tea party with cupcakes

hallow lovely world. :-)

quick update!

dylan has had 2 nights now in which he slept SEVEN whole hours! omg! i haven't slept that much in a row since he was born!! crazy. he's also done 6 and 5 hrs on some nights and other nights he wakes up every 2 hours again but it's going in the 'right' direction. :)

motherhood is possible THE most incredibly beautiful thing that has ever happened to me! every day i wake up filled with such wonder and love for this little boy, ohmygod.

look at his smoochie facey!!!



i just overflow with looooooove ♥ eheehh.

oh, i recorded 'silent night' in dutch and english, listen to it ici if you like;





and i did new art! (dylan sleeping 7 hours is giving me renewed energy! wheeee!):

i enjoyed doing these sisters a lot, the beige/ pinky salmony colours were just lovely to work with;



and some new whimsy art;



all originals are still for sale! (msg me if you're interested) and prints can be had too! check out my etsy shop for prints (although the pink girls aren't up yet).

oh, just a quick reminder! if you want to buy a calendar and have it arrive before xmas pls order before 30th nov!! (thanks to all that have bought one so far!!) :)

ok, gotta go to bed now and hopefully have another 7 hour sleep with dylbee!!

hope everyone in the states had a lovely thanksgiving!
big hugs. x

reasons why i love life

.reasons why i love life.

the expansive feeling i get when driving in a car with andy and dylan, the music on loud, darkness outside, streetlights going by. unsweetened apricot jam on crunchy warm toasty bread. fluttering butterfly wings and bumblebees on lavender branches. soft andy beard hair tickles on my cheek's skin. dylan's beautifully rounded button nosey. clay on my fingers. messy mixed media layer art. the excitement that comes from new artistic ideas bubbling up on the inside. dylan's heavy, warm, sleepy body sleeping on me and his curled up legs. vanilla perfume scent sprayed all over me. rain showers. packages in the mail. making clay puppets. autumn smells. fake fights with andy. compassionate friends. daddy & dylan over the sea songs. finding inspiration in beautiful children's books. orange, brown, red, golden and yellow autumn leaves. percussion. compassionate heart connections. feeling cosy inside while violent rain storms rage outside. making smoked tofu with avocado and pine kernel salads. finding and using new art supplies. crisp winter days with bright blue skies. roasted chestnuts. snow. soft windy breezes. sparkles & glitters. purple little whales. kindness. topaz, lapis lazuli and rose quartz. little clay birdies. floral patterned fabric and felt. the way dylan looks ecstatic when he breastfeeds and his soft, porcelain skin. tree bark. laughter like bells. andy's care, compassion, kindness and love. soft kisses. preparing and sending packages to customers. soft graphite pencils. basil. nonviolent communication and its potential and power. scissors. heartshaped everythings. gustav klimt. the beaches on ko nang yuan. dylan's eyelashes. finding freedom in the present moment. unconditional love. a busker playing an irish folk song on a violin in hove.

***
we're moving! :-) we found a 3 bedroom semi-detached house in brighton (a little more inland than we are now). it has a huge garden with a pink blossom tree in it, the rooms are spacious and the living room is big too. we're so excited! it will give us a lot more space than we have now and we really need it with dylan who brings so much stuff with him!

otherwise, sleeping has been very tough in the last week and a half. even though he's now 13 weeks (nearly 3 months old), he's actually become worse sleep wise! they say that babies tend to sleep for longer in the nights roundabout this time, but dylan's has become worse! for the last week and half he's woken up every 2 hours! it's really tough when that happens. i can cope with 2-3 days of that, but more really means i walk around like the living dead. last night he did a stretch of 3.5 hours which was encouraging, but it may just have been a fluke again. we'll have to see. andy helps out here and there feeding him formula, but we don't want to do that too often, particularly now that he's just had his 2nd set of vaccinations. i want the breastmilk to help boost his immune system ... so we go on. it'll change, i know. so i'm too down about it. :-)

***
i've also been going through a phase in which all the suffering in the world just really gets to me. i couldn't even watch the news without bursting into tears reading about boys raping boys, then; children with leukemia, people being murdered, suffering in asia etc. at times, i just don't know what to do with this information and can get quite down because of it. i feel so helpless and incapable of changing it.

byron katie & eckhart tolle helps with this though, a lot. last night i had a real clarity moment; when i read about children with leukemia and i don't want them to have leukemia, i suffer because i resist reality. that way, i cause more suffering on top of the suffering that already exists which is useless and only makes the world a more miserable place. if i accept reality, i am in a place of strength, calm, love and acceptance and can do a lot more to alleviate other people's suffering.

