I hope you had a great January!

While Technical Things been happening behind the scenes with this site, a few blog posts have disappeared into the ether. This and the next one or two are re-creations, as close to the originals as I can manage! Do don’t worry if you’re getting deja-vu-but-not-quite – it really is the same but different!

These were are a couple of Photos of Abundance and Wonder that I took over Summer.

These beans, home grown by me, are quite marvellous when you look at them up close. How does Nature combine the red and the green, make it all watercoloury-looking-like, yet them not blend together badly into a muddy colour? Fantastic!

I’m also very happy to have successfully grown beans for the first time, other than blessedly hardy broad beans! Did I tell you? I grew scarlet broad beans this past Spring! Spectacular looking, and sweet too.

This next shot reveals a glut of Summer gorgeousness from the Farmers Market:

Imagine the subtle sound and full sweet aroma of a sink full of floating ripe strawberries, gently bobbing in the water :D I am very grateful that even on my FODMAPs diet, I can eat yummy fruit like strawberries. It makes up for the non-fodmaps-sensitive-gut-friendliness of stone fruit at this time of year!

That ‘strawberries in the sink’ shot reminds me of this strawberry picture – now available using my fancy new store/checkout, hoorah! Tech tweaking overhaul, for the win! This picture comes as greeting cards and digital fine art prints. At the time of writing, the original one-of-a-kind watercolour is available: Pink Bowl and Red Strawberries. Hope you enjoyed this little snippet of Australian Summer :)

Lots of love, as always,
Meg x o

I hope this finds you appreciating the gifts of 2011, and feeling refreshed and ready for this bold new year!

Welcome to my mini wrap up of 2011! Last year I learned much via the intensive educational process we call life!

11 things that happened in 2011 and what I learned from them :)

1. A person in my circle needed to be cared for in a psyche ward. Frack! I didn’t see that coming!
   I learned: to be appreciative of life, things, people and happy time (and to not take them for granted)
2. I bought all new bras when I realised I had been wearing the wrong size for years (plus they were fraying at the edges). I learned: boob health is important (check out bodywise for comfy non-underwire bras); having the confidence to actually wear tshirts/less-than-3-layers so the overflow doesn’t ‘ruin the line’? Priceless.
3. I acquired an electric bike. It’s fun, and good for journeys when you’re going to be grateful for a battery boost on the way home in the dark. I learned: being an early adopter means you are helping create a demand for a good thing. This is good to remember when you are pedalling one-bike-with-the-weight-of-two the last bit of the way home under your own steam ‘cos you didn’t recharge your battery or it didn’t last as long as you expected.
4. Made the mental switch to look at my art/site as a business, and registered my business name. I learned: I maybe could’ve done so earlier, but I am glad that I took baby steps until things had built up to a recognisable need for a registered name.
5. Made 12 new greeting card designs and 2 new calendars (cats and flowers) from existing as well as several new paintings. I learned: Keeping taking steps in the right direction, little by little. You might surprise yourself in about September when you take stock of what you’ve achieved.
6. Gave away 60 bookplate and 101 bookmark pdfs via downloads, and 138+ bookmarks in person at markets, and a customer told me that there’s no need to also give away pistachios! I learned: it is really fun to share my bright art with appreciative bold souls, and you don’t need to also share your snacks.
7. Had my first downheartening experience of Empty Nest syndrome, and then a shot of maple syrup upon a Christmas visit, delighted to discover the same sweet person, glowing with independence. I learned: What a smart, lovely, creative person. All those years of imperfect parenting have contributed to a good soul :D
8. Discovered that my thyroid gland was struggling and experienced a great deal of relief when I supported it. My brain fog cleared and my energy came back, amongst other symptoms abating. I learned: porcine thyroid is similar enough to human thyroid to rectify that problem. I give thanks every day when I take my blue pill (not in a symbolic Matrix sense – heck no!) for those piggies that give their thyroids if not lives for us, as the synthetic version is not for me. Now I feel like a cannibal when I eat bacon.
9. Now my energy has returned I can happily go back to circus training, and do jogs instead of walks. I learned: walking all those months was a gentle way to keep exercising; now my body is working better, the bigger exercise I add in will actually ‘work’.
10. Discovered that I need to follow a low FODMAPs diet and experienced another great wave of relief when those symptoms cleared up, and possibly the people around me did too. I learned: it’s good to cut out wheat, dairy and synthetic sweeteners, but sometimes I have to even be mindful of which fruit and vegies my gut can process well.
11. Painted 2 Magic Cats cat portraits, and was honoured by the feedback. I learned: I can make things that touch people’s hearts. Now I need to gather up enough confidence to put that right ‘out there’ in 2012. Baby steps, baby steps, see #5.

