New Work - A Retrospective Piece

I've begun a new piece based on an old piece of work.  Years ago, I painted a vase of Melting Flowers that were sitting on my parent's kitchen table over a weekend as they wilted in the heat.  In my eyes, they were truly melting as each flower drooped in the Summer Heat and the petals fell to the table.  It wasn't hard to get the right feel for the heat in the painting.  However, my Mum hates the painting itself as she thinks it's creepy, to me it's just a vase of flowers with the colour of them melting onto the tabletop. 
This new painting it along the same lines, but it's a close-up of a couple of the flowers I painted all that time ago.  I only started it a few days ago; and I'm happy with the results so far.

Bribie Island - Full of Artworks and History

Yesterday, I went out with the other volunteers of the Logan Art Gallery for our annual Christmas Party to Bribie Island where we visited some great arty places.  The first was the Matthew Flinders Art Centre and an arts market which was next to it.  As we disembarked from the bus, we found the carpark was a lot cooler than the bus itself... how bad is that to know that we had been sweating it out even worse than the people outside?  

Well, I gave the art centre a miss and hit the market as I hadn't been to one in over a year; and I scored some Byron Bay coffee ($8.00), a cake of Neem soap and some Lemon and Myrtle soap as well - both $2.00.  There were wood-turners, people who turned a piece of wire into a bracelet, gems, knitters, gardeners... all kinds of people who did all kinds of arts.  I didn't get to see them all.

Too soon, we were back on the bus and off to the Bribie Island Bowls Club to have a lovely roast lunch.  The beautiful air conditioning made it hard for us to go back out into the heat of the day; but we did after we received our gifts of a wood-spun pen in a matching wooden case!  Beautiful and it writes well too!

The next place was a Seaside Museum which housed many things about Matthew Flinders, Bongaree and Ian Fairweather (who lived in a hut on Bribie Island for many years).  There was a lot of different exhibitions in this museum - traveling as well as permanent ones - and it was a great place to visit.  The only thing the pulled it down was that the place had only one toilet to service the whole building.  I bought a money box resembling Nemo (from the movie 'Finding Nemo'; as he was my favourite from the film); but found out today that I couldn't put in 50c pieces as they'll go in but won't come out - damn!

The whole day went by at a steamy, slow pace and we all bundled on board the hot bus where the air-conditioning didn't work and tried to have a bit of a siesta (and failed) even with the windows open.  I was so grateful to arrive home and have a nice cool shower to get the sweat and sunscreen off me.

John Hancock... and that's it!

Well, after a few weeks' work, I've finished up 'Lost Pages'.  Now, that makes it two paintings awaiting my signature because I'm on a roll with getting onto the next one!  Yesterday, I sanded down the next piece of Masonite, painted it green and it's currently waiting for me to begin an outline on it... of what I'm not sure.  This will be my 6th painting this year if I finish it before the year's out.

Lost Pages Update

I've been working hard on 'Lost Pages'.  However, recently, I had to stop and wait for my pay to come around and buy some blue paint.  The problem with this is that the paint I wanted - and needed - for the background didn't come in the bottle I wanted.  So, I have had to compromise and use a darker colour.  This is something I thought this was going to ruin the way the painting looked, however, it hasn't.

 I think the darker blue brings out the colours better and I'm now happy I bought it instead of trying to get the lighter colour exactly right.  I am still going to put the white where it originally was, and update all the other colours as well.  I hope this painting ends up looking better and fresher than it did before.

Photography

There's a few people out there who know I love to photograph pretty much anything that's out there; even if some people don't like it.  I'm often not without my camera and it's amazing what you can photograph when you're out and about these days; especially when you're not looking for anything specific.  I thought to share with you a few of my favourite photos I've taken in the last few months - and years - since I moved from film camera to a digital.  

Me meeting Sir James Galway and his wife Lady Jeanne 2010

A garden art piece outside the Con in Brisbane take last week or so.

A Temple given to Brisbane by the people of Nepal 1988.

Taken: 17th, Sept 2011 at 4:30pm

 I enjoy taking photos and these were taken on a Canon point and shoot... a very basic camera that I've had for a few years now; and takes a great photo in almost any light.

What photos have you taken with your most basic of cameras which has turned out great?  Please do share your best.

Lost Pages Revamp

Years ago, I had writer's block in a serious way; and so seeing I was painting a lot, I thought to do a painting about it.  And so, 'Lost Pages' was created.  However, I have found - years later - that it was rushed even though it's mostly finished.  So, I've decided to get stuck into it over the next few weeks and see what I can do with it to complete its colours, texture and feel.  

Now, it's got a very basic message:  Writer's Block sucks.  And it does.  But I really wanted to say it in a very graceful way; however, it doesn't look all that graceful and on closer inspection I've found that the painting doesn't have the polished look it could have had.

Scrounging Pieces of Work

One of the most fun things I love to do in my spare time is to go scrounging when it's Council Pick-Up time.  People can have the most fascinating things to throw out.  I once saw a broken up stereo system and grabbed a piece of it, brought into my place all because I saw a $2.00 coin stuck in the back of the mechanics of it!  Yep, I was money poor and needed the cash, but I pulled it apart and got that coin out and put it away the Sunday paper the following week.

Most times, whenever there's scrounging to be had around a unit complex, we have people who do what is commonly called 'a runner'.  It's where they haven't paid their rent and are in trouble with the law and they don't have any money to move their stuff, so they just leave everything - but their clothes - and the rest of us grab what we like from the car port (once it's all out there).

