Luna Landing

A Long Valentines Day.

2012-02-14T20:17:00.003+11:00

Happy Valentines day to everyone out there. Hope it was a good one. Mine? Decent enough. A pretty bloom cut from the rogue rose garden flourishing at the side of the house, despite neglect, accompanied with the poem "Roses are red, Voilets are blue, Can't afford to buy one, So this one will do" written perhaps in response to the Nazi like hold I have taken on household finances to keep us in the red. Crap job - it's not making me popular - but someone's got to do it right?

Back on to the decision of whether to study or not this year - a bit of an upheaval yesterday after I had decided I would defer till 2013 due to a feeling of being burnt out on all fronts. I emailed my lecturer asking was there anything I should think about before making this decision and he mentioned that the course was up for it's accreditation at the end of the year and from the sound of it was going to be so extensively reworked I may not end up with credit for what I have done. What?????? The sweet sense of freedom my decision had engendered only twenty four hours earlier collapsed on my shoulders like the proverbial ton of bricks. So I turned back up at school this morning with every cell of my body screaming noooooo.... Do you know that feeling?

I lasted till lunchtime. Did manage to strike a bit of a deal with myself and my ever patient teacher though. That I take the next two weeks off and try to chill out. Instead of the whole year as was the plan. I really would like to finnish this course (it is genuinely awesome, if challenging) but if I cant overcome this inward resistance in the space of two weeks then I guess that's it. So if anyone has a recipe for a speedy unwinding (sorry, alcohol doesn't count) let me know.....

Cute pic from here. Thanks to Kylie for pointing this cool etsy site out.

Pretty Pics For Tired Eyes.

2012-02-09T19:47:00.001+11:00

Source.

Source

Feeling kind of lethargic today. Kids back at school and getting back with the whole routine - lunches to be made and no more sleep ins! Still trying to figure out whether to study again this year or take the year off. Last year was exhilarating but thoughts of still kind of burnt out despite the hols. Hence maybe the lethargy. So for any one else out there with tired eyes today here are some pretty pics to liven them up. Always works for me!

Source.

The Well Placed Hint.

2012-02-04T11:40:00.001+11:00

Never underestimate the power of a well placed hint. Or in other words your blog as a vehicle for letting friends and family know what you want. Tacky? Perhaps. Effective? Yes! I realised today that many of my Christmas presents were (innocently - I swear!) solicited on this blog. Except for the two design books by Marnie Fogg. In that instance shameless lobbying might best describe the end result. The books however are awesome - better than I even imagined - so, you know....

I am just as grateful to my sister for the Gotye CD I was blogging about in October (overall album even better than I had hoped) and the Scooter I blogged about in August. Maybe not the exact one I was blogging about but still, a scooter. A little one from the Oxfam shop crafted from tin scraps. I may not be able to ride it around Milan as imagined but I still love it :)

Sabine Timm.

2012-02-01T20:27:00.002+11:00

Adorable mini collections and illustrations from Sabine Timm. I can't resist these, mainly for my doll house fetish, what a great twist she brings to the world of miniatures. And all that tiny retro furniture. Where does she get it I wonder?

Annie Leibovitz and Marc Jacobs.

2012-01-16T17:21:00.001+11:00

I love this pic from December issue of US Vogue styled with old chairs and the recent Marc Jacobs for Louis Vuitton collection. Very quirky. By Annie Leibovitz.

Below also is her shot of highlights from Jacobs career at Vuitton.

Miu Miu Spring 2012 Collection.

2012-01-12T11:23:00.004+11:00

Come show time in the fashion industry I love seeing what particular designers have come up with, what design elements they are throwing together this time. Some rarely disappoint such as Marc Jacobs and Prada - generally as I love the Mix and Clash aesthetic. This time I'm particularly loving Miu Miu for throwing lace in with prints while keeping classic silhouettes. The handbags, boots and shoes are a colourful and contemporary while the mini cape is a bit cute. Wont be trying out the red eyeshadow though....

Some Thoughts On Blogging.

2012-01-04T15:54:00.002+11:00

Still on the subject of new year overhauls I have been giving some thought this week as to my new years resolution to blog more often and what that world require. No, not a brand new author with a greater capacity for blogging. I can become that person. I WILL. Perhaps some creative new initiatives are in order. Like a challenge where I have to blog EVERY day for a week to get me on a roll. Perhaps some new weekly features too. One where I post a pic of a longterm unfinished craft project every Tuesday - sort of a weekly 'name and shame' post. It could be interactive too. Followers could post me a pic of their own lagged projects or even name a friend in the comments section who they think is taking waaaaaay too long with that crochet blanket....

Other revamping ideas include weekly giveaways where you must join up and follow first. Oh sure, it's a little bribe like but you don't want some interloper dropping in and grabbing the money. Uh,....not that I was thinking of using money. Ok, well I was, but now I've said it out loud it all feels a bit dirty and I'll just whip up one of my retro snacks as a giveaway prize instead. Okay, maybe I haven't thought this through properly. There just has to be some way to move beyond 70 followers.....!!!!(sigh).

More realistically speaking...Have been reading about Project 52 over on Amanda's Musings where you join up to do a new thing (and blog about it of course) once a week for the entire year. Amanda has a list to choose from each week. Of course if I want to join up for this I better decide soon as the first week is nearly over. Or maybe this week could be Number 21 from the list which is "Have a week off Project 52". In which case here I am blogging about it now. Too easy! Or does blogging about it mean I haven't taken the week off after all??? Seriously though. It does look like a lot of fun and I'm pretty keen. The list is full of lots of inspirational things such as going for a photo walk and keeping a gratitude journal for a week. If you are interested hop along over here to see more. Maybe see you there?

A New Year And Out With The Old...

2012-01-03T17:44:00.001+11:00

Source.

Like so many others I often see the new year as an opportunity to overhaul my life a bit. This usually begins by a huge house clean done, sporadically over a few days, which leaves me feeling spiritually lighter.......ok, not really, but at least rid of the house dust thats been collecting since October when I generally lose the plot and surrender any vague illusion that I am in control of my life. And at least now I'm able to open my craft supplies cupboard without receiving a concussion from a large box of beads, various salvaged rusty items and a small glue gun. The craft supplies cupboard was long overdue. It had got to the point where I was just avoiding it and the reproach it represented of so many unfinished projects. I made tough decisions about what was never going to get done, what was never going to get used and out it went. Below is a photo of the amazing NEW craft cupboard and it's new streamlined order. Okay, now I'm just showing off....

One of my motivations to become organised this year is a desire to blog more often. Because when I can I enjoy it so much. I love the connections it creates with others around the world as well as a creative community and the chance to express and share your own creativity with whoever is tuned in. So here is my new years resolution - in print and in a few seconds soon to be made public: rehaul this blog and blog more often! Comments and suggestions totally welcome :)
PS. Main photo: suggestion for all those champagne corks lying around after New Years Eve!

New streamlined craft area - symbolic of the new streamlined organised me.

All Done Now...

2011-12-10T19:06:00.001+11:00

Da da. The finished work which was handed in yesterday morning. A package which consisted of a zine, some postcards with a blurb of info about myself - and what kind of art I try to create - and then a box of mini notecards with further examples of my work. About twenty four hours before I handed it in I asked my partner to read the zine. He said it was "a bit depressing". I thought Oh my god, he's right. Why would you want to promote yourself as depressing? You wouldn't. I had been aiming more in the direction of "Hope". I took the first real objective look at it and had a bit of a freak out about how 'wrong' it all was and what in fact had I been thinking the whole time???? I have to remind myself that with creating sometimes you just need distance before you can make an accurate judgement. I still like the concept of what I was trying to say with the zine and am keen at some point to re work it. I do like the mini notecard concept though. Next time though will go for brighter colours. After all am cheerful, happy person.....am not depressing.....

New Zine.

2011-12-04T09:19:00.001+11:00

Here are some illustrations from the zine I'm just finishing up for the last of this years assessment. This has been a photoshop heavy exercise and I feel as though I have really 'skilled up' this term. Nonetheless I'm two weeks past the deadline with an extension and my pervasive health problems have me literally dragging myself towards the finishing line.

The zine is about the years I spent in my twenties bedridden (gotta love that word - it's just soooooo 19th century) and all the fashion trends I subsequently missed out on. I can't wait to get it to the printers tomorrow and will post more of the finished product when get I it back. Zines are lot of fun - I recommend them for anyone in need of a bit of self expression. Anyway beter get back to work. Hope everyone is having a great weekend :)

Have a heart - Installation.

2011-11-10T22:56:00.000+11:00

Here are the fruits of my labour for last terms work which looked at the theme of 'intimacy' - through the production of multiple plaster castings - for an installation work on the theme. I know I say this every term but I think this is the hardest I've had to work so far. The process pictures of creating the latex moulds and casting the plaster are below. The first step - creating the clay positive, which were the hearts themselves, then painting the positives in latex - making sure the 'undercuts' were supported by latex filled cotton wool - nearly did me in. I had the flu at the time and found it all so demanding and finicky (the liquid latex smelt literally toxic) I swore it would be the first and last time I ever made a latex mould. But then when it came to the casting I took my time, just doing one batch of plaster a day, out in the sun, no pressure, and I got excited about what this process can achieve. Making your own mould and then having the option to just reproduce from that opens up a lot of possibilities.

The liquid latex smelt like the ammonia from a hair salon. It took about six coats to get this thick. It has some stretch but not a lot surprisingly.

Fun plaster casting in the sun - I needed 15 hearts in total.

OH&S photo opportunity.

My installation chose to look at intimacy in the context of a hospital - the concentration of such intense life events in a single space contrasted with the sanitised lifelessness of the building itself. It helped that the heart is a traditional symbol of intimacy but to represent it as it is - a bloodied, messy organ which sustains life - pushed the metaphor a bit further than that. I've enjoyed playing around with concepts in this course as much as I have the materials themselves. I can't believe I've only got a few more weeks (and still soooo much work) to go. Actually, I can't believe I've made it this far.....

1950s Fashion Print.

2011-10-26T21:09:00.002+11:00

Was nearby my most favourite bookshop the other day and couldn't resist popping in and adding another ten books to my wishlist. Every where I turned was another title to drool over (not counting Boganomics which, while making the list, was an exception for not being in the Art and Design section). If I had to choose just ONE of those books for my family to get me for Christmas (and I do, since we're on a the "Life's Not Just One Big Bookshelf" budget) it would be 1950s Fashion Print by Marnie Fogg. In addition to the beautiful quality of the prints and literal feast of mid century textile design the cover is cloth bound. Do I need to say more????

Images Via.

Oh, I forgot to mention Marnie Fogg's campanion book to this (just in case some rich relative secretly finds my blog entertaining and is loitering here) Fashion Illustration 1930s to 1970s. It's cloth bound too. Like I say, just in case....

Hello.

