My Studio

I've just finished a painting unit in the degree I'm doing and I thought I'd show you the final exercise. It was about transformation of a space that we spend a lot of time in. I chose my studio as my subject. I started work in my journal. First I had individual photos of areas of it and journaled fairly usually about them. Then I decided to string the photos together, an 'analogue stitch' if you like.

Then I did drawings, sitting in the middle of the room on my swivel chair. After looking at them a while I decided to 'stitch' them together too.
I still didn't know what I would do, but I worked on each drawing individually, abstracting the main horizontal and vertical lines and creating shapes. I had an idea that I wanted the whole thing to have gentle greys with small areas of high colour, a visual symbol for how most of the work I do in my studio is fairly ordinary but at times something good is completed or a surprise occurs. I wanted these to be represented by intense colour but there to be few of them. After painting these new abstract sketches I found my pale colours were really quite intense anyway. I would need to go paler. Just for fun and to keep the whole process going I strung these larger works together too.

The final painting is 40" x 30" and titled The Studio. I challenged myself further by not using a brush, well not after the first white wash layer that knocked back my line drawing. I looked at each of the painted studies in turn and drew directly onto the canvas, adding the sections of each study that were the most successful. I didn't add them in visual order, sometimes working backwards and sometimes rotating the canvas. I kept looking at the work as a whole and trying to get it all to marry.

I used woolen blanket, sponge, glue spatula, palette knife and sandpaper to apply the paint. When I tried to add the intense colours some of the areas 'worked' and some didn't and needed to be painted over. They don't stand out now but they are there. This painting taught me something about what's important. It isn't those intense coloured 'spots' of creation, but it is the ordinary work that achieves nothing more than itself that is most important to me. I have tended to focus on my occasional 'stars', their colours can be distracting, but ultimately it is the muted but colourful greys that fill my day and create their own kind of beauty.

Our Hearts Were Young And Gay - A Black Friday Steal!

You’ve gotta love that there was a time when this book title meant something completely different to how we read it now!

And that’s what this book is about, two friends, Cornelia Otis Skinner and Emily Kimbrough, who dedicated the book ‘to our mothers.’ Published by Dymocks Sydney 1945 this is the 3rd edition of the 1944 book. So popular was this book that it was made into a movie! ‘This edition contains illustrations from the Paramount film of the same name with Diana Lynn as Kimbrough and Gail Russell as Skinner.’ The book tells of their adventures while travelling and has a note at the beginning ‘Lest the reader should be in any doubt, we wish to state that the incidents in this book are all true and the characters completely non-fictitious.’ Ah, those were the days.
The book has a rusty red bookcloth cover with printed black text on the cover and the spine (yes, the spine printing is upside down!). It is in reasonable condition but shows some wear.
The original endpapers had nothing special about them so I could remove them which give me a much greater range of options for adding things in the rebinding process. So now this book has these inclusions:

* 44 original pages scattered throughout, some with photos or illustrations
* 4 pages vintage sheet music with fold-ins
* 12 pages mixed exercise book pages with lines, guides and/or grids
* 4 pages vintage book pages, some with my Gocco print designs
* 8 pages of my Gocco test prints, various designs, overprints
* 28 pages Arches 185gsm rough coldpressed watercolour paper
* 20 pages Canson Montval 200gsm coldpressed watercolour paper
* 12 pages Art Spectrum 190gsm smooth Draw & Wash paper
* 4 pages Mont Marte watercolour paper
* 4 small pages Arches 200gsm smooth hotpressed watercolour pages, folded
* red ribbon closer
* natural coloured textured ricepaper endpages
* yellow and white striped headbands
And if that’s not enough, I’ve reinforced the spine to keep the book going another couple of decades! My rebound books make great sketchbooks or journals. I use high quality paper and archival bookbinders glue, pastes and materials. I allow each book to ‘tell’ me how it wants to be reborn so they are all very different.
And all my rebound books, including Our Hearts Were Young and Gay, are part of the Etsy Black Friday - Cyber Monday sale! 10% off! But the price will go back to normal on Tues Dec 2. Check my shop for more details and browse the rest of the great sellers at Etsy for bargains in this promotion.

Black Friday Sale - Rough Justice

A gorgeous little book, Rough Justice by CE Montague is now a gorgeous little sketchbook or journal. The red bookcloth cover has a phoenix debossed on it, the spine has gold text and a gold floral emblem pattern as well. The front and back covers have debossed double line borders. The cover is in excellent condition but shows its age with wear at the base of the spine from where it has sat in bookcases for who knows how long.
I haven’t been able to determine how old this book is as it has not copyright date. That in itself indicates it is at least 60 years old and comes from a time before copyright dates were routinely added to the information about a book. The author has written the book in memory of ‘F.F.M. who died on October 30, 1925.’
When the endpapers in a book have nothing special about them I remove them when I rebind a book because it allows me to do more to it than I can otherwise. This book was one of these and now has a host of new additions like:

