Some news!.....(and monkeys).

Once again, despite my best efforts I have failed in my goal of blogging at least once a week. As a result, this post is going to be a bit all over the place as it's been a busy couple of weeks with several pieces of news I'd like to share.

The first is that I will be exhibiting at Imagine Gallery in the UK in October 2011. This is incredibly exciting for me and even though it seems like a very long time away, I have already begun making plans for pieces and will be working exclusively on these by the end of August this year. This is a beautiful and highly regarded gallery and I am honoured to have been invited to show my work there. You can visit John Foley's blog about gallery life by clicking here. I am hoping to travel over for the exhibition, so I hope that those of you who can will come along and make yourselves known. Final dates etc. are still to be determined, but I will keep you updated here and on the website.

I am also very happy to have been asked to customize a "Schaffa" for this years fundraising exhibition. The photo at the top of the page is the template that each artist receives, to do with what he will. No prizes for guessing the theme I'll be going with.......but we have been asked not to reveal the final design in its entirety until opening night (again, date not yet finalised), so all I'm giving away are these two early stage close-ups. The pieces will be auctioned for charity and exhibited here during the SALA Festival and then travelling around Australia. Very exciting!

Speaking of SALA, I will be having an open studio during the Festival, mainly to make people aware of my new location, but also to show some new pieces and of course some works in progress. I always enjoy chatting to visitors during this time, so I hope to see some of you here!

Over the past month I've also had a 'work experience' student from the local high school spending each Tuesday with me in the studio. Shannon is a very talented 15 year old who is interested in sculpture and digital art and she has been learning some skills here with me while working on her own projects. This has been a thoroughly enjoyable experience all round and the fact that Shannon has Asperger's syndrome has made it all the more rewarding to watch her achieve her goals and take pride in her work. I'm continually amazed at what a hard worker she is, ploughing on even when the work becomes repetitive and (dare I say) boring. I've taught many adults in the past who could learn a thing or two from this young girl's perseverance and commitment.

So all in all a busy few weeks! I'll be adding a 'news' page to my website soon, which will have all of the details of upcoming events as they are finalised.

The bottom two pictures were taken last week at Adelaide Zoo, a short but fun day with my friend Linda that was filled with mad scrambles for photographs, unwanted reflections, potato wedges, lizard vomit and beautiful animals who smugly turned their backs or disappeared entirely whenever we approached their enclosures. Out of the hundred or so shots I took, I was most pleased with these two.

Till next time.

Warning! Long-winded post with too many pictures.

I have to admit I've been in a bit of a funk after our return from Melbourne two weeks ago. Each time I visit my home state of Victoria, and in particular it's bustling, vibrant and fascinating capital city, I find it harder and harder to leave it behind. I was born in Ballarat, a beautiful, historical town only an hour or so from Melbourne, but my family moved to South Australia when I was very young, so my earliest memories of Victoria were formed some years later when we went on holiday to Melbourne.....I was twelve and I fell in love with the city instantly. I've visited Melbourne many times, but over the past few years we've been exploring more of Victoria and it seems that each region we visit is more beautiful than the last.

This most recent visit started out as a birthday gift from my husband, to take me to see the Ron Mueck exhibition at the NVG. We soon decided that we would take our two youngest, Grace and Noah, with us as they were only babies last time they visited Melbourne.

So, we started out in the city with the incredible Ron Mueck exhibition. I took far too many photos to post (more of them are on my facebook page) and we were also unexpectedly fortunate that the "Mary and Max" exhibition was on at ACMI as well. Adam Elliot is an extremely talented Australian film-maker and the exhibition was a showcase of puppets, props and drawings from his stop-motion masterpiece "Mary and Max". We were all so excited by this exhibition that we went back twice and now Grace has decided that she wants to be an animator! Since we arrived home she has been busy working on the characters and sets for her first animation experiment. We also visited the Melbourne Aquarium, Museum, Luna Park, Lygon Street and Southbank. We took a day to explore the Mornington Peninsula with it's gorgeous coastline and beachside towns and on the drive home went through Daylesford and the Macedon Ranges and stayed (unexpectedly, because Noah became extremely car-sick on the winding roads) overnight in Halls Gap in the Grampians which is the most spectacularly beautiful place I have ever seen.

