and having been the listener of my own thoughts, that it had nulled itself out. So then, something was said , yet nothing really.

And in a strange way, having reconciled my thoughts like some accounting balance sheet, i am at peace with myself. I prefer this to the rollercoaster rides of emotions pulling to and fro. These days despite the emotions, i feel like a very solid unmoveable concrete statue in stormy weather. Ironically, the result of it was because of the lessons of emotional rollercoaster rides.

I heard somewhere that troubles and problems are not what they seem. They are blessings, that's all.... Blessings because they are lessons and the greatest teachers of all. That's all they are. They are not problems, so nothing at all to fear. So many blessings. Perhaps fear is the result of misunderstanding blessings.

I have always wanted to be that unshakeable tree, that incredibly unmoveable rock, that blank canvas which despite all the paint, is still permanently itself. Yet at the same time like flowing water, not caring where i fall, just falling like the nature of water. The true nature of myself devoid of all the trappings of emotional delusion.

Unshakeable peace, reconciled emotions, knowable unknowables. The funny thing is, when you feel safe in yourself and know yourself enough to understand what you are, Everything is alright.

Whatever happens, it's alright. I'm alright... this must be happiness.

Painting - Spirits of the Ghost Gum

2007-04-08T22:38:00.000-07:00

'Spirits of the Ghost Gum'

acrylic on canvas

30.5 by 40.6 cm

This is my offering for this easter weekend. If you have noticed that one of the spirits is black... you may wonder why he is a different colour to the other ghost gums. I have thought of 3 reasons, all plausible reasons. So whatever reason you may think of, it is quite likely THE reason :o)

ALtEreD Matchbox Shrines

2007-04-01T01:08:00.000-07:00

No new paintings this weekend.. but instead a couple of matchbox people in their matchbox shrines! :oD These will be finding their way to someone's home soon as the gooey stuff dries.. lol

hope everyone is having a relaxing weekend :o)

Painting - 'She saw her Thoughts'

2007-03-26T05:44:00.000-07:00

'She saw her Thoughts'

acrylic on canvas
30.5 by 40.6 cm

I had a really enjoyable sunday this weekend when my lovely friend Carmel visited and we had a painting day! We chatted lots about art and we must do this again soon Carmel!!! It was really nice to have real company than just me and my radio painting away lol. Please visit Carmel's blog to see the painting she painted for her friend in Ireland! Love the angel's wings, hearts and moon, Carmel! Oh and I will get you the cake recipe. Give me a day or 2...

:o)

Painting - Judge and Jury (Putting ego away)

2007-03-17T19:45:00.000-07:00

Judge and Jury (Putting Ego Away)

acrylic on canvas

30.5 by 40.6 cm

I having having such a fun weekend, just playing with paints. Even got around to creating a new banner for my other blog - My Heart's Song (now updated). However, unsure about how to do it here lol. So for now, this is going to be banner-less :oP

Hope everyone is enjoying their sundays. :o)

Few hours later... okay this is driving me crazy... if anyone knows how to get rid of the space under the banner... please helpppp.... :o)

Some atcs created with paints.......

Some stamping at last

2007-03-11T03:58:00.000-07:00

I finally found my way to some green pepper press stamps , purchased months ago. This was such a fun project. The cover and back were coated with textured paste, then stamped with some patterned foam stamps. It was then painted over with verdigris and rust paint, and then an activator which caused the rust reaction.

The insides of the booklet was painted with white and some teal coloured paints, even stamped with those metal alphabet punches. Burnt umber paint was painted over the punched words until it got into the cracks, then wiped out using some scrap paper. The edges were painted with more rust paint and activator.

The back however is my absolute favourite. It is very textural. I am thinking of getting some square canvases and having this effect all over them! maybe i'll get to that next weekend. This weekend is almost over... i'm off work tomorrow though. I have jury duty YAYYY!!! lol

If Only

2007-03-10T22:21:00.000-08:00

The Imposter

acrylic on canvas

30.5 by 40.6 cm

After 3 incredibly chaotic weeks, pouring my heart out in paints seemed like the only way to diffuse all sense and senseless-ness. I come to the world where nothing matters and nothing is so important that anyone would have to compromise how they are.

Lately all kinds of ideas/ stories to paint have been appearing. I leave a little notepad by my bedside in case this brain decides to hurl out an idea. For although it can come up with ideas, somehow it fails to remember them.

it's strange that i have never painted in this way before because now it seems like this is the way it has always been and should always be. Burnt colours, silent haunting worlds, frozen people whose function are to tell their secret stories to the seer.

