tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52967518213771370842024-03-13T13:30:58.967+01:00there is no path“He aha te mea nui o tenei ao?
Maku e kii atu, He tangata, he tangata, he tangata!....................
You ask what is the most important thing in this world?
I will tell you: It is people, it is people, it is people!”.....................
Maori proverbKayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08237406486736942911noreply@blogger.comBlogger1746125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296751821377137084.post-7783221793116198722023-06-04T19:45:00.009+02:002023-06-04T20:51:26.334+02:00pondering my next ventureI have taken some time to reflect, to consider several options, and to ponder what my next project will be. Next year will be my last Legato Exhibition for Commemoration and Peace in Cassino, Italy. It is the 80th anniversary next year. In 2019 I remember thinking "If this is my last Legato, it has ended on a very good note." And then 2020 happened. There has not been another edition since. But Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08237406486736942911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296751821377137084.post-79244884637180346092023-01-04T12:34:00.009+01:002023-01-04T13:35:11.137+01:00Welcome, 2023Oh creativity, you are such a fickle mistress! In this New Year period I am sitting at my studio desk (where I paint in acrylic and watercolour) having just visited the space where I paint in oils, and I am torn, torn, torn. Which one am I to follow? Or can I make room for all three? Around me are some works from my Italian painting time. Some are straight out art therapy, and they Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08237406486736942911noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296751821377137084.post-34427607907274612032022-12-13T14:39:00.011+01:002022-12-13T23:40:19.788+01:00Well this is a surprise! I'll bet, like me, you thought this blog had been consigned to the archives. I certainly didn't expect to feel the urge to write on it again. But here goes... I was looking for a post to share with a dog-loving friend, and decided to read a few more myself. I'm enjoying the trips down memory lane. I found this post about my turangawaewae particularly interesting in these present Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08237406486736942911noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296751821377137084.post-45775512692303048812019-04-27T11:32:00.001+02:002019-04-27T11:34:49.455+02:00Powerful work by Robyn Hughes
Some years ago I was privileged to meet Robyn Hughes, and to later visit her in her home to view her then "works in progress" based on the research she was doing into the battles for Cassino.
The inaugural exhibition of these works in 2014, described by the gallery as "unmissable", was held in Whakatane, New Zealand. The works are on a very large scale, which no small screen can do justice toKayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08237406486736942911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296751821377137084.post-59200770130440993072019-04-27T11:12:00.002+02:002019-04-27T11:43:49.571+02:00Updating and looking forward to 2019
Preparations are underway for Legato 2019.
It seems a long time since I posted here. A new hard drive in my computer and forgotten passwords, missing photographs that didn't arrive despite being sent three times, and a lot of travel to visit my veteran father in New Zealand. No one excuse big enough, but that was the reality of my life, so this blog, along with my children's book blog, was leftKayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08237406486736942911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296751821377137084.post-80356516951415129422018-10-12T12:07:00.000+02:002018-10-12T12:07:15.965+02:00onwards and upwards
I have been perusing my Legato blog as I make preparations for the 2019 Legato exhibition to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the battles for Cassino. On an impulse I returned to this blog, and decided to update it briefly.
At the time that I "abandoned" my blog I was being troubled by emails from stalkers. I simply jumped ship and let the stalkers (all two of them) think what Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08237406486736942911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296751821377137084.post-32753929673294588302015-04-25T12:27:00.000+02:002015-04-25T12:27:08.114+02:00eight years
Today marks the beginning of my ninth year in Italy. Eight years ago, on the 24th of April, I arrived here to make a complete change in my life. Today on the Italian calendar it is now 25th April.
When I arrived here eight years ago, on a one year visa, I had no idea how long I would stay. Three months, perhaps, and then I would have an annual painting holiday here? Instead, my 'bolt Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08237406486736942911noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296751821377137084.post-67508888895002510342015-04-20T21:05:00.002+02:002015-04-20T21:05:38.542+02:00poppy time again
but this time I am painting them with joy.
I have tried two different types of texture medium (my credit card went on a spree in Melbourne recently) and will certainly be using the one below again. The one above really should have been applied with a palette knife, not a chopped up credit card...
