drawing + reading + watching

It feels nice to start drawing again after a tiny hiatus. Pic: sumi ink and artline pen.

An update on reading over the summer break: I finished reading Franzen's new novel Freedom while I was at the beach and loved it. What a humungous read about the double-edge sword of 'freedom' in modern life! There's an interview with Franzen here on npr if you're keen to know more. I'm now reading Auster's Sunset Park and while it's also very good I can't help comparing it to Freedom because it's still fresh in my mind. Not very fair to Auster is it? Sorry about that Paul!

On films: I saw the totally quirky Life During Wartime last night. Amongst the cast is the brilliant Allison Janney (ex West Wing) who was superb in this. Be warned though, this film is not for mainstream taste buds. It's totally OTT out there but enjoyable as a critque of contemporary American life/relationships in a kind of campy, deliberately overacted way.

dash

Swirls of dashes in repeat on paper. I'm testing the repeat before I commit it to fabric.

This recent cold weather has found me cooking and eating apple, rhubarb and pear pudding with fresh cream. I'm not sure there is anything better on a cold night. Except perhaps the pea and ham soup that was eaten before it.

And speaking of foodie things I recently had the joy of eating the best eggs benedict ever at the newly opened Aquarium Cafe, 382 High St, Northcote.

Have you seen 'I am Love' (lo sono l'amore) yet? If not, do! You won't be disappointed. It's epic, it's gorgeous, it's Italian and it has Tilda. What more can you want in a film?

handmade nation in melbourne

Have you heard of a fab new indie film called Handmade Nation? I first came across this wonderful piece of crafty film goodness when I was in New York last June (yes, I DO love saying that :) and I blogged about it a bit here. In 2006, Faythe Levine, a filmaker, travelled around the US interviewing more than 50 crafters and made a documentary film on the rise of DIY and the new wave of art, craft and design and Handmade Nation is the end result. I thought living in Australia I might never lay eyes on this indie film delight, but gladly I can say I was wrong. It's here right now in Melbourne! But to see it you have to go to the Melbourne Stitches & Craft Show where they're premiering the film at multiple times over multiple days until 15th March. Now, I'm not a sewer, and not all that interested in it either, though I love textiles and salivate instantly over gorgeous textile designs, so when I realised that in order to see Handmade Nation I was going to have to attend the Show I was a little bit hesitant, to say the least. But I've since been convinced that it might be ok because there will be some lovely textile design folk there like Aunty Cookie and I&S. And if you live in Brisbane and Sydney it looks like you're in luck because the Show is going there too and no doubt so will Handmade Nation. But seriously check out the Handmade Nation website as it has really cool things linked to it including this one to their trailer.