Live Wedding Painting Tasmania Part 2
Imagine painting love stories, not at home, but right there in the middle of someone’s wedding. That's what I got up to recently, painting at not one, but two weddings in a weekend! And get this – the first one? It was a surprise for the bride, a gift from her sister.
I'm talking about LIVE wedding painting – turning special moments into art on the spot. Let me take you behind the scenes of these two love-filled events, where I worked as quickly as possible to create wedding day magic.
So, first up was Emily and Jason. They had their beautiful reception at Lark Distillery. They walked into their reception, thinking it's the scene they planned, and there I am with my paints and ink pens – surprise! Emotional vibes all around.
Lark Distillery, with its rustic charm, was the perfect spot. Warm tones, beautiful decorations – a dream setting. My job? Create quick sketches of guests. Different groups popped by my station for a snapshot, then back to the party they went.
Here's the tricky bit: it was a last-minute surprise, so I didn't know who's who among the VIPs. I tried to capture the heart of the celebration and did some last minute prioritising. There are a few leftover that I am continuing after the fact.
The next wedding of the weekend was Susannah and Kieran's love-filled day at Stefano Lubiana Winery. Picture this: an outdoor ceremony, an indoor reception with live music and tons of close knit family.
What set this wedding apart? Well, for starters, it wasn't about sketching guests this time. Instead, my task was to capture about 5 key moments of the day. I had to be quick on my feet, deciding which moments would make it. Susannah had a wishlist – their son, the cake, and the couple during the ceremony. Having a starting point helps, and knowing the family personally helps even more.
Here are some more snaps from the day. The trickiest part was not having daylight towards the end of the evening. I was adding finishing touches in the dark. Time to buy a portable light for my painting kit!
Looking back at this busy weekend, these gigs were more than just drawing. They shaped my style and how I approach each celebration. I have so much to learn and that’s what makes it so fun!
Tips for Future Couples:
For couples thinking about live illustration, here's a tip: If you have lots of guests, think about a different style – maybe capturing key moments instead of individual portraits. It's not just about the amount of art, but showing a unique perspective. If you do prefer guest portraits, be prepared to potentially have some of them finished afterwards.
Feel free to reach out to me if you want to find out more or check availability.
Until next time…
Follow the journey on Instagram:
Brooklyn Book Festival
I consider myself to be a pretty intermediate to advanced level traveler. I’ve been to so many developing countries, chaotic cities, and middle of nowhere icons. With this experience and my formative years spent growing up in New York City, I figured I can handle just about anything on a trip. Well my first trip back to NYC humbled me in many ways. This time I was older and had a one year old in tow. That certainly changes the vibe! We were traveling for 30 days straight. We were SO tired. We were SO depleted. We were so spoiled by the baby friendly city at home. My wishes for a highly productive NYC trip would not come true.
One of the highlights of the NYC trip that did come to fruition was being a part of the Brooklyn Book Festival! Of course there was climate change level flash flooding in NYC the day before it happened which was also the day we arrived into the city. However, the water cleared and the families flooded in to the festival!
Our activity was run by author, Dan Poblocki alongside illustrator Chris Danger and myself. Dan created a mad libs style story for the audience members to fill in the blanks. Along the way, Chris and I illustrated some of their wildly inventive scenes and characters.
After this illustrated story time was over, we signed books!
Of course, my number one fan was excited to get multiple books signed in person since it had been a while. <3
One of the best moments of this day was also when we went to Chipotle after. The burrito bowls had been missed, but the highlight was actually seeing a young girl reading a freshly signed copy of Big Apple Diaries at a table in there. I awkwardly waved to her and her family but she didn’t look up for even a moment. She was totally engrossed in my book, and I love to see it!
My nephew, Alex
Despite our absolute travel chaos, it was really special to be in NYC again
Joints for Jabs - A Pandemic Story about My Mom, Part 1
It’s hard to put this experience into words. My mom’s pandemic experience… my experience being separated from her for almost twenty months now… When I moved from NYC to Tasmania, I was under the impression that I would be back and forth frequently. Once my mom retired, she spent months at a time here. Australia’s borders are still closed and parents are not considered immediate family under the exemptions.
This was never the plan. It of course was never anyone’s plan, but here we are. In many ways, we are extremely fortunate. We are lucky to be healthy, and lucky to be in the positions we are in. The luck of me living in Tasmania for all of this is a completely different story.
This story is part one of Joints for Jabs, a pandemic story about my mom.
Part two coming soon…