Each is a series of five paintings, plus there are two more horizontal ones in the Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08237406486736942911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296751821377137084.post-22218020713181251412015-04-05T10:10:00.000+02:002015-04-05T10:10:34.862+02:00this year it was too sad
I have avoided all things Easter up until today. There is so much sorrow in the world, with man-made tragedies, that I found it too difficult to watch another that I find too real, too sad, as presented in the villages and towns here. Instead I will link you to a performance I watched a few years ago.
It is times like this that I am really a misfit culturally. I have a much more optimistic viewKayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08237406486736942911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296751821377137084.post-81949675433628882042015-03-29T10:50:00.000+02:002015-03-29T10:50:03.723+02:00group exhibition ends today
I have three poppy paintings in this show, photo later. They are shiny and hard to photograph. I was aiming for a more contemporary look, but as you can see I am surrounded by tradition :)
Today I am grateful for inclusion.
Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08237406486736942911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296751821377137084.post-49512754587071428472015-03-29T09:04:00.002+02:002015-03-29T09:04:28.379+02:00not cricket
It's not cricket I know, but I'm just linking you to my other blog today.
Work calls... (and so did the cricket but it's just too distracting!)
But Spring is finally coming, and if only my computer would accept my camera card I would post you some photos. Need to find the connecting cords...
Here is my recent post, on my Little Goat Books blog.
Today I am grateful for blue skies.
Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08237406486736942911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296751821377137084.post-85829824090421615282015-03-22T15:03:00.003+01:002015-03-22T15:23:31.815+01:00there's always an up side
Paintings (gesso base) drying by the fire. If you can't have sunshine, then dry firewood is the next best option.
I love the smell of an open fire. It takes me back to my childhood, where I learnt to light fires in our huge open fire. This one is not nearly as wonderful a fireplace, and the chimney is impossible to clean, but a good roaring blaze knocks down a bit of soot.
Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08237406486736942911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296751821377137084.post-22760690601558304582015-03-16T01:42:00.002+01:002015-03-16T03:39:21.447+01:00to eBook or not?
Today's post is copied over from my "other" blog, Little Goat Books. A little longer than usual, back into my favourite mode of shameless pontificating, one might say!
I have been asked by potential buyers if my books are available for
Kindle, and others have suggested that this would be a good idea. Yes,
when children are travelling, perhaps this would be useful. Yes, for
gettingKayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08237406486736942911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296751821377137084.post-71477502108168326312015-03-05T05:20:00.003+01:002015-03-05T05:20:56.823+01:00and here they are!
Three books released today. You can find them on my Print-on-demand page here.
Now to move on to the next ones...
Today I am grateful for a sense of achievement.
Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08237406486736942911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296751821377137084.post-4980955802397353972015-03-01T06:35:00.001+01:002015-03-01T06:49:18.083+01:00today and saying "no"
Today I set out to achieve two things.
Answer emails
Write my 2014 end of year letter.
Instead I have
paid my phone bill,
tried yet again to understand my W-8BEN (relax, I hadn't heard of them either),
signed and addressed my W-8BEN ready to post at last,
updated my passport number on my flight booking,
taken part in a tasting panel,
caught up with a friend
Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08237406486736942911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296751821377137084.post-80399351555072169702015-02-17T14:36:00.002+01:002015-02-17T14:36:33.168+01:00happiness is a new book
The first proof copy arrived today. I had a few alignment changes to make, and I tweaked the cover a little. But overall I was thrilled with the quality of the book. The colours are great, the look is professional (as it should be) and I liked my illustrations more in the book form than in the sketching and painting stages. I think a little distance from them has helped.
I suppose it is Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08237406486736942911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296751821377137084.post-37156723116200872722015-02-16T00:24:00.002+01:002015-02-16T01:01:12.452+01:00coming soon to a link near you
One of the reasons I have been invisible - or should I say three of the reasons?