***

i've done some new art in misty mawn-esque style, i'm on her current course which is inspiring. so far no new techniques for me though, but that's cool, i enjoy just being on her course to see how she melds all her work together, i look forward to when she's going to add portraits.



i also took this macro shot of dylan's beautiful face yesterday which i just love! ->



and, i've been making little clay sculptures which i've enjoyed doing, but must admit; painting on rounded surfaces is much harder than on flat!! :D





i have also been making a masquerade mask! but i'll only show one pic of it because i'm doing an art video of it and don't want to spoil all the fun! :D


pretty no? to me it looks venetian. :-)

lastly, i am now selling a willowing 2010 art calendar (10% of each sale goes to the charity; 'friends of the earth') and willowing christmas cards! but i will be doing a separate blog post announcement for those soon. if you want to take a peek in the mean time clicky on the links.

big love to everyone out there.

♥

bear mama, starchild

by; susan seddon boulet

this is how i feel; i am like a ferocious and strong, beautiful, huge bear using my massive paws to protect this miraculous, starchild. he; like a bright light in the dark, me; a force, strong, powerful, my sole purpose; to love, caress, care for this child of light.

***

oh hai! it is i, mummy tam, boob machine, milk producer, lover of dylan, lover of andy, keeper of a huge heart full of love, artist, pram pusher, rain watcher, autumn leaf admirer, silly song singer, smiler, luckiest lady in the world. ♥

the above painting really speaks to me. i love the mysticism in it and the magical style. i might try paint something in susan's style. wow, she made amazing paintings.

so, what's up with tam? well, dylan slept his first 6 hour stretch this week! it was a one off so far, but i'm keeping my fingers crossed that it may continue. i've been told that when babies reach 3 months old stuff changes! for one they tend to sleep for longer periods at night, and for two their digestive system will have matured and they won't be bothered by gas so much any more. so i'm eagerly awaiting his 12 week birthday which will be monday a week!

this week was mostly a really really rough week, most nights he just kept waking up every hour or so, on top of that, i got some bad rheumatism flare ups which make the nights even harder because my shoulders, arms and hands are in real pain. i can hardly pick him up then. so i'm watching my food intake (certain foods can trigger RA) now and that seems to make a bit of a difference, but, like babies, RA is also unpredictable. if the flare ups continue i'll have to talk to the rheumatologist for a new cocktail of meds. there is one other meds i can try which is ok while breastfeeding.

i took a load of beautiful macro shots of his little face and hands yesterday;







i've also done a new piece of art inspired by tascha & danita type whimsical girls;


i call it; "fly free little birdie"

as i was mucking about with my macro lens i took some macro close ups of this piece of art which i love, because you can really see the texture & "bumpiness" (ha) of the paint in some of them;








i love the little shoesies i did! ee! :D

other things i'm excited about.

has commissioned me to make a painting for his girlfriend for xmas! :) i look forward to creating this painting as they have big lovely fur family and snails too! :D

and, i have signed up for an online art class with misty mawn whose work i've admired for quite some time now. i hope to learn a few new mixed media techniques.



i'm also excited about rhomany's 2 courses, 1 is a coptic binding course in which you learn to bind your own book! and the other is a new art journalling course which she's running on my ning site; www.willowing.ning.com (people can still sign up btw) with the aim to make a 'soul book'. the coptic binding one is an ongoing one and you can still join that too, it's run over here; www.debcompany.ning.com

even though dylan is either attached or on top of me most of the day, i manage to do bits of art here and there and i've been making cute little clay statues, but none of them are finished quite yet, here are pics of them in progress;



sooo, that's me for a while, here endeth the mammoth art post. hope everyone is well, i know i'm not around much, but having a nearly 3 month old baby is taking up about 80% of my day! :D (and i'm lovin' it!)

remember, i'm on twitter & facebook; willowing

big love.
♥

willowing - halloween edition!

