flawed?

For Illustration Friday: flawed?

Years ago I was lucky enough to travel to Angkor Wat in Cambodia. This sketch is one I made of a very famous temple called Ta Prohm. You might recall it was used in the filming of Tomb Raider in 2001. Some consider it flawed because of the huge trees growing out of the ruins. To me it's beautiful because of the way it merges with the jungle around it. Unfortunately my scanner couldn't take in all of the sketch so there are sections missing. But this gives you an idea. Click on the image to see a larger version.

a convo with black mustard

Some people are just too nice. One of them is Joline from Black Mustard. She put this interview with me on her blog feature called Etsy Monday. I'm really touched :)

fragments

I really like fragmented artwork, especially prints. And when they're framed well they can look amazing. I've had my 'living things' set (I have 2 different ones actually) for a while but this one above is new. I sold one like it recently so have made another, but each one I make is unique in the design or combination of pieces in the set. Nature is both strong and brittle, whole and fragmented and that's what I was trying to capture with this Japanese style woodblock print. This kind of print looks best when float mounted during framing. This means the pieces are lifted off the back of the matt so they appear to float in the frame. And for this particular print, float mounting emphasizes the fragility of the subject matter in a really nice way.

cooking with jam

We've been picking plums from trees all over the neighbourhood and had so many that I had no choice but to make jam. For the first time ever. And I'm no Martha, as I've said before. So out came Steph and I cooked up a storm (well 2 jars actually). And the cat waited patiently through it all, ever hopeful that the flurry of activity in the kitchen was about her, and ultimately her bowl.

My favourite way to eat this plum jam? Poured over vanilla ice cream!

pale

For Illustration Friday: pale and fragile, the wings of a dragonfly. Japanese woodblock print on paper.

paper cuts

I'm hoping to do more work involving paper cuts this year. I made this one a while ago and while I like the 3D effect of it I think I might try working with flatter pieces. The one pictured above is quite small and is something I was playing with the other day. Dragonflies really lend themselves to paper cuts because of all the fragile pieces and those delicate wings. There are some gorgeous paper cut groups on flickr worth checking out if you're a devotee of this art form. Look at this wonderful garden paper cut by Vegas Lammy (Suzy Taylor) for starters:

contained

For Illustration Friday - 'contained'. Seed pods: pen and ink drawing in sepia. The containers of new life.

show and tell

This lovely collection of pods, including my woodblock print (lower left corner), graced the front page of etsy yesterday and I was awake for it! So thankyou to Lisa Hopkins who put this list together. I just love seed pods so much so that a while ago I helped set up a flickr group for photos and artwork of pods with the lovely Kristin Loganbill of Moon Tea Art.

And in November last year Apartment Therapy ran a wrap up of Melbourne etsy folk they're fond of and were kind enough to include moi (in the form of my Chiyogami Teapot print). I didn't find the article until recently but am flattered to be included. Thanks AT! Just click on the images to see them bigger.

rosalie gascoigne

How is it possible that I didn't know about NZ-Australian artist Rosalie Gascoigne (1917-1999) until I saw her exhibition at the NGV today? All afternoon I've been asking myself if I have been living under a rock (this is, of course, very possible). Just look at all this gorgeous work!
Her story is truly inspiring. Self taught as an artist, she had her first exhibition at the age of 57 and then went on to become the first female artist to represent Australia at the Venice Biennale in 1974.

If you live in Melbourne you can see this wonderful exhibition of her work until 15th March.

lazy days

I'm not getting much printmaking done but I am walking a lot down at the creek and taking photos of plants and flowers and things that inspire (these photos are of flowering succulents from my garden but taken from underneath). I still feel quite lazy with the holiday break and am not doing a whole lot except recharging the batteries in a very pleasant unproductive kind of way. But tomorrow might even be picnic-worthy weather so that would be something.

I saw a wonderful film yesterday - Vicky Christina Barcelona - a new one directed by Woody Allen. If you knew how much Woody has annoyed me over the years with his films you might find it a little surprising that I really enjoyed this one. What's not to love about Barcelona? Beautiful city! Makes me want to go back there right this minute except it's winter in the northern hemisphere and all my fond memories of Spain are summer ones. I loved Penelope Cruz in this too - she makes a very good crazy Spanish painter. So Woody you have redeemed yourself for the moment. Keep making films like this and Match Point and I'll consider becoming a fan.

For paper cut devotees take a look at this sweet little animation found through Heather's blog, skinny laminx. The work involved in making something like this is just astounding.