happy christmas

Wishing you all a very happy, safe and food-filled festive season!

not just talk

I’m not sure I’ve ever been able to say this before… I feel so proud of our new government! A month ago we had a federal election and ousted the last government after a very long time. In the short space of a month the new government has already made giant leaps towards climate change (in a good way, instead of bad for once), ratified the Kyoto protocol, pressured the Japanese government into not slaughtering 50 humpback whales this year (an endangered species, although they’ll still be whaling), and now they’re reviewing our place in Iraq.

Finally I feel like I can come out from hiding my face behind my hands and be proud of being part of this country again. It’s early days, so I’m still erring on the cautious side, but at least now I’m feeling hopeful. It’s amazing to live in a democracy where you can influence who represents you, your country, and your place in the rest of the world.

Power to the people, people – take it back – be part of the change – vote for what you believe in! Vote! Yaaaar !– hehehehe.

fluff, scales and spinnerets

Today strange things happened... Maybe it's because it's getting very close to Christmas, but today was the day that some local critters decided it was time to come and welcome us to the neighbourhood.

First, when Mr You was in the garage this morning, this little fella ambled in.

He's a tiny little brush-tail possum, and he sat in there watching Mr You all morning, even through the power saw and drilling noise that chased me away. (Mr You is building stuff at the moment). He's still there now and is so cute and not at all afraid of us - I just want to pat him... but I know better. The lady from Wires who I spoke to assured me he'll go on his merry way after dark tonight, but if he's still there in the morning, it means he's lost his home.


I did not, on the other hand, mention this guy to her...

Can you see? Click to see it bigger.

Maybe this will give you a clue...


Or this?...


Okay, so I was on the phone to a client this morning, and noticed this huge snake making it's way along the roof guttering of our neighbours house. Silently (because I was on the phone) I waved, pointed and gestured madly to Mr You. By the time I got off the phone and went to investigate the tree python had made it's way into our trees!!!

At first, to be quite honest, I almost shat myself (remember I'm a city girl, this is all new to me). Then once we realised it was not at all viscous we stood and watched it. Mr You took these very close up photo's, and even some video of it making it's way gracefully through the trees. It was BIG. Probably almost 2 meters long (that's about 6 feet), and at the widest part it was as fat as my arm from shoulder to elbow. But it was beautiful. The photo's don't really capture the amazing crisp green colour of it's skin. I watched it make it's way from the trees to the fence and slide (while wobbling as it tried to balance it's length) along the top of the fence. It managed to go quite a way, before finally losing it's balance and plopping off onto the ground. Luckily for us it fell over the other side of the fence (not into our yard), and I knocked on the neighbours door to warn them about it.
It's funny, as long as it was in the tree I was okay, but the thought of it on the ground freaks me out.


This all comes after yesterday, while driving home along the highway after doing some shopping, Mr You starts fiddling with his pants. I nag at him about how dangerous it is to fiddle while driving at high speed... Only later after we were out of the car did he explain to me that his "fiddling" was actually him tucking the leg opening of his pants up tight so that the GIANT SPIDER that had crawled over his legs twice while driving wouldn't find it's way inside his pants!!!


I tell you what, the local critters are reeeal friendly round these parts... If only they were our age, interested in good music, and were human.

elloh

Have you guys seen the "elloh" store on Etsy? It made me laugh so much, I love it... could spend half the day there... paintings of characters and scenes from tv shows and cult movies. They would make great Chissy presents too! So clever, I especially like the Breakfast Club painting. I wonder if elloh likes Arrested Development? The Bluths would make fantastic subjects - hehehehe... Go check it out>>>

white flags

Look what I got from Abigail!!! She had this painting in her Etsy store for sale for a long time, eventually it went away (expired), and all along I was intending to buy it. After it disappeared I wrote to Abigail to let her know that even though no-body bought it, it was in no way un-loved. Then one thing lead to another... my frenchies found their way into her home, and her beeeeautiful "White Flags" found it's way into mine. And now we're both that much happier than we were before.

If you are not familiar with Abigail's illustrations, you really need to take a look. Her people possess grace and elegance - a unique quality to catch on paper. And her costumes!!! Oh the costumes are amazing... And I can now say, from experience, that there is detail in her paintings that does not show up on screen, it is reserved for those lucky ones who see them in the flesh.

a white lamp in a sea of brass

You may recall me mentioning a book I was reading a few months ago; Sixty Lights by Gail Jones. It’s the story of a sister and brother growing up in the Victorian era. It starts out in Australia, migrates to England, then to India and back to England once more. Anyway, before I return the book to the friend who loaned it to me, I wanted once again to record another one of my favourite passages from it… so I can re-read it in the future, and so you can enjoy it too.

This is when Lucy, now a young woman, has travelled to India, where the Victorian age seems not to exist, and a whole new world like nothing she’s ever seen before has opened before her.

