In progress: Self Portrait with Greg

In progress: Self Portrait with Greg, sitting on a lovely batik tablecloth (just in case you were thinking that the pattern on the right was a really nice part of my painting).  The details need to be fixed up and then it will be cut out.  I am a bit disappointed with it but I am going to put it away for today and go onto something else.

The pencil drawing, before I started painting over it, above.  The painting is based on a photo of me which was taken by Alice, aged 10.  Thank you very much for your help, Alice!

More dirt, more Kaffe!

 My current knitting-in-progress, in answer to the knitting-in-progress from this previous post.

My great knitting guru: Kaffe Fassett, photo by Steve Lovi taken in his studio in 1985.  (A handsome devil too.)

Incredibly, Fassett's first ever knitting project contained an impressively combined 20 colours, above.

Above and below, some of my favourite patterns from his Glorious Knitting book first published in 1985.  Ignorance is bliss: Fassett initially worked as a watercolour painter with an interest in colour and pattern. When he began to translate this interest to knitting he was blissfully unaware of its traditional rules, and broke most of them.  We are all the richer for it.

It's an interesting story to keep in mind when trying a new craft or medium.  I tend to prefer to know the rules before I break them but maybe there's just as much to be said for doing it the other way around.

10% off mirrors

The shop is full of mirrors -- and they are all 10% off until the end of January!
Enter 'MIRROR4ME' at checkout to receive the discount.

My new pet!

I am so in love with my new raccoon cushion that I giggle every morning when I walk into the kitchen and see him staring at me.  (From the lovely Sarah on Etsy.)

I wish I was wearing this outfit today, although at 35 degrees it might be a bit too hot for the socks.  (Image from Crafts, ed. Mary Harding, Sydney, 1978.)

Backflip

 Hmm.  Now that the fun knitting part of the 'Less Cute' cushion cover is done and the messy threads have to be sewn in, I have lost interest.

Instead I have been busily contradicting my new motto by painting lots and lots of baby accoutrements.  These are actually for an exhibition which I will write about shortly.

Less

 LESS

CUTE

That is my motto for 2012, I'll see how I go!

In the meantime, my friend JP has been doing a beautiful job of sticking to his motto of buy less, make more.  And his blog looks stunning too.  GO JP!!!

Household hijinks

An image from a 1930s Encyclopedia Brittanica advertisement which I bought last year on Etsy and finally framed.

As you can see above Ms Salami is beside herself with joy at her new hallway friends.

This is how the bedroom bookshelf looks when it's tidy(!).

Bookshelf hijinks in the hallway.  Love these dolls/ this doll... 

Where I am sitting right now.  I took this photo yesterday.  Yes, a stick is holding up the curtain.  I was wondering what the image on the computer was, and when I blew it up it seemed -- ahem -- like a woman without clothes on.  I feel the need to explain: it's actually this album cover.  (I have never claimed to have sophisticated taste in music.)  Here is another album cover from my collection.

I assume that my old feminist theory lecturers do not read this blog.

On the line

Further to my final post from last year: I made a blouse.  I am pleased to say that I used 1970s madras cotton fabric that was originally in my mum's stash, purple buttons and thread from the estate of Mrs Betty Collins.

 I feel a bit proud of my scarves as they dry in the summer breeze.  I am almost ready for my next knitting project, although knitting in the heat is not always an appealing prospect.

I feel a bit more ambivalent about this lot, photographed as it receives some fresh air after having been folded away in a little wicker suitcase which wasn't as dust proof as I had hoped.  Samples from my first ever design job at Davenport in the mid 1990s.  I feel a bit brave showing these on my blog, but they are what they are and from a design point of view I am actually still proud of a few of them.  I was hired initially to draw the licensed characters, had no design training and had barely ever touched a computer.  I received an excellent grounding in design, manufacturing methods, meeting tight deadlines, and making products to entice a particular market.   I try not to think about the trials and tribulations of terrible bosses and a bunch of hormonally wired and badly paid twenty-somethings: that's another story not fit for this polite blog.  

Happy and New 2012!

 Yes, this is indeed my portrait of Midnight Oil's Bird Noises record from 1980.  The first instalment of a new series.  (I thought that if I post this then I will actually be forced to do the next one.)

David's childhood Derwent pencils.  I am now the appreciative owner.

May 2012 be a wonderful, healthy, happy year for us all!