Moly Exchange update

I've been a bit behind on more than just blog posts I can tell you! Here is my latest entry in a book from Moly_x_25 which is actually nearing completion. This particular moly (affectionate term for Moleskines sketchbooks) had lots of entries about each artists own local environment, a theme that wasn't prescribed by the books owner, but one that evolved never the less. Last time I drew in this book I did a beach and ocean view and this time puzzling on what to draw has meant I've had this book for quite a long time! Finally *bing* and I knew I had to draw my new vegie patch. Yes, I've joined the many who are first time vegie gardeners this year. Well, not really a first time, but it's been ages and I've never been terribly successful. This time I've started with good soil and some good information and I'm powering along harvesting salad greens (and reds!) every day with beans and peas only days away from picking and many other goodies growing well. All organic of course which is the challenge.
I also needed to catch up on my pages for Moly_x_48 - The Exquisite Corpse exchange. These particular books are not the Japanese fold ones like the one above, but the normal small sketchbooks and when they are completed the pages will each be cut into three to create a wonderful mix and match type book filled with drawings from artists all over the world. Here are my latest. Firstly "Liza was inclined to laziness".
"Lloyd knows what he likes" was inspired by the recent gallery drawings of Rick Tulka, a fabulous artist and someone I can now call a friend after meeting him while in Paris. Check out his wonderful drawings of Le Select, the cafe where he draws daily and where we met up. Better still, buy his book Paris Cafe: The Select Crowd

Not sure what I was thinking with this one... think I was still jet lagged... here it is "Squish could touch his toes (if he had any).

What a poor sad neglected blog!

Sketching at the back of Notre Dame
Originally uploaded by Jan and Roly

I'll have to admit I came back from Paris and I though "blog schmog" and just let it sit here. Waiting. Oh dear! Enough is enough!

I have lots of stories about how fabulous Paris is including the one about the time we decided to go to a recommended restaurant for dinner later in the week. I phoned up "allo?" "Allo madam." "Parlez vous Anglais?" "Non madam, seulement Fransais" (or something similar). Oh dear. Now I realised I didn't know the first word I needed! Reservation! Luckily the French word for 'reservation' is 'reservation'! I went on to specify the day of the week, the date (to make sure I said the day correctly!), the number of people and the time (with a little help from my now very friendly French friend on the other end of the phone).
Finally we got stumped. I could not understand what he was saying at all. "Oui or Non!?" I said at last. "Oui, Oui!" he said, so we went on. I spelled my name in French as my final triumph and we said "au revoir." Later that week we turned up to the restaurant and they were expecting us!!! Yay!

The real reason I wanted to mention this restaurant is that our walk to it demonstrates why I love Paris so much. It turned out the restaurant was only a block and a half from our apartment. We went down the stairs (at this stage of our trip the elevator was still broken - but that's another whole and long story!), through the courtyard, out the front gates of the building and onto our street. We turned right. Turning right wasn't something we hadn't done before. Far from it really, but we usually went left as left was the direction of the metro, the Seine, I could go on. We turned right, walked to the end of our block and turned left. I don't think we had ever turned left there before. It is quite an unremarkable street. We walked the block and a bit to the restaurant and we were in an area we had never seen before! We loved it. We were early (well, you never know how long a walk it might be!) so we explored, finding a whole street of art galleries, artists cafes and cafes in courtyards filled with interesting types.

I live in regional Australia. We have a lot of space. I found it mind blowing that we had never seen something so close to us. Paris is dense. The buildings, especially in the ancient part we were in, are so close together they do not afford a view to what lies beyond. It is only through exploring that Paris reveals herself to you. I love that about Paris!

Bonjour!

Eiffel Tower
Originally uploaded by Jan and Roly

I'm back from Paris and slowly getting back into everything. Haven't done much scanning yet, well, truthfully I've done none! This is just to let you know that I'm alive and that I've had The Most Wonderful Time! This is my favourite photo that I took in the month in Paris. Did you know everything in Paris is beautiful? Well, it is.

