dark cloud blue sky

wind sculpture video

2012-03-04T13:47:00.003+10:30

this is a video i took on my camera of the wind sculpture during my residency.

you can see how the circle tiles map the movement of the wind.

results of my residency

2012-03-01T18:34:00.007+10:30

i have been back in the land of mobile phones and the internet for a little over a week now. my time as an artist in residence at bundanon was excellent. i recommend it to anyone who can get there. it was great to be disconnected from my real life and have the time to think, read, swim, walk, make, create, and write as i pleased.

here are some highlights of some of the stuff i made while i was there.

i started with some paper and a needle. piercing the paper again and again i created images that you could really see when the light passed through them.

i wasn't so worried about content, just in the act of doing and making. i was not trying to make a "work of art" but to let myself be create, make mistakes and have fun.

this was my favorite from that bit of work, a wombat.

wombats were numerous at bundanon. they came out at dusk and if you went for a walk you could easily see 5 or 6. i was very excited, as i had never seen a wombat in the wild before and they are my favorite animal. there was one wombat that likes to eat around the buildings where i was staying. i named her casandra, and she inspired a whole collection of drawings.

each night i would sit and watch casandra.

i would wonder how she lived and what she did. (especially without the internet to find the answers to these questions)

i decided to do a collection of drawings/painting in various styles and techniques all of wombats. this was a great way to not have to think about what to draw but to let go and just draw. i had a lot of fun making these images. most i will probably never show to anyone again but creatively it was very valuable to have the time to draw.

this is me in front of the final installation on my last day of my residency.

the other project that i worked on was making some paper sculptures. the idea was to make something that mapped the wind.

using paper, scissors and a needle and thread i attached these paper circles to a paper backing.

this is a detail of the circles.

i attached these to the outside of my studio.

i like the contrast of materials in the photos.

you can see the wind moving each tile.

then i made a square version.

and again it mapped the movement of the wind.

i am not sure how all this will be incorporated into my future works directly, but having the time at bundanon was exactly what i needed. i feel relaxed, grounded, and ready to get back to real life.

artist in residency

2012-02-13T10:30:00.003+10:30

just a quick hello! i am at an artist in residency that is in the middle of no where. there is no phone or internet access, (i am in town getting food and art supplies today with a chance to go online) and there is only me and 2 other artists on site. it is in the middle of the Australian bush and it is great. at first i was a bit worried about the no internet/phone access, but really it is kind of nice, there is nothing to worry about no distractions and you just get on with bush walking or making work in the studio or reading or writing. i have been here 3 days now and have 7 more to go. its nice, no responsibilities.

this is me hiking up a track, it is absolutely beautiful here.

this is the track, it is just starting to rain lightly. it has rained everyday i am here but really i don't mind at all. i have a new rain jacket and it is nice to be int he studio when it is really pouring down.

and this is my new wombat friend casandra. she lives under the place i am staying and i have seen her every night. there are plenty of other wombats here too, which is good as they are my favorite animal. something about the short stockiness i like about them.

more about what i am doing while i am here when i get back to civilization a week or so.

family holiday

2012-02-05T12:00:00.007+10:30

my family made the long journey to see me
for a family holiday.

its been about 9 years since our last family holiday
(not including my trips home).

here are some highlights!

a walk in the rain forest canopy,

swimming under the falls,

checking out amazing trees,

searching for exotic animals (none found),

walking in the rain forest in the rain
and having a great time,

cruising on a river home to crocodiles
out to snorkel at a reef,

braving the winds at night for a penguin tour
(we only saw 2 penguins)

visiting the zoo to see many many penguins
(there are 10 in this photo alone!)

taking a break from the holiday to build a deck with friends
and enjoy some good food and drinks.
its nice to do something practical when on holidays.

kayaking down a river,

a trip to the zoo with some special friends.

it was great having my family here.
it was sad to see them go.
i wish we could all live closer together.
hopefully it won't be 9 years again before we all get
a chance to holiday together again.

garden update january 2012

2012-01-21T14:56:00.002+10:30

my summer garden has exploded! literally out of the garden.

i have huge sunflowers, and vines that have almost reached the back door. unfortunately the tomatoes are not as big and healthy as i had hoped. maybe next year.

this vine keeps flowering and growing, but i am not sure what it is yet. and the herbs and strawberries in the wall pockets are really happy.

i picked my first cucumber from another vine that self seeded in a pot, (the fruit at the front) and the fruit that i chopped in half on the chopping board is the fruit from the huge vine that is taking over my yard. i think it might be a white zucchini but i am not sure. anyone have any ideas?

the cucumber was so tasty, i hope i get to enjoy many more this summer.

beer and burgers for breakfast!

2012-01-08T22:27:00.002+10:30

you know 2012 is going to be a good year when you get to start the day with beer and burgers for breakfast!

today we went to fancy burger for a late breakfast/early lunch.

the burgers were so good. the wholemeal bun was good, not too big and the chips come with salt and rosemary and 4 dipping sauces!

the twenty minute drive to get the burgers was well worth it and the company was great. i will definitely be going back.

happy 2012!

2012-01-01T09:57:00.002+10:30

happy new year!

the giant sunflower in my backyard!

i hope 2012 is an enjoyable and rewarding year for everyone!

happy christmas

2011-12-24T23:26:00.002+10:30

happy christ-moose!

i made these cookies the other day.
sugar cookies, (like short bread) almond slices and cream cheese cookies, all like mom used to make when i was little. this is really one of the few things i do that make me feel like it is christmas, even in australia in the middle of summer.

where ever you are, i hope it is a happy one and all the best in 2012.

new studio

2011-12-17T14:57:00.003+10:30

when i found out that the last studio i was in was closing i was very lucky that some good pals of mine had/made some room for me in their studio. i moved in about a month ago now. it is in an old church. i share this studio with 6 fabulous talented and funny creative gals.

borris said the new studio aka the church is better than the last one because this one had a better kitchen and hot running water. so here is the shot of the kitchen.

this is the shared machine and kiln and sandblaster room.

this is the meeting area next to the kitchen. the building is heritage listed so nothing can go up on the walls, leaving them beautifully just as they were found.

this is my "personal" space in the studio. i have managed to fill it up already.

another shot of my area in the studio. i have a fair bit of unpacking to do over the christmas holidays.

and this is the cold working room. the studio has a lathe, linisher, saw, and flat bed and i am going to be making a diamond flat bed. then i will be set up to make my work in this lovely new studio.

last week

2011-12-12T20:15:00.003+10:30

some highlights from last week include:

the new worm farm, with real live worms living and happy inside!

it is a worm farm that is set into the ground in the garden with small holes in the base of it so the worms can come and eat and then go and live and spread their wormy goodness in the garden. so far it seems to be working.

i made this yummy summery salad on the one hot day we have had so far. just rissoni pasta, olive oil, lemon juice, pepper, and lots of fresh herbs, mint, parsley, coriander, basil, celery parsley. and a bit of parmesean. it was so good.

borris and i have been dog sitting these 2 lovely little guys for some friends who were out of town. we had a good time, with lots of walks.

and i got a new soaker hose for the garden.

i have it laid out int he garden to give the new veggies - tomatoes, eggplant, basil, cucumber and zucchini all a good water without having to get the leaves wet.

it was a pretty good week.

studio closing party pics

2011-12-08T18:06:00.002+10:30

about 2 weeks ago now the studio i was in closed down. the landlord wanted his building back.

we cleaned out the studio, no small feat - some people had been there for over 10 years.

once the building was empty and beautiful we threw a party.

the cute little ute in the middle of the main room, also doubled as our cooler with the back tray filled with ice.

we had three bands playing in the upstairs back room with lots of dancing.

the theme of the party was fancy dress, or wig or moustache. there were some great costumes.

the drummer of this band was a studio member, and they sounded great in the studio.

a few early party goers, getting going for the evening.

me and borris half way through the night.

the party was fun. it was great to see the building all lit up and empty, if only it could always be like that.

since then life has been too busy to be sad or nostalgic, but it has been made easier for me because i have moved into a new studio space. some images of that will be here soon.

am i responsible enough for a puppy?

2011-12-03T18:08:00.004+10:30

yesterday i went to visit a friend (who i don't get to see often enough) and her dog and a puppy that she has been looking after.

this is the puppy, a mini schnauzer, his name is knuckles.

and this is my friend's dog cricket, a beautiful cocker spaniel.

now i have been thinking for a while that i want to get a dog. about a month or so ago, i met a mini schnauzer and decided that this was the kind of dog i wanted. i live in a small place so i need a small dog, but i still want a dog that is bigger than a cat.

i like how mini schnauzers have bushy eyebrows and mustaches and beards, and grey hair like an old man. i had a crazy idea to name this dog i don't own yet in memory of my grandpa, so either Digo (grandpa in Ukrainian - sounds like gee-doe) or Ivan.

borris isn't crazy about the idea, but he does love dogs and is known as the dog whisperer sometimes. i think if i got a dog he would be happy with it and forget about the responsibility that he is afraid of. or that is the plan anyways.

my question is though, am i ready for the responsibility of owning a puppy? next year i will be unemployed for a while (yippee! looking forward to that) and i thought this was a good time to get a puppy as i will have lots of time to spend training it to be a good dog.

any pet owners out there have any words of wisdom, or caution? how will i know if i am ready?

burgers!

