thinking ahead

A sneak preview of the 2011 calendar I'm making featuring my illustrations and sumi ink drawings. It should be available in the next few days...

persistence

These gorgeous old Japanese medical prints made me smile after discovering them via print interesting the other day. Just look at that detail!

I've been pondering creative matters at length in the last little while. For work and for pleasure and now somehow they've become beautifully entwined. I've been particularly focussed on how creativity is fostered and nurtured for creative folk, particularly those in art and design. If you too enjoy thinking about these things check out Elizabeth Gilbert's wonderful podcast on TED about nurturing creativity. It's 19 minutes of your life that will be well spent. I have watched it a number of times in the last year and each time I come away thinking about something new. Today it was about the importance of persistence. Now ain't that the truth?

Is there something about persistence and your creative process that you'd like to share? Do you have any magical methods/approaches/routines that work for you?

snug

My feet are in heaven and it's because I found Ingoote. These lovely felted slippers (pic from Ingoote) made from linen and wool arrived today in the post all the way from Lithuania. And I swear my feet are smiling they're so comfy. Melbourne and Tassie folk - if you have a house with floorboards and you need some warm foot comfort consider these lovelies. And Ingoote is so sweet to deal with even when I mistakenly told her my feet are 38cm long (!!!!!!) instead of saying they are EU size 38. Smart woman that she is she double-checked that I didn't have ridiculously long feet before making my pair :) And now they are snug as a bug in a rug. Haven't heard that expression in a while, have you?

hand work

Finally, a product from my 3 colour screen printing effort with Harvest Textiles. Now if I could only find the perfect cushion insert and get rid of the crappy one I currently have inside it. Any suggestions?

I can't stop thinking about sashiko embroidery lately. I've never tried it but am keen to. I'm thinking something simple to start with like this pattern of mine in red on black calico. But maybe even that's too ambitious??? Only one way to find out.

in black

A black calico version of pattern b from Sewing Talk by Michiko Kayaki. This time I left the bottom edge of the top loose rather than using elastic. I think it might be good in warm weather that way. I've been meaning to make this for weeks. The third pic is a gorgeous little wooden hand painted brooch I bought at a junk stall in the Dandedong Ranges about a year ago. I like it against the rich blackness of the calico. Warning for those sewing with black calico for the first time: pre-wash with salt and vinegar before sewing because you might find, like I did, that a fair bit of colour will run out the first time you wash otherwise. Eventually it will stop and all will be good. Promise.

shots of blue

Sharyn Cairns creates the most beautiful photography, many shots infused with gorgeous hues of blue. The pics above are mine where I've tried to apply a similar idea. They're not a scratch on Sharyn's photography but were fun to play with. The Design Files has a story on Sharyn and some of her work, including some of her exquisite photograhy from Inside Out. Take a look if you're in need of a shot of inspiration.

small wonders

This beautiful piece of design in Madrid is called Unlimited Space: the Ceramic House and is the work of architect Héctor Ruiz-Velázquez. What I love about it is how space is used in such a wise way. There is clever layering of rooms minimising the need to have a large footprint. This is a topic I feel very strongly about as our cities continue to sprawl and suck up the natural environment on their peripheries. I am passionate supporter of designing and building smaller and smarter.

More pics here at the ever inspiring Daily Icon.