Do I need to carry a sketchbook when I have an iPhone?

I'm packing to leave for Paris on the weekend. I have made my 'Perfect Journal' and am finally the owner of an iPhone 3GS. Both of these will slide into my shoulder bag and accompany me everywhere. Each has it's uses... but doesn't the iPhone win? (if there was a competition).


My iPhone is my new favourite thing. I will take a photo (at the very least) every where I go and these will be geotagged. T will be carrying a supa-dupa camera (it's his passion) and will be taking his own photos. My geotagged photos will assist him in identifying where he took his photos as he sifts through what will be thousands of shots when he gets back.

My iPhone will tell me where I am. We have a month in Paris and we are by nature wanderers. Last time we were there (which was also our first time) we frequently tossed up whether to go to ___ which is what we planned, or keep wandering because it was beautiful right where we were. (That's the thing about Paris, EVERYTHING is beautiful. You don't really have to see 'the sites' because what you are looking at every second is beautiful.)


The downside of being a wanderer is that you don't really know exactly where you are at any given time. We would get back to our apartment and find we had been just near ___ and not known, missed it completely. So our dilemma became whether to go purposefully back through our wandered territory, or go somewhere new. New always won of course, so there were things we missed. This time we will be able to wander AND to know where we are. But not only that, my iPhone will give us access to our Google Map.

We have created our own Google Map with place markers on it of all the places we would like to go "if we end up near there." We haven't put our must-see's on it, just the addresses of little shops, restaurants, markets and streets that we have read about or been told about. You know, you hear about a place and think "That sounds perfect! I must go there" and when you check the map it is way out to billy-o and it doesn't really warrant a full blown excursion just for the 'cute little ceramic shop'. But should we wander that way, we won't miss it this time!


And then there are the applications. It really is the 'apps' that makes the iPhone a winner over and above other smart phones. I have my translator app, the plan and tour app for the Palace of Versailles, lots of other travel apps. Then there are the photography apps. I was worried about the quality of the 3mpx camera, I would have like more, but the quality is surprisingly good and the sheer fun and pleasure the apps bring to taking photos is quite exhilarating. (I took these photos of my sketchbook with my iPhone!)


Oh and I can use it as a phone too. And email. And blogging and flickr and Facebook and twitter etc etc. Or listen to music. Or play games. (I wouldn't of course. I'd draw in my sketchbook instead!) So, my sexy little piece of hardware reduces the number of things I carry quite substantially; phone, camera, ipod, gps, guide book(s) and maps at the very least. And it weighs less than my ipod alone does.

My sketchbook, on the other hand, does the exact opposite. It creates more things I need to carry. I need my pens, my watercolours, water brushes, blotting paper, tissues to clean up with, glue, (and if the world was a different place) scissors or a knife; lucky I don't carry pencils and erasers any more.


The photos I intend to take are different from the ones T will take. They will be shots of patterns, details and reference shots for paintings I intend to do when I come back. I can get a lot of these shots taken in the time it takes to do a single sketch. It was the time it takes to do the sketches that surprised me last time. When you have the possibility of fitting in seeing Place Vendome this afternoon versus finishing the sketch you are doing in Place des Voges instead it actually gets a little stressful. We didn't see Place Vendome last time. It is on our list (and the Google Map) for this time.

This is part of the reason I wanted to stay for so long this time. To ease the pressure around the time it takes to sit and draw and see and experience and even wander. I don't know if we will actually have time to see everything on our list even with a month! But if I didn't take my sketchbook, if I only took my iPhone we could get around it all. I could paint from the photos I take and those photos would take me right back to the spot... or would they?

And I think that is the real difference between my sketchbook and my iPhone. When I look back through my sketchbooks I am truly transported back to that exact moment. I can see, hear, smell it all again. Vividly. When I flip back through my photos of last time I find myself thinking "where was that?"

