Welcome to Substack

Newsletter 68

Hello wonderful people! You may notice that I have made a slight change to my newsletter this month. I’ve decided to transfer to create my emails through this blogging platform called Substack. I was inspired to make the switch after listening to

Helen Stephens

rave about it on the (completely awesome) podcast The Good Ship Illustration. So far I have been very impressed. There are lots of very interesting articles on Substack and it seems like a lovely community.

Please don’t worry though, I’m not going to be spamming you with extra annoying emails, just my monthly one as usual. One bonus is that there is a comments section down the bottom of the page where we can have lovely chats and you can ask me all the questions. Hooray!

One bonus of using this platform is that I can more easily add videos. So here is my first attempt (complementary fingers in shot) - sound up to hear the cockatoo!

Now for my first ever VLOG! I’m going to show you around my house-in-progress … don’t mind the mess!

Well that was extremely dorky, sorry about that! I hope that I’ll get better at these VLOGS as time goes on! 😅 With any luck, we’ll be in our house by the next newsletter.

Learn and Play

This month I’ve been experiencing some pain in my right hand (my drawing hand). I’ve had this pain before, but this time I’m a bit more concerned as it seems to be sticking around and my pinky finger occasionally goes numb. I’m going to see a doctor about it, but in the mean time I’ve been trying not to strain it too hard. With this in mind, I’ve been experimenting with different ways of creating my artwork in a way that’s kinder to my hand. Watercolour painting works well as it requires less tight control, here are some pictures I had fun creating on some calm summer days.

My Dad’s also been doing a big clear-out of his shed and I couldn’t resist nabbing these ancient photos of some potential relatives. My plan is to paint on them to give them some animal-like qualities, but before I do this I explored how I might enhance them using my IPad. Here are the results.

Another awesome thing I’ve started is a 100 day project where I’m drawing with my left hand (which is completely hopeless). It’s so humbling and freeing to be drawing like a child again, I love it! I’m only at day 12, but I’m already seeing and feeling a swift improvement in my ability. Check out some of the works in the notes section of my Substack.

Calendar Page

Welcome March in style with Fredrick the Flamboyant Forest Dragon. Feel free to download him and chuck him on your wall. My full calendars are also currently 70% off in my Etsy store, if you want to print and plan for the year. 😊

Stickers

A lovely person from the US recently contacted me regarding my stickers I use in packaging. She said that they were so lovely and could she please buy some? Of course, I replied and plopped up the listing on Etsy. Now you can buy my stickers!

Art Classes

I have been in my element teaching at The Cedars in Hahndorf this past month. The gardens of Hans Heysen are an instantly calming place to be and paint. Every month I’ll be teaching a step-by-step class on how to draw/paint the beautiful native birds that visit The Cedars. On March 17, the bird we’ll be painting is the beloved Kookaburra. It’s a lovely morning, especially with a fine china cup of homemade tea! Book here.

My other wine/watercolour classes at Between the Vines are also delightful as always, check out the list of all of my upcoming workshops here. The next class is autumn leaf/gum leaf painting which is always a treat!

I’m only teaching one regular kids class this term (for homeschoolers) and I’m absolutely loving it! We’re doing nature journaling and it’s so idilic sitting under the vines with the lovely view at Norton Summit Community Centre. I do have some child/family workshops coming up which you can check out if you fancy.

• March 20 (4-5.30pm) Youth Week Nature Journaling Workshop at The Hut

• March 23 Australian Animals in Watercolour at the Goolwa Library

• March 28 Art in the Park at Cleland Wildlife Park

• April 16 (10-12pm) Nature Journaling at The Cedars (Hahndorf)

• July 9 (10-11.30am) Anthropomorphic Trees at The Cedars

That’s it!

Thank you as always for following my artistic journey, I hope that this month you’ll be inspired to dust off the paints and enjoy the artistic process.

With love and a dose of whimsy,

Zinia