GRIT

for the past 6 years there has been a collective group exhibiting in the port adelaide area as part of the fringe festival. deb and i have been a part of it each year. this year the theme of the show was GRIT.

but instead of exhibiting in a gallery space, we ended up exhibiting in the old packing shed of the old flour mill. its a great old space, that just needed some work to get it ready for a public event.

the old walls, peeling with paint are beautiful

 

and some of the shadows and surfaces were artworks in themselves

Aside from cleaning out debris and left over stuff, there was a hole in the floor, with random stuff in it. instead of cleaning it up and filling it with timber Deb and i decided to make an artwork installation

with a thick piece of glass, it safely shows visitors what lies beneath

although that does mean it is very very hard to sell.

then there was this bit of floor along the edge of the room. It was not safe to leave it like this with the public entering the space

 

so Deb and i took photos of the grim and dirt and dust in the gap and then covered the gap with wood. We printed the images from before and had them printed to scale and installed a photo collage on the new timber

 

it looks really great, and was a nice artwork in itself

 

again hard to sell.....

 

and one other bit of floor that needed fixing, again we documented it before covering it up and then created a poster to show what it looked like before.

 

but all those artworks happened once we were in the space and inspired. our original idea was to use the grinding grit we normally use in glass cutting and polishing and make a giant gritter ball.

 

it really is better in person, but the grit sparkles, and of course the disco ball motor keeps it turning. not bad for a over sized beach ball, paper mache and some grit and glue!

more on the rest of the exhibition can be found here.

oh and we won an award, more on that here.

procrastinating

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.

in 14 days this will be ready to hang!

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.

its the little things...

before



after

it is the little things that make you happy.

i find cleaning very satisfying, and with my sore back i haven't been able to do much of my favorite things, but my stove top was long overdue for a good clean. had been at mine on friday night you would have found me happily scrubbing and cleaning!

do i know how to have a good time or what?!