I'll carry them both. I'll let you know who wins. I suspect there actually won't be a winner, that it will be more of a truce. But I'll let you know.
ps. This time I made my perfect travel journal out of a book with the all-time perfect title. Guess how long I'm going to be in Paris!? I filled it with my favourite paper - all the one kind this time because that is how I wanted it to be. It also has some pages from an old Paris Guide Book scattered throughout. I had another Paris book with beautiful illustrations in it that I was also going to incorporate. The book is in poor condition so a prime candidate for rebinding however I discovered it is a reasonably valuable book and a first edition. I couldn't bring myself to pull it apart. It has an elastic closer and a ribbon place marker, some loose sheets of blotting paper, but that is all this time. I wanted a simple version of my usual rebound journal this time. I love it. It IS perfect!

Selected

Dinner Suit has been selected for the Warwick Art Prize. Yay!
It's surprisingly difficult to photograph. It doesn't look this motley in person. It's on its way to Warwick as I speak. It is in the textiles section. It is a difficult work to classify but 'textiles' seems perfect to me; it adds yet another layer of meaning to the work especially as textiles is traditionally "women's work."
I haven't entered any selected (juried) exhibitions in a long time but I'm getting back into it again and getting accepted into this one is just the boost I needed.

Moly Exchange update

I've been working in a few Moly's (short for Moleskine) lately. I'm in a few exchanges and I was a bit behind on them. I've also been bitten by the experimentation bug, which often happens when I'm working in someone else's Moleskine! Why is it so?

These three are for Moly_x_48 - The Exquisite Corpse exchange. You may recall that these will be cut into three when the book is finished and the images and words will be able to mix and match.

Jethro doesn't remember the 70's

Dougal doesn't like his job

Philippe speakes all languages

This one is for Moly_x_3 which is an all Australian exchange. This is my own moly and it doesn't have a theme. (Click on it and it should be easier to see.)

Family Ghosts

I'm a winner!

I was lucky enough to be the winner of Anastasia C's blog giveaway! Yay! I'm so happy because I was already a big fan of her retro repurposed paper goodies to be found in her Etsy shop. So to win some was fantastic. A wonderful parcel turned up in my letter box, stuffed full of goodies and even a vintage sewing magazine! Anastasia you know me and what I like, don't you! And yes, I like! Thank you!
I got lots of lovely tags, my favourites being the legs walking on vintage maps. (I really think she was thinking of me making these!!!) And beautiful cards, present toppers and some gorgeous twine. And a vintage Simplicity book!
Check out the glamor! I love this book Anastasia! Thank you again!

I've also been lucky enough to receive two 'one lovely blog awards' and a 'blog lovin' award.'

from Rainbow Revolution - thanks!

from Planettreasures - you are too kind!

And this one from Tif at Owl and Fox - aw shucks!

I must say I do love my blog and I'm deeply touched when I find others do too. I also love lots of other blogs. I recently did a huge panic when my list of blogs I follow disappeared from my Blogger Dashboard. Phew! It came back the next day but I was pleased it is also copied into Google Reader so if they were gone forever I still had access to them.

So how do I choose to award? It is really hard to find a blog that hasn't recently been awarded, not that it should be consideration I guess, however it does seem more reasonable to award those who haven't just posted a similar award!

I've decided to award blogs that are new to me so here they are

• Ashley at 31experiment
• Nina at Puka Puka
• Georgina MacDonald
• Kyles at It Was Always This Simple
• Cath at Chunky Chooky

OK, so some of them are less new to me than others but it doesn't really matter. Lovely ladies you can feel doubly awarded as I'm giving you both the "One Lovely Blog Award" and the "Blog Lovin Award"!!!

News Flash! - It's Roly again

Roly is this weeks Weekly Monster on Tilda in the Burbs! Tilda (another Boxer) is a little more clever than Roly. She has her own blog, even her own Twitter account. She also has a weekly series where she shows off other dogs. (I think it was her owner's idea to call them 'monsters.') Tilda's post also features one of Janey's drawings of Roly. Check out the other drawing here. Roly really appreciates all this attention - thank you Tilda and Janey!