I have a new blog located at http://suleaart.typepad.com/ It has a few cool functions to add that links up to amazon.

If Only

oil pastels on canvas

Painting - (IF- 'Hide' - Going away from here)

2007-03-04T23:04:00.000-08:00

' Away from here'

acrylic on canvas

30.5 by 40.6 cm

hmmmm

2007-02-24T04:20:00.000-08:00

................................................................

2007-02-23T04:40:00.000-08:00

oooh i just had to do this one..
This was on my friend's Natalie's blog... and Ii couldn't resist. The first artwork that popped into my head was this:

What Famous Work of Art Are You?

'Sofala'

by Russell Drysdale

Painting - Inner Space

2007-02-19T01:20:00.000-08:00

'Inner Space (siddhas)'

acrylic on canvas

It's amazing what we are able to see and understand today compared to 10 years ago or even 100 years ago.

I don't know why i couldn't see it then. Perhaps life is like a series of join the dots and until it gets to a certain point, you don't really know what picture it is. So until all the little connections are joined, perhaps until then, we will not understand today. Neither will we be capable of seeing or reacting in the same way.

i am connecting paths in me, building freeways and highways, little streets and dead ends. I have made U-turns, 3 point turns and sometimes little accidents, and even big ones. Every connection unfolds a little more, and i may become a closer friend to myself or a worse enemy. Choice to embrace or discard, it all occurs within me. And hopefully i learn - to be unconditional when come face to face with every rise and fall.

The whole universe is a series of connections... This painting is about connections and how all things are connected within the inner space of all beings. It is about compassion and love when the connections are understood.

VALENTINE"S day post

2007-02-14T00:20:00.000-08:00

Hello.. Happy Valentine's Day!!!!! :o)

sorry this took so long. i had to take pictures with my camera and upload it.. but for some reason Blogger isn't allowing me to add photos today ..... the Done buttons refuses to appear ;oS

Anyway....... My other half Steve did the draw while fixing the engine of his ute earlier this afternoon and.................. the winner of the painting collage "Love's Muse" below is........

Drum Roll..................

Julie H! :oD

I will be posting the painting on friday on friday when i can make it to the post office. Hope you like it. :o)

Hope everyone else had a nice valentine's day. I came home to a new friend in the garden.. a potted meyer lemon tree!!!! no fruits yet but hopefully soon. i love fruit trees and hope to have a few more in the garden... after i start a herb garden.... wish i could show you but i'll have to wait until blogger decides to be nice to me.....

have a great week, everyone!!!

lots of love
Sulea

Valentine's Day GIVEAWAY!!! WOOHOO!!!!

2007-02-10T19:48:00.000-08:00

I have been so inspired lately by the art giveaways from my friends Dotee and Dawn that I too decided that it would be nice to create something for someone to celebrate Valentine's Day!!! Dotee is holding another love art doll giveaway, so you may want to visit her blog here!!!

I didn't really know what i was going to paint at first but looks like i painted an angel lol. After several layers of paint on canvas, some transfer attempts (which i learnt from some instructions by a very talented friend Kelsey), encouraged by music from Andrea Bocelli, leaf prints from the garden, 4 hours of attention without having lunch and voila.......... this is the final outcome. hehe.

If you would like to be in the running for this piece of Original art, please put your name down in the comments section and a name will be drawn on ... how about Wednesday 14th of February!!!

'Love's Muse'

mxed media on canvas

16 by 22 cm

With much Love,

Sulea

Reflections ........

2007-02-07T02:42:00.000-08:00

Tired of arguing, explaining or defending,

tired of blocking, avoiding or confronting

tired of reacting, trying, or grasping

no more to excuses, confusion or delusion

futile are words

when the heart is elsewhere

residing in silence

Painting - The Burning

2007-02-05T23:50:00.000-08:00

The Burning

acrylic on canvas

february comes

before i am ready

i look to see

what is going on

for i am in my own world
mingling in beingness
waiting for absoluteness
when will mind fall off the brink
of knowingness
into infinite
nothingness

spending the days throwing thoughts
into the furnace of beingness

burning up knowingness
into paintings
and scribbles
watching passion and boredom manifest
from nothing into meaningfulness
and back again to nothingness

like the high and lows of the ocean wave
pushing and pulling
pacing to and fro
not going

