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Michelle Walker
Creativity Coach | Artist | Speaker | Author

michelle@michellewalker.com.au
Phone: +61 407 119 795

Slowly, slowly... putting my mantra for 2021 into

Slowly, slowly... putting my mantra for 2021 into practice - that’s ‘do little bits often’.
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So this is one of the sets of works for my “Earth Matters” exhibition.
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This set is called “Poem of Hide & Stringybark” ... I want to highlight the loss of our native forests here in Australia to clearing. I know it’s an issue in other parts of the world. However, following the devastating fires 12 months ago, clearing what areas we have left seems ludicrous to me. Loss of trees, loss of habitats for native fauna.
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These works are part way - right about in the middle messy, I would say!!
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Back to it again tomorrow. ☺️

Final day in the #21daysinmyartworld challenge is

Final day in the #21daysinmyartworld challenge is to talk about our big dream... it’s simple really for me - do my art full-time and deepen my understanding of my creativity and what I want my work to say.
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I know that it’s tied up with our connectedness to nature... the importance of recognising that and so caring for our environment with much greater love and humility.
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That’s another big dream, I guess. To have my art do something to contribute to this very important issue. Helping us connect with nature and all her wondrous beauty, colour and form.
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Thank you @taraleaver - your prompts have been wonderful. I’ve never managed to stay with a daily challenge before, so that’s a good indication this was way worth it!!!

A bit of Serenity Hills to start the week / round

A bit of Serenity Hills to start the week / round off your weekend, depending on what part of the world you’re in!!!
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Didn’t get into the studio yesterday. So no pics of artwork to share.
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Just some morning sunshine ☺️

Day 20 of #21daysinmyartworld challenge is to iden

Day 20 of #21daysinmyartworld challenge is to identify a favourite technique... ah, this is hard cos I have a bunch of them... painting tissue / bond paper with colours from my palette and sometimes I then create patterns with pencil/graphite... I cut and collage these into the painting as I go... you can see the angular blocks of hard edged colour in these detail pics - they are collaged painted papers... I love the line - it’s so different from anything I could paint directly on the canvas.
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another is use of stencils... I often use letters and numbers...
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another technique I love is including blocks of fine writing that I do with a gel or poska pen... it creates a great texture and the fact it is writing is not always evident until you get up close!!!
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There’s 3 but I really could fill a page...
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collage in general... gelli prints and using them for collage, ephemera I’ve collected, snakeskins I’ve found at the farm...
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Okay, stopping now 😁😉☺️
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What about your favourite technique or maybe your favourite materials...?

From the Archives - day 19 prompt for #21daysinmya

From the Archives - day 19 prompt for #21daysinmyartworld challenge with @taraleaver
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This one I did in a life drawing class several years ago with Ron Curran @dynamicdrawingbyronmullum
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I loved it at the time because it felt so loose and free. I had taken some collage papers and abstract canvases along to the class and did the main outlines on this one without looking at the canvas while I was working. So it’s got a rough but honest quality to it.
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I also love it cos I don’t do much life drawing but when ever I have, I come away feeling so energised.
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She now hangs on our bedroom wall so I get to see her everyday. A good reminder to play outside my comfort zone.
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What do you do to mix it up for your art practice?

Back into my enameling... this is my bench littere

Back into my enameling... this is my bench littered with test pieces for some new colours. Feeling excited about some design ideas I have for these!
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More pics will follow 😉

Day 17 of the #21daysinmyartworld challenge with @

Day 17 of the #21daysinmyartworld challenge with @taraleaver is to post an image of my largest painting... this one called “Land Weaver” is 90cm x 1.2m.
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It was liberating to work large. This piece was the first in a series looking at how the landscape where I live leaves its mark on me and how my walks and care for the land leave their marks on the land.

Today’s prompt in the #21daysinmyartworld challe

Today’s prompt in the #21daysinmyartworld challenge is How I Name My Paintings... (Day 15)
such a great prompt, cos titling my works was always tricky... until I started focusing on abstract landscapes, then the names poured out of me. 🙃
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sometimes I get a sense of a name while I’m painting like with ‘of Earth and Song’, sometimes I look through a list I keep and one stands out... this painting I did soon after the bushfires here in Australia in late 2019/ early 2020. I had this searing image of a wall of flames engulfing houses and bush right down to the beach at #mallacoota. It haunted me.
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With this painting, the title came first ‘Fire down to the water’s edge’ and the work followed.
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Thx @taraleaver for the challenge.

I love working in series. This is 3 paintings and

I love working in series. This is 3 paintings and they started in different places, but working on them with the same palette and sequence of marks they start to look like a family.
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It also stops me from getting stuck so easily - I work on one with some mixed colour, then move to the next while I’m considering what I will do next with the first. I find I can get a lot done this way.
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What tips do you have for creating and keeping momentum when you are painting?
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Does anyone else use working in a series specifically to get further faster?? [Not that that’s the only thing that’s important, I know but sometimes it is good to feel like you are making progress. 😉]

Details: 2 are 30cm x 30cm and the middle one is 30cm x 45cm, no titles yet, still works in progress.

Day 13 for #21daysinmyartworld challenge with @tar

Day 13 for #21daysinmyartworld challenge with @taraleaver is Process Insight...
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When I paint, I love working in layers, the laying down a variety of marks - graphite, pencils, acrylic paint, collage elements - and painting over using transparent glazes and opaque paint and then scratching back and bring some elements back in later layers.
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The process of art making reflects much of what is relevant to life in general. One of the main things with my layering is learning to trust - that the painting will find its own way and my task is to stay alert, not override where the painting wants to go. if I’m able to trust the process I will get a strong sense what I need to do next and also when the painting is finished.
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Day 12: current motif - this shape is one of my cu

Day 12: current motif - this shape is one of my current favourites... it is both an arched bridged (connecting here to there... between me and others... now and the future) and a portion of a seed pod.
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#21daysinmyartworld with @taraleaver
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Work in progress- I salvaged a framed picture from

Work in progress- I salvaged a framed picture from a charity shop. It was a copy of an autumn toned farm scene from another country, (maybe North America)... I sanded the shiny smooth surface and gave it a coat of gesso.
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While I’ve been painting the minis for ‘Poem of Hide and Stringybark’ I have been using the salvaged board to off load paint on a surface.
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Does anyone else do this?
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Sometimes the side work turns into something, sometimes not...
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Gave it a bit of snakes skin too, seeing where this one goes.

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