Jan and Roly

Yep, we're a team, me and my boxer dog Roly. Roly's getting on now. In fact I am surprised he is still with me after the doom and gloom the vet told me about 2 years ago. Roly is nearing 13 now which is quite an age for a boxer especially one with kidney failure, blindness, deafness and allergies to just about everything. I think it is the good diet he has had to have due to his allergies that mean he is still in such good condition. It's only been about the last 12 months people have stopped mistaking him for a puppy!

He doesn't like to face the camera.

Maybe it's because of his single tiny centre tooth.

It means we have lots of mug shots of him.

A couple of years ago I made a video of him one morning when he refused to get up. It happens a lot more frequently these days. He loves his sleep. Some mornings it must be hard for him to motivate himself to get up. After all who doesn't love a lie in all wrapped up in a comfy bed especially if it's in the sunshine!

Of course it's no good if it gets too bright. But he gets by.

Studio with Thoughts finished - again

I posted a shot of this painting last week. At the time I thought it was finished. This time it really is. Studio with Thoughts.
It has to be finished because today is the closing day for entries to EMSLA. It has been turned upside down again since last week. This orientation is how it began. It has a much more enclosed feeling and is actually quite three dimensional. The thought patterns float in the air inside my small cramped studio. The colours are muted because it is what happens in the space that is the most important thing.

I am taking a big risk here. EMSLA is a selected (juried) exhibition and I will be publically humiliated if I don't get in now that I've blogged about it. But I wanted mostly to record the entry of it into the competition. I've not been entering competitions for many years for a variety of reasons. It will be good for me to face my demons and get my work out there again - even if it is only for the selection process and I miss the exhibiting part. It will be good for me.

An Illustrated Life

It's been a long time since I did a rave about Danny Gregory here on my blog. I started this blog originally to share the challenges I drew for his Everyday Matters group. At the time his books weren't available in Australia so I initially just interacted with the group online. Then I bought The Creative License from Amazon and waited a couple of months for it to arrive. (With the exchange rate etc I couldn't justify the cost of air freight.) When it did finally arrive I could not believe how perfect it was for me. I have revisited that book so many times! I do loan it to friends from time to time and by the time it comes back to me I'm desperate for a Creative License 'fix.'

Challenge #27 Books
Originally uploaded by DannyGregory

I'm a bit backwards at times, so after the success of my first Danny Gregory purchase I went back and ordered Everyday Matters, his first book. Wow. It too is wonderful, different to The Creative License, but just as wonderful.

So, I was excited when he released his latest book An Illustrated Life, drawing inspiration from the private sketchbooks of artists, illustrators and designers. Thanks to the global economic downturn, I was reluctant to buy it when it first hit the virtual shelves of Amazon but on a recent trip to Sydney I was thrilled to find it on the analogue shelves of Kinokuniya (my favourite book shop in the real world). I snapped it up, brought it home, looked at the pictures and put it on the side table next to the chair that gets the morning sun and... well, life went on, as it does, and the book sat there.

Purchase guilt set in. I don't know if you suffer from it, but I do. That truly annoying voice in my head started saying things like "you bought it and now you're not even reading it!" in a guilt-inducing tone. OK! I'll read it.

An Illustrated Life from DannyGregory on Vimeo.

Well, it turns out those voices in my head have a purpose! This books is, dare I say it (?) the best book I've bought in a very long time. I don't know what you look for in a book but I'm looking for a) inspiration to actually do my own work, b) I want that inspiration to be 'open' so I can do 'my' work and not be prescribed to or overly influenced and c) a gentle hand on my shoulder that says "you're fine! We all feel like this and it's OK. Just do the work and you'll be fine." This book does and says just that. The strength of the book is that it says it in fifty voices! Fifty unique voices and hundreds of sparks of inspiration.

If you like to imagine you are someone who keeps sketchbooks or a journal or such then this book will help you to see how easy it is and reinforces the fact that you just have to touch pen (or pencil) to paper and be yourself within the pages of your own book to create something that not only records the visual aspects of the world, your life, etc, but also improves the quality of that life. It seems intangible, strange, unlikely, but doing this does create a preciousness of what usually just slips by us - our 'everyday' life.

