Sunday, February 22, 2015

Wild weather and the things we do...

As many of you might know, we've experienced some pretty wild weather here for the past few days. A serious cyclone crossed the Queensland coast on Friday morning and managed to dump a lot of rain and heavy winds on us as it made its way down the coast. Nothing like the impact it had up north - just devastating.  For a few days before hand we also had massive rain and wind and so the place is saturated and we are all feeling a bit damp.  We had around 400mm of rain in 48 hours.

Here are the peace flags at the front of our house.  The wild weather took them from Peace to Pace - Italian for peace - so it feels as if peace might be battered, but not beaten.


And this is what the small creek that flows thru town looked like on Friday morning.
You can tell it normally only goes thru the bit on the left - the tree in the middle is usually growing on a creek-bank.


When we were in town, the creek still had a metre to rise before it backed up against the road - fortunately it didn't happen. Normally folk walk along the footpath under the bridge...


And the road near the dairy - pelting rain and flooded.


And so we found ourselves in that strange netherworld of not being able to do anything outside, combined with a little bit of worry and lots of concern for folk.  Hard to settle. It meant I didn't feel at all creative, but wanted to do stuff. So I fiddled and I faddled.

The funniest moment was on Friday afternoon amidst really, really heavy rain when I started to iron burnt tissue paper.

I looked at myself and thought "has it come to this?"  Who else would think ironing burnt tissue paper was on their to-do list?  Possibly a few of you!

I do love a stack of nicely ironed tissue paper.



And on Saturday, I managed to get some ink out and print onto it - a few experiments to see what they might look like.  I am not sure where its headed but the thought has been in my head for a while and now I've done it.

A good way to use a weird old day.






I really like the fragmented nature of this work.

It is whispering to me and I need to sit quietly so I can hear what it says.

12 comments:

  1. Goodness Fiona. That's quite a lot of rain. I'm glad you and Barry are okay if a bit waterlogged. Ironing burnt tissue paper sounds like a constructive way to pass the time when hands need to be doing something and the brain needs to rest. For me, it's ironing tea bags.

    I hope the waters recede soon. Be safe!

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    1. Thanks J - we are well and safe and the water is way down - those up north are still struggling with no power, roof, walls, schools etc. Just terribly tough and sad. Ironing tea-bags makes perfect sense and it is good therapy isn't it?

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  2. News of this terrible weather has passed us by here in the UK. You are a long way away and our news bulletins are currently so preoccupied by troubles in Ukraine and Syria.
    Such extraordinary volumes of rain in such a short space of time can be terrifying in their effect. I hope you are now drying out ... slowly. Perhaps I can see why you turned to your ironing. The fragility of the printed tissue paper maybe echos the vulnerability of the landscape in the face of the extreme weather ... or is that too big a stretch?

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    1. Thanks Charlton(Margaret) - it is a long way from us to you! We are drying out pretty well, but so many to the north are devastated. Interesting thought re the fragility of the paper - I was taking great care and being so gentle with it as I went along perhaps quite aware of how tenuous everything was outside...thanks and go well.

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  3. when the weather is HUGE it's always hard for me to settle. i think the atmosphere and ions or whatever they are keep us stirred up. maybe ironing is grounding somehow?

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    1. It's good to know the HUGE weather affects us all V - I found it very hard to settle. I can deal with storms and what not but this felt like life was precarious for so many...There is something most grounding re ironing - and I shall hope to remember that if needed in the future!

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  4. I love the idea of the work whispering to you Fiona. Sitting quietly and listening to it sounds a lovely thing to do. So sorry to hear about the cyclone as I know it did lots of damage but glad all is safe and well in your world.

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    1. Thanks So much Lesley - the studio is full of whispers at the moment; it feels like time for somebody's voice to strengthen and let me hear them clearly then off we'll go again! We are safe and ell and getting on again, not so for those to the north where life is completely upside down...thanks for your wishes.

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  5. I'm keen to see where this lovely burnt paper is going Fiona.

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    1. I'm keen to see too Helen! It shall become apparent in good time I expect, and will probably not be what I have planned for it!

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  6. I love the weathered fragments, and the Peace/Pace, how beautiful, actually. Quite some weather! It does seem that we ALL have more and more extreme weather and disasters. The arctic cold and snow is relentless here this winter, people in the city where I work are at wits end.

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    1. Isn't the peace to pace transition so beautiful Valerianna? I have been watching your weather with awe and wonder, trying to work how you live your lives with SO MUCH snow? I think we are seeing more frequent extreme weather for sure...go well, stay safe and dry!

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