Mountain

I love a mountain, just like the Bonnie Prince. In Hobart last week we drove up Mt Wellington just on dusk. With the moon we watched the clouds roll in over the city. It's a pretty amazing place.

Animate

All is well in the land of Dell. Just a little baby blooming and an exhibition looming, so frankly I have better things to do, like stamp little feet. Animation takes longer and I have a lot of it to do, in the little windows of time I get. Apart from an exhibition, Isobel and I delivered a school holiday workshop at Tarrawarra Museum. We made masks with kids, and had them animate, inspired by the exhibition Animate/Inanimate.



Stitching time opens at Craft on the 17th of October. We have a couple of workshops running during the exhibition, including a Phenokistoscope workshop, the one below is by Maureen Watts and if you want to make your own piece of magic with us, you can book online or at Craft.

August

Already! Time is flying. I have been spending more time than I'd like to in the hospital, but we expect a baby any day now. I've been busy otherwise with some amazing projects for our show at Craft Victoria, feeling pretty lucky to have such wonderful people to work with. I've set up a blog over here with some info and works in progress, so have a look and keep eyes peeled for the exhibition in October.

I've had lots of lovely visitors since finishing up at work, yesterday was spent learning to weave cubes with Maryann and Kate, Annie, Iggy and Adam, a really lovely way to spend a day, and we got some beautiful starry animation out of it too. Annie bought farm fresh jonquils which smell incredible, another reminder of this crazy early spring we've been having, the japonica are amazing too. Adam and I visited the RMIT Design Hub in the afternoon to see Walter Van Beirendonck exhibition, lots of goodness. Until next time!

The Cuckoo's Nest

Featuring new works from Beci Orpin, Siri Hayes, Lucy James, Dell Stewart, Kate and Jessie Tucker, Ellequa Martin and Tai Snaith. Curated by Tai Snaith.

In most bird species, the female builds and feathers the nest before laying her eggs. In the case of The Cuckoo, however, she simply lays her egg's in another bird's nest. This idea of hijacking someone else's space is in some ways similar to what we do as artists. We make personal objects, images and ideas and  they often end up in someone else's home and life. In The Cuckoo's Nest a group of seven artists will be treating Linden a little like a display home for a new way of living with art.

The Cuckoo's Nest takes a look at domesticity and creative living through psychedelic coloured glasses. This is the kind of home where you might find birds living in the loungeroom, inedible rainbow feasts and mushroom tea ceremonies.

Some of my bits and pieces on the living room floor, in readiness for install tomorrow.

July 12- August 11 at Linden Centre for Contemporary Arts. Opening night- July 12, 6pm. Linden Centre for Contemporary Art 26 Acland Street St. Kilda

Camberwell anyone?

We have a stall booked for this Sunday's market, and can't make it, if anyone is interested? I'll be at Signal again, doing animation workshops. Last weekend's were fun, bouncing around space on glittery bubbles.

Last week

I meant to post about this, but last week was a big week, and therefore I didn't. I started to look properly pregnant, Isobel and I got some funding for our exhibition at Craft Victoria, Adam handed in his exegesis, I passed my driving test, Easy Money Club had a gig at the old bar supporting Magic Hands, I drove.

So apart from the usual, I have been running around, organising meetings, dropping work off to Mr Kitly, making new pottery, sewing up metres and metres of patchwork, having an autumn drive to the country and trying to organise some more space in our house for baby things, which keep appearing.

Everything is needing a huge reshuffle and I can't quite get my head around it. Soon, but in the meantime life is a mess, a good mess, but a mess. Go see Magic Hands during there wednesday residency at the old bar, and see their Golden Boy video too.

Energy

Or lack thereof. Maybe I need to climb under a pyramid with a plant. The top two pictures are part of the exhibition at Mr Kitly. The bottom one is a Christmas tree I made for you, on the shelves of a warehouse in the depths of Melbourne. Merry Happy Festivals to you all.