So that’s my wrap up! If you’ve blogged yours, link to it from a comment below so we can join in celebrating your year, too!

Good travelling, beautiful bold soul.
See you next time,
Love Meg x o

* And when I say Fish obviously I mean LIfe Education

Hope you’ve had happy holidays, dear bold soul, and a chance for a break – to pause and reflect, to breathe and be still.

As we ‘speak’ I have magazines, coloured paper, scissors, glue, folders, books and print outs spread out all over our big table. Much of the other furniture in the house is in awkward spots, between locations. A lot is in transition during this fabulous, productive, in-between week, when an almost faded 2011 year can be summarised and 2012 can be planned.

The looking-back-on-this-year-and-looking-forward-to-next-year is in progress, and not quite ready to be shared here yet. However, there were 2 lovely emails this week I’d love to share today…

The professional photographer at the Goodwood Christmas Market (right at the end of November) took this – remember I mentioned being ‘headhunted’ probably for my rainbow headband? – and it was sent to me by the organisers this week:

I like it! It’s a good, sunny shot, isn’t it? The lady next to me is maybe a physiotherapist from a local business? I love those painted faces :)

The other gorgeous news that arrived via email this week was about a secret I couldn’t tell you ’til now. The next official Magic Cats portrait is complete and has flown to its owner. TA DAa! Here, bold ladies and gentlemen, is Camille:

The ‘Surprisee’ emailed me, saying:

I just got the Magic Camille painting that Mike and Katrina ordered for me. It is so beautiful and so like my pesky Camille that I cried.
- Kate Rogers, Michigan, USA

I am so honoured to have been a part of that sneaky gorgeous giving! Some time soon, I’ll show you the starting photo, you’ll LOL :)

One of the projects that’s a definite for 2012 is making the Magic Cats (formerly known as Custom Cats) offer a clearly described reality open to all moggy art lovers, not only to friends! I’m bursting with excitement (sorry Naomi)!

If you are doing the releasing/recap/thank/plan/imagine/visionboard thing, I am with you! I wish you:

• inspiration,
• a bit of time to yourself to reflect,
• a clear path to it if you’re doing a ‘word of the year’,
• colourful stationery,
• sharp scissors and sticky glue, and
• plentiful magazines with appropriate photos :D

Have a great week.
Much love,
Meg x o

Hope your week has been civilised in the lead up to Christmas, and that the holidays hold much cheer, love and connection for you and not an exacerbation of any feelings of being ‘left out‘. I have experienced both at this time of year :|

A partridge who borrowed the tail of a peacock in a pear tree. That big pear tree needs re-potting.

We’re keeping it pretty low key here. I haven’t sent any Christmas cards (except to sister K, as last years gift in March was belated even by my standards) though I may make up for that with a round of New Year cards in a week or two. I’ve tried for carefully chosen, small gifts – the majority of those have been from the Oxfam shop and redbubble and are wrapped in cheap or recycled wrapping paper! *Support independent artisans :D *

Here’s a neat idea:
If you’re giving a book as a gift, you could download and print my free/gifty bookmarks – tuck one inside the cover as a finishing touch for use with the book!

For the first time this year I observed the Summer solstice, and did a releasing ritual something like this. Not with black linen though, we used a retired silk scarf :) I found it very grounding, and more profound that I had expected.

During the holiday break from my part-time job, I will be spending some time reflecting, noticing and thanking the learnings of 2011, and then reviewing the lovely options for 2012 and prioritising them. I’ll be using a hybrid blend of the tools that ‘speak to me’ from Goddess Leonie’s, The Headologist’s and Let’s Radiate’s 2012 Workbooks and Planners. Very affordable assistance from experts at soul searching and planning!