2011-10-12T11:12:00.001+11:00

How to ease back into blog world when you've been away for a while? Some pics from Emily Chalmers 'new' book (not that new - where have I been? almost missed this one, and it looks pretty sweet) Modern Vintage Style. I can see it going to the top of my book wish list.

A winter full of (hooray!) illness, a back log of study and a commitment to sorting out the financial/administration life of this household (phew - at last,) have kept me away from my blog for a little while now. And I've been missing it too. Not that I am done with any of those things but, who knows, maybe seeing the light at the end of the tunnel in any case.

Thanks to everyone for all the lovely comments about my Kokechi Doll chandelier - it's been so nice to pop in and see that others have still been visiting while I've been 'away'. And welcome to new blog follower Cat who puts me up to a grand total of 70 followers after TWO YEARS or so of blogging. Haha. Nice to meet you Cat! There should be some kind of prize for being the 70th follower....

Kokeshi Doll Chandelier

2011-09-07T18:24:00.000+10:00

Bigger than than the sum of it's parts? For my daughters bedroom I made this chandelier, combining two of our favourite things - Kokeshi dolls and an old chandelier -a lucky junk shop pick up for $5. The kokechi dolls were a fair bit more expensive than we would have liked but by then we were fixed on the idea and just had to run with it....

Little Yellow Felted Flower.

2011-08-29T16:14:00.000+10:00

I REALLY love this little felted flower brooch I found on sale for $5 from Etsy seller Mountain Goth (even though you can't tell from the pic - must improve self portrait camera technique!). I have been 'teaming' it with my inky blue wool jacket and this combination has provided no end of delight throughout this current flu season which seems to have had me otherwise by the neck these last couple of months. Funny how little things can make a big difference. How colour and texture can lift. I hope not to remember this winter by the illness but instead by this luxury wool combo :)

Flickr Fave: Bee Vintage Redux.

2011-08-23T14:59:00.054+10:00

Here's some great vintage styling from Bee Vintage Redux. I've been trying to get her pics up on my blog for such a long time - just the colours make me feel good. Like wonderful retro candy alongside salvaged vintage jewellry. It's a combination I find impossible to resist. Visit here for more lovely photography or the Bee Vintage Redux etsy site where these salvaged pieces are re fashioned into gorgeous new bits of jewellry. You won't be sorry!

A Bit Of Drawing.

2011-08-17T18:56:00.001+10:00

Some more fairyland type doodling, adding to something I begun about a year ago. Fun to feel pencil on paper and nice to relax with, rather than engage this semesters course work while battling a couple of viruses. Week four and I think I'm already looking at an extension for an installation art piece involving the creation of latex moulds that will allow me to reproduce a series of anatomically correct (I hope) plaster reproductions of a human heart. A bit creepy...but maybe not so far removed from fairy tales after all...snow white anyone?

I'm A Bit Obsessed With...

2011-08-12T09:38:00.005+10:00

...this song at the moment "Somebody That I used To know" by Gotye featuring Kimbra. Doesn't it capture beautifully the strangeness and difficulty of having known someone intimately when now they are a stranger to you? Favourite line of all: You can get addicted to a certain kind of sadness.
Looking forward to the whole album coming out later this month :)

A Hit Of Spring.

2011-08-08T20:19:00.003+10:00

This is exactly what I am needing today. A hit of strong colour and floral extravagance to keep me going until these winter clouds lift. Taken from Vogue US August issue, starring Racquel Zimmerman as the flower girl and shot by Steven Klein. Editorial titled Late Bloomers, the Northern Hemisphere is having to drink up the last of summer while here we can only imagine it....

Saturday.

2011-08-06T12:05:00.003+10:00

A dark rainy Saturday after a week of almost spring like weather. A friend calls this "Sucker's spring" in Canberra - fooling us into thinking our bunkering down for the sub zero nights is over and that we can now emerge back into the sun in t-shirts with renewed life - only to plunge us back into the freeze for the next month. Cruel.

A couple of cool etsy finds this morning - an original oil painting by one of my favourite etsy artists Vivienne Strauss above and below this too cool scarf by Celapiu. Hope you are having a great Saturday!

Rusty Foks

"and she grew..." by Matchstickgirl.

Tracey Emin Lite.

2011-08-05T21:41:00.003+10:00

Tracey Emin was my chosen contemporary artist for Contextual Studies last term. I didn't know a lot about Trace before that choice, only that she'd made some pretty cool quilts which had subverted the idea of traditional quilt making by appliquéing her thoughts and messages onto them in large felt letters. The subversive bit coming from the nature of her thoughts - angry, tormented recollections from her difficult upbringing which included several incidents of sexual abuse by her mum's boyfriend, a stranger and then a rape at age 13 by an older boy from school. Then the promiscuous teenage years ending in her reputation as a the town slut. I love that quilting is such a traditional female past time and that women throughout history have probably stitched away as therapy for whatever was going on in their lives - their anguishes and joys somehow being stitched in as they went. However here Emin actually spells it out in uncomfortable truths that meet the viewing eye. See more of her work here which includes everything from textiles to drawing, installation art and photography.
As for the CRAP quilt up top, part of the requirement for the presentation I gave on Tracey Emin was to produce a small sample of our own inspired by the artists work. I have never quilted or done any patchwork before and had only half a day spare to do this but I was driven on, I have to say, by the fun of the subversive element and the excuse to avoid writing said presentation. Alas I can find no further need for the CRAP quilt but if you think you might have a use for it let me know. More than one will result in a "giveway" style draw. Less than one will have it donated to the school fete later this year where it will be snapped up by a cheeky second grader!

Our New Wheels.

2011-08-02T21:51:00.002+10:00

How GREAT is this retro Vespa? As soon as I climbed aboard I was no longer in the show room of a local scooter dealer, before school pick up, on a cloudy 10 degree day in Canberra but instead cruising the back streets of Milan on a balmy summer evening wearing Prada.. If only! Today I dropped my partner off at this scooter shop to choose a more sensible scooter for himself than those shown here. Despite the obvious benefits to our budget, fitness levels and of course the environment over the last five years, we can no longer stand the strain of being a one car family and have decided a scooter could be the compromise. In the beginning I took some convincing, safety issues being my main concern. But once I got inside the showroom I couldn't resist fantasising about some completely unnecessary, unaffordable spending on a second superfluous scooter. I had not imagined how good they would feel to sit on and I'm not just talking about the seat. Despite the uninspiring surroundings I was filled with an immediate sense of freedom and possibility (read - mid life crisis). Hmmmm I wonder how many broken toys, stained cardigans and VHS movies I will need to sell on ebay before I can afford the little cream and blue one....

Drawing Time - Fashion Illustration.

2011-07-27T17:00:00.000+10:00

Had fun with some drawing last night keeping to my intentions of doing some at least once a week. The kind of drawing I do is dependant on the first kind of medium I can lay my hands on effortlessly that late at night - be it a pen or a blunt pencil. In this case a reasonably sharp 2B pencil which I love for the variation of texture but dislike for the smudging. Sometimes I'm too lazy to find something to copy from so these are not strictly observational drawings - the kind that are good for training the eye - but generally fun and the ones below are a good example of getting too tired, drawing straight from the head and the 2B getting quite blunt as I went along. However that made it nice to render a nice warm wool effect so a lot of the girls got hats! Why do I always fall back on fashion illustration? I've been wondering that. It's like a guilty pleasure. I remember when I was little watching my mother doodle while on the phone and they were always of this 1960s pop art style girls face from a Brenda Starr comic (see below) of which she was a big fan. Always the same face and I just thought it was so cool. I might see if I can get her to reproduce one for me even though it's decades (!!!) since I last saw her doodle like that.

Brenda Starr - awesome pop art icon - is to retire this year!

Still Loving Yellow - and Crochet Too....

2011-07-24T14:20:00.003+10:00

Maybe it's the cold weather but right now it's the combination of yellow and wool that's putting a smile on my face. I want to own all of these - found on Etsy of course. Wishing too I could be so clever as to make them myself. Check out the etsy links below the images to see some master handiwork!

Some Time Drawing.

2011-07-20T14:49:00.002+10:00

Four weeks of holidays, hoping for some time to draw and this is all I have managed. I call her Goose Girl (any guesses why?) and even used some gauche for the goose! Just doing this little bit felt good. I was thinking of committing to doing one small drawing session a week, most likely after 9 pm when everyone is settled and I'm in front of the tv, chores done, then posting it here. This way I wont have big lapses of time with no drawing at all like these past few months. What do you think? Too ambitious on top of study and homelife?

More Brooch Making.

2011-07-17T21:26:00.000+10:00

I've been inspired by my last brooch making effort for Susie's Brooch Swap, and all the encouraging comments, to make another one. This time for my four year old niece, Clara. Something about the pink hair, alabaster skin and long black lashes made it hers before it was done. Plus living in Sydney I don't get to see her nearly enough so must send up little treats to reserve that place she has in her heart for me till I see her next! Its on it's way up now...

Love This House.

2011-07-12T13:08:00.008+10:00

I have fallen in love with this house currently featured at The Selby. A 1960s bungalow in Auckland, New Zealand belonging to karen inderbitzen-walller and delphine avril planqueel. It makes such a nice change from what serves as my usual interiors eye candy which is often too perfect and over styled - to the point of wondering if any body actually lives there. Check these pics out and you'll see what I mean - there is no question somebody lives here. I only wish I could go hang out there with the owners, having a cuppa on that old yellow settee in that sun room and then a long leisurely trawl through their nick knacks, book shelves and magazine collection...

Go here to see the lot including the amazing pink kitchen, bed cover made from a vintage girdle collection and a back yard you can see yourself having a picnic in. Happy viewing!

Blossoms In The Dark Heart Of July.

2011-07-10T13:42:00.002+10:00

Earlier this week was one of the bleakest days this place has to offer. Dark, bitterly cold and inhospitable. The best place to be was home and in bed. And I would have stayed there but for the pressing need for groceries and scripts waiting to be filled. So off to the shops it was. And that's where I found these blossoms - incongruously in bloom on this darkest of days. Amazing! I know this row of trees and that they do bloom out of season every year but this early? Just as we make our slide into the coldest most inhospitable month? I had no choice but to get my trusty camera out and exercise my amateur photography skills...

My Brooch Arrives - Hooray!

2011-07-08T09:53:00.000+10:00

Wow! This is the first thing I said when I saw my brooch from the swap organised by Flowerpress. How amazing - Calli Vanderwilde had taken my Luna Landing illustration and laser cut it. It looks so cute burnt onto wood like that. I have no idea how you do this kind of thing but I'm impressed!

Big Thankyou Calli. And also to Susie from Flowerpress for organising the brooch swap in the first place. I'd definitely be in for a repeat next year if she is up to it.

Dark Heart of July plus YELLOW SHOES!!!!

2011-07-06T16:48:00.001+10:00

So it's July and I'm reminded again how dark and bitterly cold this month can be around here. Worse so stuck at home with the flu. That's why when I saw this picture on A Beautiful Mess I had to steal it and put it up on my blog for the pure joy of those colours together and the thought of finding a pair of yellow shoes just like that.....

