Art Jam- WOOOOO!!

Love Art Jam. One of my local arty buddies and I get together once a week when possible and have an "Art Jam"... we bring our current project, or start something new and just work together. It keeps us motivated and it is so easy to just stay in the studio and work when you have company. Especially when the company is great :)

I am happy with my work this evening, I finished a mermaid painting that is destined to become a print. The thing I like about this one is it could be for adults or kids... I certainly love mermaids and painterly pictures... and I love creating sweet pictures with kids in mind also. This sweet, innocent mermaid picture is trying to balance the weight of the imagery out there aimed at children; there are no stilettos or slightly cool or sultry looks here. Yes, I am having a dig at mainstream toy developers! Lets keep the beauty and innocence in our children's lives. After all, what's the rush for them to grow up? Stay magical :) Rediscover that magical feeling when you look into the mermaids world... ahhhh. 

I was up this morning at a ridiculous hour scratching mozzie bites that I acquired Christmas day. So I went in the studio and worked on these two little pieces. Something about sweet, happy and innocent imagery going on today. Difficult to take photos at this time of night without getting reflection off the pieces too, so sorry about the angles of the shots. 

Time for me to go to bed now. G'night.

Paper Mache Tree Project

This is the first post of my now completed paper mache tree project :)

This post contains affiliate links (see bottom of post for explanation).

Hope you had a merry christmas and didn't eat as much food as I did!

The day after a big one, I always absolutely crave to get creative. My mind spins with possibilities for some reason, and choosing one project is almost too hard. But I have been working on a project in my girls' room, with hopes of painting a mural in there too.

We have only been living in our house for three years, and there is sooooo much I want to do with it. I have decided to tackle one room at a time so it doesn't seem so overwhelming. Who knows if I'll stick to the plan! Usually I'll hang out in a space and ideas will conjure up and slowly I plan and plan and dream until they become reality. I know exactly what I want to do in each room, to the exact details of fabric colours and finishes, shelf sizes etc etc.. it's almost for me there is no thinking about 'what to do', the ideas just flow to me easily. If I wasn't an artist I think my next line of work would be interior design; although I would die if people just wanted neutral.. colour and quirk would be my specialty! After all, I have painted my whole house in a mustard yellow colour... looks a bit full on at the moment, but I swear I DO have plans!



Anyway, I digress, a big paper mache tree is one of my works in progress at the moment. Ever since I borrowed the book Bedtime Without Arthur from the library it inspired me to start this project, as I would really love to paint a mural around the tree sort of in this style.

I love all the flowing lines, contrast and colours in Jessica Meserve's illustrations.

Bedtime Without Arthur

This is the illustration in the book that inspired me to make a forest theme in my girls' bedroom. Isn't it just so lovely?

And so, the chicken wire frame is complete and we are now busy paper macheing paper to it using the most simple to make kid safe glue.. plain flour and water! No cooking required! It's great to get the kids involved as flour and water wipe up easily so I don't get too stressed out about the mess. Washes out of clothes easily too. Fun.

So, once it's all covered in paper I will paint it and add painted branches to the walls, and a bunch of other stuff too. Of course, it's already all planned out in my head...

Update: This project is now finished. You can view the progress blog posts using the links below:

Progress shots: http://julesmadden.blogspot.com.au/2014/03/happy-tree-project.html

The completed tree: http://julesmadden.blogspot.com.au/2016/03/the-happy-forest-paper-mache-tree.html

And then, the tree moved to a different room! https://julesmadden.blogspot.com/2018/11/home-decorating-for-kids-my-daughters.html

Jules :)

*Affiliate Information: Affliliate links help me earn small commissions on products (at no extra cost to you), which helps support my love of blogging and sharing creative things. I only ever recommend or link to products that I'm genuinely into.

Market Crafting

Hello :)
I have been busy with crafting some treasures for the Warragul Arts Market which will be tomorrow the 21st of December from 9am till 1pm. The farmers market is next to it too, so you can stock up on produce and crafts.. ace!
I have made some new mobiles, I am especially smitten by mermaids at the moment. Having little girls allows me to indulge in this childhood fantasy! I also love fairies.. I may have never grown up.
I have a new print, you may recognise it from my blog banner. If the picture is not too small to see!  I wanted the photo larger.. I am still navigating my way around the technicalities of using a blog again after so long. Of course, it's all changed on me too. It just takes time to play around with the settings.
Anyway, I will be there sharing a stall with my mate Suse from Bespoke Vintage. Come and say hi if you're in the area. Basically the Arts Market is just like a big friend reunion! That's nice about living in a small town...

Hello :)

Hello & welcome to my new blog!
Those who used to follow me would know me as Julie Knoblock, but I am now Jules Madden.
I am excited about blogging again after around 5 years break! My kiddies are growing up fast and I am able to squeeze in a bit of time for myself. I miss the connections I had from when I used to blog; and I'm excited about new possibilities and sharing my art journey with you guys. My first post is not going to be about art, but about my other love... eating healthily. I don't really like to cook, I'd be so much happier if someone else did it all for me, but I really love to provide wholesome, healthy food to my family. I have gone all crazy and hardcore over food and nutrition in the last few years!! It all started from around the time I read the Changing Habits Changing Lives book by Cyndi O'Meara. Then a friend introduced me to the documentary Food Matters, and my now health guru Phillip Day. It's been all uphill, or downhill from there, depending on your perspective! It certainly isn't an easier lifestyle, but it's one I can feel proud of.

Check out yesterday's bounty from the veggie garden! Spinach & lettuce, mmmmm. We eat heaps of salads and juices and smoothies which greens all get added to. Yummers. There is a bit of prep work that goes into how we eat... here I was getting ready to make sauerkraut. It's bubbling away in the cupboard now. Every time I see it I think "bubble, bubble, toil and trouble". The paw paw in the tub went in the freezer. I'm thinking I could make it into a frozen dessert or just chuck it in smoothies.

That's it for now. I promise my next post will be about art in some form!