I have listed thirteen of my handcrafted art bookmarks in my EBay store as buy it now items.

These are collectors items and they are individually hand crafted from my small gift cards made from my art works. Firstly they are attached to quality scrap booking paper. Then I laminated them.

The stock in my EBay store will vary.  I have ten separate websites and in the sidebar of each you will find images of Art and Art Prints by Kathy Shell.  These will be listed in my EBay Store by request.
Contact Kathy with your requests.

Below are some of the small art gift cards use to make the Art  Bookmarks.

I have had an amazingly productive week.  .

My Fridge Magnet Art website will feature over 100 small fridge magnets from my art.  You can purchase them securely though PayPal.  Contact Artist

Everyone has their own taste in art and once I was not an admirer of Picasso's work. These days I know more about the artist and his own own reasons for his art and this givers me more appreciation of the works.  Picasso one critisized someone for calling him an artist. He snapped back that Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci were artist and he himself was an entertainer.  When I read this, my opinion of the man and the artist leaped a mile.  When I look at the painting above I see that it has a pure fun element to it. It isn't meant to be taken over seriously. It is OK to laugh at art. As a woman I am not overly impressed by the bare thrusting breasts. It seems rather commercialism and sensationalism, aimed at gaining attention to me...but then this worked. This ability to gain attention, to be sensational, commercial, is why Picasso was noted and is remembered.
I do like the colour harmony and the freedom and fun in the painting, I think these women are less offensive and more attractive than the thin air brushed size 6 models in the fashion magazines. I would enjoy seeing this exhibition though I remain a traditional, classic art fan.

More than 150 of Pablo Picasso's most important paintings, sculptures and drawings are on their way to Australia as part of a new exhibition at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

The works will come from the artist's personal collection at the Musee Picasso in Paris and will be on view in Sydney from November.

It is said to be the biggest exhibition of works by Picasso to ever come to Australia.

Outgoing gallery director Edmund Capon says the collection is a blockbuster, and described the upcoming exhibition as "the definitive Picasso experience".

"What I think is really important about these, they all come from the Musee Picasso, and all those works were the ones that Picasso actually retained for himself," he said.

"It's the kind of Picasso show - if you want to see this amazing career and output but distilled down to one exhibition experience, this is it."

Mr Capon says there are two clear reasons the exhibition is a must-see.

"One is that you will never ever see such a summation of Picasso's work, certainly here in Australia," he said.

"And secondly many of his pictures - the grotesque and the compassionate, the ugly and the beautiful - fit together, and you see the full experience of life and the full experience of the human condition."

Picasso: Masterpieces From The Musee National Picasso in Paris will be open to the public for more than four months - from November 12 to March 25, 2012.

Highlights include such famous works as The Weeping Woman, Two Women Running On The Beach, The Two Brothers and The Matador.

Driving back to the caravan at the lake, in Queensland today all the peach blossoms and wattles were in bloom and I found myself eagerly thinking of my summer studio and rose garden. I was eager to paint roses once more.
This is the last work I was painting before we left for our winter in Queensland and it will be the first I return to put the finishing touches to, varnish and sign then order some prints.
I rill be selling the prints .
Painting an oil painting is similar to writing a novel, you start of loose and work broadly and not until the block in has been done do you return to detail and complete the work.

Who has conflicting goals?
Example of conflicting goals would be a sedentary job or hobby such as a creative artist profession is semi sedentary by nature for much of the time interspersed with periods of physical activity when searching for that on site paint out location or packing and staging an art exhibition.  The activity is rarely consistent and balanced for physical health.  How can we make out creative lifestyle more active and healthy and still have the time we need for the labour intensive sedentary pursuits?

For goodness sake...the answer came to me as I wrote out the problem. Can you guess what my solution was?   I'll do it before I tell you...stay tuned until Springtime when I put it into place.

Do you have any tips for people like yourself to manage this conflict?
What useful tools you could use to make life balance easier for you?

Other conflicting life events might be having dyslexia while being a writer, lol, two things that affect me.
Do YOU have conflicts where one aspect of your life wants to block another?  Do you have solutions?  I would love to hear your comments. here in my blog and on my facebook page. Kathy Shell

Author.

It is not to soon to begin planning for my return to my summer studio in springtime and I am preparing the art works and prints I will have ready for sale then.

