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

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.

paradise redux

tropical eucalypt bark patterns

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

more pics of Paradise

More pics in Cairns Botanic Gardens
Gingers and an orchid

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

For My Mate

Slack

Been a bit slack of late with blogging but the preparations with getting school work ready and up to date so I could nick off up to the Tropics for a bit was pretty much all I did for most of the first two weeks of the month after I finished the quilt- which was a hit btw.
Just heard in the last hour that the house we wanted to buy his been signed off by the vendor and I hand over the paperwork tomorrow and the process begins in earnest- It is OURS!!!!!!
Got up here last Tuesday evening and have had some full days with looking at the house in person and going sailing and planting trees with a bunch of locals doing reafforestation work etc.
Sailing I am not convinced about but getting there and we had a little visitor yesterday before sailing- a SNAKE!!!!! who cares if it is a harmless tree snake I am not fond of them to say the least and my friend I am staying with nearly wet himself laughing at my reaction.
hope to put some stuff on i have been working on while I am here but in the meantime some piccies of adventures,Ooops after schooltime here and the network lags a bit. Oh well only one piccie after all.
more soon I promise
/R

Butterflies again

Or rather Flutterby, my latest piece. Yes butterflies are very evident in my work at present- I wonder why? LOL
But this is to say thank you to a very dear friend for all his help and support over the last few months.
I have always been fascinated by the Ulysses butterfly and saw my first real wild one in my friend's garden about this time last year- I had seen them in the butterfly house at Melbourne Zoo of course but seeing that first wild one was a real thrill.
I havent been blogging because I have been stitching and stitching and stitching. Still considering quilting the blue bars because the black and black looks so good but basically it is finished.

Things have been a bit frantic around here of late with proposed moves look like going ahead- we have agreed on the price with the buyer now just waiting on the signed contracts etc and the house in Qld is ours- and hopefully I will have my own Ulysses fluttering around the garden- oh well if not I can always go for a walk up to my friend's house and look at them in his.
But I will be seeing them in his garden first because I am leaving for another fortnight up there next Tuesday - 17 days of sunshine I hope LOL because this winter has been cold and damp and drab in Melbourne
the quilt is to say thank you to our dear friend who took M.O.T.H around to look at real estate during his visit- and give the thumbs up on the house - kept me from crawling the walls during all the delays and was and is just generous and sweet with his time and skills to help out a pair of bumblers like us.
Thank you Ken

Cheering myself up

Feel the need because while we have made the offer there has been no response from the vendor SIGH bloody woman is somewhere in Romania at present apparently.
Supposed to be on semester break last week and this but spent last week finishing off my Digital imaging course and fighting a dose of the flu as well. SHeesh things can only get better!!!!!
So yesterday- my first actual day off from VU - I could have done lots of things but decided to do something purely for fun. And to maybe cast a little spell- this based on a Ulysses butterfly which flutter around my friend Ken's place frequently. I adore butterflies in general but the Ulysses is a bit special. Iridescent blue and black it seems to glow when the sun catches it in the shadows.
So I made it into a pin and stuck it on my woolly hat that I wear when I walk to the station on these cold cold mornings- a symbol I hope that I AINT GONNA BE LIVING IN MELBOURNE NEXT WINTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! well here's hoping LOL

Meet Sister Blues

Meet Sister Blues
the hitherto unknown (younger!!) sister of Jake and Elwood Blues.
I am having a ball with this short course and the Fake ID assignment is going to be heaps of fun
this is my basic Idea and I love the Blues
and even those reprobates Jake and Elwood- come to my juke joint folks!!

Published

online again but not for my writing or recipes this time but for a picture I submitted to a blog on one of our daily newspapers. Crativity corner is a blog with challenges to submit visual works in The Age.

http://blogs.theage.com.au/creativitycorner/archives/2007/06/texture_the_res.html#comments
mine is the fourth pic down - already on the archives here but I saw the challenge knew this pic might fit the bill.

Digital Abstract Expressionism

Doing an intense course to pick up a unit on Digital Imaging this was done in Photoshop then colour matched with Van Gogh's Church at Auvers-sur-Oise
Kind of fun and only took about 20 minutes unlike the two hour effort this afternoon
something worth exploring

Under offer

This might be my new home- MIGHT I did say.
M.O.T.H has actually seen it in the flesh although I found it online before he saw it. Initially the response from him and his partner in crime was very neutral which was disappointing because it had 'spoken' to me.
Anyway based on seeing floor plans, measurements and photos we decided to make an offer- I will go up in about 6 weeks to see it myself. We gave a 'credible' offer according to the estate agent so are waiting to see if it has been accepted. Here's hoping!!

Paper pulp vessel experiment

Made this a while back but only sealed it last night while I froze my whatsis off last night - damn cold - and I lost my computer chair to Miss Jazzy because it is right next a heater



paper pulp formed over an old bowl
the texture is great fun.
coloured with acrylic paint, wax and dye.