2011-12-02T22:23:00.005+10:30

lately life has been busy, with moving studio, cleaning the studio out for a party, setting up a new studio. more on these things later.

today i finally feel like i got on top of a few things, and went out to town after work today with a friend.

we happened to stumble across this burger van, selling burgers on a side street. the queue was long, but we had heard good things about the food and decided it was worth the wait.

after not too long of a wait, (20 minutes total for ordering and then food) this is what we got, 2 yummy burgers with fries. the burgers were tasty, and not huge, which is good and the fries were good too.

we found a spot on the fake lawn around the corner and had dinner in the city.
i like the idea of the mobile food trucks, i hope there are more of them appearing soon.

my friend looks like johnny depp in those sunnies don't you think?

patchwork pillows

2011-11-17T18:58:00.004+10:30

the other day i gave myself a little treat and made some patchwork pillows for borris' new sofa.

they are log cabin style, inspired from this blog here.

this is the same image without the flash. the rest of the tutorial i followed is here.

and this is them on the new sofa. i like that they not relying on being perfect and measured, but a bit wonky instead. this little project has also inspired me to start thinking about my next quilt project. the hard part will be deciding which one to do.

succulent show and sale

2011-11-13T13:44:00.003+10:30

today we went to the annual cactus and succulent society show and sale.

it was amazing. there were so many cool plants.

first there was the different categories that were judged.

these ones below are grafted cactus. i have never seen anything like it before.

they are like space creatures. totally amazing.

then after the show part, there was the sale part. it was well set up to for purchasing. you took a box and walked around talking to the succulent and cactus enthusiasts, who has plants for sale, you could take the ones you want and based on the tagging system you paid for them all at once at the end. this meant that you didn't have to keep paying out money and it was easy to just keep taking plants until you had a full box.

or in my case 2 full boxes.

now i just need to find a place for them in the garden.

huntsman

2011-11-13T13:41:00.002+10:30

can you see the spider?

this is him up close. he's actually a young one and kind of small.

although harmless, i prefer he lived outside, so that is where we have relocated him to.
(when i say we i mean borris)

Room For Growth Exhibition Images

2011-11-10T17:47:00.004+10:30

here are a bunch of images of the finished installation of the group show room for growth.
borris took these photos while we got the food prepared for the opening.
i think they are good photos and the show looks good.
enjoy!

exhibition install - room for growth

2011-11-06T18:38:00.003+10:30

the exhibition that i am in with three other lovely ladies opened today. i will post some images of the opening soon, but for now here are some install images.

here are the three other ladies shel, rosie, and amanda getting the install underway on the first day of installation for the show.

it took a while and a bit of moving things around to get it right. here is shel putting some final retouches on the wall after installing the leafy hoe.

this is a finished corner of the show, my work is the black and white ones on the wall and the domes on the plinth. shel's work are the gardens tools, amanda's the hanging terrarium and rosie's the cross-stitch circle.

one of the walls from the show, left to right is my garden badges displayed on some ribbon, 4 printed and embroidered pieces by rosie, a garden tool sprouting metal plants by shel, then the black and white piece by me again.

these are some of amanda's succulents and cacti on the plinth, and her terrariums hanging on the left. shels's leafy hoe is on the back wall. and part of a giant cross-stick by rosie is on the right hand wall.

and this is shel at the end of the 2 day install, happy and ready for a well deserved beer.

halloween

2011-11-06T01:09:00.002+10:30

it is a week late, but the place where i live is having a halloween party.

i made these ghosts to hang in the garden. we used to have ones juts like these when i was a kid in the tree outside our house.

carrots

2011-11-04T12:57:00.002+10:30

about 2 weeks ago i finally thinned out my carrots. i planted a heap of seeds, and most of them came up. i left them grow for some time now, but it appears that in order to get some larger carrots i needed to thin the patch out.

by thinning out the carrots really i get 2 harvests from them, first a bunch of gourmet mini carrots, good for snacking, salads and stir-fry. then hopefully in a couple more weeks, some larger carrots will be ready to enjoy too.

i also found these sexy carrots.

they are obviously in love.

studio closing

2011-10-30T15:42:00.002+10:30

in a months time the studio i am a part of will be closing. the owner of the building wants it back. the studio has been operating for quite a while now, so it is a bit of a shame that we all have to move out. here are some photos i took the other day when i was procrastinating.

this is my space, i will start packing it up over the next 2 weeks.

it is a beautiful space to work from and to just spend time in. i am lucky to have had the chance to work out of here.

from the garden

2011-10-24T20:43:00.004+10:30

i am in a group exhibition that opens next week. this is the latest piece or pieces that i have made for the show. this piece is called from the garden.

i had the wooden bases turned by a local woodie almost 2 years ago and it has taken me this long to do something with them. i made the glass domes to fit, and collected some interesting specimens from my garden.

with some help from a friend i made some simple metal display units for each one.

the dome sits over top protecting the item (and making the more special).

this is them all lined up and done.

here are a few close ups.

this work feels kind of "hippy" to me, but i think i like it. i was going to add some text to the domes but in the end i wasn't sure what text to put on them and i like the simplicity of it.

the last thing to do is price them. (the hardest part).

more images on the exhibition once it is up and done.

sofa, settee, couch, chaise longue, chesterfield...

2011-10-18T19:05:00.003+10:30

call it what you want. but we now have a new one!

about 3 and a half months ago, borris and i went sofa shopping. it was a bit tricky because we didn't want to spend a lot of money and we had a very specific measurement that the sofa needed to fit in. we saw this one in the store and borris decided this was the one. only in a different colour.

well 3 and a half months later it finally arrived on a slow boat from china (no really). borris chose the cobalt colour, and is definitely happy with the chaise longue part of it.

now we just need to re-organise all the stuff in the room to make it fit, and find a new table. but hey this might just change our lives! no more sore backs, no more short sofa not long enough to lie out on, and room for 2 to stretch out! happy days

procrastinating

2011-10-12T20:33:00.003+10:30

the other day i spent the afternoon procrastinating on making my artwork by cleaning out and sorting my sewing space. it has been a while since i have sewn anything and i thought a once over might inspire me to make some stuff and keep me busy while i avoided the real work i had to do.

well mission accomplished. i found all these beautiful fabrics that i have just waiting to be made into something i can wear.

and i re-found these patterns that i have been meaning to actually use. i the pattern on the left will be the next quilt i start.

and if you can believe it i found all the pieces (none lost) already cut out (i think i cut them about 3 years ago now) for a short sleeve button up shirt. just like one i have been wanting to buy. needless to say i have already ironed this and will start putting it together as my next project.

if all that wasn't enough, when i was recently visiting a friend in melbourne i also purchased this new book. it is an english translation of a japanese book of simple dress and shirt patterns. and i love everything in it! it is my plan next year when i am unemployed to make everything in this book. i guess i should really start buying the fabric now while i still have a paycheck, so that when i have time i will be set.

here are some pages from the book, of my absolute favorites. the hardest part will be deciding what one to start with first.

the patterns all really suit my style, nothing too fitted, most patterns pretty straight in their cut and simple in the design.

i might even be able to use some of the fabrics in my stash on some of these patterns.

at the back of the book are instructions with illustrations in how to make them, and then there is a pocket at the back with the actual patterns ready to copy and make into the clothes.

all this for only $30! bow cool is that. i got it from tessuti fabric. and if you order online it arrives in the post beautifully wrapped.

zombie walk

2011-10-09T20:04:00.002+10:30

last night was the zombie walk. me and some friends decided to participate.

the zombies were left to right, banker zombies, kangaroo zombie, molly ringwald zombie, maid zombie, ballerina zombie, and chef zombie.

the chef and ballerina zombie on their way to the meeting point for the walk.

i was a zombie who was has freshly come from the grave, so i had plants growing on me. but i had glasses on too, so people thought i was a scientist of some kind as well.

borris had some zombie money to had out to the crowd, and his glasses were all smashed. i think he looked great!

this was the crowd at the meeting point. the walk was fun, and i have many other blurry night time photos, but none good enough to publish here. there were some amazing costumes, and some people spent a lot of time preparing. i am already thinking of my costume for next year.

another great day at the studio

2011-10-07T19:40:00.003+10:30

today was another great day at the studio. after pilates this morning i spent the rest of the day at the studio thinking about my work and cold working.

all the domes are now made for the wooden bases and i just need to resolve what to display in them and how to display them.

i will spend some time in the garden this weekend looking for good objects to save under the domes. these are for a group exhibition i am in next month called room for growth. me and three others have all made work that relates to the garden.

i had plenty of thinking time while i started cold working these bowls today.
it feels great to be be in the studio making.

