We Are Always Watching

We Are Always Watching - Mixed media on paper

Sometimes you feel a little alien. Sometimes you feel like you are being watched.  Every move seems important.  The slightest of moves you feel are so important in the big picture.  I wonder who is watching?  I wonder all the time.  The more I watch the more I wonder.  Have you seen me around?  You might notice my eyes, you can’t forget them.  They draw you in and your mind is taken.

All this time I knew.  Do you see me in the boat?  It goes so fast, so beautiful, so sleek.  I see timber, I see white and above all I see bright, bright blue.  Hair is dark and eyes so big.  Clarity and crispness.  The ocean surrounds.  The ones who helped me to this place are by my side.  We are always watching.  See our eyes?  We see your mind.

 

Ruby - Markers and ink on paper

You might see me sometime.  My name is Ruby.  I know style.  In the fashionable kind of way.

 

Tribal Chief Snapper - Ink and markers on paper

I’m pretty sure if you’ve been to Snapper I’ll have seen you.  I’m the Tribal Chief.  Nothing gets past me.

 

Danger Tallows - Markers and ink on paper

Remember that day you were surfing and a big shadow went under you?  And there was that feeling of dread.  What was down there?  Ever wonder how you didn’t see that shadow again?  My name is Danger Tallows… protector of the waters.

 

Queen of the Rain - Ink and markers on paper

I know you have all been watching me.  The Queen of the Rain.  There was conflict and it will settle.  I was nearly overthrown.  Order is being restored and life will get back to normal.

 

Big Eyes - Markers and ink on paper

You don’t need to tell me anything. I already know.  My big eyes read your mind.

 

I first saw one surfing.  Then I saw them everywhere.

The Happy Dogs Make a Happy Life

Trini - Ink, markers, pencil and gouache on paper

One of my earliest memories is hanging out with my dog, Beauty – a Corgy/Kelpie cross.  (I’m guessing the Kelpie was the Dad!)  She was there when I was born and stayed in my life for a long, long time.  I loved having her around.  Loved having the companion I could talk to, who would listen to me constantly talking, didn’t tell me I was wrong, just listened.  She was beautiful, odd looking but beautiful all the same.

Later on, my parents decided to breed dogs and after much discussion we decided on Welsh Springer Spaniels.  I wanted a Beagle but apparently they are too naughty I was told!  So we got a beautiful puppy called Boomer.  We took him to dog shows and he went running and swimming with my Dad when he was training for his triathlons.  He was amazing.  Then came the breeding.  And along came Kirsten.  Of course Boomer and Kirsten fell in love and had puppies… I think it was 11 of them, so many.  And we still had Beauty at this stage.  I remember going out into the backyard and seeing puppies everywhere, Boomer, Kirsten and the odd looking Beauty.  Beauty had a fluffy tail and skinny legs and a rounded middle.  The pups would bite her constantly, hang off the tail.  Chew on her legs.  She must have wondered where the quiet days had gone!

The pups all ended up at their new homes around Australia.  Time passed and then we were left with only Boomer.  So of course we needed a companion for him.  Rex the Kelpie.  By this time we were living on a property with some land and we had sheep.  The idea was for Rex to round up the sheep.  But seeing as we only had 5 sheep, and Rex had no idea what to do, it worked out that the family (being my parents, sister and myself) were the ones rounding up the sheep.  Rex on the other hand was too busy chasing the cats!

A few years later I moved out from home to my own place.  The first thing I wanted to do was get a dog.  After all, that is all I know, I had always had one by my side.  So I did.  The beautiful James Bond.  He was the most amazing dog – mad, but absolutely wonderful.  A cross between a Rhodesian Ridgeback and a Blue Heeler.  Understandable why he was mad.

A year later along came Miss Moneypenny, Penny for short.  Penny was a cross between a Curly Coated Retriever and a German Short Haired Pointer.  Also mad like James but she was completely mad!  Probably the naughtiest dog that ever lived!  Seriously, tell me something naughty a dog has done and i’m pretty sure that it is on her list of adventures she had.  The dog from Marley and me has nothing on her… okay well maybe a little!  Penny and James were the best of friends. And they were my best friends.  Keeping me company, I felt safe with them.  They made me laugh.  They drove me crazy, so naughty at times!  But I loved them.

Much time has passed it’s been such a long time now since I have had a canine companion.  Moving many times in the past 6-8 years.  I’ve been lucky enough to live with some friends who have dogs.  Hunter and Holly the German Short Haired Pointers.  Indiana and Trinity the Alaskan Malamutes (that’s an illustration I did of Trinity at the top of this post).  And been lucky enough to dog sit  Hoover the Beagle and Rusty the Spoodle in Byron Bay.  My parents have always had dogs since I moved away – Sheba and Vic the German Shepherds, Red the Brittany Spaniel and now Toby the Jack Russell.  So I feel I had been lucky.

Now, I would love that companion again but still not settled.  Instead I find it through my friends dogs.  It’s why I love to do my illustrations.  I feel like it’s a way of being part of that wonderful world.  So if you have a dog, please share on my Facebook page at www.facebook.com/SarahCrawfordArtist it gives me inspiration and makes me smile.