I have added my first A4 size print of the Blue Mountains of NSW to the Australian Art Prints page. 

The original is in private collection but may be available for purchase, inquiries welcome. Contact

Over the last 24 hours and continuing tonight, I am smartening up this Kathy Shell Art website, adding more useful to the artist, books to it, when I saw the art lessons I popped in there, last year.

The two portraits shown above are ones I completed using pencil during my gallery art career.  Pencil allowed a beautiful rendering of realist portraiture.

As I know there are a few artists friends about I'll share one of these lessons a day in my latest pages and do some more when I'm back in the studio to add to these as they have always proved to be popular..

Beginning with the simplest...choice of sketching pencils and what the different grades are for

.The Pencil; Learning to Draw-Kathy Shell, Art School. - Kathy Shell, Artist, Author, A Creative Life www.kathy-shell.net

The creative life and environment of Kathy Shell

  Books » Home & Garden » Crafts & Hobbies » General
Acrylic Painting: Step-by-step  By David Hyde, Wendy Jelbert, Carole Massey

This is a practical and inspiring guide for all acrylics enthusiasts, from the beginner to the experienced artist. There is helpful general advice on which materials to choose, and then three high profile artists share their expertise, tips and techniques. Wendy Jelbert explains the basics of painting with acrylics and gives advice on useful techniques and the effects they can create. David Hyde writes on painting landscapes with acrylics, from composing landscapes and choosing colours to creating depth and painting different seasons. Carole Massey shares her flower painting expertise with advice on flower colours, drawing flowers, composing flower paintings and using tone. Finally Wendy Jelbert explores further creative techniques for painting with acrylics and shows how these can be applied in paintings. There are ten easy to follow step-by-step demonstrations with clear photographs and helpful instructions, and many inspirational paintings for readers to admire. This title comprises material from the "Leisure Arts" series: "Painting with Acrylics" (9780855328405); "Landscapes in Acrylics" (9780855320234); "Creative Acrylic Techniques" (9780855328481); "Flowers in Acrylics" (9780855328535).

Table of Contents
Materials6 PAINTING WITH ACRYLICS10 by Wendy Jelbert My palette12 My sketchbook13 Colour mixing14 Playing with acrylics16 Painting skies22 Sunlit Window26 Step-by-step Farmyard36 Step-by-step LANDSCAPES IN ACRYLICS42 by David Hyde Composition44 Colours for landscape48 Creating depth51 Seasons52 Distant Mountains54 Step-by-step Still Water64 Step-by-step Ancient Tree74 Step-by-step FLOWERS IN ACRYLICS80 by Carole Massey Flower colours82 Flower shapes & drawing86 Composition for flowers90 Tone94 Techniques for flowers96 Primulas98 Step-by-step Rose Arch104 Step-by-step Stargazer Lilies112 Step-by-step CREATIVE ACRYLIC TECHNIQUES118 by Wendy Jelbert Creative techniques120 Creating texture122 Applying techniques124 Lilac Blooms126 Step-by-step Seascape136 Step-by-step Index144

Books » Arts & Photography » Art » Techniques » Acrylic Painting
Dynamic Acrylics birds By Soraya French

Written for intermediate-level painters who have some previous experience with acrylics, this book encourages artists and art students to work creatively with acrylics by experimenting with fresh techniques.

Author and artist Soraya French explains methods of using both acrylic paints for brilliant opaque effects and acrylic inks to produce translucent washes that resemble watercolors. She demonstrates specific aspects of painting, such as shape and form, color, the design element, dramatic lighting effects, and semi-abstract techniques.

The subjects she treats in this book include flowers, still life, animals and birds, human figures, urban and rural landscapes, and seascapes. Practical exercises, projects, studio tips, and step-by-step demonstrations fill this book, which also features the work of several guest artists to show contrasting styles of acrylic painting. Approximately 150 color illustrations.

Books » Arts & Photography » Art » Techniques » Drawing
Drawing the Living Figure  A Complete Guide to Surface Anatomy
By Joseph Sheppard

This innovative approach focuses upon the specifics of surface anatomy. 177 of Sheppard's drawings show many different live models in front, back, and side views, and in various standing, sitting, kneeling, crouching, reclining, and twisting poses. Each drawing is accompanied by two diagrams, one for bones, one for muscles.