SALT shakers

2011-10-06T19:14:00.004+10:30

today - in an out of character move for both me and my friend, was spent making objects for an exhibition that opens tomorrow night. we had this idea a couple months ago now after we were invited to be a part of a group show called Salt.

it has been organised in the same gallery and by the same person as the rust exhibition where me and the same collaborator on these salt shakers made a chandelier.

the idea was simple enough, to make salt shakers re-using bottles and rubber corks.

we just had not gotten around to actually making them.

i had a made a prototype for an image about a month ago; so we knew how to make them and that it would work, we just haven't had the time.

this is the image of the prototypes:

these are the ones we made today.

we decided to stick with the one style of salt shaker for this exhibition. it is nice to make something that isn't stressful, is useful, and with a friend so you can have a good time together and get some work done.

the exhibition opens tomorrow. i will try and post some images - if i take any.

savoury thyme biscuits

2011-10-03T19:54:00.004+10:30

today was a home day. 7 loads of washing later, and a quick sweep of the whole house brought me to making my own savoury thyme biscuits. or crackers, if you are from canada.

this is the dough. flour, double cream, a tiny bit of butter, thyme and salt.

rolled out very thin, and cut with a ribbed cookie cutter.

prick each one with a fork a few times, then brush with egg yolk and sprinkle with sea salt.

bake and enjoy.

they almost look like ritz crackers. they are tastey, a bit floury, but i can imagine being very yummy with cheese. i will try that tomorrow.

a quiet day at the studio

2011-09-29T19:29:00.002+09:30

i had a nice quiet day at the studio today. i got to cross a few things off my list and re-organise my list of things to do. i am feeling like i am achieving things and no longer out of control.

i cold worked these 6 bowls and repaired one other bowl today. it was nice to just start on these and be able to work through and finish them all in one go, without any interruptions. i am starting to blow glass once a week again so there will be more cold working in my future. and if it is all like it was today then that will be just fine with me.

time to slow down

2011-09-25T19:12:00.004+09:30

earlier this week i went to sydney for 23 hours with a friend. it was a working holiday. the weather was beautiful, and we did a lot of walking and eating of good food. a quick holiday, but we packed a lot in.

we went to see the lace now exhibition on at powerhouse, catch and artist talk and then see this artwork that has been temporarily installed.

this work is by janet echelman. i was not as impressed by it as i was by her work in her TED talk, but it was still good to see, and i think would be even better to see at night all lit up. (we had to leave before the official opening of the artwork and the lighting)

this was the view from our room, it was really lovely. i had a great time, but it was busy.
in fact all of september has just been so busy. i feel like i have not had a moment to just get caught up in an idea or go off and do whatever i want. instead it has been following lists of things to do and trying to get things done by deadlines, and all at a pace i really don't like to work at.

today was another busy kind of day, as i try and get a bunch of things crossed off my list - being the last day of the weekend. i went to a farmers market and got these lovely flowers. i have decided that tomorrow marks the first day of a new slower paced rest of the year. with my list now down to a few things, and the deadlines for these much further away, i am hoping life can slow down to a more enjoyable pace.

Spring!

2011-09-20T17:01:00.003+09:30

spring has arrived here! the spring equinox is upon us!

and with spring, life seems to have become rather busy. (the reason for not blogging lately)

the fence and retaining wall that runs along my veggie garden gets replaced next week.

i have about 1000 seedlings in my kitchen just waiting until the fence work is done to be moved into their new home in my backyard garden, and the gardens of many of my friends.

new work....maybe.

2011-09-02T11:46:00.003+09:30

this is the rough draft of an idea for some new work. maybe.

i have had the wooden bases made, and then i made the glass domes to fit.

then i started saving things from my garden, that i found interesting to put inside them.
like this dried garlic flower.

or this dandelion puffball seed ball.

and this dried branch from a native tree.

i am just not sure they are done.
or if they are too simple.
or if i should keep making them for this group show i am in in november about gardens.
or if they will look good displayed together in a large group.
or if i should add some text.
or what.

so for now they sit in my kitchen awaiting for the answers to come to me.

have a sale

2011-08-28T10:24:00.002+09:30

a few people mentioned in response to my last post that i need to have a sale.

as luck would have it i am going to be in a sale next month.

in preparation for this sale i got these stickers made up to help merchandise my badges. i have about 100 of these to sell.

this table is full of other blown glass objects i have made. the sale will be ideal for this smaller object type stuff, but still my "artworks" will not be suitable for this type of event.

the hardest part now is pricing all this work.

for now the other stuff i blogged about in my last post will remain in my studio until i come up with a solution.

the problem with making stuff is....

2011-08-26T13:03:00.004+09:30

....what to do with it all.

i am not sure if it is the spring weather we have had recently, or the fact that hard rubbish in this area is soon and i should maybe take advantage of that, or that i know that in a few months i will be moving my studio but today i found myself going through some stuff in my studio and thinking what am i going to do with all this? especially some older work.

at the same time i am about to start making some new work - but i have to stop and ask myself why. what am i going to do with more stuff?

this problem might not bother everyone but i am a person who is sensitive to clutter, and would rather see things put away and surfaces clear of clutter.

the question is what do i do with these items in my studio?

these panels are made of 2 panels of flat glass with an image etched onto the surface and have ink rubbed into them, made for an exhibition in 2008 and never shown again.

this wall piece made of car mirrors hangs i my studio, i like it but don't know what to do with it. and oi would like to reuse this technique again one day. maybe i should keep this one?

these mobiles are from an exhibition in 2006. i only have one left, but it is a big one. i do have one hanging in my home and like it but what do i do with the last one?

this is a collection of 90 cups each with a drawing on them. these cups were done over a period of 3 months while i was overseas, a drawing a day on each cup. when i look at the cups i recall the days, so i feel bad getting rid of them, and i like the idea, but the drawings on the cups are not special enough to make the piece work. i would like to revisit some kind of time piece again. but what to do with these now? who needs 90 cups on 3 shelves?

i only have about 6 of these left, and again i like them, but what to do with them now?

and finally these three wall pieces, that i made and exhibited in 2008 but never again. i don;t even like them much anymore, i am glad to have made them as they led to the work i make now but bow what to do with them?

so if anyone who knows me wants any of these let me know soon, i would far prefer they live in some one's house and be enjoyed rather than in a box in my studio.

unfortunately if i do have any exhibitions they usually require new work, and i can not show these items again easily.

or if anyone has any other good ideas let me know.

SWIMMING POOL BIRTHDAY CAKE!

2011-08-22T22:13:00.003+09:30

my weekend was spent doing some work in my studio and making the swimming pool birthday cake. it was actually pretty easy to do. just lots of simple steps to follow.

first make the cake from scratch.

let it cool for a day.

the next day, make your butter icing and colour a part of it green. colour some coconut green as well and sprinkle this on the green icing to make the grass for the base of the cake.

cut out a 1 inch deep well in the cake, to make the area the water will go into.
Place the cake onto the grass base.

colour the rest of the butter icing with cocoa and ice the top edge and outside of the cake with the icing and press the chocolate biscuits around the side of the cake, creating the fence.

be sure to make the blue jelly for the water a day before you want to fill the pool.

the butter icing is also used as a glue to make a musk stick and licorice ladder, and some pool toys.

the day the cake is to be served the pool can be filled with the mashed up blue jelly. the small dolls with their custom painted bathers can be set into the jelly in their candy floating rings, and some candy balls placed in the water.

the result is a swimming pool cake that looks great, and even apparently tastes good too.

here is the birthday girl with her cake, happy as.

swimming pool birthday cake!

2011-08-18T16:58:00.003+09:30

this is my good pal shel. its her birthday this weekend.

this is the re-released 1970's birthday cake book.

this is the swimming pool cake, from the book that i will be making over the next few days for shel.

i spent the morning today gathering the necessary supplies. tomorrow i start making.
stay tuned for the results.

tweed run

2011-08-11T20:01:00.002+09:30

the other week the annual tweed run was held in my city. my neighbour is really into cycling and he invited me and borris along for the ride. he even got us some tweed jackets to wear.

we met at the town hall and then the gang of tweed wearing cyclists took to the streets.

there were some cool bikes, like this custom penny farthing. it was beautiful.

i got dressed in my tweed-ish socks and my crochet moustache for the event as well. the moustache was a big hit.

this is borris in the gang. there were approximately 160 people on the ride. it was a beautiful day and perfect for peddling around the city.

and here i am posing at the edge of the crowd that is covered with tweed.

it was a fun day, i think i will go again next year!

the little things exhibition

2011-08-07T19:13:00.003+09:30

last week my exhibition "the little things" opened at my favorite local pub. it was a great exhibition to do because it was fun and not as stressful as having a "proper" show at a "proper" gallery.

the other good thing about an exhibition at a pub is there are plenty of drinks.

i got a few before photos, and a few at the end of the night photos, but for a while there were so many people there it was hard to move around. it was a good time.

this is borris and mr. rock the first two people to arrive. (they came with me)
there are 3 pieces on the wall above borris' head.

this piece is called shade. its one of my favorite ones.

this was the first piece to sell. i had a total of 3 sales on opening night!

this is my other favorite piece, it is an image of my brother at the beach. i just can remember how hot it was that day and how relieved he was to be in the water.

here are a few mood shots of the pub.

my work is also hanging in the corner that is lite up at the back of this image.

and these are 2 of my pals that were left at the end of the night. it was a fun evening out.

exploding tulips!

