The painting has been both a pleasure and an artistic stretch for me. A pleasure firstly as I love the subject and she is very easy to paint. She’s a beautiful young woman both inside and out, and happens to be at the top of her field in the horse world. Here comes the stretch, the painting is of Courtney and her Champion Small Hack, Magnifique.

Being a professional in the horse world means that I needed to get the horse right to ensures she loves the painting for the rest of time. This is not easy, so with help from her Mum (Francesca) with countless phone conversations,messages and emails,and a few photos I started by creating a sketch of my first ideas of the painting’s layout.

This is a photo of Courtney on Magnifique.

After considering the options for the painting layout for a while, I began thinking about Courtney as a person, what she loves, her relationship with her horse, and where she is in her life as a young woman. I felt very strongly that the painting should be a blend of her in her horse world and her in the rest of her life as so often the horse world can become all-consuming.

I wanted to capture the love between Coutney and her beautiful horse, Magnifique, but show her in her true colours as well.

After a few ideas,I came up with this sketch and pitched it to Francesca, getting the go-ahead to start painting.

Courtney is a beauty, with long, wavy hair, beautiful eyes and a cheeky attitude. It was important that these parts of her shone through, so that is why I wanted the riding hat paired with the long flowing hair as a way to capture this wonderful mix.

I also wanted Magnifique to look a little wild to match Courtney so her maine is free and flowing also.

Francesca initially wanted the bridle to be put on her and I think it could be a lovely mix of a wild and also highly disciplined animal.

Once given the go ahead, I started on the painting.The following pictures are a succession of photos of the different stages of the painting,clearly showing the layers and changes made along the way.

Usually this sized painting will happen over approximately 4 to 6 weeks, but this particulr painting was racing against the clock so the majority of it actually happened over a seven day period.

I didn’t realise at the time but the ears on the horse were in the wrong position so thankfully I had some assistance from my mother and sister to correct them (both horsey people). I needed to move Magnifique’s left ear completely as you will see in the next few photos. I also had to lengthen the nose, widen the nose at the end (it was too pointed), work heavily on the eyes to make them more pronounced, and change the colour three times to get it right.

This is where I moved the ear, but realised the colour of the horse was too dark so alsoneeded to change that aspect.

One thing I am loving in this painting is the departure from my usual plain background, with the textured sky and the blades of grass in the field. I took a big leap with these additions as it seemed the most appropriate backdrop for these two best friends, but i think i will start to work more into my backgrounds where appropriate from now on.

Here is Magnifique with a rich red/brown coat and a lot of work done around the eyes (with a lot of feedback and assistance from Francesca and Mum). Being a show horse, they do use make-up to exagerate certain features and I have embraced this a little here.

After much deliberation and various channels of advice,we agreed that it would be best if we left the bridle off as it shows that these two are truly friends and Magnifique spends time with Courtney because she wants to and not because she has to.

Finally, after widening the nose, fixing the maine and horse’s colour, adding some funky nailpolish for Courtney, along with some pearls and finer details, she is complete.

Two Beauties was presented to Courtney on the night before her birthday and I received a lovely call from a very happy birthday girl. It goes to show that it is certainly possible to paint things outside my comfort zone but only if I am a very good listener as the steady stream of feedback and ideas was crucial in my success.

Feels good!

I have been super busy with She-Tea so far this month but managed to squeeze in a photo shoot with my artist friend Kathrin Longhurst. I thought you might enjoy seeing some of my new pics!

At home in my studio with ZEN.

My family: Husband John and son Jasper (2 years old)

And a couple of new paintings…

Girl With Magnolias

Spring Fling

Spending Time in the Daylesford Community Garden.

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you for subscribing to my posts this year and I hope that you continue to allow me to share with you in 2012. I’d also like to wish you and your loved ones a very Merry Christmas and New Year. 2012 holds enormous promise and I for one can’t wait to dive in!

Best Wishes,

Jodie

My godfather taught me many years ago that if you are interested in something and find that you have a passion for it, get involved in it, learn the industry, volunteer if you need to, to gain the knowledge you need to take things further. Well, after reading a very special review a couple of months ago on three of our premium loose leaf SHE-TEA blends by Ben Knight (well-known Melbourne wine reviewer and sommelier), a spark was ignited in me that I am please to report has turned into a  small glowing flame.

When you’re part of something as established as the Australian tea market, you always want to be doing  something that’s a little bit different to everyone else, and this means that you need to think differently to everyone else. I believe this is why I was especially thrilled to read Ben’s article. It was a fresh and interesting  perspective on tea from someone placed completely outside the tea world. Wonderful.

I love the parallels that are drawn between tea and wine in this article, the tannins reference, and the fact that grape varieties and tea varieties can both be so broad and subjectively appreciated. While the similarities between the two had occurred to me previously, I didn’t have the knowledge base to be able to put them together convincingly.  This has now started to change.