anywhere at all

watching

it all turn to dust
memories fade
never existed at all
nothing done in doing

what am i
if i never was

~

Painting - The Sleeper

2007-01-27T22:01:00.000-08:00

The Sleeper

acrylic on canvas

60 x 55 cm

I was sleeping when the sun rose, and set

unconscious

in the waking hour

defaulting

to ignorance

- not knowing anymore than that

it took losing myself

in order to find the waking hour

to free the sleeper

from its delusion

It was light

that shattered the delusion

and horrified the sleeper

falling into darkness

before arising

into clear light once more

In sorrow and in joy, the clear light now shines

no longer blind in darkness or in light

the day and night is clear

to that who is

light

Minky the guinea PIG

2007-01-27T18:40:00.000-08:00

Munch Munch MUNCH... Minky going spastic over green grass... lol Minky cow... mooo

if you do have a similar pet... maybe a bunny, this cage is just great. it's bottomless, so they can munch on grass and play. Has a shade cloth too to prevent sunburn and over friendly cats.

Plus you will never need to mow your lawn again. it's amazing how much grass they eat.

Not Just Any Ordinary Choc Chip Recipe AWESOME COOKIES

2007-01-27T06:13:00.000-08:00

i made these tonight and all i can say is..... you just got to try making these.

i thought it would be a nice idea to make them as a gift for a friend's bday.
They just don't sell cookies like these.... Guaranteed to tame the cookie monster in you.. you got to try it!!! :oD The recipe makes more cookies than is in the jar.

Island Cookies

1 2/3 cups plain flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
187 g butter/margarine (i mixed half half)
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup white granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 large egg
1 3/4 cups Nestle milk choc chips
1 cup dessicated coconut
3/4 cup chopped walnuts

1) Preheat oven to 190 degrees celcius.

2) Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl.

3) In a separate bowl, beat butter/margarine, brown sugar, granulated sugar and vanilla essence iin large mixing bowl until creamy. Beat in egg. Gradually beat in flour mixture.

4) Stir in choc chips, coconut and walnuts.

5) Drop slightly rounded tsps of dough onto trays with baking paper on it.

6) Bake in batches for about 15 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Do not overbake. Cool cookies completely. Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

At Dawn

2007-01-27T01:36:00.000-08:00

Hello there.. whoever you are out there...

So is it really 2007.. yes a little late but at least i made it. i'm giggling here at the fact that it's almost the end of January and i've finally come to terms with the fact that we will never see 2006 ever again. Daylight savings however is another matter.... let's not go there lol.

It's been over and around 38 degrees celcius in Perth over the last couple of days. It was still incredibly hot at 9 last night on Australia Day. While everyone else was probably watching the Australia Day fireworks, me and Steve were watching a different kind of fireworks. We sat on the beach at Fremantle and watched an amazing display of lightning over the ocean horizon. No rain ever came.. it felt like we were in the sweltering desert with warm wind blowing sand at our feet. Beautifully surreal .

i've been in my "what's the point of anything" mood lately. Can't seem to get going into anything. Starting but not being able to relax into it, let alone finishing it. Perhaps creativity will come soon.. it's been a good month and half now..

in the meantime, here is something i did a while ago that i haven't shown before. I was thinking about what my dad said to me once.. about the name my grandfather gave me. My name comes in 2 parts, Su and Lea. In chinese, the Lea means the first (inkling) of light at dawn... and Su means delicate or dainty. I'm not too sure i like the dainty bit... and unluckily for all my other female cousins, they too have Su in their names. Unfortunately my brother also started teasing me with Dainty Dawn for a few days after LOL.... but ...... it is really nice to know that in my darkest hour, my grandfather gave me a little torchlight to light me up once again. :o)

Anyway....

'Awakening'

Painting - Nullabor Man

2006-12-17T03:30:00.000-08:00

'Nullabor Man' and doggie

acrylic on wood

Sunday 17th December 2006

2006-12-16T17:38:00.000-08:00

Possibly my last post for the year 2006...
.
I have been quietly grieving inside for the past month. People leaving and somehow i take it personally that they are leaving me. Yet if they did not go, I would not have new experiences and new beginnings. So they go.. so that they too would have new beginnings.. and i grieve.
.
And there are those relationships which hurt me so greatly when i am around them and when they go, I still grieve. Perhaps because i am sad that it could never be resolved, perhaps because i couldn't make it better, couldn't make them feel better and i feel so sad they couldn't love me as much as i loved them.
.
And in the new year, i will leave my dad once again and break his heart. I really do not like letting people down, it tears me apart.
.
i used to wonder why i hated myself so much and then i realized it was because i was carrying around this bag of sad helpless feelings. Over time, it got unbearable, so unbearable i would want to get away from my own company. Sometimes, it's like that but i know now that it isn't me and I am able to look outside it and not be dragged into the delusion of pain and suffering. Perhaps, that's what buddhism meant by existence and the attachment to suffering.
.
New beginnings. First, i have to end the old. New beginnings, to embrace it, i must let go of the past, not to forget it.... just to let go.
.