Sculpture Gone Surreal.

2011-07-03T12:29:00.002+10:00

Ifanyone remembers my efforts earlier this year at sculpting my own head - with exact measurements - and plenty of struggle along the way (getting each degree of 360 accurate was a headache - no pun intended!) then this is what became of Part Two - abstracting the finished head in line with an art movement or some other element of inspiration. I chose Surrealism because I wanted to explore a recurrent dream I'd been having about houses - dreams where I 'd be in a familiar house that would suddenly reveal itself to have an unfamiliar room, doorway, hall etc. There were many variations but the constant was a sense of discovery. Sometimes it was disturbing. Sometimes it was exhilarating. I'd expressed this a while before in some of my illustrations, finding that my figures were ending up with houses atop their heads. It's a classic dream I suppose but what I didn't know while I was doing this part of the sculpture was of an amazing exhibition that had taken place in London at the Barbican about a year ago called The Surreal House which explored the relationship between Surrealism and the House - something I had naively been unaware of and thought was MY connection!!!!!

Hardly. The Surrealist Declaration of 1926 states:

We have no intention of changing men's habits but we have hopes of proving to them how fragile their thoughts are and on what cellars they have erected their unsteady houses.

The house was the Surrealists preferred metaphor for the psyche and unconscious as well as holding much symbolism for Freud who put this to great use in his psychoanalysis.Once I had discovered the Barbicon exhibition and all the traditional connections between the house and Surrealism the exercise became so much richer. I ended up getting a lot out of it and maybe even decoded my own 'house' a bit along the way. Particularly fun was making the new eyeballs to reside in my 'unconscious' house and creating the 'blind spot' in the consciousness! The only down side? I've stopped having the dream.

PS A fantastic 30 second video for the Barbican exhibition is on You tube and worth watching here. It so wonderfully captures the eerie place of the house in dreams.

Brooch Swap Completed - "The Daydreamer".

2011-06-23T12:29:00.003+10:00

Well here I have it, finally, my finished effort for the brooch swap - "The Daydreamer"- so called because I still have the Surrealists on my mind from last terms study and thoughts of the unconscious mind! I hope my Swapee likes it! Mailed right on the deadline, started 3 days before that once I had my essay and other work out of the way. It's the first brooch I've ever made and I really, really enjoyed it - I'd like to make more but I think I need that little bit of pressure to get things done (unfortunately). She's made out of mostly recycled materials too. There's a couple of process shots below....

I'm off now to have a look at everybody else's efforts. I've resisted until now in case I got intimidated and stressed about not having started!!!

My Chandelier In Bespoke.

2011-06-19T18:51:00.000+10:00

Study has kept me from blogging for too long now so it's nice to get back into it with this latest issue of Bespoke - a very lovely Zine created by Jess Van Den which has a little feature on my Affluenza Chandelier. Can't say I wasn't a bit excited to see it published in those polished pages. This is number three for Bespoke and I love it not just for the great articles but the quality of the print. Love glossy. Speaking of quality check out the pic with artist Courtney Brims - I am in literal AWE with her illustrating skills. I can barely fathom that talent....

Another cool feature is with Sue Cadee and her wonderfully original paper cut dresses which really makes me want to try this increasingly popular craft (see example of below).

Anyway you can get yourself a copy of Bespoke right here to find out more and once again a big thanks again to Jess for including me in her Zine!

Please No Kisses.

2011-05-20T15:51:00.001+10:00

If you are interested in knowing there are other parents out there making a few mistakes World's Worst Mum's is a great site to go to, keeping your sense of humour in self preservation mode as you go. I have just had a post of mine put up today that describes the struggle I am having with my Seven year old Son making a sudden switch to his Dad as Most Favoured Parent about a year ago. That's a while ago now but doesn't mean I have given up trying. In fact I have come up with a brilliant reverse psychology strategy that involves going in to say goodnight, after story time with Dad, and saying I just want to give him a little cuddle, but please no kisses. It goes like this.

Me: Goodnight. I'm just going to give you a quick cuddle. Remember though no kisses.

Him: (confused, and hiding under the covers to resist my cuddle): No kisses? Why not? You love kisses.

Me: Yeah, I used to. But not any more.

Him: (still confused) But why?

Me: (casual) I don't know why. I just don't like them. So just a very quick cuddle.

What happens then is I get covered in hundreds of little delicious quick kisses ("just to annoy you").

Oh, I know what you are all thinking....that I really should write a parenting book....

Canberra Zine Fair

2011-05-11T21:05:00.002+10:00

A couple of weeks back now but here are some photos of my very first Zine fair. A lot of fun given I didn't know what to expect and only had a few cliches in my head styled mostly from the movies Chasing Amy and Ghost World. I had wondered if sellers would be getting out their sketch books during quite moments and indeed some did. I myself arrived a little under prepared. You may be able to see that from my minimalist display (will know to bring a table cloth next time at the very least) and also was still sewing buttons on throughout the morning. In fact one potential lady customer asked if that (ie. me with my sewing kit attatching buttons) was all part of an installation art piece. "Please. Don't overthink it" muttered my charming and youthful neighbor Rafael, once the lady had gone (not buying one!), who had set himslef up brilliantly to sell his poetry/writings and had, I have to add, immediately put me at ease by telling me my own zine was "adorable". I was perhaps a little worried I wouldn't fit in, the Zine fair being billed as part of Youth Week at Gorman House. It turned out though I was far from the oldest Zine enthusiast attending. Glad though I had thought better of bringing the hot water bottle which had been pressed to my lumber region 24 hours previous the fair for an annoying torn muscle injury. That might have sent the wrong message totally.

Or not.

Anyway, down to business - My Zine was called Love Hate and and is essentially about my love-hate affair/ addiction with fashion magazines. I sold over 25 of the little things - $4.50 with buttons attatched and $2.50 without. While I also bought a fair few of the other Zines on offer as well as doing some swaps with other zine creators I certainly reached my goal of making enough to feed my other addiction - books. Win-win. I was too shy to get anyone to take a photo of me at my stall but some collectors from the National Library were there taking photos and you can see me hawking my wares ever so aggressively (not) right here.

Mothers Day.

2011-05-08T20:37:00.000+10:00

Here is the mother's day card I received today from my 7 year old son. The dominant theme appears to be "ways mum neglects us"- drawing, painting, sculpting - juxtaposed with a secondary, more insect related theme - a mid air supremacy battle between a bee and dragon fly. I just love getting my hand made cards from the children (the fresh copy of Paris Vogue didn't hurt either) but especially this year as it was starting to look doubtful. On Wednesday I had heard the "hushed' arguments between my 12 year old daughter and her little brother. My poor girl had just been deluged with assignment due dates for school and, worried she would not have time for card making, was trying to ensure her brother would do one. Disagreements ensued, voices raised and then I hear the words no mother wants to hear from their little boy's sweet lips "So when will I get the money?"...Hmmmmm.

I did have to intervene and explain no one wants a card under those circumstances and we all let the vexed situation pass. So it was with delight today I recieved a handmade card from each - both produced under just the right conditions. Awwwwww...

Brooch Swap.

2011-05-08T15:32:00.004+10:00

Hello. It's been a little while for me since engaged in blog world. Lots of study commitments to get through (made it though - hooray!) and lots of illness (not hooray). Not to worry, have found my way back in today by engaging with this exciting idea I found at flowerpress.blogspot of a brooch swap. I've been thinking of making some brooches once time allows and more lately becoming quite excited by the idea (as you do). Also I've never done a swap before and that's got to be fun so why hold back? Also Susie is allowing lots of time in the deadline which gives me heaps of confidence. Mind you I pretty much just wanna start now. First things first though. Think I might have a little look around all the sites I follow and see what I've been missing out on. See you there :)

Easter Holiday.

2011-04-20T13:29:00.006+10:00

So you've probably realised by now that this is not the kind of blog where a nice rosy sheen has been glossed over my life. I am not trying to sell you anything (though send me money if you like), I have a chronic illness, I do not live in a perfect house and my family are so un-photogenic I could only ever post stick figure drawings of them (faces pixelated) or arty photos taken in soft lens from the ankles down. So it wont surprise you any to hear that April is conforming to all expectations by being the crappiest month of the year. I had been literally just hanging in to finish up the terms work, counting the hours down I have to say, till Thursday afternoon when the term would come to an end and so too the painting component I'd come to find excruciating. This was partly due to the self portrait bit, partly the pace, partly my inexperience with paint and mostly the evil virus that had taken hold (not even talking here about the one on the computer). The plan? I'd take a couple of days off, regroup and begin preparing for the grading interview scheduled for two weeks time. But then I hadn't fully registered the last day being reserved for a bit of Adobe photoshop, turning our final paintings into pdf files (huh?), getting them all special looking and to the printers before the holidays began. Sad to say I'm just not an intuitive learner when it comes to computers. Instead I'm the annoying person next to you at a computer course saying "Excuse me what did he just say about Control F?" or "Excuse me again, I'm sorry to bother you but I can't find the window I was just working on...", until you want to hit me over the head and I feel like the big loser I was when I did Stats at uni and 25% of the whole grade was for using a statistical program and I had no choice but to forfeit that 25% because I didn't even know how to use the coded door lock to get into the computer lab in the first place. Anyway to cut a long story short - I didn't finish my photoshop adjustments which meant instead of using the cheap college printers I had to do mine commercially at 500% the mark up. Also I lost my visual diary, ran around like a mad chook the next day, making two trips back into the school to look for it, mentally relinquished my studies, found it again, took studies back up again (mentally), realised my children had hair lice, spent the day ridding us of them and washing every bit of bedding and clothing in the house and as a result I've done nothing for mid semester review next week...and all I want is just a few days off. Oh, and it's really cold and dark today.....sigh....

(It's a cute pic of a bunny though, right?). Source.

Supermarket Sarah.

2011-04-14T20:31:00.001+10:00

Supermarket Sarah covers her walls. With stuff you can buy. Just click on it and see if it's sold or not! It's beyond crazy and beyond original and beyond clever. Now she creates walls for big retail names and department stores like Selfridges .Remember now how I said I was going to start storing my junk up on the walls to get it out of the way?? I just had this really great idea....

Today.

2011-04-12T10:28:00.002+10:00

This is how today should be spent. With a cup of tea and a magazine (the latest issue of Yen is particularly good - it has a great feature with some chosen illustrators re - imagining fairy tales!). Failing that wrapped up in bed. The start of really cold weather here, darker skies, earlier nights and an ongoing virus has sapped my motivation to finnish off some paintings for the grading coming up in two weeks. It doesn't help that the paintings are - hmmm what's the right word to use here? - crap? - and self portraits to boot. I know I should use this free day I have but all I want to do is blog, drink tea and then crawl into bed. Looks like I've made up my mind....