When Mum Fell Asleep in the Bath, Michelle and the Bumblebee, and The Lost Happy
When Mum Fell Asleep in the Bath is, of course, a mixture of truth and fiction. I wrote it for my children over thirty years ago, and it seemed timely to publish it in a form that my grandchildren might enjoy.
Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08237406486736942911noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296751821377137084.post-33910050257652735572015-02-03T00:32:00.000+01:002015-02-16T01:01:28.226+01:00confession time and an update
Confession time:
1. I changed computers and found myself locked out of my blog
2. I I really didn't mind not blogging for a while.
3. I don't feel the slightest bit guilty...
because
I have been working incredibly hard and have completed the illustrations for three of my books for children, and have written another book which is very close to my heart and will be illustrated lovingly in Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08237406486736942911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296751821377137084.post-41031686915215115842014-11-05T12:43:00.000+01:002014-11-05T12:43:15.925+01:00ooops again!
Where did the last couple of weeks go?
I have been reading about blogging instead of blogging, planning my projects instead of actioning them, and generally taking a bit of time out. My wrist is now almost recovered so I guess I should put it to action again :)
Here is an afternoon photo (no, the valley doesn't look like that today, but I am flicking through my recently downloaded photos - I Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08237406486736942911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296751821377137084.post-11387090889313578492014-10-18T20:52:00.004+02:002014-10-18T21:44:16.429+02:0070 years of hope
I wanted to record this day on my blog mainly for myself. I "should" (I don't use that word, remember?) be writing a post for the Monte Cassino Foundation for Remembrance and Reconciliation, or for Legato, but that requires a little more time and thought than I can give at the end of the day.
Today we remembered the civilian victims of the battle of Cassino and the wider region. The actual Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08237406486736942911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296751821377137084.post-2689321788142521102014-10-10T22:18:00.001+02:002014-10-18T21:09:55.750+02:00whew! (with emphasis)
Today I received a wonderful phone call. The clients were thrilled, the recipients of the gift were emotional and elated, and the artist - she's just plain relieved!
The painting that I had completed under duress, forcing myself to meet a tight deadline and doing more damage to my wrist in the process, was unveiled at a 50th wedding anniversary dinner. Apparently the 140 guests were suitably Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08237406486736942911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296751821377137084.post-63191898188664021862014-10-02T18:39:00.003+02:002014-10-02T19:51:09.152+02:00no such thing
How often do we say that there is no such thing as a coincidence, and that our apparently random encounters are all part of what is "meant to be?"
I have recently had some rather special encounters with delightful people. With each encounter I feel that my life is richer, my "friend base" wider. I feel supported, cared for, and am feeling nurtured and warm as the temperatures begin to fall.
Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08237406486736942911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296751821377137084.post-63459537595875386162014-09-14T20:22:00.001+02:002014-09-15T01:04:05.819+02:00well did you ever...?
Every three or four years I rather idly google my name to see what is floating around cyberspace. Occasionally I have been horrified to find things that I thought were quite private rather easily accessed. However, it is the price we pay for using the web.
This evening I rather casually invited someone to google my name to learn a little more about what I do. I didn't want to bore a new friend Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08237406486736942911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296751821377137084.post-16862517865174577902014-09-11T14:39:00.000+02:002014-09-11T16:07:59.585+02:00muddling along
"The weather is truly frightful... " well, not really, and I don't want to "let it snow, let it snow, let it snow", but it has been stormy enough to blow shut balcony doors open, to have wind howling so loudly I wouldn't have been able to sleep (had I been in bed and not mopping up water that came in from the studio balconies at 1.30 this morning). But it is warm. I'm not even wearing long Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08237406486736942911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5296751821377137084.post-8691188661090423802014-09-09T14:12:00.003+02:002014-09-09T15:46:23.225+02:00looking back then looking forward
Today I wrote some notes for a presentation in NZ, not by me but by a wonderful peace worker in Northland. She came to Legato this year, bringing impressive contemporary art work with her, and only two days ago I made time to (finally) look at the books that she had left with me. Coincidentally, this morning I received an email from her asking for my thoughts on Peace, as she wanted to build herKayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08237406486736942911noreply@blogger.com0