Dilemma

I have been working on my mid year assessment work and M.O.T.H is away for two weeks sailing etc with a friend so I could make as much mess as I like but I am pretty much up to date with getting the work completed and now I find myself thinking about this issue that has arisen.
Doing my major research essay for Contemporary Art Studies was a bit of an ordeal. M.O.T.H. reckoned I was sweating blood over it and in some ways I was. Not over the actual writing but over issues it raised for me personally. We were pretty much able to choose our subject the brief being that it be about something that would help us in our work. I chose a working Title of "Artist/Artisan: Art/ Craft. When does the work become Art?" I ended up examining the art vs craft debate and it helped me decide where I stood on this issue.

Basically I need to work to my philosophy for my personal work, commission work is different of course and so is work used in teaching techniques but my personal pieces have become intensely personal over the past couple of years and I feel that I am developing some interesting areas of work to explore.

I have an interest in the environment and the sea as well as some stuff that touches on spiritual and emotional aspects of life that I want to explore but the problem is now that a group I am involved with have chosen a theme for our next show that on the surface appears rather shallow and bland. Aaargh I hate to say it but it actually is rather suburban mothers club stuff - I have not been active in this group over the past 18 months mostly due to health issues and school and wonder how I can approach it with the group without sounding like the thing I hate most- the snooty artist!!

So much of my life is still in a state of flux at present with the proposed move to the tropics etc that my work has taken on an deep importance to me- not that there is a lot going on at present but the ideas keep flowing and I am getting them down in writing if nothing else at the moment. I just dont know if I can compromise anymore and yet I hate conflict too so this is not an easy one for me.
I've talked to several close artist friends about this dilemma and their reactions have only underpinned my misgivings about this proposed theme. Oh for an easy life (decision) but something tells me that is not likely to occur. Aaargh!!

Temasek

Had to do a woodblock for an assignment
the brief was City scenes and I played around with some of my images from Singapore as my base idea. Still needs a touch more carving but this is the first proof print- shaping up okay I hope

Something to think about

Catching up on some other things at present and came across this on the web.

My Island Home

I also come from a saltwater people so when I first heard this song- by the Warumpi Band I loved it but this version was great too
especially as the timing of it was a direct swing at our dearly despised (and hopefully soon departed) Prime Minister and his refusal to utter one little word- sorry.
closing ceremony of the Sydney Olympics in 2000

More mermaid

Not happy but then again I am rarely happy with my work
Wouldnt do the white cut on this one again but the ideas I worked on with the inks are interesting- dark to light is sort of against the 'rules'

I should be getting on with my assignments but I DO have all the equipment out so some block printing on fabric coming up LOL
And it is for a practical purpose after all - want to make a bag I can carry my notebooks and few supplies in but not rely on mass produced monsters

Mermaids again

Doing an assignment for printmaking in three colour reduction lino cut not convinced it will work but this is the image printed like a conventional lino block.
Handprint- not press printed - because I like the softness of handprints
and I was mucking about with blending inks with the brayer on the block.

this made me giggle

And thematically appropriate ;-)


One day, when a seamstress was sewing while sitting close to a river, her
thimble fell into the river. When she cried out, the Lord appeared and
asked, "My dear child, why are you crying?"
The seamstress replied that her thimble had fallen into the water and that
she needed it to help her husband in making a living for their family.
The Lord dipped His hand into the water and pulled up a golden thimble set
with pearls.
"Is this your thimble?" the Lord asked.
The seamstress replied, "No."
The Lord again dipped into the river. He held out a silver thimble ringed
with sapphires.
"Is this your thimble?" the Lord asked.
Again, the seamstress replied, "No."
The Lord reached down again and came up with a leather thimble. "Is this
your thimble?" the Lord asked.
The seamstress replied, "Yes."
The Lord was pleased with the woman's honesty and gave her all three
thimbles to keep, and the seamstress went home happy.
Some years later, the seamstress was walking with her husband along the
riverbank, and her husband fell into the river and disappeared under the
water.
When she cried out, the Lord again appeared and asked her, "Why are you
crying?"
"Oh Lord, my husband has fallen into the river!"
The Lord went down into the water and came up with George Clooney.
"Is this your husband?" the Lord asked.
"Yes," cried the seamstress.
The Lord was furious. "You lied! That is not true!"
The seamstress replied, "Oh, forgive me, my Lord. It is a misunderstanding.
You see, if I had said 'no' to George Clooney, you would have come up with
Brad Pitt. Then if I said 'no' to him, you would have come up with my
husband. Had I then said 'yes,' you would have given me all three. Lord,
I'm not in the best of health and would not be able to take care of all three
husbands, so THAT'S why I said 'yes' to George Clooney.
And so the Lord let her keep him.

The moral of this story is: Whenever a woman lies, it's for a good and
honorable reason, and in the best interest of others. That's our story, and
we're sticking to it.