There were places Lucy would travel to where her own ignorance astounded her. She entered customs and buildings she knew nothing about. People around her spoke and she understood not a single word. She considered herself a crude cipher of the West, carrying her own culture as impeding knowledge. This territory she had entered was on the whole indifferent to her presence, and might well engulf or erase the speck of empire she accidentally represented. It was in the marketplace, where foreign women were never seen, that she felt most keenly her presumptuous misplacement. Local women of exceptional beauty brushed and slid alongside: she thought her own clothes a stiff and ridiculous dome against their fluent forms and loose clinging fabrics. She was, more over, pastel to their augmented hues; she had never before felt so bleached and so encased. There were merchants standing behind pyramids of many-coloured spices who hailed her and smiled; they waved their hands like magicians over their mini-geographies, enticing the stranger to inspect and buy. Lucy instructed Bashanti to acquire a few ounces of turmeric, for no reason other than its colour, and that it was something she could confidently name. There were men in saffron robes devoted to multiform gods, and children with kohl around their eyes and small grasping hands. Here were beggars with damaged limbs and whole families with fingers and faces eroded by leprosy. Lucy asked Bashanti to give them money, but her servant simply flung coins in their general direction, afraid of their touch. Flowers garlanded tiny shrines in nooks and crannies, and sewage and rubbish lay strewn beneath her feet. So many people and so prepossessed.

Lucy would have liked to announce that she was Australian, not English, but she knew that here the distinction was probably meaningless. Her face was a white lamp in a sea of brass. She wished herself dark. She wished herself Indian, part of this throng of purposeful, myth-saturated, interconnected people. Now and then she passed another foreigner, a man, inevitably, who would nod, or touch the rim of his hat, as if exchanging secret English messages in code. Lucy had no wish to communicate with these other lamps who felt – she could tell – that they shone more brightly and more importantly than anyone else, that they dispensed white light with a civilising purpose. In her imagination she flickered in the midst of the crowd, her face appearing here and there, inconstant and impermanent, a kind of fleeting figment, in a more general and self-sufficient sea of brown.


The storyline itself, although lovely and interesting, is not utterly brilliant, but the way it is written is. Man, I enjoyed reading this… can you tell? Ha.

holding the fort

Mr You has been away since last week, and he gets back tomorrow. He’s been to Melbourne to see a band and visit a friend, and today he’s in Sydney visiting our friends (and picking up art supplies for me). I’m soooooooooooooo envious. Every evening he’s been calling me with news of his day…St Kilda markets, The designer market, the “best Japanese food ever”, Indonesian food, shopping on Chapel St. Arhhhhh I’m dying here. Kicking myself for not going with him… Trying to console myself with the fact that at least we do have a sushi shop here, but sadly, in my book, smoked salmon doesn’t really pass as sushi though folks!!!

So while he’s been frolicking in my 2 favourite Australian cities, I’ve been here…

…tucked up at my table drawing, painting and generally catching up on finishing “half-way-through” projects. I’ve taken his absence as an opportunity to go hard and get stuff done. It’s been pretty successful, but I’m soo tired today, after not noticing it was getting late and staying up until 2am three nights in a row. But it was good. Here’s a little sneak peak at one of the illo’s…


Thankfully my “to-do-queue” is starting to level out a bit. I still have some people waiting ever so patiently though, so hopefully I can do some “efficient” Christmas shopping this week and then plough through the rest while I’m on a roll.


Tilli has been keeping me company. She’s good at that. And although she has hidden my little porcelain pot and refuses to give it back, we remain bosom buddies. (Seriously, she’s never done anything naughty before, but this is one of my favourite little items, up on a shelf… I’ve found the lid, but despite crawling under furniture with a torch for about an hour, I still can’t find any trace of the pot… alive and well or otherwise).

Something I forgot to tell you about Tilli was her discovery of toes. Because we got her at the beginning of Winter, our feet were pretty much always inside socks. Now that the weather is warming up our feet have been freed, and she has discovered our toes. She’s absolutely fascinated by them… it’s highly amusing.

Anyway, that’s all, I’m off to chillax for a bit.

back to not-so-basic basics

I’ve been a really bad blogger lately. Sorry. I seem to be demanding a lot upon myself as far as getting things done, and balancing that with work and play is all sliding off kilt. So here’s a little catch-up post to get the ball rolling again.

A little while ago, in an attempt to get out of the house and meet people, I joined a local art group. I’ve been going to a drawing class each Friday afternoon. It’s been really good getting back to basics. Drawing is one of those things that no matter how many times you’ve been “taught” it you can still pick up something new. It’s one of those foundation skills where there is always room to improve. The practice has been great. The teacher is an older gent who used to be a school teacher among other things. He has that wise babbling way about him, and is full of life stories, and I like him very much.

Yesterday he invited me along to a life drawing group he goes to. It’s not a class, just a group of real artists who hire a model, and get together to draw. I was NERVOUS! But it was great. I don’t think I’ve ever been to a drawing group before, where it’s not a structured class. The simple fact that there wasn’t a teacher pacing around critiquing your work really made a difference. I just got on with it and drew freely without worrying if I was doing all that I was supposed to have learnt. And suddenly I found it much easier than normal. To me life drawing is difficult and I always struggle with it, but this time I had fun.

