Hello Friends,

This is a VERY long post with links to previous, unpublished posts (x13). You may want to make yourself a cuppa and view this on the desktop.

As many of you may know, a cancer journey is not linear, predictable, or easy to navigate.

For this reason, I have been quietly and slowly working on creative ideas behind the scenes, practicing zoom drawing sessions with a small group of friends and testing the waters to see if I could actually bring my ideas to life and share them with others (I still don’t really know the answer to that to be honest, its all just “day to day, lets just see what happens” in the moment).

I have no guarantee, or certainty, for what will or wont happen tomorrow (I wish I did), but today I still have dreams, and plans, and goals, and things I want to do.

I would really like to host some Zoom Drawing sessions again. I’m not sure how many I will be able to manage, or for how long I will be able to do them, so I’ll just take it day by day and see what happens. I wont be able to commit to a regular schedule, although I wish I could say I could.

There are lots of great reasons I want to host drawing sessions:

1. to connect with other creatives

2. to connect with other people wanting to use creativity as a tool for healing

3. to have a purpose / focus other than cancer

4. to raise awareness of Ovarian Cancer

5. to help other people (and myself), see light when the days are dark

6. to make more art and to celebrate joy in the process

7. to use art as a therapeutic tool in combination with other treatments

8. as a way to tell Cancer; “Back Off! I’m not done yet!”

But the main reason I want to do this is to HAVE FUN!

Zoom Drawing Sessions

Drawing Joy is a Visual Journaling, live, recorded Zoom Drawing Session where you can either draw from the references images provided (set to a timer), or draw from your own joyful reference photos gathered throughout the week / month (start taking your own photos of things you notice that make you feel good. You don’t have to have a theme, or a narrative, or even a colour palette - just notice the things you like and that make you happy).

The references images I provide are photos I have taken myself, of moments and things of joy I have noticed and experienced throughout my Cancer treatment / journey.

The photos, and each Drawing Joy zoom session, are directly related to the Diary of Delight entries, as well as the weekly blog posts from The Cancer Chronicles.

You can find out more about the Drawing Joy Zoom sessions by reading this post:

Please keep checking the CHAT to find the Luma invite to join a live, Zoom Drawing Joy session.

Drawing Joy | Visual Journaling Sessions 1 - 6:

Replays from our practice sessions.

You can find links to the Luma / Zoom invites, and post photos of the art you made in the sessions (live or replays) in the private, subscriber only chat:

Join the 'Studio Diaries' Chat

To join the chat, you will need to be a subscriber to the ‘Studio Diaries’.

Diary of Delight

Each week, since the beginning of my Cancer treatment, I have been taking photos of anything and everything that makes me feel happy. This has been an incredible healing mechanism and has truly given me reasons to look for the positive.

I have no set theme, other than; ‘What do I notice that brings me delight?’. It makes me look at things I may not have noticed before.

I have taken photos of food, nature, light and shadow, flowers, candles, patterns, movie stills and of course many photos of my darling Cedar.

And now I am trying to play catchup, and, using the photos, paint a double page sketchbook for each week of my treatment.

6 Diary entries you may have missed:

DONATE

Ovarian Cancer Australia You can Donate HERE

Cancer Council Australia You can Donate HERE

Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation You can Donate HERE

Until next time,

Hug the people you love, Celebrate the good things in your life, Exercise and make the art that makes you happy.

All my love,

Other places we can connect:

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Disclaimer

By participating in a Zoom Drawing Session you are agreeing to be recorded and to let me use any content created (i.e. Zoom Recording) to advertise on various social media channels (such as my Instagram, You tube, Pinterest & Facebook etc.).

My dear Friends,

Firstly, hello, the warmest welcome, and thankyou 🙏🏻 new subscribers - many of you who I am honored and privileged to know in person.

Some of you already know most of my story already. I sincerely thankyou all for being here. Thankyou for taking the time to read my blog posts, for your beautiful comments and messages, and for your heartfelt words of strength, love & encouragement.

