One of the hardest things about moving house after such a long time is deciding what to keep and what to discard. In our case both M.O.T.H. and I come from families where books are rarely-if ever- discarded.
Last week I got all fired up and culled about a thousand books from our collection and boxed them up in readiness for the garage sale this weekend. (NO FOLKS NONE OF MY TEXTILE BOOKS ARE GOING *blush*) Consequent to that I have come down with a bug that has laid me low for a few days. Which reminded me of my special comfort - my books. Always when I have been sick in the past I have recovered by being able to read and transport myself from the misery into my books- mostly familiar tales when I am sick. ie books I have read before.
Probably the the longest lived comfort book is "To Kill A Mockingbird" by Harper Lee. It was set as a text for my class in the 70's and I have revisited the book at least yearly since then. In many ways I identified with Scout, being precocious as a child and a Daddy's Girl and the gentle humour of the observations of Miss Lee's family always touched a chord. At around the same age as Scout was in the book I caused something of a minor tremor in the Convent school I was educated in when I suggested innocently to an elderly Irish nun the maybe Jesus was a Communist. When called on to explain this by the principal of my school she saw my point and then suggested that perhaps it was kinder not to antagonise Sr Mary Michaeli with this point of view. To me at that age it smacked of hypocrisy in the same way the townsfolk do to Scout in To Kill A Mockingbird.
Coincidentally To Kill a Mockingbird also came into my life at around the same time I became politically aware. South Africa was hitting the headlines for firing on children who had decided they were not going to be taught in the language of their oppressors Afrikaans. To me as a student in Australia it resonated with an awfulness that made it personal and my interest in South Africa was born which leads me ultimately to my second Comfort Book
The Long Walk To Freedom by Nelson Mandela. What a man! After so long in jail he could have come out consumed with a desire for revenge and hatred but instead this most compassionate of men gave the world a long overdue lesson.
Then there is Rosalie Ham's "The Dressmaker" An Australian Gothic tale of revenge and small towns of which I understand quite well having been brought up in a smallish country town in Victoria. If any textilers are reading this I can wholly recommend this tale for laughs and interest.
I use my comfort books in different ways. When I am tired or stressed out I run a bath and select one and slide into the warm water and just let myself go.
'Mockingbird' is for days like that, that easy familiarity of family stories are enough to sustain me through the bath before it moves into the darker moments of the book and the trial of Tom Robinson. I usually dont completely read it but I refresh my memory of Scout and Atticus and Jem.
When I am appalled at the state of humanity it is Mandela I turn to, a voice of reason when the whole world seems insane- much read during the madness following September 11, 2001 and the disaster that has become the US adventure in Iraq.
And when I am mightily pissed off at someone or something and would ache to do revenge- something I dont do because basically I am a big chicken (grin) I turn to Tilly in the The Dressmaker and vicariously despatch summary justice.
so what Comfort books to you guys read?
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Five Unique States
The self prescribed brief was the explore parts of printmaking and incorporate it into my work
Using the same lino cut block I had to create five unique states-just a quickie to show what I have been doing away from the computer
photography a bit shaky this morning- must be low blood sugar LOL
a variety to techniques incorporated with the single block inspired by a piece of Art Nouveau jewellery,
Friday, September 07, 2007
Work in progress
Some more of the leaf prints, thinking about this as a project for printing some yardage as well as completing part of my printmaking contract, could be interesting to print the fabric and then dye it later as well as just printing the fabric with the design using two printmaking methods. M.O.T.H and my buddy were both pretty keen on this idea.
Oh well we will see what develops
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Work in Paradise?
I have been asked if I did any work in Paradise?
Well yes I did but havent done anything about recording it as yet
this is a just a quickie preview of what will be incorporated in the second part of my three part contract for school at this stage
a combination of monoprinting and block printing techniques
Sunday, September 02, 2007
More adventures in Paradise
In one direction here comes the sun
In the other:
Moon over the hills behind Port Douglas
The first sight on rising
On the 28th there was a lunar eclipse and my dear mate suggested that we sail out to Low Isles and watch it without any light pollution and because most nights the clouds had closed in around the house. We checked the weather before we left and duly sailed out in the afternoon in quite a stiff breeze and with lots of cloud around and moored to spend the evening waiting. I offered foolishly to make up the berths while Ken organised dinner and came out of his cabin after making up his bed a slight (or maybe not so slight if his reaction was anything to go by) shade of green. The only time I have ever been seasick in my life was once when I was already feeling unwell with my dad. I denied being ill and sat and ate dinner which had lots of ginger in it and then just tried to calm myself and breathe in fresh air etc.
But the boat was rocking in all directions and even Ken was having difficulty moving around. He suggested we went back and I said I could ride it out but he observed we wouldnt sleep in this weather and that the clouds had closed in and we wouldnt see the eclipse anyway. So we cast off and set sail back to Port Douglas with a reefed main. Which will mean something to sailing afficionadoes but bugger all to me up until last Tuesday night.