This year I have experienced for the first time the blessing of the flown bird (Son #1) returning for a short visit to the nest. This morning I even had a moment of delight noticing the extra set of towels hanging in the bathroom!

Our time together, though brief, will be spent hanging out, playing games and sharing some food. We were lucky enough to score 2 original Wii controllers for $22 each yesterday so myself, my husband, Son #1 and Son #2 can all play together! Son #1 has also introduced me to the perils and fun of “Plants Vs. Zombies” game. I choose to see it symbolically, as hope for the future of our planet: that we can indeed be strategic and plant what’s necessary to overcome the mindless advancing hordes of greedy corporate destruction. Do you think I’m over-thinking that?!! Haha!

Note to self (and you, if you’re on a specialised, atypical diet) if you start to feel as though you are ‘being anti-social’ over the next little while: You’re not! Remember, this is important! Your personalised eating = you giving yourself the gift of health. Stick with it as best you can when faced with foods which will harm you. Remember me, I’ll be in a similar situation! Let’s be kind to ourselves!

Well, lovely bold soul, I must away.
If I don’t ‘see’ you next week, I’ll ‘see’ you next year!!
Lots of love,
Meg x o

In this season that brings

• a tendency towards hyper-consumerism, and
• an inclination compare our situation with what it’s ‘supposed to be like’ and become depressed,

may I wax a little philosophical about Christmas marketing?

Flowers from the Farmers Market this morning

I’ve been pondering: why do I find it so difficult to let you know that my artwork is here and available, somehow specially when it’s nearly Christmas?

Most of my brain understands that you love to have my art in your world (that’s why you’re here and reading this, I’m guessing) and you also enjoy being able to support an independent artisan.

According to marketing information I have read (of the Do-What-You-Do-Best-and-Let-Others-Know-About-It school of thought) it would be timely to remind you that my art is here and that you could get some if you want it! However, I felt nauseous, imagining I’d be pushy and overdo it – somehow be all ‘sell’ and no joy – that until now I struggled and resisted even writing a blog post, despite the fact that it would be genuinely helpful to do this now while there’s still enough time to mail things out by Christmas!

To boil it down: I want us both to be happy and thrive! So, I’d like Bold Art for Bold Souls ‘Christmas marketing’ to be similar to the picture above. In other words: the bright joyful stuff is in the foreground and if there’s a bit of a Christmas flavour in the background adding colour, shine and joy, then that’s about the right balance. In other words, as usual here, it’s all about:

• colour and pattern,
• flowers and decoration,
• self awareness and care, and
• kindness to others, with
• Christmas sparkling benignly in the background.

That sounds about right.

Here’s my version of a reminder (that doesn’t trigger my retch reflex):

On Friday, a friend (Hello Sister R!) bought some greeting cards from me “…as presents for the people she isn’t getting presents for!”

Links to calendars, greeting cards, cat gifts, combo packs and wall art.
All orders between now and the end of the year will also receive a complimentary pack of 10 gift tags! Cos I adore you, and gift tags are handy!

You’re beautiful – remember that!
Love Meg x o

How are you? I hope this finds you drenched in the clear, thirst quenching wonderfulness of both rainwater and life – though not necessarily rainwater itself, unless that is your wish! x o

Remember I mentioned the Goodwood Christmas market? It was on this past Saturday and was good fun! The rain just cleared after the first half hour or so (freshly washed market – hooray!) and I even got to use my market umbrella (though initially I forgot it, and my husband drove back home to fetch it!) The umbrella base is made of 80kg of Swedish concrete – I’ll bet you can guess which shop that came from – what a heavy item to import!
Had a lovely time at the market. Made new friends. Hugged old friends. The pictures of my fabulous helper friends and I are on the Facebook Tangerine Meg Visual Artist page. You can see us posing near the calendars and the greeting card stands. The stands are a new thing and are well worth having, it’s much easier to see all the cards!
As you could see, if you looked at those pictures, I had a rainbow headband on. The photographer for the market ‘headhunted’ me and my rainbow headband – along with another stallholder and some face-painted kids – to go in their market photo for the day! I will show you when I get a copy! Fun! [later: It's arrived, click here to see!]