* 24 original pages scattered throughout
* 8 pages old sheet music
* 16 pages old exercise books with various lines, guides and grids
* 4 pages of my Gocco printed designs on found book pages
* 8 pages of my Gocco test prints (random designs, overprinting)
* 20 pages Arches 185 gsm smooth hotpressed watercolour paper
* 36 pages Canson Montval 200gsm medium watercolour paper
* 12 mixed Canson Montval, and Mont Marte watercoloured papers, some with bottom folds forming tuck-in pockets
* textured chartreuse ricepaper endpages
* black elastic closer
* yellow tape measure page marker
And if that’s not enough, I’ve reinforced the spine to keep the book going another couple of decades!
My rebound books make great sketchbooks or journals. I use high quality paper and archival bookbinders glue, pastes and materials. I allow each book to ‘tell’ me how it wants to be reborn so they are all very different.
And all my rebound books, including Rough Justice, are part of the Etsy Black Friday - Cyber Monday sale! 10% off! But the price will go back to normal on Tues Dec 2. Check my shop for more details and browse the rest of the great sellers at Etsy for bargains in this promotion.

5 new books and a sale!

Well I've been busy getting ready for my latest Uni submission (due tomorrow) but that hasn't meant I've been doing nothing else. I've carved out a little spare time to make some more sketchbooks/journals. I chose this bunch from my stash of old books with interesting titles, or some other feature and have rebound them with beautiful papers into something special. I've detailed all their special qualities and their secrets in my Etsy shop and to save repeating myself I've rigged it so if you click on the pictures here it will take you over there where you can read each story for yourself. I hope you will because this bunch is really special.This one, My Confidences has a ticket I found hidden in the pages, a lost bookmark from a time long past.

Rough Justice is the next little beauty. Because I let each book 'speak' to me of what they would like to have when rebound, each book is really different. This little one has the most features of any I've made so far. And it is on special until December 1 as part of Etsy's Black Friday/Cyber Monday promotion.


Those were the days! Our Hearts Were Young And Gay - this amazing title is now an amazing journal for you to record...
...well, record whatever you like! The book was so popular they made a movie about it and this book has photos and illustrations to prove it!
Growing Up has a tape measure page marker so you can keep track of how much you have grown while you journal in this rebound book.
It also held a forgotten fragment of a time past, lost within it's pages for 60 years and now bound firmly into the book and no longer over looked. Click on the photos to take you to the page that will tell you the story.
By Word Of Mouth was just crying out to have it's Library past reinstate and now it has the envelope to prove it.
Turquoise, white and black pattern make this book really gorgeous on the outside while the inside holds yet another secret. If you'd like to know what it is, click on the pictures to visit the Etsy page that tells you all about it.

This is my Christmas stock in the book department of my Etsy shop so if you were considering getting one for someone special, or better still, for yourself for Christmas, this is the time to buy. And as I mentioned before, for the next 4 days they are on a 10% off sale. I've been thrilled with how popular my rebound journals are so have a little look.

I've also Gocco'ed up some Christmas cards which I hope to list in my shop as soon as this Uni assessment is out of the way. I'll try to post some of my work from it here too.
Cheers!

The verdict is in...

...this header is a bit bleak.
So it's off to the dusty folder in the back of my hard drive. I'm bringing back my previous header until I make up a new one. As I have changed my header a few times now, and there is no way of seeing the old ones after they have gone, I've decided to record them here. This is a close up of one of my paintings and is the one I'm changing back to.This one is a part of one of my prints. I had it for a while earlier this year.
I had this shot of one of my journals up for a long time. I can't remember what I had before it.

Should you feel strongly enough I'd love a comment to hear what you like to see up top on my blog. Thanks in advance!

Want a little elf to help with your shopping?

If you're like me you are looking for the perfect present and all the while have no idea what that might be! How good it would be if someone could just narrow down the choices and give us a hand. Well, now there is a place to get that help. Yeee Ha!

Click on the DUST logo above and it will take you straight to the Gift Guide! There you can select you sections from baby, children, teen, him, her, everyday (up to $20), wedding, crafters, gourmets, bad ladies, bookworms, jewellery addicts, enviro friendly, art lovers and luxury! Phew! That is a long list but how helpful is this!

From there you are taken into a world of handmade goodies that will not only please you and your givee, but also help support and artist in Australia! Now that feels good!

Exquisite Corpse Moleskine Exchange is underway

I've finally finished my pages in my own Moleskine for the moly_x_48 - The Exquisite Corpse exchange.
Yes, I went with playing cards, and as I said over at the exchange blog, that happens to me a lot.
These pages will eventually be cut twice (dividing them into 3) and the book will become a mix-up book, where my images and words can be mixed with the other 12 artists work and create... well crazy mixed up pictures and sentences.
The Moleskine exchange group can be found over at Flickr. It is becoming a huge group now and there are new exchanges starting up all the time. Join one. You will love the experience. I'm in 3!