Cup day

A post about horse day, this week felt all arse about because of it. I don't mind though when it entails holidays with everyone. I rode to Brunswick for a birthday breakfast, I picked an amazing velvety orange rose on the way. Happy Birthday Cassidy. It was so nice to hang out with a gaggle of children and the fresh new babies. I had blissed out sleeping baby moments, Emma's french toast moments and loving old friends aplenty.

Riding back up the hill to Northcote for the Billycarts in a daze I was glad to take refuge at Don's place for awhile, eating coconut macaroons, drinking plum wine and playing the ukulele while the crowds built up outside. I had fun on the finish line, watching the carts, the kids and the fashions of the fields trail past in all their glory. I did witness an horrific accident, thankfully everyone turned out to be OK, but it was hard to shake the vision from my head. Fast Handsome won again. The rain came at just the right time, and we rode home after dark, tired and happy, though it felt like about 3 days in one.

Macaroons

I am making coconut macaroons after a late night trip to the supermarket. I love a moist chewy coconut blob. These ones are a little too toasty, as our oven has a notorious hot corner. But, still, alright for 11pm on a monday, we'll see how they survive in the morning, it is humid, still.

This is my effort to write something, anything. I've had blank brain, I blame hayfever.

A few pictures too, pretty flowery, I've been feeling the spring in other ways than just hayfever. Tonight as we walked around our neighbourhood, I said, 'it's a really good year for roses', Adam nearly fell over laughing at me.

This is from a late friday breakfast at New Day Rising. Yum.

The Plant Journal.

I rescued all the buds off the broken poppy plant, and this morning they had bloomed.

Friday afternoon, killing time picking flowers in the backstreets of Brunswick.

And, those very same flowers, 6hrs later, a little squashed after a ride home under my bike helmet. You can see what I did there with the colours in my Dahlia top, I dug out some hidden summer clothes.

I am happy about a day off with everyone tomorrow. Poor horses.

Time is on my side

Or not. BUT, I have dropped some work off at Mr Kitly this week, it's keeping good company. I've also had band practice, done about 5 loads of washing, mothered some lettuces and sulked over a collapsed poppy plant. We have had some crazy wind and weather, I love spring, though I've also had the hayfever brain fog and vexation pretty bad in the last week.

I have some exciting projects coming up, and just have to do some work reigning them in. There are also exciting new additions to my friend family, 3 little boys and one little girl, all beautiful, and so nice to hang out with tiny new people. So much wonder and a whole lot of love.

I'll leave you with a picture or two. Speaking of love. Band practice, wood and spots and chevrons, and these two.

Hmmm

Lately, is lots of things. A visit from Adam's mum, work on my show, about a million applications...

1. Adam speaking as part of the vol.ctrl  lecture series at Monash. Malevich.

2. A Guinness. On a day we were forced out of the house due to tradesmen. It was pretty sweet actually, an enforced day away from work. Gozleme for breakfast, Grub Street Welsh Rarebit for lunch, coffee, beer, looking in shops. It was like a mini holiday.

3. La Paloma, love. Having family in town means eating out at places we love. Nom Nom Nom.

4. Some weather for knitted shorts!

5. Syrian revolution truck around town. Love this thing.

Phew

The weekend was good, and busy. It almost feels like a rest to go back to work, it's just simpler at work. My life is a little crazy with things at the moment. It was Rachael's birthday over the weekend, and we have been busily plotting things to do in order to celebrate her. A cake, a feast, a funny collaborative handmade present, which took a lot of meeting and relaying bits and pieces between 5 of us, and a whole lot of head-scratching and problem solving for me.

I got to try my horseradish on some unsuspecting punters, sorry Rama! I did mean to danger label it that morning – but in between candying cumquats, baking meringues and a filo pilaf pie – I forgot. Whoops. It does have a horsey kick to it. The birthday party was lovely, and the workshops on Saturday were too. I look forward to showing you some funny and pretty lovely animations. It was a real pleasure hanging out for the day in the Craft Victoria reading library.

Photos soon, all going well.

