Grand plans....

Grand plans to sew something...let's see if it eventuates.  I have shown a close up of the little pattern above not because it is the one-most-likely, but because it's way more special than the others.   It is neither a ubiquitous Butterick nor a Simplicity but a Weigel's.  Most locals wouldn't know that for almost one hundred years Melbourne had its very own brand of sewing patterns.  They and Madame Weigel's Journal of Fashion were the first to give those in the colonies the opportunity to look as fashionable as their cousins in Europe.  And to think that for much of that time these little treasures were meticulously designed, cut and folded only a couple of streets away from where I live in Richmond!
More lovely Weigel's patterns here.

Merry Merry

Presents mostly wrapped.  I have enjoyed using large envelopes turned inside out so that their tiny blue prints are visible, as well as last year's Indian calendar and a funny German calendar featuring scenes of toy tractors on carefully arranged plastic landscapes.

 I haven't really done much Christmas decoration, but I think that the plant growing on this red and white blind looks kind of festive.  That's my excuse anyway.

A clock in progress.  Nineteenth century French tattoos.  Finally, some tattoos that I would ponder getting for myself!  I used my arm as a model, I think I must have seen more sun yesterday than I realised.  (I have left the book at the studio and will credit it later.)

The studio seems far away now.  Today has been all about shopping for fruit, veg and a myriad other ingredients, some of which I have never bought before.  Pomegranate molasses.  Almost a litre of cream.  Lemon infused olive oil.  I also admit to never having used gelatine.  But I am looking forward to making enough food for twenty when there will only be five of us....

Merry Christmas and happy holidays to you, wherever you are.  In the summer heat or in the winter cold, may you feel warm on the inside.

A great article that appeared in The Age yesterday, via Miss Pen Pen.  I am so glad that she exists!

Pencils are sneaking in

The pink apples above have been coloured with a pretty fluorescent pink pencil, though it's not possible to convey that in my photo.  I used a lot of pencil for this one, which I enjoyed, even though it looks a bit messier than paint.  As a child I was a penciller and not a painter.  Sometimes I feel that pencils are where I belong.

Meanwhile, these young lassies are heading for TarraWarra and are entirely painted, except for the pencilled pink cheeks of the tall one.

A family for Melbourne's Child

This illustration for the Dec/Jan 2012 edition of Melbourne's Child (and Sydney's Child, etc.) about a city family that embraces country life, went really easily.  So easily in fact that I wonder now whether it looks a bit too quick, even a little slapdash?  Or perhaps slapdash suits a family that likes some mud on its clothes and flour on its nose?  Maybe it just means that the more of these illustrations I do, the less torturous it gets?  I hope so!

bright green and lilac make...

There is a green mushroom, among other new wooden things, in the shop.  The mushrooms are made from a fantastic thick wood that my father gave me, left over from signs that he made for his wine club competition.  Its dimensionality gives them the effect of retro toys.  Special!  I hadn't used it until now as I thought that my machine might not like the thicker stuff.  But it was fine.

A lilac stitched linen scarf for Craft Victoria in progress, scanned.  When I see lilac and bright green together it always makes me think of Incredible Hulk icy poles, which I hope don't exist anymore.  (I just Googled them, and all I could find was this.  Enjoy!)

riches + rags + colour

 I think that all the colour in the children's room at TDF Open House has inspired me to go a bit crazy this week!  A Riches to Rags Man in progress, above, and a linen scarf for Craft Victoria, below.  Both have been a lot of fun to work on.

TDF Open House -- my photos

I went back to The Design Files Open House on Saturday to take these photos of my work in the children's room (OK, and to buy a couple of things).  The photos are terrible partly because the room actually had quite a few people in it and it was hard to get shots without someone's back in them!
One of the things that I bought was a copy of Conversations with Creative Women.  Highly recommended.

Melbourne Famous

Fitzroy player in progress.  He is finished now and will be on display/ for sale shortly at my friend Peter's mini gallery in the window next to La Niche on Smith Street.  We thought it might be nice to have a Fitzroy player seeing as the gallery is in Fitzroy....

And, in a different part of the same suburb, The Design Files Open House is, well, open!  My work is in the children's room downstairs, alongside THE most incredibly beautiful wares.  (Spy my clock hands above.)  I had such a wonderful time at the opening night hanging around with Madeleine Stamer, Emily Green and Dawn Tan, and spying numerous other "Melbourne famous" faces around the house.  So much fun!  I also met the lovely Ellie Malin, whose beautiful parachute prints were such a vibrant anchor to the children's room.  Actually we were all so captivated by the warmth and colour of that space that we could barely leave.  Photo by John Deer pinched from The Design Files.  (Lucy likes people to email her when they post her photos but I reckon she already has too many emails to read without another from me.  And "Melbourne famous" is phrase I stole from her too.  I love it.)

Speaking of photos, Warren Kirk's beautiful work is finally accessible on Flickr (devotees of the inner west of Melbourne click here; while a more general photostream is here).  I'm willing to bet that everyone from Melbourne will find the photos captivating.  Those who are not from anywhere near here will really enjoy them too: their charm is universal.