Thankyou, from the depth of my heart, for supporting my journey.

Most of all, thank you for all of your love and friendship.

For those who don’t already know, or for those who haven’t read The Studio Diaries recently, 2025 didn’t turn out at all how I had planned. 2026 is following a similar bumpy path.

I started last year off with such high creative intentions. I also had a focus to save some money and travel. Teaching provided the income, but also, took a lot of my creative energy. I didn’t get to travel far, and only then, for medical appointments.

I started getting really sick in April (although before that I knew something wasn’t right). April being ‘Plein Air Painting Month’ and for the first time in my life, I couldn’t be in the sun.. and I couldn’t stay awake.

For the next few months I tried everything to fix, what I, and all the Doctors thought, was related to Coeliac Disease. I quit sugar, all processed foods, started intermittent fasting, etc. Nothing worked.

In September, I was told I had Cancer.

In October, I was diagnosed with Advanced Ovarian Cancer. Life threw me a god damn hard curve ball, indeed.

Well, “Game On Cancer! I’m going to beat you!”

After a brain shattering few weeks and many medical appointments and tests, my chemotherapy ‘treatment’ begun.

Life, as I once knew it, is forever changed.

I started documenting my journey from the beginning of Chemo. I have been keeping, until recently, private weekly blog posts in The Cancer Chronicles and trying to keep a weekly visual journal of the more positive aspects in The Diary of Delight. (I am very behind, as you can imagine, the amount of appointments, side effects from chemo, neuropathy in my hands making it difficult to draw, changes in my eyesight making close up vision very difficult, visits from friends, paperwork to fill out and extreme fatigue, all take precious time away from my much needed art practice - but I AM NOT GIVING UP. EVER!).

February is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month in Australia (and my birthday month, and scary surgery month) and I feel there is no better time than now to start sharing my journey - if I can help one other person get through something like this - then this is for them, as much as it is for me.

This is something I really need to do. I need something to focus on, to keep my chemo affected, now very dyslexic, fog brain active, to keep my creativity alive. To keep myself alive. To keep myself sane!

I will come back to each post, edit, and update links when and where I need to. I will catch up. I am seeing the Cancer Chronicles and The Diary of Delight as organic, works in progress, interactive (?) - in that, they are changeable (just like life really). They wont always be static. This means you may come back to a post at a later date and find something new in it. This is the only way I think I can work it at the moment.

So keep checking the Website and the App for updates (I have updated The Studio Diaries and they are best viewed on a desktop).

I will email ‘The Diary of Delight’ whenever I finish one, but I don’t email The Cancer Chronicles. They just live here on the web (& app). I try and post each Sunday afternoon around 6pm (Sydney time). They might not be for everybody, but maybe, they might help someone you know? Feel free to share. The more people that know about Ovarian Cancer, the more lives can be saved.

Throughout 2025, I did manage to make some Art - I just didn’t share anything publicly. Consequently, I now have quite a few published blog posts that were not emailed (and still more in draft format waiting to be completed).

Posts you may have missed:

(largely due to me publishing to the web & not emailing them).

2025

More Creative Posts In the Studio Diaries

Sketchbook Spread | ‘Bournda be Wild’

Painting Boyd’s Tower to Saltwater Creek

Mixed Media | Play & Experiment

Sketchbook | Explore & Play

Playing with Oil Paint

How a Drawing Workshop brought the return of the sun

Land and Sea | Handmade Sketchbook

2026

More Creative Posts in The Diary Of Delight

Diary of Delight | Introduction

Diary of Delight | The sketchbook

Diary of Delight | Painted Grounds & Layering

Dairy of Delight | Week 1

Diary of Delight | Week 2

Some (not all) posts from The Cancer Chronicles

The Cancer Chronicles | Issue N1: Introduction

The Cancer Chronicles | Daily Digest: Wk1

The Cancer Chronicles | Daily Digest: Wk 2

Support the Studio Diaries:

If you would like to support the ‘Studio Diaries’ or my Journey with Ovarian Cancer with a one off donation, you can do so HERE or at ko-fi.com/samashleyart

Until next time,

‘Paint your peace & make magic’ my dear friend. Hug those you love. Do the things that make you happy. Don’t save the good stuff for later. Enjoy everything now.