The gathering was at a lady’s house, in her studio at the bottom of her yard. Her house was on the edge of town on a bushy ridge that overlooked rooftops, trees, and caught the gentle breeze. When I went to the bathroom I got to have a little squiz at her house. Big windows looking out across a tree filled private yard, a fair way from any neighbours. Terracotta tiled floor, white walls, with natural looking door frames of unpainted timber shaped like wood, not planks. The bathroom was gorgeous! An antique green sink was the centrepiece of the room, and the shower had no walls, just blinds that separated your nakedness from the sculpture-filled garden. I can’t begin to describe how arty and beautiful it was (in an unintentional, un-contrived way). All the while a bunch of happy artists sketching in the studio at the foot of the garden.

They welcomed me warmly, enthusiastically even, and I had a really wonderful time.

On the drive home my drawing teacher pointed out a beautiful view of the river (an aspect he had painted), and then proceeded to recite “Clancy of the Overflow” in its entirety to me. It was… surreal… one of those days where you find yourself privy to the lives of people very different to yourself, and feel rewarded by the experience.

I’m not sure how often I’ll go as it’s a long way from where I live, but writing all this down has made me realise what a lovely experience it was, and how the journey is probably worth it.

starkwether, homicide, children of thalidomide

Mr You is really smart. Yes, he’s the biggest smart-arse ever, but this time I’m talking about the other type of smart: the clever kind. He knows all sorts of stuff, stuff I have no idea about, and he seems to remember everything. I put it down to never getting drunk as a teenager – keeping all those nubile brain cells, the very ones I myself must have pickled.

He’s the one you want on your team if you’re playing Trivial Pursuit. In fact one night we got a whispered call from Elle, they were at a trivia night, and she had snuck into the bathroom to ask Mr You the answer to one of the questions. She sang a few lines of “Too Shy” to us, and Mr You know right away that it was by “Kajagoogoo". I mean who remembers that?!

He’s not scholastic though, never liked school or took much notice. So when he amazed me with yet another beam of knowledge this morning (something about thalidomide babies) I demanded that he tell me how he knows all this stuff.
His reply? “We Didn’t Start the Fire”
“What?”
“We Didn’t Start the Fire, by Billy Joel. It’s got everything in it you’ll ever need to know about recent history”

And I’ll be buggered, he’s right you know! It’s all in there.
Now please excuse me, I’m off to tune into Classic Hits radio to see what else I can learn!

thanksgiving raffle

I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving, or at least took a moment of general appreciation. I'm sure you're all wondering how the Thanksgiving Illustration Raffle went...

Well, this year there were ten lovely people contending (thank-you). See! There you all are...


Then I rolled each of you up, tied you up with a tiny strand of cotton, and jumbled you all about. This year we had a new gracious assistant, who just happened to be in the most perfect playful mood right at the very moment I was about to do the draw.
And the selection process played out like this:

Tilli entered right on queue, jumbled all the rolls up, flicked them all about a bit, then to our astonishment, she picked one lucky winner up in her mouth and jumped off the table. She chewed it up a bit, played with it a bit, then dropped it at her feet (sorry, paws).

We unrolled the now moist winning scroll, and the winner was Anastasia! Yaaay! Congratulations!!!!
So now Anastasia, you get to choose what you would like me to attempt to paint for you.

What will it be? (this bit is exciting for me)

I'd sincerely like to thank everyone else who entered. You may not have won an illustration this time, but you definitely have my thanks and appreciation. Your visits and company are like treasure to me. Gold, sparkly, shiny, glitzy treasure!
(Especially now that I don't have any friends close by to invite round for a cup of tea, or glass of wine and bowl of olives).

Happy Thanksgiving!

blossom overload

Just a few pictures from my weekend I thought I'd share. The top two are a small tree over our neighbour's fence. It is so full of berries, blossoms and bees at the moment that it's seriously listing under it's own weight. It normally stands upright.

This other little one is in my front room/office/studio. I've never caught this before. The morning sun coming through the window at such an angle to create a perfectly crisp photogram of the trees and ferns outside, projected on my wall; but with motion, like the delicate image cast from a camera obscura. If you look closely you can even catch an elongated version of Tilli staring out into the front garden. One of her favourite spots.

mixtape zine

MixTape Zine (issue 2) has included an article I wrote and one of my paper-cut illustrations (yay! thanks). The article is regrettably schmaltzy in retrospect, but it was well meaning. It's about how you bond with like minded people online, and make friends with people you've never met. People on the other side of the world. In particular this one is about how Beth (of Sunberst) and I formed a friendship via email about the trees in our gardens. We discovered that we are like-minded in the way we try to "do our bit" for the environment.

Anyway, the article and our illustrations can be seen in issue 2 of the MixTape Zine (our credits for the illustrations got switched, but that's okay because I like Beth’s work...lots).

It's such a gorgeous little publication, made right here in Australia: A zine about making time for the small things!
You can buy your copy here.


Oh, and incidentally... that paper-cut illustration is available to buy.

That's all now. Bye. Have a nice weekend.

2nd annual thanksgiving raffle

Some of you long-time-lurkers may recall that this time last year I conducted a Thanksgiving raffle. The general idea was that because we don't celebrate Thanksgiving here in Australia, (and it seems like such a friendly, well meaning holiday too, I'd hate to ignore it), I came up with a way of my own to express my thanks and gratitude to all you interweb buddies out there.

Last year Diane Duda was the winner, the prize being she would receive a custom-made illustration by me, and she could even select the topic. She chose an old photo of her boys when they were younger, one of her favourites, and that little pic there is what came of it.