While it is always nice to come home to your own bed and of course to friends and family who are close by, I would be lying if I said that I wouldn't prefer to live in Victoria....especially if I could bundle up everyone I'm close to here and take them with me! However, we will be back there later this year for the Tim Burton exhibition......!

And so I've been working my way out of my post-holiday 'funk' and have built a new little guy who has just caught a faerie (of the tiny, winged variety) and isn't quite sure what he's going to do with it. I've also posted a drawing of a very 'Froud inspired' goblin which may or may not make it into three dimensional form. I'm trying very hard to incorporate more drawing into my work days and am particularly enjoying charcoal, which is odd because it's a medium that I truly hated in my younger years....the grubbiness used to really bug me, now I love it....strange.

Till next time.

New goblin & new website up and running!

I am officially exhausted....I completely forgot how much work it is to get a website to a reasonably workable state....even with the joy of the iWeb templates. The most frustrating part of the whole thing is that while I can get the site looking lovely on my Mac, not everything translates as well on a PC.....which means I can't have reflections, some fonts or other twiddly bits (I believe that is the technical term) that I really like. Despite this, I'm pleased with how it looks. I've retained the easy navigation of the old site, but added in some nice options like slideshow on the gallery pages.

I've decided to open a shop page on Big Cartel for small items like cards and bookmarks and I hope to have this up within a few weeks (there will be a link on the website 'shop' page). To me, the site looks cleaner, brighter and less cluttered. I'm sure there will be adjustments along the way and of course the site will grow as more new work is added, but for now it's another task struck off my list.

The little creature pictured above is called "Bristlecone" and he's a Common Pine Goblin. You can check out his page here.

Hope you enjoy the new-look site. Please let me know if you experience any problems with it and I'll do my best to rectify them.

Till next time.

"Stacks on".....goblins!

This past week has been a strange one. There were some definite high points (the completion of the "Dragon-snail" piece and its almost immediate sale being one and a thoroughly enjoyable visit and picnic with a treasured friend being another), but it was also a week of emotional lows which have left me feeling flat and mentally exhausted. In a previous life this kind of week would have seen me diving under the doona, emerging only for Cheetos and a family block of Cadbury chocolate but, I've discovered something....I can still work. Actually, it goes even further than that. If I commit myself to working even when things are going badly, not only is the work often good, I find myself going off on unexpected tangents which may (or may not) result in some satisfying artwork down the track.

Drawing in particular is cathartic for me and somehow allows me to see things more clearly and in a much less catastrophic way. Although I wasn't conscious of it at the time, the drawing that I did on Saturday (top photo) is a pretty accurate depiction of my feelings at the time.....I just thought I was drawing goblins.....

So, although I'm not terribly happy with certain events in my life at this time (and before you lovely folk start sending concerned e-mails, please let me clarify that there is no illness, death or divorce involved, mostly just disappointment and mostly with myself) I am cheered by the knowledge that I am no longer reduced to being a non-productive basket-case just because I'm feeling down. It's very odd when you think about it...I can think of no other profession that lets people off the hook (of working) so easily. Sometimes it feels as though any excuse is a good excuse to not work....no energy, no space, no money, no time, no motivation, no inspiration.

On the subject of 'inspiration' I'd like to make mention of one of my very favorite artists (and writers), Ursula Vernon. Here is a wonderfully entertaining (and in my opinion, spot-on) article written by Ursula for EMG-Zine on just that subject. (If you enjoy the article you may like to check out Ursula's bizarre and brilliant world at Red Wombat Studio)

The up-shot of all of this is that I am carrying on regardless. I've built a small(ish) goblin and have started painting him.....yes, he does have a blue nose and he will also have blue-tipped fingers and toes. I've also been completely re-designing my website.....after three years it's well past due for an over-haul and I'm completely 'over' the black pages. The new site will be lighter and brighter and I'm thinking of moving my shop page to ETSY.....haven't made a final decision on that one, so would definitely welcome any thoughts and opinions.

I've also posted a shot of Sunday nights magnificent sunset and one of the full moon several hours later.

Here's to a better week.

Till next time.

In the wild.....