Sarah xo

James Bond - Pencil on paper

Last Night Living in Byron Bay

Sarah Crawford - This Path - Acrylic on Canvas

Change is such an amazing thing.  So many changes we experience in our every day.  Others not so often.  I now find myself in my last night living in Byron Bay, feeling so alive, ready for the next journey in my life.  Something about moving, about starting new, I find so inspiring.  Somehow it feels like I’m more alive. Don’t get me wrong – I love routine.  But more than anything I dislike what is often referred to as Groundhog Day.  Wake up and do the same thing every day.  Even if the same thing is interesting.  It doesn’t matter how exciting your life is.  If it’s the same every day, I can almost bet I’ll get bored and want change.  I’ve learnt over the years to control that… although not too much!

I was thinking of all my different homes since the beginning of 2009 being that I moved to Byron Bay at the end of January 2009.  So much change.  It started with the Gold Coast and my apartment in Palm Beach which I rented out, then my boyfriend’s apartment for a few weeks then the move to Byron Bay.  First up the spider house in Suffolk Park. Then the amazing new guesthouse I had to myself with the massive pool and amazing rooms .  Followed by the cute white bungalow by the pool.  And lastly the big share house with jacuzzi (never used once!).  6 different homes!  Oh and there was the housesitting/dogsitting!  One more in there just for good measure makes 7!  Thankfully I slowed a little on the moving front – so far 1 this year.  Tomorrow I can take that tally to 2.

New beginnings.  Exciting times ahead.  This path brings light and love… Harmony… I’ll be sure to share the adventures.  xo

The World of Fashion… The World of Art

Sarah Crawford - NUDES - Conte on Paper

The image I found today from a submission when I started sharing my creations on the Gold Coast.  It was for a gallery.  Made me smile just now – reminded me of where I have been and how inspired I was at that moment I put this together.  How happy I was and how much I loved my life.  If I shut my eyes now I recall the same feeling I had back then – white light and a beautiful peace and inspiration in my soul.

The world of fashion had all but completely taken over my life since I moved to Byron Bay – I loved being back in the industry, the pace and urgency of everything after a few years kicking back, painting and making the most of the beaches on the Gold Coast.  Fashion gives me the drive to keep creating, always reminding me of how lucky I am.  How else over the years would I have been able to travel the world and get paid to shop?  To sift through magazines, watch catwalk shows, draw pictures and at times – cut and paste!  Oh it hasn’t all been as easy as it sounds.  Ten days shopping from morning to night, day after day, sleeping on planes, the boutiques and stores all blending into one.  I don’t remember the clothes mostly (okay so I do remember that time in Barcelona I didn’t buy the white leather boots and I still feel anxious I missed out!) but I do remember the food.  And that’s just the travel part.  The long hours at a computer, the frustration and at times the tears from frustration – it’s an addiction though and it always draws me back.  But it’s time I take a break, time to explore once more, and once again to be back on the Gold Coast.

So now I am onto the next phase, back into the art world – fully emerged in art, day in day out.  Not just on my creations, but on those of others.  Helping launch an exciting new gallery in Broadbeach.  I tell you I’ve been fortunate.  I work hard so some would say I make my own luck – but I think there are so many people who work hard – sometime of us are just plain lucky.  Sometimes I think it’s being able to see the opportunities and filter through those that are good and those where you will learn.

I always say I crave a simple life – I’ve had anything but.  My life is like a film.  I could write each day and tell you of the adventures, it does make for good reading – it’s finding the time in the middle of the film to stop, take a breathe and fill you in on all that is missed… So maybe it’s an erratic piece of writing, you’re never quite sure where it all fits together.  It doesn’t always have a beginning, it definitely doesn’t have a end…

A rambler if ever there was one.  Oh yes I’m the contradiction.  I’m the observer.  The gatherer of information.  The voyeur of life.  I’m always watching.  You might wonder, if my life is a film, what part do you play?  You might be a lead without even knowing – often in my thoughts and an inspiration in my dreams.  Even the extras are mixed up in a web of intrigue, at any moment jumping in for their moment…

The Music Takes Me To My Balance

I can listen to the music and take myself to that place that gives me energy and inspiration.  It drives my soul, my very being to remind me of who I am.  Allowing me to see so clearly what it is I am wanting to express, what I am needing to put forward in my visual creations.  The sounds of the world, such an inspiration.

The harmonica bringing me to this place that grounds me.  Thank you for your beauty, your rawness.  And now I hear the piano, so delicate yet strong.  The sound of your voice so comforting, so nurturing.  The beauty of the music.

And I smile xo

 

Sarah Crawford - THIS PATH - Acrylic on Canvas :: SOLD ::

Always Love The Eyes

 

I keep finding sketches as I’m going through my photos, so many of people and animals, amazes me that I find the time to do them all.  The fashion world keeps me so busy.  I need to be in the quiet calm time, in my own daydream world to really immerse myself into what I am drawing.

Children are fascinating to draw.  Their eyes are always so big and innocent.  Few sketches here I’ve done over past year I thought I’d share.  All about the eyes!

 

Abbey: the eyes inspired me

 

Zana: cheeky with innocent eyes!

 

How I Love the Aliens

these aliens are growing

more and more

at times they take over my creative world

the beginning of the beginning

 

aliens are everywhere