Anyway, getting on with it.... It's on again this year! As Kermit The Frog would say, "yaaaayyyyyy"!

Here’s how it will work:

1. If you’re interested, please leave a comment on this post. “Count me in” or something like that will do.



2. At 7pm next Thursday evening (my time/Sydney), I will put all the names of those who have commented, into an empty bowl and ask my delightful assistant to draw one out randomly (without peeking).



3. I’ll post who the winner is on Thursday night and try to contact them via email.

What does the winner win?

1. Well it won't be a meat-tray!


2. The winner will be able to select a topic for me to attempt an illustration of (e.g. you could send a photo for me to attempt a portrait of you or a loved one, or describe what your thanksgiving is like, or describe a favourite possession and I’ll attempt an imaginary still life, etc).



3. I will post the illo here for you all to see, AND mail the original illustration to the winner so they can keep it for their very own. A gift from me to you.

So, you've got a week till Thanksgiving (in the US that is), and to get your names in for the draw.

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-excited!

scales

My Illustration Friday attempt for scale.

- She did not need to stand on the scales to know she was a sexy woman.

- He would practice his scales day and night, so that his performances on the Paris Metro would be something of a marvel.

These wee Frenchies are off to Abigail for a loooong overdue swap. It's so hard making pictures to swap with people who's work you so admire. It's quite nerve wracking actually. I hope she likes them.

things that wash up after a storm

Sunday was the first day we had seen a break in the heavy constant rain in about 3 weeks. Honestly, it’s the most rain I can ever remember. For the first few days the sound of the rain on the tin roof was gorgeous and relaxing, but after a week of unrelenting rain day and night it just sounded like static and was driving me batty. We don’t have street gutters or storm water drains down our bushy end of the street, so the run-off from the road all cascaded down our yard, turned the front yard into rice paddy-like terraces, our driveway into a series of rapids, and our backyard into the Serengeti wetlands. The locals refer to it as “storm season”, but it’s more like a monsoon if you ask me.

In any case, Sunday was spent walking the beach perusing all that had been washed up on the shore. Glad to be out in the air again and to feel the sunshine. I've been to the beach each day since then, still enjoying it all, and the sand (much like our garden) is still soaked through with tiny streams trickling from the bush to the ocean. The creek that comes out on the beach has turned into a torrential river (well, almost). Where normally you can leap over it in one go, it took Mr You and I about 4 mins to cross; pants rolled up above our knees, carrying our shoes, tip-toeing along the river stone bed, navigating from one shallow patch to the next, all the while pushing against the current. I half expected to see salmon leaping up stream.

The rain did dampen my spirits (mainly because it lasted so long), but we really really needed it, and it's effects have been instant on my new herb garden :)

keepsake purse

I just finished making this for a friend. She asked me to make it as a gift for her sister in law who is expecting her first baby. It's a keepsake purse. Inside it has small pockets; for a first tooth, first lock of hair, hospital band, and a larger pocket for letters and cards. I hope they both like it.

and then there was green

The weather is heating up; it's humid and clammy, and in the past two weeks there's only been about 4 days where we haven't had a giant storm. When they arrive it's dramatic and bold. Although the sky looked threatening this weekend the storms held off... Now suddenly everything is green. It's so green it's iridescent.

We spent yesterday in the hinterlands. We met our friends parents at a place called The Old Butter Factory, we had coffee together in the cafe there and mosied through the craft galleries. Then after having lunch at their house, Mr You and I took the long way home through an out-of-the-way area known as The Promised Land. You know when you come across a landscape so beautiful a lump wells in your throat, and tears catch in your eyes? Well I had one of those moments. We drove along a dirt road, through archways of trees, over carpets of fallen blosom, across a timber bridge over Never Never Creek. We passed a country wedding in progress; Tables set out under the shade of a row of huge trees, nestled next to a tiny country chapel. White tableclothes blowing in the breeze, children running about, musicians playing, and people laughing. It was just gorgeous! Like a scene from a movie, only better, and real.

We returned home to find a tiny city of mushrooms on the ankle of one of our big trees. It all started to feel like the storms had rained droplets of magic.

It made up for the night before, when we went to our first gig in this new town. The gig itself was fine, but I had a head in hands "where I am?" moment after walking in and seeing everyone sitting at tables. It wasn't a seated gig, yet everyone sat at tables. And the guy next to us had bought his own stubby-holder from home for the evening! I felt envious of my friends who have an amazing Summer of gigs lined up in Sydney (Bjork, Interpol, Sufjan Stevens, etc).

But, then again, there IS the iridescent green, Never Never Creek, the sound of crickets, and the tiny tiny city of mushrooms.

painted leaves

I went out last week to buy Mr You's mum a birthday present, spent an hour in a nursery, and came home with this plant for myself. I was just amazed by its leaves. Not only are they a really unusual pale yellow colour, but they look as though each leaf has been uniquely hand-painted. To me it's like someone with a little roller and 2 tones of green paint has passed by.

Actually come to think of it, the pattern reminds me very much of the walls I used to pass along the train lines on my way to work in the city. The railways would use paint rollers to haphazardly paint over grafitti with brown paint; not repainting the enitre wall, just irregular shapes over the tags. But each month the brown paint changed tone slightly, and layers of unusual blocky monochrome patterns overlapped and built into angular landscapes.