Signed

All Women

Dahlia days

the tree dahlia is in flower- this came from my grandmother's garden originally and I am not sure if it will survive in the tropics but I am going to try to grow it because the nights on the hills are a lot cooler in winter time up there so it just might make it.
the dahlia usually heralds the cool weather but the sky behind is brilliant blue today but with nice fresh southerly which hopefully will pull in some rain from the Southern Ocean- we can only hope

Pied Oystercatcher and Silver Gulls

birdies

more patterns

photography folio

Playing with an idea about the patterns of nature

birthday season

It is my Auntie's birthday lunch today- this particular Auntie (I have quite a few) is a bit of a favourite of mine because she is only a few years older than moi so we have always had a bit of fun together. She was going to take me to see the Rolling Stones when I was 11 but my Mum put a stop to that little expedition. But there were a few good ones in between. Her birthday is actually tomorrow but she is working.
We dont do big expensive pressies because it is way too ridiculous in a family the size of our clan but I thought she deserved something so I ran this up this morning
Just to wax it and let it dry while I shower and then head off
She is a lady of soul and spirit.
Then back here this afternoon to create a birthday dinner for M.O.T.H and give him his surprise pressie- more on that in case he reads this before I give it to him. It's his birthday today and yes he is a little bit older than this Auntie ;-)

Hiccups over

And a Case Moth colonising my house

silk spirals

This is for a charity auction piece for a girls orphanage in Nepal
I was thinking originally about pleating it as a scarf but i got my spirals working in it at each end and now I am not sure
still have a day or two to decide

Lorikeets

in the garden and everywhere at present.
With the drought the birds are coming into town in search of food and water
This was taken this afternoon in the front of the house
A Rainbow Lorikeet

Paper play day

Had some friends over today to play with paper and have some fun.
It was Shirley's birthday last year around the time my Mum had her bypass and I was crook too so I didnt make it to the party but offered her a play day in lieu. Which she said yes to.
We had lunch and a beautiful autumn afternoon to work and they were able to take home about twenty or so papers for later playing.
I was wandering around with the camera today and took a couple of shots Jessie Rose at the pulp bin and one of Shirley's papers with the sun behind it glowing which sort of made me smile.

Me and my soapbox

I've been published! Or will be tomorrow Oz time when the site is updated.
I wrote a tribute to a man I consider to be very brave. Major Michael Mori USMC.
Now military types are not usually my heroes I tend to like the Gandhi's, Mandela's and Gusmao's of this world but this man is truly a brave individual. To criticise so completely the system the US put in place for the inmates of Guantanomo while working in that system is definitely the act of a brave man.
Preview here:
http://www.unknownnews.org/MichaelMori.html

MAJ MICHAEL MORI, DEFENCE COUNSEL FOR DAVID HICKS: Oh, he knows he can't
get a fair trial. I've told them, "They won't give him a fair trial."
He's been through it. He's been put in a trial where he was removed from
his own trial. He sat there and saw everyone that had been handpicked to
convict him, not for a justice system but for a political trial, for a
show trial. He sat there while all the Brits and Habib went home. You
can't hide it from him, that he's there for - for face saving. It has
nothing to do with the justice system.

Three cheers for the Major from the Marines!!

And Happy Easter everyone

mess or masterpiece? lol

it is only a few degrees that separate the two
this is something I nearly set fire to earlier but it has possibilities

Autumn

and a girl's mind turns to Chillies
well this girl's does!! With the cooler weather approaching my chilli bushes are sparkling with colour at present so time to start putting them down for over winter.
Some chilli pickle Indian style for himself, a batch of sambol oelek for me and the big manzano chillies are nicer than commercial jalapeno chillies when done in vinegar and salt.
This is the result of about 10 minutes of picking in my garden.
Hey does anyone have a good hot sauce recipe? Would love to try to make something like that
More textile work on the way but just tidying up some other stuff before mid semester break before getting down and doing my thing

R & R II

This is just for a certain friend who never got to experience AC/DC with Bon Scott out front- as most Aussie pub rock purists will insist this is Acca Dacca at their best with the ever irreverent Bon doing what he does best.




Enjoy babe

R & R

Having a quiet day today M.O.T.H has decided to paint the bathroom so I am staying out of his way and cooking instead. Our neighbour gave us some pears from his tree so I made a pear and almond cake earlier which is yummy- just HAD to sample some and it is glorious.
Recipe is

PEAR and ALMOND flan

1 tbsp soft brown sugar
150g butter
150g caster sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
150g almond meal
2 tbsp self-raising flour
2 tbsp blanched almonds
3 or 4 pears, skin on
Line a circular flan or cake tin 23cm in diameter with non-stick baking paper. Sprinkle soft brown sugar over the baking paper.
In a bowl, cream together butter and caster sugar to create a smooth, creamy mixture, making sure all the sugar is dissolved. You could do this with a fork, electric beater or a food processor.
Lightly beat the eggs and add them to the creamed mixture. Add the almond meal and flour and mix well.
Cut the pears vertically, leaving the skin on and the stalk. Place the pieces decoratively in the flan dish or cake tin, flat sides down. Fill the gaps with the blanched almonds.
Pour the cake mixture over the pears and almonds and press down.
Bake in preheated oven at 190c for 45 minutes or until the filling feels firm at the centre. Allow to cool.
Ease the flan away from the edge of the flan dish with a knife. Place a large serving plate on top and turn it over. All being well, the flan will be released onto the plate without breaking.
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