I haven’t posted for ages as I was in England for the birth of my beautiful granddaughter, Mia Coco. She is absolutely georgeous. Her birth has caused me to rethink my priorities and I am having to put my attention to other projects to generate a more flexible income so I can spend more time in the UK to be part of her life. Australia is a long way away! So,  Globalbeadproject will be on hold for a while, although I will reply to emails eventually!

Check out my new website: http://www.law-of-attraction-parenting.com if you want to see what else I do!

I will be back at some stage, or at least I will re-invent what I was trying to do!

Thanks everyone for all your support …… gotto go with the biggest Joy – a beautful baby girl!

with love and Joy,

Annie D

I am still here (or maybe I am there!) I have so many ideas I can’t keep up with myself! I have finished Series Two and just need to post the photos, and Heart Art is on it’s way around the world! After your feedback, I am making some changes to this site and how the whole process works, so keep checking back as I make a few changes. I’m trying to simplifiy it a bit so it is easier for you to take part, and easier for me to manage -  so feel free to post your ”Joys” directly via the comments.  

 Lots of Joy,

Annie

Summer here in Tasmania is absolutely beautiful, not too hot, but warm enough to swim everyday in the sea – one of the greatest joys in my life. There is something really special about the sea for me, I always feel connected, uplifted, energized and inspired when near the ocean. I am so blessed to be able to live so close to beautiful beaches. Lona, who emailed me her joys put it simply, Sun, Sea, and Surf, what more could you want!

summer blessings!

with much Joy,

Annie

But….. as I was re-hanging some paintings yesterday – that have been waiting for nearly twelve months since our last lot of renovations – I happened to elevate myself above my usual eye level and YUCKY, I don’t think I can ignore the dust in the kitchen any longer. My lovely mother arrives for the Christmas holidays, next Monday and last time she was here she kindly bought me some amazing electrostatic dusters that suck up the dust all by themselves. Or at least that was what I thought. I suspect they are supposed to be taken out of the packet first. Anyway, my dust has got to the sticky consistency stage, and no amount of electrostatic charging seems to do it.

So, time for the grand entrance of Domestic Goddess! I donned my tiara, tutu and diamond studded rubber gloves and whoosh, swish, splat (that was the bowl I broke in my enthusiasm) – I did manage to make a swathe in the grime. One side of the kitchen looks amazing, I will have to leave the other side so I can appreciate the contrast for a while.

Then, whilst I was taking a tea break I happened to sit at my studio table and before I knew it, I had slipped off the diamond studded rubber gloves and a paintbrush had slipped into my hand. I touched up the little bits that weren’t quite right; so I can be a Domestic Goddess and Artist in the same day!

The next thing I wanted to tell you about is my JOY for the day – actually it is one of my all time BIG JOYZ! I decided after all this hard work it was time for a swim, my first in the sea for the season. It has been an unusually warm spring here in North West Tasmania, usually I don’t start swimming till after Christmas. And it was AMAZING!! It was a bit chilly getting in, but the sun was shining, seagulls were paddling their way around me, and even more exciting, a pelican flew lazily overhead floating on the currents. There is something about the sea that just totally connects me. The feeling of expansiveness, the joy, the playing, the splashing (yes I am that crazy woman who sings and dances in the sea!). There are times when I feel so blessed I could burst! So I’ll send it out to all of you, a bit of bursty blessingness!

With much love and JOY,

Annie, The Domestic Goddess Mermaid Artist! Whew!! What a wonderful world it is!!

Right; so all of life is supposed to be a meditation, I can become enlightened being a Domestic Goddess up to my elbows in soapsuds, I can chant mantras and count rainbows in the bubbles (but I do SO want to get back to my painting…). And then there is THE LIST. In my head. This is in addition to the list on the fridge, the list on the bench, the list on my desk, the list on my art table ….. It is nearly Christmas, all these things MUST be completed by then or else the sky falls in… (painting, painting ……)

Sometimes I can stretch time, but not when I am reciting lists of all the things that I don’t have ENOUGH time to do. Naturally, what you focus on you get! Not enough time and a HUGE list!!

So, tomorrow I am revising THE LIST. Being a domestic goddess can wait until Wednesday…. or Thursday.

Tuesday’s list reads like this:

1.     ART

2.     ART

3.     Chocolate (where did that come from?) (Must be divinely inspired!)

4.     ART

5.     Smell my new roses

6.     ART

Everything else can be handed over to the Universe to take care of. (But please don’t let the chooks out!)

