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.

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.

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.

snapshots

Sumi ink illustrations...work in progress.....

Hurtling between hot, sunny days and humid, wet ones.
Cold glasses of white wine in the evenings.
Throwing snails from the vegie patch onto the shed roof. Trying to protect the young seedlings.
The tomato plants are growing tall and strong. Will we have a bumper crop this year?
Fantasising about my first summer swim in the ocean and the long days of sunshine ahead.

whispers

A new giclee art print Whispers has been recently released separately from the calendar. The background colour has the softest, most subtle tinge of green to it. Really quite calming to look at. And yes, made from one of my sumi ink illustrations. If you're shopping for pressies (like I am at the moment) it's here.

hens

rose tea

egg for you

And then there were hens......

What wonderful paper/ink/stationery-related goodies will I find in Kyoto this trip? And how much can I stuff into my bag on the way home?

Please note: all purchases from the shop between now and the 28th October will be shipped on 29th.

egg-ity

twig

solo

two eggs

These are a few new prints from the growing egg series based on sumi ink illustrations. All available here.

Melbourne folk - are you going to Finders Keepers this weekend? If I can work out how to get to Shed 4 I will be.

6 sleeps until Kyoto for me.......

a little bit of soul

I've discovered something about myself recently that you'd think I would have worked out by now. I really like classic R&B. All these years when people have asked what kind of music I'm into I've said, you know, a bit of everything. But as it turns out I'm a classic late 70's-80's R&B fan. It makes sense. I like music with a bit of soul, lyrics you can sing to, and something you can dance to = classic R&B. I found out by trying a whole lot of radio stations all over the world through itunes while I've been working in the studio. I've found this great one based in Chicago. It's a bit daggy but it gets me moving.

And the pics above? More egg studies in sumi ink. But this time with twigs.

egg

Sunday morning studies in egg-ness with my beloved sumi ink. We're baby-sitting a friend's chickens for a week.

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...

paper & ink

The white paper dress fixation continues.....
I'm trying out some different compositions with my sumi ink drawings and woodblock prints. Do you ever struggle with composition when you're designing something?

The sumi ink drawings started in this somewhat messy spot. Oooh just realised the mess is hiding in this pic. Consider yourself lucky.

abundance

white paper dresses

rough edges

produce

abundance
mixed media collage
washi paper and sumi ink on Japanese ho-sho paper

I'm surrounded by many pregnant women and women with small babies. They are everywhere it seems these days. I was interested to see that my choice not to be is shared by Elizabeth Gilbert in her new book Committed. A thoroughly excellent read by the way. I wasn't expecting it to be with a title like that, but just goes to show that titles and covers can sometimes be misleading. She is one switched on, smart cookie.

layer, lamina

I have this thick, white, textural washi paper I purchased a while ago in Japan. It's been staring at me for too long and so this morning I pulled it out. I would really love a shirt or a dress made from this paper. I have always loved full sized paper clothing but I think this is as close as I'll get to having any. There's another here too.

repetition

Studio day. Playing with shapes and patterns with my new sumi ink. Brush work can be so relaxing.