The plant is much prettier though; with its painted leaves and pink stems. The man at the nursery assured me that this type of plant is very hardy, and doesn't mind going a little thirsty, we seem well matched, so I'm hoping for a long and happy life together.

(p.s. Mr You's mum did not go gift-less. We got her an outdoor wall hanging from another nursery. Luckily Mr You was with me that time, or I might have kept that too, hee).

taa-daa

Well, that feels better. All new fresh design! Ahhh.

I actually did a redesign this time last year too, but never implemented it. So a BIG thank-you (and hug) to Mr You for actually making my redesign see the light of day this year. I may have a habit of taking a while to get to things, but they always get done in the end. Sadly I didn't get a chance to do Illustration Friday last week (despite my new pledge), but at least I have something to show for it this time.

Other than the new look, there's a few new buttons too. Hold on to your hats people - I have finally restocked my etsy store, and finally finally have limited edition prints available! I know, unbelievable isn't it? Click on the "store" button over there to go see for own eyes.

I just got a new bunch of prints back on Friday too, so some new ones will be added to the store this week. Also, if there's an illo that you would like, but can't see a print of, just ask me (flossyp AT gmail DOT com), because I have some I've made for My Messy Room that aren't on Etsy yet.

I also have links to Artstream where my handbags are available to buy online, plus some original illos too. Those linkies are are over there in the side bar too.

Another exciting bit of news is that one of my paper-cut illo's will be appearing in Issue 2 of the Mix Tape Zine. You can pre-order a copy here, I think it's being released later this week. The first issue sold out really quickly, but there'll be a few more copies of this one, so there'll be more to go around. :)

Phew, that was a busy week back there. Another one perched right in front of me now too, except this one will be work-busy. Not quite as exciting, but good for helping my wallet NOT look so Nicole-Richie-skinny.

avert your eyes

This blog is naked!!!!!!! eeeeeee!!!

I'm attempting to update to the new blogger templates, AND do a very very overdue design update at the same time. Yikes.

It could take a few days, so in the meantime this little old page will just have to go flossy-p-nudey.

...blush

mail day = happy day

By the time I'd gotten out of the shower yesterday morning, the postman had already been, and I was greeted to my day with 3 parcels - all for me! :D That doesn't happen very often at all, so it made for an exciting breakfast.

The first was a homemade DVD from my sister. After travelling around the country (again), she has settled down to live in Perth (a city far far away). I miss her terribly, but it'll be nice to see her on screeen. The DVD is all about her journey, I will be watching it tonight hopefully.

The second parcel was an order of fabric. I heart fabric! I ordered it online (because sadly the fabric shops around here are o-so-boring), a few of the pieces weren't right, but that's being fixed up, so it should all be fine in a few days. Beth had asked me to make her a new bag, so one of the pieces of fabric in this pile is for that. I hope she likes it.

Speaking of Beth, the last parcel was from her. Complete surprise! How sweet! She sent me a house-warming package!!!! Geez, how nice are people in this world?! Honestly, isn't it a spin-out that people you've never even met can be so giving, and such good friends.

In her package was a gorgeous illustrated Alice in Wonderland journal, (Beth you should see inside, it has all sorts of illustrated treasures), plus a card picturing the shop where the journal came from. Man, that's the prettiest shop I think I've ever seen. Made me wish I could pop down there for the afternoon. Then, to top it all off she found the most amazing length of vintage fabric and kept it for me. She suggested in the card it could be made into a bag, but I'm not sure I can bring myself to chop into it. I instantly thought I could quilt it, and turn it into a light-weight throw rug, for when I snuggle up on the couch to doodle in my new journal. It is a house warming gift after all.

Thank-you Beth, I can't even begin to tell you how nice, and kind and generous I think you are.

extremes

My Illustration Friday attempt for extremes.

Some people used to say that she had taken her fancy for high-hair to the extremes.

words that linger

I am reading a book at the moment; Sixty Lights by Gail Jones. It's not a very thick book, quite slim actually, but it's taking me ages to read. Like a fudgy chocolate pudding, it's delicious and satisfying in so many ways, but you have to eat it slow and only take little bits at a time, or it all gets too much.

The language and words used are so syrupy, fluid, eloquent and beautiful, that if you take in too much at once you lose the grace and beauty in the volume. Fortunately the chapters are only a few pages each; the book, aware of it’s richness, sets its own pace.


It started out in a sad way. Two children, recently orphaned, coming to terms with what it all means:

…Thomas and Lucy existed in a state of effacement and disability, as though they shared an undiagnosable illness. A kind of anaesthetic quality smothered their experience; they were disengaged in each task they performed, and their feelings, such as they were, were delayed and denuded. Moreover, the children had become convinced that there were ghosts in the house, presences that seemed everywhere to call: behold me! At night they saw flitting shapes and weird transparencies. Noises like whispers filled up the darkness. Once Thomas swore he saw his father’s face – unshaven, eyes bloodshot – hovering on the surface of the hallway mirror; and Lucy dreamed that the baby that would have been their sister was crawling in the cramped, dark space beneath her bed. There was no vacancy to grief. There was instead these drastic invasions, that hung omnipresent in the air itself.