Black Beauty And A Sorry Story.

2011-04-09T19:35:00.006+10:00

I found this today, one of the amazing embroidered covers Jillian Tamaki has done for Penguin Threads. Isn't it beautiful? Doesn't it make you want to read the book? And yet the story of black beauty is a particularly sad one for me and my mother simply because it represents a moment in time (or a series of moments) of me being a disappointment to her. You see it was her favourite book of all time as a girl and she dreamt that one day her own daughter would read it too (the same copy) and they could share the....um...whatever there is to share about black beauty. I wouldn't know because every time I'd finish a book (I was slow to pick up reading but once I did around age nine books became my world) I'd muse aloud on what to read next and mum would jump in with "Oh, read Black Beauty!". So for lack of anything else I would read the first paragraph and go "What the? The horse tells the story? Forget it." and never get any further. It has to be the most uninspiring first paragraph ever written. Plus I just wasn't into horses. It is probably the only book I have ever read in my life that I could not be induced past the first page. So when my daughter brought it home from the library not too long ago I thought Hmmm, good luck with that. I did say though that her Nanny, my mum, would be very pleased and that maybe this would be some kind of healing process as she'd always wanted me to read it. Good luck though with the most boring book in the world.

So my daughter is halfway through Black Beauty seemingly enjoying it and she asks me Mum, what do you have against this book?

I don't know, I said. It's so long ago. I just could never get past the first paragraph.

What was wrong with the first paragraph?

I can't remember. Read it to me now.

The first place that I can well remember was a large pleasant meadow with a pond of clear water in it. Some shady trees leaned over it, and rushes and water-lilies grew at the deep end. Over the hedge on one side we looked into a plowed field, and on the other we looked over a gate at our master's house, which stood by the roadside; at the top of the meadow was a grove of fir trees, and at the bottom a running brook overhung by a steep bank.

Ahhhhhhhh! It's so dull!!!! The horse is telling the story!!!!!! Stop! That's enough!

Suddenly I was ten again having a very extreme reaction. I'm embarrassed to say I even put on my Elizabeth Taylor acting voice and pretended I was in the movie "Please Beauty, don't die. Don't die Beauty!" Or is that International Velvet? Does Black Beauty even die? I just don't know, I've never read it. I don't even know why I'm telling you this. Maybe because it's a metaphor for everything in the world that others get but I just don't understand and I'm left forever wondering. Or maybe it's just the most boring first page ever written in a novel.
Still, it's a really nice cover.
Sorry Mum.

Six Weeks Down.

2011-04-03T09:09:00.005+10:00

Hard to believe I've made it through the first six weeks of my course, having completed the Sculpture and Printmaking components, simply because I didn't think I would.. I can't believe how intense the course is. Part of me wishes the pace was slower but if I'm honest another part of me is exhilarated by the challenge and having my skills pushed ahead like this. I worked really hard to complete the artists book that was to 'showcase' our lino efforts, thinking I would reward myself with some sewing projects afterwards but no time for that as it's right into the deep end now with painting - yikes! - and on goes the pace....... I wish I could put up some photos of what I've done (the sculpture of my head - now abstracted in a surrealist style - to scare you and the bookmaking/lino print project because I really like it) but our main computer is out of action due to a virus (the whole thing now has to be emptied out and rebuilt) and I can't access my photos. I've had to satisfy myself with this beautiful image pinched from an Abundance recent post. Worth a visit there as Mady always has the most beautiful and inspiring images.

Another thing I'd like to put up is the zine I've made for the printmaking course. The first one I've ever made which was a lot of fun and exciting since I've always loved zines, though not done one myself. I'm even taking my teachers advice and have signed up for the Canberra Zine fair next week to try and make myself a neat $4.50. Oh all right, I hope to sell more than one, I can't lie, but if I make enough to buy a frivolous fashion magazine then I'll be happy. Actually I really want to read the book We Have Met The Enemy (have you heard of it?) about excess, temptation and addiction in our culture so I think I'll aim for that which will mean selling 8 of the little things. So wish me luck. I'll try and post it during the week (if only my partner could just get that little bit nerdier and fix the virus....). Hope you are having a great weekend.

XXX.

Lino Cuts and Waffle Poisoning.

2011-03-19T21:23:00.000+11:00

A big BIG thanks to everyone for their lovely, helpful and supportive comments on my previous whinge post. I appreciated them so much and they absolutely helped me move forward. I now have a sculpture that doesn't look unlike me (the goal) and if you are brave enough scroll down to see it's latest progress. I'm only just brave enough to put it up. I actually think it looks more like Special Agent Dana Scully from the TV show The X-Files (but then I'd always considered there was a bit of a resemblance there. If you are reading this now Gillian Anderson (and why wouldn't you be?) you have the permission to play me in the Hollywood movie version of my life.....).

I also confronted my fears of lino and just committed to doing the best with what I had available (ie focus, health, time, skill). That's all you can do and having a long weekend here was definitely in my favour. Thinking also I might ask for an extension on this brief -an artists book titled Intimate/Obscure which uses lino print self portraiture to hint at aspects of yourself!- and that should help ease the pressure too.

Lastly just a couple of photos from my mothers birthday brunch last week. Mum has been unwell lately so dad took control of the festivities and produced an impressive effort of a birthday cake. My little boy had also put in requests for his favourite foods - waffles and fresh donuts with sugar and cinnamon. My overriding image from the day is him sitting up at the bar eating waffle after waffle after waffle long after everyone else had finished. Then springing up on the news there would be no school the next day for 20 victory laps of the table. Mum and I agreed he showed all the early signs of acute waffle poisoning...and I think the photo somehow captures that...

Whinge Alert: Medium Level Complaints.

2011-03-10T17:36:00.005+11:00

This is not a happy post.

At least it wasn't on Monday morning when I begun it. However a visit to my acupuncturist, a gorgeous Chinese woman named Mei, who with her deft fingers and magic pins, shifted the previously unshifting virus so that what seemed hopeless on Monday morning is no longer quite so. I had all but given up hopes of study. But now realise I'm still hanging in. Week four and not beaten. Which is good - this is a dream to be studying visual art. And yet....there are problems. And seeings this is a dedicated whinge post why waste it? Here it goes then...I am struggling badly with a life size clay sculpture of myself (the head part that is). Week four and I'm still getting nowhere. I have photos of it but have too much pride to post them. I hinted to the teacher that I have an odd and particularly difficult face that didn't lend itself to clay replica in the hope she would say "Yes, I see what you are saying, just do the best with what you have, bravo you!" but she wasn't buying it. All I got was some gentle suggestions and experienced direction. The cheek! Printmaking is also a struggle. The pace is fast and I feel like the only one in the class without any lino cutting experience and without the time and energy to gain it. It's frustrating. I know in the face of circumstances I can't change that what I most need is an attitude change but for the moment pride is getting in the way....

Maybe I just need a cup of tea.

Image and brooch by Amy Borrell.

Blog Love: The Moldy Doily.

2011-03-04T09:35:00.000+11:00

One of the first blogs I ever began to follow (many years ago now) was The Moldy Doily - the blog of artist and fashion illustrator Kime Buzelli. To begin with I'm a big fan of her illustrative style - the narrative she placed within her work, the beautiful styling and the gorgeous colours she used. Not only that her girls (she paints mostly girls) are not reed thin like so much of fashion illustration but seem to contain the depth of real people. After a while though I was just as excited to see what Buzelli was doing to her apartment - her creativity was just endlessly inspiring. Obviously I was not the only one to think so and in the past couple of years she has worked as fashion stylist on the new 90210. I have to admit I haven't watched this show and even though she has now moved from her apartment in Echo Park LA, I still love to hunt through the archives of The Moldy Doily for it's endless treasures of fashion, interiors and artistic inspiration. These pics (all Buzelli's work) are some of my favourites:

Hi There.

2011-03-01T18:52:00.000+11:00

Hi there. No posts from me for a while now - I guess you could say I've lost my blogging mojo a bit. A combination of illness and the beginning of a new year of study which I fear may involve too much struggle (such an optimist!). Nothing helps more though than some inspiring eye candy and I'm hoping this lot does the trick. Then I'm heading off for a round of all my favourites to see what kind of exciting stuff everyone's been up to. See you there. X.

Via Fashion Gone Rogue.

The Week Past and the Week Ahead.

2011-02-13T21:36:00.007+11:00

Seem to have survived the first week back at school. A huge one for my big girl - starting high school - but she seems to have thrived in the new environment and hopefully there's no looking back now. Business as usual for my little boy but plans to hold his birthday party for 17 six and seven year olds at an establishment so aptly called "Monkey Mania" next week is keeping him in high spirits and me in a state of mild anxiety. Practised making him a dinosaur cake yesterday and lucky I did. Scroll down for a free laugh, it's on me. Why is it so hard to make it look like the picture in the book? I am sure they are leaving out vital information. Something like "Must use professional food colourants available only at industrial outlets on the outskirt of town" or "Just outsource the cake you inept moron". Sigh. Lets hope the actual party effort is an improvement....

Well true to form as soon as seasonal changes crept into the weather on came the trans seasonal bugs. I'd been three weeks without one and had managed to achieve heaps around the house and was kind of on a high about that when it arrived. But there was still so much more on the to do list and I wasn't going to admit defeat. My School (CIT) starts back this week and I had hoped to do something with the bare walls in the house before it had. So in between lying exhausted in bed and getting kids off to school and back I hammered a few holes in the wall. That's kind of exhausting in itself but I was determined, the hammer and hooks lying by my bed during the breaks. Up went a lot of frames - some photos, others just vintage frames from my mother in law's house clear out last year. Before long I realised that getting stuff thats been laying around the house up and on the walls, actually clears out a lot of storage area and neatens up the house no end. I began to wonder (insert Carrie Bradshaw voice here) is hanging stuff up on the wall the New Storage? No seriously, that's why you can see my little red 1950s bag, which had been looking for a home, hanging up there. Endless possibilities....

So now all left to worry about (and I am worried) is how I'm going to cope with a stepped up schedule of study this year. Two days a week from 9.00 till 3.00. I send a little mantra out about my head whenever I get too nervous which is you can only try and it helps a lot. Oh, and that goes for the cake too!

Hope you all had a great weekend whatever you got up to. xox.

Pepper Stitches Mix Tape Cushion.

2011-02-10T10:40:00.000+11:00

Pepper Stitches is the very clever person who did this embroidered cushion of a Mix Tape which I have been meaning to put up here ever since I saw it (ages ago now). I love this so much. Firstly because it is a really good design but also the great nostalgia for mix tapes it brings back. For anyone old enough to remember mix tapes were incredibly laborious and sometimes as you waited with your finger over pause for a song to end you wished there was an easier way of bringing together your choice songs. But as we realise now, that was the whole point - it was a labor of love. For the music or for the person we were making the tape for. That's what made them special and a really great way to say, as Pepper illustrates "I Like You". I guess that has been lost with the ipod - convenient and compact as they are. And the itunes store in their own kind of cleverness makes it hard to deliver your choice of songs to someone else in any kind of comparable way. A bit sad. I definitely miss the slow thoughtful process of the mix tape....