What TIME is it???

2006-12-03T00:36:00.000-08:00

today is lingering on hesitantly. it's all a blur as to what time it is.. some clocks in the house say it's 5:30 and some say it's 4:30. Is it time to do some gardening and weeding? If it's meant to be 5:30, why is it still so hot?
.
In case you are not from western australia and you're wondering what i'm talking about. We have just recently got daylight savings here. What this means is for the summer, we have to "wind" our clocks forward by an hour. There has been a lot of discussion for and against this move but ultimately, the decision was made by the government for us.
.
It's 5:30 i say to my other half and he goes, no it's 4:30, never heard of 5:30.. so i guess it's 4:30. Determined to ignore day light savings, he is going about as normal but i feel like i'm living in the past. When i think it's 4:30, my heart leaps with excitement to know that i have an extra hour left for the weekend but when i think i'ts 5:30, i am dissapointed.
.
so i look out the window, ignoring whatever time it should be and noticed that it's still hot. I'll wait till the sun goes down before i start on dinner and if i'm still in the mood when that time comes to do some weeding. There is a little resentment in me that we live our lives by the clock. It's like me an my mobile phone. I know it's modern times but carrying around a phone just doesn't agree with my idea of freedom. So i turn the volume down low and hopefully i won't hear it when it rings.
.
can i squeeze in another painting for the weekend? is there enough time?.........
.

Painting - The Loving Space

2006-12-02T20:39:00.000-08:00

'The Loving Space'

acrylic on wood

The loving space, although it didn't begin intentionally with meaning, i've come to realize that it has a lot to do with how i've been feeling like for the past year.

Looking at the space which i have called 'myself', i have seen all kinds of images and experiences appear in it. From the rejection of this space, culminating in great sadness, ironically lead to the acceptance and love of this space. On days where I could not find the space, not knowing where to relate from or relate to, ironically enabled the ownership and formation of the space.

Most of the time, i feel like i'm nothing but a walking shaped space. And yet, when i, the identity-less space decide to love, then i am no longer meaningless space.

Painting - Angel of Compassion

2006-12-02T02:28:00.000-08:00

'Angel of Compassion'

acrylic on wood

38 by 25.5 cm

Painting - Transformation

2006-11-28T01:18:00.000-08:00

'Transformation'

acrylic on wood

A Charmed Christmas

2006-11-20T03:30:00.000-08:00

Instead of cards this year, i thought it would be real nice to have receive a pendant/charm or it could even be a christmas tree ornament!!! Here is a sneak preview of what i have made so far. I ran out of solder.. hence some of them are not completed lol. :o)

Thank you to Ev.. i'm not too sure who you are but thank you for the daily inspiration link. The quote for today was just so totally amazing and completely how i feel and think about life.

Today's Affirmation :
'I have compassion for myself so I can give to others without resentment.'

Some of us are impatient and intolerent of ourselves and we may not realize it but how we relate to others is a direct reflection of the way we treat ourselves. When we are scared and do not give ourselves the compassion that we need, we may find it difficult to give to others. Perhaps it is because we may think that by giving to others, we might have less love for ourselves.
.
When we are compassionate, by willingly giving to ourselves limitless patience, unconditional forgiveness, tolerance, complete understanding, courage and total support, it is then that we are able to understand what love is and how it relates to everyone. And when we understand what love is, instantly everyone is in this love and this understanding permeates every level of understanding. There would be no reason why anyone would be outside this love. It would be impossible to reject anyone or anything.
.
The more love and compassion we have for ourselves, the more we are capable of understanding others as non separate from ourselves. Because when we love, everything is embraced. And because we have compassion, everything and everyone is understood. Suddenly everything makes sense and the fear that was once there is almost non existent...
.
lots of love :o)

Christmas Collage

2006-11-19T00:48:00.000-08:00

`The gifts of Christmas'

Acrylic on Wood

Christmas Collage - Thankful

2006-11-19T00:31:00.000-08:00

There are so many things to be thankful about. There are so many gifts that we receive daily that we do not fully appreciate. We do not have to worry that a bomb might fall out of our blue sky when we walk outside, or worry about being mugged if we walked in town. There are people who do not have roofs over their heads or food and water, and there are those in war zones etc. So the little that we have, no matter how simple is such luxury to those without. Thank you for bread, water, blue skies, trees, friends, for forgiveness, for trust, kindness and the helping hand when needed. Thank you for peace, generosity and the gift of unconditional love.