Some spots

A few spots. On my tights, but please note my amazing Welsh Cape from the Cottage. I goldilocksed the vintage capes in the store until I came across one that was just right. They are all beautiful, but some were too small, some were too big, some were just not my colours. This one is just right.

 

A good spot by the couch for both hand stitching the woody parquetry patterns I have been working on, and for keeping a stolen white cloud camelia in a lucky buddha.



Starry, spotty lights, from a day sitting the gallery at C3. I was tired, and hungover after band practice (below) but I had fun nonetheless. Mostly due to the policy at C3 of two artists in the gallery at once, so I could take 20 minutes to sit in the lovely winter sun and eat a baguette, and hang out talking art and things to both Matlock and Donald.

We had one practice in the dome, and joked about recording our first album on a phone in the dome. We'd put that on the press release, "recorded on an iphone in a plastic wrapped geodesic dome in a warehouse in Northcote". What a bunch of cunts.

Dear

It's been awhile between letters. I hope you are well. I've been much better, though I have a persistent cough. I have been getting some things done. I dropped some work off to West Space. The fundraiser show opens on the 17th of July and is a good chance to make some canny art purchase or just drink beneficial beer.

I went to Women of Letters at Thornbury theatre on Sunday. I love to hear a letter read aloud, I got to hear five. I have tried to be a better letter writer in the last year or two, so I wrote a couple of aerograms to send to my Mum and my Grandma. God knows what I wrote in them, but that is one of the wonders of ancient technology. Firing off missives into the ether, trying not to say the same thing everytime. On that note, right now, I'll shut up.

Shed

Baby. It's cold outside. Why not hang out all day in a freezing, corrugated iron shed? It's where the work is at at the moment. I have been on the table saw cutting wood (which I love, but also fear), on the pottery table (it's the space out place, until your hands freeze) and painting wooden cut-outs (which I find utterly tedious, but strangely satisfying).

Whoa

And the weeks go by... Lately includes many things, talking to the foundry about something new and having a coffee with Adam while we wait for Major Laser to be serviced. Helping Pene out with the Markit at Federation Square, which involves standing around talking to hundreds of people. It was good, but exhausting and I wish I'd had a better sleep the night before. Anyway I caught up afterwards.

Band practice. Shed workshops with Don and Adam, whittling. Seeing The Zonks. Art shows, including a highly recommended show upstairs in the international studio at Gertrude Contemporary,  Women vs Wild by Tai Snaith, and Between You and Me by Hannah Raisin at West Space, and the next wave shows a week before.

Wow, I have been slack here. I think maybe it just means I'm busy, or I'm sleeping in, cause I often do this first thing. Both are true. Oh well, it's winter. Bed is where it's at, but if you are rugged up, the shed is also where it's at.

I think all of these are from last friday night, or thereabouts.

1. A rainy tram ride home, hypnotized by my own pattern attack.
2. A BeeGees moment in the shed.
3. A self-saucing chocolate pudding.
4. Adam's work in progress.
5. Whittling...
6. Drumsticks! Bam Bam.

Lazy

I feel like this is crazy lazy, but it seems I'm not up to much else of late. Some more snapshots from this week.

1. This is from a letter from Grandma Shirley, full of photos – proof of my tomboy roots – the middle one with the cowboy stance is me. This letter truly made my day.

2. Pimping the couch with a new Welsh tapestry cushion. Mustard works for me, thanks to the amazing Penelope Durston.

3. I've been seeing this one alot lately, along with the usual 11:11. Auspicious no? It never fails to make me think of Annie, which is a good thing. I'm thinking of her extra this week as one of the art stars of the Yolgnu passed away and the whole community is grieving. R.I.P. Gulumbu.

4. We has power. I did a collaborative workshop at Signal over the weekend, a three day workshop (hence the quiet and extra exhaustion). Fun though, making maps, and time-lapse and animation with Rachel Jesse-Rae O'Connor and Marion Singer.

5. My favourite photobooth is pretty close to Signal.

6. Pene has made THE most luxurious scarf of dip-dyed angora and I'm in love with these shades of grey and indigo.

Hope you are having a good week!