As often happens in life, when you let it, I was considering my options for education in wine tasting and while talking about this to a friend at a party, found out that there would be a position opening up at a local Musk Vineyard’s New Cellar Door in the next couple of months. BINGO! Here was my opportunity to learn about wine from the ground up, to learn about growing the grapes, picking techniques, fermenting, barrelling, bottling, and of course (my favoutire bit) … tasting!

As another example of wonderful things that happen when you’ve made a tree-change, the next thing I know I am off to the winery to meet my potential new boss, Cameron. He’s a lovely guy with an obvious passion for wine as well as teaching, and we discuss my potential role in the cellar door, my background in sales and marketing, and also my business She-Tea, with a reference to the She-Tea article also. I let him know that I am available once a week (every Saturday) and after a few weeks wait, I start my first day at the cellar door.

What a great day to begin! Spectacular blue skies scattered with passing clouds (very apt), warm friendly customers, and a new boss who is keen to teach me as much as I want to learn about wine. I was also treated to a local tasting plate to seal the deal. Heaven.

During my first education session in tasting I learnt about Sparkling Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Shiraz Cabernet and a very special blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot (yum) called “The Angel”. We discussed the aromas of each wine (also important with tea), the colour of each wine (also important with tea), and of course the taste (…also very important with tea).

I guess what surprised me the most about wine-tasting is the amount of concentration you need to use to be able to give a truly considered analysis of your individual experience with each wine. So many of the aromas and flavours are familiar, but the descriptive terms can be very elusive (and no I was not swallowing the wine so this was not due to an over-appreciation).

This descriptive process, I am assured, becomes easier with time and practice.

Although I am only at the beginning of my journey into the world of  wine appreciation, I already realise that both wine and tea are an equally subjective experience, and whether or not someone is going to enjoy a certain blend depends entirely on that individual’s palate, personal preferences and often their life experiences. There really is no right or wrong and the beauty of it is that it’s entirely up to you.

Just as an incredible glass of wine can make you feel like you’re taking a long walk through an ancient forest, tea can also transport you thousands of miles in a single sip. The more I learn about both of these wonderful luxuries, the more I love them, and while I’m not sure where this new journey will take me, I am enjoying the ride regardless.

(Thanks Ben!)

If you order online at www.she-tea.com.au you will automatically be entered into the draw!

I will start by confessing (again) that I am not a Winter person. I don’t like to be cold and I don’t like bare trees. So why on earth, I hear you say, have I chosen to live in Daylesford? I must admit that I wonder this exact thing each and every Winter…and then, when the first buds burst on our grape vine, and the tulips open, and the birds are in full choir as the sun streams down on my family while we work in the garden, I am once again reminded of exactly why I choose to live in this beautiful town.

I have lived in Daylesford for a number of years now. I fell in love with it when I first visited around ten years ago and I always felt a very strong connection to the area. I used to drive down from Sydney regularly to stay with a friend and every time I drove through the Wombat forest I felt very emotional. I always put it down to being tired and living in Sydney, having a high stress job, drinking too much on weekends (and during the week if I’m honest), and so on. Regardless of the various reasons I conjured up, the feeling was there, it was consistent, and it was strong, strong enough to make sure that I bought a home here.

When I started looking for a property in the Daylesford area, the very first place that I went to see was in Shepherds Flat, approximately 10 minutes from town. It was 20 acres, no house and on a steep hill. I didn’t know why I was drawn to that area as I had no prior connection to it, it would have meant that I needed to build a house and also work the largest portion of the land. As my husband and friends said at the time, what the hell are you thinking?

Thankfully I was talked out of that purchase and ended up buying a very  run down little Victorian house on Wombat Hill, the place we now happily call home. Every time I drive past that long road up to that block of land on the way to Lavandula, I remember the feeling I had about it.

Just two weeks ago my mother called me from Queensland to ask me to look up a little place called Shepherds Flat for her on the internet. After explaining that it was just down the road and the place I went to look at that block of land originally, I asked her why she wanted to know about it and it turns out that Shepherds Flat was the place where my great great grandmother (Clara May Long) was born in 1883. This revelation gave me goosebumps and after all of the years I had moved around, I suddenly felt like I’d found my home. There was a reason for the way I felt about this area, there was a connection, a past.

Since then we’ve also discovered that my great great grandfather was born in Ballarat, where I gave birth to my son, and another great great grandfather immigrated across from Ireland and settled in Maldon, just 25 minutes from here. What’s more, despite our family being in Queensland these days, both my sister and myself have both settled in this area, with Shepherds Flat being the halfway point of our two homes.

This information has consolidated and validated how I had felt about this region from the very start, and I now feel even more blessed to be living in such a beautiful area, so rich with history, life and family.