While preparing for this and the previous market I realised that there are 12 new greeting card designs since this time last year. It’s getting to be quite a collection, isn’t it? Here are the new ones:

All available (except one – there’s a treasure hunt for you: which one? – and that one will be up for grabs very very soon) at my Lush Greeting Cards page or in combination packs at my Combo Packs page :D

Remember: support independent artisans to help bring handmade energy, TLC and originality to the holidays!

Let me know if you have a favourite art market in your town, and what you love about it. I’d love to hear your voice in the comments section below.

See you next week here, or in between on Facebook :)
Lots of love,
Meg x o

Hope you are as well as well can be, and skipping in the sunshine – or internal equivalent :)

How a moment can turn around!
I was probably glowering. Looking and wondering what the ‘naughty’ boys were doing. I was stewing, thinking “Don’t they know the old people in the units there like their flowers”, “There aren’t infinity flowers in the world” – like I don’t ever pick flowers and Nature’s not abundant – and generalised *grrr*.
The big boys had broken off a stalk of agapanthus, snapped the strong stem in half, and thrown back the flower head into the garden. I was silently outraged, wondering what the world was coming to! Even in that moment I was aware these sounded like stereotypical judgemental thoughts :P

Guess what though? If I’d left it, the flower head would’ve decomposed back into earth just fine! Being somewhat of an opportunist, however, I crossed the road and retrieved the flower head – yoink! – brought it home and popped it in water. See it in the photo above? It’s beautiful, right? By the way, that vase was one from the dining tables when my husband and I got married :) I still like their ikea simplicity.

What did those 2 ‘naughty’ boys do with their ‘aggy’ stems? Play sword-fighting, that’s all! There aren’t always a lot of opportunities in our culture to get some basic physical boy play in, but they made it happen; in quite a harmless way in retrospect. Now I’m cringing at the over-reaction of my monkey mind!

As I walked home flower in hand, the mix and match department of my brain fashioned a cat picture featuring agapanthus flowers – it might even make a nice tshirt! Not only have I learned about myself from this mornings walk, I’m lucky enough to have gained inspiration, too.

Adelaide bold souls: I’m having a stall, with my art and greeting cards, at the Goodwood Alive Community Christmas Market this Saturday, November 26, from 10am til 2pm! Hope you can come :) If you wear stripey socks I will give you a special Bold Souls Only Bookmark!

Let me know in the comments section of a time when you’ve misjudged a situation initially and came to see it more positively later on. I’d love to hear – it’ll make me less embarrassed!

Love from modified me,
Meg x o

I hope this finds you in good ‘nick’ (healthy), good spirits and good company :)
I wanted to check in with you, but I’ll be brief today, as my body is detoxing some dental analgesic and I need to mostly rest!

Good things have certainly happened today, too. I had a conversation with Dawn, a friend who has known me all my life. She was after one of my calendars, and happened to mention that she would like one with just flowers – ‘specially nasturtiums! Hoorah – she was asking the right person, wasn’t she? I found images to suit and after a little formatting have made a new Just Flowers Calendar! It looks like this:

Click on the image if you’d like to go to the calendars very own page, there you can check out the pictures for each of the months. I admit May and December are a little bit ‘cheaty’: May is only sage leaves, not flowers, and in December the flowers appear as a pattern on the bowl! Hopefully we aren’t being too pedantic!
When you see it who do you think of? I was thinking these would suit a beloved gardening grandmother a favourite aunty!

A couple of shout outs, for the day:
I bought lovely greeting cards from Emily Balivet. Isn’t her painted goddess artwork exquisite?
A joyful friend makes funky jewellery – you can see at her etsy shop: My Soul Can Dance. I have bought some myself – check out the cool names she gives the pieces!

I had *sad face* news today, too. I had an application ‘in’ to get funding for a mural project for next year. Unfortunately, only 5 of the 19 applications were funded, and ours wasn’t one of them. Never mind, we can always apply again next year :)

You are beautiful. Thanks for reading :)
Take care :)
Meg x o

Me? It’s hot here. I wasn’t quite ready for this heat at this time of year. But it’s here. And I’m sweating.