Other places you can find me:

Instagram

YouTube

Pinterest

Facebook

Hello Friends,

The ‘Studio Diaries’ are a little like an online Visual Diary. Sometimes they are messy, sometimes organised and sometimes, not quite finished. A bit like life really.

Mostly, I post Art related content here. It could be thoughts on the creative process, plein air adventures, sketchbook spreads, ‘Creative Catch Ups’, Material investigations, or just random stuff that I find inspiring.

In my personal Art practice, I try to follow my curiosity and my passion these days. I enjoy exploring nature, connecting to wellbeing practices, experimenting and just having fun.

I post here randomly, whenever I feel like it, to be honest. I’d love to be more consistent, but my main focus for the foreseeable future are The Cancer Chronicles and The Diary of Delight.

I love playing in sketchbooks, making hand made journals, oil painting, sketching outside, digital painting, slow stitching, printmaking and drawing.

Nature and the Coast will forever be my muse.

Following are a few images showing examples of my work:

Plein Air Adventures & Sketchwalks

Art has always been a part of my life & always will be.

Support the Studio Diaries:

If you would like to support the ‘Studio Diaries’ with a one off donation, you can do so HERE or at ko-fi.com/samashleyart

Until next time,

‘Paint your peace & make magic’ my dear friend,

Other places you can find me:

Instagram

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Pinterest

Facebook

Painting Cowdroy’s beach, Mimosa National Park on the Sapphire Coast of NSW. Aust.

Support the Studio Diaries:

If you would like to support the ‘Studio Diaries’ with a one off donation, you can do so HERE or at ko-fi.com/samashleyart

Until next time,

‘Paint your peace & make magic’ my dear friend,

Other places you can find me:

Instagram

YouTube

Pinterest

Facebook

A while ago now, I went on a bushwalk from Boyd’s Tower to Saltwater Creek with my local women’s hiking group, here on the far South Coast of NSW, Australia.

Although my backpack was full of art supplies, I didn’t get time to paint that day. I was too busy, happily hiking, making new friends and having incredible conversations with amazing women.

Painting from reference photos can be just as valuable as painting from life. There is still great learning and immense enjoyment to be gained from the process.

Watch the process:

Helpful tips for painting (and filming):

• Doing the values study in the same materials you will be using for the final artwork would be helpful (& a good warm up)

• Painting and filming at the same time takes regular practice

• Painting is about noticing - the more you paint (either from life, or from a reference photo), the more you tend to look at the world around you - the way the light is caught between the branches of a tree etc.

• You need lots of different types of brushes (old, new, hard, soft, flats, rounds etc.), to get different effects.

Some challenges I had:

• The camera set up - the filming angle was rather uncomfortable

• The (artificial) light shines on the surface of the paint and I cant see what I am doing

• Paint drying faster than I can mix it.

• The filming / editing takes (a LOT) longer than the painting.

Support the Studio Diaries:

If you would like to support the ‘Studio Diaries’ with a one off donation, you can do so HERE or at ko-fi.com/samashleyart

Until next time,

‘Paint your peace & make magic’ my dear friend,

Other places you can find me:

Instagram

YouTube

Pinterest

Facebook

So much to learn (or remember, particularly if you haven’t done something for a long while) - about filming the painting process.

Thankyou faulty SD card! You taught me well.

Helpful tips for documenting your art process:

• check / test and format new SD cards before filming.

• let go a bit - it doesn’t really matter. Just keep painting.

• vary camera shots / angles - long / medium and close up shots.

• figure out how to lock the camera focus on the painting, not your hand.

• photograph your paintings in multiple aspect ratio’s where possible (1:1, 16:9 etc.).

