Colourful clocks in progress

I have enjoyed painting this new and colourful bunch of clocks.  I tried to channel a beautiful lady from the Caribbean with an armful of bracelets, crossed with a bit of Ms Emily Green.

Today there will be cutting, sanding, drilling and assembling of clock parts, but only if the acting class downstairs doesn't complain about my noisy saw again...

A couple of goings-on

I received a lovely e-mail the other day with an image that made me do a double take: was that really a giant version of my little Lady with Village on Head with children in a gallery setting?! On closer inspection I realised that the children were actually small plastic models, but that made it no less of a surprise.  The photo is by Julian Wrigley and will form part of his exhibition exploring gallery experiences at Kinokuniya Books in Sydney.  Thank you Julian for using my work beside the likes of Marcel Duchamp and Damien Hirst -- surely the first and last time that will ever happen!

Clocks in progress, again.  After these are finished there will be even more to make.  I have never made this number of clocks at once.  I can reveal now that some of them will be destined for The Design Files' Open House, which is very exciting indeed.  (Admittedly that excitement comes from the shopper in me just as much as the maker.)

Better get back to work.

Don't stop, sure shot

This is my entry for this year's Illustrators Australia 9x5 Exhibition.  Each year IA members receive a 9x5 inch piece of plywood in the post.  Ages ago I decided that every year I would shape my wood into an object after painting it, because I thought that it might detract from my comparative lack of illustration skills.  Anyone who knows what I make now on a day to day basis will realise that painting on wooden shapes has become a defining feature of my work.  So that's how a negative can become a positive, I guess.

...Having said that, I am not entirely happy with these two!

Wondering who they are?  Here's a clue: the theme of this year's exhibition is RAPTURE.  Here's another clue, thanks youtube.  

Christmas?!

Last month I started to feel scared, like I had done the wrong thing, wondering whether I should go back to a full time(ish) job.  Then the calendar ticked over to October and -- BAM! -- I am suddenly really busy and the word "Christmas" is being bandied around as though it's tomorrow.  The dreaded backache has also returned.

So excuse me while I paint and saw away.  Here is someone whose work I admire more and more each time I look at it on flickr.  Genius!

A teen for Melbourne's Child

I was really pleased to be asked to illustrate a story for Melbourne's Child (and Sydney's Child, etc.) about a depressed teenage girl who also happens to be mildly intellectually disabled.  I used to assist at an art class for intellectually disabled adults and I still pay a weekly home visit to one of the students I met there. We either chat or I help him run his errands as he has difficulty getting around by himself.  He also has some complex mental health issues which have not always been dealt with properly. This story is about separating such mental issues from the intellectual disability: from my own experience I know how crucial this is.

I have included my sketches here as the editor asked me to simplify my ideas for the final versions. It's a shame that that Twilight DVD isn't clearer, as I was quite proud that I remembered to include the most likely teenage girl's companion!  Hee hee.

By the way, if anyone in Melbourne reading this is interested in doing the very rewarding work that I have been discussing here, do contact Inclusion as they are fantastic people and always on the lookout for new helpers.

New Riches scarf in the shop

Due to popular demand (OK about 4-5 people) I have made a Rags to Riches scarf and put it in my etsy shop.  Fellow knitters will appreciate that comparative to the work involved I am offering it at a good price.  :)

I enjoyed making it and would like to spread the enjoyment to someone else too.

Ola has a blog -- yay!!

A new work in the bathroom collection

I love to decorate with lots of little things.  Thank goodness I live in a small space and not in a giant warehouse, as I would feel completely intimidated by big empty walls.  This is my bathroom.  I find washing and brushing my teeth really boring, so it's important to have special things to look at while going about the daily routine.  Other than my very first painted mirror, I have a little oil painting from Bali that was a gift from lovely Serena, framed postcards from India and Oxford, and a poster by illustrator Ping Zhu.  But my newest and coolest addition is this beautiful painted bat by my friend Sandra Winkworth (AKA Swinkie).  She recently visited from Sydney in order to take part in a fantastic bird themed exhibition at 69 Smith Street Gallery in Collingwood.  Her bird prints and drawings are very delicate and beautiful.

