Change, change and more change ♥

Hello lovely creative friends!

Wow!! What a month its been...I hardly know where to start!

So maybe I'll start from today and go backwards just to fill you in on all of the excitement,

the ups and the downs.......Isn't life amazing?

This weekend I got to be on the other side of the workshop format,

this time I was the student

rather than the teacher

getting to enjoy the wonderful arty wisdom of Robert Malherbe,

an extremely successful Australian painter whose works are so lush and textural

you feel like you could eat them!

Still Life with Two Fish I. 2011.Robert Malherbe 

Robert was a patient and generous teacher and although I have hardly any experience with still life in this style I was excited and willing to give it a go!

 Above is my effort after much advice and help from Mr Malherbe ( I dont mind at all when the teacher says "do you mind?" and picks up my brush!). I just love being able to work quickly and tonally to build up form and colour without being all finicky and detailed and I will definitely be practicing more.

I guess you could say there is quite a difference between Roberts work and mine but I love being a life long learner and there are always discoveries to be made. I especially like watching other artists actually paint which is why I always do quite a lot of demos at my workshops.

A Small Shift in Perception. Tracy Verdugo. 2012

 

Speaking of which I am sooooooo excited to be flying up to Queensland in less than two weeks to bring my Paint Mojo workshop to Buderim on the Sunshine Coast and then a few weeks after that I will be heading to Melbourne to play with 15 eager artists before heading off on my BIG U.S tour. There are still a few spots left in California, Texas, Florida and maybe N. Carolina but I know they are getting pretty close to full so check out all the info here. I'll also be at the Art Is You Retreats in both Petaluma, California and Stamford, Connecticut and oh boy have I heard of some fun going on there! Would really love you to come play with me!

On the personal front this month has been quite emotionally charged......I've been a little preoccupied worrying about a spot that I had to have surgically removed. As a melanoma survivor there is always a note of panic when a new spot appears. Thankfully the news is all good and a small basal cell carcinoma was successfully removed!

Another emotional upheaval with the fact that our gorgeous first born Santana has flown the coop.......off to the big city, she has spread her wings and moved to Sydney.......for her 18th birthday we made this beautiful book all about her life from babyhood to the beautiful young woman she has become. If you havent yet heard of Blurb they make it super easy to publish your own books about anything you like!

 

 

How quickly the years go from sweet baby to young woman and how bittersweet it is to let them go.......

 

 

and how proud we are of the young woman she has grown to be ♥

Enough of that or I'll start blubbering again!

A quick round up of the rest as its almost time to scour the fridge and come up with something creative for dinner!

very much enjoying our See Change Winter Arts festival where I am exhibiting recent works like this 

 

 Tracy Verdugo.2012.If I could have held it in the Breathing of a Whisper". Acrylic/mixed media on canvas.

and this

 

 Tracy Verdugo. 2012. The Possibility of Pleasure. Acrylic/mixed media on plywood. 30x30cm. SOLD

and enjoying the rounds of exhibition openings and the warmth of the art community here in this beautiful place I am lucky enough to call home. 

 

Last weekend I even got to paint in the streets in our little village of Huskisson! What a treat!

Next month mi amor is off to live in Thailand for 12 months where he has been offered a 12 month contract to help organise a major music festival in 2013....so it looks like we will be visiting Koh Samui on our way to the U.S, on our way home and maybe even be spending a few months there together next year.....Luckily we all adapt fairly well to change and also know that we are extremely fortunate to have such positive change in our lives......

Well I really should sign off for now...I think thats probably enough for one post and for those of you who have just dropped in from my Art and Soul radio interview with the lovely Lesley Riley, WELCOME!!! and I hope I didnt bombard you with too much info!!

Have an awesomely amazing weekend I'll leave you with some of the wisest words ever from the inimitable Dr Seuss !

lots of love Tracy ♥♥♥