I don't tan, I burn

Sorry I've been so absent here. I've been finishing some commissions for a friend that took me longer than anticipated. It was really great to be pushed out of my comfort zone though and I'm pretty happy with how they came out ^_^

Moving on, it's getting into summer now and I'm again being made painfully aware that I was born for much colder climates.. Antarctica perhaps... So to celebrate the completion of my first major commission and to welcome summer (even if its somewhat begrudgingly) I whipped this one up for you guys tonight. 

I'm white. I mean, I'm really white. When taking photos I need to be constantly aware of the skin tones around me in order to ensure I don't freak out the camera's white meter settings. 

Fact - when told that 15+ is better than nothing, I'm forced to respond with - It IS nothing.

Dark people don't understand. After a spell in the UV rays that ball of burning gasses above emits they merely frown at their darker complexion, frustrated at their "unsightly" tan lines. Meanwhile I'm being rushed to hospital with second degree burns and sun stroke, needing help later to remove the sheets of skin slowly peeling away from my body. 

Your a classic beauty, my mum would try reassuring me as I'd look enviously on my sister frolicking merrily in her Olive skin and bikini while I sat in the sand covered in sea shoes, boardies, a rashie, sun hat with a flap on the back and bright pink zinc stripes down my nose and cheeks resembling a sort of weird girly war paint. 

Classic beauty, you mean from the time they would put poison on their face to strip away layers of skin to reveal the pasty complexion expected of people that are too wealthy to ever venture into the sun. 

Thanks mum. 

Don't get me wrong, I've grown to like my colouring, and years of constant burning and peeling has yielded a slightly jaundice colour I fondly refer to as my 23 year tan. There's also been times of amusement. At about 6 or 7 mum had decided to start buying us nighties instead of the flannel we'd been picking from Target. Well, on more than one occasion when asking mum for a glass of water in the middle of the night I'd scare the living shit out of her as I floated silently into the room glowing white with my white laced nightie blowing eerily in the breeze. (not surprisingly it was back the the flannel the next year).

And although I'm still not entirely sure how I came to be the white sheep of the family in a collection of Mediterranean looking people I wouldn't want it any different. After all with the threat of Skin Cancer, the popularity of the milkybar kid and the invention of 90+ suncream.. White skin is on its way back in ^_^

Well, I can dream can't I 

*Note

Boardie - Board Shorts

Rashie - a water proof shirt

Bonjour ^_^

So as some of you know (unless your new to the blog - in that case, Welcome! ^_^), the other week I found myself biking through the insanely gorgeous countryside of Southern France. Caught in a postcard, we travelled around 30 to 40k's a day, through glades and corn fields, past towering historic Chateau's (French for castle), up mountains (and down, fortunately) as well as under overgrown canapies of fern trees . I was shouted the trip by my mum and her partner and was honestly counting my blessings every day - ok so maybe not when slugging up the 4k mountains... but getting to the top elation returned :) 

That part of the country is known for its beautiful scenery - honestly you can not take a bad photo - and amazing gastronomic flair! I'm sure it has something to do with using all their own produce, there were so many times we'd catch the chef ducking out the back door into the garden and picking the vegetables and herbs that would accompany our meals. 

It was one of the most amazing trips I've ever been on! two of the images I'm sharing with you guys are straight sketching from what I saw around me - the other is inspired by the ducks we saw. If you've never been you may be unaware that French ducks are freakishly huge.. I'm not entirely convinced they're ducks at all actually, more likely some type of goose or turkey and the name was lost in translation - they are also incredibly loud and travel in packs of about a hundred. Force fed corn (which is strangely unavailable for hunan consumption) they waddle around squaking at you waiting to be made into delicious confit de canard or a very popular starter called Foi gras (pronounced more like fogwah).

Hope you guys like them, and at the risk of sounding like the poster child for Southern France, if you get a chance I seriously recommend going ^_^ 

Hope you all have a fantastic week! 

EXTRA EXTRA!!

Hey gang - I'm back from France, what a great holiday! Delicious food, Beautiful scenery and the best company ^_^ Now its straight back to developing my portfolio and uploading plenty of new stories for you guys, can't wait to hear your thoughts and what you've all been up to! :D 

Bon Voyage ^_^

Just  a quick one before I leave for France (I'll be gone for two weeks). A little sneak peek of my character for one of the children's books I'm working on. The title is "I hate Bowties" and is about a little boy discovering why its bad to say hate. When I get back I'll catch up on the entries I missed and have plenty of new stories for you guys! 

Hope you all have a fantastic two weeks ^_^

Also he doesn't have a name yet - suggestions are welcome :)

Growth spurt

I was always the shortest in the class, a fact made plain by the way my school skirt (the smallest they could find) had to be tied around my chest and still reached my ankles. In school photos I was always in the same spot, down the front and at the far right end. Something my mum extremely enjoyed as quote, she was "always able to find me". It got to the stage were the photographers let me sit there without checking if I'd grown, I offered a solitary nod and simply sat myself in the chair while everyone else compared heights in a frenzy of back to back motions. 

I still remember the day it all changed. It was high-school, year 9, repeating a well formed ritual I made my way to the back of the line (lines had to be formed from tallest to shortest) for the photo. I stood there in a daze, pondering the word they'd make us smile with when I suddenly realised, I could see over the person in front of me. I stood there for a few more seconds attempting to blink away what I thought was a mirage, but sure enough, I was looking at someone smaller than me. Politely taping her on the shoulder I made my way in front... but their again I encountered the same strange phenomena. I stepped away from the line attempting to re-group and began to make my way further down. With each new girl came a boost to my confidence, it was a dream, surely I couldn't be taller than this many people. 

As I walked on girls began to call out at me "Hey Lesley, where are you going? You should be at the back of the line!" but there taunts did no good, the facts were plain and after a quick back to back the news of my sudden growth spurt spread quickly down the line. "Hey can you believe, Lesley grew! No way, she can't be taller than me?"  Finally I reached a point of commonality and sidled into the line behind a girl I knew. I felt a pat on the back and turned to see a smiling face a word of warm welcome. 

I had made it, the fabled teenage growth spurt fairy had arrived over night and I was in! 

I still have the photo tucked away in my room, my first foray into the third row, right in the center, the look on my face closely resembling the type of elation seen only on athletes after winning gold medals. The first time in my life that I felt I had really achieved something special, all I had to do now was loose my baby teeth, grow some boobs and I would be a real young lady, of course with my slow rate of the development I had to wait a while, but as they say.. all good things take time.  

So - have any photos stories? or stories of Late development? As always I'd love to hear them! ^_^

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY to all the mums out there! 

Style update!

On the odd chance anyone was worried, never fear, the story of the week is on its way. In the meantime however, I wanted to put this up as a celebration that I really think I have my colouring style down pat for the moment. Obviously I'm aware it will probably develop (hopefully for the better) but for the meantime I'm really happy with it ^_^

Hope your all having an awesome week! ^_^

Cloud chaser

Ok so I know its cheating but I thought I'd write a poem instead this time ^_^

Sitting Alone and wondering why

The clouds can drift so idly by

They don't care at all, for whats down bellow

Instead they roll across the sky

Its times like this I try and find

A reason for my sitting time 

The time I take out of my day 

for thoughts to drift so far away 

Just a Word 

But asks so much 

Just an answer

That means so much 

Just a word

You hear too much

Too hard to answer

so you gave up

So here I am, you still feel near

I look to see your still not here

I turn instead towards the sky 

to envy clouds drifting idly by