elsewhere

My workspace

The other day Gracia responded to Fliss’s request to reveal her workspace. Gracia then in turn prompted me. So, here it is, my nook…

I don’t always work here; I’m pretty portable actually. All I need is my drawer with all my paints, brushes and pencils in it, oh, and my eraser and pencil sharpener. It’s particularly handy as I often follow the sun around the house, which means the paint dries faster and more importantly I can see the colours I’m working with.

Lisa, I thought I’d pop in your lovely squirrel so that you could say hello to him. He is actually on the way to our framer, but as this has been the case for well over a year now, he gets taken out of his flat storage space often. He enjoyed a spot on the bookshelf recently. He is much loved and can’t wait to have a permanent home on the wall. Jurate, you my also spot your beautiful print in these photos. It is also much loved and on the way to our framer.

Before I go, here's another inspiring workspace to see.

Hope you have an ace weekend. I’ll have some new watercolours to show you early next week including one of Agatha’s new best friend. After much deliberation, and studying of budgie body language, Gracia and I decided Agatha was a little lonely and needed a companion. Then we came across Claude; he’s a beautiful white and pale blue budgie. I’ll introduce you to him properly next week. I can promise it will be a joy as he is the most compelling and agile budgie there ever has been.

Couldn't resist

Not one to often leaf through old photo albums, here are two I couldn’t resist, and I thought I’d share them with you today.

These are two photographs of my Dad as a child. I don’t know all that much about them other than they are taken on the farm whilst he was on holiday.

May your midweek be blessed with good luck

I have spent the past few days working on this and three other small watercolour works, and I think you will see them again soon in a new artists’ book Gracia and I are planning.

I’ll post the others, as soon as they are dry, in the next little bit.

May your midweek prove favourable, and here's hoping that earth hour left you feeling like you are not alone in your efforts to decrease your carbon footprint.

Medium: watercolour and pencil on Fabriano 640gsm traditional white paper

Dimensions: 18cm x 25cm

Don't forget earth hour

Is it Friday… surely not? I’ve been meaning to share this little Easter egg with you since Sunday last. I hope you didn’t mind the wait and it’s not too stale?

See you early next week, after earth hour. It’s not too late to sign up if you haven’t already.

sew green.

An update on (Sparkling) Agatha Cyanide

For those of you that like to read Gracia’s blog (and who could not?), you will have already met our lovely new friend (Sparkling) Agatha Cyanide. I thought you would like an afternoon meets early evening update on how she is doing.

Agatha’s day…

Spent the morning out in the garden, conversing with passersby: several very attractive rosellas, a slender praying mantis, Misha (non-penguin), a dozen or so plump pigeons and a pair of feisty blackbirds.

Then I had my human friends move me indoors by the window in order that I could look out across the street. A new spot for me to explore, and a rather handy one, I could introduce myself to the postie and other passing humans whilst watching out the corner of my eye these two from a safe distance.

In the late afternoon my human friends returned and brought with them a handful of fresh eucalyptus leaves, a cuttlefish and a colourful mirror to dangle before me. We spent the next little while rearranging my home and discussing the merits of getting me a feathered friend to spend my days with. We also chatted about mutually preferable sentences for me to parrot.

The evening lies ahead and I’m planning on enjoying it with some fresh seed and a good book. If only they'd get me a typewriter.

Have a great Easter or weekend, all. See you sometime next week.

A grey water solution for someone with no plumbing skills

For a few years now I’ve not had a washing machine. It’s called for the occasional trip to my folk’s house to use their machine, and to the dry-cleaners for silks and delicates. But on the whole it’s called for a great deal of hand-washing. Lots and lots of hand-washing in a small bucket or the bottom of the bath. It’s been a little slow and laborious at times, but on the whole not too bad, save for jeans and woolly jumpers. And all those buckets of grey water were easy to cart out and pour onto the garden.

However, as soon as the option of installing both a water and energy efficient machine became possible, I welcomed it with open arms. Yay! I cried, no more 18th century washerwoman for me.

Even though my new machine is super efficient it still uses a fair bit of water. The green solution was easy, even easier than carrying bucket loads of water out to the dry, struggling garden beds. It is a grey water solution perfect for someone with no plumbing skills. Perfect for me, and perfect for you, too, I suspect.

It goes a little like this…

Walk down to local hardware shop and purchase a grey water diverter hose, 10 metres in length (minimum).

Connect the grey water diverter hose to the washing machine's drainage hose (of the same diameter). The diverter hose has a flexible plastic end to it which stretches tightly over the end of the washing machine's hose so that it doesn’t leak or separate once the machine starts a-swirling. If you’re feeling extra handy, screw on a clasp to this join to make it extra strong.

Unravel the full length of the grey water diverter hose, extending it from the washing machine, over the laundry floor, out the back door and onto the garden.

Turn Machine on and watch the grey water drain out onto the garden… you can almost catch sight of the trees and plants smiling quietly with relief.

If you have a flat garden, as I do, then you wont have the benefit of gravity to help you drain the pipe completely once the washing cycle is finished. In this case, simply disconnect the grey water diverter hose from the washing machine's drainage hose and hold this end of the grey water diverter hose up high. This will drain out what water remains in the hose.

I think the only trick is to be aware of the basic dos and don’ts of grey water usage, and more importantly what washing powder or liquid you use as this will be going onto your garden. I’ve been using this one and it seems great thus far, but there are many more eco friendly ones on the market.