As soon as I'd finished making this piece I just knew that I would have to take it out and photograph it in a natural setting. There are some lovely little "faerie spots" near my home, so early this morning, while the light was soft and there was no wind, I set out for one of my favorites. This old Peppercorn tree is such a perfect faerie haunt....it's down some secret stone steps and sits right on the banks of the little Angus River.

(One day I'm going to make a faerie boat (with faerie crew) and photograph it amongst the reeds and duckweed.)

It was important for me to establish a strong relationship between these characters....love, trust, comfort and acceptance....all the things we hope to feel within the family unit. And of course, the fact that they are 'travelling' symbolizes our voyage through life and the fact that we are always on a path heading somewhere, however ponderous it may seem at times.

So, now I have that lovely feeling of having completed one piece and ready to start the next....an earthy little goblin I think, with teeth, big feet and an oversized cap on his head. That's the plan.....for now anyway.

Till next time.

Slow going on the 'snail' piece....seems appropriate.

The "Dragon-snail Travellers" piece is progressing well, but slowly. All of the painting is finished now but the costuming is proving to be a little more problematic than expected due to the position of the characters....this afternoon I had a total 'brain fuzz' and almost dismantled four days work(!).....luckily, I stepped away for a much needed coffee and when I returned I realized that I was on the right track after all. It's times like that I really envy people who work in teams with other creative souls (truthfully, this envy is short-lived....if I know anything at all about myself it's that I do not play well with others)....

So, I've posted a few semi-cryptic photos and will hopefully complete the piece over the next few days.

Oh, and today I ate a big salad for lunch and everything in it came from our garden....

Till next time.

Adelaide Festival & life in our garden

The Adelaide Festival and accompanying Fringe Festival is officially over. In one way I feel as if I should have made the effort to see more, but on the other (much more grounded in reality) hand, much of the stuff I did see was disappointing to say the least. I think I've spoken before about 'concept art' and my increasing intolerance for it and I'm the first to admit that I understand little of what is happening in the world of contemporary 'Art' with a capital 'A'.

What I can say, and this is only personal opinion, is that a fair amount of the visual art I went to see was derivative, dull, (in some cases) poorly constructed or it was so bewildering that it failed to engage the viewer in any way. I have to ask the question, 'who are these artists making this work for?' I just can't bring myself to stand in front of a pile of string, scratching my chin and nodding in that insufferable way that suggests I actually see a deep and profound message in a tangle of knotty fibers (this is a totally fabricated example....I'm not referring to anyone's work in particular, but I think you get my drift).

However, there were some highlights for me. The Helpmann Academy Graduate Exhibition had some fabulous work by Klaus Gutowski, Joshua Searson and the extraordinary charcoal drawings of Kim Buck. The Samstag housed an amazing, huge sculpture made entirely from styrofoam cups and hot glue and the Biennale at the AGSA was home to my personal favorite; papier mache and inked sculptures by James Morrison.

The absolute winner for me, on every level, was Amococo, a construction by The Architects of Air and designed by Alan Parkinson. I visited this incredible structure twice (took my kids the second time and they LOVED it). The three photos at the top are shots that I took from inside....the color was so intense in some areas it was almost painful to look at it....we were immersed in color. A wonderful experience and one that I highly recommend, if you get the chance.

Other than Festival shenannigans and sculpting, most of my joy at present is coming from our garden. The no-dig beds that my husband built several weeks ago are flourishing. We have beetroot, peas, beans, assorted lettuce, spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, onions, carrots, radishes and marigolds (because they're beautiful AND they confuse pests) practically leaping out of the earth. Our herb garden is now threatening to cover the path into the backyard and the smell of sage, thyme, rosemary and mint permeates the air. This past week has also seen our three chickens begin laying and our beautiful walk-in aviary (another of Guy's wonderful constructions) is a hive of activity with our quails hatching eight tiny chicks and many other birds nesting.

So that's pretty much it for the moment. I've started painting the 'dragon-snail' piece but am being slightly thwarted by a burst of hot weather (the paint dries too fast on the polymer clay)....I'm afraid the air-conditioning in our house doesn't quite cut the mustard, but we press on regardless.

Lots of projects on the go and some exciting things in the pipeline. Hope to fill you all in soon.

Till next time.