Painting A Day Whilst At Sea

The last 10 days I have been at sea, sailing from Europe to the Caribbean. I set myself the challenge to complete a painting a day whilst at sea. Many of the paintings were inspired by what I saw that day, for example the day with the flying fish or the evening we saw the moonbow! It was wonderful to share my artwork with everyone and I have to say, it was heartening to read all your kind words. Some days were challenging because the boat was rolling from side to side due to big swell. I hope you enjoy the artwork!

Beaufort Street Art Festival

Last weekend I attended the Beaufort street art market and had a wonderful time. It was my first market so I was a little nervous. I was fortunate to meet lots of kind people and received some really wonderful feedback about my art.

Thank you to everyone that stopped by and a warm welcome to those who are now signed up to my monthly newsletter!

I sold one of my "Maria" prints to a lovely lady called Melissa. I was very happy to see the artwork go to a new home. 

Inktober 2016

This year I took part in Inktober, where artists all of the world do a drawing a day for the entire month. I began the month with a lot of black ink paintings and slowly introduced a bit more colour as the days progressed. I have included some of my favourites from the month. If you have a favourite you would like to see as a greeting card or a small print- let me know! 

Studio Space in Catania, Sicily

Hello friends! I hope you have all had a lovely week. I have been trying in the last couple of weeks to embrace ease. I am working full time at the moment and trying to fit in my art projects on the side. I am slowly learning that I can not do everything at once. Sometimes it is better to take it one day at a time and be realistic about what can get crossed off the to-do list. Here's to embracing ease!

Earlier in July, I decided to rent a studio space for a few days. I live and work full time on a 22m sailing boat and it can be challenging sometimes to have to a sense of separation of work/sailor life and Artist life. I spent the weekend working on a couple of commissions for friends in Oregon, Perth and Malta. I will share some photos of the commissions soon! 

Here I am at work!

It was a wonderful space and conveniently located next to the best gelato shop in town. I worked on all three commissions, doing pencil sketches and coming up with ideas and then emailing my customers. I also managed to have a little extra time to do a watercolour painting of Frida Kahlo. 

This month I am also celebrating my first order to Australia from my online shop! Thank you Imogen. 

Wedding commission for Harjit & Gurkiran

Last October, I was asked by two lovely friends to illustrate a portrait of them for their wedding invitations. I was absolutely over the moon to be asked to be involved in such a special occasion and felt honoured to have my artwork in their celebrations.

The beautiful couple!

In October I began sketching a few different designs for the invitations. After the right one was selected, I worked on getting the finer details right. I then moved onto colour and the handlettering.

Harjit and Gurkiran organised their own invitations and eventually had my handlettering of "Singh loves Kaur" embroidered onto her dress. I was so touched when I saw a photo of this, I teared up! I also sent them the original which they had framed and displayed at the wedding.

Thank you so much to Gurkiran and Harjit for asking me to create your invitations. It was such an honour to work with you both. Thanks to IZO photography for the beautiful wedding photography.

If you would be interested in finding out more about getting a custom portrait, please get in contact with me at  pandora.jones@hotmail.com.au.To find out more about prices and other examples of my work, go to the "Portraits" section in the menu. 

Shop update

Hello, friends! This month I have been busy with my sailing work and have not had much time to sit down and paint. We sailed from Malta to Sicily and up to the Aeolion Islands on charter. We were doing quite a bit of moving around and only towards the end of the month have I had time to do some painting and studio work.

New Greeting Cards & Stickers

I have some new greeting cards up for sale in the shop. I was so happy with the positive feedback I received from my Mothers Day Cards. I have 6 different designs and they are printed on quality smooth card. They are perfect for upcoming birthdays, to say "thank you" to a friend or "You float my boat" to someone special! $11 usd for a pack of four. They make the perfect for someone who loves and appreciate whimsical art!

Newsletter up and running!

Hello! It is the month of May and I have just written my first newsletter!