My Biggest Mistake

2006-11-18T16:19:00.000-08:00

Why is it that every problem or every mistake seem so incredibly huge at the time? Evoking emotions of frustration, fear, embarassment, humiliation, annoyance, even anger at times. Why does it have to feel like i want to crawl way deep inside meself and hide underneath a table or that i replay the scene over and over and over again in me mind. Trying out different outcomes, different things i could have said, different ways i could have done things, feeling like i cannot live with myself until i resolved this or validated my preconceptions of myself.

If someone had revealed to you something about yourself that you didn't like, or made you feel inferior or less of a person that you hoped to be, immediately you would feel outraged and defensive. Is it true, is it not true? and the reasons come as to why it isn't true or is true. How complicated we are when we fall victim to our own fears.

I have always been very hard on myself. Feeling helpless on many ocassions at the unsurmountable problems that keep coming up in life. It felt like they just kept coming i was constantly clearing them out.

my biggest mistake is always the one i was experiencing at the time but at some point, i said to myself:

' Dear one, do you know how many countless mistakes you will make in your lifetime? Countless.. Countless' Add that to the immeasurably countless mistakes of everyone in the universe throughout time...

It all fell into place. I am not perfect. (a sigh of relief). what a relief. How many times will I forgive myself and let go of the problem? With all the countless mistakes, surely i would have practiced enough to forgive and let go. The sooner i learn this, the sooner i can go on. The faster I do this, the faster I will be liberated.

Stamping - Animal Forest

2006-10-30T02:19:00.000-08:00

Stamping - Christmas Angels

2006-10-29T06:04:00.000-08:00

All stamps are by Stonehouse Stamps

Chatter - a productive weekend

2006-10-21T22:56:00.000-07:00

It has been a strange weekend. i haven't been enthusiasted about doing any art and yet i have created so many pieces. It's a strange thing not to feel like how my paintings turn out. i usually start with absolutely no idea.. and as the colours start to mingle, an idea or shape might appear.
i'm a little saddened that sunday is almost over and a sense of dread for monday. Lately i have been feeling slightly anxious again and i haven't had that for a while. i am trying to be optimistic and ignore those thoughts that really have no reason to exist.
.
The kinds of paintings i really love are the ones that surprise me at the end. I am not necessarily enthusiastic at the beginning or inspired. it's like watching someone else move around the paint and i wait patiently, curiously to see what would appear. There are times when as the observer i am not curious and i watch non conmitently as the painting emerges. i feel used at times. Other times, as the observer i am impatient and the painter gets annoyed with the impatient observer and stops painting lol.
.
well.. i think that's it for this weekend. :o)
.
love
Sulea

Self portrait

2006-10-21T22:46:00.000-07:00

'Falling into myself'

7.9 by 7.9"

acrylic on wood

The same painting from different angles.

Painting - Self portrait

2006-10-21T22:44:00.000-07:00

Self portrait

acrylic on wood
11.8 by 8 "

Something i wanted to say

2006-10-21T06:51:00.000-07:00

I have wanted to share with you how i have felt for a while now. just didn't know of how to say it.

From you who wishes me a good morning with the most heartfelt smile, to you who follows me to the kitchen to stay awhile and chat... to you who catches the train with me and all of you who manage to spare a second or two to say hello and acknowledge me being there. I know it sounds real silly but deep inside, i feel a great gratitude and humility that you can see me looking at you.

i light up when you are near and as though you were my very self, i am happy to be around you. how often have i felt amazed and full of admiration of the way that you are. You who astound me with your intelligence, leadership and love for the people around you, to you who teaches others to be happy with your jokes, to you who is so brave for standing your ground, and you who is full of patience in explaining things, you who is so focussed and full of integrity.

How amazing are you for being the way that you are.

i don't know much but i know that you are amazing. i don't say much when i'm around you but i'm a good listener if you need to talk. i see how beautiful you are and secretly i hope that if i look at how wonderful you are often enough, perhaps one day you too will see how brightly you are shining.

There are those who point at your faults and hurt you but i know that those faults are not you. If you look at the sky, you will see sky. If you look at darkness, you will see darkness. How brightly you shine.. thank you for shining so brightly that your light is reflected in me and i too am lit up.