The bit I’m up to now is more positive, their lives being rebuilt with freshness and wonder. Their Uncle collects them to take them back to his home in England:

When they were at last on the ship together, up high at the rusty, red-painted railing, Lucy and Thomas stood hand in hand – in biographical reversal and repetition – as Honoria and Neville had once done, approaching their New Beginning. Thomas pointed out that there were lovers shining mirrors at each other, one on the dock and one not far from them on the deck. It was the woman who was leaving. She tilted her oval mirror to catch the sun and a young man, diminishing, answered from the shore. Lucy was transfixed. This was what she wanted, a photosensitive departure. Light trained by glass to locate and discover a face, a beam to travel on, a homing device, a sleek corridor through the infinity of sky itself.


Isn’t it lovely? I'm only half way through, but each time I read a bit more I relish it, like sneaking an expensive chocolate from a box and nibbling at it in a way that makes one mouthful last and linger.

tea time

You may remember a little while back I discovered my new favourite artist, Amy Huddleston. Well thanks to Faun I also tracked down her etsy store, and am now the incredibly proud new owner of an original painting!

It's called Tea Time, and is of a girl holding a large tea cup with a kitty sitting comfortably in it. I've counted 3 birds so far, and lots and lots of flowers. As you may or may not know, I am a big fan of large cups of tea, kitties, birds and flowers. So it's really not hard to understand why I adore it.

It was a total bargain too, only $50 if you can believe it. I couldn't. I thought it must have been a mistake. But it was no mistake my friends, me thinks it was fate.

iki what? pardon?

Uyanıyorum ertesi sabah, yine bir eylül sabahı, gözlerimi açıyorum.. Ve...

Ok, $100 goes to anyone who can translate that for me!

There's a whole lot more where that came from. I happened across it by accident in my stats, it's a forum of some sort. And I don't know, call me crazy, but something tells me it's about me, or my work. Ha!

If anyone out there can understand it (I think it might be Turkish), I would really really appreciate a translation.
Yes, I've tried translator tools, and no, they don't make any sense whatsoever.
Not knowing what it says is driving me bonkers. If it was just a paragraph it might be okay, but it's a whole page, plus comments. (AND what I think may be a poem. A POEM I tell you!! By a bearded man!)

Anyway, feel free to have a crack.
And, sorry, I can't really give you $100, but perhaps there'll be a reward of another kind.

mona lisa meme-y thing

There's been a meme-ish type of thing ambling around the traps about the Mona Lisa. I didn't have a chance to get to it while it was fresh, but it reminded me of a few works I did when I was at uni. I still have them, so I dug them out from the bottom a box to show you...


They were works of protest (in a way). It annoyed me so much at the time, that what the lecturers responded well to, was if your work mimiced the look of an in-style-artist (there seemed to be a few to choose from). Make it slick, conceptual, and a rip-off of someone elses work, and you were in. One of the things they started to say to people in critiques was "well, it's not quite art, it's more like craft". ARGHHHHHH! God it pissed me off.

So... (rubs hand together maniacally) my next body of work were crafty reproductions of some of the most popular artworks of all time. I never explained the purpose of the work, so all they could say was, "yes, well they really are craft, not art". And despite me getting the terrible marks I expected, it gave me such a great laugh and sense of satisfaction.

Anyway, I have chucked out most of my work from those days, but I hung onto these because I thought they were cute, and they still make me laugh.

the blues

My Illustration Friday attempt for The Blues.

Let me introduce you to the Blues; a family of blue whales. The Blues include Mumma Blue, Papa Blue, and their new Baby, Lou-Lou Blue. She's grown so fast you can hardly tell which one she is.

Anyway, they're on thier way to the cooler waters of Antartica for the Summer months.

a point to get to

This time last year I had just left my job to "go it alone", and was attempting to get used to a new lifestyle. Uncanny that it's the same time a year later, and I feel like I'm doing it all over again, having moved to a new town. Getting used to this new lifestyle, in words, sounds like a breeze. I mean in both cases the new option seems like a much nicer one right? And it is. They are. And this past year has been amazing. But big changes are just that: big changes. Adjusting is a process in itself, and every moment seems to conjure more analysis than it would normally deserve.

I'm pondering (as though you couldn't tell). Friends from Sydney were suppose to be coming this weekend to stay with us for a week, but today they cancelled. I feel disappointed that we won't see them. It marked a point for me to get to, and now it's not happening. I've suddenly realised we really are "going it alone".

So there's a few big adjustments stacked on top of each other at the moment, teetering on my shoulders, both trying to siphon through the same sieve.

But it is exciting, and to think it’s all happened in this past year has me feeling somewhat triumphant. Although for the time being at least, I’m treading gently.
Padding steadily across a lawn with unknown insects underfoot.



p.s. This post has been edited since it's original posting. Thank-you sincerely for your supportive comments. .xx.

atc from jen (the canadian)

Jen the Canadian must live on the point of the Earth's axis at the other end from where I live. Mail between us seems to take a century. I was so worried when her ATC hadn't arrived by the time we moved house, and I knew it was on it's way. Luckily my good friend Elle checked our old mailbox for us a week later and rescued Jen's sweet package from a life of no owner.