Progress, at home and in the studio

 I decided to make another scarf after spreading out my yarn stash on the kitchen table the other night.  Seeing my yarn all at once lifted my mood!

Work in progress on wood.  Not sure whether I like it, but I will show it here when it's finished.

Assorted new things in the shop

 I have made up a new A4 page of stickers, something I have been wanting to do for a while.  It took a surprisingly long time to get together!

 A new ancient mask mirror, which is actually the other half of the face that I painted on the first one.

And a redhead girl hanger!  A cousin to Mrs. J's hanger below, and the very first hanger for my etsy shop.  (The others are available from Craft Victoria.)

This week

 Some spring-like scarves for Craft Victoria.

 A special redhead hanger for Mrs.J.

 A sweet donkey from another old National Geographic.

 And pictures of food everywhere in the studio.  Speaking of food, last night I attended a cooking class with Tony Chiodo at the South Melbourne Market.  It was so much fun that I later dreamt that I was an in-house food critic at Vue de Monde.  (Yes indeed, dreams are strange things, as why would Vue de Monde or indeed any restaurant require an in-house food critic?!)  When I woke up I quite seriously considered how I could get a job in the food industry, but I know that in real life I am not nearly as canny as I am in my sleep.  Anyone need a dishwasher?

Get Love: an i-pad cover

I have made an i-pad cover, a little cousin to the laptop cover that I made in July.  I really enjoyed making the striped effect in the letters.  

This is kind of how I explained the idea then:

Like most people these days, I spend a lot of time on the internet. Recently I realised why: I'm looking for love. I'm not necessarily talking match.com, but the sort of love you get when someone answers your e-mail, comments on your facebook photos, follows your blog, or clicks your item into their etsy favourites. We all need love, and that's what this little i-pad cover is about.

 And it's in the shop.

Special order mirrors

 Mirrors for a special order above, and in progress below.

Take one National Geographic

Above: Queen Salote of Tonga (1900-1965).  I would love to sit this next to a fancy portrait of Queen Elizabeth II!

Above: "Riding a king size board, the 325-pound Taufa'ahau surfs the Pacific combers.  The monarch also delights in fishing and scuba diving."

 Above: Mobile, Alabama: "Resplendent in satin, Mattie L. Jones arrives at the coronation ball of the Colored Carnival Association."

 Above: the crowning of the Shah of Iran in the Amjadieh Stadium in Tehran.

 Above: Hello!  Observing a sheep auction in Oban, Scotland.

Above: an advertisement for the Admiral remote control, showing The Cortez Model, the "biggest picture in color TV" at 23 inches.

 Above: a Massey-Ferguson tractor advertisement.

I love my collection of National Geographics, all purchased from the Cheltenham Op Shop many years ago.  All of the photos here are from the March 1968 issue.  Great cover, too.

Subdued

A September 9 birthday scarf that is almost finished.  Not for DC my usual fair isle multi colour extravaganza:  I wasn't sure that I would survive the subdued laddish colour palette, or knitting an entire scarf in proper rib, but I only have one and a half stripes to go and the big day is more than a week away.*

A scarf for Craft Victoria, which magically changes colour!  Hee hee.  

I might actually get to make a scarf for myself one of these days...

And a new card for the shop.  It's a bit how I feel today: housebound with a bad cold.  Not sure that I can do it.

*actually that's a lie as it was meant to be last year's birthday present.

Drawing food

In the interests of varying my illustration folio further, I have made this Italian themed food illustration using acrylic on paper.  Food is one of my main interests in life, and I would love the opportunity to illustrate an article in a cooking magazine or even a book one day.