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.

...I simply remember my favourite things and then I don't feel sooooo bad

Making things, pattern, gentle rain, sleeping, old books
My latest entry in Clare's Moleskine for Moly_x_25. It's part of Moly X: An International Moleskine Sketchbook Exchange. This one is nearing completion. Look how full Clare's gorgeous book is now.
In fact, this one is done all bar Clare's own final entry. What a ride this book has had!

The Williams

Finally I have some art to post here!

My second entry in Tracy's Moleskine is titled "The Williams." Tracy's Moly-X-25 did not start with a specific theme but from day one has been destined to be a book exploring our favourite artists. "The Williams" is a homage to William Kentridge, William Morris and anyone named 'William' in a Boys Own Journal.

Flaunt It x Phrenology x Frenology Friday

Are there any good words that start with F?

I've gone off the idea of calling my Friday posts 'Flaunt It Friday'. I only chose it on a whim because it had a nice ring to it. Now I feel a little silly putting up a post that is categorised as flaunting every week. But I just don't know what to call it! These posts are a little dip into something behind the scenes. Well that is what I originally intended. Turns out that in the ensuing weeks very little has occurred behind-the-scenes what with my back, visitors and trips away. So today when it came time to flaunt something from behind-the-scenes, well, there is nothing.

Definitely time to change the name of my Fridays! But what to? While I was away I found a Phrenology head. I love it! So here is a post from in front of the scenes (now I know why that phrase has never become popular) but you must notice my phrenology Frenology friend in most of the shots!

The really avid reader may recall a very long long long time ago I excited announced that I was make THE book for Community Sketchbook's foray into the analogue world. This book will be sent from one sketch artist to the next where it will be slowly filled with eclectic sketched delights. Slowly over time it will be come something of incredible value, to the artists and hopefully the viewers too.
It is finally finished. I'm quite embarrassed at how long it has taken. Ah, but I'm very happy with how it has turned out! It has been made by rebinding a 1955 edition of Robert Ruark's "Something Of Value" published by Hamish Hamilton Ltd, London. The particular book was chosen for it's title, the size of the book and the fact that it was in reasonable condition. I have never read the book and don't really know what it is about! But it seemed apt for this project to me.
I began by disassembling it, removing the original book block from the covers and reinforcing the covers to help it to last its future journeys. Then I separated each page from the book block. Unfortunately it didn't contain much of interest (to the sketch artist!) in its pages, so while I selected a few to go back into the book later, I also dipped into my stash of pages from other old books to add a bit of visual interest with different sizes of papers and different subject matters. I cut the new pages from a variety of art papers - Arches 185gsm, both hot and cold press watercolour papers, my favourite sketchbook paper Art Spectrum Draw & Wash, Canson Montval watercolour paper, Stonehenge drawing paper, Canson acrylic sketch paper and some found papers including grid, exercise book and pages with writing guides. I stitched the new book block together with waxed linen thread and I am happy to believe it will make a wonderfully eclectic basis for a wide variety of sketches. Artists will be able to select a page that will support their kind of artistic expression. Text pages can be gessoed over or collaged onto. Watercolour pages can take other wet media and the drawing papers are very versitile.
I added 2 ribbon page markers to the book and new endpages. These I made from some really rustic handmade paper I found in our local artisan market down by the harbour. I really wanted to leave their deckle edges complete but they were just slightly too large for the book. A little bit of exercising the grey matter later I came up with what I think is an ingenious solution! I used the excess width to create a tab that I could sew envelope pockets onto both front and back. I made the envelopes so they still function well even after sewing. They will be great for artists to slip their cards, notes or info into so it is all kept together as the book travels the globe.
Once the book was firmly reattached to its covers I added a little pocket that holds a card of mine that documents the rebinding. I usually make these envelopes out of discarded pages from the book itself, but this time I was lucky enough to have the crumbling remains of the original dust jacket. I used the spine section with the title showing. To me it's a lovely way to keep in mind the origin of the sketchbook, which over time will look less and less like a novel and more and more like an artists sketchbook! I really can't wait to see what happens to our book now!

Check out the Community Sketchbook project blog and Flickr group!

If I tweet does that mean I'm a twit?

In my other life I am called upon to teach Twitter to unbelievers. I am constantly asked "what is the point? I just don't get why anyone would be interested?" I struggle to answer this with anything nearly as succinct as the questions. My eyes roll towards the heavens, hoping to catch a glimpse of a good idea somewhere up there in my frontal lobe. My words begin before my brain is ready and the consequence is I look like Ray Charles and I sound like Ronnie Barker as Arkwright in Open All Hours. It's not pretty (especially as I'm a white female!) I'm thinking I'll just show you why I am liking it so much. Mind you, it took me 6 months before I stopped asking myself those same questions!