PS This clever design is available free to download from the Pepper Stitches blog along with several other great patterns here.

Couture, Kristen and Chandeliers.

2011-02-05T19:04:00.006+11:00

The September 2010 issue of Italian Vogue (which my sister thoughtfully bought me for Christmas!) contained the Grand Couture supplement of which I'm still feasting my eyes on. Twenty pages of Kristen McMenamy, impractical couture and - you guessed it - chandeliers. A Perfect combination. Like a modern day Ms Havisham, Kristen Mcmenamy with her strong, hard features draped in glittery couture and languishing in a dilapidated mansion. And how about that giant chandelier? Like I said, a feast for the eyes..

Images via Fashion Gone Rogue.

Sarah Moon

2011-01-30T17:55:00.006+11:00

You may have seen these pics floating around blog world a bit lately but I liked them so much I had to have them on mine. I just love Sarah Moon's fashion photography - being shot through what seems such a hazy dreamlike lens with distorted proportion and the muting of saturated colour. Lovely.

Fashion Advice From A Seven Year old.

2011-01-29T17:29:00.000+11:00

Yesterday my seven year old son gave my twelve year old daughter some advice. Fashion type advice for her first day at high school next week. I can't be sure but I think she took it on board.

Like any twelve year old girl she can be very particular about what she wears and I try not to intervene. I did insist on our week down the coat however that she choose a hat and we found a really nice one she was happy to wear, even with a small nautical motif embroidered on the side. Driving home yesterday I suggested she might even wear it at school (we live near the only public school in the state that has no school uniform or dress code) to protect from the heat. No? Bad idea.

I offer to embroider some black felt skulls over the nautical motif for a more morbid take on summer. No again.

Then Archie, listening in, offers up his advice "You could get one with a monkey or dinosaur on it" he suggests. "They are very pop'lar wight now". which made my twelve year old smile. Which means, like I say, that she must be taking it on board.

Regret.

2011-01-19T22:13:00.002+11:00

Sharing here my efforts at the brief handed out at the beginning of last semester - a challenge involving 8 2D images constructed into a 3D form. Both the images and the form needed to reflect one of 5 states such as: Regret, Delirium, Malevolence, Zeal or Empathy. Each of the 2D images needed to use a different texture that also conveyed the chosen state. For me there wasn't much choice about it. I think about regret a lot. Not just my own personal regrets which can run deep, but also the nature of regret - what it means to live it: can it ever be resolved? And is there anything to be gained from it? I chose a diary as my 3D object, as a place where regrets can be tucked away, and created a book (out of a recycled, cloth bound one on meteorology!) which opened out in a visual timeline - a life time of collecting regrets. I hear people say they don't believe in having regrets and I think really? Is it ever that simple? There are always choices to be made and the wondering if you made the right one. And at some point we need to make peace with regret. These are the ideas I tried to convey. Love to hear others' thoughts on the subject...

Samantha Everton.

2011-01-17T14:06:00.002+11:00

The first moment I saw samantha Everton's series of photographs from her Vintage Dolls show I had a feeling of stop the search, the perfect image has been found. It was everything about them - the saturated colour, the decaying vintage grandeur of the sets and props, the surreal quality and not least the subject matter. Everton portrays children at play but there is something slightly uncomfortable at work. Perhaps while at play her child subjects are processing their fears? Her 2007 show which proceeded Vintage Dolls was titled Childhood Fears and comes across darker in both the story telling and the medium. With individual titles such as "Fear of understanding" and "If I keep my eyes closed" (below) you get a picture of childhood as a place of not knowing but also knowing and the changing tension between those two states. With six exhibitions behind her I find Samantha Everton's work endlessly fascinating. If you are interested in seeing more go here.

Rejection.

2011-01-15T10:19:00.001+11:00

My little boy has just turned Seven and is all into his Dad at the moment, not so much me. He just puts up with my hugs and cuddles at most. He only wants Dad to read him stories. Last night I went in to to say goodnight after Dad had finished reading and turned out the light. I crept in. "Goodnight Archie" I said softly and hopefully, giving the little bundle a quick cuddle. He growled and out from underneath the sheets came his cross little voice "Oh look! See this is why I can't get to sleep at night!". Which reminds me of a bit of a shameful incident a couple of weeks back. I'd counselled myself that I couldn't keep forcing hugs on him, would find a different way to love him until he was ready to appreciate me again as the parent of choice. As I walked up the hall I decided I would not feel rejected but instead sit at his bedside and explain that much to his relief I would not be forcing cuddles on him anymore but would still be loving him and when he was ready to cuddle again to just come and get one. "Ahhh" he shrieked when he saw me come into his room and hid under the sheets. I lost my patience. "You know Archie" I said crossly "There are some little boys in the world who don't even have a mother to cuddle them!"

"Oh dear" came my partner's reproach from his station at the computer. I know, I know.....

Blue chairs and Floods.

2011-01-13T20:26:00.002+11:00

Source.

Source

How beautiful are these chairs? The top one is fast becoming my dream chair, possibly replacing this one.

Week four of the school holidays and a fair amount of it spent inside due to the rain. Aastonishingly enough I am coping. Australian Summers are funny things. You pray this one wont bring devastating fires like so many do and instead you get a flood. Shocking to see what is happening in Queensland. How unimaginable to lose everything in such a way. I hope the rain will stop soon , that the waters will recede and these Queenslanders can begin to rebuild their lives. If you would like to make a donation to the relief effort a good site is the official one of the Queensland Government HERE.

Hope you are having a nice and peaceful evening!

More Sketchbook. Time running Out...

2011-01-09T12:42:00.003+11:00

Not a lot of time left and this is all I've done in the past two weeks. Am beginning to think I will hold off till the 2012 tour - can you do that I wonder? I still think of the book as in it's beginning stage, hardly complete at all....

This double page is just my playing around with line drawing, doodling and then trying to piece it together in collage. Again, I've used black cardboard because the quality of the original paper just doesn't inspire at all. I like the wait this gives each page too. Maybe I'll try and sqeeze one more effort in before the 15th.....

Letter To The Future me.

2011-01-04T11:47:00.007+11:00

Popping over to Shades of Whim the other day I discovered this great idea you can use in lieu of a new year's resolution list. Just write a letter to yourself at Future Me as if the year is over and you've achieved what you wanted and they will email it back to you in a years time or any other date you choose - however long you think is needed to make the ideas in the letter a reality. I enjoyed Shade of Whim's letter so much I was moved to write my own. After much thought and deep soul searching this is what I came up with:

Dear Future Me,

W.O.W! I've got to hand it to you. While everyone warned against that controversial drug therapy, overseen by that disgraced former football star-cum-immunologist, you just forged ahead with confidence. And look at you now! The health you've always dreamt of having! It's funny though isn't it? I imagined you increasing your study load - or at least finishing all those creative projects sitting around the house - not ditching art school altogether. Still, what an inspired move - spending that small mid year lotto windfall on boxed sets of all your favourite TV shows and then parking yourself on the lounge. Sure some people think you're wasting your life but what, with the side effects of that drug therapy being weight loss and collagen production you're suddenly looking ten years younger instead...

Love to see what you come up with!

Happy New Year!

2010-12-31T16:31:00.001+11:00

Thought I'd interrupt my blog break to say Happy New Year to all my dear blogging friends and thank you for all your thoughtful comments and encouragement this year - not to mention the endless creative inspiration you all send my way. I feel enriched indeed! Here's a little bit of inspiration to see the year out with from Frankie Magazine's recent publication SPACES (a Christmas present of course!). Have a wonderful and safe new year with a great start to 2011 and look forward to connecting with you all soon!!! Xoxox.

More Sketchbook Project 2011.

2010-12-21T17:53:00.001+11:00

The latest double page to reach completion. No real meaning here which is the fun of a sketchbook and is probably why I seem to be falling back on fashion illustration a bit. Astute fashionistas will notice the dodgy Prada knockoff! A big thanks to everyone for their encouragement on my last post - a busy time of year and the clock ticking away at that deadline! I am having fun with it though - like the cut out bit on the right hand page and also I've stuck pages together and pasted in my sketching (which has been done on a much nicer quality paper) so that the result is a cardboard like thickness to each page. Which is nice.

Sketchbook Project 2011 Efforts.

2010-12-17T18:31:00.003+11:00

Here is the first completed double page from my sketchbook. I've been working on 4 open pages at the same time (as you do) but I really don't like my chances for getting the whole book done. I realise now that the project has been going since July (?) whereas I thought October was the start and so only felt one month behind. Now I feel five months behind. Less than a month before I 'postmark' it (sorry, but I don't know what that means - does it mean so long as it is postmarked the 15th of Jan they will accept it no matter how long it takes to arrive??). But I told myself this would not be a stressed project because it is after all the holiday season! (Hooray my partner has weeks off work from tonight!!!). Hope everyone else is gearing up for some relaxing time.

PS. Not sure if anyone has noticed the identity crisis my blog has been undergoing the past month but I now have a new header and am hoping it will not 'turn' on me anytime soon!)

Giving Thanks, Ex- Voto And Detatchable Frida Kahlo.

2010-12-08T20:53:00.000+11:00

I know I complained to anyone who'd listen (Hi Karen!) about having to write an essay AND give a PowerPoint presentation on Frida Kahlo a couple of months ago but the fact is the process was enriching (learning hey, who knew?). I've always been fascinated by Frida Kahlo's circumstances but not so enamoured with her actual work - I just didn't like her style. Researching Frida however and her paintings turned that around somewhat. Now I get it. Still, I wouldn't want to have Frida's My Birth hanging in my living area (Madonna owns the original and decides who'll make it as a friend depending on their reaction) but I do love the kitsch that has grown up around her iconic image and has it's roots in Mexican folk art - the very thing I disliked about her style in the first place. The best part though for me was discovering ex-voto and retablo which were popular in 19th century Mexico and which Frida drew inspiration from. They are small religious paintings on tin which give thanks to a saint for intervening in a tragic event or illness. Sometimes the retablo will depict the tragic event, inscribe a sentence or paragraph abut it and in the corner have the intervening saint. In ex-voto it's just a painting of the saint. Searches on google images or etsy will turn up ex-votos or retablos of Frida Kahlo herself. Like she's the saint now. The saint of suffering or rather triumph of the spirit over suffering I like to think. Which is why when I had lots of tin left over from my chandelier project it seemed obvious that I should make my own Frida ex - voto with a little polymer clay. Then it seemed obvious that with a bit of blu- tac it could be a detachable element of the chandelier - especially if I wanted to push the chandelier over the line into kitsch! As for Affluenza maybe it's just a reminder to give thanks for what we already have. Hope you are enjoying the festive season!

Completed Affluenza Chandelier.

