it is decided

For my xmas dec's I have fiddled with pinks, messed around with blues and decided to look to nature for a colour that suits the occassion. It is decided to follow the green colour tones above, and use a burnt orange/copper colour for a highlight.....I wanted to include something of the Australian xmas and not get caught with snowflakes and winter themes.....I have also ditched the bird shape in favour of a simple medallion shape, I just could not get the birds to work, they are now waiting for a miracle of inspiration to transform them into something cool.

Will post the results of my new directions in colour and shape.....

xmas ornament swap

I am very excited to be part of the freshly blended ornament swap. Here is a small bird that I have been playing with. It is on clay so I think it will be too fragile to post so I'm going to send one to myself and see how it survives. I have a colour delimma as I dont want to make them red and green, but keep going back to my old favourites. I'm thinking of just selecting 3 colours plus b and w and see what I can do (maybe some glitter?!). I also have some experiments with a peg attachment on the back so you can clip it to the tree etc....or I might just add a magnet to the peg so you can use it to hold a postcard etc....I have two deadlines now, one for the swap and the other for my tree!! This is a good thing.

shadow

This is a new shadow in my home thanks to a hanging screen of folded palm leaves. I'm not too sure which I like better, the shadow or the actual screen?

My belly is still growing and little pumpkin might be delivered early (like up to 2 weeks!!)through c-section as he is still upside down. I will know for sure in the next few weeks. In the meantime, I need to keep on with project #1 and #2. While I was having a nana nap on the weekend my mind was going crazy with all kinds of ideas, I hope to eventuate at least one of them soon. I will add a post about my xmas decoration development/experimentation later.

illustration friday - ghost

This is the start of the feature painting for the new retreat/studio room we are renovating. I wanted to make something relevant to our home and given chicken and ducky (the street pets) are an everyday part of life I wanted to make a picture including them. Unfortunately chicken died this week, so I though it was quite apt to have his ghost laid down. Halloween is not really big in Oz, so I wanted to create my own impression of the theme. I am very interested in Asian cultural beliefs about ghosts and spirits. One of the most beautiful things I have witnessed is the floating of lanterns on the river in Japan during July/Aug when the ghosts/spirits of family members return. A simple explanation can be found here

I am a sucker for very bright colours, my favourites are red and pink, and lots of black outlines. I am limiting myself to muted tones and layers for this painting. I will post the progress so you can keep me on track if I am straying into those comfortable colours.

found object

Last night while trying to document my expanding belly, we found some recent shots of chicken and ducky. He is really is a lovely looking bird. Today ducky is sitting in the same place as yesterday as if in mourning, still making small sounds.

in loving memory

The chicken who lived in the street and made us all smile has died.

Ducky has lost his friend and so have we.

I think the fox might have eaten him.

I have never heard a duck cry until today.

Bye bye lovely chicken we will miss you.

dalmy

This is Dalmy, short for dalmation. My friend gave him to me about 3 or 4 xmas's ago. I have never had much luck with taking care of fish, but this guy has stayed part of the family and continued to grow.

birthday

It is my sisters birthday today and I do like to make some part of the gift, so I made this card, well, the flower part out of old kimono and paint swatches. I bought a lovely gift from tilkah such prettiness. Have a good weekend!!

illustration friday - smitten

After meeting my cousins week old baby today, this perfectly captures them (and us), smitten, by their amazing creation.
This image is available as a card from my website, along with the girly pink version www.thegrassygarden.com.au

pet project #1 and #2

I have set myself the task of 2 projects. One is to create the baby room which currently is the top photo, the other is the renovation of the garage into a studio/retreat, which is the lower photo. As you can see, there is some work to be done. There are grand plans ahead and a time frame to work with. I am quite excited as I have never done a DIY on the house before. Of course, carpenters and other tradies have been enlisted to do the hard bits but as for the decoration, thats up to me, with help from the labourer (my darling husband).

Have been thinking about materials for my xmas tree decorations and think that paper based ornaments next to lights might not be the best combination. I'm onto the next material which is a type of air dry clay. I think it might be a bit heavy, so will try a few experiments and see how they hold up. I dont think that material will catch on fire though, which is a bonus.....

some lovely colours

I saw this green colour flower against the blue sky and thought what a beautiful combination it made and right next to this tree was this amazing bush of purple flowers with folded leaves. I think there are many colour cues from nature that can be used when making choices about colour for crafts, rooms and clothes. Nature seems to choose the colour match not for beauty but we can appreciate it for that reason only. I have been taking photos lately of colour matches to use later.