Collage Painting - The love in you

2006-10-21T06:33:00.000-07:00

'The love in you"

9.8 by 11.4 "

Acrylic on wood

.
I am the sun that rises and sets within you
I am the home that you carry at all times
I am the earth and the sky and everything in you
I am your best and also your lowest

I am your comfort when you need it

and when you are lost in despair and frustration

I am there when you call out,

to lead you - out of yourself

into me

I am the listener to all your secrets

and the knower

of your disapointments, fears and shame

I am patience and the compassion -

when you are too hard on yourself

but most of all

I am the love in you

that loves you unconditionally

and no matter what

I still love you.

Collage Painting - Loving you

2006-10-21T06:17:00.000-07:00

I am the love in you

that loves you

unconditionally

"Angel of love"

11.8 by10.4"

acrylic on wood

Collage Giveaway

2006-10-17T04:01:00.000-07:00

I have been wondering about the kind of art i wanted to do with mixed thoughts lately. The kind of subjects or themes, the colours, the emotions, what i would like to learn about myself. Sometimes I get caught up with expectations, and find myself straying and forgeting the one reason why i like doing the things i do. I have doubts about whether anything i do is good enough and when i ask myself good enough for what? often the answer is whether it's good enough for approval. Then i ask good enough for whose approval?
.
I don't really know the answer. If it was my own approval that i sought, what would be the ultimate thing that i would approve of?
.
Every painting is like a visit to a different part of myself, a different dot from the millions of dots that make me up. Maybe i'll join the dots one day to see what the whole looks like.
.
In the mean time, i thought maybe i'ld give away a couple of collages. (Update - Both collages are now gone and soon on their way to their new owners!) :oD YAY!!! i think i might do this more often hehe... stay tune........

Collage Painting - Secret Garden

2006-10-15T06:13:00.000-07:00

~
Secret Garden

Now available on etsy

Collage Painting - A Sketch in time

2006-10-15T02:05:00.000-07:00

i started a little sketch book where i have been writing poems on...... and now the pages are dressing my collages. means a lot to me... like writing a hidden message underneath the paint or painting a wish.......

Collage Painting - Tender hope, gentle heart (IF)

2006-10-14T08:07:00.000-07:00

Now available on Etsy

This week's Illustration Friday topic is 'smitten'. I am really enjoying working with the themes that have been chosen so far. My angel is smitten with love. :o)

My Creative space........

2006-10-14T02:42:00.000-07:00

This was the little desk i used to have..........

.
Ever wondered how your little desk ever turned out to a whole room full of stuff??? i've stopped buying "stuff" nowadays.... or so i tell myself. I remember when i was first introduced into the world of stamping, actually it started off with scrapbooking and then finding out that some people actually have a whole house full of scrapbook "stuff" or a whole basement or attic or sometimes even a second house in the backyard ..... i thought i wonder if i could do that but in an economical way.
.
Actually in Australia, every so often there is a collection by the council and people put out all their old furniture and "junk" out for the trucks to come and get... some people go junk hunting by driving around the streets until they see something they like. We happened to be driving along on different ocassions and dragged home cabinets... huge pieces of wood (which was then converted to my corner desk, and that huge table in the middle of the room is made from wood thrown out behind a factory. My magazine rack was one thrown out from an auto shop (we asked just to make sure)... and the shelving on top of my side desk also "junk". The shelf with the stamps was $2 at the markets. i love my creative space. i think it makes it extra special when all these bits have been put together. In some ways, it feels like they all came together for me. So thank you to the universe for the gifts!!! :o) i wouldn't have had it any other way.
.
wouldn't mind some quirky wonky wooden yellow and red chairs...... mmmmmmmm
.

and this is my creative space now...........

Pieces of me

2006-10-14T01:41:00.000-07:00

If ya ever wanted to know what i looked like ... well i was mucking around on my pc and found these pictures which i put together... add a few pounds to the picture and time, and you'ld just
about got it right. LOL I have often wondered if there was some sort of skill involved in looking photogenic or beautiful on camera. i'm the one who always blinks in every group photo, look away at the wrong time... pretty ordinary hahaha. The other day i got one of my retard photos and using paintshop started painting a red outfit with pointy hat on myself.. it was hilarious but i don't think i'm brave enough to post it LOL.
.
anyway.... :o) hope everyone is having a great afternoon.
.
love
Sulea

I would rather

2006-10-09T06:00:00.000-07:00

I would rather love than hate

Accept all beings than suffer the pain of rejection

Be kind than cruel

To understand than be ignorant

Humble than arrogant

Forgive than hold grudges

Be generous than selfish

Face the truth than blaim others

Work out problems than avoid them

Choose freedom than be a prisoner of fear

To learn from mistakes than continuously repeating them

To break free from the cycle of habits that hurt

I would rather be happy than miserable

To see with love than be blind

To listen than to judge

To respect than be inconsiderate

All this I do - out of love for myself.