2010-12-01T10:41:00.009+11:00

Phew! The Affluenza Chandelier is complete and has been put past the panel for assessment. Pretty much the most involved project I've ever completed I can finally breath a sigh of relief. It brought it's fair share of stress along the way but I learnt a lot. I now have metal wrangling skills and look at mundane objects and (non vegetable) refuse in a whole new way. I also learnt that if you are sick stay away from permanent super glue based decisions: in these instances blu tac can be your friend. I am also really lucky that we had our assessment in two parts and that I learnt in a forgiving environment that I am NOT, even about a project I know inside out, capable of speaking off the cuff. Fortunately I had a week until the graded panel assessment to get over the virus and learn my presentation off by heart - also rewrite it so it made sense (that helped, who knew?) and sell the concept behind my chandelier the best I could. In the end it seemed too much for some flan tins and plastic cutlery to embody the fullness of Hamilton's arguments in Affluenza so I narrowed it down to a metaphor: the Family Meal. That is taking the time to cook fresh ingredients in enduring materials and nurturing your connections with family and friends around the meal table in contrast with the takeaway meal eaten alone after a twelve hour day at work. The flowers are of course my depiction of the "Down Shifting" Hamilton cites as the cure for Affluenza. They start at the bottom tier, multiply in the middle and by the top tier form a thriving garden. Using yellow also helped me portray the sense of energy and new life and abundance (as opposed to material abundance) that comes from individuals downshifting (shame on anyone who thinks I used yellow because I've got a BIG crush on it and it's SO hot in design right now.....).

As a final note I should probably start calling it the Down Shifting chandelier because, like the book, it ends (and I'm hoping this comes across visually) with the feeling of optimism and new possibility. And plus no body wants a depressing chandelier do they?????

Sketchbook Project 2011.

2010-11-23T12:11:00.002+11:00

A few weeks ago I joined up for Sketchbook Project 2011. I hadn't heard of it until recently and it seemed like a really good idea as I had wanted to use these summer holidays for working on my drawing and nothing works better for me it seems than having a deadline. And this deadline, it occurred to me yesterday, is ridiculously close. This is what I have achieved thus far....

I have an excuse though. I needed to wait until the chandelier was complete and I was free to focus on something else. Well the chandelier is done (!!!!!! will post some pics of it when I get a bit more time) and that gave me the opportunity this weekend to open up the envelope from the Sketchbook Project organisers which contained my moleskin journal and some extra details. Well the first thing that occured to me was "my, the pages are quite thin and there are a lot of them". Not being what I'd imagined I was taken aback. ALARMED in fact. Especially as there is only three months and I have missed the first month busy with course work. So some executive decisions: will use a lot of collage - both to give weight to the pages and to fill them a bit faster. Also I may glue some of the pages together (all artistic decisions obviously....). A quick scout of the web suggests others are wondering about the thin quality of the pages too. Like here. And here. Anyway, what am I doing sitting here blogging when I should be SKETCHING?

Tim Ryan And Gold Lame.

2010-11-17T18:09:00.001+11:00

I love gold lame. Pity then that so few opportunities arise in my life to wear it. I'm starting to wonder though if I should just start wearing it regardless. School pick up? For sure. Saturday morning cricket? Why not! Ask not where one can wear gold lame but where can't one wear it. These are from Tim Ryan's S/S 2011 collection and they side step any connotation I might have for 60's gold lame, Samantha Steven's cocktail wardrobe, and modernise it thoroughly. Great updated silhouettes and really loving it with the pale blues, mauves and shots of graphic black. I hope there's going to be a lot more of this lame going around....

Picture Source.

Good News.

2010-11-15T13:01:00.002+11:00

Good news. Archie seems to be enjoying singing time at school. A lovely surprise when he starts singing a song from school, if a little incompletely, at the dinner table in a soft sweet voice. Something about a bit of algae making friends with a bear, lyrics only my daughter bothers to decode: "Do you realise he's singing about a bear that eats his new friend?" she warned me. And yes, if I'm hearing right the Bear does "grow Bulgy" and the "Bulge is Algae" but does it matter? He's singing. He's participating is the point.

Not so long ago I took my mum to an assembly where Archie had one of the main non speaking parts (bless his teacher) as a pirate. Before the main attraction the music teacher struck up a tune on the piano all of which the children seemed to know and sing along to. Except Archie. Who was staring up at the ceiling. "What's wrong?" I whispered to my mother, alarmed. "Why isn't my little boy joining in the singing?"

"I don't know" whispered my mother, equally confused "It appears he has slipped into a coma".

Three songs later and the ceiling was still holding his attention. Later that afternoon, after congratulating him on his original take on being a pirate, I ask "Why weren't you singing along with all the other little boys and girls?"

"It was bor-wing." he said of which I duly report to my mother.

"...and that's why he wasn't joining in the singing" I tell her.

"Maybe he's Bold and Beautiful" she suggests, confusing the school's 'Gifted and Talented' programme with a mid afternoon soap opera. "Have you spoken with his teacher?"

"Hmmm. It wouldn't hurt to get him tested" I say.

And who knows? Little bits of talent seem to be popping up everywhere. Just this morning he surprised us with his beat box stylings from the back of the car.

"Aka spitting into his hands." Ruby snorts from the passenger's seat, trying not to laugh "Gross......"

French Hanging.

2010-11-13T20:28:00.002+11:00

Source

Source.

With the promise of study wrapping up in a week I've been thinking about the bare walls in my house and what I'd like to do do with them. One option is the french hanging style shown in these pics. They all look wonderfully casual and haphazard but I suspect there's a lot more skill required for this look than it appears and as I may just find out when I try it for myself...

Cool Studio Space.

2010-11-11T10:51:00.001+11:00

I was immediately captured by these interior shots featured a week or so back on Made by Girl. They are of a studio belonging to photographer Bethy from Eden Photography. First of all it's the colours - pale minty green, warm aubergine and then a tomato red chair and a mustard yellow couch thrown in. Beautiful, oringinal, quirky and different to anything else I've seen. If it looks a bit like a cubby house that's because it was oringinally a chicken coop in the 1900s, then the family playhouse and now the backyard studio. It just looks like such a fun place to be and create in.

The Crap Parent Award.

2010-11-04T11:14:00.000+11:00

Wow, two awards in one week! First the Versatile Blogger Award and now The Crap Parent Award which I have awarded to my partner and myself for the following incidents.

- Driving our daughter and her friends home accross town from band rehearsals in a car with a clutch about to give. Limping home in the dark having to restart the car every time gears need changing. Of course the kids loved the drama. "We thought we were going to die!!!" my daughter's friend gleefully told her mother, having to be picked up from our place where the trip was finally aborted.

- Sending our daughter off on the state band tour at 7.30 in the morning sans trumpet. Daughter's friend's dad (who is chauffering because our car has dodgy clutch) rings up at destination in panic "Missing a trumpet".

- Discover later on that father of daughter's friend has also stopped en route at bakery for danish pastry when our daughter announces no one has fed her that morning.

We accept our Crap Parent Award as duly deserved and are happy to pass it on to whom ever else feels worthy.

The Versatile Blogger Award.

2010-11-02T21:33:00.005+11:00

Excitement plus! I have been awarded The Versatile Blogger Award by the lovely (and obviously discerning) Anna of Anna's Paraply. I often fret that my blog can't make up it's mind what it wants to focus on but I'm thinking the word versatile has a really good ring to it. Thank you Anna for this honour! So here's how it's done: First the rules for accepting this award:

1. Thank and link back to who gave you the award.

2. Share 7 things about yourself.

3. Pass it along to 7 blogs you've recently discovered and enjoy.

4. Leave your recipients a note, telling them about the award.

So here we go - Seven things about myself you were dying to know....

1. I don't like classical music but can't help thinking I'm missing out on something.

2. When I was ten I spied Dick Emery - the flamboyant comedian from 1970's British television skit-fest 'The Dick Emery Show' - at our tiny local airport. I bet my cousin I could get Dick Emery's autograph and got the airport staff to take me into the "celebrity" quarters where he was drinking scotch with his entourage at ten in the morning. He was wearing a decadent long fur coat with massive amounts of gold bling and when I emerged with the autograph everyone wanted a piece of me.

3.I loved the X-Files back in the 1990s and still can't forgive David Duchovny for not getting in shape for the 2008 follow up movie X-Files: I Want To Believe. I spent the first half hour thinking "When's he going to lose the fat suit?"

4.I dream of the day I get a job in Borders and the manager says "Does anyone want this old pile of glossy international fashion magazines?"

5. I love the movie Ghost World.

6. As a teenager I attended a British boarding school just like the one in Harry Potter. Being a major sports talent they trotted me out to win every single match, game, tournament and race for them. As a consequence I was always too tired to study and thats the reason I didn't perform academically. Oh hang on! That wasn't me, that was my husband. I guess I've just heard that story so many times over the years I've gotten confused and thought it was mine. Sorry.

7. I originally started this blog as a way out of the lost housewife rut I'd found myself in. It worked!

NB. Apologies to my husband for stealing one of his life experiences for blog fodder and who by the way did manage to perform academically despite all the demands put on his resources!

Now to pass on the award. I nominate:

1. Lady Of the Arts.
2. Inaluxe.
3. 3 Sheets.
4. Vanilla Scraps.
5. Ruby-Robin.
6. Dear Olive.
7. Blue Moss.

I hope they all enjoy the challenge!
PS.

Grady McFerrin.

2010-10-29T19:06:00.000+11:00

I can't remember how I stumbled across Grady McFerrin and his beautiful letterpress illustrations but it was instant love. I would like to see him do a children's book - preferably with a vintage circus theme as he seems to have a lot of vintage circus type graphics in his portfolio and there's nothing I love more than a vintage circus. That in my opinion would be getting close to illustration heaven...

See the rest of his portfolio here.

Orla Kiely's Yellow Velvet Dress

2010-10-27T09:41:00.021+11:00

More sixties retro from Orla Kiely that you might already have seen. I LOVE the yellow velvet dress but if you think about it, how easy would it be to wear that colour? Or a thick velvet if you are short? I can imagine myself impulse buying it then getting home, trying it on, looking in the mirror and going "Oh my god, what was I thinking? I look like a chubby extra from the set of To Sir With Love, not in fact like the model dancing on her own in a wood panelled den." Lucky it's prohibitively priced and I don't know where you'd buy Orla Kiely. Cool party dress nonetheless. Go for it rich, skinny girls...

Gender Studies 101.

2010-10-24T20:58:00.004+11:00

Archie was telling me the other day how funny one of the boys in his class was being, a child with a rep for being the naughtiest boy in the kindergarten class. I said "Did everyone think he was being funny?"

Archie said "Just the boys".

I said "Why don't the girls think he's being funny?"

Archie said "Because they know he's being naughty"

"Don't the boys know he's being naughty?" I asked.