2011-07-24T10:57:00.003+09:30

last night borris and me and my friend shels went to the mid winter ball.
it is a good excuse to get dressed up and go out in the middle of winter and have some fun.

shels and i decided to head out to the charity shops to find out outfits for the evening. i luckily found this beautiful exploding tulips number for $9. i actually really like the pattern and will probably try and copy the pattern to make a nice plain cotton version. i may even wear it again to an exhibition opening i have with later this year with a garden theme.

shels luckily fit into this retro and fitted purple number. she actually already owned matching daisy earrings to go with the dress. shels looked great!

we got together before the ball to get ready and do our hair. i became a little involved in watching hair demos on you tube and came across this hair bow tutorial that i followed. it is hard to make out in the photos but it took an hour for me to get this hair bow in my hair. really if i am going to sport up dos in the future i need to practice.

this is me and the lovely borris just about to step out for the evening. we made it home by midnight before we turned into pumpkins and had a great time.

now if only spring would explode into action we could stop being so cold and in hibernation mode.

paper plan and finished work

2011-07-21T08:43:00.003+09:30

to make my new pieces for my show in august i first cut out a paper framework of the glass panels and then placed a print out of the image i wanted to use behind this so i could crop the image where i wanted.

here is the paper layout.

next i used the paper layout to make a computer version of the same layout. i use this computer version to make my stencils for etching.

here is the glass with the stencil in place. i have just finished sandblasting it.

this is the piece finished. well almost i still need to resolve the hanging system, but i hope to have that sorted out by the end of the weekend.

and here is that process again the paper stencil.

the etching stencil before i have sandblasted it.

and the finished piece ready for hanging.

i will have all the work finished this weekend and share it with you shortly.

last week was great

2011-07-17T10:54:00.003+09:30

i took this past week off from work, and used that time for some much needed me time. this mostly included working on my new work for a small solo show that opens in 2 weeks. it has been lovely to not have to dash off quickly each morning, but rather have a little sleep in, then have breakfast and do a few house chores, or gardening before going to the studio. it has really been lovely.

i started this week with a bunch of blank glass tiles. i already had these made and flattened in the kiln. i had a huge pallet of tiles to select from.

i spent over 2 days just on adjusting and searching through my images on my computer, and selecting and formatting the layout for the tiles. this is the kind of work that usually takes forever when i have to divide my time between work and my studio stuff, but having the whole week just in my studio i was able to focus and make some real progress each day.

in the end i have selected 8 pairs of tiles that will each have an image that spans across both tiles. in the above image i have the tiles and the negative printout of the images ready to be made in the photographic stencil for sandblasting.

on top of doing some practical work in my studio i also spent a couple evenings sorting out my paperwork for my taxes!

it sounds boring, but i find it really interesting learning how much money i made and spent on various aspects of my life and studio practice. i really enjoy putting everything into different sections, adding all the figures up and making a list of all my expenses and incomes. next week i visit the accountant to help me put all this compiled info into a format the tax man can understand.

it has been such a great week off form work, but working on my own projects.

BUNNY RABBITS ATE MY GARDEN!

2011-07-11T20:17:00.004+09:30

i woke up the other morning to find out that my neighbour accidentally left the gate that sits in between out backyard open after he got home late. this means that by the time i came down to see the garden his two bunny rabbits had had six glorious hours of eating and grazing on my lovely veggies.

they ate my gerbera daisies, and only left a few petals to tease me with.

they sheared off the tops of my baby broccoli.

and they even demolished my chili plants and ate the chillies!
they also ate my kale, and lettuce and stomped on my little seedlings.

these are the two escapees, returned to their side of the fence, having to lure them back into their yard with more greens!

i was thinking rabbit stew, but lucky for the bunnies borris is a vego and the bunnies are too cute. i feel sorry for them, just wanting fresh veggies instead of pellet food.

cheese making!

2011-07-07T08:19:00.004+09:30

the other weekend a group of us went a did a 4 hour cheese making class. it was great. here are the highlights.

we heated the full cream milk and culture to 35 degrees Celsius. they we put the milk in this small esky. the esky incubates the warmth of the milk and lets the bacteria get to work creating an acidic environment perfect for the rennet. then 30 minutes later you add the rennet to the milk and let it rest an hour while you have a lovely cheese tasting session.

the rennet sets the milk quickly and after an hour you are ready to cut the curd. the smaller you cut the curd the drier the cheese will be. when making Parmesan the curd is cut at 2mm intervals. Since we were making a feta type cheese we cut the curd around 2 cm.

this is the curd cut, you want to be gentle at this stage, so the curd can stay together in clumps. this rests for another half an hour before it is stirred twice, with a rest of 20 minutes after each stir.

in the meantime you get your cheese hoops ready, and line them with cheese cloth (or in the case chux) to keep the curd from slipping through the holes.

you stir the curds one last time

before you begin lifting and placing the curds in the cheese hoops.

this is the fresh curd in the hoops, with all the whey left in the esky. (you can use the whey to make fresh ricotta or feed it to your pigs, apparently they love it)

the curds need to drain here for a while, then get flipped over to ensure even draining.

this is the cheese i made ready to take home. the cheese will need to continue to drain for the next 24 hours. the next day the cheeses get soaked in a salt brine and then chilled ready to eat.

borris and i ate the cheese, they were good, a little bit mild in flavour, but for a first cheese pretty good.

This is the basic start to make all kinds of cheese, and a few small changes in temperatures, how the curds are cut and sometimes a second heating of the curds will allow you to create all kinds of variations.

maybe one day when i have more time i will follow this up with a the cheese recipe book and try my hand at some more cheeses at home.

july garden

2011-07-03T14:59:00.003+09:30

it has been a while since i posted about my garden. that is perhaps because for a few weeks there i just did not have the opportunity to get into the garden and give it some attention.

last week that all changed though, and i was able to get in and pull out a bunch of weeds and old plants and dig in a few new seedlings. I also finally installed this woolly pocket that a dear friend gave to me months ago.

this woolly pocket was meant for indoors, but i did not have any suitable wall space there, so i have made use of my garden fence, and hopefully it will be a green wall soon.

so far i have planted out a few herbs and strawberries in the woolly pocket, with hopes that they will be protected from the snails and slugs.

i also planted some beans, peas, cauliflowers, mini kale and my carrots are coming up.

not bad for a winter garden. my lettuce and spinach are going growing like mad and soon i will be able to trim back the passion fruit vine with hopes of a bumper crop later this year.

from the garden exhibition ideas

2011-06-18T21:51:00.005+09:30

i am in a group show later in the year, called "from the garden". i am putting in some work from my last exhibition, but i am also making new work. i think it is going to be a good show, i am liking the challenges i have set for myself. but i am also wanting some feedback or i am looking for a bit of inspiration to finish off these pieces.

the first piece, are these six domes on wooden bases. i need to remake some of the domes, and make them taller, but the idea i have is to suspend from the top of the dome something - this will make it precious. so i will have an object hanging in each dome. the thing i am having trouble with is what to hang in there. it should be "from the garden" but i am not sure how to narrow it down, i don't want it to be so obvious, as a mini fruit or veg. i have been thinking of large seeds, or pine cones, you know stuff you can collect in the garden. does anyone out there have any ideas on what to hang in the domes?

i think they will look good, i am still deciding on colour, might just go with clear, but again this depends on the object inside.

i made these bottles when i was in uni, and i like how the hearts hang inside the bottles, it makes them special and gives them a place to exist. i have always wanted to go back to this idea, and now i think is a good time to do it.

the next piece i am working on used the shallow wooden dished again. i want to cut some mirror to fit in the bottom of each dish and then to the mirror i will attach some plant like forms made of glass.

they might look like blades of grass, of just organic little bits off of trees. i have these small drawing i forgot to take a photo of that demonstrate this much better. then i will fill each dish entirely with these growing glass forms, so they will look like petri dishes that have overgrown with plants. the mirror at the bottom will just add to the optical illusion when you look at them from above and add a way for me to secure the glass in the dish.

kind of like this, but a wooden dish and glass forms.

so that is what is in my head right now, what to hang in the domes and what shapes to make out of glass.

any suggestions?

lovely paper straws

2011-06-16T21:54:00.002+09:30

i got these lovely paper straws for my birthday. these grey and white ones are my favorite.

these red and white ones are my second favorite.

and they work well too!

more good food

2011-06-09T23:02:00.003+09:30

i made this the other week before i got sick. from that same cook book.

looks just like the photo! and it was so yummy. cabbage, beans and potatoes.
simple and affordable.

my two critics enjoyed it too!

what's new?