Jen (the Canadian) was part of the ATC swap I did a few months ago, and sent the cutest portrait of Tilli sitting on her flattened plant pot. The likeness is so great, even little details like her name tag and the stripes on her head. It's so nice, like a little house warming gift especially for Tilli, hehehe. And so personalised too. Included in the package were some classic Canadian nostalgia: stickers and a keyring with moving parts! (an ice hockey player who skates across the keyring and back again). So cool, thanks so much Jen!!!!

I'm so glad it didn't get lost in the mail-neverland, it's an adorable addition to my collection.

juggler

The main reason I began blogging was to have a place to participate in Illustration Friday. I did it consistently almost every week for about 18 months. But this year I've been juggling too many things at once and dropped the i-Fri ball, and have missed it terribly. I still check the topic every week and try to think of an image, sometimes I come up with one, but run out of time to actually paint it. Sometimes, I can't think of anything at all... sadly my IF muscle has gone all flabby and out of shape. I'm aiming to start participating once again. Not promising anything, but it's definitely on my list.

Anyway, this week's theme was juggle, and I remembered that I had drawn a juggler for a job recently.

Remember when I submitted mouse girl and trumpet boy to try and get my first commercial illustration job?

Well the client didn't go for them, said they weren't corporate enough. BUT they did give me the opportunity to try again. This time I did very quick, messy sketches, and they were apparently just what the client wanted.

My juggler here, is an example of the 40 odd characters I had to draw.

Anyway, the website it was for has just recently been launched. Go check it out!

Mr You did the programming, and another friend did the site design.

And here's a red-hot-insiders tip: when you're looking at the site use your keyboard arrow keys, then try your page-up and page-down keys for something a bit different.

pause

And at the end of each day, I return from my late afternoon meander along the beach, to find my hair matted and knotty. Bustled by the busy wind, rushing past in a hurry, on a mission, somewhere important to get to.

rockin' out

I've had so many emails and posts and blogs to catch-up on over the past few days. In amongst them all was a totally cool surprise!!! Majeak Ann awarded me as one of her Rockin' Girl Bloggers! EEEEP Thanks Majeak Ann, you totally ROCK too!

So now the deal is I need to pass on this prestigious award to another 5 rockin' bloggy chickadees. Yeah right, like I can pick only 5. You know that everyone over there on my linky-list is already highly regarded as totally rockin' to me, so what I thought I'd do is share other girls that I think rock that I haven't gotten around to adding to my list yet (through slackness alone).

My 5 girl bloggers that totally rock, but I haven't shared them with you yet include (among so many others):
- Equipoise (for her honestly, openess and bravery)
- Lara (for her amazing fabric designs, her generous tutorials, and all the gorgeous things she makes)
- Leslie (again for her amazing fabric, and for her astounding eye for lovely things)
- VictoriaE (you know, I just find her incredibly interesting. I love that she creates a nest of wonderful finds around her and her family) and
- Amy Farrier (her paintings make me weep, they're that good)

So there y'are girls. I think you rock!
This one's for you.

emerald beach, nsw, australia

We've arrived, and unpacked, and are setting up our new house. We've also finally got internet set up. We've already been here a week and a bit, but it doesn't feel even half that long. So far it's all going well; it's feeling very strange, very different, but also quite lovely. We've already had both sets of parents come to stay and help unpack, and we're now looking forward to a little bit of time on our own to settle in ourselves and get used to this crazy idea. This huge change of scene.

I LOVE this house, and I fall a little deeper in love each day. The inside is nice, but the outside is amazing! We've only had our computers and internet set-up for a few days, but before that I made the most of the break away from the screen, and have spent the past week wondering how I was going to tear myself away from the back veranda. It's been nice to break the old routine of eating breakfast infront of the computer, and now we're out of Winter and in a new location, I'm hoping that habit is a thing of the past.

It's such a novelty having our dining table set-up with space around it. For as long as we've had it it has been up against a wall, and we've had to pull out then push it back in each time we wanted to use it (not to mention push the coffee table out of the way to make room for it). Now it's so funny... we sit at it where ever we want, and get up and walk away without doing anything. Suddenly life feels easier. hehehe.

Tilli is finally starting to settle in. The first few days were rough on her, she had totally had "enough", and she spent the first few days hiding under the bed. But now she's quite liking it all, in fact she seems quite chuffed. Our windows go all the way to the floor, so she spends most her time going from room to room to survey the view from each window. We haven't let her outside yet, we're waiting for her to get used to the new surroundings, smells, etc first.

She loves the carpet! A little too much... for a few days it sounded like she was wearing velcro boots all day long, but luckily now she's gotten used to it (and we've clipped her nails), her footsteps have returned to quiet little pad sounds. I imagine the sensation for her was similar to when we take our shoes off and walk bare-footed on warm sand for the first time after a long chilly Winter, stretching our toes out through the sand and letting it rise between our toes.



Each afternoon we get visitors munching on the grass just over the back fence, yesterday it was an unusual dark faced wallably of some sort, the first day there was a family of kangaroos including the joey drinking from the mumma's pouch, and the BIG papa watcing over them. Some days it's a gragarious kookaburra. Tilli is rather fascinated by all these new creatures. I don't think she knows what to make of them, but she's transfixed all the same, and sits watching them from the window, and does not move until they have gone.