Thinking

Actually, I'm thinking about quite a lot of things today. But first I'm going to ask you what you think. You may almost recognise this painting. I actually began it last year and at the time I thought it was finished. It is of my small studio and it's voluminous contents. With the entry deadline for EMSLA drawing very near I wanted to revisit the work. (It is exceedingly difficult to photograph both last year and this year!!!)

Still Life in Studio With Thoughts
Acrylic on Canvas 101.5 cm x 75.5 cm

What do you think? (Please click on it to see it enlarged.) I've got to try to take a better photo tomorrow. It IS very pale, all chromatic greys. I don't know! This is the point I get to prior to entering competitions every time! And then I just don't enter. Quite a vicious cycle really. Don't get me wrong. I do actually really like the painting but I just don't think it's good enough.

The painting is pale because it is what happens in my studio that is important rather than it's actual appearance. Because it is my space, in spite of it's size, it has a huge limitless space in my mind. I truly believe anything could happen in there, all I need to do is enter and begin. I wanted the studio to be present in the painting but for something else, the 'intangible' to be the primary subject matter.

Oh, I really don't know. I might have a go at finishing another work in progress and see how it turns out. Why do we artists doubt ourselves so completely?

Moleskine Exquisite Corpse Update

You might remember I'm participating in Moly_x_48 - a group of artists who exchange Moleskine sketchbooks and our theme is 'The Exquisite Corpse.' I've been way behind on this exchange but I finally put my entries in Emma's book.


The idea with the Exquisite Corpse theme is that the final books will have each page cut and divided into three. The images and words can then be mixed up by turning different parts of different pages, like the 'mix-up' books we had as kids.

To see more Moly_x's visit the Flickr group.

Wishing you a very merry Christmas (in July!)

Do these words conjure up an Australian Christmas for you??

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire
Jack Frost nipping at your nose
Yuletide carols being sung by a choir
And folks dressed up like Eskimos
(Torme & Wells, 1946)

No, not usually. Unless, of course, they refer to the Etsy Down Under Street Team (DUST) "Aussie Christmas in July" promotional weekend.


Etsy DUST members from all around Australia are coming together for one whole weekend - this coming weekend, 12.01AM Saturday 25th July through to 11.59PM Sunday 26th July (AEST), to showcase their talents & stunningly handmade creations.

All stores participating will be offering a promotion to their customers - free worldwide shipping or % off sales; a selection of items at reduced prices or reverse auctions.

With so much variety, including jewellery, children's clothing & accessories, art, supplies, vintage items, stationery & bags, you are sure to find something to suit each & every taste.

The DUST team will also be running giveaways for the entirety of the weekend, giving you the opportunity to win some fabulous prizes from Australian sellers. Poke your nose into the Etsy Forums during the promotion for your chance to win.

I encourage you to visit the participating stores, as well as our team website - http://www.dustteam.com/ - and support the handmade revolution sweeping Australia.

Stay tuned for more details as the weekend draws nearer... I'm joining in too of course! Check out the deals in my shop here. Or head over to the DUST website to enter the giveaways and you might win something special from me!

Laptop problems

I've been having problems with my MacBook Pro. I just picked it up from finally being repaired and only one of the problems has been fixed. I'm pretty sure the other was overlooked! Also it now has an additional problem! So as soon as Matt is back from his lunch break I'm heading back with my laptop again. Until I'm fully functional I can't say I'll be able to blog much, if at all. Sorry!

On the weekend I...

...went to Taree.
I work in a school. Sometimes the journal writing there inspires me to write. Looks like it didn't work very well this week.