2011-06-08T16:17:00.002+09:30

i have a cold. that's what's new. so i left work early today, got some medicine and am on the sofa under a blanket. perfect to update the blog.

here are some random happenings from the past couple weeks.

borris and i ate ourselves silly with some yummy cheese and fancy (expensive) crackers. we have a bio-dynamic blue cheese, goats curd with garlic and herbs in vine leaves, and a washed rind cows milk cheese with ash, alongside some yummy brown sesame seed crackers and celery crackers. its all gone now, but was so delicious.

my hair has been driving me crazy recently.

so when i am out i am scanning the crowds to be inspired for new hairstyles. when i went and got my hair cut the other day the woman who cut it had her hair in braids like these, so i thought, give that a try.

not too bad, good for keeping your hair out of your face. i have a few other styles to try out soon too. any suggestions for long straight hair?

i also recently got a new favorite cook book. super natural everyday by heidi swanson. read about it here, or here.

i bought it online on a whim, hoping it was a vegetarian cook book, (i couldn't tell online). it turns out to be one of my new favorites. it is a vego book, but not the usual kind. it has lots of yummy recipes in it, all with ingredients that are simple. the recipes are easy and the ones i have tried so far are tasty.

this is the cauliflower soup with mustard croutons i made the other week, looks just like the picture! we have also had the popcorn, (yes i know a recipe for popcorn sounds crazy, but believe me delicious) and i have a list started of the next few to try.

after i get over my cold that is.

new work

2011-06-01T22:05:00.003+09:30

this is the start of a new small body of work for a small exhibition i have coming up in august.

these two pieces of glass are from one cylinder. i like how after they slumped in the kiln the cut edges become softened and almost like a piece of paper ripped in two.

this idea of torn paper is the spark for an idea, of hanging the glass on the wall in pairs or sets of three or four, with imagery that spans across them.

the image will be made by etching through the top layer to reveal the white glass underneath.

i am still working out the imagery and finishing the slumping in the kiln, but i hope to make some real progress soon.

cold working in the studio last week

2011-05-31T22:08:00.002+09:30

last week i spent all my time in the studio cold working.

i was getting a couple orders completed, as well as some pressies for a few people. this is all the work complete at the end of the day.

this is a shot if the mini whole bowls. they are super cute! i should make one for myself. :)

an autumn weekend day trip

2011-05-30T19:13:00.002+09:30

it was a chilly and overcast weekend

perfect for a drive to the hills with my pal, to visit a winery on a whim, get a bit lost, stop at a few pubs, sample some local brews and eat a counter meal.

although it was overcast, it was actually a really nice day, i love the moody sky.

we made it to a few places i had never been to yet

the view from the scenic hotel was scenic, the food tasty and beer cold, a perfect end to the day.

new knives

2011-05-29T21:49:00.002+09:30

this is me after opening a present i got from my family in the mail!

a lovely and sharp set of knives. they came with a knife block, but i have my own custom made knife block i blogged about a couple weeks ago.

i got a set of 6, and a knife sharpener. i have used them, and it is amazing how much easier it is to chop things now.

this is the knife block with the knives in it from the side.

and this is it from the front, such a good design!

thanks family!

red back spider

2011-05-23T18:52:00.002+09:30

its hard to see in this photo, but i almost put my hand on a red back spider.

this photo is a it easier. he was living under a brick that was leaning against the wall in my backyard.

this is the best photo i could get. its a bit blurry but you can see the red mark on its back, hence the name.

its a tiny one, and really no threat, and borris has killed it saving me from the poison of the red back spider.

may days

2011-05-21T20:34:00.003+09:30

i have not posted anything lately, because right now i am not making much. this is the in-between stages of art making, when i am spending lots of time thinking about what to do next, researching opportunities, writing for applications and catching up on orders for my production. all good things, but not that interesting for blogging.

but i have been doing some other things,

borris and i had 2 cute little dogs stay with us while some friends were in hospital having a beautiful baby. the dogs were great to have around, i wish we could get a dog here full time. they loved borris, the dog whisperer.

i have been going for lots of walks lately, this is me and my pal Julia on the pier during our ocean side walk. walking is great for thinking about new work. i find i often get inspired or can clear my head and think about an aspect of my work when walking.

it was a lovely overcast day, but still warm out and not a drop of rain fell on us that day. i love the grey colours of the sky and water.

i made a lovely meal the other day, risotto made from pearl barley instead of rice with porcini and button mushrooms. it was so good, i really can't describe it, but definitely worth the extra time it took to cook the barley.

and i have been visiting my favorite local pub, catching up with friends. never a bad thing.

more on some sewing and my next bit of artwork, once i stop just thinking about them and actually get started on these projects.

ravioli

2011-05-08T19:56:00.006+09:30

last week i had some friends over for dinner. i had planned on making pumpkin ravioli.
i managed to talk everyone into helping make dinner.

we had a great time together, many laughs and mistakes, here are the highlights.

we each had a job in the production.

i got to roll out the pasta dough.

dani got to try and problem solve the ravioli tray that was suppose to make everything easier.

but our dough just stuck to the tray. it took dani most of the time to clean the tray to try again.

in the end she did get great results, after so much laughing my sides hurt.

the result on the left is the first ravioli she made, and the one on the right was the much improved second batch.

tip: use lots of flour and don't over fill the tray.

we took over the whole kitchen and flour was everywhere.

shelsy made ravioli the old fashioned way, by putting the filling down on a sheet of pasta.

then covering it with another sheet and pressing it down,

and cutting them with a roller.

she had the hang of this right away.

these are some of the ravioli we made.

they cooked really quickly in the water, the filling was roasted pumpkin mixed with ricotta and parmesan cheese and nutmeg.

i also made a brown butter and sage sauce to go with the ravioli. i had never made it before and it sounded to easy to be true, but it was great.

so after the huge mess, and so much laughing and many many mistakes we did end up with a really great meal, so good that there was none left!

how cute is this cat

2011-05-02T20:00:00.000+09:30

this is my neighbour's cat. i can't even recall its name, because when i see it i just immediately think of when i was younger and we got a kitten that looked just like this.

she was my cat, and i named her pepsi. she lived with our family for years, and she outlived many a pet at our house.

i really wish i could get a cat of my own.

but for now i just think i have to make the most of the neighbour's cat , who i invite into my house to play as often as i can.

back in the studio

2011-04-30T19:57:00.003+09:30

since my exhibition has been up and i have been back home i haven't just been hanging about not doing anything. in fact after having the exhibition i would have thought i was going to be feeling worn out and exhausted and needing a break but the exact opposite has happened. i am feeling very inspired and full of ideas for some new work.

these past couple of weeks i have been in the hot shop blowing glass and making some cylinders for my next small exhibition in august. these are them cut in half on the table ready to be slumped in the kiln.

i have also had the chance to make some of my production again. these twelve bowls were sent off to a shop in brisbane the other day.

i spent a day cold working in the studio over easter weekend to get them all finished. it was quiet at the studio and i had a really lovely time. long weekends are great for getting lots of stuff done.

new knife block

2011-04-29T17:07:00.003+09:30

today i picked up my custom made knife block.

this is the start of my new good knife collection.

it is made from american walnut and is made by a very talented friend of mine John Quan.

the design is a good one because you can add more sections for more knives as your collection grows. each section is held together with magnets.

this is the block with one of my not so good knives it it now. another reason this design is good is because it does not rest the knife on the blade dulling it.

it looks great too. all i need to do now is save for the kitchen knives, but this is a good inspirational place to start i thought.

baby quilt no 2

2011-04-25T11:25:00.003+09:30

this is the second baby quilt. the little person who this is for is yet to be born, but i have been told it will be a girl. so with this in mind, and in wanting to not make the exact same quilt twice i chose a green fabric with small white dots to go with the charm pack.

i had a day of sewing planned with a good friend of mine, and in that day i got the top patchwork of the quilt finished.

this is the same pattern as i used for the other quilt. it looks quite different with the green, in fact i think the green is more overpowering than when i used the black, or maybe i just relate to the black a bit better.

this is my good friend from FSF, she decided to make a skirt in the same amount of time it took me to sew together the quilt top. way to go!

the next day or two i spent quilting the layers together and binding the quilt because the baby shower was only a few days away. you can't see in the image but i decided to quilt this one by sewing around each of the squares of fabric one centimeter from the edge of the square in the green fabric areas. i have not done any quilting like this before either, and considering i don't have a walking foot for my machine i think it turned out well. i think i need to buy a walking foot if i am going to keep quilting.

this is the backing fabric, again from the wee woodlands range, the same range the squares on the front are from. i love the brown with the pink and yellow and orange colours.

i think that is why i liked the wee woodlands fabric so much. the colours weren't too primary and offensive like most kids things are.

i chose a pink stripey fabric for the binding, i love the idea of using a stripey fabric for the binding, i just think it is the best effect with the stripes wrapping around the quilt.

and as you can tell from the photos it is autumn here. the days are getting shorter and it is getting cooler at nights. but for now during the day it is still sunny and warm.

now all i need is my next quilting project. not sure what that will be yet.

baby quilt no 1

2011-04-23T10:16:00.004+09:30

i have two friends that are due to have a baby any day now. i wanted to make them a baby quilt, because baby quilts are very satisfying to make as they are small, and because some of the baby quilt fabrics are so cute!

i went to my local quilt shop and was inspired by the wee woodlands fabrics. i bought two charm packs of the wee woodlands fabric range.

i matched one of the charm packs up with some black cotton i had and i used a free pattern i got at my local quilt shop to do this layout.

