Studio pottering

To start, a shot of a stunning pink flower of a weird cordyline type plant at the new studio - stunning!

And then to pottering.  Whilst my anxiety about the world and the future is receding slightly (mainly I think because we appear to behaving as a nation and doing sensible things with good outcomes) I am not yet back near anything I would call peak performance!  I am definitely still a bit skittery and finding that time is an odd thing - slippery and stodgy at different times.  So I am manly pottering in the studio and using the time to do some of those what if? or how do I? s that I often think about in passing, but don't get back to doing.

This week I decided it was time to try out some metallic dusting powder I had bought when we were in Scotland last year.  I thought it might be nice to dust it onto black or other colour ink to give it a golden touch, rather than using up lot of metallic ink.  Metallic ink can also be a bit hit and miss - it is always hard to get the metallic pigment bits to stay evenly mixed and not just fall to the bottom of any pot and so on.

So as Barry was madly printing away the back of over 200 postcards, I nicked into the production line to print two for myself to practice on.

The dusting powder is very fine - so precautions re breathing were taken. Whilst the ink was still wet, I dusted a wee bit of powder on. Gold and copper.

And because I am pretty impatient, I dusted it off again after about 5-10 minutes. And was pretty chuffed! I think we will find nice ways to use these powders.

Another thing I bought when in Scotland was a sheet of polymer plate flourishes.  I am a traditional type kind of letterpress gal; but thought a few flourishes could come in handy every now and again.  So they have sat there for a while now and I thought if not now, then when? Laugh. I am not made for modern ways...

I have had limited success with polymer plates  and as ever, teaching yourself can mean a whole lot of dumb things happens and mistakes get made.  Still, I thought I should have another go.

So I cut one out and attached it to a piece of timber I had had cut to make type high.

Pretty happy with what came about - could be useful. It was crisp and clean around the edges which was great. But boy did I have trouble making it stick on the block.

I thought I should test out a few more so cut out quite a few from the plate - it was good buying! Lots of different flourishes.

They were all set on blocks and I thought this would test a good few of them.

Again - struggled to get them to stick.

Two fell off as I put them through the press. Clearly this was not going to be a thing I could ever use if they just fell out willy nilly.

The general look and feel of the print was good (except for the two gaps issue) so I wanted to check if I could find out what had gone wrong.

I laughed so hard.  A quick google about the type of plate (it has some serial number on it) and I found the bit where the advice says "replace the blue protective sheet after each use to maintain the plate's adhesive capability".

I went to the drawer where I had packed them away; picked up a piece; and slowly, gently and with stifled and muffled hilarity pulled back the blue protective sheet to discover a significant and magnificent layer of stickiness on the actual plate!!!

There's always next time. Stay tuned. Grin.

Thursday Thoughts...

“The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.” 

Albert Einstein

Today I ponder art, and in doing so accept and acknowledge the role that the intuitive mind plays in the creating, dreaming, and making of my work.

I feel fortunate that I have access to my intuitive mind. I use it and rely on it a lot - I oftentimes just seem to 'know' things.  I can't explain how I do, I just do.

I find in the dreaming of or pondering of art-in-the-making, the intuitive mind often guides me, leads me, and lands where I need to land.  It is fast, cheetah-fast, and things can arrive solved or ready to roll and they feel right.  Of course not always, but often enough for me to recognise it is part of my creative process.  I acknowledge it, note it, smile upon it and keep on going.

I think one explanation for intuition is that it involves super quick analyses and connections between things that you know or understand; experiences you have had; outcomes you have witnessed; or processes you have undertaken. Kind of like your life experience counts for something and some part of you takes away the set by step process of getting from A to B to C and says 'here it is'.

A true gift.  Einstein recognised the intuitive mind as such and I imagine was grateful for his as well.  Like many things in the world our scientific and rationale worlds take precedence and and we admire and fete the things we can prove or measure.

In times like these when we need and rely on the artists and creatives to help us get through - perhaps it is more timely than ever to celebrate the intuitive mind.

