Accentuate the positive

Learned how to clean emulsion off a screen at Elisabeth's lovely house. Easy! Just mix the special cleanser with water. Squirt on. Then use a high powered hose to rinse off and use a scrubbing brush for any hard to move bits.

Then ! What a mixed week! Got very frustrated wasting time battling the bureaucracy of modern life - in particular trying to negotiate with a doctor and hospital to make them do the right thing and just explain and apologise for where they went wrong, without having to resort to threats, lawyers, etc. We are not after money, just a little bit of empathy. Unfortunately, so many of us are so busy trying not to get sued these days that all we think about is using lawyers to frame answers, which results in very little empathy for the victims and very little satisfaction all round. Got quite depressed about justice, morality, and the chances of everyone doing the right thing in the world. a

And then, my belief in the essential goodness of mankind was restored. We had bought my granddaughter a blackboard for Christmas and the leg broke last week due to a fault in the wood. First time I have had a problem with something I have bought from Windmill Toys. Anyway, my son-in-law took it back to Windmill Toys without the receipt, but with all the transaction details, and they replaced it, sympathised, and were really lovely about it. My little grand-daughter was over the moon as she loves drawing and painting and using magnets on her board, and jumped on the new one immediately. So everyone, buy at Windmill Toys in Whitehorse Rd, Balwyn, Victoria. Not only do they have great toys and educational equipment and gear for kids ( adults too, since I love their stuff) but they have fantastic service too. Then, I had to take back some gym shoes I bought at the Podium sport outlet store near the Brisbane airport, which had split after I had worn them once, and they were lovely too. Got a new pair, a credit note since the shoes were now discounted, and apologies from a lovely young man. I'll be going back there again after that experience, and now recommend them to everyone else. If only hospitals and doctors worked this way! They would have very happy customers.
My week kept improving.
After trying for weeks I have finally found some suitable clothing for my mother who will only wear red!
My Japanese style flower stencils printed beautifully -



I have no idea what I 'll use it for yet!

And I designed some more stencils to do at home.

My poor husband had some dental work done and was home for 2 days feeling very miserable and looking like a Fraggle according to his friends, so I stayed home to look after him. But selfishly, I also got a lot of painting and stencil cutting done, while he tried to work from home and rest at the same time.

I'll be using the above stencil to print on fabric

And this painting, done on calico with Shiva Paintsticks will become part of my new fabric book.
I tried to put my new Copenhagen diary together, but the new hole punch died trying to cut through cardboard, so I can't do anything until I can find one of those old- fashioned tough hole punchers that can cut through anything.

And then my lovely friends Miranda and Elizabeth took me out exploring Brisbane again. We had a nice lunch and coffees at a great shop called "Pieced Together ' in Wooloongabba, which is a cafe combined with sewing studio, combined with outlet for craftspeople, combined with craft workshop. Great fun and lovely owners who make you feel welcome.
After lolling around chatting and eating, we meandered round the corner to the "Postgraduate and Other Projects Gallery" which had an exhibition of printing which included some pieces by Impress members. We were all so taken with Sandra Pearce's work that Elizabeth asnd Miranda enrolled in some of her classes. I wasn't free on the days, so I hope they teach me what they learned.

I was also impressed by Sunk Young Moon-back, Paul Quintela, Judith Borrick, David Nixon and Mirella Aprahamian's work. So much so that when I got home I got out the watercolours and did a few pieces. I love this one just as it is;

( The colours don't show well in the photo, so I'll try again later. I've called it "Sea Moods #1", 39x26 cm, and it is on sale for $75 AUD).

I seem to be developing a sea theme. I did this one last semester:

("Windblown", mixed media, 37x27.5 cm, $50 AUD). Again, I must take a better picture!

But I am thinking of adding stitching to the other watercolours I did to add depth. I'll show them when I am finished.
On the way home we made an impromptu stop at Gabba Screen Printing Supplies and I picked up a new screen for printing on fabric which was on sale. ( I love sales) .We discovered that if we give them a pdf file with a design on it, they'll put it on a screen, ready for us to print with it. Good news!

As you can tell, I love being busy doing creative things! Hate dealing with all the irritating necessities of life. Today I have done some more screen prints on paper, am fixing my prints on material by ironing each for 7 minutes ( very boring), and cutting more stencils. .......in between the horrible daily chores that take me away from all this. I also want to design some linoprint patterns for the class on Wednesday. Oh, and I want to do more printing on material before I go to meet my newest grandchild who is due to be born any minute. I guess I do have more positives than negatives in life after all!

Just heard! We are the proud grandparents of Dylan Rohan! 7lb 12 oz and doing well. Congratulations to his lovely parents!

A busy week

I have had a very busy and fruitful week, mainly inspired by  a visit from my gorgeous daughter, Bec, and her wonderful little boy, William.  Will had great fun exploring our tiny little house and pointing out just how designed it is for adults, not children, and full of unnecessary objects, without breaking a thing.  He wore out mad Maisie, our younger dog, who was in heaven having someone to play with, and enforced the older dog, Toby's belief that humans are on top of the pecking order - thank God for children who understand dogs and not afraid of them, and parents who encourage their children to like and understand animals.  We ate out and visited parks and laughed and played trains.