• use natural light as much as possible - with studio lighting to offset shadow areas.

NSW National Parks & Wildlife map

Photo’s from All Trails

Support the Studio Diaries:

If you would like to support the ‘Studio Diaries’ with a one off donation, you can do so HERE or at ko-fi.com/samashleyart

Until next time,

‘Paint your peace & make magic’ my dear friend,

Other places you can find me:

Instagram

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Pinterest

Facebook

Experimenting with a drawing exercise & mixed media, inspired by the lovely Debbie Mackinnon

Gelli print collage, Ink, Watercolour, Gouache, Coloured pencil, Neocolour 2’s, Stabilio Woody & Acrylic.

This was fun!

Notes from my learning:

Quality of Materials:

The quality of materials really does make a difference - even in your sketchbook! If you want to learn how to paint, use the best materials you can afford. Artist quality paint has more pigment and moves differently to student grade paint.

Substrate (paper, canvas, board, etc) also makes a difference. For example; good quality paper, especially watercolour paper, can influence everything - how much you enjoy painting, the end result and the colours / effects you can achieve.

Colour Palettes:

Its a good idea to play with & explore limited colour palettes - create a variety of colour palettes using different mediums so you know what works well together (depending on the effect/s you want to achieve).

There’s always a Messy Middle:

Keep going. Use layers. Take a break, go for a walk and come back to it later. Put it up on an easel and stand back so you can see it from a different perspective.

Thankyou for reading this, being here, supporting me, sharing your thoughts and asking me your questions 🙏🏻.

Support the Studio Diaries:

If you would like to support the ‘Studio Diaries’ with a one off donation, you can do so HERE or at ko-fi.com/samashleyart

Until next time,

‘Paint your peace & make magic’ my dear friend,

Other places you can find me:

Instagram

YouTube

Pinterest

Facebook

Exhibition response concertina drawing:

3 of my favourite drawings from the exhibition:

Thankyou for reading this, being here, supporting me, sharing your thoughts and asking me your questions 🙏🏻.

Support the Studio Diaries:

If you would like to support the ‘Studio Diaries’ with a one off donation, you can do so HERE or at ko-fi.com/samashleyart

Until next time,

‘Paint your peace & make magic’ my dear friend,

Other places you can find me:

Instagram

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Pinterest

Facebook

I was thinking of painting a title page; ‘Land and Sea’, for this particular hand made sketchbook (see the last image for the text overlay)

Support the Studio Diaries:

If you would like to support the ‘Studio Diaries’ with a one off donation, you can do so HERE or at ko-fi.com/samashleyart

Until next time,

‘Paint your peace & make magic’ my dear friend,

Other places you can find me:

Instagram

YouTube

Pinterest

Facebook

Sometimes all we need is to just play with colour and paint!

Painting colour charts, mixing colours and experimenting with mediums & varnishes can be so therapeutic.

I love blending oil paint using a soft, synthetic brush (in this case a 4mm angle brush). I don’t have to think about composition, values, what I “should” be doing or anything to do with work (including housework, weeding, ironing etc).

I can just make it all up and see where things take me.

And the bonus is - I have a helpful reference / guide for future paintings, plus, I get to know more about my materials.

Experimenting with using baking paper taped to board as an oil painting palette:

Thankyou for reading this, being here, supporting me, sharing your thoughts and asking me your questions 🙏🏻.

Support the Studio Diaries:

If you would like to support the ‘Studio Diaries’ with a one off donation, you can do so HERE or at ko-fi.com/samashleyart

Until next time,

‘Paint your peace & make magic’ my dear friend,

Other places you can find me:

Instagram

YouTube

Pinterest

Facebook

Test supplies, mix media’s, work on the floor, or on an easel - or both!

Find what feels good.

What makes you happy?

What works well for this season? (it’s my experience that acrylic paint is not the best for hot, dry Australian summers & oil paint is fast becoming my best love)

Thankyou for reading this, being here, supporting me, sharing your thoughts and asking me your questions 🙏🏻.

