....

Its official,
but it will be brief, short and quick.
Minimalist.
Will there be a cooking demonstration?
Maybe.
But it will be..... you know it already....

If you live here, come along and see me. Have a cuppa and a snack.
Briefly.

If you are in Finland or Latvia or Jamaica, the book can be purchased in my
ETSY shop
Each book is hand bound and covered. An edition of 100. Each one signed and numbered.






This is the finished volume.





This is the deluxe model.

...on taking a break

....yeah well sounds like an excuse.... and it is..... but I just had to learn bookbinding. Proper bookbinding.
So, off to the Melbourne school of bookbinding for 8 Saturdays (wish it was 28).
Here's a link to Phil's website in case you want to know more.... here
And a few pics of the bindery.



That's Phil.



and a few of his hundreds of different bindings.
I wanted to learn everything, but gee, there is so much.
I think I learned about 1% of what I need to know.
But here goes.... some of the books I did.....











These are all for sale in my etsy shop here

More to come. Its very addictive.....

...on what we should hold dear. (and what we shouldn't.)

Here are the next few offerings from the "Relic" series.
I'm on my 4th readers digest atlas and my umteenth illustrated children's encyclopedia.
Look carefully and you might be able to spot some trees torn from my dad's hand written doctoral thesis!

.....open studios coming up.

But before all that,
is the exhibition
(sorry about the twee title. Wasn't my fault!)
We will gather at the opening and dress up (or down) and raise a glass or two of red and congratulate ourselves.




Here's a sneak peek at my offering for the upcoming show.
Its called "Relic"

NZ Book Council - Going West

This little video has been around for a while, but I stumbled across it again yesterday and wanted to share it.
I guess its the charming animation and expertise of paperwork....
But I really guess its the unthinking destruction of texts for the greater good of "art" that appeals to me most.

on real work..... or not......

Real work. everything gets in the way of it. Its Monday. You have all day with no interruptions anticipated and no banking or shopping to do and the studio is waiting for you...... and somehow floor washing seems really attractive. Or the car needs a paint job.
So, meet Gertleford. She's the old girl with the new paint job. Feebie is the old girl flicking her tail and pretending not to be interested.
But admit it. Haven't we all wanted to paint a hippie van?
And a car is just a pile of metal that's going to eventually rust away anyway.
So enjoy my folly. It was more fun than washing the floor.
Next post I'll show whats happening with rusty cars in my red shed.

on end times.....

.....of course the world will end. One day. But I'm not wasting my time preparing for it. Not when there's stuff to make fun of.


















Now, on to some real work.

....... make a date....

I'll be there again with a table devoted to "end times" and other apocalyptic matters.
You know the sort of thing.....
pocket pop up books on how to recognize and then manage the inevitable end of the world.
If it should happen in our time.

You want more information? click here
Want to know what a zine is? click here

....... on leaving home.....

......me or the kids you might well ask.
Well the kids, by and large, have moved on and out (with the exception of the 16 year old baby) and the occasional, predictable and hopefully temporary return of one or the other.....
Its me that's moving out. Well, the studio.
Out to the red shed.
Well, the yellow shed with the red floor.




Advantages.... no phone, no kettle, no washing machine, no stove..... and 8 (yes 8) power points and 4 huge windows, and did I mention the red floor?





Disadvantages..... well, its a bit unbearable on a 40c day........
and um, I can't think of any others.
The next body of work is probably called "Reliquary".

I'll post a few of the beginnings very soon.
But expect rusted maps and burnt encyclopedias and old cars.