Temperature's rising...

...it seems to have curdled my brain.


Firstly I suddenly had to go away for a week. It was a bit crazy. I was either flat out, exhausted or had lots of time to kill. It resulted in some journal doodling which I haven't had time to do lately.
Secondly, I made a new 'artwork' today...
This is the view from my lounge/dining into the kitchen...
No comments on the mess you may or may not see here - I didn't clean up for the shots!
Ta Da! And here are the after shots...
Thermometer creates a dialogue with the adjacent room which has shape and colour as it's dominating theme...
It also 'speaks' of the function of the room itself... (it gets hot)...
...as well as linking the Aboriginal art objects (I bought from a local artist) to their natural environment...

...yes, I did it as part of my uni course. I'm a shocking house painter, but I quite like it!

Roly, Randomness and a Sword-Swallower

For those of you who are new around here, Roly is my boxer dog. He is getting on in years now, is arthritic and grey but it doesn't stop him from bounding around just like he did when he was a puppy. This undying love of all people, places and things has meant there are a lot of people around who have a very soft spot for Roly. My friend Monika is one of them. Yesterday was my birthday and look what she made me! This photo was taken hurriedly after we had eaten half of them and suddenly thought to record the moment. You think eating a Roly cupcake is a bit strange? It is nothing next to seeing what two people do when they decide to share one!
Here is the mugshot view. The middle one is Monika's tribute to the face Roly accidentally pulls when his lips get caught behind teeth. Isn't she clever!
In other news, I've just updated my shop with two new rebound sketchbooks/journals. These handbound rebound journals (my Perfect Journals) have been quite popular and sell out fairly quickly so if you are interested in Random All Round or Memoirs of a Sword-Swallower check them out over at Etsy.
The cover of 'Random All Round' is still in excellent condition inspite of being a first edition from 1960. The dust jacket wasn't in such good condition, but still good enough to be reborn as endpapers inside the front and back covers.
I added a ribbon page marker, headbands and when I rebound it I reinserted 36 original pages along with mixed watercolour and drawing papers to make a total of 132 pages.
Memoirs of a Sword-Swallower is the story of the author Dan Mannix and its cover shows its age - it is also a first edition but this time from 1951. Again I added a ribbon page marker and headbands.
In this book I also added a vintage library due-date slip and envelope inside the back cover. The endpapers are retro striped paper.
In rebinding this book I again added a mixture of high quality watercolour and drawing paper pages along with 46 of the books original pages, including two photos, one of Mannix swallowing his sword and the other of him fire-eating.

Both books would make really fun sketchbooks or journals to record your own adventures in. What a lot of fun I had making these! I'll be a little sorry to see them go.

Moly_x_portrait1 Update

Yes, still catching up on my exchanges. This one is of Remi and myself done as part of moly_x_portrait1 exchange. For this exchange we do a portrait of the books owner and a self portrait before sending it on it's way. I got the idea from a photo of Remi on Flickr in which he was looking very French. A little bit of escargot and a meat pie and tomato sauce later and voila!

What is it with BIG things?

Ok, I said I'd show my books, I know. This is a book but it is not one I made. This is my latest entry in the moly_x_25 Moleskine exchange. I managed to do this after work today and it is another thing off my to-do list and happily on my done list!!! If things go according to plan I might have another to show tomorrow...

Coffs Harbour has two main tourist attractions. One is the Pet Porpoise Pool which is an excellent spot to kiss seals and pat dolphins and even have a swim with them. It is always a great day at the Pet Porpoise Pool. The other is The Big Banana.

There is a little artistic license in this sketch. I left out the gift shop, the snack bar and the History of Bananas building. From this perspective you can't see the lolly (sweets) factory, the puzzle shop, the toboggan ride, the snow slope, the ice rink or the water park, so it was easy to leave them out.

There is a fine tradition of Australian artists sketching and painting Luna Park in Melbourne. I love these works. They capture the essence of the conflict between fun, fear and sleaze in Luna Park and other attractions like it. When I look at them I wish I lived in Melbourne to be able to paint it too. Then I realised - we have the Big Banana right here! I could paint it. That idea was firmly implanted into my 'one day' basket right up until Clare drew Luna Park in Kerry's moly and posted it off to me to follow on. Too good an opportunity!

But it's not the same when it is a conflict of fun and sleaze only, without the fear. I'm left thinking 'it's just a big banana.'

For more information on Moleskine exchanges visit here.

The post you have when you're not having a post

Yes, I'm alive. I've spruced up my banner. What do you think? I'm getting through a great long list of things to do (oh, I wish I had some spare time). I've put in my uni assessment, made a couple of books (show and tell here soon), been away, made some amazing caramelised onion jam and am slowly catching up on the rest of the list. I've also spruced up the banner in my Etsy shop and more importantly spruced up my prices. There is no financial crisis in The Little Shop of Horus - only financial bonuses!!! The Aussie dollar is down so that means my prices are down too. There had to be some good news this week!