In the meantime, I have also been experimenting with making the decorations for the Xmas tree, trying to get organised before the baby comes so I can still do the tree. I love to decorate the tree!!! This year will be inspired by our lovely birds such as magpies, wattle birds and some of the small cute ones like wrens. I will post a photo once the design is finished.

my market day

I had a very sunny and fun market day on Sunday. I must thank all my dear friends, family and darling husband for helping lug gear and keep me company. It was a sunny day and a good experience. I think it will be the only stall I have as it is a long day. You can still buy all my goods through my website. I made the above magnets for market day. They are a combination of recycled kimono (that I bought back from Japan myself) and felt and I have some available through my website. They were especially popular with kids and can also be worn as a brooch!!! I met some lovely customers and saw many dogs including whippets which is always a bonus.

illustration friday - trouble

There will be trouble this summer as my most favourite stone fruits including cherries and apricots are not only likely to be very expensive, but perhaps not available at all!!! This is due to a snap frost a few weeks ago in the stone fruit growing regions which destroyed so many fruits. This is on the back of almost a year without reasonably priced bananas. Currently bananas retail between AUD$12.99 to $16.99 per kg!! Last Xmas a box of about 1kg of cherries cost AUD$30.00!! I cannot imagine the prices of these fruits this summer...boooooo :(

melbourne international arts festival

The Melbourne International Arts festival opened last night. I went to see The Actors' Gang performing George Orwell's 1984. On first impression I thought it might be tying in with public conciousness to clarify the whole big brother thing and to bring some real meaning to an otherwise useless waste of mind/TV space. Upon watching the show, I am reminded (after reading the book a long time ago) that it aspires to much more than clarifying or quantifying something as trivial as a TV reality program. The story, as it probably always did from the start, paralells what is happening, especially today in our world of fear mongering and media brainwashing. It was like watching a commercial station current affairs program with all the underlying criticisms exposed. Although a heavy performace, there were some well scheduled laughs to lift the mood. One of the coolest things about the festival is the theme of the visual arts program with animals everywhere!!! Of course the wonderful Spiegeltent is back with Paul Kelly repeating his amazing A-Z of songs over several performaces. I think this is such a cool idea. BUT I will just have to listen to him on ipod as my baby is due any day around that time......take the time to go and see at least one thing and support the arts!!

My image today is a homage to the exhibition Pet Project, and even though I am not an exhibitor, I can still show my image in my own little way.....

summer comes early

Wow, what a stinker, its 30 degrees for 2 days in a row and its not quite the middle of October. I took the pooch out for a walk last night just on dusk, and it was so beautiful. Just a very warm breeze and the sky and indigo blue. One of my favourite trees is the lemon scented gum which has a smooth bark and lovely big branches. I saw one last night like a very black shadow against the indigo sky. I could smell the wet soil from freshly watered gardens and occasional wafts of flower smells like jasmine flowers. I like it when it is warm and you can get a glimpse of peoples lives through their open front doors, sometimes music is playing or the TV is on. I like to hear chatting. Usually if I walk at night time I am always worried about being attacked or at least being very on guard, last night I wasnt worried and just enjoyed that moment and walked quite slowly.

christmas cards 2006

As promised my Christmas card range for 2006 is available to view at http://www.thegrassygarden.com.au/pages/xmas2006.html I will also be selling these guys at my market stall this Sunday. I would like to make some tiny tags for gifts with the head of each character on one side and you can write on the other. I will see how they work in the making process and keep you posted!!

Chinese New Year cards 2007

You can see my range of 6 Chinese New Year 2007 designs HERE I hope you like them!! Christmas designs will be ready to see by tomorrow at the latest. I will post the link. Both sets of card images will be available at my market stall this Sunday.

craft market stall

I will be selling my gift cards (and some Xmas cards and tags), felt magnets and kimono pouches at the Williamstown craft market on Sunday 15th October. Look out for my white market umbrella and The Grassy Garden sign.
The market is located in the Commonwealth reserve in Williamstown, for directions you can look here http://www.williamstowncraftmarket.com.au/map_site.htm
The market runs from 10am to 4pm. I hope you can come along.

Keep your fingers crossed for a pure beauty day of clear, bright sunshine and no wind :)

illustration friday - quiet

I have recently joined a wonderful online illustration forum called illustration friday. You can visit this link to find out more: http://www.illustrationfriday.com/
This weeks theme is "quiet". I took inspiration from watching my darling dog sleeping, how peaceful and relaxed he looks. Can you guess what he might be listening to?

morning mayhem

I was taking our dog Longlong out this morning and while walking along minding my own business, another very vicious, nasty dog lunged and tried to attack him. The lead of the vicious dog snapped so the dog was going for it, I was stuck in the middle trying to pick up Longlong (he is about 14kg), he was terrified and pulling on his lead. I was so scared he was going to snap his lead and run onto the road. In the middle of this I fell over onto my knee and scraped it on the ashphalt while managing to pick up the dog. Both dogs were barking and yelling, I was yelling and so was the owner of the vicious dog. I guess people had a look but no one came to help. I was actually quite shaken and when I got home I burst into tears. I guess I was lucky I didn’t fall on or hurt my belly, or the dog didn’t bite my face as I was on the ground.
What do you do in this situation, except tell the person their dog needs to be dealt with? The owner did not offer any help, maybe she was just as shocked as me? I havent decided on a nasty dog strategy yet, but I will develop one, should it ever happen again and instead of having a sook, I can do something useful, like kick it in the head!!