It’s that time of the year again.

My workplace always plays secret santa. We have a budget of $20. Traditional secret santa gifts range from jokey things, novelty items, inspirational books, candles, soaps, hand creams etc.

Today I got treated to a birthday dinner by my sister in law at a fancy restaurant, Esquire. It is located along the Brisbane River at Eagle Street Pier. I was quite excited, as I hadn’t been out to fine dining for quite some time since my kids came along.

I painted this little scene from a very old photo I took in my medical student days, which was oooohhh, about almost 20 years ago. I was in Kingaroy, a small country town in Queensland. 

I am totally in love with the Impressionists. Pissarro, Monet, Van Gogh, Manet etc, etc, etc, I totally can’t get enough of them.

After sketching in journals in pen and wash for almost a year, I decided to take the plunge and move onto acrylic paints on a much larger scale. it was revolutionary!