the honey makers

So this one had a hard birth. The design came quick enough but then I wasn't happy with it as just a single colour print. The bees were meant to be just the one (not the 5 here) and it (the bee) was going to be in black too originally. And that all changed as I started printing which meant the bees got added one by one in that bright punchy yellow. I do mostly like a monochrome palette but occasionally I can let myself add a splash of colour to lighten the energy in a print.

So 'the honey makers' is here in gorgeous 100% linen + ready for use.

Some thoughts on process this week....I've been spending time with quite a few creative folk of late due to the 'big story' I'm writing (a PhD - some background on my other world here) and it's been a glorious thing. I've had a number of similar conversations about process birthing ideas for future projects/work. That is, you start working on something and while you're in there with your creative juices flowing it generates ideas for all kinds of other work. It's like you have to be immersed in the creative process to help this other generative process happen. Well in printing over this weekend I felt that happen. My head has been gurgling with all kinds of ideas for future designs and illustrations. Mostly I think it's a result of trialing designs, manipulating them, problem solving on the hop and then eventually resolving the design issues. Something happens in my creative head space when all of that other stuff is working away. Does that happen to you?

sunday

Soothing tired nerves with hand work is a good thing. I'm working beautiful balls of angora and alpaca wool into a something useful. Hopefully....

My quirky 2012 calendars are now available at Mr Kitly. So if you're local (to Melbourne) and would like one pop on by. There is so much beauty in that sweet shop.

Some of my giclee prints are now listed with Fair Artisan. Much goodness abounds there too.

Edible Austin have illustrated a lovely article about zen and food and cooking with a woodblock print of mine called tea in black + white. It brings me a lot of happiness knowing my print is sitting there alongside such wise words.

What are you reading? I'm enjoying 'You'll be Sorry When I'm Dead'. Watching? Bright Star about the poet John Keats and his lover Fanny. Quite a moving tale.

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.

tea circle in two

Tea Circle is finally available in print form. And in two colours. It's taken me a while to get around to transforming this sumi ink illustration into prints. So here they are. I also have a green version but am still not happy with the colour so I might just leave it at two.

Thanks for those lovely comments about my botanical sketches [last post]. I'll gradually keep adding to them and may post an update to the digital album once I have more completed. I love drawing plant life. The lines and shades and tones and squiggles and swirls all add to up to some crazy nature activity. Fascinating stuff.

Am deep in reading for the PhD. I'm loving it but the more I read the more I find to read. Still it's a luxury and I'm conscious of it and thankful for it every day. I might be deluded but am hoping not to give up reading fiction over the next three years. So many people have said that it's impossible to keep reading fiction while doing a [non-fiction related] PhD. That would feel like cutting off an arm to me. So I'll keep reading fiction at night and see how far I go. Am reading Siri Hustvedt's The Blindfold at the moment. Very intriguing.

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.

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.

block print your own wallpaper

We're getting things in motion in preparation for the block print your own wallpaper class with Harvest Workroom in June. Would you like to join us? All levels of printing ability are welcome including beginners. Let us step you through how to design and block print your own wallpaper. It will be so much fun! More info here.

Also, follow this link on Design Sponge for some Lynne Testoni wallpaper goodness if you need a little inspiration.

what are you working on?

For me it's been this new giclee print in the last few days. And I'm happy to say I've been practicing a bit of letting go in honour of those words in that last post. I had an earlier version of this that I was almost happy with. But not quite. So I got tough on myself and culled it. Not easy to do but I do think it has to be done from time to time.

What are you working on? Experiencing any bumpy bits?

blue noodles in texas

Blue Noodles, Japanese woodblock print, Kylie Budge

I was really very touched when food magazine, Edible Austin (as in Austin, Texas) approached me about using one of my woodblock prints featuring Japanese food to illustrate a story about this same topic. So Blue Noodles sits proudly alongside this great story about Japan's gift to good food in the world. You can see the web version here. Hard copies are available from Edible Austin. They've included some fab resources and recipes.

Blue Noodles was created about 8 years ago while living in Kyoto, Japan. I was surrounded by incredible food all day long and it seeped into my creative consciousness, and then leaked out into my printmaking. At that time I was very fond of eating enoki mushrooms and renkon (lotus root) and so if you look carefully you'll see them swimming around in this print. You can buy fresh renkon in some Asian grocery shops in big cities in Australia. It's highly nutritious (why don't we eat more of it in the West?) and really nice lightly fried with a touch of soy sauce or chilli powder (zing!). Add it to stir fries for a bit of pazazz.