Firstly, I use Tweetdeck to view the tweets from my peeps, or more correctly, my tweeple. (No, I don't know why we need all these new terms.)
This is a screenshot of my Tweetdeck which I have organised into columns for my various interests. This is a much faster and more effective way of viewing a lot of tweets than looking at the standard Twitter screen which is just one long list in reverse chronological order. I find that with Tweetdeck I can quickly scan 25 tweets and easily pick something that truly interests me, or scroll on until I do.

I can hear the sceptic in you saying "truly interests me!!!???" right now. OK, here is a smattering of stuff I've learned, laughed at and been happy to find via my Twitter friends.
22 interesting ways to use Twitter in the classroom via mashable
Slideshow of Turner Prize shortlist via ArtNet
Items for sale on Etsy tagged with Swine Flu via Etsy
Vindication for my innability to come up with a pat answer to the twitter question via notebookco
Boo is a good thing via Stephen Fry
In the US there are as many people earning a living as bloggers as there are lawyers via decor8
I wish I was going to Melbourne and the NGV via ngv
Up to the minute info on Australian artisan-made goodies and bargins via AusEtsyTeamDUST
My local paper tweets
There is only one town in NSW without a Twitter user - Gilgandra via OurPatch
Lots of gorgeous sketchbook drawings via Michael Nobbs

Ok, yes, much of what is on Twitter is innane, some is interesting, a few things are fascinating and occasionally they are big impact items. I think it is worth it. I feel more connected to my global art community, my Etsy friends, my Australian friends who I don't live near, and in a strange way, even my local community. It is not a high level feeling of connectedness. It is an everyday kind of connectedness, the kind we used to have with others before our lives and theirs became too time poor, too important, too busy. I frequently use the analogy of the school playground when describing what it's like to be on Twitter. In the playground there were 600 other kids and yet you knew what everyone was doing without talking to each one directly, someone would tell you something, you would over hear something else, you would bump into someone you didn't usually talk to, some how you just knew about everyone with no effort and little time input. For me Twitter is like that.

Follow me on Twitter! I'd like to follow you!

Flaunt It Friday Flat Out Friday

For this one time only Flaunt It Friday has been replaced by Flat Out Friday! This unremarkable day is being brought to you by my L5 disc bulge and from the horizontal surface of my bed. (I don't think they are going to get any ongoing sponsorship deals from this!)

Ooh la la - a French Flaunt-It Friday

The last in my mini series of posts about books from my collection. These ones I WILL be pulling apart and rebinding when I figure out what they 'need'.
From the top (above) we have Muirhead's Short Guide to Paris from 1951. It is the style of travel book I love most with lots of fold out maps and floorplans to major buildings. It is also set out as a walking guide so it tells you who or what happened in a particular building on a street and then walks you further along it and points out the next place of interest. I have found the 'recent' history very interesting as it is almost 60 years old and Paris has changed so much since then. It has other little touches that send it straight to my heart too, like a ribbon place marker and the original owners name and address penned on the endpaper (DF Woodhouse, 229 Stanley Park Road, Carshalton, Surrey, England). It's a little gem! (Open in front below.)

The second book (open at back above) is really interesting. On the spine it is titled The Silent Traveller in Paris, written and illustrated by Chiang Yee. On the front cover this information is in Chinese calligraphy. Published in 1956, the book contains beautiful watercolour and ink illustrations that are both very Parisian and very Chinese. It is a different way of seeing Paris. Unfortunately the cover is in quite bad condition so I don't know if it is a good rebinding project after all. I will use the pages at the very least though and might add them to the last book I've got here A Month in Paris by Mrs Robert Henrey (on the bottom in all three photos).

This gem of gems is from 1954. Why is it the gem of gems? It doesn't have maps, or ribbons or much in the way of illustrations (other than the portrait of Mrs Robert Henery by Honor Earl). I haven't read it yet but I will... before I spend my month in Paris later this year!!! Yes, that's what it has - the perfect title! This rebound sketchbook will be mine, all mine!

And strangely these last two books must have been in the collection of the one person before I collected them too. They both have watercolour blotches of colour on their foredges. You can see it in this last photo. There is no paint on the pages, just splashed onto the foredge. I can almost imagine the quirky studio of an travelling artist...

Creativity Unblocked

I've always been interested in the subject of creativity and read a lot about it. I realise now I don't mention it here much at all. Why is that I wonder? I think it is because I leave it up to the experts.

