Some days you just want to fly away....

I have started playing with a nibbed pen and ink, and last night while feeling a bit blue I drew this little bird...wonder where he's going? He did make me feel better.
Autumn is in full swing and the persimmon leaves are always so beautiful I can never resist photographing them.

In other news I decided to do the Sketchbook Project again and have signed up for 2013- I'm really looking forward to seeing the show when it comes here to the NGV in Fed Square in November.
And tomorrow I get to go to the "Love Vintage" show- and I do love vintage!

Gorgeous bee scrapbook cover...

...from Just Something I Made.

Fiona's spatula

Here's a great photo Fiona has put on her blog of a spatula I gave her for her birthday...another one in my series of woodburnt kitchen tools. The soup is made of all home-grown veges too!

Winter in May

Melbourne has decided to pretty much skip Autumn and go straight to Winter. Sigh. Ah well at least we have managed to make the perfect lasagna to go with the weather. Home made pasta sheets are the key- and lots of 'em. Plus a slow cooked beef ragu and a handy Ben( you can't have mine) to make the bechamel and put it all together.

Not a lot of other creative happenings lately, no time or energy due to the 4 day week thing. I am hoping to negotiate to go to 3 so that I can have a creative life as well as being a wage slave, but it will mean very little money to live on- very little.
My sketchbook has been digitised and you can see it here if you're interested.

I love the Art House Coop and would happily enter every one of their various projects if I only had the time...

Random happy things

Recovering nicely now from the last few months of stress...
Here's some random things that have made me happy lately.

My awfully clever new little blue camera getting it right with this dandelion...

Beautiful, delicious and cheap lunch from Don Too in the city...

My April pinboard which I love.(That's Nancy Cunard top left and Bella and Marc Chagall in the middle).

And I've just realised there are actually lots more things that have made me happy too.. like seeing some loved ones I haven't seen in ages, and my broadbeans almost bouncing out of the ground and completing the first oil painting that I actually am pleased with.
Gee, I should make these sort of lists more often, it feels good!

Vintage vegies

After an horrendous afternoon at work with approximately EVERYONE in Melbourne wanting quotes on framing, (often with the wrong or NO measurements to speak of...Sure! I'll just look at your photo on your handy dandy iphone and then read your mind, no problem) I managed to find a few minutes of bliss in a second-hand bookstore and discovered this lovely little gem from the Victorian Dept of Agriculture.
There's a few scary moments in it where they mention DDT as if it's a good thing, but all in all it's pretty wholesome and very specific to my local area, plus it's just a lovely piece of history- so I'm happy. No iphones in sight...sigh.

This rock with the Einstein quote was on Gennine's blog and it is absolutely how I feel! I just love a bit of monotony and quiet- so many people just can't stand it if they're not busy, busy, busy, but I have so much I want to do at home I really don't like "busy".
Below is a shot of my pumpkin harvest. When I pulled them all out recently I was delighted to discover an extra couple hiding in the bushes that I hadn't spotted earlier. They are such gorgeous things to look at it always hurts a bit to cut into them, but they are so handy to eat through Winter. Planted broadbeans, spring onions, cauliflower and broccoli today- now I just need to protect them from the snails and cabbage moth...
Snowpeas next week...when I'm not forced to be "busy" by our ridiculous wage-slave system. You can't eat money.

Phew- what happened to February?

I've been flat out lately coping with a new job and as I am an old dog, learning the new tricks has been a real challenge but I'm getting there. As ever my biggest struggle is to carve out enough time to create as well as make enough money to eat- not easy. I so admire people who can put in a full day at work and then come home and make stuff all night! I just do not have that gene, and need a lot more energy and time to do anything productive.
But I can feel a lot brewing away in my mind and have even forced myself to do some drawing, which is fabulous for just disconnecting and getting into the zone.

In other news, after my last little Lumix F1 died a sudden, painful and watery death in Woodgate I purchased the F3 and it had it's test run in Merimbula in February. I was delighted with it- but I was a little nervous about killing it too, so I didn't take it fully into the surf with me, just plunged it constantly into rock pools. The battery/card door on the new model has a lock which the old one didn't have so it does make me feel a little safer. Here are some of my favourite shots...see- it's a pretty nice little camera!

Sketchbook project...done!

Here are some images from my sketchbook now winging it's way to New York. It was a bit of a push at the end there, but I'm really pleased to have completed it. It's full of my usual combination of collages and photographs and although it won't set the world on fire it was fun to do.The Sketchbook Project was a nice positive way to start the new year- what do they say? Begin the way you mean to go on? Well hopefully the rest of the year will be full of creativity too! (Plus I have a new job so hopefully that'll help with some inspiration).

Beautiful bees...again

Such a lovely drifty video spotted via The Spinx & the Milky Way.

honey harvest from tiger in a jar on Vimeo.

Glorious garlic!

This is the most beautiful organic garlic grown and plaited by the fair hands of Nea and Carl and very happily being eaten by me and Ben. It was quite difficult to cut off that first head because it is such a work of art, but the joy of eating it has overcome that. It was hung outside for this shot only of course, and is currently taking pride of place in a nice dark, dry place inside the house- the dining room. It makes me very happy... as does the size of the Black Russian tomatoes I'm growing below.

Divine teacups

Spotted Cecilia Levy's ridiculously beautiful paper teacups on Poppy's blog and instantly fell in love. I did once flirt with a similar idea myself, but as with so much in art - overcoming the space between having the intention to make something, and actually making it is really what it's all about. We just need time and energy....and lots of both.

New Year

We saw 2012 arrive in our traditional way- champagne in the backyard and a climb onto the roof to see the fireworks. This time we actually had a really good view of them too- seemed like the finale was particularly spectacular, perhaps because the Arts Centre tower caught fire from a random exploding firework, terribly exciting I'm sure. Hmmm. I took the shot below just as Ben was climbing up the ladder- the golden orb spider was just beginning her night's work and she and the moon and Ben lined up nicely. Is that auspicious do you think?

Wilsons Prom

Just got back from a couple of days camping at Wilsons Promontory - such a beautiful place. When we walked down to the beach just before taking this shot we thought we'd missed the sunset but the show was just about to start. A great place to be to celebrate the Mid-Summer Solstice- even if it wasn't precisely hot. Merry Christmas!

December Pin board- slightly wonky.

This one is dominated by the most beautiful hand-made, printed Japanese paper, which I had to leave uncut for obvious reasons. Happy Mid-Summer Southern Hemisphereans!