now i know black is not the first colour you think of for a baby quilt, but i like how it made the squares really stand out and the colours pop.

this is it all pinned together with the batting and backing.

this is the backing fabric. i used a fabric from the wee woodlands range.

this is the finished quilt. i quilted it by stitching down the middle of the black rectangles. i was able to stitch one continuous line all over the quilt. this is the first time i have done any quilting like this and i think it was successful.

i edged the quilt with the same fabric i has used to edge the quilt on my bed as i have some already cut and pressed ready to go as binding.

it was sent out in the post overseas to the new mom a few weeks ago.

i didn't want to blog about this quilt before i knew it would arrive.

there is a second quilt from the second charm pack, for the other baby/family and i will blog about this one soon.

final exhibition images

2011-04-11T21:41:00.008+09:30

ok, here they are, some final images from my exhibition.

here are a couple overall images

the title wall and 5 shelves holding the 'from the garden' piece

some details of 'from the garden'

'from the garden' is made up of cane bowls, cups with cane and etched images and old garden utensils.

this is one wall with 'f1 hybrid' (on the left) and 'machine in the garden'

the 'machine in the garden' piece

a detail of the install

'the harvest' wall piece

here is an angled shot trying to minimise the moire effect

'from the garden' badges in stalled on cardboard squares hung on the wall

'the long road' mirrors on wall mounted brackets with images etched into the surface

its a tricky piece to photograph because of the reflection so here are a few different views, trying to give you a sense of it

the mirror on the right starts out close to the wall and each bracket along holds the mirror further out from the wall as you move left

and that's it.

the show is up until may 7th, and a few small items have sold already. hopefully a few more sell in the next couple of weeks.

onto the next project, and a bit of home time cooking, cleaning, gardening, and making other things.

more travel highlights

2011-04-10T14:28:00.004+09:30

after the two days it took for us to install the exhibition we had some free time to be tourists in the nations capital.

we took the family to the national art gallery. these are some bronze pears outside the gallery.

here is the whole gang together at the gallery.

and just the international travellers together.

we went around town, down to the lake to watch the dragon boat races,

and we had the yummiest burgers at broadburger. i recommend it to everyone who visits canberra. we actually went here twice!

we took the family to a place with huge tress.
(ok, it was the national bonsai collection)

and we ended the trip with a visit to parliament house.

the family are pooped now and have asked to just hang out at mine for a while. i can understand i was a busy and fun filled week away.

i promise some finished exhibition photos

exhitbion celebrations with my family and friends

2011-04-07T11:13:00.004+09:30

this is netters with my family before the opening, getting ready to go and having a drink.

after the opening we went to the pub and had some drinks.

as you can see stashu (dad) fell down at one point.

but then he got right back up again, and kept on having fun!

borris was having a great time, and my pal dobbio travelled from another city to come to the opening of my show. it was great to have everyone there!

the holiday is almost over with the family, a few more highlights still to come.

family travel and exhibition install pt 2

2011-04-06T20:54:00.007+09:30

this is borris and the family in front of the "from the garden" badges.

it took me, borris and my good pal netters two whole days to install the show.

netters did an excellent and precise job marking out and then drilling and hanging the large tile pieces.

it was so nice having two people working for me and helping me out.

i also did some work. here i am putting in the screws for the large "harvest" piece.

this is the large "harvest" piece unpacked from the box on the floor in the gallery waiting to be unwrapped and then hung up.

netters did the hard job of hanging all 130 tiles up.

she did have some help from the family.

they were having a great time during the install.

this is me in front of the finished piece "the harvest". this is the first time i have seen this piece installed properly on a wall. i was nervous it wouldn't work but it looks great.

borris helped out by cleaning all the pieces that were hanging on the wall.

this piece "the long road" was actually the first one to be installed. netters did it while i hung up the badges.

they look really great in the gallery, this is the first time i had seen this piece set up properly on the wall and in the brackets.

this is me and netters at the end of the second day, when the install is complete and we were on our way to the pub.

thanks netters and borris for all your hard work, couldn't have done it without you guys!!!

next up is the opening and short holiday with the family!

family travel and exhibition install pt 1

2011-04-05T21:44:00.004+09:30

my family really wanted to come along to my exhibition, but unfortunately they were unable to. but my mom being the creative person she is made some flat small paper cut outs of each of them and sent them to me before i left.

i tried to take them out with me everywhere i went and i think we had a good time.
here we are at the airport waiting to get on the plane in the background.

this is me installing the badges onto the wall in a grid pattern in the gallery.

my family was there to help me to get the grid square on the wall. (that is my dad on the left, mom in the middle and brother on the right.)

and this is the family under the finished piece in the gallery.

and the family with the "food for thought" piece in my exhibition.

more on the exhibition and our family holiday soon.

april autumn garden update

2011-04-03T20:50:00.002+09:30

i am still sorting the images from the install and exhibition opening, i have all my images and all borris' images to go through, then i will post the highlights.

in the meantime here is an image of things i am harvesting from my garden right now.

capsicums, chillies, parsley. the rest of the garden is looking a bit rough, and the birds managed to dig up and eat all the beans i planted, so maybe next weekend i can fix it up a bit and replant some things and install some bird netting.

this is of course after i sort through all my images.

new shoes!

2011-04-02T21:46:00.003+10:30

its been a while since my last post - i have been away for the installation and opening of my exhibition. more on that very soon.

but before i left i was lucky enough to get three new pairs of shoes. aren't they lovely?

i made my deadline - the work is done!

2011-03-13T12:42:00.003+10:30

yesterday i was in the studio packing up my work for my exhibition. it will get collected next thursday by an art moving company for delivery.

i used lots of bubble wrap.

these are the square tiles from the large harvest piece.

each tile gets wrapped in bubble wrap before going into a box that is lined with foam, and each layer of tiles gets foam in between it.

it took me and my friend about 6 hours to pack the entire show up. it was nice to have someone there to help me out and keep me company. she did a great job.

this is all my work packed up ready to roll. i still need to put the address labels and fragile tape on the boxes, but they are done. one solo exhibition equals seven boxes.

i am now done all i can do for this show here. i did go to the photographers the other day and will post these images soon. in the mean time now i can get back to my garden and maybe even do some sewing before going to canberra for the installation and opening of the exhibition.

my garndmother would laugh at my cabbages!

2011-03-12T19:19:00.003+10:30

yesterday borris harvested all of our purple cabbage. some were tiny! i think my grandma would laugh at my cabbages!

try as i might to grow some of the plants that are close to my roots, cabbage, dill, and potatoes for example. for some unknown reason i find these things incredible hard to grow. i still can't grow any dill, i think i have tried about twenty times now. i just bought more seeds today.

tiny did not mean anything though, they are yummy. we made a lovely salad with them. the recipe is simple: red cabbage chopped up, grated carrot, chopped up green and red peppers, bean sprouts, chopped up parsley, and a lemon juice, orange juice and olive oil dressing.
enjoy!

pressie for me!

2011-03-11T18:36:00.003+10:30

i received a gift in the mail other other day from my favorite person in queanbeyan. she is lovely and talented.

this friend saw i had a new sofa and made me some cushions to match.

they are lovely. they reference australia and have many different fabrics used in them, along with some customised printing on the surface. they are really really great.

and the backs are made using old shirts, making use of the pre-made buttons and button holes to put the cushion inside of it. genius!

thanks!

the last piece for my exhibition

2011-03-07T19:17:00.003+10:30

this is what i have done so far on the last piece for my exhibition.

it is called "food for thought" and it consists of 5 cane bowls, and 14 single cane cups.

i wanted this piece to make you think about what you are eating and what goes into your food without making it preachy, or negative or so direct.

then the idea of setting the cups and bowls up referencing a table setting and replacing cutlery with garden tools came along. i think it suggests the ideas well, and is interesting to look at.

i still need to etch some imagery onto the cups and the bottoms of the bowls, to link it with the rest of the work in the show. that will happen later this week.

in the exhibition this work will be displayed against a dark background, making the cane and the images really stand out.

i can't wait to see it all finished and installed.

MELONS!!

2011-03-06T17:47:00.003+10:30

today i went to the markets on the hunt for some old gardening tools.

i came out with these melons.

ha ha, i just had to take this photo!

wish i had grown them in my garden!

the long road

2011-03-06T17:34:00.004+10:30

today i worked on the fifth piece in my exhibition. i dropped off the brackets that i made earlier in the week to the powder-coaters. these brackets will hold the mirrors on the wall in the exhibition.

i took the mirrors out of the plastic casing, and put the stencils i made last night onto them and and then gave them a light sandblast.

this is the result, once i reassembled the mirrors. they are reflecting the ceiling in my studio, but hopefully in the exhibition they will reflect other people or images from the show.

the images are a bit hard to see in these photos but they are all of transport trucks. i took these images during the summer on a road trip with borris. it's amazing how many trucks are on the road.

the whole piece is called "the long road" and will hopefully along with all the other images have people think about the distances food travels.

i think the images by themselves are quite beautiful and can be appreciated on their own out of context of the exhibition.

only one more piece to go!

an update on my progress for my mom. xc

2011-02-26T18:51:00.004+10:30

i spent the morning today at the sandblaster for 3 hours, blasting all the stencils i put on yesterday. this was the result. i am really enjoying the images in this piece.

then finally by the end of the day i had installed the tiles in my studio space.

sorry about the dull images, the sun has gone down now. in the exhibition i am note sure of how the tiles will be installed, but i do like them with the space in between them.

the images are a mixture of drawing, altered photographs, and old farm equipment catalogue images.

now the tricky part, title and pricing. does anyone have any suggestions for the title of this group of tiles?

this is piece number 4 for the show. tomorrow i start the last 2 pieces for the show.

actually they have been started but tomorrow i can really focus on making some hard decisions about what they will look like and what images i am using.