Anyone who has been to Daylesford knows that it is very picturesque, with natural mineral springs, state forest walks, massage and spa retreats, cafes, lavender fields, restaurants,  boutique shops, beautiful lakes and gardens and so on. But loving a town is one thing, and feeling like you belong there is another.

So how exactly do you enter into a small country community? First stop: THE PUB.

We didn’t have children when we made the tree change, and although our master plan (or atleast my master  plan) was to create a family home to raise our kids in, where they could pick their fruit straight from the trees and grow their own veges in the garden, our priority on arrival was to settle in for 12 months and then assess our situation. This meant we could continue our most excellent tradition of regular afternoons at the pub, chatting to locals and visitors, meeting the wood man, the plumber, the builder, the publicans (very important) and so on. A thoroughly enjoyable learning experience.

Every Sunday, for example, we would go to the market to buy our veges from Con, our honey pot from Des O’Toole, and search for any little bargains in the trash and treasure stalls. We’d have lunch then put the roast on (slow-cooked lamb usually) and head down the pub. We’d happily drink the afternoon away, talk absolute rubbish and stumble home just in time to enjoy the evening meal. That was our idea of heaven.

So after 12 months, and a very large renovation job on our cottage, we sat down and decided that Daylesford was the spot. This was where we wanted to build our lives, raise our family, get healthy and get super happy!

For me it probably took another 4 years before I really started to feel like part of the local community. This was partly because I commuted to work (medical sales for Western Victoria) so I left early and got home late and never really felt settled. When I went on maternity leave this all changed and I began to appreciate just being in town,day after day, without having to leave. When Jasper arrived, Daylesford really turned on the charm as everything was in walking distance so all I had to do was pop him in the pram and away I went. Wonderful!

I think this was the point where I really “checked in” and started to make effort to become a part of this wonderful community in some way.  I was running my business (SHE-TEA ) and painting from home while raising Jasper, so my time was fairly flexible. I started to do the Daylesford Makers Market with our tea range and then when the call went out, I became a volunteer on the organising committee. I also started volunteering my time to the Daylesford Christmas Cheer Group, a community initiative for families and community members in need over the Christmas period.

The decision to become involved in both of these projects has been a fantastic one as it has allowed me to meet some wonderful people, work on some really worthwhile projects, and also feel like I am starting to contribute and shape the community that my children will grow up in.

And just today, I was lucky enough to be helping in the creation of the Daylesford Community Food Garden out the back of my home (I can literally walk out of my back gate and into this space).

This is a wonderful community-actioned food garden on council land that everyone in the community is welcome to enjoy. It means that families have access to healthy, organic fruit and vegetables and acts as a community-building space for people from all different backgrounds and situations. People from all over turned up today to help with digging holes and planting trees for the food forest.

I feel incredibly blessed to be a part of this community and it only really happened when I made the decision to check in and contribute to it. I am grateful for the experiences I have had and the knowledge I have gained from others. I am especially grateful, however, to be able to watch my 20-month old son help to dig the holes for the trees that he will be lucky enough to grow up enjoying. What a lovely realisation of a dream.

We’ve got some great talent in Daylesford, especially in the area of food, and we were lucky enough to get a proscuitto lesson from one of the best chefs in town! So after a few glasses of wine (we had a babysitter that afternoon – yay) and some yummy cheese and biscuits, the tutorial began.

It is important to select a good quality leg of pork (see your butcher). On this particular day there were four legs of pork cured. Each leg should weigh between 10 and 12 kilos to give you enough meat when it is cured but no be tough due to being too large. The bone should also be left in.

The next thing is to cut off any poor quality pieces, excess fats etc. There are some pieces that can be cut off and used to create a hearty stock. (see below pic)

Bleeding the leg is an important step where any remaining blood from the veins of the leg is squeezed out and removed. This is the revolting part but will help to prevent spoiling.

The way that a simple leg of ham is cured is by a process of drying it out. Of course this can be done in big drying machines but us being simple country folk now, we were very pleased to see that the legs were to be cured using large amounts of salt and the natural  process of osmosis.

At this point the legs are covered liberally in seasoned salt.  It’s important to get the salt into all of the nooks and crannies to make sure that all of the meat is covered and protected.

The legs are then stacked on top of eachother in a wine barrell, with branches of bayleaves added and then the legs are covered with plastic and left for a couple of weeks, with turning and re-stacking.

Once the legs have been left to sit in the salt for a couple of weeks and are sufficiently dried out, they will be hung in a well-ventilated fridge for up to 18 months…so in 18 months time I will let you know how it tastes!

To say that I was a little apprehensive when our SHE-TEA Marketing Mentor suggested that I paint “live” at the trade show we were attending to help to create an interesting atmosphere and to spark conversations, would be an understatement.

