WORK TODAY

TUESDAY,  HANGING DAY -  sonja's show is going up in the middle gallery, all that ochre on charcoal walls :0)

Sunraysia Daily came
over to get some
pics and I took some
too



Robert hanging
linocuts by 
John Ryrie

CAL PICS

NEW PICS grabbed 

from Sayaka's

 facebook page,

 it's cherry blossom

 time in Japan

OCHRE

I LENT MY

 FRIEND SONJA

my mortars and

 pestles for the prints

 she's making for her exhibition which opens

 on Wednesday.  Friends have gathered ochres

 from secret special

sites for her to grind

and mix into ink

 to print her beautiful

  linocuts.

more images

MORE PAINTING yesterday, all pretty dark  -  i'm hoping lightness and colour will start to happen

detail of a whole figure, not entirely successful but good
to be mucking around with oils, i'm going to try some encaustic

INTO THE OILS . . .

I SPENT the afternoon 

painting, pretty much 

reproducing a monoprint 

in paint, but i'll get 

into colour soon 

this is little Maves

- found at the

Aroundagain

shop at the tip on

my second Art

 Vault residency

I found the little photo of Maves when Peter Lancaster introduced me to
the tip shop, the man behind the counter gave it to me :0)   since then I've furnished half the house from Aroundagain,  yesterday i bought three really long pieces of heavy glass (one's actually a glass door with metal surround) to use on the benchtops in the print workshop, some china for the new room i'm setting up, and two blue outdoor chairs $15 the lot!   my kinda price 

MR PERCIVAL

A BEAUTIFUL MORNING - warm autumn light on the river

this was
almost a
great shot
- just not
quick
enough

FIRST DAY AT HOME

AFTER A WHIRLWIND visit to Melbourne, the Grampians, Torquay and Anglesea I returned to two straight days of staring at the computer and writing copy for Australia Council grants for the Art Vault.  It's tiring on the brain and the eyes so yesterday, a beautiful autumn day, was perfect to start preparing to paint in oils for the first time in years.  The smells of Graeme Altmann's studio at the vault over the past weeks has set me off,  i'm off to Bunnings today to buy pure gum turps  :0)

Graeme's wonderful tree images in warm umbre tones remind me of my monoprints, similar large masses and lack of detail.  I'm getting out the oil paints and re-acquainting myself with them - and that aroma :0)    linseed oil and gum turps       mmmm  the martini of the paint world

graeme and friend anthony have a beer after the open studio afternoon, they'll be home by now

BACK TO WORK

STRANGELY after such a tiring week and two days of driving home, i couldn't sleep. ended up being pretty much awake all night so my day of work at the Art Vault was pretty lacklustre. I got things done but felt so tired.   Slept like a log last night, 8 hours straight :0)

CURRENT ARTIST IN RESIDENCE Graeme Altman spent the day out on a farm collecting sheets of fabulous old rusty iron - flattened out sides of 40 gallon drums.  he's going to use them in a sculpture

HOME AGAIN

HOME and settled after a day on the road, dinner at the pub to catch up on the local goss,  couldn't sleep so i've been up watching episodes of broadchurch and fortitude and blogging since 3. now to bed to see if i can grab an hour or two sleep before work.  don't like my chances

THE WEEK IN REVIEW

Tuesday, drove down to stay with Helen and Don for the usual  delicious dinner, champers and scrabble etc

I visited 

publisher 

Andrew Kelly

who also bears

the impressive

title of Yarra

Riverkeeper, a 

position he's

recently taken

up.  

Wild Dog Books

is located in

atiny laneway

in Northcote, 

you never know it

was there if you

didn't have 

directions -

a funky 

little spot.

I stayed in Parkville with friend and publisher Helen Chamberlin where we had a disturbance in the night concerning a cat and mouse :0)

Headed over to Richmond to finally see Rene, Sayaka and Cal and the family.  the family headed off to the vic market and i had son and grandson to myself, with sayaka we all went op shopping :0)   a lovely day

first the 

essentials

sustenance

and a large

shopping bag

FRIDAY

Mark and Lani's wedding, it was just a wonderful celebration of two beautiful people

left - takashi (sayaka's dad) rene, mimiko (takashi's sister), michiki (sayaka's mother) and her sister

After the wedding i got over to libby’s about 9.30 , great to spend time with her and Marcus, it's been such a long time

       

Saturday, left libbys at 9 to drive to Torquay.  Stayed with jenny and freddie,  dinner at the pub with the visitors, hectic week so much to organise

Sunday brekky with jenfreds, then …  anglesea  and fish and chips

the ladies were all fascinated with every aspect of
jenny and freddie's garden

A DAY AT ANGLESEA BEACH

cal loved the seagulls

A visit to the Daltons new home,  lovely to spend time with them all and to see little jake growing so quickly into a gorgeous little boy

Monday here at helens’ after a cruisy op shopping day, coffee with sunny and jenny d in the morning after a night at gails -  not long enough with sunny, so i'm looking forward to having her to myself at easter, only two weeks away :0)

lovely to spend time with my friends, but missed some and only quick visits with

others.  next time i'll make it a more

uncomplicated trip.   so great to see rene

and cal though - not long enough :0(

I love the design of this drinking
fountain which runs into a dog bowl

walk n the beach in the rain  then the road to halls gap in the afternoon.  A car packed to the rafters  :0\

6a.m. walked outside to get some clothes from the car and the night sky was just crammed full of stars, the milky way and more :0)

,