SOFA!

2011-02-26T17:36:00.002+10:30

a couple of months ago i found this wooden sofa frame sitting on the side of the road, under a dog haired stained ratty mattress. turns out the frame was beautiful, and i got a furniture friend of mine to fix up the wood and give it an oil. it looked great. next was a plan to get new foam, webbing and fabric to make it like new.

i just got it back the other day from the upholsterers. i chose a lime green commercial fabric, and after some convincing from borris to get 2 long cushions rather than the 6 cushions i was originally thinking of this is what i came home with.

i think it looks great, i just need a few throw cushions to finish it off.

i spent a bit of money on the upholstery but not as much as some people say i could sell it for if i wanted to, so overall i think it was still a great find.

today

2011-02-25T22:49:00.003+10:30

today i eventually got to my studio, although later than i wanted to, and i then spent a few hours putting the stencil resist onto the 50 odd tiles i have ready for the next piece for the show.

it took longer than i expected, i was hoping to get it all done today, but tomorrow i will spend quite a few hours at the sandblaster. i hope to have this piece completed tomorrow, and maybe installed too.

the tiles at the top of this image are completed. i am really excited to see them all completed, it could be my new favorite piece.

more on the progress of this piece tomorrow.

yesterday

2011-02-25T22:37:00.005+10:30

yesterday i did three important things. 1. i glued the hanging key holes on the back of the large sargasso piece. i did not take any images because watching glue drying is boring.

2. i also did a test hang of the tractor piece in my studio.

it took 2 hours from start to finish and i learnt a lot of things that will help during the real install of the show. i think it looks pretty good.

this is the first time it has really been totally finished.

i think it hangs off the wall nicely, with just a small gap at the back.

3. the next thing i did was unpack all the badges from the photographers.

then i put magnets on the back of them.

and i worked on the installation of the badges for the exhibition.

i have been saving these cardboard squares for at least 5 years now. they are a packing material that i collected because it looks useful, (this is very unlike me)

but they have come in handy, for this display.

in the exhibition the installation will be in a horizontal rectangle, but the space i had available in my studio was a vertical space. there will be a bit more space around each cardboard square in the real installation. i like that the squares reference a product display but are a bit rough.

and this is me exhausted at the end of the day, but i was able to cross three things off my list.

suggestions please!

2011-02-21T18:17:00.004+10:30

these are the new images from the photographer i got back today. they are really great. i need some help though with titles. any suggestions are welcomed and appreciated. did i mention that i need the titles fast, like yesterday.

this is the colourful version of the badges in my exhibition. all made with hand blown glass that is etched with magnetic backing.

this is the black and white version. i was thinking of simply calling them the "fruit and veg" range. what do you think?

this next image is the main piece of the exhibition, and i think will look great installed in the gallery, but i did find out today about the moire effect. what is the moire effect?

Moiré effect can produce interesting and beautiful geometric patterns. However, the phenomenon degrades the quality and resolution of graphic images. Problems occur when a screened image, such as is found in a newspaper, is directly photographed and then the photograph is reprinted in screened format. It can also occur when the image from a computer display is reproduced by photographic means and then rendered in a screened or dot-matrix format. The fine matrix of dots in the original image almost invariably conflicts with the matrix of dots in the reproduction. This generates a characteristic criss-cross pattern on the reproduced image.

or check out this site for an instant idea of the patterns we are talking about.

and why do i need to know about the moire effect? because my image is made up using a halftone screen, or small dots like a newspaper image is made of. When this image is photographed and then printed or viewed on a screen you will see a small pattern that is not in the real piece but appears on the screen. in this work it kind of looks like a plaid pattern.

while it is not a disaster, it is something to consider in the future. i think i will need to use an irregular pattern next time, so this problem is not encountered.

you can really see the moire effect in the image above, on the arm, but hopefully it is not too distracting from the over all piece.

now the hard part, any ideas for a title? i was thinking simply "harvest" or "the harvest".

the highlights of the week

2011-02-19T09:08:00.003+10:30

the highlights of this week have been....

lovely flowers on valentines day from borris.

i am not sure what kind of flowers they are but i think they are some kind of native.

and the veggie harvest from my garden today.

three green capsicum, i even left some on the plants to see if they will turn red, a zucchini, four banana capsicums and a handful of tomatoes.

not bad for a garden i feel like i have abandoned for my studio work. luckily it has been raining a fair bit and hasn't been too hot a summer.

finally, some progress on the badges.

2011-02-11T17:56:00.003+10:30

finally i found the motivation to finish off the badges for the exhibition. i started these way back in october last year. and since then they have been sitting around staring at me, waiting patiently for me to do something with them.

i have been doing the drawings for the badges slowly over many weeks, and then i was busy finishing off the 2 other large tile pieces for the exhibition. then last week, somehow the torture of not making out weighed the torture of making. sometimes that is what i need before i can actually get on with making.

this was my kitchen table, badges ready, stencils ready.

i spent an hour or so sandblasting these, and while i was doing that i had a brilliant idea about how i might display these in the exhibition.

i have been saving a box full of these cardboard squares for about 5 years now, thinking they will come in handy for something one day. that day is here! each badge has a magnet backing that holds the badge to the cardboard. the cardboard is then pinned to the wall with a finishing nail. there is a simple rough beauty to the badges and the cardboard, so i think they are a perfect match.

i go to the photographers next week to get the large 130 tile piece photographed as well as the finished badges, i will post those professional shots once i have them.

in 14 days this will be ready to hang!

2011-02-10T12:10:00.005+10:30

i finally got up the courage and patience the other day to glue the hanging device onto the back of the tractor tiles. i ordered these eye hooks online, they are perfect for hanging these tiles.

i had to scotch-brite the surface of the eye hooks then clean with metho and isopropyl alcohol, before applying the construction grade silicon adhesive.

i also had to thoroughly clean the glass. all this set up took about and hour, but it was worth it. i had a wooden template made up so i could locate the key hole in the same place on each tile.

now all that is left to do is wait the 14 days this silicon takes to fully cure, and i can hang it on the wall. lets hope it looks good once it is up.

fancy canes for my exhibition

2011-02-08T19:52:00.002+10:30

on the weekend i worked with a good friend of mine who is a genius glassblower and very talented at pulling fancy twisted canes. he worked with me, teaching me how he does it as we pulled the canes.

at the end of four hours we had pulled nine canes, three canes for the set up and six fancy twisted canes. i love the way these canes look.

these are the fancy canes we pulled, they are so lovely. they will be used in some blown glass pieces that will be in my exhibition.

hopefully i will be able to recall how to do this myself next time i need to but for now this will hopefully get me through for the work i need to make over the next couple of weeks.

big shopping day for art making

2011-02-05T20:46:00.003+10:30

one of the things i have done in the past with my art work is used found rear view car mirrors. i arrange the mirrors in a grouping and then etch an image over the surface.

for my exhibition in march i proposed that i would do something similar again, only this time i wanted to use large side view mirrors from the road trains that transport food all around the country.

i thought that this piece could deal with the issue of food miles. i went to an truck wreckers to see if i could find second hand parts, but it appears that unlike cars mirrors are often only replaced if the mirror is actually broken, so i was unable to find any second hand one.

i also found out that they have stopped making the metal backed mirrors, due to some changes in legislation, so they chrome backed ones are pretty much impossible to get. these black plastic ones are what will eventually replace all the chrome ones.

this meant that i had to settle for some new out of the box mirrors. (the boxes will be handy for when i need to ship the work) i purchased 20 of them to use in the show. i need to make the metal armature that they will be displayed on, and sort out what the layout and images will be, but by purchasing these all the other day it means that the main component for this piece is done. i was helped by a very friendly person and got a discount for buying so many at once, he said he has never sold 20 mirrors all at once.

so this tower of boxed mirrors is the start of the next piece for the show.

is there life outside of making art?

2011-02-04T22:10:00.004+10:30

the short answer is no.

when a deadline of a exhibition is coming up there is no time for almost anything else. my other favorite things to do - ride my bike, make yummy food, hang with borris, sew, garden - they all fall to the side and become things i think of doing if i ever had any time to do anything else but make art.

somehow this is all i can recall making food wise for weeks. a quinoa salad with feta herbs and tomatoes, it was really yummy.

i dehydrated some peaches from my friend's tree, also very good, i might like them more than the fresh ones- although the fresh ones are really good too.

and finally this is one of six purple cabbages that i have growing in the garden that desperately needs to be harvested and enjoyed before they are past their best.

not that making art is bad, but i miss my hobbies, and wish i could find a bit of a better balance. still 2 months til my show opens, so much more to do so i doubt it will change much anytime soon, but that is just how these things are.

second piece done!