Another time - this year in fact - I was walking down Kingston Road and found a bag full of books sitting outside somebody's house.  I checked the whole bag and found it was just books - and nothing else (as these people have little kids and I didn't wish to have their old toys mixed in) - and so I bundled up the books and took them home with me; leaving them just inside the front door before I went out again to go grocery shopping for the day.

One time, one of my friends (they've moved since), minded some furniture for a flatmate in their car port.  They covered it all over with a tarpaulin and made sure it was secure.  When they hadn't heard from him in a month, and tried to contact him and found that he was nowhere to be found, they let everyone have a go at his stuff.  I scored a little black coffee table and two nests of 3-legged shelves.  The rest of the stuff vanished within the weekend of it being a free-for-all!  A week later, he came back and was shocked they let his stuff go.  They did explain that they couldn't find him... so he had to start over again with furniture; unfortunate but true.

The old black coffee table I've had for about 5 or 6 years.

The new coffee table I found outside a house at Keperra yesterday

Over the last year or so, I've been looking for a coffee table to replace the little black one I've had for around five or six years - since that time of scrounging from that car port of furniture and only needing that one thing - and yesterday, I spotted the new one I needed!  It was sitting on a footpath outside a house at Keperra and Mum and I drove past it!  And being the kind of person I am, I spent about half and hour at my brother's house before I walked back to the house and found it still sitting there waiting for me!  Yay!  I looked it over - and made sure it wasn't damaged or had any broken rungs - before looking around the street.  Once I knew the coast was clear and nobody was coming out of the house to stop me from taking it away (as some people do), I picked it up, balanced the top of it on top of my head (with the legs sticking up skyward) and began walking back the way I had come.  Yeah, I looked peculiar with a coffee table on my head, but it was the best way to travel seeing nobody else came with me.  So, there you have it, my most recent find!  What have you scrounged lately that has made your place look great - and you'd swear it looks a million dollars?  Leave a comment and let us all in on your secrets?  Until my next post, keep creating!

From Prototype to Finished Product!

Not long ago, I put up a prototype of a book baggie for the protection and safe transportation of any beloved books I happen to borrow from my friends on Bookcrossing or family; and I thought to show some of my great friends on Bookcrossing.com to see what they thought.

I received wonderful reviews from all of them.  A few of them saying they'd buy one off me once I got the bugs all fixed in them.  Well.... guess what!  I ran the design by my Mum (who knows a little more about sewing than I do; as I'm really rusty at it) and she suggested a few small changes; I took them down, changing how the whole bag looks and feels.  And here are the first two baggies I've made for a birthday gift for a friend on Bookcrossing.  Now, I may have wrecked part of her birthday gift; but I'm really eager to have the opinion of my followers and friends on this.  Then, I'll get in and make some for anyone who wishes to own one of these (or more) for Christmas.

See how you can fit more than one book inside the baggie.. great, eh?

and it closes comfortably too...

I found with my prototypes that when I took one of them places, people noticed how nice they were - even if they were made from cheap material - and they were bright enough to ensure I didn't leave my book somewhere it wasn't supposed to be.

My First Sewing Project - Finished!

I've had my Elna 1000 Sewing Machine for a little under a fortnight now and I've already finished my first project around the house.  It's a cover for my turntable.  I've had a stereo system - with a separate turntable - for some years and it's always sat in the sun.  So, I made a calico cover to protect the plastic lid and so it didn't become brittle over time.  This was supposed to be temporary; however, it stayed for more than three years!

This year, I hunted around for a nice fabric and found some at a fabric store at Logan Central for $4.00 per metre and it's purple with musical symbols all over it; perfect for what I want it to express.  So, I took off the calico cover, unpicked it, and spread it over the wrong side of the purple fabric and pinned it on each corner and one pin on each side.  Then, I cut it out. 

This was my first attempt - hemming the whole thing up with pin first.

My second attempt - not hemming it and sewing it inside out.

I love the contrasting white stitching.

At first, I pinned up a hem and thought about sewing up that way.  However, Mum suggested that I just turn it inside out and pin the corners at the back and fold it in at the front and sew it all inside out and see how it goes.  So, I did; and it worked out fine.  Besides the white stitching showing (and really I don't care if it does), it looks as good as I thought it would.  Until my next post, keep creating.

New Techniques

When I went to Chris Zantis' Workshop at the Logan Art Gallery, I learnt a few new techniques in knitting that I could work into my own style.  In the last couple of days, I have been working on trying them out.

The first one was knitting a cord.  Now, how you do this simple.  What you need is a pair of double-ended needles and some yarn.  Cast on 3 - 4 stitches, then, instead of turning the needles around, you push them to the other end and knit them.  Then push them to the other end and repeat.  Keep doing this until the cord is as long as you need it to be and you've made a cord; as you can see in photo.  If you use a tri-coloured yarn, it turns into strips; very cool!

The next thing I learnt is how to knit with Cinderella Yarn.  This yarn is corded yarn - instead of wool - that has pom-poms attached to it to make knitting a challenge.  Now, at first, this made knitting too hard for me; and I didn't know how to get into this yarn; not until I went to Chris' workshop.  I was advised to knit the cord and not the pom-poms and to make sure the little pom-poms are kept to the back of the front needle (the one you're knitting onto in your right hand).  Otherwise, keep an eye on how many stitches are on your needles and take your time as it can be really hard to begin with.  I'm on my second attempt right now and it's going okay.

So, what have you learnt recently that you'd like to pass onto us?  Leave a comment and let us know.  Until my next post, keep creating!