I have decisions waiting to be made.

The garden is waiting, thirsting to be watered.

Buzzy flies are waiting for me to exercise my violent super-power (sorry Buddhist friends) and thwart them.

However it seems that despite all of those things, I am in repose, reflecting and reading Eat Pray Love. I wonder if you’ve read it? I am loving that it’s bringing me to that inquisitive, present state that the writer, Elizabeth Gilbert, is in.

Speaking of reflections, I found another picture to show you from the archives. Do you like the sound of archives, it’s a tiny bit less dusty sounding than vault, do you think?

I love that even a few years ago when I painted this I was already entranced with

1. nasturtiums
2. colourful patterned fabric, and
3. reflections in handmade glass!

These themes are starting to look like, yes – themes! Do you love seemingly simple everyday minutae too? This is one of my latest pictures, quite different in look, but the themes are still embedded right in there.

I have gotten even more intense with the colour and patterns!
I’m starting to pine again now. I want to get another picture on the go. Note to self: Clear space to get going with new artwork on Thursday. And: keep watering nasturtiums, this sudden heat is wilting living things!

I’m using some of the prototypes of my downloadable printable bookmarks in all my concurrent readings :) Let me know if you’ve downloaded your bookmarks and if they’re sticking out of a really great book right now (in the comments section). I’d love to hear what you’re reading that’s ringing true for you.

Take care, dear one.
Much love,
Meg x o

I hope this finds you healthy of mind, body, spirit and heart.
This week I am going to offer quite a few links. I’m realising that it’s the connecting thing that’s important :)

Recently I had 2 reminders of an old-fashioned art: the art of giving a compliment.
In the physical world, two girls in my street were singing and dancing their hearts out on a driveway near me while I was outside weeding the front garden. They shouted out “Are we any good?” and I said they had beautiful voices. They came a bit closer, and complimented my jacket, and my garden (which to my eye was thoroughly interspersed with grasses ‘going to seed’) and proceeded to tell me about singing and school and ‘make friends’ with me. It was just what I needed as a counterpoint to previous events of the day! 8- and 9-year-olds just know how to make friends. It doesn’t have to be a skill left behind in our childhood – let’s do it too!
I love Kyeli’s post about the simple art of the compliment on Kind Over Matter, too, a great reminder story.
By the way, did you know my downloadable bookmarks were in Amanda’s Kind over Matter Friday Lovelies List this week? Check out all the other lovelies, too, we’re in the most extraordinary company.

Speaking of Lovelies, I ordered some cute earrings from Gwynnie B a few weeks ago. They arrived on Friday wrapped like this (how divine!):

From the be-ribboned box I unpacked the earrings.

Aren’t they nice? Metal flowers, and purple, sparkly droppy thingies – I adore them! I converted them over to clip ons as I don’t have holes in my ears so now I can wear them happily.

I have a preview of 3 new paintings I’ve finished if you want to see, the littlest one is the nasturtium one above. On Friday they go to get framed ready for the Goodwood Christmas Market. Check them out at my new First Look page – which will, like some kind of wizarding page, be visible only sometimes (in this case, until Friday morning)!
[Later: That page now disappeared so I've taken off the link!]

What is it about these simple, easily grown flowers that’s so delightful? Me, I love the distinct smell, the range of bright, clear, warm colours and the sheer enthusiastic abundance of their growth.
What’s your favourite flower? What do you love about them? Let us know in the comments section below, or do you think I’m over-thinking it?! Have a chat about what you enjoy about flowers, or about anything else that speaks to you from this post :D

By the way, it seems that writing a post about re-charging your batteries doesn’t immunize you against forgetting to do so yourself! Oh dear, I did it again! In gentleness towards myself, it is a new bike, and a new concept to have to ‘charge your vehicle’. However, I do need to make the recharging more of a regular awareness! Heavy bike with no battery boost is not fun, specially when you’re also beating yourself up about the forgetting all the way back home (note to self: release old habit of telling myself off!)

You and me both need to remember to Take Care of Ourselves! We are precious and unique!
Have a lovely week,
Much love,
Meg x o