Support the Studio Diaries:

If you would like to support the ‘Studio Diaries’ with a one off donation, you can do so HERE or at ko-fi.com/samashleyart

Until next time,

‘Paint your peace & make magic’ my dear friend,

Other places you can find me:

Instagram

YouTube

Pinterest

Facebook

A while ago I joined Katie Moody’s Patreon, just in time to embark on an exciting Virtual Road Trip via replay. We sketch traveled to New Zealand & Austria.

One of the weeks was a free roam week where we got to choose our own destinations. I decided to explore my own backyard - virtually!

I am using Google Maps, Mapcrunch, Pexels & Unsplash to plan my sketching adventure.

Here are the images I have chosen from various Websites:

A classic Combi to camp out in

It’s whale season here on the coast

Picnic at Turingal Head and the view is divine

View from the campsite - Bournda Lagoon

Pied Oyster Catcher

And here are my happy little gouache paintings:

I had the BEST Sunday afternoon painting this sketchbook spread. I honestly felt like I was going camping in Vincent Van Go (wish I really did have a van)!

The paintings became characters who kept me company in the studio whilst Cedar slept.

So, so much fun!

Support the Studio Diaries:

If you would like to support the ‘Studio Diaries’ with a one off donation, you can do so HERE or at ko-fi.com/samashleyart

Until next time,

‘Paint your peace & make magic’ my dear friend,

Other places you can find me:

Instagram

YouTube

Pinterest

Facebook

I feel alive again!

I have finally had time, energy and headspace to draw after a 10 week teaching stint that had me asleep before 8pm every night.

This morning I joined in with ’s ART HANG PARTY livestream. I felt rusty but ready, ignored the neglected house chores, gave Cedar some dog treats and got my sketchbook and markers out.

I did not care what my drawings looked like!

IT FELT SO, SO GOOD TO DRAW!!

I have 7 weeks of unpaid school holidays ahead of me (yikes, but also - YIPPEE!!).

Time to reset, make plans and revive my beloved art practice.

I will be hosting free Zoom Drawing sessions again very soon (How about an ‘Open Studio’ so we can all catch up before the New Year?).

I am also planning an ‘Art Club’ session (in Discord), early January where we can set some Art Goals for 2025 together (I’m making a downloadable Zine with goal setting stuff for us).

Zoom Date for your Diary:

Open Studio: Sat. 28th Dec. 10 - 11.30 am AEDT

I will publish a blog post with the Zoom (Luma) link to Saturdays ‘Open Studio’ on Monday (23rd Dec).

Support the Studio Diaries:

If you would like to support the Studio Diaries with a one off donation, you can do so HERE or at ko-fi.com/samashleyart

Leave a comment

Until next time,

‘Paint your peace & make magic’ my dear friend,

Other places you can find me:

Instagram

YouTube

Pinterest

Facebook

This is where I share an overview of what’s been happening in the Studio in the previous month (August), as well as provide the calendar of events for the coming month (September).

The month of August was wonderfully creative and very inspiring. Highlights included:

• Waking up at 2.30am to join Kriksis and Melanie Chadwick on Zoom

• Starting to think about planning a series of Zoom Workshops for ‘Studio Diaries’ Subscribers (to happen sometime after my teaching year ends)

• Introducing a theme to contemplate & discuss at each Art Club (We began with ‘Courage & Creativity’ - how has art making brought more courage into your life?)

• The most special feeling in the world to see an artist I love, painting my beloved Cedar in her Zoom session. Words can not describe how wonderfully precious this was 🙏🐕

Painting wildflowers with and at 3.30am was a fun art adventure, and well worth the tiredness later in the day.

We painted images of wildflowers from Cornwall and Latvia - I painted one side of a handmade Concertina booklet and I am inspired to paint wildflowers from Australia on the other side.

