art worth seeing

Chute, 2011 by Sarah Amos
collograph and gouache

Fink Truss, 2011 by Sarah Amos
collograph and gouache

New works by Sarah Amos are showing now at Flinders Lane Gallery in Melbourne. These two images are just a delicious taster. And if you're lucky enough to be in town this Saturday 3rd September go along to the floor talk at the gallery, 2pm sharp. I've been a huge fan of Sarah's work since I saw her massive prints at an exhibition 2 years ago in gallery 101. Gorgeous stuff. Lots of fine line detail and imagery. Images above courtesy of Flinders Lane Gallery.

Belinda Fox
August bloom II (blue), 2010
etching, aquatint and screenprint on hand stained paper

Seems Melbourne folk are very lucky at the moment. Belinda Fox is also exhibiting in our neck of the woods. Belinda is a mind-blowingly talented printmaker. No exaggeration - her work makes me weep with joy. This time she's showing at Niagara Galleries and is exhibiting mixed media pieces and ceramics. I first saw Belinda's work several years ago in Sydney and could not believe how beautiful it was. I think what I'm especially drawn to is the reference to Asia through her use of lotus flowers and jagged mountain ranges. Image above from Niagara Galleries.

Go see and enjoy!

lines + shapes

The Yarra Valley can be incredibly beautiful at this time of year. I was a bit absorbed with lines and shapes while I was there on the weekend. Oddly enough (given the location) not the wine. I don't know what that's about but am hoping my taste buds are just having some brief time out. Most of the time I do love a good glass of red. There were lots and lots of spring baby lambs out frolicking with their mothers. Too cute for words.

what colour is your confetti?

I know, freaky, isn't it, pics of my 2012 calendar now, at this time of the year? Yes indeed, the calendar making world thinks well in advance of real time and as painful as that might be for most of us 2012 isn't that far away. Really. When you think about it.

Ok, so maybe this is a tad early. But I got all carried away with sumi ink and water colour and a confetti of reds & pinks that appear in graceful little pools on the pages of this design. And before I knew it the whole thing was done. Or almost. I have yet to complete the cover.

And if I don't stop gawking at these pics of Kathryn Tyler's house (from last week's episode of Grand Designs) I think I might just die with envy. The woman has taste by the bucket load.

travels in the red

red dust about 3 hours north-east of Katherine (in the Northern Territory). we camped here overnight.

the most exquisite orange gum flower

dawn at our camp around the half-way point

morning vista over the escarpment (half-way point)

dusty, hot camping feet

the journey... follow the red dotted line

and a bigger map of Australia (in case you're not from here & don't know where the Northern Territory is)

So, a little more about the weaving trip. For those who like a map to get some idea of the journey I've tracked a red dotted line indicating our drive - 2 days by 4WD from Darwin to Mapuru (NE Arnhem Land) - see first map. Keep in mind that the bitumen road runs out after Katherine. And that the last half day drive is not for the faint-hearted - very rough 4 wheel driving indeed! In fact on the way in on that part of the 'road' we managed to get bogged in sand and break the tow-bar off the back of one our troopies (we had 2 x 9 seater 4WD troop carriers each towing a trailer full of food and gear) leaving our trailer stranded. Luckily for us, gorgeous folk from Mapuru rallied to the drama and came to pick up our stranded trailer in the middle of the night. Yay Mapuru locals - you guys are awesome!

All the pics above are from the drive in and most are of the half-way point camping spot overlooking a majestic escarpment. If you'd like more of an idea of what Mapuru looks like and the weaving set up check out the Mapuru weavers site.

The journey in is incredible but also pretty full-on. Two days each way in a troopie sitting sideways looking at your fellow passengers is a close and bonding experience. Still, it sets up a very good base for working together at Mapuru itself.

The weaving experience was wonderful. Sitting on the ground with the women in the bark weaving shelter each day was very calming. Watching their hands and learning from them about pandanus (we went collecting pandanus leaves one day), about colour (natural dye), and about the various weave techniques was pretty magical. The whole time kids and dogs play in and around the women as they work. Babies sleep in between piles of dyed pandanus leaves waiting to be woven. Weaving is all very much part of the daily lives of the people in the community.

It's only possible to go on one of the weaving trips during the dry season (May - October). And for good reason too! I can't even begin to think of negotiating those roads during the great NT 'wet'. It's warm enough during the dry though - a hot but pleasant 30-32 degrees celcius each day. Excellent weaving and camping weather!

