Block 4

Is a collection of 15 x 10cm ( for you non metric folk about 6 x 4) postcards that seem to be about what I am going to find in the future- I hope
lol still havent photographed Block 2 or 3 yet but I will


Intricacy- re thinking this after seeing the scan- needs 'more'


Nature


East.

What I was hoping to find and lose

but not so sure now
funny how life throws you a curly one
"Fasten your seatbelts . . . it's gonna be a bumpy ride"
Bette Davis
Still wet from rinsing away the soluble

Cactus flower

taken with M.OT.H.'s little dig cam because all my batteries are flat at the moment
it blooms every two years or so and is pretty stunning, this year we have two blooms
Work progressing and in the home straight yipppee
hope to have some pics soon

Procrastination

I should be working but need a break some who know me will just shrug and roll their eyes but hey good music is good music and these two guys are top of my list in their respective areas. Some good blues on the stereo to get me in the groove again seems to be the answer- either that or I join a Rasta church ;-)

Still toiling

Just a quick drop in, things have been tres busy at present, between dealing with bankers, solicitors, titles office, builders etc etc as well as trying to pull off a quilt and another assignment in two weeks for assessment things have been rather hectic to say the least.
But progress:
-House mortgate documents signed - YIKES GULP pick me up off the floor
-Paint purchased for reno's- I know it has been five years since I bought paint but it is DAMNED expensive now
-Floor in last room sanded and SEALED - only twelve years after the remainder of the house LOL
Now only to paint and paint and paint -inside and out and have my delightful building buddy sort out my messes - sounds pretty simple? Dont you believe it
there is Sh*tloads to do as M.O.T.H pointed out yesterday
but hoping to manage to get my cam batteries charged to take some progress pics of assignment pieces- soon I promise.
In the meantime it is head down and tail folk and dont get in my way or I might paint you ;-)
back ASAP

printing on silk

the test pieces turned out fine so I did the block/monoprinting technique on the silk over the weekend
this is a sample of the leaf prints- while the block is the same the leaves are all unique
going to
overdye the silk with a soft green washed effect

Discharge

discharged broad cloth

my block design





Getting ready for the run into assessment and I have to produce 4 major pieces of work over the next five weeks.
Ah what is life without a deadline?
I have contracted to do the silk yardage with the design of the croton leaf from my previous experiments for one - that should take me a couple of hours to produce once I set myself up for it
this is actually for the next piece which is about discharge dyeing of fabric and over printing with blocks- a little along the lines of what I have been exploring but that was far more fortuitous in design - ie I took what I got LOL
This time I am playing with masked shapes and pre cutting my block
What I need now it is decide what colour to print my leaf block in to make it really pop.... Any suggestions?

Comfort Books

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?

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,

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

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

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!!!

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!!