Go for JOY, to hell with the dust,

love Annie

It will be wonderful when some talented computer geek comes up with a way of writing blogs via telepathic transfer. I have written so many in my head as I trot around doing various tasks or sitting painting, but to actually sit down at the computer and type it in takes a bit more organization!

Series Two has expanded as I am incorporating another idea! With each series I am also going to create two or three additional, flatter miniatures that will be categorized as “Heart Art”. These little pieces are going to be randomly sent off around the world with the instructions to enJOY them for a month and then  pass it on to another random person to receive a surprise JOY package in their letter box. Hopefully some of the recipients will report back to the Global Bead Project so we can all share in their joy at receiving a little surprise beaded creation!

I was inspired by bookcrossing.com where you leave a book you have enjoyed on a park bench, or in a cafe and the finder hopefully logs on to say where they found it. I love it when people think up things to spread good stuff around and was wondering which book I might register, when it occurred to me I could adapt the idea for the Global Bead Project!

Lotsa Fun!

With much love and JOY

Annie D 

I’ll just have to practice what I preach and enJOY the journey!

luv Annie D

I was talking to someone the other day who asked me how I went about actually “doing” my artwork, so I thought it would be a good subject to blog! I am someone who likes to have several projects on the go at the same time, (whether it’s gardening, house maintenance or art). With Series Two, I am again painting/beading miniatures so it is ideal to have several on the go at the same time, given that my studio doubles as the spare room! Inspiration is never a problem for me, my mind is constantly overflowing with possibilities, I have more of a problem with not being able to do them all at once. Hence having a few on the go at any one time keeps that part of me happier! I also have a bit of Scots in me on my Mother’s side, so I hate wasting any paint, being able to move on to another painting while one is drying saves throwing away paint. Never-the-less, I still clean my brushes on storage boxes or magazine boxes! In fact my chook house is painted pink and purple as a result of cleaning the brushes!

I have usually been percolating the ideas for a series quite some time before starting, often whilst painting something else. I am always scribbling ideas down in the midst of painting! Series Two (eight miniatures) has developed because I wanted to experiment with Gold Leaf (and of course Beads!) – so keep an eye out for photos in the next few weeks. I meditate briefly just prior to starting, to get myself centred and ready to focus. Sometimes I have a clear idea of exactly what I want the outcome to be, more often I have a theme, or idea that is the starting point and then it creates itself. I usually seem to have one painting that is a bit more cantankerous than the others and have even scrubbed off the paint or washed part of it away until I am happy with the effect. Or perhaps it was that I was a bit cantankerous when I was painting it and it didn’t flow easily!

In these last two series, I am mostly using two colours/blends, with just a  tiny amount of another colour to highlight or accent something. Because I am also thinking about where the beads will go and which beads I want to use I will be painting with that in mind. Having said that, I often find that the bead I had in mind ends up not being the right one, or another will arrive in my life that has already chosen which particular painting it is attracted to!

I am also using a lot of Impasto at the moment, as I love playing with the textures or making bead nests. For the Impasto, I use a palette knife, plastic fork and spoon, my fingers, sometimes a brush, or a toothpick – what ever is at hand! I usually paint over it later, but the stuff I am using at the moment, I have discovered works better with paint mixed into it. I think I prefer the flexiblity of being able to paint over it easily.

Time to see if my little creations are ready for the next layer -

sending you lots of JOY,

Annie

Tomorrow I start painting Series two! Hundreds of ideas have been cascading through my head, time to let some of them take form!

Hope your are enJOYing your day!

Love and Light,

Annie  

Imagine my surprise the other night to hear, as I was about to drift off to sleep, a snail singing! For those of you who have never heard a snail singing, it is definitely one of those must have life experiences! Normally, snails are under strict instructions to detour around the perimeter of our property and feed on the neighbour’s cabbages. However, this particular snail decided to sing us to sleep. Actually, it had the reverse effect, but that’s beside the point. This particular snail (or shell-backs as they are called here in Tasmania!) had crawled it’s way up the window and from time to time his shell would scrape against the glass, causing strange high pitched reverberations (definitely singing!) I couldn’t quite pick up the words, however when he appeared again last night I decided this particular snail had earned special treatment, not normally reserved for snails in my garden. I am going to slip out tonight and rescue him, and in the morning, on my dog walk, deposit him in a jungle garden round the corner, where I am told is a snail paradise!

till next time …….

Annie D