moving botanicals

I put together a little album of some of my botanical sketches recently. I'm starting to fill the pages of a gorgeously simple black covered Daler-Rowney book I have. 150gsm acid free cartridge paper and all. Let me know if you think the photography is too dark with these as they were taken on a cloudy day. I can always re-shoot.

ten thumbs + wooden moments

Some items from my small collection of wooden kitchen items from Japan. I'm very particular about chopsticks and will only use Japanese style ones at home (they have a narrower, more delicate end than chopsticks from other countries). It drives me mad to have to use chunky non-Japanese chopsticks in most Asian restaurants (other than Japanese ones) in Australia. I feel like I have 10 thumbs with those clunky things. Is this ridiculously fussy or what?

Lucky for me (and for you) that we have Mr Kitly to keep those of us outside of Japan stocked up with gorgeous Japanese wooden items.

autumn colour

Loving these autumn days. The light is so lovely and gentle. The grape vine on our back fence has changed into its autumn shades and the leaves are slowly dropping to the ground. Crunchy dry leaves from elm and plane trees are floating down the streets all over town at the moment. So lovely to walk in! A favourite spot to ride my bike at this time of year is the gorgeously autumnal Royal Parade, apparently an old northern stock route in the 1800s. The canopy of leaves is so lovely along there. Such pretty golden yellows.

It's definitely chai weather now. I'm aiming to make this classic French pear tart over the weekend. I made it last year and cannot describe how good and rich and buttery it was.

moku hanga [woodblock printing] clip # 2

No matter how much I play with other printing methods, my one true love will always be moku hanga (Japanese style woodblock printing).

Ages ago I posted a link to this popular video about moku hanga. Today via Ximena's blog I found a link to this other really good moku hanga video (above). And the narration is in English. At one point you will even see someone wrapping a new bamboo leaf around their baren (circular hand press). This, as Annie will attest is a pretty difficult skill to learn. It's a good video covering the basics and you can see the way people traditionally worked this method by sitting on the floor (on zabetons) at a low printing table. In Kyoto there are still a few small workshops that continue working in this way. I was lucky enough to visit a working studio when I lived there. I am still amazed how closely they worked together on the floor with materials stacked all around them. One day I will scan my photos of this visit and post them here for you. Promise.

Why is moku hanga my one true printmaking love? I think it's due to the simplicity of the materials and yet how tricky they are to master together. The video mentions the variables - there are many to learn how to work with (and around). This is so true! Does that sound like madness?

Do you have one creative medium you keep going back to?

wallpaper love

photo credit: Emma Byrnes




photo credit: Emma Byrnes


photo credit: Emma Byrnes

There was a lot of love going on in the Harvest Workroom yesterday. The three of us (Emma, Anna and me) carved lino blocks, listened to music, sipped tea, listened to the rain fall on the tin roof, chatted away about life, the universe & everything, ate good food, AND printed wallpaper. Yep it's amazing what three people can achieve in one day when you're having that much fun.

If you'd like to make your own wallpaper why not join us for the wallpaper class coming up at Harvest? Click here for more info.

More pics of the printmaking process here and here.

paper cuts [but not the painful kind]

This new paper cut book is definitely on my wish list. More pics inside here on a little hut in case you're interested. And on the subject of paper cut goodness have a look at what printmaker Bridget Farmer is cutting - a flock of doves for her wedding decorations. I'm not much of a fan of weddings (yep, I've said it, don't yell at me) but if you have to have one then a flock of paper doves is a must, no?

My favourite paper cut artist, Beatrice Coron, has some beautiful new work happening on her website. Go be inspired. I'm really enjoying her paper cuts of city scapes in white on white.

On other cutting news, I'm off to cut lino blocks. A whole different cutting experience. But still very therapeutic.

colour/color everywhere

I've been thinking a lot about colour in the last week or so as I was immersed in these beautiful sandstones tones at Aireys Inlet. I could just look at the blues of the ocean and sky and these gorgeous sandstone cliffs forever. There's also something about the autumn light which begins to put a more gentle feel to things in Australia at this time of year.

Anyway, as I was saying, colour.....I've been thinking about the colours I'm drawn to using in my work and even the ones I wear. And also how colours are made. It came up again over the weekend when I went to a briefing for the Arnhem Land Weavers trip I'm doing later in winter. We saw some amazing photos of the women weavers cooking up colour from the earth to dye their pandanas leaves before weaving them into glorious baskets. All those swirling earthy colours in the pots looked so rich and almost edible. Yum!

I find mixing colours to print (woodblock print, lino block print or screen print) really very challenging. I know I love a dirty colour (picture dirty red, dirty green, dirty blue); to me a good measure of black in there just seems to help ground the colour. I'm on the hunt for some good colour recipes so if you know of any or where to find some please feel free to share. I'd also love to hear what colours you're drawn to. Fluros anyone?