"Yes" said Archie "But they can't help it"

It was hard to know what to say next. You'd probably pay a psychologist with a Phd in gender studies a fortune to reach an insight like that...

The Daily Foto Project.

2010-10-20T13:04:00.003+11:00

No nice way to say this - I'm hating the affluenza chandelier. It's a logistical nightmare. Too many pieces, too ambitious and it's going to embarrass the hell out of me in two weeks time when I have to present it to the 'panel' of industry experts. Only one thing to do when this happens: steal some nice pics off etsy and get them to pretty up my blog. These photos come from thedailyfoto - a photographer named Melissa from Australia who is self taught. The images I've chosen here are from a daily photo project where she will take 365 photos in 365 days. Whatever catches her eye on the day I guess. I particularly like her eye for colour and her sense of the graphic. The photos can be bought on etsy where Melissa also tells the story behind the image and as an added plus $5 of each sale goes to your choice of charity!

Affluenza Chandelier Update.

2010-10-16T17:14:00.005+11:00

Only two more weeks until first stage assessment begins on my Affluenza Chandelier - the project I am working on for the Reclaim Reframe brief that pretty much forms all the assessment for this year's course work. The phrases "Bitten off" and "More than I can chew" keep coming to mind. At least I have settled on the two manafactured pre -used materials and the form my 3D structure will take (the chandelier). Above are the (time consuming) metal flowers made from the base of used flan tins that will decorate the outer tins (I will need at least double what is done here) and then plastic cutlery used as the "crystals". Getting more 'flowers' done and the putting it together so that it looks like the picture I have in my head (!!) is the next logical step. True to form I'm having stressful dreams about the whole thing!

Why?

2010-10-14T22:22:00.001+11:00

Bad News. The junior school has seen fit to install a sand pit. I thought the days of picking up my son and 2kg of sand everyday in his shoes was a thing of the past. Why would the school do that to me? Why? Why?????

A First.

2010-10-11T21:03:00.000+11:00

A huge first for me this week - all alone in the house while my partner and two children fly down to Melbourne for a week's family holiday. I had planned to go as usual despite some pretty big misgivings about my health. But as the time drew nearer those misgivings grew louder and louder until I could not ignore them anymore. The usual solution of me coming along and resting back at the hotel/apartment while everyone did the zoo/museum/gallery/fun park thing made my heart weep. Then an inspired compromise: why don't I stay home, gathering my energy, and fly down a few days afterwards? So here I am in my quiet little house recieving text messages like how "coot" the Meerkats were at Melboune zoo, how dad lets them have Hungry Jacks for lunch and frozen lasagne for dinner. As for me last night I got over twelve hours sleep. It's often said sleep is the best medicine of all and how true that seems to be. Things seem a lot clearer when you are well rested too - like a life lived on the back foot all the time is not such a great one. To this end I've been collating ideas of how I might live a better life despite illness. Practical stuff like getting groceries delivered to the house as doing the shopping, quite honestly, sucks the life right out of me. Then sacrifices such as no reading novels when they keep me up all night and leave me worse for wear the next day. And maybe the study will need to be cut back even further? It all sounds so New Years Resolution doesn't it. but it's been a dificult year and some changes do seem in order....I guess we'll see....

Macaroons and An Unexpected Gift.

2010-09-28T17:27:00.000+10:00

Had coffee with a friend last week at the portrait gallery and was surprised with this lovely gift - a vintage table cloth in a fab kitsch print that immediately inspired several textile projects (all stalled at the theoretical stage but still....). Wrapped cutely I was quite beside myself with this unsolicited gift.

A gorgeous Spring day, good company, cultured surroundings, a pretty green pot of camomile tea, a $3.50 pink macaroon and a cool retro gift...can't ask for much more than that can you?

Best Medicine.

2010-09-23T21:14:00.005+10:00

Struggling this week with a virus that is refusing to make itself fully known. Coward. When that happens the best medicine is of course amazing imagery. My eyes can dance even if the rest of me can't. Enjoy!

By Vivienne Strauss

Cardboard cutouts from Orla Kielly via Creates Loves

source.

Source.

Tempsperdu

Elanora Arroyo Illustrations.

2010-09-21T21:10:00.003+10:00

I am such a sucker for miniature and diorama but these illustrative pieces by Elanora Arroyo are beyond cute. My favourite above evokes the magical, quiet of the world at night - or maybe he is an astral traveller - I can almost feel a warm breeze and hear the twinkle of stars....

The neutral palette with hits of red are a favourite too. See more like it here.

Book Week.

2010-09-18T10:06:00.001+10:00

A week ago now but Book Week at the school ended on Friday with a dress up assembly. Funny, I always saw myself as the mother who would be whipping up elaborate original costumes when the occassion arose but I realise now I was thinking of another mother entirely, not in fact myself. Not to worry - the kids assembled their own costumes - Batman and Harry Potter. See those blue girls sports pants doubling for Batman's uhmm...shorts... over his grey tights? That was my idea. Go me. Frankly though I was surprised he went for the suggestion. Glad he did though, they complete the ensemble. Otherwise it might just look like Batman pajamas with a vampire cape....

Hope. Spring. Maternal.

2010-09-15T11:34:00.001+10:00

Ah Spring! Thank goodness you are here. Late. A bit chilly. But still here you are! All is forgiven as you melt the misery of this recent and difficult winter away. Some little thank-yous are necessary. Thankyou to my mum and dad who, while always helpful, really stepped things up these last three months taking the kids to school in the mornings and picking them up again in the afternoon with a grocery run thrown in between. Dad rescuing my sick car last month and mum making sure I had a spare meal in the fridge and a fresh load of laundry out on the line. Not to mention working a bit of her magic in the house. Remember Bewitched and how Samantha Stevens could twitch her nose and go into a speed clean that had the house clean in twenty seconds whenever Darren called to say he was bringing clients home for dinner and the house was a total mess with only a few minutes till they arrived? Thats my mother. Without the nose twitching. Or the cocktail dress. One minute it's like a bomb has gone off in the kitchen and the next minute it's clean. I don't know how it's done but I sure am grateful. It's one thing to be sick but to be sick in a house that has no order is another thing entirely.

Other thank -you's: my intended of the last thirteen years for picking up the slack without complaint and dear friends who make everything seem brighter - even if it is with dark humour! Thankyou!!!

Dear Virus.

2010-09-10T09:56:00.005+10:00

Dear Flu Virus,
When you first arrived over two months ago now I wasn't happy about it but thought I would keep my feelings to myself and just bear out your time with grace. I didn't complain that you had turned up uninvited or bring up the bad time we had the last time you stayed. I didn't mention how my kids resent you or how awkward it is having you suck up all my energy and attention when they need it more. I guess the first real problems began when I said I would put you up for a while but not to expect me to change my plans for you. I made it clear that I would be continuing to go about my activities and that my children needs would be coming first. I think that's when you really took offence and decided to make your presence truly felt. All of a sudden we were doing what YOU wanted, when YOU wanted it. Eating what YOU wanted to eat. Sleeping when YOU wanted to sleep. Spending insane amounts of MY money at the chemist (btw you've never paid me back). Even when I tried to sneak out to class on weeknights I found you had tagged along, then set about distracting me the whole time I was there. In the end it was just easier not to go and now I'm behind. In short it was all about YOU. But tolerence has it's limits. That's why I am writing this and hoping my message gets through loud and clear: you are not welcome. When I wake up tommorrow morning I want you gone and I don't want to find a single trace of you left behind.
Please......

Reclaim, Reframe.

2010-09-03T10:27:00.003+10:00

Have begun work on what is to be the the main project for this years study and supposed to draw on everything we have learnt so far. It will also be the main source of our grade for the year (no pressure!). As always when I see a brief I can't imagine how I'll ever begin to find a solution to it. Titled Reclaim Reframe we must use two recycled manafactured materials deconstructed and reformed into a 3D form which meets a percieved challenge in the area of one of following: Economics, Agriculture, Environment, Ergonomics...The difficulty here is the limit of two materials. To be honest I just let this go for a couple of weeks, completely at a loss. I don't feel comfortable with 3D and it did cross my mind, with the flu still in active residence, that this might just be my quit point. But it's early days to be giving up. I should at least see how I go, right? So here I am now with three old flan tins of various sizes and a book that 'speaks' to me - "Affluenza" by Clive Hamilton. Hamilton is the founder and former director of progressive think tank The Australia Institute and this book looks at how our increased wealth as a nation has not brought us increased happiness but instead tied us to longer work hours and a slavish devotion to consumerism. So somehow I have to reflect these issues in a piece of art. Seems a lot to ask of a flan tin doesn't it? So far my idea is to use the three outer tins as tiers for a chandelier and then cut up and rework the circular plates for hanging pieces. I'm calling it the Affluenza Chandelier (feel free to laugh). I've never worked with metal before so it's a real learning curve. Lucky I still have a second material to discover and I'm hoping when found it will magically bring the issues Hamilton so eloquently presents in his book come to life. Plastic forks perhaps??????

New Cat On The Block.

2010-08-29T14:59:00.003+10:00

Poor Cat. It hasn't been the easiest few months for her. Not only did she come to stay with someone who was paranoid about the risks of Kitty Litter on a compromised immune system but she had moved into a neighborhood where a nasty clique of Mean Cats roamed. These Mean Cats started up an intimidation campaign almost immediately. They would approach right up onto our deck as she innocently sunned herself on a deck chair. A warning hiss would bring me to the window where I would bang on the pane to scare these shameless intruders (I swear one was the size of a small lion) away. They gave her no peace. On Monday we noticed something hideous on her back leg. Suspecting she'd been attacked by a small lion we took her to the vet. It turned out out she had been attacked but probably a couple of weeks ago resulting in a hideous abscess. This would require a $380 operation, a shunt inserted and some antibiotics. All things considered I decided that this was not a good place for Poor Cat to convalesce. It was decided Poor Cat would be far more comfortable with original owner Grandma in her cosy unit, cutting short the proposed six month stay. And there she is, beside herself I am told, with comfort. Back to being the House Cat she originally was with her doting carers. Smart Cat. How could something so good come from something so nasty she probably asks herself as she enjoys the civilised life, catching sight of the shunt in her leg. And all it cost was $380 (insert strained smile here)...

House On The Mind.

2010-08-18T11:50:00.001+10:00

Not sure why but a lot of my sketching involves girls wearing a house on their head. I'm pretty sure it's not a fashion thing. At least I hope not. I do dream a lot about houses (with maze like interiors) and apparently to do so is to explore an emotional vulnerability. It kind of makes sense. The sketch below adds in another favourite theme: the circus. Not sure what that means.

The Principles of Uncertainty

2010-08-16T20:44:00.002+10:00

Well the virus still has it's ugly claws into me, not willing to let go yet. Some days I think it might be relenting, others I see it has a while yet to go. So far I've been getting by in surrender mode, study going by the wayside for the time being. I haven't given up though and art, mostly in books (have found the internet a bit overwhelming), continues to inspire and enliven. Scored for myself a second hand copy of "The principles of Uncertainty" by Maira Kalman, "visual columnist from the NY Times", in hardcover for $19.00. Such beautiful and joyful work. Her colours remind me of Matisse. Hope you enjoy this sample of the book and look I forward to reconnecting some time! xoxo

July Is A Battle.

