I chose to paint this because I like the image and had not been inspired by anything else yet. The two cats represent Mum and Ian. Mum has two kids, Ian has three, so there are five goldfish.

Acrylic on Canvas
40x60cm
Completed 24th December 2020

Lizzy is a year old when she comes into Lea's life. She loves listening to Vivaldi, snuggling up for cuddles, and playing in the garden. 

I imagine Coco is a cheeky chihuahua. She loves cuddles and snuggling into blankets, especially as I'm setting her book in winter. Coco also loves to play in the gardens, go on picnics, and spend a lot of her time just being cute.

15cm x 15cm
Acrylic on canvas
Painted 7th - 10th August 2020

I was inspired to complete this piece after Googling images of couples picnicking by a pond. When I saw this image, I was captivated. It captured Larissa and Nikolai's magical garden dates perfectly. I thought it'd be a big ask for me to paint, but I was willing to give it a go. I'm quite pleased with the results.

Larissa and Nikolai's first date is a private picnic dinner in the Royal Botanical Gardens. Throughout the book, they continue to enjoy time in the gardens and other picnic dates. 

9 x 6 inches
Acrylic on Canvas
Painted 25-27th August 2020

I completed this painting without instruction or tutorial, working from far to near. After an evening spent sketching, I started on the sky, the ocean, then painted in the islands. The most difficult part was adding the final details and creating the foliage I wanted to capture. Then I painted in the buildings and the lookout last. I had a great time working on the rocks! Finally, Mirabella and Lincoln appeared, followed by their park bench. Shadows and final details completed this paining.

40x50 cm 
Acrylic on canvas
Painted 17th-20th August 2020

I learned a lot in this painting. The blog gave us step by step instructions, but there was still a lot I had to do by mixing colours and adding many different layers. It was finely detailed because I used a mini canvas. This was my first attempt at painting animal fur.

​This painting was complete in stages throughout one day.

The goldfish were fun to create. I don't like my wonky bowl and think it looks really silly. But I had fun painting the cat. Funnily enough, it was the last thing we painted! I'm glad I was able to relate this picture to one of my books.

Acrylic on canvas 
15cm x 15cm
​Painted 11th August 2020

Dillon and Timmy are my childhood puppies.

I was nine-years-old when my border collie Dillon came into our lives, a little girl wanting the border collie puppy in the pet shop in preference to the guinea pig. Thankfully, my parents were in full agreement! I had fifteen wonderful years with Dillon. I was obsessed with tennis balls and loved pulling husks off coconuts. I was a very grown up twenty-four when I saw he was struggling, loaded him in the car, and took him to the vet. I called my mum and brother and Dillon went peacefully on Remembrance Day.

Timmy was Dillon's little brother. Mum and I found Timmy in the pet shop when I was thirteen. We called my dad and brother to come collect him. Timmy had a wonderful fourteen years with us and was mum's cuddle bub. He would sneak into my bed and wake me while trying to snuggle. He loved playing and was a wonderful uncle to my border collie Jacob by teaching him how to chase rats! Timmy was diagnosed with masses in his liver, we loved him for a few more days, and he peacefully went with everyone who loved him by his side wrapped snug as a bug in his favourite blanket.

I spent the last few nights of Timmy's life creating this painting so that my mum could see her two long-time boys playing together in heaven forever.

In the painting, there are coconut palms and the tennis balls grow on trees. Dillon is very happy to welcome Timmy.

Acryllic on canvas.
​Painted 3-5/8/2020

Again, we were instructed through this painting and I learned how to layer and outline. We were also taught a little about painting facial features.

Inspired by my character Anastasia Hamilton in my rural romance novel. In her backstory, Ana was beaten by her fiance. Now, she is happy in the outback with her border collie Louis.

I used the techniques I learned in Mirabella's Island to paint Magnetic Island in the distance and shade the ocean. Then I painted the table and two large coffee cups.

Mum and Ian often still have coffee dates on the Strand. This painting hangs beside their wedding canvas.

Acrylic on canvas
​Painted 11th December 2019

The painting works from the back left to right in order from eldest to youngest as such:

Blue vase with Lilies - Lynnette and her children, Lisa, Michael and Andrew

Pink vase with Asters -  Allen and his children Paul and Christopher 

Green vase with Frangipanis - Fay and her children, Robert, Tina, Leigh, Lynda, and Dean

Blue vase with Bluebells - Beverly and her children, Cameron and Carla

Red vase with Daffodils - Dell and her children, Samuel and Emma

Yellow vase with Jasmine - Julie and her children, Rachel and Chris

Acrylic on canvas
Painted 10th December 2019

To complete this painting, I watched a short video on Youtube about painting snow and learned how to use a mix of white and grey to create definition. I harvested what I'd learned about backgrounds to create my sky, then the Matterhorn, the trees, then added the snow.

While completing this painting, I learned a little about landscapes and how to create distance. I enjoyed mixing the greens and blues.

The colours. I think I overdid the dots.

While completing this painting, I learned how to add depth to a painting, even though I don't believe I did it very well. I was able to use this painting and the techniques learned to create The Family Vases​.

The different green colours and the butterfly.

I learned a lot about shading and detail in this class. I learned how to mix my blues working from dark to light in order to create the ocean. I also learned how to shade the background to create ridges in the island and definition in the trees. 

This painting was completed in a two hour class.

Acrylic on canvas
Painted 1st October 2019

We were instructed through the same techniques at this class - layering, mixing colours, and adding depth to create shape. We used darker colours to outline and dots to create some sparkle.

The blue ocean background, the pink tentacles, and the dots!