What followed was some of the scariest moments of my life. Ken was brilliant, calm and assured while I was panicking like mad inside and battling to keep my dinner in my tummy. Waves would hit us and the boat rode them all pretty well and I was pretty much safe in the cabin albeit decidedly nauseous. Ken estimated it was blowing about 30 knots at least but his beautiful boat is built for such conditions.
I think the scariest moment was when he used "George" the auto pilot and disappeared from view (to have a pee) but I just couldnt see him and that scared me silly because I really am a novice at sailing. But he called back when I freaked and I calmed down when he came back into view. Fighting off the nausea was helped by a pack of extra strong peppermints - each time I felt it come on I would shove another one down my throat.
After a while the rocking seemed a little less wild (very little) but I needed desperately to be horizontal and laid down on the seat and closed my eyes and talked myself into calm state by sort of hypnotising myself that I was a kid again and in the back of my parent's car on the way home from the beach. Sometime later Ken called out that the cloud had blown apart and we could see the eclipse- the moon was orange red but I was just too sick and sorry for myself to dig out my camera and just laid there for a bit just watching it but it began to look like a drunken orange ping pong ball and I felt a bit queasy again so I just shut my eyes. I think I did managed to sleep for a bit because the next thing I knew was the sound of the diesel engine starting up and the sensation of calm water. I came up on deck to find us sailing between the leads at Port Douglas.
My poor mate was frozen because of the water splashing on him and the wind but he had got us home safe as promised. By this time the moon had fully emerged and was a glowing silver orb again as we motored up the creek to anchor up past the moorings because the tide was ripping out and I was not going to be any help to him at all in mooring and he was tired after that sail.
He was brilliant and after a hot drink we both decided to get some sleep and we woke up the next morning to the most beautiful calm morning with the moon setting in the west while the sun was rising in the east. Originally we were going to sail again that day but the strong winds had come in and hadnt let up by Friday when I left so we set off back up the hill and retreated to the comfort of the verandah and the joys of roast leg of goat - YUM.
My mate is my hero too now ;-) seriously I did try and stay calm and largely succeeded I hope because I was very scared especially when he was using 'George' and one of these days I am gonna buy George a drink!!!
In the other:
Moon over the hills behind Port Douglas
The first sight on rising
On the 28th there was a lunar eclipse and my dear mate suggested that we sail out to Low Isles and watch it without any light pollution and because most nights the clouds had closed in around the house. We checked the weather before we left and duly sailed out in the afternoon in quite a stiff breeze and with lots of cloud around and moored to spend the evening waiting. I offered foolishly to make up the berths while Ken organised dinner and came out of his cabin after making up his bed a slight (or maybe not so slight if his reaction was anything to go by) shade of green. The only time I have ever been seasick in my life was once when I was already feeling unwell with my dad. I denied being ill and sat and ate dinner which had lots of ginger in it and then just tried to calm myself and breathe in fresh air etc.
But the boat was rocking in all directions and even Ken was having difficulty moving around. He suggested we went back and I said I could ride it out but he observed we wouldnt sleep in this weather and that the clouds had closed in and we wouldnt see the eclipse anyway. So we cast off and set sail back to Port Douglas with a reefed main. Which will mean something to sailing afficionadoes but bugger all to me up until last Tuesday night.
What followed was some of the scariest moments of my life. Ken was brilliant, calm and assured while I was panicking like mad inside and battling to keep my dinner in my tummy. Waves would hit us and the boat rode them all pretty well and I was pretty much safe in the cabin albeit decidedly nauseous. Ken estimated it was blowing about 30 knots at least but his beautiful boat is built for such conditions.
I think the scariest moment was when he used "George" the auto pilot and disappeared from view (to have a pee) but I just couldnt see him and that scared me silly because I really am a novice at sailing. But he called back when I freaked and I calmed down when he came back into view. Fighting off the nausea was helped by a pack of extra strong peppermints - each time I felt it come on I would shove another one down my throat.
After a while the rocking seemed a little less wild (very little) but I needed desperately to be horizontal and laid down on the seat and closed my eyes and talked myself into calm state by sort of hypnotising myself that I was a kid again and in the back of my parent's car on the way home from the beach. Sometime later Ken called out that the cloud had blown apart and we could see the eclipse- the moon was orange red but I was just too sick and sorry for myself to dig out my camera and just laid there for a bit just watching it but it began to look like a drunken orange ping pong ball and I felt a bit queasy again so I just shut my eyes. I think I did managed to sleep for a bit because the next thing I knew was the sound of the diesel engine starting up and the sensation of calm water. I came up on deck to find us sailing between the leads at Port Douglas.
My poor mate was frozen because of the water splashing on him and the wind but he had got us home safe as promised. By this time the moon had fully emerged and was a glowing silver orb again as we motored up the creek to anchor up past the moorings because the tide was ripping out and I was not going to be any help to him at all in mooring and he was tired after that sail.
