Sitting with Otis as he practiced writing numbers, I got to doodling. Usually he’s pretty dismissive of my stuff, but apparently this “looks like on castles”. Drawing with crappy felt pens was really liberating and spontaneous. I like that the shapes were not planned at all and just evolved this way.
Sneak preview of a job I’m working on. I love my work at the moment!
I’ve realised that I can draw my own boys from memory pretty well, but upon challenging myself to do the same with a small friend, I couldn’t for the life of me even really remember what she looked like. I sort of gave up and elaborated instead.
My boys have spent most of the summer mostly naked on the beach. Even yesterday, although it’s definitely autumn, they couldn’t help stripping off and running in and out of a chilly stream for an hour.
I love Okarito. It’s a tiny little town we visited in the spring, and is the prettiest, most loved wee place we’ve been to. We blogged about it over here.
The last three weeks have been intense. We’ve been on a whirlwind North Island tour with visiting family, hung out for three days at an amazing music festival, swum in in thermal creek, braved the wildest winds yet, waved goodbye, and realised we’re almost fully booked with jobs until June. In that time I haven’t … Continue reading Day 53: Autonomy
This little japanese china salt dish with its wooden spoon was another visual treat at Renay’s house.
Number 50! I’m halfway there! Thanks to all the people who are following my blog and liking the posts. It’s going slower than planned, but I’m totally enjoying the journey.
We house sat for friends who have the most calming, beautiful, curated little flat. I could have sat and drawn all their stuff for hours, only I have two children who, while beautiful, are not always so calming. It was a nice weekend of space, and it made us appreciate our tiny home all the … Continue reading Day 49: Renay’s house
A quick sketch while trying to cook tea with a two-year-old. Otis slipped outside and I could see him perched on a rock for half an hour, watching divers swimming around in the reserve. It was chilly, the rocks were hard and sharp, and he was in heaven.
It seems crazy that the staff at our national museum, Te Papa, hadn’t found it already but, would you believe, Otis uncovered a complete Mosasaur skeleton in their sandpit!? Nuts!
Our housebus is parked on the edge of a wonderful marine reserve at the moment, on Wellington’s south coast. The rock pools look like aquariums filled with all the most amazing specimens, and the beach is strewn with paua shells, cat’s eyes, kina shells and more. I’ve I’ve been drawn to the wonderful sea-weedy things … Continue reading Day 44: Sea Lace
My knowledge of squids pales in comparison to my 4 year-old son’s. He is quite right in pointing out the tentacles are far too long and squiggly and I’ve drawn the arrowey tail all wrong. I am one up on him in the self-regulation stakes though, not having a complete melt-down that I can’t rub … Continue reading Day 43: Colossal
At the moment a lot of my time is spent looking after things picked up off the ground, consoling children who can’t hold all the fallen leaves in their too-small hands, designating places for giant sticks (outside), pieces of gravel (pockets), and sea glass (we could make a bag out of my jersey, but we’re … Continue reading Day 42: Treasure I’ve been trusted with
Yesterday we crossed the Cook Strait on the Ferry from Picton to Wellington – the head of Te ika-a-Māui – the fish that Maui pulled from the sea to become the North Island of New Zealand. It feels like we’re leaving more than the South Island behind us and a new part of our journey … Continue reading Day 41: New Beginnings
I’ll call this a learning drawing. There is no life in his face, his pose is cliched and stiff, his hair is weird, and his legs are shaped like a woman’s, not like a young boy. On a positive note, I like the leaves and the lettering. Maybe I’ll do a redraw sometime.
Suddenly, almost out of nowhere, after two years of nothing but exhausting, rough, aggressive, tear-inducing love, I looked up to see this moment between these two on the couch. My heart almost floated right out of my skin.