Oh and the Mapuru weavers now have a new online shop.

weaving the land

one of my pieces. i loved learning this weaving style.


dilly bag by Gitjpulu


open weave bag by Gitjpulu


basket by Margaret Bambalarra


dilly bag by Gitjpulu


dilly bag by Gitjpulu



Oh my goodness. I cannot begin to put into words how I feel after the 10 day weaving trip I've just finished to a very remote community in north-east Arnhem Land (in the Northern Territory, Australia). So much learning on a cultural and making level! These images of my precious purchases will have to suffice for now. Please note the first image is one of my humble weaving pieces (I'm a beginner). All bags are hand made from pandanus leaves stripped and dyed with natural dyes. If you'd like any more information about the community or the weaving program please click here.

thoughts on technology + artists

I've just finished reading a very good essay about change and technology and the publishing industry by Christina Thompson (editor of the print version of the Harvard Review). It's in the current edition of my favourite journal, Meanjin which is still only really available as a print journal (and that's ok with me).

The essay was a great read because it raises lots of interesting questions about the skill set writers need now and for the future, skills you wouldn't usually associate with writing literature like the ability to use photoshop and design web pages. This is because the publishing industry is changing rapidly and the way writers interact with it is changing too. Thompson talks a lot about the need for writers to embrace the technological skills needed as it will enable them to have more control and therefore more say in their working lives. Things like being able to design a website rather than give it to someone else to do for you because if writers don't develop this skill they won't be able to maintain and update their web presence independently of a third party. And to not be able to do so is disempowering.

Even though the essay is about the publishing industry I think there are a lot of parallels that can be made in terms of technology and the future for artists/designers. Those of us who have an active web presence already have a whole lot of skills that creative folk wouldn't have had 10 years ago (and many still don't have today). A lot of us don't even think about the technological skills we have mastered in recent years. For example, I'm a printmaker (and a pretty low tech one at that as my area is relief printing) but because I've been interacting on the web for almost 6 years now I know how to maintain a blog on the two main blogging platforms out there (and a lot of bells and whistles that go with it like inserting videos and sound files), use image storing sites like flickr, maintain an online shop, set up and maintain a basic website, use twitter, use a digital camera, use photoshop, and the list goes on. My point is I didn't know any of this stuff up until 6 years ago. And it's not the skill set you would usually associate with a printmaker. But because I've chosen to interact online and have an active web presence I have accumulated these skills along the way and now people are seeing them as valuable, and some even as necessary (like Thompson) to work in our contemporary culture.

Interestingly, I now also use this skill set in my main income earning job. Up until recently these kinds of skills weren't really necessary there either but more and more in many different types of jobs it's becoming necessary to get across the technology that is very much a part of modern life in western societies.

And I think it's very important that artists and designer do this. It's a bit like the point Thompson makes in her essay about writers. "We also need to remind young would-be literary types that it's not going to be enough in the future simply to be good with words. If they want to be players in the world of publishing they had better become proficient in a few of these technologies so that they really understand how to take advantage of the changes that are taking place" (p 54). And so it is with artists and designers too. I have friends who are painters and continue to slog away interacting with the traditional gallery world. The disappointment and frustration is endless for them. I keep telling them they need to build a web presence and interact with others online. That it's not enough anymore to just do things the old way. That there's a whole world out there beyond the local gallery shows where people can see their work and where they can make valuable connections. I don't think they can appreciate the value in that just yet. But hopefully soon they will.

In the meantime those of us who are used to interacting online will continue to accumulate technological skills that will be useful in a whole range of contexts and will help us feel more connected to other artists and designers all over the world. Now that, in my mind, is very empowering.

life in b&w

Some garden produce: brocollini, lettuce & thyme. Not much else is growing this winter except Italian flat leaf parsley, some sage and rosemary.

The speckled light pic is of a peace lily which is in flower and I don't seem to be able to stop photographing it!

Last pic is of my boo, sunning herself yesterday in the lovely winter light.

Carving continues but is slow going as I'm distracted with thinking/planning for the trip to Arnhem Land coming up. The northern heat will be a bit of a shock coming from Melbourne winter at this time of year.

What are you drinking at the moment? I'm sipping some black Daintree tea and it's good & strong. I have to really stop myself from drinking too much hot chocolate at this time of year. But I will make Stephanie's double choc brownies later today. A rainy winter's day just screams out for them.