What a week it has been. This time last week, Jeffrey and I were in Sydney for the Wynne Prize. We had such a good time. Being part of the Wynne was such an honour, and truly so exciting. I still can't believe it happened! On the Thursday, we went to the artists lunch, and had a preview of the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman prizes. We drank champagne and chatted to a few artsy types, took photos of my painting, and felt pretty special. The paintings we saw were pretty great too, and I just can't believe that mine was hanging amongst them :) Anyway, after that we went and napped in our hotel before we cabbed it out to Glebe to meet my brother Sting for dinner. It was a really nice night and good to see Sting in his neighbourhood. On the Friday we had all day to ourselves, so we met up with my old friend Brett for a coffee. So good to see him again. I couldn't walk around much, as I still had my big boot on with my broken ankle, so we went back to the hotel for another afternoon nap. That alone was luxurious! Then at 5:30 we went back to the Art Gallery of NSW to attend the preview (more champagne, more chatting). The opening reception was at 6:30, and our friends Mark and Di were meeting us, with Mark posing as my dealer. We were downstairs at the exhibition, wondering when people were going to arrive, and then we wondered upstairs to discover a massive party going on. We searched through the crowd to find our friends, and then we had to listen to all the speeches and prize giving. Then all of the party was let downstairs to the exhibition, and the real party got started. So much fun :) It was really exciting to be part of it, and I hope it happens again some time! After an hour or so we left, and Mark and Di, Jeff and I went out to dinner at Wooloomooloo wharf. It was such a great evening! We slept well that night, and then travelled back home on the Saturday, and I couldn't wait to see the kids. I think it is the longest we have ever been away from them. Arley didn't even cry when I left, which was a miracle - we were all expecting tears. The kids stayed with their Lolo and Dida, and were spoiled rotten.
Since the Wynne I have actually been contacted by two galleries and have had to choose which one to go with. It's funny, for years I have been trying to figure out ways of how to get into galleries, and now I actually have a choice?! I can't believe my luck! I also have been invited to enter the Tattersalls Landscape Prize, which is an invitation-only prize. I have to have the painting ready by August. I have started work on some sketches, and now I just have to find the time to paint...which is proving to be a little difficult :( I am determined to figure it out though. I guess I will be working nights again, and painting in snippets here and there...
And now to the kids. They have been wonderful. Arley has had a few explosive moments over the last few days, but for the most part he has been pretty happy. He is doing this awful name-calling at the moment, saying "Carmie is a (fill in the blank - weirdo, creep, spaghetti head, sofa pillow, anything he can think of)". It is constant, and driving me a little crazy. We have conquered our screen time problem. He used to be really difficult to get off the computer or iPad, but we have been working on it and working on it, and now he has dramatically improved. They get two half hour sessions a day, and they have to play outside for fifteen minutes beforehand, and afterwards he has to jump on the trampoline, and this seems to calm him down. We have been doing this for a couple of weeks, and now he just gets off the screens no problems. So, now I have to tackle the name calling as our next thing. That and him impulsively lashing out and hurting Carmie, which is slowly improving.
Little Carmie has another tooth coming up on the bottom, and once again she hasn't lost the baby tooth yet. She finally is sitting down to do some writing practice again (it's been six months!), because our homeschool registration is coming up, and her penmanship is so much better! See what not writing does? ;) She has also been riding her bike out in the cul de sac by herself, and we are really starting to see how old she is getting. Our little girl is growing up! She is still reading up a storm, and has read over 300 books (novels) in less than two years. Yes, I'm keeping track for homeschooling purposes. Carmie is mostly a little angel, with just a little bit of sass. She had Scouts this week, and it was disco night, but apparently she was the only one who didn't dance. So, now we are working on dancing throughout our day too, which must be quite a scene and I'm glad no-one can see us! And yes, I still have a bum ankle!
We have been playing tons of games with the kids, and the great thing is, Arley has caught on to playing more adult games, so they are actually really fun to play! And now that he doesn't freak out when he loses anymore, we are really enjoying our family game sessions.
Anyway, I found a new website for the kids, and then I happened upon Arley looking at it. Here is a video of him reading from it :)
Jeffrey at the artists lunch at the art gallery.
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