all about washi

People often ask me questions about the kind of paper I use for my larger sized woodblock prints. In response I find myself going down a detailed conversational path about the wonders of washi, or Japanese handmade paper. There's an informative piece about washi on the website for an amazing looking shop called the Japanese Paper Place in Toronto. I really hope to be able go there some day and look at their collection of paper. So have a read of the washi article and discover how it's made, who uses it and why it's so strong. Even Japanese money (the notes) are made from washi! If you're ever in Kyoto there are washi shops around the centre of the city that you can visit. There's one on old Teramachi Dori and another near the corner of Shijo and Karasuma Dori. The paper in these places is so beautiful it will make you weep!

bookbinding for etsy

If you're into quite nerdy short videos about crafty things like book binding have a look at this cool etsy mini youtube video. Rebecca from moontreepress (her link is on the etsy blog) designed and put together an etsy kit of goodies and the video shows her doing the bookbinding for a notebook design.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQV1L7DJYtw

not my usual style

I'm going to tell you a little here about an interview I just did and no, this is not my usual style but I had so much fun answering the questions that I thought I'd share it with a few more people! The lovely Helen of pepperina press writes for a cool blog called 'indie pretty perfect' . Anyway here is the link with the interview if you feel like reading more about my printmaking and creative ponderings.

fragments

The way light moves at certain times of day really interests me. I was on the banks of the muddy Yarra River in the afternoon when I took this photos a few days ago.The light seems to just bounce off these leaves. It was very quiet and the river seemed quite still. It's amazing when you think about big rivers in large cities and how it's still possible to find this kind of tranquility somewhere along their winding paths.

what fires bring

We've had a long, hot firey, summer here in Victoria. Bush fires burned for something like 6 weeks (possibly longer?) in many of the national parks and it was a smokey, scary time even for those of us who live in the city. The wonderful thing about fire in the bush is that it generates life and does so remarkably quickly. Banksia seed pods like the ones in this print of mine (seed pod in black) burst open and drop their seeds to the ground due to the intense heat that fire brings, and so the process of life can continue. Two Canadian friends have just been cycling in the Alpine National Park area (northern Victoria) and say it is starting to spring back to life now. The beautiful green of new growth pushing through, almost phosphoresecent in colour, glows against the charred black ground and trees surrounding it.

snake bean

This incredible-looking curly flower belongs to a beautiful vine growing across the entrance of our front veranda. I've heard someone say it's a snake bean vine but I don't know if that's true or even the botanical name for it. At this time of year it's heavy with flowers like these, so curly and smooth and very sweet smelling. I've been asked many many times about this vine and the flowers by people passing on our street. One woman even asked me for a cutting so she could try growing it in her garden. I don't know if she ever succeeded. Very soon, as autumn decends on us the vine will drop everything - leaves and flowers - and will look half dead and very scraggy when winter comes. Each year in winter I look at it in its sad state and wonder if it will regrow. And each summer, without fail, it does. This year we've let it grow and grow and there were days when I arrived home and parts of the vine had reached out and extended its arms to the house walls, the front doors and windows. Like "The Day of the Triffids". It hides and protects the front of the house from the world like in the wonderful children's book "The Secret Garden". It rained last night (a rare but wonderful thing) and today the flowers on the vine are damp with droplets of water.

beauty in all its forms

While I sit here writing this I can hear my neighbour doing her voice exercises (she's an opera singer) and it sounds beautiful as it rises and lilts in the slight breeze blowing today. It travels out of the studio and across the fence to our garden and stops me from the wanting to play any music in our house. Her voice is enough.




I was thinking about the work of a wonderful Melbourne printmaker, Belinda Fox, today as I was reading the Print Council of Australia journal. She has a show coming up soon in Canberra. It's a pity we live nowhere near Canberra but I'm sure she'll have an exhibition sooner or later in Melbourne. I've included some interesting images here: two of her prints - 'Minor Damage' (above), 'Tread Lightly' (below) and one of her at work in her studio (far below). Here is a link to her website http://www.belindafox.com.au/index.html

I fully recommend a look at her website. I saw her work at a exhibition 18 months ago in Sydney and was blown away by it. She manages to combine Asian images and political messages, and yet retain beauty in her work.