I've been tagged!

Well actually I was tagged weeks ago but I've been slack with my blog lately and well this afternoon to fight a massive bout of painters block I thought what better way to take my mind off my inability to paint.
I was tagged by fellow artist Chavah Kinloch, check out her fab blog - http://www.chavahkinloch.blogspot.com/

the rules are simple, now I've been tagged I have to list 6 things you don't know about me, so here goes -

1. I hope one day to own a lifestyle block and become semi self sufficient - kind of a "Good Life" thing going on.
2. I am terrified of water I can't see the bottom of - I once went snorkeling to try and overcome the feeling(it was my partner at the times idea) and although I would recommend the experience to everyone - I can't believe how stunningly beautiful it is under water, you'll never catch me doing it again! Before I was frightened because I didnt know whats down there, now I'm scared because I do know - fish people, big freakin fish - lots of them!
3. I have a growing collection of hats - I love em. In fact a girl at my daughters school commented the other day that it was the first time she'd ever seen me without a hat, I've known this child for rather a long time.
4. I have dyed my hair every colour but green - my all time favourite was described by an elderly woman in a craft shop as heliotrope.
5. I like playing with playdough - I find it very therapeutic.
6. My first car was a very very old Honda Civic called Geraldine - I didnt name her she came to me with a sticker on her gear shift that had her name on it. I miss that car it had a dent in every panel and didnt like to go in the rain - but she was cool and it was a sad sad day when I traded her in.

Now I'm tagging these fantastic NZ artists -

Cath Sheard - http://www.cathrs.blogspot.com/

Sharlene Schmidt - http://www.sharleneschmidt.synthasite.com/

Mark Godwin - http://www.pictureitponderitpaintit.co.nz/

Ronda Turk - http://frommypalette.blogspot.com/

Christine Dempster - http://www.freewebs.com/artbycee/

Shelly Van Soest - http://shellyvansoestartist.blogspot.com/

The rules:

1. Link to the person or persons who tagged you.

2. Post the rules on your blog.3. Write six random things about yourself.

4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.

5. Let each person know they’ve been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.

6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Portrait - Little Green Thumb (work in progress)

So here is my latest work in progress, a portrait of my youngest daughter helping to build a garden at her preschool. As usual I am working in acrylic on canvas. I have just started using a new brand of canvas, it's slightly more expensive than my usual - but well worth it as far as I'm concerned. As you can see I've mostly blocked in the basics, I'm now working on the folds in the sweatshirt and shorts - which are probably the most difficult aspects of this piece. I'm also experimenting with how many layers I can use on the background in the "crackled look" that I've been working on, before I lose the base colours. I'm up to three and I'm thinking that four may be too many....