2011-01-31T20:28:00.002+10:30

on the weekend i finished my second piece for the show.

this is a snap shot i have taken. i still need to get a professional image done.

i am really happy with it, not sure what to call it yet. its about 1.3 meter wide.

i still need to get the hanging part glued on, but hopefully that happens later this week.

now onto the next piece!

sargasso tile update

2011-01-22T21:31:00.003+10:30

this was my kitchen table after making stencils for two hours last night. i made enough stencils for three rows or thirty tiles for the piece i am working on. this is them dry in the morning, ready to go.

and this is what i have completed after six hours or so of studio time today. much of that time was spent at the lovely sandblaster.

i did two rows earlier in the week so now i only have four more rows to go, or forty tiles. i am hoping to maybe have it done before the end of the month but with a few things on my calendar for next week it might be tricky.

4 out of 13 done!

2011-01-18T20:55:00.000+10:30

this is what i have completed so far. 4 rows out of 13 done!

i still have 4 more days of sandblasting ahead of me, but i am really enjoying the process. it is nice to have the time to sandblast and think about all sorts of things - the show and the next pieces i want to make, and especially with this image thinking of my family and remembering playing in the veggie garden at my grandparents.

i heart our sandblaster!

2011-01-16T16:00:00.002+10:30

the studio i am in has a lovely sandblaster. i am using this as a main tool for my upcoming exhibition.

the row on the left have been sandblasted and are finished. the row on the right has the blue stencil stuck onto it ready to be sandblasted.

and this is the first 2 of 13 rows completed. i think it is looking great!

i also heart my brother, for helping me with the computer work for this piece!

fresh from the garden!!

2011-01-16T15:55:00.002+10:30

while most of this country seems to be flooded and under water, where i live luckily we are having what i think is a really nice summer. its not too hot, low-mid 30's and raining every few days. this is of course very unusual for our summer, but i will take it! because this means i am not having to water every single day and my plants are thriving, even though i am busy in the studio and barely make it out into the garden. i know by typing this it means i am jinxing myself and the weather will rocket to 44 degrees next week, but fingers crossed it stay like it has been.

these lovely tommy toe tomatoes are from the garden. every morning a new batch are red and ready to eat.

i haven't been cooking with them or using them in salads as they are too yummy, and really i am lucky to have not eaten them all long enough to take these 2 photos!

slowly progress is happening

2011-01-15T08:40:00.003+10:30

i recently had a short holiday, more on that in a future posting, but before i left i finally got 2 more pieces for my exhibition cold worked and ready for the interesting part. (cold working all these tiles can get a bit boring)

this is what the studio looked like on new years eve, as the work was just completed in the cold shop.

this set of black tiles has about 55 pieces in it. these will eventually get a collection of images relating to the "machine in the garden" idea i am working on etched into them. now i need to be drawing and gathering images and working out the layout.

this collection of 130 tiles, will be the main piece in the show (in my mind anyways). there will be one image that expands across these tiles. i have just started making the stencils for these and will get the first batch sandblasted today.

the tricky part, and essential bit will be figuring out how to hang these on the wall.

december update

2010-12-31T18:31:00.006+10:30

it has been a busy month. this is what has been happening around here:

tomatoes in the garden

onions out of the garden, a nice crop of 30 or so.

borris is still very into his green smoothies with fresh garden greens.

i made the cutest thing ever.
at work we had a gift exchange for xmas where you had to get/make something to fit into the small cardboard box in the background. i made a tiny whole bowl! so cute!
i think i will make more in the new year.

speaking of cute, borris and i went house sitting, and puppy sitting near the beach.

this cute little darlin' pup is named blue.

i got my australian citizenship last week! hooray!

we had an aussie christmas! such a small tree but lots of pressies

i got 5 kg of cherries that i happily enjoyed all week!

borris was surprised and happy!

and blue enjoyed the wrapping!

and that was december! phew.

happy 2011 to everyone!

and now, i need some suggestions

2010-12-11T17:45:00.006+10:30

i haven't made anything since i finished that last piece. well i have blown glass and made some components and i have been thinking about what to do next, but i haven't really done much. i guess you need that space to reboot in between finishing off one thing and moving onto the next thing.

i have been procrastinating on this installation for the show. i must get back onto it. i will aim to have it compete for the end of this year.

but while i do this piece i also need to be thinking ahead to my another piece as well. after finishing off the F1 Hybrid piece with the tractor image on it from my last post, i have been thinking about doing another piece that is the opposite of that one.

the idea i have so far is that there will be lots of different images in the background of mechanised things, machines, tools, etc. that part is easy. the part i am having difficulty with is thinking about what image would represent the garden.

this is what i want to ask you. what could be the image to use to represent garden and be the opposite of the tractor image?

TA!-Done!

2010-11-28T20:54:00.003+10:30

i went from this......

.....to this.

the final piece is 124 cm wide and 94 cm tall. this is the image i had done at the photographers. the title of this piece is F1 Hybrid.

here is a detail of the piece. you can see the etched image of my grandparents harvesting celery and the texture of this in the black spray paint areas.

this is another image the photographer did cropping in on the tractor.

and for your own curiosity this is the set up required to photograph this piece which is why i needed to go see a professional to get this image.

i had a nice relaxing weekend as a result of getting this piece done on friday, but now i need to re-focus on the next piece at hand.

almost done

2010-11-28T19:10:00.003+10:30

i had planned on getting this piece done and ready for photography on monday but the photographer rang me early in the week saying he couldn't do monday anymore but he could fit me in friday afternoon. i had just lost two days of work time, and so i spent all day thursday and friday working frantically.

as a result of my frantic working, i didn't take many process images, as there just wasn't enough time. thursday as i said before was the day i spent ten hours at the sandblaster.

on friday morning i started the day off by rubbing white paint into the etchings to make the image stand out more clearly. i ended up calling in some help from Borris mid day on friday. he helped me rub off the extra paint form each tile.

once the white paint was dry the layout of the tiles was done, each one numbered on the back and each tile was traced out onto the large image of a tractor print out. Borris helped me by cutting out each paper tile stencil, and then taping gaffer tape on each tile. then using the paper print out i hand cut each tile pattern out into the gaffer tape so the positive area of the image was revealed. this area was then lightly sandblasted so the paint would stick to the glass. the piece was starting to come together.

at some point in all that i knew that i would not make my 430 deadline so i rang the photographer and he said he could wait until 630, a 2 hour extension. i was relieved, i think Borris was a bit surprised we would have to keep working.

with the extension in my favour i pushed ahead and using some fancy special graffiti spray paint from a specialty shop i painted the areas that i had cut out the stencil for with matte black paint. luckily the paint dried to the touch in 5 minutes, so i gave it ten minutes just for good luck before i started to remove the tape.

thanks to Borris' help i had the last tile wrapped and packed in a box to head to the photographers at 625pm.

stencil making

2010-11-27T13:48:00.004+10:30

this is what i want the final piece to look like. this is an overhead projection onto the wall in my studio where i hung the paper layout of the piece.

i have all my tiles made and ready to go, so the next step is to make the photo resist. this process has taken me a little while to get set up for. in the end i needed a plumber to install a new tap in the bathroom and to lengthen the hose on the spray gun, but finally earlier this week i made the stencils.

the process is simple, you expose the blue film with the image you want in front of it for a few seconds, then wash out the unexposed part. i needed to make 31 more stencils for the piece. you need to do this process in the dark, but since i can't dark out my bathroom easily i waited until it was dark at 9pm to start. i worked non stop and finished the last one at 1 am. that is why i look a bit sleepy.

this is what my kitchen area looked like the next day with all my stencils laying out the dry.

from here these stencils are fragile and need to be kept dust free so they stick to the glass.

the next step is sandblasting. i did that following day and it took me 11 hours to layout and sandblast all 31 tiles for the piece. there are no photos of that because it was kind of boring just me and the sandblaster.

i sill have lots to do

2010-11-21T15:47:00.004+10:30

i have a photography deadline looming, and the goal is to get this piece done by the end of next week. i still have lots to do.

this is all 36 tile cold worked and ready for the images. there are a few test tiles above the grid as well. i have finally gotten the image i want to use into the right format. when i say i, i actually mean my brother who is a computer wiz that is helping me get some of my images ready.
(thanks)

this is a tile with the sandblasting resist on it ready to be etched.

this is the same tile after being sandblasted. the blue resist is still on it, it just needs to be scrubbed off.

these are the first 2 finished tiles of this piece. only 34 more to go.

luckily for photography i don't need to have the wall mounted installation part done, it will be photographed flat, but from above so it looks like it is on a wall. i can worry about that part later. so this week i need to make 34 more stencils and sandblast 34 more tiles.

this piece will also get another larger image across the top of the tiles, and i need to resolve how to do this. in my mind it works perfectly, but real life is never as easy as i imagine it.

its going to be a busy week, we will see how i go.