What was inspiring though was the (can I say absolutely fabulous again?) Absolutely Fabulous Neil Cuthbert exhibition on at the Manning Regional Art Gallery.
I hadn't heard of Cuthbert before but wow! I now know. I love his paintings and it is a huge exhibition. It really is a 'must see'.
I'm often a bit of a sucker for a good narrative painting anyway, but these are really remarkable. And yes, I am inspired. I am thinking figurative narrative thoughts...
The Taree Regional Art Gallery was also the venue for the latest Building Blox forum I spoke at. Once again I was thrilled with the day. I met so many interesting people and I was able to spread the word about how Etsy is a great way for artists and crafts people to sell online. And about how DUST is a wonderful support network for Australian Etsy sellers. Doing something similar in Port Macquarie in the next few weeks. I hope you will come along if you can.

Um, what have you been doing?

I was 'busy.'

OK, prove it. What have you been 'busy' doing?

Um. Well. Lots of things really.

This is all very fascinating but do you think you could spice it up a bit for the readers?

I'd really like to talk about someone else, if you don't mind. Yesterday I met lots of lovely local artists and crafts people. I was lucky enough to be asked to speak at a Marketing and Networking Forum at Bellingen. We all had a great day. I'd like to talk about the people I met there!

Like who?

Well, Ashley Johnston was one of the other speakers. He is a local and international street artist and has now opened his own studio gallery. He was fascinating! You can see his work on Big City Freaks website. He uses Snarl as his street name (I don't know if he wants me to say 'tag' so I won't. There seems to be a lot of rules.)
Like what?

Apparently if one was just starting out doing a bit of graffiti here and tagging there, one would NEVER spray over the work of a better or more experienced artist (better, more experienced = respect). Apparently if one did there would be 'consequences.' The nature of these consequences were not disclosed.

Damn. I really wanted to know!

Yeah, me too. Maybe you could ask him when you visit his gallery. Head off to corner of Vernon and Duke Streets Coffs Harbour on a Wednesday or Saturday and Ashley will entertain you with delightful paintings of birds (Willy Wagtails are my favourite birds too) and other works on canvas with a graffiti flavour. And you can see his graffiti on the outside of the building too, or in 'Snarl Lane' nearby. Tell him I sent you.

Sounds like a really interesting day. Who else did you meet?

I met Jane Wilson, another local artist with more usual art practise than Ashley's, but no less an impressive one! The thing I particularly love about Jane's work is the range of her subject matter, from mandarines to the nude and from self portraits to landscapes. If you are near Bellingen you can see her work currently on exhibition in the Federal Hotel.
And the others?
There were lots! My friend Annie Matheson travelled out with me and supported me in that little rush of nerves just before I started speaking by giving me a couple of squirts under my tongue with a herbal remedy that really helped! She is such an inspiration in so many ways. I must have been able to inspire her for once because she rushed home afterwards and started adding more artwork to her Etsy shop. Now that is the kind of reaction I was after!

What were you speaking about at the forum?

I was showing off Etsy and DUST (the Down Under Street Team of Etsy). I showed how the Etsy site works, how easy it is to use and that it doesn't require a large outlay of money to get started. I also really wanted to show them the DUST team because it has been such a help to me personally over the last year or so and such a wonderful group to be involved in. I'm hoping that soon we will have a strong North Coast contingent in the NSW section of the forum. That's my goal!

What did they think about Etsy etc?

I'm pretty sure they enjoyed my talk, I know I got lots of questions which was great! I could really only give them a taste of it in the time I had, but I'll be sending them a list of links I've done up to help them get started. I'd say most of the people there hadn't heard of Etsy before yesterday. While the website it growing hugely I think it shows the potential of it's future growth. If we can all tell another 20 or so people who haven't heard of Etsy, well, that will be a great boost for makers from all over the world, because really, who can resist buying stuff off Etsy!?

I know I can't!

No, me neither!

One last question, when did you decide to take talking to yourself to the next level and start interviewing yourself?

It wasn't a conscious decision. It is something that just evolved. I quite like it though. I think I might ask you some questions next time, when I get the links to the other lovely artists I met. OK?

OK.

A different kind of printing.