Most of the time we can hear birds, and the ocean. Although it seems as though we can't escape traffic noise, the first night we could hear the highway, (although thankfully with each move it gets much better; before this there was only 1 house between us and a busy road, and the house before that we were directly under the flight path). Anyway, the noise wasn't too bad, it's faint and a fair way away through the bush, and you can actually mistake the distant hum of the cars for waves, but when a truck rattles past all you can do is squeeze your eyes shut tight and imagine it's a motor boat somewhere in the distance.

But like I said, most of the time the wind is coming in strong off the ocean so we don't hear it at all. We get that sea wind along our shady veranda, so it feels fresh and coastal and clean, it feels so clean. We've timed our walk to the beach: 5 mins, and we've been for a lovely walk over one of the headlands to discover more secluded beaches and amazing views. Next on my list is to research what times of year the humpback whales pass by.

We've encountered some strange hurdles: getting power on, learning about all the extra thingoes you have to attach to the arial to get TV reception, and that the only place we seem to be able to get mobile phone reception is on the front lawn of the neighbour across the road. We can't get mobile reception inside at all (may have something to do with our tin roof or all the trees, not sure yet). There seem to be tips and tricks, second nature to the locals here, that we are slowing picking up.

So far the weather has been warm and sunny, and it's really hard to shake the feeling like we're just on a holiday somewhere, house sitting for someone. I'm having difficulty believing this is our life now. I had a little crisis yesterday (the first of plenty I'm sure), I'm not sure why, just feeling unsettled and hard to plant myself in this new plot (as lovely as it is) far away from all that I know, so I went out and bought manchester :)
Today I'm off to exchange it. I told you, crisis.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to finding a feeling of "settle", and also to what comes next. Each day feels new, and also brings with it a tiny tiny bit of familiar, which will eventually pile up around me and help to soften my days. I'm having great fun setting up the rooms and finding places for all our things, so as each room fills out, comfort flows in. I really really can't wait for some friends to visit. There'll be new manchester in the guest room!


p.s. the descriptive title is for those of you who are as google-maps-happy as I am ;)

wrapping up

I have a little tradition; every year I take myself off to DJ's (a big department store) to see their Spring flower show. It's on the first week of Spring every year, and each year there's a new theme. This year the theme is Animalia, based on the book by Graeme Base. It was a bit more kitch than other years (giant pink pussy cats, zebras with zebra eggs, red butterfly's and a unicorn), and there wasn't very much fragrance, but it still filled me with delight.

I adopted this tradition from a flatmate I had when I first moved to this city, over 13 years ago now. She was about 40 and wore green contact lenses. She used to get all dressed up in her finest and take herself off to see the flower show and eat chocolate coated strawberries... Her very own version of Breakfast at Tiffany's. I don't do the dress-up thing, but I've managed to see the show almost every year since then.

Yesterday I went. I spent the afternoon visiting all my favourite old haunts around the city (fabric shops, book shops, galleries, etc), soaking up the atmosphere, trying to absorb as much as I can before we depart.

We move at the beginning of next week. This afternoon we're having drinks with our friends to bid them farewell. I feel... um, pensive?? Apprehensive to say goodbye. Hard to believe that the day has finally come.

atc from willie

On the afternoon before we left on our trip a couple of weeks back, my ATC from Willie Baronet arrived. It was perfect, it totally summed up my head-space at the time. Plus it's great to see his infamous line work for real. Thanks Willie, it was an honour swapping with you!

Another couple of things...

- I've been packing, and packing and more packing. I've been packing for weeks. I can spend a whole day packing, turn around and nothing looks any different other than now, on top of all the stuff I still have to pack, are a mountain of boxes full of god knows what. We've discussed it at great length... we're not hoarders, we've actually thrown a whole heap of stuff out, and taken another heap of stuff to Vinnies, it's just that we each have too many hobbies. Normal people would have a few books and a few DVDs... We've got that and photography gear (loads of it), computer gear (loads of it), art gear (well loads of everything), sewing stuff, tools, and Mr You's collection of vintage skate decks. It's great having "interests", except when you have to move house, heee. Anyway, it's all going well, I just can't wait to start unpacking, 'cause everyone knows that's heaps more fun.

- My dear friend Lacey-t had a baby boy last night - eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

- I feel like I haven't lifted a pencil or brush to paper for months. I'm aching to paint something. When I get like this I catch myself soaking in other peoples illustrations and art on the web. Although this is wonderful, it makes me want to paint even more.

- And here, go have a look at my newly discovered favourite artist Amy Huddleston. Her work leaves me breathless. Especially this one!

bags with buy-able-ness

I am so excited to announce that a couple of my handmade bags will be for sale! Yes, I've finally gotten around to making some bags to sell. These babies are on their journey to Artstream Studios right now, as we speak.

bag o' birds


all seasons trees


lone wolf


They are due to arrive at the shop in the first week of September (that's next week). So keep your eye on Susan's blog, and the online shop for their arrival.


I also made this little purse, out of some vintage fabric I picked up at the local secondhand store, for my friend for her birthday. I call it the "Spring in the South" purse, and I LOVE the fabric.

Now that I've finished all those, I can start packing all my sewing gear. Yikes!