Around and about

As we all adapt to the new normal, we count ourselves as very fortunate to be able to self-isolate on the mountain block we call home. The block keeps us busy at the best to times, but is now also offering us healthy activity and things to do and focus on when our minds might otherwise wander.

A magnolia bud from down below.

We are gardening most days, hauling logs, building walls, growing seedlings and sprouting seeds, gathering flowers and just enjoying basking in the beauty that surrounds us.

It calms our souls.

Despite having removed our coffee plantation because of a nasty weevil infestation a few years ago; there are still coffee bushes growing around the edges of the block and they are bursting with coffee cherries (which have the beans inside them).  We figure if things get really bad, we can start to process beans again...

The camellias on the terraces below are coming into bloom and wandering amongst them is like walking amidst pink and white snow drifts.

A bunch we picked on Sunday

I popped them in these little wee floating boat 'vases'; and set them upon window sills in the kitchen.

And here are some camellia shadows on the water tank.

The veggie garden is beginning (we hadn't planted any as we were due in Scotland on 25 March...) and we are enjoying the daily collection and sharing.

A few weeks ago I did a bit of a panic buy of seeds (only one packet each of about 6 veggies but I did feel a bit panicked) and we set them to grow and already they are bursting out.  Barry prepared another veggie patch for them and that has been good to see.  

Our climate is a very kind one - we can grow so many things. Avocados are coming on and limes have almost reached nuisance levels; but our entire orange crop has virtually just dropped which was sad.

But we have a beautiful place to occupy us and nourish us.

Sewing this and that

Managing time.  It is something I think about this way and that.  Do I need a more regular/rigid routine to keep me on track? Or do I need to relax into the flow and understand things have their own time?

I move between the two.  The free flowing time thing can leave me unsettled and resentful by the end of the day; and yet I know the rigid routine thing will leave me feeling constrained and agitated.  Balance. It must all be about balance.

So I am doing a bit of this and a bit of that.  I have a heap of calico in the cupboard and thought
I'd get started on making some aprons.  I love my Go Girl half-apron and thought it would be an easy enough pattens to copy and make more of.

First up I found a calico test skirt I had made - it was a weird one with no side seams just these spiralling joins.  It never fitted but that was OK as I had really just been testing the idea, so I thought it would be perfect to cut up and make an apron with.

I fiddled around with how to make the ties that go around the waist - and out of the corner of my eye I spotted some edging/binding that I had bought as remnants in Stockholm years ago. They were nice and strong and a bit interesting.

Then of course there had to be pocket. It came from a  scrap and had to be big enough for a pen and a phone.

And an extra bit of binding to make it look interesting.

And then it was done.

And I tried it on and took this unflattering photo. But the apron will be serviceable! (I did mention the skirt never fitted...)

And a bit more sewing.  My cousin needs some fabric masks for her work.  Someone made her quite a lot but sadly they didn't fit well enough for her to wear without having to use bobby pins to hold the elastic taut.

So I brought them home and said I'd try a few options for adjusting them.

I cut the elastics off and made a top elastic that went around her head and not just her ears. And stretched the lower elastic so it would also go round her neck.

I did the same with another one and made the top elastic a lot wider. I then just snipped the lower one so she could tie a knot in it

And the third option I tried I snipped all the elastic off and replaced it with bias binding so she could tie it around her head.

Rescued after washing just in time for a photograph!

Not sure if any of the options will work but it was worth a try. I am hoping her head is a bit smaller than mine...

Also just realised a fourth option I might try tomorrow is to reduce the length o the current elastic a bit so they fit more snugly. 

Thursday Thoughts...

Painting is silent poetry, and poetry is painting that speaks. 

Plutarch

As sometimes happens, a quote I choose can go either way.  I am pondering books (also code for words, writing, poetry...) today and hence the link to this; altho clearly it could also form the basis of an art-like ponder.

Whichever way it goes I love how it animates both art forms; how it values them both; and how it suggests that one can be an expression of the other, albeit in a different form.

Taking the poetry perspective, I think this is exactly what poems attempt to do - to create words pictures in our mind.  By so accurately and eloquently describing a circumstance, an object, an experience; one can fill in the feelings around it and experience a sense of it within our bodies as well as in our minds.