I have also had requests to host a ‘Wildflowers’ theme for Open Studio, and so have been sorting through my own reference images of native wildflowers from the Sapphire Coast of New South Wales that we could draw together (see the calendar below to see Septembers ‘Open Studio’ date).

On her Patreon recently, Kriksis asked us all if we would like to email her photo’s of the places where we live.

We then painted:

1. East Central Dakota

2. Cornwall – Cows beach, St Mawes.

3. A river in New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada.

4. Lexington Cemetery, Central Kentucky

5. Humber Bay, Lake Ontario

6. Mundooi Walk – Tura Beach to Short Point (NSW, AU)

Conversation ranged from talking about the history and culture of each place, to food and the connections between places. It was truly lovely and a deeply rewarding experience.

And again in Kriksis’ (6am Sunday morning) Patreon, we met on Zoom to draw images based on the theme; ‘Harvest’. I was sleepy and drew very lightly with watercolour pencils, a few inktense pencils and some watercolour paint.

(note to self - wake up 5 minutes earlier & check camera settings before filming)

Our theme for September is:

(from the Sapphire Coast of New South Wales, Australia - inspired by Kriksis & Melanie Chadwick).

and our Art Club topic to contemplate is: “Art as Healer”

Support the Studio Diaries:

If you would like to support the Studio Diaries with a one off donation, you can do so HERE or at ko-fi.com/samashleyart

Until next time,

‘Paint your peace & make magic’ my dear friend,

Other places you can find me:

Instagram

YouTube

Pinterest

Facebook

This is where I share an overview of what’s been happening in the Studio in the previous month (July), as well as provide the calendar of events for the coming month (August).

July was exciting (and a bit of an emotional rollercoaster).

• I joined Kriksis and Francis Ives Patreons and painted from a few Replays.

• I also joined in on my first Zoom hosted by someone else and it was such a great experience. 6am on a Sunday morning - a zoom drawing session is the BEST way to start the day! 🙏Thankyou for hosting at a time that I could attend 🩷

The winter winds brought lots of change to life in the Studio.

• Term 3 started back at school and I have returned to my teaching job after a 3 month break. This means my time and energy (for everything else in life) is rather limited.

#3materialschallenge

What’s on your Easel (or in your sketchbook)?

What are you currently working on? Can we see it?

What’s your ‘Messy Middle’? You know, the parts that are unfinished, messy (like the handwriting above).

Want to share your work, connect with each other and make new art friends?

The Studio Diaries ‘Creative Catchup & Calendar’ (1st Monday of the month) is where we all get to post our ‘works in progress’, the things that are unfinished or the glorious joy of a messy art space (or table).

Lets ‘Bless our Mess’ and celebrate the joyful act of making stuff.

What's on your easel?

Support the Studio Diaries:

If you would like to support the Studio Diaries with a one off donation, or are not yet ready for a Paid subscription, you can do so HERE or at ko-fi.com/samashleyart

Our theme for August is: Turtle Love (Sea Turtles)

Until next time,

‘Paint your peace & make magic’ my dear friend,

Other places you can find me:

Instagram

YouTube

Pinterest

Facebook

This is where I share an overview of what’s been happening in the Studio in the previous month (June), as well as provide the calendar of events for the coming month (July).

June has been a beautiful month to be both in and outside of the studio. Highlights include:

• Lots of bushwalking - taking photos, thinking creatively

• Talking and drawing with in real time on Zoom

• Posting to Instagram after a 2 and a half year break! (I know, strange time to make a come back😂)

• Creating a CARA account (although haven’t used it yet).

‘Light my Way’

June’s theme was all about lighthouses.

What’s on your Easel (or in your sketchbook)?

What are you currently working on? Can we see it?

What’s your ‘Messy Middle’? You know, the parts that are unfinished, messy (like the handwriting above).

Want to share your work, connect with each other and make new art friends?

The Studio Diaries ‘Creative Catchup & Calendar’ (1st Monday of the month) is where we all get to post our ‘works in progress’, the things that are unfinished or the glorious joy of a messy art space (or table).