Illustration Friday - Trouble

2006-10-08T06:15:00.000-07:00

.
I have awkward days and days where i feel stuck when it comes to doing art. It is usually because i'm not listening ... actually i get into trouble all the time when i'm not listening. I can't quite say what it is i'm listening to since there isn't anyone talking... perhaps listening to the silence which isn't really silent. Perhaps listening to that silence from which all things spring from. I get into trouble when i listen to the irrational thoughts of my mind instead of the heart's silence.

Collage Painting - Surrendering

2006-10-08T05:53:00.000-07:00

.
So you were there but not here
Almost in the door but not fully
Ready for it but not totally
Full of conviction but not enough
All your jumping gear on but still on edge

Charged up with faith but completely faithless

You Surrender but only this much

helpless in your holpelessness

You hold onto yourself while trying to let go

When will you understand

that there is nowhere to go to

When will you stop trying to go somewhere

as though you were separate and foreign

Tearing yourself into two

Is it not so simple

to accept your Self

And dissolve into yourself.

You are never more yourself than Now.

4th October 2006

2006-10-04T03:33:00.000-07:00

a few more hours left to today... just seems like yesterday that i was 12 years old blowing out candles on a gigantic cake shaped in the numbers 12.. or maybe i was just little then. How time flies. Another birthday on an ordinary day.

I used to think that i would feel the same inside no matter how old i was and that our outer appearances would just age and inside we would be the same 12 year old we once were. In many ways, i can relate to that 12 year old but sometime this year, something changed in me. Like a light bulb switched on and a voice inside went "huh?" Suddenly I realized i had changed so much over the last year.

I thought i would list a few important things i have learnt.

1) i realize that i understand things much deeper today and have the capacity to see beyond myself and how life is interconnected. i learnt to look through others eyes.

2) i learnt about consequences and responsibility of actions.

3) I learnt to love others as i love myself but most importantly i learnt how to love myself unconditionally. That I am lovable because i am allowing myself to be loved.

4) I learnt to forgive myself and others because they are no different from me. In forgiveness, i learnt to let go and move on.

5) I learnt about self respect which is non different from self love. i learnt that the source of my self love comes from within me and is unconditional and infinite.

6) I learnt not to hurt myself by thinking irrational thoughts and feelings.

7) I learnt that i can be strong when pushed.

8) I learnt to be true to myself because when I am not, i struggle. When I am true to myself, i realize that i do not need to fight because it is meant to be. Sometimes i think that maybe i'm being too weird with my art and have doubts as to whether people would like me... but then i remember that if i wasn't being myself, i wouldn't be happy.

It's just an ordinary day in a year full of extraordinary experiences.

Thanks for listening :o)

Collage Painting - The Unraveling Heart (Illustration Friday - Quiet)

2006-10-02T06:13:00.000-07:00

Like a vessel, I was an accumulator of experiences
not knowing of limitations, I thought I was immortal and an eternity

But when I was full, realizing that i could not hold onto

an infinity of knowing and being -

my vessel broke.

I was left watching helplessly as experiences passed through me

I turned around and watched my future fall into the past

Time moving away, so far, so fast, past memory and consciousness

All that I could be, would be and/or became

unraveling into the distance

My entire life, every thought and action scribbling itself into the past

I was unraveling

Like a rolled up ball of twine unwinding

I was nothing more than an unravelling knot

Suddenly, it became clear

All crooked confused paths became a straight line

All purpose, fears, hopes, dreams, destinies - a clear dot

I finally understand what it means

when the heart's knot unravels.

This is another painting ... as i thought deeper on the topic of quiet, this came up.

I have been painting on wider surfaces. Unfortunately this means I am unable to scan my painting/collage!!! I took this picture with my camera. It isn't too bad. I was going to paint her face with features but decided not to......... what do you think? Should she have a face? :o)

love

Sulea

Collage Painting - Quiet (Illustration Friday)

2006-10-01T01:54:00.000-07:00

I was looking forward to the next topic in the illustration friday themes. This week's was quiet.

have you have considered that the loudest noise is always the one in your head? Or the sound of your emotion rising up hammering loudly for your attention.. the noise of uncertainty that pops up every now and then inside you like little alarm bells.

Quiet to me is when self expectations dissolve, no longer needing to prove anything or striving to become anything. Quiet meaning being so totally at peace with myself and fully accepting of whatever state i may be at, at that moment. It means giving up fighting with myself.. it means being in the moment without holding on to the moment. It means giving up of the last moment to be in This moment.

