My little blog turned two today. Wow ― has it really been two years since I started blogging? I thought I’d mark the occasion by making a list of my top ten arty milestones (my personal favourites) from the last year. Click on the images to view the original posts…
So there you are… all in all, I’d call that a very productive year. Thanks for reading.
As I mentioned in last week’s post, we’ve finally decided on a name for our duo. We’re now performing as Pavlova Paradise (more of a ‘dessert island’ than a ‘desert island’). I’m chief graphic designer, art director and publicist… I also sing and play egg ― oh and I’m now learning to play a Novation Bass Station II (a very cool synth). James is the rest of the band: vocals, guitars, drums, backing tracks, sound engineer and roadie. We both write songs and we LOVE harmonies. Most of our songs are covers but we do throw in an original from time to time.
Creating our logo was not the easiest project I’ve ever worked on (I place the blame entirely on the clients) but I got there in the end. The circle design is a stylised compass that also looks a bit like a pavlova (at least we think it does), and who doesn’t love pavlova!
Thanks for reading : D
Nine hundred followers? That’s crazy! (Almost as crazy as photographing plasticine coming out of a paint tube!)
At this rate, I’d better start thinking of something suitably BIG for the next milestone!
Don’t forget to visit my Facebook page Anna Cull ~ Art from time to time. It occasionally has news, WIP (work in progress) updates and photographs that aren’t posted here.
This is a sketch of my husband (a.k.a. my darling Diva) playing at one of our local open mic nights. The guitar is a borrowed vintage Commodore. Looking at this, I’m tempted to acquire one of those old standard lamps to add a little mood lighting to our gigs… which, by the way, are starting to happen in earnest this year. We’ve finally decided on a name for our duo, we’ve created a website/blog (on WordPress, naturally)… and good things are starting to happen ― but that’s a post for another day : )
For those of you who can’t wait until next week for the official post about me, my man and our music (ooh, that’s a good title)… here is a link to our new site, Pavlova Paradise.
Am I the only one who finds it impossible to predict what people are going to like?
I certainly didn’t think anyone would like Black bird on a grey day. I was wrong.
The sketch is based on a photograph. I thought I would create a pattern out of the branches (something much less organic than what you see here)… but my idea didn’t make it onto the page. Instead, the sketch took off in a different direction (as they sometimes do) and when I stood back and looked at it, I didn’t think it was good enough to put on the blog. The only reason I decided to post it was because my very encouraging husband liked it a lot.
And the reaction to it… the reaction was a gift. It received lots of likes and lots of positive feedback. Family, friends, complete strangers ― everyone seemed to like it! I did not see that coming.
That was back in November 2012. Since then, and largely because of that one little black bird, all my paintings and drawings get posted on this blog whether I’m happy with them or not. Dunedin, my most recent painting, also took off in an unexpected direction (and I wasn’t sure I liked the end result) and it’s another one that has been surprisingly well received. So I’m still no closer to figuring out what other people are going to like… and I’m okay with that. More than okay. It’s one of the things I really enjoy about blogging — it’s all part of the big art experiment that is my life.
Thanks for reading. And thanks for letting me know what you like (even when I don’t understand why).
P.S. I quite like the black bird now but I’m still undecided about Dunedin…
I’d like to thank a grumpy young woman for considering this a lovely blog. You can visit A Grumpy Young Woman (Loves and Hates) here. Be sure to check out the open letter to a rude bus driver. In the immortal words of Pink Floyd: good manners don’t cost nothing, do they, eh?
So now, as part of accepting the OLB award, I need to tell you seven random (and arguably true) things about myself and nominate seven lovely blogs to receive their own lovely award.
And here, as promised, are seven lovely blogs for you to visit and admire.
Have an uncommonly lovely day : )
Anna Cull ~ Art & Music 