elsewhere

Now for some colour & wool

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The ever-talented Kylie, a friend from art school days, recently knitted a vest most wonderful and warm for me. Thanks to the arrival of wintry weather I wear it most days. It is tapered at the waist for a flattering fit and it features a sweet zigzag around the band. I love it for its warmth and the colour. I also love that it speaks of another time.







Thank you Kylie for knitting this vest; I love all that you make. Thank you Elaine, too, for intending to knit this tricky vest. I adore it.

Day of the Dead

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I am too early for El Día de los Muertos but I thought you might like to see what I have been painting of late, namely folk art objects from Mexico like this statue here. It reminds me that one day I’d love to see and experience all the colour and noise and spectacle of the Day of the Dead festival in Mexico. One day, one day.

Happy Birthday Mum! xo

Scary oceanic artifacts

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As promised, here are my paintings of two ominous artifacts from the Hawaiian Islands. One is a Shark-tooth club and the other a timber club with human teeth embedded. Intimidating, yes very, but also beautiful I think.

civavonovono

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The original artifact on which I based this watercolour upon is known as a civavonovono and it was worn as a breast ornament. It was collected in 1850, Fiji Island, Viti Levu. The other is a necklace completely unrelated to Fijian culture save for my drawing. Two disparate things for you.

Tomorrow I have a paintings of more menacing artifacts to share with you from the Hawaiian Islands.

Happy Monday.

Willie wagtails

Today, I went to a ceremony to remember and honour a grandfather I never had the chance to meet. At the unveiling of a plaque for RAAF Squadron 10 at the foot of a tree in the Shrine of Remembrance gardens, I watched a Willie wagtail hop about on the ground. Perhaps this little wagtail was curious as to what this group of humans, most in blue uniform, were doing standing by a plaque on so cold a day.

If one can inherit drawing skills then I think I got mine from my Grandfather; he drew beautifully with ink and pen. A kindred spirit perhaps?

Here’s one little wagtail that travelled a very long way. I’m over the moon that my Tweak, Tweaked, Tweet zine has been so well received.

Above is one of my Grandfather's sketches of a feathered wing which I thought you might enjoy.

Just the two of us: A fine pair

I'm over the moon with everyone's response to our new new zines. Thank-you so much for your orders and kind words. I though it a fine idea, this chilly Thursday eve, to share a few more shots of my little fold out poster zine with you.

Hope you have a lovely weekend.(I think may have already begun.)

(Thank you to Frips for the snail mail you sent G and me. I am looking forward to posting you something in return.)

Tweaks, collective nouns, thoughts and pairs... four new zines

Two posts in the one day! What a rarity, yes? Four new zines in one post, that must be even more unusual?

Allow me to introduce Gracia’s two new zines,

 

A Vagary of impediments & a sneak of weasels.
Edition of 60
May, 2009
A 10.5 x 15cm, 52 page colour and B&W zine with a pale-lilac cover and a light-grey card spine with a cardboard backing.

(In the above photo you can see her visual response to both a colony of auks and a parcel of penguins, and a band of men.)

 

A Single Thought.
Edition of 60
May, 2009
A 10.5 x 15cm, 24 page colour and B&W zine with a cream cover and a robin-red card spine with a cardboard backing.

…and my two new zines,

 

 

Tweak, Tweaked, Tweet.
Edition of 100
May, 2009
A 10 x 42cm, 6 page concertina B&W zine string tie.

 

 

Just the two of us: A fine pair.
Edition of 60
May, 2009
A 10 x 10.5cm, A3 folded colour zine in a cream card sleeve with panda ink stamps.

Hope you enjoy them. They are available on our web store
A vagary of impediments & a sneak of weasels.
A Single Thought.
Tweak, Tweaked, Tweet.
Just the two of us: A fine pair.

I think as it’s the start of winter it seems only fitting to give away a free copy of Tweak, Tweaked, Tweet with the first five orders we receive.

(You'll also find a few of our earlier zines are now on sale. Enjoy!)

Thank-you for all your good wishes

Last week took an unexpected turn and showed me that for every frightening thing that happens there are infinitely more smiles and kind words. Thank-you to all my friends who have sent their best wishes and have been concerned for me. I am very much okay now and all the more so for your kindness.

(Click to enlarge.)

Here's a little watercolour of a carved figure from Papua New Guinea, Eastern Highland Provance collected in 1955 by a certain Dadi Wirz.

A lone Grey Currawong

A Grey Currawong could easily be mistaken for a crow, but then I am no twitcher. My primary aim is not to collect sightings of rare birds, I simply like to draw them.

I am busy making a concertina style zine of birds and thought you might like a taste. Allow me to tell you about this little chap. He is sometimes known as a Clinking Currawong or Squeaker, flies with a flat silhouette and has pulsing wingbeats.

Oceanic artifact 1

It’s Thursday afternoon and it seems to be panning out to be one of those days when my mind is a-whizzing and my hands are struggling to keep up. I’m juggling a few design commitments and the making of a new zine or two. Fingers crossed it will continue to pan out okay.

This little watercolour depicts a shield carved and painted by members of the Mengen People in New Britain some time in the very early 20th century. Hope you enjoy it and more importantly your Thursday afternoons.

(Click to enlarge. It helps.)