not too shabby

Testing out the close up capabilities of a new cheapy camera - since my desk seems to sadly be shrouded in camera carcasses! The results are not too shabby (quite liking the mountain range feel!), although I'm pining for a replacement DSLR - one day.....

headspace daily project - prelude

I've cracked open the acrylic paints my sister gave me for Xmas and it's all a bit foreign!! I generally use watercolour to essentially colour in a line drawing! Loving this pink though. Perfect way to start the 2013 Headspace Daily Project. No 001 will make its way here soon!! Rules for me to follow... don't be too precious. Just do something and get it up. This is all about learning & seeing where it takes me. Very excited!

in my space #1...

my studio space

Don't you love those amazing artist/designer studio shots, with beautiful storage solutions, incredible inspiration pin boards, views of rolling hills or organic gardens - well, this is my home space! Here I help run a festival and try to be creative - I'm stunned I get as much done as I do!!

window doodles

I had enormous fun drawing on the URSAstudiohouse window with liquid chalk to conincide with the exhibition. It was extremely difficult to photograph due to reflections, but I hope you get the gist! There's something super satisfying creating work in public. It was a warm & busy early Saturday evening on Lygon Street, and people paused to watch and give me the thumbs up. Ursula loved it, and we're going to have a little brainstorm to figure out what I can do for a Xmas window. Looking forward to it - as I would love to do more of this sort of thing.

BTW, what on earth has happened to the blogger compose page in my absence - getting images to sit where I want them is a nightmare!

grrr... photography part 2!

I'm so very close to making the shop live (but not tonight)! But alas, my camera died today (or the battery, or the charger - I'm seriously hoping it's one of these rather than the camera). It seems my master plan to snap away in perfect Spring daylight has been hijacked by the dreaded 'electro-devil', a great term my brother used today to describe what happens to all printers, computers, phones, cameras, cars, scanners, recording devices, photocopiers, washing machines, dryers & any other electrical device - when you have a deadline. What IS that all about? How DO they KNOW?! Gah! Grr! Hissss!

grrr... photography!

Trying to get my little online shop up and running by the end of the weekend. But who would have thought that taking pics of cards would be so hard?! Day one of playing in bad light - obviously we need a day 2, day 3 & maybe a day 4!

Definitely need to wait for good day time light over the weekend - and to think this through a little more in the meantime!

Composition take 2 - hmmm. With some proper focus, a better background and a tweaked angle, this one may gain some legs!

Good ol' front on. Stock standard. Not minding this...

Neh... who needs detail when there's a good paper triangle to capture!!! Look at those glorious crisp edges.

Zooming in on the back - just coz I can! Obviously a few more macro lessons are in need - but I like her fade in & fade out style - it's foggy up there you know!

card for misinformed birthday

It's great when at the last moment you can whip up a birthday card for a friend so as not turn up empty handed, but not so great when you write 'happy 40th' when they are only turning 37. Apologies dear Andy! It's just that I've been waiting so loooong for some of my friends to turn 40 - I thought this was her year! Doh!

It's been such a long time since I made coloured paper collage cards, and I have to question why, as this was an absolute joy to create in the 30 minute window of time I had - I get the feeling deadlines are a good thing for me!

a view from above - circles

Since my fingers seem to be incapable of drawing, I found myself in an impromtu moment (15 minutes before leaving for the Yarra Valley wine region for our anniversary!!) capturing a few circles. It was uber fun, despite terrible lighting. Here's a list of what you're looking at (left to right).
1. My absolute fave, the kitchen door knob. Looks like a paper mache planet!
2. A good ol vegemite lid. For those you unaware of Australia's favourite spread (certainly not mine, can't stand the stuff!), it's a thick dark brown gooey smelly yeasty sludge that folk slather on their toast, on crackers or in sandwiches. Yuk!
3. This type of wafer with cracked pepper or herbs has taken off here in a big way recently. They were always available in good delicatessens, but every single company out there seems to be producing them. Very fabulous with Tasmanian smoked salmon, Maggie Beer pear paste (South Australian) and King Island (a brilliant foodie island between Victoria & Tasmania) blue vein cheese.
4. Just to add a bit of colour. We do all love a container of coloured paper clips!
5. One of three beautifully crafted hand held wooden percussion objects brought home from the Bauhaus Museum in Berlin many years ago. Wish I had remembered to write down who made them. The ball in the middle rotates, and the whole thing is kinda representative of a wooden flying saucer. Nice.
6. Died paper twine left over from Xmas. Perfect for all matter of things.
7. The top of the head of a set of babushka dolls of Russian presidents. Guess who this one might be?!
8. An inside peek of a glass candle holder. I do like a captured bubble in the sun.
9. Jelly! Mango & pears.
10. One of those castor cups to put under your chair/couch to avoid scratching the floor. Never used because they were too big. This one comes complete with a hair.
11. Candle in a glass. Lucky you can't see the charred pantry moths in the bottom. Silly bastards, do they not know that flame & wax = impending horrid death?
12. There's not a lot of these left around the neighbourhood. A metal garbage bin survives the wheely bins. Goes exceptionally well with a Hills Hoist.
13. An Aerogard lid. Yet another Australian iconic product, to help keep the mozzies (mosquitoes) from sucking your blood dry! More than happy to spray myself with this stuff and reduce my life span, than to be bitten by these opportunistic little critters (just like pantry moths) - as they come from far & wide for my blood.
14. M's new plunger juicer - fresh orange juice for brekky.
15. A rather disgusting (now that I look at it this closely) kitchen sink plug. The texture here looks a little like a mushroom - though definitely more rubbery and devoid of flavour.