I realise I haven't talked about what's new in my shop for ages which may have lead you to thinking there is nothing new and that's not true! I have finally worked out a way to create glicee prints (reproductions) of my paintings - a way I'm happy with that is. I have added some fantastic quality Arches watercolour inkjet paper to my stores in the studio and been looking into the ink quality that my printer can use as well as the quality of the prints and I AM happy! The prints look great and they will last 80 years plus! What's not to be happy with?
It means I can offer my art at a more affordable price AND it also means I can offer reproductions of paintings that are sold and therefore, up until now, were no longer available. Win win. I made up this little mosaic of my paintings to show what is available but please note that the prints themselves are not square as shown above (that's just how Flickr Mosaics does it). Click on the links below to view the full image.
From Top Left...
Waiting For Someone Special (blue)
Helping Hand
Wish You Were Here (blue)
Middle row...
He's a Suitor!
Waiting for Someone Special (orange spots)
The White Glove
Bottom row..
Blue Vessels (will be in my shop soon!)
Wish You Were Here (orange spots)
Cups and Bowl I and II

What Kind of Happy Are You?

Found this via Kyles (Thanks! - I sound fascinating!)

You Are Engaged

You feel completely absorbed and intrigued right now. You're cheerfully busy. You're alert and completely involved with everything you do. You don't walk through life half-asleep. If you're interested and engrossed, then you feel incredibly happy. You are constantly curious and never bored. There's too much to be fascinated with!

What Kind of Happy Are You?

Fracture Friday

Why fracture? Well, because that is my mum did this week. Hence not enough time to work out a different 'f' post for today. Ah, but there is always next week!

8 things

I just got tagged by Cath and its a good one:

8 things I am looking forward too:
1. Getting my studio organised (again!)
2. Having a 'normal' week (last week was ridiculous!)
3. Having time to catch up with friends.
4. Seeing my friends who have been OS for a few months.
5. Painting. (I'm always looking forward to painting.
6. The weather cooling down just a little bit more.
7. My holiday later in the year. (I'll tell you about that another time.)
8. Meeting Cath who tagged me!

8 things I did yesterday
1. Got to see my niece who I haven't seen for 18 months.
2. Went looking for a new chair for my studio and decided what I really needed was a new table.
3. Had lunch at a new cafe I didn't know had opened. Delicious!
4. Looked at photos of our trip to Paris etc again.
5. Lay down a lot.
6. Decided to participate in 'Saturday shopping list' meme.
7. Doodled.
8. Tried out my new water brush.

8 things I wish I could do
1. Loose weight.
2. Stick to a fitness regime.
3. Get a really big studio.
4. Have more time for making art.
5. Actually, have more time for all the things I want to do.
6.
7.
8.

8 TV shows I watch
1. Grand Designs (my favourite one too!)
2. The Cook and the Chef
3. House (it's a love/hate thing)
4. Scrubs
5. Becker (on DVD)
That's really it but we just finished watching these TV shows on DVD
6. The Sopranos
7. Deadwood
8. Dexter

8 people I am tagging
Oh, do I have to? Hmmm OK.
1. Erin
2. Sara who is renovating her blog
3. Gillian
4. LittleChrissy
5. Tiff
6. Chrisy
7. Jo
8. Jenn

Some silliness

I've been doodling.


I used to doodle a lot.
But I haven't for a long time.


I decided to do more doodling.

And this is what came out. Not what I was expecting.

I'm not trying to be funny. It's ok. You are not expected to laugh. I didn't.
Once I fell in love with Monty Pythons book about the bad poet (I can't remember his name).
I did a lot of bad poetry for a while. I still do occasionally. It takes a different type of skill to write bad poetry.
I don't think it takes much skill to write/draw bad doodles. Ah, but that's the purpose of doodles!