I am reading this post over at Pikaland about creativity blocks. Amy has put together advice from 40 artists on how they deal with the problem. In reading through I realised (again! why do I keep forgetting!?) that we are all experts on ourselves! I am an expert on me! (Actually, I'm glad it's me. I'd hate it if someone else had got the job of being an expert on me.)

I haven't got through the 40 pieces of advice yet, and I don't know if I'm just going to repeat something that is already there, but I thought I'd write about my technique I have to break through creative blocks.


When I can't begin or when I can't progress it is usually my inner perfectionist raising her ugly-but-well-maintained head. I have become too precious about the project, sometimes it is just an idea but already I see it as sooooo wonderful that I could not possibly do it justice. I become blocked. I can't do a thing. My inner procrastinator (actually, it is rarely 'inner' - it is usually my outer coating!) is remarkably skilled at getting me to the computer to spend hours looking at the work others are NOT blocked doing. Or to the bookshop where I'm sure there MUST be a book that tells me exactly what to do. (There never is.) I waste so much time that I have had to come up with a technique to un-precious-ise my idea.


My solution is volume. Instead of beginning the one perfect work, I begin 7. Or 52. Or 3 if I'm being a bit lazy. How can you be precious about 7 paintings!? Well, you can, but to a much lesser extent. I can even convince myself sometimes that it is OK to have, say 2 of those as just pure experimentation. As I progress on my array of works, some naturally slip into the 'later' basket and others I become obsessed with, working at them until they are done. Ahh. Now that is what I was after all along - a little obsession to drag me to the canvas again and again.


If this technique doesn't work I know why. Again it has to do with volume. I NEED a quantity of art materials waiting in my studio. If I'm using up my last canvases, or the 2nd last sheet of my favourite paper, I can't work. I need an abundance waiting on my shelves. This too is a preciousness. If it is the last squeeze of paint from the tube, then I must do it justice, I can't waste it by making a mistake. I find that with a draw of paint tubes I can 'waste' any quantity of paint. And of course it has not been 'wasted' but has gone into something I loved making.


So I go shopping. When I prioritise I often have trouble putting studio time up high on my list of things to do, but I don't allow myself the sabotage of stopping myself from spending money on my supplies. I know from grim experience that there will be no point in putting studio time anywhere on my list if I'm not well supplied.

Now, one of the reasons I'm mentioning this here is purely selfish. I wanted to remind myself of this. How is it I keep forgetting?

A Foodie Flaunt-It-Friday

Wow, it's Friday again already and I haven't managed an in between post. Oh, well - I will be posting more soon because I'm on holidays from work for a couple of weeks. In the meantime and in the newly started tradition of Flaunt It Friday, here are some books I wanted so show you.
Modern Gelatine Cookery is one of my all time favourite finds, so much so that when I found a second copy of it I snapped it up again - thinking maybe I could bear to pull it apart if I had a spare! So far it hasn't worked out that way. Let me seduce you with some culinary temptations - just remember - every single one has gelatine as it's basic ingredient! Mocha Cream Eclairs, not too bad so far; Chicken - Party Style (illustrated page 8) and no, you don't want me to show you!; Lobster Royale, why would you combine lobster and gelatine? and Jellied Borsch. There are whole chapters on Garnishing with Gelatine, Skills with Gelatine and in the Low Calorie Recipes chapter there is Fingernail Treatment, in between Weight Control and Tomato Cocktail!
The book at the front (above) is Better Homes and Gardens Salad Book. It was originally published in 1958 and my copy is its 10th printing in 1968 and yes, it encompasses the finger food of the swinging 60's. I think it was actually the inspiration for the food in the movie Mermaids! We are called to Mix grapefruit and orange sections in these inviting ways (serving suggestion) and there is of course, Summer Pineapple Platter. But wait! There is more gelatine! including Different: a "salad-sandwich" which has grapefruit sections in lemon gelatine instead of the top slice of bread! I'd better move on before I forget and mention the Grapefruit-Cheese Squares. Oops! Sorry.
Far less confronting is the book at the back Giving a Party, How to Survive while your Guests Enjoy Themselves, a hefty hardcover number published in 1980. Ah, the dinner party era! And what good news! - you will survive while they enjoy themselves! (Somehow that is not my ideal scenario for my parties.) I'm sure it has some real gems in its 245 pages. Just flipping through (no, I haven't read it) I found:

Boiled new potatoes
This familiar vegetable can be omitted for slimmers but is a delicious accompaniment to salmon. Boil the potatoes in their skins half-an-hour before guests arrive, skin them and put them in a fireproof dish with butter and a lid over them for half and hour.

Hmmm. How exciting. (Are they sure the guests will enjoy themselves?)