Here are some links to a couple of Japanese cooking blogs if you feel inspired to learn more:

justhungry
justbento

In terms of other Japanese favourites I'm a bit of a closet fan of okinomiyaki. Each region has their own way of making this dish but I do love the Kyoto version. A friend from Hiroshima once made me their local style (with noodles). Interesting! Do you have any favourite Japanese food/s?

of white & blue

It feels quite fitting with my current egg obsession in illustration (pics below) that I should now be the owner of this beautiful egg vase by Melbourne based ceramicist, Anne Ronjat. Really, how lovely is this? It's gorgeously thin and delicate - an example of very good crafts-person-ship. Ask any potter, it's not easy to make pottery this thin. Bought from a place not to be missed if you're in Kyneton, Victoria: the Stockroom.





Mr Kitly has a beautiful raffle of Japanese products going on to raise money for disaster relief in Japan.

what's on the shelf?

A little while ago I got all nostalgic for the small shelves of bowls and cups I had in my wee kitchen in Japan. They were tiny and sat just above my sink but had a window behind them so the light came through the back of all that lovely pottery. It was very pretty to look at in the morning. Nostalgia is a funny thing.

So out of a natsukashi moment came this illustration-come-giclee print. It's available in green and blue, my two favourite colours at the moment. Almost any shade of green or blue is likely to come from my fingertips these days.

I have a good kiwi friend who lived in Japan when I did. She emailed this morning talking of the sorrow they are going through post Christchurch quake. My heart goes out to you NZ.

blue

And then there was blue.....
But screen printed this time. Once again on 100% flax coloured linen tea towels. I cut a stencil by hand and modified the design just a little so it could be screen printed. I've decided to call this design banksia pod because it was inspired by some ink paintings of pods I did last year. M just told me these work really well with our kitchen colours. But I am letting them go: if you fancy them they're in the shop now.

texture

I love the course texture of 100% linen. But it's not the easiest fabric in the world to block print on. This is a test run on an oatmeal linen tea towel. I'm still perfecting it but think I like the dirty red colour against the warmth of the oatmeal.

UPDATE: I've worked out all the kinks and so now have some of these in my shop.

tea-ness

A new giclee print I've called steam - sumi ink and artline pen illustration.

Small tea cosy in burnt orange. Photo from The shop of on Argyle St

Speaking of things tea check out these contemporary tea cosies at the shop on argyle st. I'm waiting on this bright little one to arrive in my kitchen having recently been won over to the power of a good tea cosy. I had no idea they could work so well. I think I've never been able to go there in my head because I'm not overly fond of the knitted/crocheted nanna styled ones. But this one is right up my alley.

flood appeal: prints

Unfortunately, here we go again (the Victorian bushfire horror still feels so recent). It's disaster relief time in Australia again, this time for the flood victims of Queensland.

As part of the Brisstyle Handmade Ark Flood Appeal the proceeds from these 2 prints from my shop will go to the QLD Premier's Flood Relief Appeal.

SOLD

SOLD

More info about Brisstyle can be found here in case you'd like to sell something crafty and handmade of your own to donate.

Update: thanks to both people who bought the two prints above. You are total stars! I'm about to send the proceeds to the Premier's Flood Relief Appeal as promised.

something fresh, something green

A new colourway, a re-work of an old favourite, something fresh: three pots of tea, fresh, that is!

My dentist inquired as to whether I drink a lot of green tea. What's a lot? I asked. Apparently I have a slight green tinge to my teeth which they can remove when I get my teeth cleaned there. I like to think green tea is worth the green tinged grin. Do I have any supporters?

Have you saved the 18th December to head on down to Harvest Xmas Market? Hope so. Should be full of goodness + craftiness.

hand printed wallpaper

Rainy days can be surprisingly productive.

Block printed wallpaper test strips: succulent blossom in silvery grey and red. Two different blocks were used for each one because the red one has the motif in lines and the grey is more randomly distributed across the paper. The grey one looks even better than the photos make out. I can see how this print would work in a bedroom; really soft and delicate.

I had Jen Cloher and then The Waifs playing in the background to help me get into the groove.