on christmas is coming...........

.....Christmas is coming and the geese are getting plump,
The shops are filling fast with presents destined for the dump.
If everybody tried to to sew and make their gifts themselves,
Then how would we employ those bored and lonely little elves?

No I don't mean that. I've always encouraged (pushed, railroaded, forced my kids to make rather than buy any offerings for others. It worked when they were little, and was totally rejected as entered the self-ful era of teenagegerhood and now they are adults..... I see the philosophy of "real value" creeping inadvertently into their thinking.
Hmmm. all that mothering not wasted after all......?
So here I am making more wee ones .

on being humbled by the creativity of others.........

A week teaching at the Australian Sewing Guild Convention has humbled me.
Total beginners, open minds, wild enthusiastic artistic endeavors.
And I thought the sewing guild turned collars and stitched interfacing......
This is what my students produced.



and these.......



and these........



and these.....

.....on trees + rain = green

....on holiday.
New Zealand, land of the long white cloud.

Poetic way of saying that its always raining. Yes. lots of rain.
Guess that's why the trees are all green....
not the leaves, they're gone to leaf heaven for the winter.
Its the trees and the trunks and the roots and the branches.
Green. Lovely



























except for this one......

.....aahhh.....the little details.

...ever noticed how when things are bleakest, the tiniest beam of light, the eeniest little reflection, the smallest pleasure seems magnified?
Ive always liked winter best. The sunshine is lovlier. The colours are gentler. The details are clearer.
Just back from Jenny's farm where the people are sparser. The air is fresher.
So here is the trip up
.

.....on partys and openings

...... the opening of the OPEN STUDIOS (more info on open studios here) was a hoot.
"Out of the Blue" is the exhibition theme and well worth a visit prior to a tour of all the local hills artists on the weekend of 29th-30th May.
Encouraged to dress up, many of us happily made complete fools of ourselves (even before the red wine was served) in peculiar getup.
Here's me with our didgeman Stax who doubled as MC on the night.
I'm dressed as a cloud ......



and with my daughter "The mad hatter" who won the best dressed prize.....





Three blue beauties ..... the one on the right is Tilla who runs the exhibitions at Burrinja.



...the wandering musicians and their muse Fyona





Thanks for the photos Stax.

....... on masochism and open studios

Yes, well, the idea of opening one's entire home and studio to several hundred strangers (and friends) to traipse through, display one's artwork for them to handle and be available (and smiling) to talk (again and again and.....) ..... is clearly only one step away from madness.

But here we go again. .....and it is a time to gather and assess the years work (or lack of), a time to spring clean the studio (long overdue) and meet friends and strangers who appreciate one's artwork and, quietly (because one should never count one's unhatched chickens) to make a sale or two.

So, if you live in the neighborhood (Melbourne) come along and visit a selection of the Dandenong Ranges best Artists. And their studios.


If you want to see the artists involved, a map of the area and information on Burrinja Gallery who hosts the whole deal, click here.

I wish I could report that my life is not as messy as my studio, but, alas it is.
That doesn't mean that I don't function quite well within that chaos. In fact, I seem to thrive on the house being full... and loud.... and messy. Its just that I function best when its late.... and they are all in bed asleep... and quiet ...... and the phone doesn't ring..... and no-one pops in for coffee.

Its about setting boundary's to work within. And keep others out.
So the daughter can come home. Of course. but she will sleep out in the bungalow.
And the boy and his girlfriend can trawl the curbside hard rubbish for furniture, but it goes under the house.
The good man can live with me. On the weekend.

Here is that semi functioning chaos.


I have a few new artists' books... pages finished and ready to be bound.

"Wandering among the living and the dead"







"the shows of confusion"



Another bunch of life drawings waiting for their 2nd incarnation








........ and another



......... and another