Blacktown City Art Prize

 'Dog day afternoon' - highly commended.  Yay!

Being a newbie to Art prizes, I was surprised at how well presented and at the calibre of works on show at the Blacktown City Art Prize.  I had received a call on the Friday afternoon to ensure I was attending.  I was planning to go and have a look but was starting to go off the idea with the thought of Friday afternoon Sydney traffic which turns most of the motorways and all roads west, into a car park.

Him indoors took me on the motorbike.  We made it there in under an hour.

I got a highly commended award for watercolour of which I am well chuffed!

Mango Frooty bags - tried and tested

Since my quest to make the perfect Mango Frooty bag, I road test them.  I took one of my 'choiceland bro' bags on our holiday to Cambodia earlier this month.  I had it with me daily.

It did beautifully - not too heavy and just the right size to carry around water, spare shoes, things for the day and with room to put unexpected purchases into.  It was also exotic enough to be seen in some nice places.

As you can imagine, it was very hot and sticky.  I got it home and it looked in need of a good wash so I put it in a bucket with a bit of napisan (decided not to risk the spin cycle in the washing machine with the tiki!), and it came up looking as good as new - in fact, I think the colours on the teatowel are now brighter than before.

So I can definitely vouch for these bags being: wash and go!

Art prize selections

 'Goodbye dear heart, the last goodbye': watercolour and collage on sewn paper.  Unframed size: 57cm x 110cm

'Dog day afternoon': watercolour and collage on sewn paper.  Unframed size: 57cm x 110cm

With the current financial climate, art sales are slow.

So for the last couple of months I have been applying and submitting entries to Art competitions around Australia to raise my profile but also to try and give my patrons a return on investment so to speak. 

Here are two entries that have been selected for Art Prizes:

'Goodbye dear heart...', selected as a finalist for the Heysen Centenary Art Prize 2011, Hahndorf , SA and 'Dog day afternoon', selected for inclusion in the Blacktown City Art Prize 2011.