Sunday 25 April 2010

just quickly

needing a chip wrapper?
Home Beautiful [in Australia]
has a familiar story in their May 2010 edition


and now back to the grey walls
where i am seriously tempted
to add a little guerilla decoration...

still life lives







am spending time
wandering hospital corridors
truly depressing places
despite all the good they do
thank goodness for the batfone
something to play with
when one is sent out of the room
while they poke and prod

posting may be a little sporadic
over the coming weeks

Friday 16 April 2010

Eyjafjallajokull....days or months?


when pootling about the whirled i have sometimes wondered
just what i might do
if the political situation changed
and it became difficult to get home again
but
i never considered volcanoes...
if the eruption in Iceland continues
then the consequences are likely to be
very interesting

these streaks across the sky might become treasured memories
instead of visible reminders of aircraft exhausts

Thursday 15 April 2010

in the cauldron



a happy day
playing in the cauldron
dyeing presents
for a friend

Monday 12 April 2010

nine-patch











a random vertical nine-patch
of happy-snaps
in and around my studio
nerines blooming, paint peeling
the studio angel
wondering when the next candle will be lit
a pile of sticks
and a small splodge of red dirt
collected in Andamooka years ago
we're in autumn now
means i can light real fires
and gaze out through that window
with the rusted bicycle chain
and the glimmer in the distance

Sunday 11 April 2010

reflecting on possibilties


next year sees another big meeting
for plant dye enthusiasts
ISEND2011 will be taking place at La Rochelle
in France
in the last week of April

so i've been thinking about what i might be doing
around that time
and have decided on two things
one will be a five day workshop/retreat in the UK
[first week of May 2011]
the other will be a four day retreat in Belgium
[16-19 May]
revisiting the beautiful garden that i fell in love with last year
[yes, i know it's not the Netherlands
but it's much closer than Australia]

so those of you who have kindly enquired
when i might be teaching in Europe
have a year's notice to keep space in your diaries
in case you're still interested
details will be on my website in a month or so

time is short so i won't be able to stay much later
or travel much further
[except to catch up with friends and family
in Austria and Germany]
as i have commitments in the U.S.A.
in the following month
and need to go home for a fresh pair of socks
in between


Friday 9 April 2010

saved again

just as i was pondering
how artists survived in the days before credit cards
[in general they didn't do well until they were dead]
and thinking how nice it would be
if institutions that issued invitations to teach overseas
would forward something to the bank balance
at the time one is buying one's ticket for long-distance travel

a small note arrived from my publisher
advising me that royalty payments had been added to the jam jar
[i'd forgotten that such things might be due]
which rather saved the day

so THANK YOU to all those kindly people
who have purchased a copy of Eco Colour
for that which i have received
i am TRULY grateful!


on another note
the pictures pasted together here
are all of one species of Eucalypt
Eucalyptus gillii
every part of this lovely tree
offers delight in the dyepot
as well as for the eyes
hope they delight you, too

Monday 5 April 2010

take it as red


while playing with a bit of reddish dirt
from the back paddock at home just now
i remembered there was still another camera
to download from the Flinders wandering

here's a nice finger painting from the Dogs/Gods above


the image below is from the inside of a curious vessel


used to hoist mud from the bottom of a well
during the construction stage
the little holes are for the water to run out
while the mud and rocks are being hauled to the surface


orange hills in a jewel-like landscape



contemplation of 'labours' at the end of the week...

Sunday 4 April 2010

odds n eKs



here we are in the driest [and least fertile] season
in the driest state
on the driest continent
in the sunny South
and Easter

- the religious festival of re-awakening
built around the much older Northern ceremony of renewal
[Oestre] that took place annually around the vernal equinox
with the arrival of the spring and the first eggs -

is in full swing
everywhere folks are celebrating
some by attending horse races [where horses are thrashed over obstacles at full gallop]
many by consuming vast amount of chocolate
and some by attending church
where their numbers are swelled
by what a cousin of mine refers to as the
"taucher Christen" - the "diving" Christians who bob up in church at Christmas and Easter

the older i grow
the more confusing it all appears
whatever your beliefs [or not]
i wish you a pleasant weekend

Thursday 1 April 2010

moreNorthpix



there were
petroglyphs at Chambers Gorge
and way up high at the top of the cliff
swifts were nesting
and making a spectacular aerobatics display


i collected bits of bark
and odd stones


even managed a swim in a crystal clear rockpool
the fat tadpoles kindly moved over and made space
the last time i saw the North look so green
was in 1989
the year my son was born

but there's a price to pay for greenery
here are the flies on my friends hat...




last light in the red dust
with modern technology
any idiot can take a good photo....