HOME STUFF

MY FAMILY ALBUM

artist's book is getting an airing.  It's been living in a box in a drawer and now it's in the White Cube at Cafe 27 Deakin - a monthly exhibit, one of three White Cubes around Mildura.  i installed it yesterday and on Saturday there's an artist's walk starting with mine and walking around the centre of town to visit the others 

as well.

based on an old family photo - this is my dad with his sisters auntie myra and auntie edna

    

WHEN AM I EVER GOING TO STOP mucking around with the house and start making some art??  I'm worried.  the laundry cabinet's almost done and now i'm going to start the spare room.  and other things keep happening, like the wood with white ants that fell off.   always something that requires attention. 
I haven't even been down to my rented room :0(  

Greg the grader came and fixed up my lumpy bumpy driveway - there's got to be around 300 metres and it only cost $90.

I BOUGHT one of those lovely lightbulbs that glow a soft golden light and it's looking really pretty in the mornings as the sun's moved around and shines early through the kitchen window

the lightbulb is about 15cm diameter, lovely soft light

MORNING WALK

 
    this morning on the island

COOL DAYS

A WALK ON THE ISLAND, morning in mildura getting stuff, glue, grout, almost finished the laundry cabinet this afternoon, tomorrow hopefully i'll finish and tidy up the whole back area. there are boxes of tiles and buckets and tools all over the place

OSAKA UPDATE

REN'S new bike and coffee shop looks busy, signage looks great too.    Cal's right there in the mix as usual and rene's looking particularly fit and handsome right now :0)

PICS FROM MY FRIDAY WALK

ANZAC DAY

I AWOKE AT 4.45am to the sound of steady rain, in fact it rained nearly all day, so beautiful after the two days last week.  So i didn't make it to the dawn service and listened to the radio instead.  All very emotional so i decided to ride my bike down to artback, the rain had cleared and the radar showed a solid rain band which had completely passed.   well, it was raining again before i even got there and after a coffee with anne at artback i decided i wouldn't watch the march, so anne drove me home, the rain had set in for the rest of the day, don't know what happened to the radar report, it was completely wrong.  I decided to go for a drive out on the pooncarie road listening to the gallipoli reports as they set up for the service over there.  I fell into a slump and spent the day feeling miserable and watching films, eating and drinking everything i shouldn't,  back to being good again today, sunday.
I'll go out and grout the laundry cabinet, then this week i'll get onto fixing up the back room, painting the walls and the edges of the floor.   I'm getting no creative work done, i have classes the next two sundays so the studio needs a big clean up too.  at least i don't have to think about watering.

BEAUTIFUL SUNSET

MOSAI

MOSAIC, or mosiak as the man at the hardware store said :0)    spent all yesterday doing it and all last night dreaming about fitting in pieces.   I finished the benchtop, it looks a complete mess right now but it's amazing how the grout pulls everything together.  today i'm doing the splashback, much plainer, mostly one light neutral colour.  the table i did three days ago is still not set, that rubbery glue takes ages.

I'm using a new

cleaner white

glue now.

 the blue paint is

a waterproof 

membrane

CAL

STILL CUTE AS A BUG

I like this pic

better this way

BUSY DAY

SPENT THE MORNING with the new reps from West Darling Arts after a good meeting with Wentworth Arts Tuesday night.
A big group of local arts and crafts people turned up and we're planning a 'meet the maker' exhibition at the town hall.  The new representatives of West Darling Arts came along, they both seem really on the ball, Cherry and Cathy.    We'll be able to get some support from them for various projects, i'm hoping they'll help me out with the exhibition of work by my students in late october to coincide with the print triennial in mildura.

Cherry and Cathy came here this morning for coffee and had a look at the studio, my work etc.  all good :0)

I spent 
today mosaicing the benchtop of the laundry cabinet, did a test on a little table on the riverbank.  I'm using a yucky dark gritty tile adhesive, thank god i've used it up and now i have a nicer white smooth one to try today. fingers crossed 

it's easier. 

right - what i'd planned

for this little table - below

the finished thing, totally

different and just made up as i went along, need the big pieces of tile to hold the deteriorating tabletop together.  yet to be grouted and cleaned up but a big improvement on the old broken terrazzo top

   The benchtop, 2.5 m long plus splashback

Last night was the opening of Robert's and Andrew's shows and i went along, first visit since i quit.  it was fine, julie was good and we talked, it felt fine. robert's work absolutely filled the front gallery, looked terrific.  andrew's drawings looked good on the charcoal walls in the small gallery.

I went with

friend ruth - here

in orange with

helen healy

dear robert, hard to take a bad photo of him

WHAT A DROP OF RAIN WILL DO

THE ROSES have suddenly come out after the wet,  the dusty old flywire on the window has
decorated the petals with a lattice pattern, pretty

TESTS

I was planning on going and having some blood tests this morning, just part of a regular checkup. i was supposed to fast but i slept so well tilll 7 and automatically made myself a coffee. now i'll have to wait till tomorrow so i'll just stay in bed for another hour :0)   It looks like a gorgeous day out there, clear blue sky and crisp air.
I think i'll start the mosaic benchtop now that i have a vague plan. it's not good to have any more idea than that, the pure pleasure of mosaic is applying the pieces and seeing where they take you.  quite meditative  - although the vertical splashback may be more of a challenge. it's a big job, wonder how long it will take.  lots of big pieces, that's the vague plan :0)

SUNDOWN

    THIS IS THE GATE that the kangaroos jumped over

    It's been so wet that the morning glory flowers are still fresh at sundown

SUNDAY MORNING SURPRISE

I WOKE UP and opened the curtains this morning to see six gorgeous big kangas - three big ones bounded past the window down to the riverbank and began to graze so i leapt out of bed, threw on the dressing gown and grabbed the camera.  when i got out onto the deck i realised there were six in all, all quite big western greys, and i think all young males.   so i stood out on the deck with freezing feet and made my very convincing skippy noises to get their attention :0)   one by one they bounded back to the lawn under the clothesline and grazed on the long grass which is pretty lush right now.

Can't see them this morning, but it was  a treat to have them for about 15 minutes. they bounced off down to the old metal gate that opens into the saltbush next door and the biggest one oversaw (?) them leap the gate one by one from a standing start.  They really are the most amazing creatures.
One got left behind, the older one stood and watched and waited while the lost kanga looked around, jumped into the old vege garden, jumped out again and finally found his way out over the front fence.
It feels like such a privilege to be able to see these animals so close.  My heart was pumping for a while after they left :0)

RAIN RAIN RAIN

WE'VE HAD MASSES OF RAIN over the last 48 hours - it's stopped but stil overcast and still today, just wet and lovely.
I sold three more dress prints today,  four bathers prints last week and another one this morning.  Better keep framing them up and putting them in Artback :0)

I feel like i'm on holidays, i'm going to enjoy this week of doing what i like,  just getting ready for the classes in a couple of weeks, painting walls, tidying up etc.
Yesterday i was housebound by the rain so I made a gift for a friend, she knows who she is so I'm not saying what i made  :0)

Today, Saturday - i was going to the multi-cultural festival but it's cancelled so i'm spreading out the papers and binge watching house of cards - i've got a month's free netflix to trial.

    Dianne Craig, local artist and jewellery maker,  merrilyn air, musician and singer who organises         our local singing group

 couldn't resist

photographing

this beautiful

persimmon

lying in the

carpart at the

IGA.  Can't

understand 

how it came to

be there, the

supermarket

doesn't sell 

them.  

I parked next 
to this
4WD and 
suddenly
my car looked
clean :0)