in flight entertainment

"what's that you're doing, dearie?"
asked the kindly flight attendant
in the gentle tone usually reserved for
the very young, the very old
or the deeply deranged

"stitching" i reply

"and what will you do with it when it's finished?"

"roll it up with leaves and cook it" i say

flight attendant backs away hastily

space

it's nice when there's a little space to do things
in between work [eg visit the William Robinson exhibition in Brisbane]

also nice to have space between works
such as those in the image below
laid out on the pavement
at the conclusion of 'fieldwork' [Queensland]
the space between
adds something to the work

and then there are other spaces
that appear unexpectedly
two are now available in the 'mapping country' class
first week of November at Mansfield in Victoria [AUS]

some of the beautifully dyed and stitched pieces from 
the fieldwork class

drawing by William Robinson

there's something magical about his paintings
he paints the whirled the way it feels
sometimes wrapped entirely around you
other times as if you're standing on a curvy bit
and the rest is falling away...

valentino

on my last day in Brisbane i had the opportunity see the Valentino retrospective
at GOMA [Gallery of Modern Art]
photography absolutely verboten
images below thanks to the Brisbane Times

there was a lot to see
and much to marvel at, however i found myself wondering how the wearers of these clothes
ever sat down, or travelled in a car or
heaven forbid
answered a call of nature

i overheard a number of people expressing disappointment
that Mr Valentino had not travelled to Brisbane for the opening of the show
however
after viewing the video at the exhibition
showing the Great Man slinging a relatively detail-free sketch
that hinted at a red gown
with swishy bits
at his white-coated seamstresses
and then criticising their valiant efforts
[as one of them said, creating pleats on the bias is NOT an easy task]
while a nearly-naked model
was treated like an expendable piece of meat
and his gushing sycophant aides purred
"it's SOOO Valentino"

i would MUCH rather
they'd sent the seamstresses out for the opening
after all
they were the ones creating the garments
and making them look fabulous
ok
enough. think i'll go and pour myself another saucer of cream.

there and back again

Sophie Munns has kindly [again] filled in a few gaps
you can read her version of events here ...

and there are a few more details over the rainbow

off again

i'm off again, this time to Brisbane
if you're in the region
and you'd like to cross paths
swing over to Sophie Munns' pages
to find out how that might happen

toodlepip

choice choosing chosen...but with difficulty!

the sun has risen on September 14
[Happy Birthday, Alexander von Humboldt!]
and i had the difficult task of choosing a story
from the delightful collection posted in response to
the laundrette picture

it was not an easy task - had finances permitted
i would have sent you all something
in the end
i settled on two
Shazz and Jude
so if you'd care to email me your postal addresses
something will wing its way to you shortly

and in other news
last week's retreat at Strathalbyn
turned out to include no less than three
sets of mothers and daughters
[four, if i count myself in two of them!]

my mother has kindly written about her experiences
you might like to read her views of the week
three posts so far, beginning here
then part two and part three

enfoldments, the travellers' notebooks

at Glenbarr, just north of Strathalbyn, South Australia
we spent a week dyeing paper, writing, stitching,
wandering and windfall gathering
we read our words aloud [this required courage]
we made folded books
boiled bark into ink
and sewed our interpretations of furoshiki [wrapping cloths]
to keep our precious treasures safe

ps i'm enjoying reading your contributions to the post below
entries close at midnight [South Australian time] on September 13
when i stop chuckling
i'll try and select a few recipients for parcels...

various things falling from the sky

it's raining here - dams full for the first time since 1997
even rained into my window last night [although the window is protected by a large verandah]
might be able to grow some vegetables
provided i get some time at home

speaking of which, shall be away for a week
at the Strathalbyn retreat
so i thought i would leave you with an amusement

the image below
of a steaming pile of wet AND burned washing
was shot by me in Fitzroy recently

i'll give a prize to the writer of the best story
explaining how the washing came to be on the pavement

here's the drum
join the happy band of followers
use the image on your blog with your story
link back to me in the post
and paste your story in the comments section below

the writer of whichever one makes me and Martha [my comfort cat]
chuckle the most
will be sent a surprise parcel
if the stories are really good
there may be more than one parcel sent out

entries will close on September 13th...

letting the cat[s] out of the bag

fingers crossed that Customs in Paris have released the parcel
in which case the Dresses
should be on display here
this month
but there's no point in me listing an address
attendance is [as i understand]
by invitation only
so i guess this is mere trumpeting on my part

oh and speaking of cats
the Watercats have a new blog
a kind of zen wandering
worth dropping into...