He was brilliant and after a hot drink we both decided to get some sleep and we woke up the next morning to the most beautiful calm morning with the moon setting in the west while the sun was rising in the east. Originally we were going to sail again that day but the strong winds had come in and hadnt let up by Friday when I left so we set off back up the hill and retreated to the comfort of the verandah and the joys of roast leg of goat - YUM.
My mate is my hero too now ;-) seriously I did try and stay calm and largely succeeded I hope because I was very scared especially when he was using 'George' and one of these days I am gonna buy George a drink!!!
A Perfect Day in Paradise
A blissful day of sun and sea and snorkelling and despite sunburn it remains a highlight of my stay
Junk under sail back from Low Isles
My mate the sea king ;-)
Sailing with my mate on a blue sky day
Junk under sail back from Low Isles
My mate the sea king ;-)
Sailing with my mate on a blue sky day
wildlife and wanderings in paradise
Resident wallaby eyeing off his chances of having a munch in the vegie patch.
They wander around the trees and do have a nibble but stick mostly to the grass thankfully for Ken's trees.
Curlews in the garden
there are actually three of them but the youngster was hidden well back
the 'Aunties' on tick patrol
this flock of three guinea fowl have made their home in the region of my friend's house and apparently they are the bee's knees when it comes to controlling ticks in the area but they must be slipping because Ken had one on his shoulder just before I got up there and Heidi- the neighbour's dog had one on her ear. But I got a lesson in tick searching which will be handy to have when I get my dog and for making sure Miss Jazzy stays tick free- although she seems to have turned into an inside pussy cat lately and up there I would prefer she remain indoors most of the time because of the wildlife.
They wander around the trees and do have a nibble but stick mostly to the grass thankfully for Ken's trees.
Curlews in the garden
there are actually three of them but the youngster was hidden well back
the 'Aunties' on tick patrol
this flock of three guinea fowl have made their home in the region of my friend's house and apparently they are the bee's knees when it comes to controlling ticks in the area but they must be slipping because Ken had one on his shoulder just before I got up there and Heidi- the neighbour's dog had one on her ear. But I got a lesson in tick searching which will be handy to have when I get my dog and for making sure Miss Jazzy stays tick free- although she seems to have turned into an inside pussy cat lately and up there I would prefer she remain indoors most of the time because of the wildlife.
paradise redux
tropical eucalypt bark patterns
another variation of the landscape
Cane Toad Cannibalism
another variation of the landscape
Cane Toad Cannibalism
Paradise always has serpents
Fluffy waterlillies
Sitting on the verandah one sunny morning enjoying smoko and I spy a serpent. Not my favourite form of life and sends me ever so slightly hysterical because all of the serpents in my part of the world are deadly little devils. Not this one however but my antics kept my mate giggling for ages because of my reaction. In between splutters of laughter he is telling me it wont hurt me- yeah right just giving me a heart attack.
A green tree snake
Paradise pics
A Jade vine in Cairns Botanic Gardens- Ken's should be flowering any day now
One of Ken's magnificent orchids- this one has a scent like jonquils
A seagull on the boat at Low Isles
Adventures in Paradise
Being back in Melbourne makes the past few weeks seem remote now but I think I recharged enough with tropical fervour to get me through the chilliness of the weather back here etc.
Originally my visit was to look for property but M.O.T.H was up there in June when we got the information on the property we have purchased. The two men in the world who love me best inspected it (even though I was convinced already but didnt tell them that of course)and agreed with me. So my trip was more to inspect the property and do some research about future activities and just some time out with my mate.
Our dear friend met me at the airport and drove me back to paradise that evening and I was able to give him the quilt I had made for him. Seeing the look on his face when he saw it was a HUGE thrill. He has always been a supportive mate in all my crazy endeavours over the years but being able to give him a serious piece of work was a buzz.
We went sailing the next night and I managed to scare myself silly but survived the 'ordeal' although I learned that having your legs waxed a few days before and getting wet in salt water and letting them dry is definitely an experience I DONT want to repeat. OUCH!!!!!!
Earlier that day I had been given an opportunity to visit the house and meet the lady living there currently. She was very pregnant and we learned later that she had given birth to a little girl IN the house. Which is such a nice vibe for my new home to have for us to start our new lives in a place that has seen new life.
Some research on supplies and other stuff went on and I was able to have a good look in Cairns and Mareeba but the only thing I couldnt find was a place to buy my favourite middle eastern style breads - fresh not the supermarket versions so I must go and see my mate Sammy and organise to learn how to make it properly for myself.
But most of the time was spent with my mate on his boat or his verandah if we werent wandering around the countryside for me to poke around.
I was able to attend a tree planting day with a local co-operative organisation that is doing re afforestation work and that was at the neighbour immediately across the road from 'our' house. Learned heaps about their methods and different species of the trees they use and hopefully they will be able to collect seed stock from our place which is original remnant rainforest. All the work is co-operative and voluntary and it is good work.
I did spend a little time tear arseing as someone put it but less said the better on that ;-)
I will post more pics after this blog but needless to say now all I want is to be back in Julatten
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