Parenting, painting and making it through the day

I was planning to do an entirely graphic, people type show but I am not happy with the new work.
What with parents' evenings and computer probems (aaaargggggghhhhh) and an on heat for the first time neurotic kitten, I have not achieved what I wanted to.
So... it looks like a mix of citiscapes (lots of little ones mainly I am thinking. Affordable, y'know) and a handful of new people pics. shall I show some I exhibited there last time too? Oh decisions, decisions....

Details, in case you missed them: Cafe 1001, Brick Lane, London EC1. 5.30-11pm. More info at www.showcase-london.com.

Feel free to comment!

London is looking gorgeous today. The sun has gone down now and the river is awash in greys, golds and blues. Stunning.

I have painted three mini smiles today. Happy happy.

AND I just discovered the really rather wonderful 4 Deli just above the gallery. Unfortunately it's closed but a peek in the window reveals products such as Jamie's Road Trip bags of flour, Alan Carr Chatty Man milk cartons and much more besides. Get down to the OXO tower and take a look!

Every six weeks I do my shift at Skylark 2 and that's where I am headed in a couple of hours.
There's something really uplifting about heading to work along the southbank - the buzz of the tourists, excited to be here, the skaters under the Festival Hall, the TV studios preparing for the next live show, the booksellers setting up stall, the human sculptures taking it all in.... when was the last time you took a stroll from Westminster Bridge to London Bridge?

If you've never done it, put it on your things to do list. Doesn't matter what the weather, it's a brilliant walk. And if both the sun and the tide are out go down the steps and sit on the beach. Yes, the Thames has little beaches. When you're down there it's hard to comprehend how close to all that activity you are.
Just beware how fast the tide comes in! I lost a shoe once and gained exceptionally wet skirts.

If you are in central London today come along to Skylark 2 and say hello. I'd love to meet you!

My artwork is now available on various things, starting with badges going right through the range of postcards to t-shirts and ties. How's about treating someone you love to something?

Get shopping by clicking right here

It's been a frustrating couple of weeks, work-wise.
I have painted very little recently due to a child-intensive combination of half-term, an acne-crisis, a vomiting bug and an inset day (variously called incest/insect/Baker days by my dear friends and family, I envisage teachers in ladybird suits having inappropriate liaisons whilst scoffing cinnamon buns...).
Yet somehow I am still achieving a little something here and there. In between wiping up sick and running backwards and forwards to Peckham library with ever-changing essential paperwork, my business cards and note cards arrived (check out Moo), I got a commission, a definite sale and a couple of possibles.

They aren't going to make me rich. But they might let me one day buy a graphics tablet. Covet.Covet. Covet.

I am going back to smiles, I think.

There are so many deep and meaningful artworks out there and we can all rub our chins pensively and talk creatively about their philosophical place in our world, but don't you just sometimes want something cheerful to look at?

This is my philosophy:

1. We're alive. Right here, right now. So let's enjoy the moment.
2. Smile at some stranger and they're likely to smile at another stranger and so on and so on.
3. Smile at your family and they get to carry a tiny piece of love around with them for a while. Which will probably make them do no.2.
4. Even the rubbish days have good things in them. (I've had no sleep. My son had a nightmare and crawled into bed with me less than an hour after I dropped off. That woke the cat. The cat proceeded to climb on my head over and over again. My son stole the covers. I gave up and got up. The upside is, the lunches are made, no-one's goin to be late and I have never appreciated coffee more.)

So, today I am going to paint smiles. I will sell them cheaply, which will hopefully make the new owners smile and the money in the bank will go towards food and bills. Which will make all of us here smile.

And if all else fails, remember people, chocolate exists. Morsels of happiness available on every street corner. And by post if you click that little chocolatey box below. Cadbury by mail. Now that makes me smile.

There's plenty to tell.
Me and the three not-as-small-as-they once-were people and the newly established Queen Puss (We had mice. I am not a crazy cat woman. Honest.) all rubbing together in a run-down flat in deepest, darkest, south London.
The pressing matter in hand is that I have a show looming. (Check out www.showcase-london.com and come to 1001 Cafe, Brick Lane. 25th November. 5.30pm-11.30pm. Be there, mention this and you'll get a nifty discount :) )

I am surrounded by paintings. There are plenty I could just bundle up and hang. But I need to sell and the Brick Lane crowd are not, in general, in the Saatchi category of art buyers. So...do I knuckle down and produce low cost small works of genius rather than pretending to scour the Guardian Jobs site? Well of course I do. Watch this space.

Painting is wonderful. It keeps me sane. But art doesn't always pay my credit card bill, so I am exploring the wonderful world of affiliate marketing. It costs nowt. Which is a fine start.So click on that banner thingy below and take a peek. I know there are a million and one promises of easy money here on the old interweb but it could work for you...

Picture the scene. Too much coffee. Wet canvases EVERYWHERE (and the cat walking over them....aargh). The kids are at school. I've played Mafia Wars to within an inch of everyone else's life. And a little ad pops up. Play games for free. So I do. And it was fun.

You can play for real money - deposit something and they match the amount when you first sign up - or you can play for credits. The credits option is cheaper. The real money option might win you a fortune. I'm going to have to work on that bit. Oh and I have no clue why that ad isn't in English. The site is. Ho hum.