"halloween"
mixed media on watercolour paper
12x8"

original sold
prints still available ($15 + shipping)

aaaaand the accompanying NEW ART VIDEO!! :-) yayyyyy, haven't done one is soooo long! hope you enjoy! x





***

other news. :)

life is still a blur of baby dylan. we're slowly but surely coming out of that a bit, i can do a bit of art here and there, go out where we can, but most projects and attempts to tidy the house, or even shower, don't make it far on the list of priorities. funny anecdote; i've been trying to make my own thai fishermen trousers for the last 3-4 weeks now. on the floor, in the living room lie several bits of old thai fishermen's trousers strewn all over the place and a roll of pattern paper onto which i managed to trace 3 out of the 7 parts that i need. eheh. that i a good illustration of how life is with baby; you don't get anything done. or if you do; a project that usually takes 2 days, now takes 4 weeks! even writing emails or blog posts can take several hours, if not days!!

but, did i tell you; it's all so worth it! ♥

this creature, this being, it lives, breathes, gurgles, poos, coos and has now started smiling; and there isn't anything that has ever made me more happy in life! (that is not to say that i don't hope for a bit more art time etc, but all in good time, all in good time!). :D

last night was hard, as he's having gripe and tummy aches again, hardly got any sleep!! but andy looked after dylan in the morning for a bit and i got an extra 3 hours! seamless teamwork i tell ya! ;)

so, i'm still and mostly occupied by this new being, and for most of the time loving it. the thing that is the saddest is when he's in pain and i can't do much about it! but i've been told when they hit 3 months their digestive system will have matured and then pooing or gass isn't such an ordeal anymore! so another 2.5 weeks and he should be a bit happier! (fingers crossed).

here a few more pics and a vid of him this morning!

big love to you all.

♥







oh ps. now that we have dylan, i can't update my blog as often, but i update a lot more frequently on twitter (which gets forwarded to facebook), they are mini updates with lots of little pics and videos!

so for those who want to receive more frequent tam/ dylan updates;

http://www.twitter.com/willowing
http://www.facebook.com/willowing

xxoxx

☠ and a spookey goodbye to you! ☠ *muahahahaha*

ocean lady

~ ocean lady ~
(mixed media on watercolour paper 12x8")

(original & prints for sale, email me; tam[at]willowing[dot]org)

***


i really enjoyed making this piece, it has several layers in it and i had fun working the texture paste; it is now properly textured! so much to see in the hair and on the side, also, i loved working with the colours blue and brown. when this piece started i was breastfeeding and the only crayons/ pencils in reach were a blue and brown hence the restriction, but i like the final result a lot! have always loved the combination of blue and brown. :)

be the change

i just can't stop painting while i'm waiting (that almost rhymes!). :))



"be the change you want to see in the world"


i'm enjoying the messy, textured effect of the brayer lately.

wood girl & stuff

wood girl
19" x 25"
mixed media on wood
(for sale)

still no baby come a'peeking yet. :0)

i spent yesterday in the hospital because this polyp i apparently have on my cervix started bleeding again. those of you who follow me on twitter know this already. it was fine, baby is fine, just a bit of blood again, but because they are very cautious, they wanted to keep me overnight for observation.

i think hospitals are sort of weird in the sense that; they're meant to be a place of healing, yet the 2 things that really help the healing process, ie: sleep and nutrition are not come by easily in a hospital. sleep is impossible on a ward because ALL the other people on the ward snore like big heavy giants, and the food is omg, the food is so so so bad and SO non-nutritious! (toast with strawberry jam that has no strawberries in it in the mornings!). but hey, i am not complaining because, i have to say that the medical care is superb! i just don't see how, let's say, someone who's had a c-section can actually recover on the ward there if you can't sleep properly for 2 weeks! i was EXHAUSTED after just 1 night of not sleeping or being interrupted by snores and beeping machines and night staff shuffling around!

crazy that.

anyhoo, i'm back home now, patiently awaiting little new one. i know it's mostly and the only thing i seem to be able to talk about now, but obviously; having a baby is a bit of a hugely mammoth sort of experience, ha ha. you can't quite ignore the huge bulging stomach and the thought of a new person in your life pretty soon! :0)

but, i shall talk about other stuff too! yes, i shall.

1. those who entered the prize draw, here be the video with the winners!! (and also; the making of 'wood girl').



2. had a wonderful conversation with my bro on the phone today, i enjoy how we connect on many topics. he might try to come and work and live in london for a while which would be so cool!

3. i enjoy enjoy enjoy my iphooooone! :) everyone, if you haven't already; download doodle jump!

4. i'm rewatching all of grey's anatomy again, it's so bad, i dream about the cast almost every night, it's ridiculous!

5. i'm gonna prepare a portrait class! hopefully gonna run it in november depending on the needs of the bubbsie. ha ha.

6. i eat ridiculous amounts of food, never in my life have i eaten as much as i'm eating at the moment.

7. that comes with heartburn, which is awful.

that's it for now!

i'm sorry i'm -again- so crap at responding to emails/ comments etc, i do my best though!!

big hugs. x