In praise of friends

Life has been a bit fragmented lately, as I pack and clean my Brisbane home and prepare my Melbourne home.  Yes, we are in the process of returning to Melbourne!  This has been having a rather negative effect on my creating, but thanks in part to some very good friends who are intent on ensuring I don't get too stressed or work too hard, I am managing to keep making art, and learning from the art of others.

On one visit to Melbourne, I was taken to the Finders Keepers market in the Royal Exhibition Building, as a break from the cleaning and sorting

What a wonderful array of varied, individual and exciting artisans there were.  And, how fantastic to see so many talented young artisans!  I keep being told by older women that the young are not interested in art and craft.  What a lot of rot! No wonder the venue was crowded.  Obviously, the word is out, in spite of the negativity of these "glass half fullers"!  Finders Keeper markets are great places to buy original pieces for yourself and as gifts.  I bought Xmas presents for others and earrings and scented candles for me,  and got lots of inspiration.  Plus, I was able to renew my acquaintance with the Carlton Gardens

I was also asked by another friend to help out with a printing class in Brisbane.  I met the students and was caught up their enthusiasm and creativity, and enjoyed showing how the same materials  can have different effects depending on whether it is the first print:

the second ghost print

or the third one:

And, of course, depending on whether paints or inks are added to create a different effect.

I had time to do some quick drawings of bush turkeys with conte, like these

 copy them and distort the images with the photocopiers, then tear up the images and collage them face down onto some damp watercolour paper, rub them with eucalyptus oil, and put them through the press twice.  The resultant images are not awe-inspiring, as this one shows, but they will form the basis for future work inspired by the petroglyphs I have been collecting on my Pinterest board, "Rock  art".

At the class, I caught up with a lot of friends from my rusting day and took more photos of their creations which will be the basis for future art works:

Other friends took me on a day trip to the holiday home of one of them, in  Tamborine Mountain to the south of the city.  What a wonderful place for a home and an artists refuge!  It is cooler than the surrounding flat country, with wonderful views towards the surrounding plains, including the Gold Coast and the ocean.  The mountain is dominated by the national park, with its stunning subtropical rainforest full of amazing palms and forest walks and lots of bird life.  We gathered at the beautiful and welcoming  home

admiring its wonderful crammed full garden which included macadamias, palms, grapefruit, ferns, and these wonderful orchids:

 

This wasn't all!  We set off to explore some of the shops, including the local fire brigade's craft market, and Marks and Gardner Gallery, which had a very good exhibition of David Hinchcliffe's oil paintings as well as some very nice porcelain.  What a great day!

 

To reward myself for packing, cleaning, organising, etc.  I have also given myself little pockets of time to make these little useless objects from felt as gifts for a friend

 

lacquer my little embroidered fish made from hand dyed fabrics:

and keep embroidering my long strip of dyed, printed and joined fabric strip.