Oscar and Puss

 I am really eager to get back illustrating (and typing with two hands!). Even though I am left handed I have soon realised you still use your non dominant hand for, well pretty much everything! Until I get out of a sling I am a one armed mad woman. Arrggh. Frustrating.

These are some illustrations I did recently. It was a commission from my workmate Juanita who has a Dalmatian called Oscar and a tabby cat called CJ Puss Puss. I didn't understand her request as clearly as I should have when she said she wanted a picture of her, hubby the dog and cat going for a walk.

So this was my first interpretation....

And then when I 'got the picture' about what she really wanted, I reworked the idea into a bigger picture with the cat too. Isn't that hilarious? The cat walks too, minus a lead!

To tell you the truth, I was quite happy to keep the first edit myself, as I am always selling my work, and I really liked how the dog worked out. Such a beautiful breed - he was fun to draw!

Shoulder Op

Things are very quiet for me at the moment. I'm nine days post major shoulder surgery and it's not much fun. I had only a week's notice that my name was on the surgery list so was busy getting life organised, including relief for my teaching. Eight weeks off - and I'm not allowed to do anything!

The surgery day was ok, except I had major reservations at the last minute as I walked into theatre and saw a dozen staff! And when they told me it would take two hours...I felt pretty anxious at that point. A nerve blocker went into my neck which was a weird sensation but prevented any pain for the first 24 hours.

My time is hospital recovering was longer than anticipated as I unfortunately reacted to three different painkillers. I was nauseous, faint and had crazy low blood pressure, and to add to the fun, delirious on the drugs. From day 5 I had to go on just with panadol which hasn't been easy, especially sleeping.

So I'm back home and trying to stay still (not what I do best!). I've got loads of books to read which will be good. My plans to do some art will be on hold for a while I think. I didn't know how knocked back I'd feel after surgery... which is just as well as I may have opted out if I did!

Mother's Day Photo Shoot

Today I was planning on having a big 'declutter my life' day but as it was Mother's Day, and it was an amazing autumnal day, we decided to celebrate by going on a day trip with the kids.

We had a lovely afternoon at the Ashburton Botanical Gardens and made the most of the gorgeous scenery and weather to have a photo shoot. We took about 100 photos - I made sure to have a one on one with myself and each of the kids. There haven't been photos like that since they were little and Mother's Day was a good excuse for compliance from the more reluctant in the family.

Even though I hadn't taken my Canon 5D, the photos on my little point and shoot digital still turned out fine. This is the best shot of everyone. My teenagers are nearly adults and my babies are heading with speed to catch them up!

Anzac Biscuit Assignment

Photo from My Darling Lemon Thyme

William (12) came home with last week's homework assignment - find an anzac biscuit recipe, bake it and then write a diary about it. With being coeliac, I hadn't made anzacs for the three of us who are GF before as I didn't know what to substitute the oats for. Well, thanks to the powers of google, I quickly found a recipe from My Darling Lemon Thyme.  Emma is a fellow GF food blogger from New Zealand. Here is a link to her original anzac biscuit recipe post.

First stop was a trip to Bin Inn, the home of affordable gluten free ingredients, to stock up on quinoa flour and flakes. These are essential to the recipe and give it a truly nutty flavour and chewy texture.

William more than capably set to and made the biscuits himself. He was a bit concerned about how crumbly the mix was to spoon on to the trays but I reassured him that was typical for anzac biscuit dough to be like that.

We baked them as to the recipe, longer than I would normally, but they were perfect - golden and crunchy. The recipe was so good I added it straight to my book and those biscuits didn't last long in the pantry!

Bedtime

I am a huge fan of quality, sumptuous, cosy bedding (and as you can see, there are two Burmese cats I know that appreciate it too). For more about the quilt and cats, you can read this post.

The pillows, duvet and eiderdown are down filled - warm in winter and cool in summer - and it is heaven to sleep under. I bought the lemon floral eiderdown in Tokyo. It seems crazy, but I had such a hard time finding a size larger than double there! It has become my snuggly. I love this so much it would be one of the first things I would rescue in an emergency and it travels with me when I go away on weekend trips. The duvet set is from Laura Ashley, with matching striped green cotton sheets. I am proud to say that I made the bed end myself!

It's time to update the bed however, and I can't believe how hard it is to choose one. The deciding factor has come down to the make we slept on at the Hilton in Fiji - Serta. We had such great sleeps and I don't think it was just because we were relaxed. It was quite firm and definitely no roll together (which funnily enough I really notice now that we're back home...) It was also Super King which I like the idea of, but the downside is that all the bedding would have to be changed. Hmmm. I'm not sure I'm ready for that plan yet...

Rice Pudding Comfort

There is nothing more comforting than a good old fashioned rice pudding with the added flavour from flecks of vanilla seeds putting it in to a 'must' for a winter dessert option. Add a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar on top, and it won't last long with children and adults alike. The best thing of course is that it is completely, deliciously gluten free.

Since going to the States last year and eating copious amounts of deli rice puddings (which I could safely trust were gluten free) I have been trying to replicate the taste and texture back home. I've googled recipes and tested them out with the family who were happy to oblige, but they are happier now that I have found the perfect recipe!

Over the weekend my partner and I took a trip up north and for breakfast yesterday we went to my favourite breakfast cafe. They had rice pudding in their chiller, which is not something you often see in New Zealand. I ordered it, and it was heavenly, so I told the chef of my appreciation and she offered the recipe to me. I was delighted - well, I guess the ingredients are predictable for such a basic pudding but it was the method which was new to me. And double the quantity of milk too.

Rice Pudding

1 cup of short/medium grain rice (preferably Arborio)

2 cups water

pinch of salt

Simmer in a large pot for 25 mins

Add 2 litres whole milk

Simmer further 25 mins

Mix together: 3/4 cup sugar

3 Tbsp cornflour

4 egg yolks

1 tsp vanilla paste

1 cup cream

Add to rice pot and cook for a minute.

Cool and refrigerate. 

Doggy drawings

Oh my goodness - it has been so long since my last post that I had forgotten my blog password! So yes, I've been sidelined with the start of a new school year and back to the busy routines of classes, sports and appointments. This year we are at four schools between the six of us (that's three boys at primary, the two teenagers at single sex high schools and me at a coed public school).

I have a vision to make time for my art and become a better illustrator. One of my goals is to teach kids how to cartoon and develop their own style. My own children are really fabulous at cartooning as we've done lots of doodling together and they like to watch me at work. Last year I went into a few schools and did a few 'visiting artist' lessons. Wow, I loved it! The kids were so receptive and experimental. One class sent me a 'thank you' card with drawings that the kids had worked on after my lesson...some were really cool. I hope I inspired them to keep up with it.

I've been asked to illustrate a small publication about a Sydney Silky X dog. Today I got started on it after being sent a photo of the star himself. I'm not a dog person, but I have to admit he is pretty cute.

I tried out a few eyes to start with. Since the dog has such big eyes I thought I needed to do a slightly different style to the one I normally do as two small dots would be lost ...

 See what I mean? Still looks like a dog, but not this dog!

Noses are a bit of a challenge - you don't want them to look too snorty/snouty...

Nearly there, just need to reposition the features.

The doodle paper. I had lots of advice from my children on what they thought the dog should look like and which version they preferred.

The perspective between the eyes and the nose were slightly off with this one.

Finally, happy! He comes alive with some scruffiness and the magic of Copics. This drawing is 1 inch high would you believe? Now to put the dog into action for the story lines. I think I have about twenty to do so may post a few over the next few weeks.