Brenden James McDonough

20/03/2022

Converted my old art studio into a home office for my wife. So I made a collapsible art table on a wall in my wood workshop - so I still have somewhere to draw.
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arttable

07/03/2022

***Reposted from Shayne McDonough] *** As soon as they could get through, the boys were their. The support they gave me and my family is so overwhelming I don’t know where to start.
They are some of the most genuine, whole hearted people I know. It makes me proud to be part of the team.
So many others to thank, coming all the way from Sydney as the equine specialist from Randwick, for making light in a sh*tty situationdarke the big bears
for taking over the reins when I needed a break and is doing an epic job. Addy and Chris for the hospitality.art and All the Lennox crew for looking after Katie and doing anything we needed
Massive shout out to the whole community for pulling together to pull off what will seem impossible but we will be back 💪🏼

*** From me ***
I didn't want to post any photos of the devestation in my hometown out of respect for the people that have lost everything. I will however share this picture my brother has posted. If you want to talk about resilience we can. Mum was out of town helping with our sister who is 39 weeks pregnant. I don't live in town any longer. This left my brother Shayne McDonough] to attempt to save our childhood home by himself. This was all happening whilst his wife is also 39 weeks pregnant and our 93 year old grandmother was trapped in her house as it went under. I'll save that story for another day. I feel so embarrassed for complaining not only a week ago about some mild water damage to my own workshop, when only 24 or so hours later the city of Lismore and surrounding areas has been completely obliterated by these floods. I can't thank my brother and his mates for stepping up to the plate during the recovery enough. The community effort is strong 💪🏼 I wish I could have been down here earlier as there is still so much more to do. Thank you also .carter83 and .hassett.98 for lending a hand and also to the numerous amounts of volunteers that are doing the rounds dropping off food and water. Some of these places are broken and many possessions have been lost but one thing that isn't broken and isn't lost is community spirit.

22/01/2022

Drew for a little while tonight. It was fun.

21/01/2022

My art table is in there somewhere. Things have been a bit hectic lately.

As well as art, I enjoy woodwork, design and technology. I've especially got the itch to get back into woodworking again. They say you should just focus on one thing. I say f that. I enjoy many things in life and I want to do them all. Hence, I have been spending a lot of time expanding my workshop over the summer break, to accommodate some woodwork machinery and tools.

To cater for all of my interests, I have however, taken over a lot of the available space in our family home. My wife has been nothing but supportive during this process and has wanted nothing in return but for me to be happy.

I feel like I've probably pushed it a little too far though in taking up so much room pursuing my hobbies. So to try and tip the scales back a bit, I am forfeiting the art studio.

My wife deserves a space of her own, so I am converting the art studio into a little library/reading room/home office/day bed/chill-out area for her. It won't be much but it will be something.

This doesn't mean I am giving up on drawing. It just means, I have to come up with a creative, space saving idea to design an area in my new woodwork shop that can accommodate an art table that will be both accessible, but also protected from airborne dust. This might take a little time.

So, it is just pause for now. I look forward to getting back to the drawing board and settling back into a more consistent drawing routine again sometime in the coming weeks.

07/01/2022

Last year I read/listened to the book “The 5 Agreements” by Don Miguel Ruiz.

I enjoyed this book and the sentiment within. For this year, I am going to structure my goals around these 5 agreements, with a heavy focus on “Always doing my best”.

My goals are about doing what makes me happy. In a nutshell - spending time with my family, staying fit and healthy, drawing and expanding my design/woodwork business, whilst still giving it all in my teaching profession.

2022

1. Be impeccable with my word

2. Don’t take anything personally

3. Don’t make assumptions

4. Always do my best

• Draw when I can
• Mediate when I feel like it
• Teach my son how to ride a bike
• Go for 10 Harley rides
• Add 10 new products to my ETSY catalogue
• Start a YouTube Channel for my Design Business
• Do 52 stretch sessions
• Ride 500km on a push bike
• Do 15,600 sit-ups
• Lift 1,200,000kg in total volume
• Do 52 leg workouts - Do 52 push workouts - Do 52 pull workouts
• Do 50 HITT routines on an assault bike
• Do 520 x 2 minute rounds on a boxing bag
• Get invited to 1 martial arts grading
• Read 6 books
• Listen to 12 audiobooks
• Read a dictionary

5. Be sceptical but learn to listen

04/01/2022

2021 in Review

Doing anything once is easy. Repeatedly doing it over and over again, every day, is where it gets hard. I have no interest in doing things that are hard for other people. I am only concerned with doing things that are difficult for me. Forcing myself to do difficult things on a daily basis makes th

09/11/2021

Been staring at this for days wanting to finish it off but have been too sick to stay awake let alone concentrate. So close but yet still so far away.

19/10/2021

Just drawing some things that remind me of the good old days.

21/09/2021

The gift that keeps on giving. I'm loving when Alex takes his video calls in this room where my drawing hangs on the wall in the background 😄. He even briefly mentioned the drawing this time during his "Refuse to Lose" interview on KAYO Sports. Good luck this weekend champ!

31/07/2021

Gonna milk this exposure for every bit I can 😄😄😄 Just noticed this on the official page as well. My artwork on the wall behind