We can see the empty room, and go further to perhaps smell the mustiness; to hear the creaking... and to feel the cold.

So for me, good poetry is perhaps more than a painting that speaks; it is also a movie or video watched; an experience felt; senses stimulated; and emotions expressed as I read words that take me along with them...

Other worldly...

There's nothing much creative about this blog post but it has some rather lovely images in it.

For starters - the sweetest blush of dawn yesterday morning.

A few weeks ago now (March 8 in fact but it feels like a lifetime ago), the family all headed to Canberra to celebrate my Dad's 80th birthday. We had outings and dinners but the main game was a ride in a hot air balloon.

Whilst a tad on the nervous side when I arrived, I soon forgot myself and delighted in the slow gentle movement through the sky and over the landscape.

It was stunningly beautiful and serene and I would do it again in heartbeat if I could.

Flying high over the city centre and Australia's Parliament House.

It was also the second day day of the fortnight-long international balloon festival and you can see some of the novelty balloons being blown up by the lake.  The winds were a bit too frisky for the dinosaur to go up that day, so they tethered it and let people play in it I think.

I followed this balloon for as long as I could - I love the dreamy image of a heart floating by in the sky...

The landscape looked so wonderfully different - we were close enough to notice lots of things, and slow enough to be able to really look...

The four different 'curves' of fence lines, road and cycle path...

The geometry of an industrial area

And then to a rather rough landing and packing the balloon back up!

The bottom of the basket - it falls over on landing and you all get tilted on top of each other and clamber out sideways, but it was fun!

And then to finish with more other-worldliness, yesterday morning, looking up our driveway as the sun rose and the mist evaporated...

It feels so long ago to have been able to stand next to each other; to spend an hour or more in close proximity.  We have all remained well since the adventure and with three weeks or more gone we were lucky to have had the moment.  Even the next weekend I don't think it would have been possible.

And I feel so fortunate to still have beautiful moments like the ones on our block.

Little printings

It has been a week of self-isolating as best we can, and simply moving between the house and the studio.  We are not sure how long this will continue - if we go into lockdown, we will try to bring bits of the studio back with us.

It seems a very long time since last Sunday - harder each day to remember what day it is!

So with my skittery mind and the occasional sense of dread I have found it best to go and do small things.  So it has been a week of stationery.

I have cut up heaps of cards - different papers and different sizes, and blind embossed decklededgepress on the back and then printed a couple of different ones and a couple of different colour ways.

Nothing too challenging, but I have been pleased to have had something to do and something to think about.

A while ago I was pondering these words and trying to work out whether to put new ones in or leave them out.  Finally I landed here.

I think these are grief cards.  They are certainly cards for when your heart is heavy; when you are aching for somebody you care abut as they go through something; and somehow you just can't find the words to let them know...

The beautiful old wood type I used inks up a bit randomly on the textured paper; but it makes them appear hand made (which of course they are) and hopefully heart-felt.

As ever, I am tickled by a deckled edge.

And so to virtual hugs.  Physical distancing has meant that so many of us can't hug each other when we meet; we can hardly touch an arm or a hand.  And so I am sending virtual hugs out across the world.

As a by-note it was harder to do than it looks, because the word is a certain size typeface; but to get the parentheses to wrap around the word that typeface had to be bigger.  And then I had to work out how to make it all level in a line. Technical I know, but it kept me puzzling to solve it for a bit!

So I have printed some cards, in periwinkle blue; but mostly I printed postcards on beautiful thick white paper (Gmund Cotton 300gsm).

 The next day I printed the postcards in spearmint green.

And today I printed them in rose pink.

I also did some DL cards with a simple "Thinking of you..." on them - so far in spearmint and rose.

It just felt like these are sentiments folk might want or need right now.

I will try to get them up on the DEP shop sometimes soon; but if you are interested in the interim; the cards are $8 each and shipping is free; and the postcards I am working out! Just drop me a line or a comment and I will get back to you.