Trade shows are notoriously loud, glary and generally a little overwhelming on the senses, so it is difficult to make a real statement and stand out amongst all of the bells and whistles.  I have never really painted in front of anyone since high school (except my husband and child), particularly not hundreds of strangers over a two-day period, but despite my nervousness I could certainly see that she had a valid point.

So during Wednesday and Thursday this week, at the Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne, I spent two full days creating “Indigo”. To be honest, this leap of faith turned out to be quite liberating and resulted in a piece that I am very proud of.

SHE-TEA Stand set-up (Only 3m x 2m)

It took us a few hours to set the stand up. We were surrounded by stalls with loud music, bright lights, multitudes of plastic gimmicks and bizarre costumes. Our aim was to be a little sanctuary amongst the chaos of an events showcase, with products that were easy on the eye and conversations that were meaningful and genuine. The feedback we received indicates that we hit the mark.

Wednesday morning I started painting at around 10am, with people walking by and wondering what was happening.

Creating Indigo

Over the two days, as the painting progressed, people became more and more interested in the process and technique used and I had some great conversations about art and life as a result. My painting while talking about our tea products also really helped people understand the whole package that we offer as a business, and our views on work/life balance.

Final Touches on Thursday afternoon

I ended up enjoying the whole process of painting at the trade fair, despite my initial reservations, and I feel that it pushed me to examine my techniques and and even make some improvements to my style. On the drive back home to Daylesford on Thursday night after we had packed up, I spent some time reflecting on why I was nervous about painting in front of so many people and if I am honest, I think it stems from being a self-taught artist, and having a level of insecurity about my painting techniques and processes. (Art is funny like that, some people like to spend their time intellectualising something that should perhaps just be felt or experienced. I try to steer clear of this thinking but every now and then it creeps in again.)

Regardless, the end result is a painting that oozes confidence and strength, which on reflection is how I felt after challenging myself and going through with something that was so far out of my comfort zone. I am grateful for this experience and look forward to my next challenge … whatever that may be.

• I spent time on the hair to create extra length as requested
• Created greater diversity in the colours in Lee’s hair. Her hair ranges from a lovely caramel through to blonde so I built the base caramel up originally and went back to add the highlighted colour after. (I still have another layer to go)
• I worked on widening her jaw line a little. Her face was a little too skinny in the oringinal so i added some width.
• I slightly changed the shape of her eyes and will still work more on these before the painting is complete. Sometimes it takes me a few re-works before I hit the mark, but it’s lovely when it finally happens!

The following photos are photo one (first layer) and photo two (second layer and reworks).

I will post the final photo of this painting when she is complete, then I am on my way up to Qld to deliver Lee’s painting, see family and friends, and feel what it’s like to be warm again … lovely!

I have another commission booked for when this one is finished – I will keep you posted.

 Knowing the person you are painting can be helpful in some ways, as you can draw on their personality, their likes and their everyday style, but in some ways, knowing a person can make things more difficult in that this knowledge can cloud you make your a little indecisive. Regardless, open and honest communication is always key and I find that keeping the client involved in each stage of the painting minimises this risk and means that they are able to speak up quickly if there is something they are not happy with. This can usually be corrected quite easily.

Lee is a special girl, with four kids, a hubby and a business. She’s super busy taking care of her family, and with all of her other responsibilities, so it is lovely being able to create something that is just about her.

This painting will be hanging in their living area and I hope that it is something special that makes her feel appreciated and acknowledged for all of her hard work, as well as inspired and nurtured through each and every day in the family home. It’s a big ask but we’re well on our way as this weekend I have managed to spend a lot of time on it.

These are a couple of the photos that Lee sent me to work from originally. Sometimes it takes a while for me to get a feeling for a painting, other times it happens straight away. I had to sit with this one for quite a while before I knew where I was going with it.

It was helpful to know that Lee had a particular soft spot for this painting from my Spanish Series (below) so I used this as inspiration. The brief I was given was that she loved neutral colours as well as black, so we discussed the use of raw linen as the background to create a natural, textured effect. She loves the windswept hair and didn’t want any patterns in the material she was wearing. She wanted to be smiling but just slightly and she wanted something just for her.

So with these wishes in mind, and based on an idea from the above painting, this is what I have come up with so far. Keeping in mind that this is the base coat and detail will be added once this layer is dry.

We have agreed that the final hair length will be longer, the flower will be removed  from the ear and I will “gloss up” the lips but keep a beautiful natural feel to the painting.

The black works well as it helps the painting find a strong presence, and will tie in well with their home.

Now – it’s time to stop and wait for it to dry before I can make any more changes (although I have painted the flower out already as I didn’t want any marks left there).

I am looking forward to doing somemore work on this and I will send through pictures of the final painting when it is complete.