Lets ‘Bless our Mess’ and celebrate the joyful act of making stuff.

Share your work & 'Bless the Mess'

About the Chat

The CHAT is located in the Menu on the homepage. Each blog post (Shore Thing, Art Play dates, etc.) will have its own thread where you can post text, photos, etc. that is related to that blog post (its a great way to organise topics).

Have a look at some previous chats (and add to them if you like):

The Studio Diaries CHAT

Online Art with Friends:

ART HANG PARTY with

I really love hanging out at the party! (when I can get there). I learn so much, meet new friends and am constantly inspired by seeing how differently we all approach the same reference image. Melissa is a calm, patient and generous host, who is nurturing a beautiful, creative community.

Buy me a Coffee:

If you would like to support the Studio Diaries with a one off donation, or are not yet ready for a Paid subscription, you can do so HERE or at ko-fi.com/samashleyart

Our theme for this coming month is: Coastal Landscapes

OPEN STUDIO (FREE for ALL subscribers) is on Saturday, 13th July. 9.45am - 11.30am Sydney, time)

Please check the dates for the Zoom Links and Zoom Art Play Dates as the link may come out a week prior.

Leave a comment

Download a Calendar to print out:

July Calendar PDF to print at home

6.78MB ∙ PDF file

Download

This will help you make time for Art each month. Please check the Zoom link dates each Wednesday.

Download

Leave a comment

Until next time,

‘Paint your peace & make magic’ my dear friend,

Other places you can find me:

Instagram

YouTube

Pinterest

Facebook

This is where I share an overview of what’s been happening in the Studio in the previous month (May), as well as provide the calendar of events for the coming month (June).

May was largely focused on setting up my Substack and all that is involved in that (a much bigger task than I anticipated):

• designing fonts, choosing colour palettes,

• planning zoom Art Play Dates, links & designing a Calendar,

• the daunting money stuff - opening a business bank account, creating a Stripe account, creating a Kofi and turning Substack paid subscriptions on

• hosting 4 Zoom Art Play Dates

• trying to figure out how it all fits together.

Designing Text | choosing Colour Palettes:

May’s Art Play Date Replays:

May’s Open Studio was a Speed Sketch & the 1st episode of Marine Mammals. Free & Paid subscribers can watch the replay HERE.

May’s Paint & Draw (previously called Speed Sketch) was the 2nd episode of Marine Mammals. Paid subscribers can watch the replay HERE.

There were 5 Wednesday’s this May, so we had an extra Art Club:

1 Learning by doing

2 Mushroom Pie

3 Coastal Banksia

May’s Shore Thing:

May’s Shore Thing Journal Prompts can be found HERE:

Sketching Birds

Thankyou to Michael Healey for the bird reference photos.

Setting up a Kofi account

I set up a Ko-fi account: ko-fi.com/samashleyart

If you would like to support the Studio Diaries with a one off donation, or are not yet ready for a Paid subscription, you can do so HERE or at ko-fi.com/samashleyart

I had fun designing the Banner & the Social Preview images:

Planning & Practicing for Zoom Art Play Dates:

Woohoo!! I think I am almost ready to go public!

This is what I have been working on and what I plan to offer each month as of June:

4 live Zoom Art Play Dates, 3 for PAID subscribers; ART CLUB (x2) and PAINT & DRAW, and 1 for ALL subscribers; OPEN STUDIO (FREE).

All times are in AEST (or Sydney time).

Zoom links will be posted as an email / blog on Wednesday mornings. These blog posts will later be edited to include the Zoom Replay (you will have to come back to the blog to watch the replay. I don’t want to clutter your email).

Please check the dates & titles for each Zoom link on Wednesdays as links may be posted / emailed a week before the actual Zoom Art Play Date.

Leave a comment

June Calendar PDF to print at home

7.11MB ∙ PDF file

Download

This will help you make time for Art each month. Please check the Zoom link dates each Wednesday.

