It's YOU! Hello! Nice to see you! Here you will find stuff about living a creative life in country Australia. I create with watercolour, pen, collage, mixed media and photos. I teach, hosts workshops, collect, dream. I love cheese, travel, my garden, faffing, colour and whimsy. I am crap at time management, and do way too many things, but it is all good. Oh yes, all pictures and photos on here by me too, just saying.

Thursday 26 June 2014

Come and have a humble cuppa...



Come and have a humble cuppa...
and let me tell you some things

Because of my #projectTlove challenge, I thought I might repost this blog from awhile ago... because it seems rather appropriate. So here we it is!

Firstly, before we get stuck in,how would you like your tea? 


 ....with a dash of sugar, sure to revive you?


No need for shyness.Come and sit with me, take a sip, feel the warmth spread like a hug in a cup.


OH!Maybe rose petal tea is more your...cup of tea?!


Or good old billy tea, Bushels, real Australian style?


Or maybe not milk, maybe you would like just a squirt of some lemon, fresh from my tree?(Organic, don't you know)


Really, whatever takes your fancy, I do not mind.


 So, where to begin? How should I introduce myself? Let's not be too formal.


Simple, simple and easy, nothing fancy.

Here Goes.My name is...Shani(rhymes with BRAINY) And I like to... op-shop, and collect things... or did you guess that already?

Thrift, upcycle, salvage, treasure hunt. Curbsideia, tipratting, opshopping, foraging... it is all good.

But then... I need to have more than one so it becomes a collection. There is comfort in numbers. Yep, collector.

I also paint, usually watercolours, and draw, and make, and do other arty sorts of things. I did a Bachelor of Arts, Visual Arts, many moons ago. Art is a key thread in my life. It just is. I guess I am one of those strange creatures called an artist.

And I take photographs, lots of them. And I love Instagram... and I mean LOVE Instagram.(You can find me there as rarepearstudio!)

It is the place where I can finally show off and use all those op-shopped props, collections, art and photos all in one, and put them out there and see what happens. 

What else to tell you?

I live in Central West rural NSW. I have 3 kids, a husband, 2 puppy dogs, 2 cats, a yabby and a pet green tree frog.My house is MAD, goofball, noisy and vibrant with life.Continual chaos and movement. But I have my studio to escape to, thank goodness, when it is all too much.

I also teach, a little bit. I love my garden. I love cheese. I love music, and I love colour. I love nature, and camping, and travelling. I have a secret longing to live part of the year in New Zealand.

I want a Mini-Cooper. I want something of mine to be in Frankie magazine. I want to have a real cuppa one day with Pip Lincolne. And with my Blog with Pip friends. I actually fantasise about getting all the peeps I have met on social media together for a big party... it would be a hoot.

I love home magazines, and I have some famous stylists following me on Instagram. (insert visual image...me, doing cartwheels...here).

I am on Facebook,(LINK HERE! FACEBOOK FOR RARE PEAR STUDIO) and Pinterest and have a website in production for selling art. And I have a blog, obviously. 

And why does this matter? Because, new friend, I could barely use a microwave 12 months ago, and had a morbid fear of technology...preferring to accept, and declare... I was a Luddite and girl of the 20th Century...a paper and pen kinda chick.

So like a seasoned politician, I have totally backflipped. And I love it! HA! Old dog, new tricks!

I also like...lovehearts, the colour red, and peacock teal. All shades of blue. And yellow. And orange.And colour, generally.Did I mention that?

I love sleep and dreaming , in my huge... big..massive... handmade, king-sized four poster bed(lushness). Actually, which is really what I must go and do RIGHT NOW  I think.

So, a recap. 5 things I LOVE  and in no particular order, 
1.second-hand
2.art and making and photography = my studio
3.INSTAGRAM
4.lovehearts and colour(even better together)
5.sleep and dreaming

And now I must bid you farewell. Slumber calls (and my husband too).

So... did you enjoy your cuppa? Will you come back again? Sorry it was not a bit more razzle and dazzle, bling and sequins,
fireworks and grandness... but I gotta tell you, I am a  in flannelette striped pyjamas and bed socks writing this, and glamour is just not the vibe coming to me right now. Maybe tomorrow (BAH!)

Anyway, thanks for visiting, stopping by, and taking the time to get to know me, a little... hope to see you again soon. x

PS.Do you mind letting yourself out? In this get up, I do not want anyone to see me...my reputation for being stylish could not stand the shock. Thanks ever so much. Ciao!
PPS. I do love my family too...but you knew that, right?

Wednesday 25 June 2014

A BIG,VERY BIG SKY...some photos

A BIG,VERY BIG SKY...some photos

Just looking through some snaps, for a local photo competition...I started seeing a few commonalities. A few threads...and some I will file away for later picture collections.

And this was one of them...the big sky. The big sky that we live with out here.The big sky that we take for granted in the country.

I miss it now when I do not see it. I draw it, I paint it, I photograph it, I dream about it.I have blogged about it.And I blog again.My big sky, and a few photos of it. x