This year I started a new course called "Right Brain Mentorship Program" with Jennifer Lee from Artizen coaching. One of the things I have just discovered is how important it is to have a regular newsletter. It is supposed to help you connect with people and help with keeping folk in the loop.  I never thought about having a newsletter. I wasn't sure how many people would actually want to read what I wrote. I am quite excited however, as I have a total of 19 people that have just signed up to my first newsletter!

I hope to have little stories behind my artwork, what inspired them or some insight into the process. I will also have a little section called "The Salty Report" where I will include some tales of my adventures on the sailboat I am working on. I will also list any giveaways and special deals on my newsletter first.

I will pop the link to the newsletter below if you fancy having a read! Feel free to sign up on my website. I plan to have a newsletter once a month. Yippee!

http://eepurl.com/b5pzrL

Small exhibition space in Valletta

This week I put up a small selection of my work in Valletta. It's a local space on Old Bakery Street called Michael & Guy. There are originals and limited edition prints for sale. I'm super excited and hope you will have a look if you are on the island!

Two Maltese Men on bus

Artwork from my Moleskine watercolour sketchpad. Painted these two old men on a trip up to Valletta bus station. These two were nattering away in Maltese and I thought it was sweet how their bald spots and sweaters strangely matched. 

Sip Of Art: Inspire Creative Activism Around You!

This week I participated in a project run by PHROM - Platform of Human Rights Organisations in Malta. They have a campaign called Sip Of Art where local cafes and bars are offering a free coffee in exchange for a poem or piece of art within the theme of Human Rights. 

Since leaving Australia and moving to Malta, I have noticed a huge difference with the amount of rubbish and plastic in the environment and how often I witness people littering. I see a lot of plastic in the marina water in Malta, and often see plastic bottles and fishing nets on walks around the Coast . Sometimes I feel like people get used to dropping their litter on the ground and never really consider who has to pick it up. 

The people on the dock are above the water line to symbolise those who are unaware or ignorant of the waste problem. This was quite a quick sketch, but I feel like this topic could be better explored with a larger piece. 

Gifting an original painting to Australian author Tim Winton

A few days ago I heard about an event going on at the Whitsunday Arts and Cultural Centre in Airlie Beach. Only a few minutes ride from where we are staying I cycled furiously to get there in time. I had read that Australian author Tim Winton would be there, talking at the event. I have read several of his book and really enjoyed them.

I wanted to give him a small token of my appreciation so I painted a small painting in watercolours. It's titled "Frank visits Queensland" and is a spin on my original character "Fisherman Frank". I added some fish and sea turtles I usually see when I am out working near the Islands (I work on the sailing yachts in the Whitsunday tourist industry). I also gave Frank a cut-off shirt and a sweet anchor tattoo.

The author appeared to be incredibly happy with the painting and I felt very appreciative to have met him!

The link is below if you would like to read the full article...

http://www.whitsundaytimes.com.au/news/tim-proves-a-hit-with-airlie-fans/2645034/

Illustration Friday - Slow

Inktober

First Impressions Printmaking Exhibition

Rolling the print through the press!

View fullsize

"Happy Cornish Fisherman"

"La Sirena"

Hurray! On Saturday night I had my first printmaking exhibition opening night. The event was held at the lovely studio/shop Beau Est Mien.

I made three different etching prints for the exhibition. I spent a couple days getting the plates prepped and painted. Then another day spent in the studio printing all three prints.

"Fisherman Frank"

Thanks to my Dad for doing the framing. Each painting is sandwhiched between two panes of glass and then has a birchwood frame.

The night was such a success! It was incredible being surrounded by so much buzzing energy and sweet folk. Soon into the night I found out two of my prints already sold!

Myself on the left, with the lovely lady who bought two of my prints! She ended up buying "Fisherman Frank" and "Happy Cornish Fisherman". Thank you so much, Sarah!

Adventures in the Pacific North West

Attending a wood burning class in Portland, Oregon. 

Sailing our way from Everett through Deception Pass to the San Juans.

We arrive at Fisherman Bay, Lopez Island. Feeling excited to begin our cycle tour!

Our set up for the night.

My sweetheart

Cycling the Island and finding incredible spots.