Download

Leave a comment

Until next time,

‘Paint your peace & make magic’ my dear friend,

Other places you can find me:

Instagram

YouTube

Pinterest

Facebook

The 1st Monday of the month is where I share an overview of what’s been happening in the Studio in the previous month.

Autumn is delicious.

Plein Air season and 2 weeks of April school holidays has been a welcome catalyst for me to unpack my paints, get the sketchbooks out and finally start learning how to use Procreate.

Oh. Wow!

I feel like I am coming back to my true self. You know, the creative self; the reason I am here on the planet. Doing what makes my soul sing and makes me forget all time and space in the act of creating, making, experimenting, daydreaming - bringing dreams into reality. Knowing there is a reason for all of this.

My own, powerful, intuitive sense of being.

I know this is my path. I hope courage is up for the adventure.

Learning how to use Procreate

I think I’m obsessed!

I thoroughly enjoyed exploring and seeing what could happen. Here is a small selection of images I created while learning to use some of the tools in Procreate:

I love ART HANG PARTY with The best Art community I’ve found.

And I tried this Youtube Live (Replay) with Becca Hall Illustration.

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Online Painting Workshop with Rod Moore

Rod Moore from the Learn to Paint Academy hosted a free 6 week Learn to Paint workshop on Facebook.

It was a perfect way to start the school holidays and to refresh my painting skills.

I love learning from other people. No matter how much you think you know, there is always more to learn.

I had such a lovely month being creative throughout April. I just had fun. I wish school holidays were longer. Back to teaching now and trying to fit time in to sketch every day in May. Wish me luck!

Until next time,

‘Paint your peace & make magic’ my dear friend,

Other places you can find me:

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I had forgotten that I filmed this process (& am grateful we all made it through the Summer in one piece).

I thought you might like to see the colour swatching - although I actually don’t recommend having this many colours. Its too overwhelming (& really wont fit in the car if you ever do have to leave in an emergency).

It’s the beginning of Spring here in Australia and a bushfire is currently burning 34km away from the Studio.

Over 6000 hectares have already burnt, the wind is ferociously wild & unpredictable and I am ‘just a tiny bit freaking out’ (aka - immensely triggered and not coping).

Having packed the emergency bags, got the car ready, pruned what overhanging branches I could & discussed fire plans with the neighbours, the only thing that is helping calm my scattered /traumatised brain, is to sort through my art materials & pretend I can fit them in the car.

Colours in my Palettes:

All Daniel Smith, unless marked otherwise.

Warm / Earth Palette:

Quinacridone Burnt Scarlet

Transparent Red Oxide

Transparent Brown Oxide

Gold Brown - Schmincke

Raw Sienna

Quinacridone Deep Gold

Aussie Red Gold

Transparent Red Deep - Schmincke

Pyrrol Red

Cadmium Orange Hue

Hansa Yellow Medium

Naples Yellow

Quinacridone Sienna

Perylene Dark Red - Schmincke

Quinacridone Red

Carmine

Permanent Alizarine Crimson

Perylene Maroon

Naphthamide Maroon

Carbazole Violet

Cool / Neutrals Palette:

Chinese White

Hematite Genuine

lunar Black

Bloodstone Genuine

Shadow Violet

Lunar Violet

Neutral Tint

Olive Green - Holbein

Jadeite Genuine

Green Grey - Holbein

Zoisite Genuine

Kyanite Genuine

Jane’s Grey

Moon Glow

Cerulean Blue Chromium

Mayan Blue Genuine

Blue Apatite

Paris Blue - Schmincke

Prussian Blue

Mayan Dark Blue

Indigo - Schmincke

What sorts of things do you find yourself doing to keep calm in an emergency (or any tense situation)?

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Until next time,

‘Paint your peace & make magic’ my dear friend,

Other places you can find me:

Instagram

YouTube

Pinterest

Facebook

Paint your Peace & make magic my friend,

Other places you can find me:

Instagram

YouTube

Pinterest

Facebook