There's some good news and there's some bad news

Last week I asked if there were any good words starting with 'F' because I wanted to change the name of my Friday posts from 'Flaunt It Friday' to something more appropriate. Well, the overwhelming silence on your part has meant I've had to go and get down my own Dictionary and check it out myself. Thank you for that! There are lots of good words starting with 'F' as it turns out. So from now on my Friday posts will be tagged with the label 'Friday' and each one will have its own excellent 'F' word as a descriptive, starting today with:

Frontier Friday

Do you know Simon? Simon first attracted my attention with his blog title Paper Curious ~ I love it! I makes me giggle every time. He blogs about bookbinding and paper making and if you are curious, he makes some really interesting stuff, including little bank note books and shredded bank not paper. So clever! I know how clever he is because he generously sent me a little book and some paper. That's the good news.


The bad news is that my parcel was opened by the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service and three of the pieces of paper Simon sent were 'ordered into quarantine' (ie confiscated) for having plant material in them. When my parcel arrived it contained a letter from the AQIS, some forms and a brochure. It seems I have 3 possible courses of action a) pay $42.50 to have the papers irradiated (there is a warning that this may cause damage), b) pay $42.50 to have the pages returned to Simon and c) pay nothing and they will be destroyed after 30 days.


All this has brought our uniquely Australian 'problem' into my mind again, so I thought I'd remind you too. We need to think about this more now that our community is ever more global every day and the handmade revolution has us buying and sending goodies all over the place.


What can't be mailed to Australia? is the title of the brochure they sent and inside it has a long list including: meat and meat products, dairy, eggs and egg products, fruit and vegetables, plants and soil, seeds and nuts, plant material, live animals and animal products and laboratory material. It is the plant material section that got my paper 'removed'. It states you can't send these things to Australia: tea containing seeds, fruit skin and fruit pieces, remedies and medicines containing herbs, seeds, bark, fungi and dried plant material, dried flower arrangements and potpourri, dried herbs or leaves, handicrafts -including wreaths and Christmas decorations- containing seeds, raw nuts, corn, pine cones, grapevines, bark, moss, straw or other plant material, wooden items with bark or signs of insects present. I've looked longingly at many items on Etsy that would have been confiscated on arrival if I had bought them. It is something we need to think of before we buy.

But we also need to be careful when we buy things that do comply with the AQIS because how they are packed can also lead to problems. The brochure advises people mailing items to Australia to:

• Fill out the declaration label clearly and correctly. Make sure you itemise everything inside the package, including any packaging materials you've used.
• Do not pack items in egg cartons, wooden boxes or cardboard boxes that have been used to hold fruit, vegetables or meat/smallgoods
• Do not pack with straw or dried plant material. Use newspaper or foam to wrap fragile goods.

There is even a section on "cultural and seasonal events and quarantine." Don't send:

• New Year - ornaments made with straw, seeds and conifer sprigs
• Valentines Day - fresh and dried flowers
• St Patricks Day - shamrock plants and seeds
• Easter - hardboiled eggs, painted eggshells and straw or hay
• Chinese Moon festival - mooncakes containing egg yolks or meat
• Spring - seeds and bulbs (northern and southern hemisphere)
• Sukkot - etrog, branches of palm, myrtle or willow
• Halloween - pumpkins, corn husk dolls
• Christmas - decorations containing pine cones, vine wreaths, spruce; hampers containing prohibited foods

And let's not forget to mention the fines of over $60,000 for a breach. There is more information here.

Simon has taken the fate of his handmade paper well. I explained to him that because Australia is an island nation there are many pests and diseases common elsewhere that haven't reached our shores and we are determined (obviously) to keep it that way. His response was gold!

That's a shame. Something I'll have to bear in mind in the future. Don't worry, they're certainly not worth 43 bucks. Let them destroy them. Quite funny in a way, me producing items that could potentially bring down a whole continent!!!!

And if that wasn't enough the whole issue brings me to worry about the Community Sketchbook book I made Something of Value which I only just finished and blogged about last week. I'm kicking myself now because I did something I don't usually do and included some handmade paper in it that does contain plant matter. I know it is not a problem as I can send that to the US which is its next stop, but it probably means the book can not return to Australia (because how can they tell that it originated here?) and what if it comes up against the quarantine laws of other similar countries on its journey? I think I have only one option and that is to pull it apart, remove the offending paper and rebind it again. Now that is a shame too.