Will also demonstrated his artistic side, as you can see.  He carried these skills home and created a mural on a wall.  For some reason, Daddy wasn't impressed.  So must Picasso and Michelangelo have suffered as children.

While they were with us, I managed to finish the ak Traditions doll, "Ella", I started a fair while ago.  I can't believe I used to design and make jumpers!  Knitting has really turned into a chore for me, and my doll certainly bears no resemblance to the ak one.  Ah well, at least it is original, finished and has been sent to my young friend, Gemma.  Hope you like it, Gemma!

 
 After they left, I reorganised my designer studio aka the tin shed at the back.

And  prepared a screen for some printing  - more trees.

And cleared the older prints  off my sophisticated drying rack.

Only the best will do!

I finished all the inserts for my Copenhagen diary/ art journal.  Now all I have to do is  join it all together.  Ps.  I have discovered that the cardboard backs on the watercolour pads make great covers for handmade books.

Then I started on the plant project I have been mulling over for the past few years.  I think it will be a wall hanging but it could be another fabric book.


This painting of the roots of a banyan tree is done with Shiva oil paint sticks on cotton.  I am waiting for it to dry a bit more before I iron it to seal it then machine embroider and quilt it.

This one of a monstera twining itself around the trunk of a tree is also done with paint sticks and will get the same treatment.

I also printed some photos of the bush at Bogong, Victoria, onto cotton, and sealed them with  Hydrotex Print paste ( I hope) in preparation for emroidering and quilting.

I'll keep you up to date with my progress.

Classes started this week, with Nancy Brown and a group of some inspiring students,  We began with simple stencils on fabric, cutting the stencils from telephone book paper.  These are my efforts on calico.

I am all excited now, so I have spent the past week trawling through books for ideas.  After perusing Susan Briscoe's great book, Japanese Quilt Blocks to Mix and Match ( 2008, A & C Black Publishers Ltd, London, GB),  the Japanese heraldry in Ottfried Neubecker's Heraldry: Sources, Symbols and Meaning ( 1989, Black Cat, Twickenham) and the inspiring The Grammar of Japanese Ornament by George Audsley and Thomas Cutler ( 1989,  Studio Editions, London), I decided to adapt some of the Japanese images and cut out some stencils from easy cut plastic.  I am hoping they are not too fine, but we'll see.  I am hoping to combine them to make a quilt.

  If they don"t work, I also have some bird and feather drawings that might work, and a mother and child drawing I have been playing with.  Stay tuned

Leaf litter

I like working with colour too, though I find it less controllable.

The last few years, I have done monoprinting with Mia Clark, Nancy Brown and Sandra Pearce, both with and without a press, and have got incredibly different takes on the same basic idea.  The nice thing about working withother people how much you learn from each other, and how different everone's work turns out.  What is stressful, yet liberating about monoprinting, is that the results are, for me at least, unpredictable. And they are individual.  No two are the same, even when you are using the same materials.  And, each print prompts a different response.

Sometimes I like the after image better than the first print.  
Sometimes I like the subtlety of one colour.
Sometimes, I like the pizzazz of a second colour.
 Sometimes I want to add a different medium to the original image

( "After image" . Monoprint. 18.5 x 24.5 image. $60AUD)

("Texture dance".  Monoprint. 18.5 x24.5 image. $ 60 AUD)

Trees

This is the print I used in the book I made for the Introduction To Printing Group in the BIA exhibition in June.  I  call it "You can't see the wood for the trees" ( Linocut, 37.5 x 18 cm image, $85 AUD).  I have gone mad on trees and want to cut some more  soon.

The book showed the way the trees inspired everyone in the class: Miranda, Elizabeth, Diane, Cass, Jane, Allison, and our fabulous teacher, Nancy Brown.

Here is another print I made last semester when my friend Miranda infected me with the love of the boab

("Boab" . Linocut. Image 18 x18 cm. $75)

First post

Hi everyone,

It is a drizzly day in Brisbane so I am doing my housekeeping:  getting my photo albums up to date, starting working on my blog, and then rewarding myself with some art.  You"ll work out how well my housekeeping is going if I manage to put up some pictures on my blog site today.  Tech savvy I am not.  I think  need a technical secretary ( unpaid, of course)  so I can concentrate on creating. 

Now it is holiday time, I have set up a screen printing workshop in the garage, and a book making workshop on the dining table ( note to self : use newspaper and a cutting mat to protect the oak wood from blades, paint, glue and textas), and a knitting workshop on the armchair.  Maisie, my cairn terrier is in heaven as this gives her more opportunities to steal and eat things she knows i need.  So far, she has succeeded with wool, cellotape, a pencil, a paintbrush and some paper I had put aside, but I have foiled her attempt to chew the scissors, a darning needle and a print.  I have been multi-tasking between finishing off my art diary of my trip to Copenhagen last year (pictures will come when it is all done), printing off more images on my screens, planning an applique on a boring old skirt, and finishing off a knitted doll.