the revenge of the christmas triangle

I'm very scared dear friends. I snapped this in the wee hours of the morning. It seems... that just like gremlins, or triffids, these guys are self spawning... and in the process, they've grown hair. Even scarier. Not sure if I'll be able to sleep tonight... should I set traps? If you don't hear from me again, please contact the appropriate authorities...

the christmas triangle

Very happy to have finally sent Xmas treats to my wonderful brother and sister inlaw who live interstate. Judy's working hard to finish her incredible drawings for an exhibition early in 2011. She's been a scientist all her life (as is he), and has recently retired to focus on being a full time artist. You can visit her website here for a taster. Still some shopping to do for the rest of the family, but thank goodness I have a small one, so it's not too crazy. I've always made Xmas cards every year - it's been 'my thing' since I was a kid, and this year I'm quite liking the christmas triangle with antlers! The gouache didn't take too well to the recycled card, so will have to work on that. Collage may be a better option. But I can see a nice range coming together for my Etsy shop next Xmas. I'm really hoping to have this open in the new year, firstly with small originals, then some prints, cards and other items that feel right as time goes on.

storm palette

If was an incredible evening, the sky rumbling with the threat of a serious storm (still yet to break), the contrast between the ominous dark scene from the front of my apartment with the glowing orange (reminiscent of fire storms) scene from the back of my apartment was quite startling.

friends come out to read

I'm so pleased these little friends have greeted my recent second hand book purchases with such enthusiasm! Besides an obvious natural affinity with the subject matter, they have become captivated with the ageing beauty of the covers and pages within. They agree as a whole (even the birds) that the first book, 'The Life Of Spiders' (1912) is indeed a special find. J.H. Fabre, scribes his research with a poet's prowess, and there is something about the tone of writing in this era that I personally love - and I'm sure they'll agree. The pages smell dusty and woody, and one feels drawn into the drama of an unfolding tale, as though we've been shrunk in size so as not to miss anything in this eight legged world. The second book 'An Australian Bird Book' by J.A. Leach (1923) is in contrast far more literal. Facts accompany colour and b/w plates, preparing us for a day of serious bird watching with binoculars, safari hat and a thermos of tea(!) in hand. Tally Ho!

> Ceramic spider: by Megan Bogonovich - her work is wonderful
> Yowie Birds: Once upon a time, Cadbury chocolate developed a product a bit like Kinder Surprise. I just happened to REALLY like the birds the most.

hairy is beautiful

I've had a brilliant day... I discovered the macro option on my little Canon point and shoot. Oh my!!! How excited am I... happy days indeed. I would dearly love the real thing on a brand new DSLR, but this will certainly do for the moment. It all started while I was sitting on the nature strip (such an odd name for the bit of grass between the footpath and the road - it's like society's token gesture) while my partner changed a flat tyre. Good lad. It's been super windy, so there's a lot of foliage on the ground and flying through the air. I picked up a seed pod next to me, and was amazed, I mean truly AMAZED at how hairy it was... infact it looked like a tiny animal pelt! I picked up a few more and took them inside to place them next to the beautiful bunch of native Australian flowers I bought for the birthday boy. I thought I'd take a few happy snaps, which is something I don't do much. Then... then... there it was... the macro setting. Why had I not spied this before?! I wish I had discovered it when I was staying at the lighthouse on the Shetland Islands (yes... it was incredible) because I wanted to document this really fabulous plant growing amongst the rocks that looked like little strawberry tops. So I had a play, and it was when I zoomed in on the flowers that I realised that they were really hairy too! I just couldn't resist posting this little suite of hairiness.

bee-mused

I know... I know. The title's kinda tacky, but bemused I was indeed when I noticed this poor wayward bee (almost a poem!) firmly attached to our very own window sill friend. I know Queen bees are larger in size, but one would surmise that maybe, just maybe, he had some sort of size distortion fixation? Then lo and behold, I swung around and there was another bee clinging to dear life from the candle wax overflow. Now I'm not sure what would be more precarious in this instance... pseudo ice climber adventurer aiming for dizzy heights, or escaping indiana jones-style from a formidable elephant holding a damn long sword (a beautiful label on a pot of Indian chutney that hasn't quite made it back to the fridge). Ah... spring has arrived.