Sometimes I buy a book...

...and then think "I can't pull this apart!"
I probably will 'one day', when the project is just right. But for now I keep these on my shelf and look at them occasionally - in amazement! So I thought, in the spirit of Flaunt It Friday and showing you something from 'behind the scenes' I'd showcase a couple of these books - Rude Health, Mainly for Wives and Ideal Marriage.
Rude Health, The bedside book of better body knowledge by Dennis Rooke & Alan D'Egville, published by Heinemann in 1948, asks "are you bursting with vim, verve, vigour and vitality? Are you mustard keen? Do you go about the world pushing buses over, swinging on chandeliers and leaping five-barred gates?" With chapters on exercise, the simple life, diet, alcohol, doctors, patent medices, mental health and sleep it is in in keeping with the genre of the time - bad jokes in poor taste, ah, but it is a little gem of a book!
But one of my favourite finds is Ideal Marriage by TH Van de Velde MD, published again by Heinemann - only this time the publishers name seems to be a pun!
And what a popular book it has been, not only with me! First published in 1927, my edition is from 1957. Check out the reprints!
It is a scientific look at the topic of sex in marriage. The chapters include "glimpses into the general human physiology of sex, notes on the sexual physiology of the adult woman, definitions, prelude and love play, sexual communion and hygiene of ideal marriage." The introduction begins "This book will state many things which would otherwise remain unsaid. Therefore it will have many unpleasant results for me." It was the first book of its kind. It contains "8 diagrams in colour," none of which is particularly informative about the subject.

Slightly more pointed is Mainly for Wives by Robert Chartham. When I first saw the title I wondered about the subject matter. Would it have patterns for aprons? Would it tell me how to throw a dinner party? Would it have a recipe for pickled onions? I had to turn a couple of pages before the subtitle was revealed: A Guide to Practical Love-making. Unlike the previous book in which the contents ran for 13 pages of fine print, below is the contents page for Mainly for Wives. Simple and to the point! No pictures at all. I love a book that professes to teach all about sex to the uninitiated without any pictures or diagrams! I don't know what I'll do with these books, but I'll think of something!

And while I was taking these photos I took one of a little corner of my studio. It's organised in and around some old trays that my dad made for his workshop. I love them!

If you click here you can view this image on Flickr where I've added notes to tell you what everything is. I hope you are enjoying these little forays into the studio for Flaunt It Fridays. Let me know if you are with a comment. I'd love to hear from you!

Community Sketchbook Sketchbook

Last year I saw a note on Community Sketchbook about how the group wanted to make the jump from virtual sketchbook to analogue sketchbook. I contacted Shawna and volunteered to make the book. At the time I knew I wouldn't have much time to devote to the project and Shawna assured me they were in no rush, however, I didn't realise I would keep them waiting quite so long!!!

For details of what's in this photo click here.

They have been very patient! The book I chose to rebind for the project is titled Something of Value and I'm please to say that it has finally made it into my new book press!
I've been excited to try my book press out on a rebound book, and in spite of my best intentions, this is the first time I've tried it on one of my multi-signature rebound books. I already know it works brilliantly on single signature books and other minibooks I've made lately, but this is the purpose I most want to use it for, so I'm waiting with baited breath for the time when I can unclamp it in a few days time.

You may remember from a previous post about my book press, that it has an embossing plate as it's upper plate. The solution is to add a thick sheet of plywood under the top plate. This has been notched on the ends so as to 'lock' in place on the sidebars of the press. Without these notches the plate and consequently the bookblock too, rotates with the screw as the handle is tightened - not a good thing at all!

Monoprint Minibook Tutorial

This is my first post in the new series I mentioned in my last post - Flaunt It Friday. In these posts I will go behind the scenes and show you something a bit different. I'm kicking it all off with a tutorial - my first! If you find any problems with it let me know and I'll fix them.

I made these minibooks with monoprint covers. I made the monoprint in layers. The first layer was actually painted - a very large loosely painted version of the still life. The next layer a stencil of a medium size version of the same still life was cut from paper and used in the printing. In the final layer a stencil was cut of a smaller version and again printed. I loved the idea originally, but the scale of the work detracted from all the details and colour variations. So cutting it up was the best option.
These minibooks have mixed paper pages. There are local handmade papers, vintage papers, some of my prints, and offcuts of watercolour papers. I have used different sizes to make it a truly unique book that is suited to sketches, notes, stories, poems, journalling and collage. They could be a one month journal or themed artist books.
I also added a little drawing to each book.


Download the tutorial below and enjoy! And you can buy these minibooks in my Etsy shop as well.
Monoprint Minibook Tutorial

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