Where the noise in my head has ceased because it is satisfied not needing to know anything more. It is free of the bondage of concepts, expectations and thoughts. i am so happy of quiet times because it is during these times, that i see myself clearly without false coverings.

:o)

Collage Painting - A Joyful Heart

2006-09-30T06:02:00.000-07:00

I wanted to paint something happier this weekend and originally intended on pink hues but it turned into yellow........ when i first began to draw this figure, i was thinking of what or who did i think was beautiful and i think i surprised myself a great deal when i realized that i had drawn a person who looked so much like my mother. It is interesting how when I was a little girl, i used to think my mother was the most beautiful person in the world.

I think deep down inside, i still think she is the most beautiful person in the world. What is scariest is that when I look inside myself, i can see aspects of myself that is so much like my mother. It is almost as though she is living inside me. I wonder how many people have felt this way.....

Now available on etsy

Illustration Friday - Phobia

2006-09-25T23:58:00.000-07:00

.
This is my first entry in Illustration Friday challenges. I spent a few days thinking about what phobias meant to me. Most people are afraid of something and it may be that this fear they have drives them to do the things they do or behave the way they do. Some people believe that fear is necessary to survive and get ahead in life.

Nowadays i like to think of fear as a natural human reaction but at the same time that reaction is separate from logic and choice. To be able to choose how you feel and how you react to things must be true mastery. But to be able to master emotions and reactions requires understanding and seeing things for the way it is, not what we think it is. To be able to discern between a valid thought and a delusional one.

Perception and belief systems changes the view we have of everything. In fact our whole existence is based on perception and belief systems.

.
When we allow fear perceptions to consume our reality, or when we succumb to the fear reactions of our perceptions and thoughts for long periods of time, that is when the trouble starts... and we cross the line into a world called phobia.

We can be scared of many things but what if your greatest phobia was yourself. It would be like holding on to a spider and not letting go, yet at the same time screaming in horror constantly. It would be a continuous horrifying moment one after the next. Or perhaps the thing you disliked the most was yourself or your body .. whatever you identified yourself to be. There would be no where you could run to that you weren't already there.

So they punish that very thing they feared or disliked,to eradicate what they thought was the source of that fear. Or perhaps they thought that if they punished it, it would learn it's lesson and be more likeable just like a parent chastising their child for "their own good". Perhaps then, they would be more likeable and lovable to other people but what some don't really realize is the acceptance their being craved the most is their very own acceptance of themselves.

Fear saddens the soul and Love frees it.

Available on etsy for sale.

Collage Painting - the Seat of my Heart

2006-09-24T02:45:00.000-07:00

how it came to this is unclear

...

the thunderstorms began to go

the clouds too slowly cleared

...

Someone called my name and i followed

across the great divide -

between the stranger and me.

...

There, smilling, beaming so brightly ~ was She

in the seat of my heart

...

my very own Self

my Heart

my Love

my Joy

my Courage

my Home

my Life

...

and because of this

wherever i am -

I Am

Before i went to bed last night, i remembered this profound thing a very special lady said to me a while ago. And the way she said it with such trust and faith in me.

...

At the time, i was lost to myself and although i didn't know it then, i felt like i could not love myself. This was either because i felt that i was undeserving or because i needed someone's approval to love myself. And the sadness I felt from this emptiness made me feel totally lost, confused and disorientated. i didn't know where i was coming from or where i was going.

...

All she said was, " Sulea, i do not want to stand in front of your light".

That was it. nothing before, nothing after... just that.

...

and in an instance, it was as though by removing herself, she was giving me the approval to become myself. That it was okay to be whatever no matter what and be accepted and loved because I would be the source of that love.

...

I realized that i was witholding myself from becoming ... because I was terrified of myself. Making me "visible" through removing the obstacle, allowing me to accept being conscious of that "light" , the source of my existence to be visible and lighting me up.

...

Whether or not that light exists is not important. Only that the symbolism of what it represented to me makes the difference. This painting is about the connection, the friendship and the bond between being and the love of his/her innerself. It is about the unconditional love that exists when it is given to oneself.

...

the greatest gift I ever received from anyone is that gift of receiving that unconditional love. and that is what this painting is about.

Collage Painting - Let go and Fly

2006-09-22T22:01:00.000-07:00

I have been listening to those who say

that I missed my chance

But the beginning is now

and always is

There's another chance,

there always is

Maybe I'll take this chance, this change

Worn and weathered by life

Regrets are of the past

I will get up and climb

into my Wings

Be strong and brave

Let go and FLY