2010-07-14T10:28:00.003+10:00

Illness I can't shake.

And this cold dark July weather.

Fortunately, and miraculously, the fashion photography by Paolo Reversi in the June issue of British Vogue reaches out to me with it's soft colours

as though rendered in chalky pastels.

A place to rest tired eyes.

Cat Issues.

2010-07-03T12:18:00.006+10:00

Consult psychologist acquaintance over inability to bond with one's own cat, though in discreet anonymous type manner. Say "My friend is concerned she is not bonding with her cat." Psychologist acquaintance suggests empathising. Says "Maybe your friend should try putting herself in cat's shoes".

Look sideways at psychologist acquaintance "Hmmmm. Thank you, yes, will let friend know".

Am not keen to put self in Cat's shoes but as am humane caring individual with background in Year 12 sociology/fashion magazine pop psychology cannot help ponder the plight of today's cat. After all it cannot be easy living up to Dominant Cat Stereotype perpetuated by Hollywood. For example what becomes of the cat who finds themselves with neither sassy wit nor sideline in sardonic observation?

Determine to let Cat know am understanding of this.

Inspiring Or Just Intimidating?

2010-07-02T12:32:00.000+10:00

There is so much amazing art, craft and illustration available to view on the internet that it can be overwhelming. On the one hand it's incredibly inspiring. On the other it can be intimidating and demoralising. I know that's a strong word to use but for anyone who has really just started out on formal training the inspiration found on the web can quickly cross that line. Especially if you glutton it down in big sittings as I do. Then I think how that time should've been spent drawing or painting, doing the hard yards and developing the better eye/hand co-ordination drawing requires. I guess it comes down to this: hard work - the stuff that is going to get you where you want - is hard work. Just hard. Haven't seen my drawing improve in some time despite effort. But if I'm honest it hasn't been the full effort. More just scribbling at 9.30 in the evenings in front of the TV. Need to dig down deeper for more committment than that. Maybe it's just the Canberra weather....these low tempreatures sucking the creativity right out of me...

Catty Confrontation.

2010-06-30T11:13:00.004+10:00

Lost temper with Cat. It is just as people say. They care only for themselves. Thought would make feel at home with grand gesture. Got out collection of Italian Vogues and called cat over. She couldn't have cared less! Turned up nose and pushed past me. Could not bite tongue any longer. Said "That's it. I am making all this effort to get on and you are making none!" She just looked at me coolly and left the room.

Hmmmmm.

2010-06-28T11:38:00.006+10:00

Hmmmm. Concerned with six year olds subject of artistic inquiry. Have gone overnight from drawing colourful pets and hapless dinosaurs to sketches of trench warfare.

Where's that coming from? Surely if six year old was needing to express angst in own artwork we'd see drawings of playground arguments or a plate of mummy's muffins. Not unarmed civilians being shot at by tanks as they climb out of trenches. The air raid looks pretty scary too. When asked he said they were in a different classroom for Indonesian Studies and found an "army picture" under the desk he was at. That day he came home, went straight to his room and whipped up the above two page art extravaganza within fifteen minutes. Army Picture sure made impression.

Of course wont make big deal of it. Not that kind of mother. Will tell six year old they are lovely drawings and look forward to one of similar on next years Mother's Day card.

PS Click on images to see all the action.

Cat Bonding.

2010-06-24T12:36:00.006+10:00

Cat and Self continue to pass one another in house with polite wariness. Feel as am host efforts to bond with Cat are incumbent on Self. To this end will rent Twilight movies for Cat and Self to watch when others are out tomorrow. Will make morning of it.

Picture: Snowball II from The Simpsons.

Some Eye Candy.

2010-06-23T14:17:00.004+10:00

These are to cheer me up today.

Cat Arrives Today.

2010-06-20T20:23:00.004+10:00

Cat set to arrive in afternoon. Clear space in laundry for cat bed and buy cat food. Purchase Kit Kat chocolate treat for self. Write short list of rules for Cat to abide by. Include no going in bedrooms and no scratching furniture (please). Laminate and put by cat bed. Start to worry Cat will feel unwelcome. Dash to local video rental for Garfield 2. Have it playing on television for when Cat arrives. That Bill Murray. Probably best work yet.

Italian Vogue.

2010-06-19T10:33:00.004+10:00

It's hard to justify the price of Italian vogue and yet, somehow I do. Flicking through the latest copy at Borders last week the usual excuses were paraded through my head. Everything from the reasonable "I just won't buy any coffees this month" to the desperate "I'll home school the kids next term" (then the realisation they don't attend a private school anyway).

Maybe if I share some of it though I can turn my private vice into a public good.......

Clunk, Roll.

2010-06-14T14:11:00.008+10:00

I try not to go on here about the onslaught of colds and flu autumn brings my way. Not because I'm adverse to whinging - on the contrary, I find it lends me a certain charm - but because it's hard to find a nice photo to go with a post topic like that. (This may soon change. I am currently working on a series of embroideries of the influenza H1N1 virus, aka swine flu, so we'll see how that goes). But in the interests of record keeping, which was one of the original intentions of this blog, I just wanted to get it down here that I have only just recovered from a very nasty knee infection from when my partner pushed me down a flight of stairs a few weeks ago. OK, didn't actually push me, I shouldn't say that. More turned the outdoor light off just as I stepped out for the laundry. Deliberately. OK, not deliberately. Just turned off a light that seemed to be on for no reason. Though the timing did seem suspicious. And why would I put the decking light on for no reason? Think electricity police meets possible opportunistic prank. Think two weeks barely out of bed except to go to the surgery and get the dressing changed. Think painful and inconvenient. Anyway the point is: it was nobodies fault. But if it was someones fault they shouldn't feel bad. Don't feel bad honey.

So what's it like to fall down a flight of stairs? Like anybody I had often found myself wondering the same thing. What would be going through your head for example as you fell??? I was amazed to read once that Princess Diana had thrown herself down a flight in front of Charles as a kind of cry for help. Which sounds very sad and desperate. In my case I had no idea I was falling until the first clunk-roll in a series of clunk-rolls so was surprised to find my thoughts quite calm. Less "There are three of us in this marriage" and more "Bummer, the final episode of Desperate Romantics is about to start in five minutes". Of course Diana probably threw herself down a long marble staircase where as mine was just nine or ten timber steps. OK, more like six. Alright five. But the final clunk-roll was my skull on concrete. Amazingly no real injuries, just sore bits and bruises and a friction burn on my knee I paid no heed to. Hence the infection. Which was very painful and inconvenient. And as I said - no one's fault.

Image: artists impression of mummy falling down stairs.

Happy Dressing, Bright Colour.

2010-06-10T09:32:00.003+10:00

Always the way with clothes - you find the best stuff when you're not looking. Passing by Portman's the other day I glanced at the sales rack outside the shop and spotted this pretty orange/red and blue flowered pattern. It turned out to be a vintage style, Forties inspired silk dress. One Hundred and Twenty Nine dollars reduced to Twenty Five. In my size.

> cue hyperventillation <

A fun dress to layer with (true, no real option - it's a Canberra winter after all!) and already I'm loving the orangey red with this creamy turquoise blue cardigan (a hard colour to photograph correctly, I think I came close though). Not exactly winter colours are they? But a little bit of what might be needed with the temperatures hovering around 6 lately and the sun not showing it's face!

Ghost World - Top Five Favourite Movie.

2010-06-05T18:47:00.009+10:00

One of my most favourite movies of all time ever is Ghost World - the movie adaptation of Daniel Clowes cult comic about misfit teenager Enid and her best friend Rebecca. There are so many reasons why this movie is a treasured DVD in my collection but take for starters the casting - it is pitch perfect. Thora Birch as Enid and Scarlett Johansson as Rebecca are inspired choices for the two alienated yet too-cool-for-school just-graduated best friends but really it's Steve Buscemi as the reclusive Seymour whom Enid befriends which makes the movie. His character is so fully concieved and painfully rendered that at times it's hard to watch. The addition of Illeanna Douglas (totally underated actress), as the hysterical and embarressingly hippie art teacher, is the icing on the cake.

But for anyone who appreciates a movie's style as much as it's substance (or even more than!) this movie is heaven from the very first frame. The credits open with the fabulous "Jaan Pehechan Ho" number from a 1965 Bollywood musical "Gumnaam" as Enid gets ready for her graduation ceremony. If this scene - an intersperse of the "Jaan Pehechan Ho" number with views into the windows and lives of anonymous inhabitants of the apartment block Enid lives in, as she dances to the video in her tiny room - doesn't get you in I don't know what will. Watch it below and see if you just don't want to hire it immediately. Otherwise I might have to bring my copy around to your house, pop it in your player and sit there watching you expectantly through all my favourite bits. Which I'm told is really off putting.

You Tube clip of Ghost World intro. (sorry, can't seem to embed it here. Can anyone offer tips besides cut and paste?)

Rochas Groovy Autumn 2010 Runway Show.

2010-06-04T09:16:00.001+10:00

Heaven is Rochas recent runway show in Paris. Retro seventies, back combed hair, lots of leopard print and all that soft lemon and bright turquoise. As for the pantsuits - sooooo Samantha Stevens. Happy and fun fashion - the best kind of all.

Birthday Greetings.

2010-06-01T09:49:00.002+10:00

Sunday was my beautiful niece Talia's Seventeenth birthday. I've been making these sort of cards for her for ten years now and she's one of my favourite people to do them for. This one took a while as I started with the black and white flocked (mmmmm... love flocked) paper and then couldn't get anything to fit against it without being lost into the pattern. So the end product is really a result of the problem solving that ensued and yellow coming to the rescue. (Is there anything yellow can't do? Still in love with it and especially loving it with deep emerald green). As an added bonus the card matched the present which always pleases me no end and leads to a photo shoot. Then it was off to my brother's house to give Talia her present and meet their new puppy Maggie who, as is the thing for playful puppies, was completly adorable. I also got to try on some of Talia's impressive shoe collection. We have the same size feet but obviously not the same lifestyle. There is no where I can think of to wear these heels and even if there was I wouldn't trust myself not to incur an injury just walking out the door...Not that I don't party mind you. The Kindergarten party curcuit has been running hot lately with a little boy turning six nearly every weekend. Archie and I have been trotting out to one of these on a regular basis. In fact we had to leave Talia's celebration early just to make one of them (a bit of an upset though when I got Archie dressed up, present in hand and into the car - all in the pouring rain - only to get to the party destination and discover we were a day early.... oooops...better than a day late, right Arch?). Anyway, still a good day. Cake, candles, cousins, cards and puppies. Happy Birthday Talia! xoxo