There’s so much information about grey water recycling and systems, just look to your favourite green info source and I’m sure you’ll find all the details you need.

(Posted on sew green here.)

Two penguins and their iceberg

It’s boiling hot today… it’s as if it were the middle of summer. As a consequence I feel as though my brain has gone on general strike . The only way I’ve been able to cope with it is by painting in the finishing touches on this recent little work.

Two penguins and their iceberg.

Have a great weekend, see you next week for some pre Easter festivities and I think a drawing of our new water efficient washing machine. Now how's that for exciting?

Medium: watercolour and pencil on Fabriano 640gsm traditional white paper

Dimensions: 12cm x 18cm

Just because you can’t see me

For a while now I’ve been promising to share a few photos of my recent large scale watercolours. So, here is the first of many, photographed in the Botanical gardens last week. It’s a three part painting of an iceberg and penguin, and it’s entitled Just because you can’t see me.

On a different note, thank-you to everyone for your entries into our two linen bird give away. There were many, many fantastic entries and reflections, and in the end we had seventy-three (some people entering twice, some once). Our method of selection (described eloquently here, and seen below) was, I think, fair, however, to be on the safe side, the draw was overseen by Omar and Olive (our whiskered, impartial competition officials).

The long and the short of this means that the lucky two winners are Veronica (Petunia) and Lisa (Lisa’s Musings). Congrats, guys, your linen birds will be in you letterboxes in a week or so.

Medium: watercolour and pencil on Fabriano 640gsm traditional white paper

Dimensions: 30cm x 43cm

Please adopt us

"Pick me"

Fifteen of our wooden animals, which were recently exhibited as part of “Secrets of the Photocopier”, are in dire need of new homes. They are all very personable and, of course, they are well accustomed to domestic habitats.

The badgers and mice, the squirrel and small turtle, the beavers, the leopard, the two aardvarks and the bats, the platypus and the long-footed potoroo would be happy in any room of your home. They would also be equally happy to travel around with you, or for you to release them back into their natural habitats. They really don’t mind. So long as they get to explore a new home, they will be happy.

If you’re interested then run along and embrace your new friend here or here.

"No pick me"

"What about us"

"Or me"

Talking of new friends, thank-you for all your entries into the two bird give away. Gracia and I plan to pick two winners out of a hat early next week. So in the meantime feel free to keep your entries coming in.

xo lj

200 posts and a two bird give away

Today it my 200th post day. What better way to celebrate 200 posts and just over two years of very happy blogging than to draw a few birds and let you all know about this…

Fifty linen-fronted birds have recently been made (as part of an order for Lee Mathews). Fifty linen birds plus two. Two extra loves, the fetching Hester and the beguiling Hennie, made to give away to two kind blog-reading souls.

All you need to do to be in the running is to leave a comment below or over here (or both to effectively double one’s chances). Crossing your fingers also helps, or so I hear. Leave mention of your favourite common bird name and you may find you’ve tripled your luck. The spine-tailed log-runner, the spotted nightjar, the rainbow-bird with its fondness for dragon-flies and robber-flies both, the budgerigar, and the spotless crake… are any of these a favourite of yours? Perhaps you prefer the speckled warbler, a bird who favours a small, hooded nest.

(Should your inner ornithologist prove too hard to summon and you don’t know a snow goose from an azure kingfisher… you’ll find a handsome list of birds here and here.)

Best of luck, friends.

Gracia and I are in the process of making up a few more of these linen birds. So if you miss out on the give away then perhaps you’ll want to snap one up on our store in the coming weeks.

Medium: felt tip pen scribbles in my diary.

Before it's too late

Here it is folks, my new zine...

Before it's too late

Edition of 70
January, 2008
A 9.5cm X 20.5cm, 36 page B&W zine with a glued spine.

There are also a few more images here, and if you're really keen then it's available in Australian dollars here and in the US currency here.

I think you may even be able to spot said zine in these photos taken yesterday down at platform. Look near to the tiny turtle who leads the procession.

And whilst I'm on a documenting role, here are two shots of Gracia and my collaborative pieces which were exhibited last year as part of this exhibition. These works were sold so we've recently made up new versions of them for the rehanging of the show at Bendigo Art Gallery in March, 2008. Well, actually, when I say made I really mean half made. We still have a few weeks until they're collected so a final touch of watercolour is needed on the floating homes and the collage details have yet to be cut and glued in place. I'm sure many of you will agree, there's nothing like working up to a deadline.

Here and now

I know I promised to show my new zine this week but it seems the weather had different ideas. It has been either too hot and sunny or grey and raining that I have not been able to take good photos of these promised papery numbers. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining about the rain, on the contrary, it's been beautiful. And it has made working indoors very cosy indeed.

Perhaps I should cease promising things to come and instead focus on the here and now?

So, in the here and now, I’m taking a few minutes off from painting to pen this quick post. My painting is over several sheets of paper and features a penguin and a large, submerged segment of an iceberg. I have realised that I’ve been neglecting the whole underworld of these arctic landscapes. As a consequence a whole new world of drawing possibilities is spinning around in my head.

Adieu for now. I’ll leave you with a link to an article that appeared in Yen magazine a little while back which Gracia and I appeared in.

Details from an original artists' book, 2007
Watercolour and pencil on Aquarelle Arches 100% pure cotton hot pressed 300gsm paper.
10 x 10cm, ten page wrap around book, bound by the artist.