a collaboration

life seems to be steaming by like Niagara Falls.
blink and another month goes by.

since my last offering here I have become a grandmother.
other grandmothers will be smiling quietly to themselves as I confess that I have totally fallen in love with the tiny buglet.

In between cuddling the wee one (and making silly hats for her) I have made another course for the School of Nomad Arts - this time it's an offering for February. It starts now (four months ahead of time) so that participants can prepare by doing a bit of preservation dyeing.

And then (on my way to Maiwa in Vancouver) I've been in New Orleans for a week or so, working on   a piece of cloth and a short film, to which local guitar legend John Fohl has kindly added a soundtrack.

Wanna see it? click here 

blues, riverside

i left Portugal behind [with some reluctance but also with plans to return]

headed for another good place

back to the beautiful Tay River at Newburgh, Scotland

to immerse myself in two days of blues

with none other than the bluesmaster himself,  Michel Garcia

my banana blues in New Orleans were good

but his henna blues were better. much better.

and of course being back at Big Cat Textiles is wonderful

Nettie and Alison gave me such a warm welcome

and when i tottered down the street for supplies i bumped into several people i knew

Newburgh really is another home from home

and then there's the bonus of peonies
[these are in the garden of the lovely woman who bakes our bread]

and down the lane near the river are spectacular dark-leaved, pink flowered sambucus

now i have two days in preparation for 'being there'
and there may just be a little more indigo dyeing this weekend
because i have to maintain my blue fingernails

so i'll leave you with another bluesman
the fabulous Hugh Laurie

humming happily

i'm humming along happily in New Orleans

as a guest of the Joan Mitchell Center

working on a project for an exhibition next year

under the supervision of an old friend

the silk for the project was a kind donation

from my longtime friends at Beautiful Silks

and i have the offer of back-up studio space at NOCCA 

through my lovely friend Nikki Jackson

+

one thing often

leads to another

 and when i need a break from stitching

music is never far away

later on, wandering home

i step into a flower shop

and am given another present

a twig of Eucalyptus polyanthemos

which, oddly enough

was just what i needed

 

more green

i am on Madeline Island
midst fields of green but slightly nervous to tread in them
having already been attacked by the dreaded chiggers
not to mention ticks literally raining down on me
every time i am foolish enough to set foot under a tree.

there are big ones and little ones

those little ones at the bottom are particularly insidious.
apparently they like to attach themselves to gentleman's vegetables.
they are hard to spot and can give you Lyme disease.
i am very glad i am not a boy.

green abounds in our samples

 in the instruments we make
to apply proteins to our pages

and on a hill

though there is less of it on the other side

a little way down the road i find peony heaven

so far we have limited ourselves to using colour
literally gathered within 500 yards of the cauldrons

after class hours i play music amplified by a jug
which is a good deal cheaper than extra speakers
every bit as effective
and amusing to look at.

the Madeline Island School of Arts prides itself on its food [on the website at all events]
but does not provide evening meals.
for those of us without transport [such as yours truly]
this has meant a simple diet of corn chips-washed-down-by-gin for supper.

this evening i discovered a clean cauldron in my digs
and cooked soup [lentil+potato+squash+corn] for my students.
in the absence of herbs [none that i could find at all events]
i flavoured it with peanut butter, garlic, chili and maple syrup;
dressing it with a mix of yoghurt/green onion/lemon
which some of us also anointed with Tabasco.
it sounds vile but was actually delicious.
sadly the visuals did not match the flavour and so i shall spare you an image.

and now
i have to get back to my sewing. i have a Fall collection to construct
so every non-teaching [waking] moment has to be put to good use...

stardust and stabbings

stardust has been replaying on constant loop
in my head all day
after hearing a wonderful version
played by Paul Williamson [and the rest of the Gianni Marinucci Swing Train]
at the Paris Cat last night

 

thanks gentlemen, it was a splendid night.

and for those of you who expect dye stories here

i do have one.

a vicious needle bit my finger 

and drew rather a lot of blood

so

in the spirit of waste-not-want-not

i bundled a leaf into the cloth i used to mop the blot

blood proved its worth not only as mordant

but also as adhesive

the leaf [bougainvillea] stuck firmly top the bloodstain

but not to the rest of the cloth

variations on a theme

saturday night on the sofa [happily still with the dog]

well, you know what they say

the devil finds work for idle hands

been doing a bit of rummaging

[cos i've been having trouble threading needles in the dark]

just substitute SF for LA in the song...

and then there's this one

the Animals had their tuppence-worth too

for the secret romantic

or for some spectacular frocks

more Montreal musings

best meal in Montreal

spinach salad [with chipotle peanuts, smoked blue cheese, grape tomatoes, goddess dressing and cajun seasoning]

prepared by The Precious

in the helltell icebucket

served in gelato containers saved from SOMA

[in Toronto, go there]

and eaten using nifty stainless steel chopstix

[that double as felting tools]

acquired on Stockton in San Francisco

that's my laptop cover serving as table cloth

wool fragment dyed with

windfalls gathered on the Mo[u]nt

silver and sugar maples

and some oak leaves [not shown]

wrapped around that nice dogspike found in New Orleans

on the tracks down by the Mississippi

here's what we're going to do next

and

in between

yesterday i had a day off

so I went to Memphis

as you do

and here are some things i did for the first time

drove a Chrysler [likely also to be the last]

walked down Beale Street [and back up]

ate catfish

drank a Hurricane

helped count 127 churches along route 64

the visit was short but sweet

but i'll be back sometime...

let it shine

remember that scene in the film 'Love Actually' in which Hugh Grant's character is door-knocking in search of his beloved

and some small precocious children demand that he sings Christmas carols? remember the look on his face as his minder joins in with a deep and lovely rich fruitcake voice?

i had such a moment today, attending the funeral of an old family friend. the congregation rose for the singing of the 23rd psalm and suddenly the most wonderful tones emanated from the gentleman next to me, a deep and glorious tenor with the velvety texture of dark chocolate that has been gently warmed by an open fire.

and it was generously loud.

so i joyfully sang harmonies, reflected on the great pleasure that singing with others can give and thanked our departed friend for having this other friend

who brought such delight on an otherwise sad day

the way of the duck [and an angel playing piano]

yesterday was a truly splendid day

it began well

i awoke breathing

[always a good beginning]

the sun shone and twinkled

on ice-rimed grass

and the spring blossomsnow

was everywhere

we wandered to the farmer's market

a happy saturday habit

where we found

among other things

ducks

cartoonist Michael Leunig has good advice

'study the way of the duck'

these ducks had good ways

obviously

they needed to come home with us

and join the other rescued ducks

who knows what fates might otherwise have overtaken them?

someone might have thought they were food

not recognised their real purpose as great teachers

and philosophers

so here they are

with their new friends

i mentioned earlier that it was a splendid day

a wonderful day for weeding

finding small things that had been buried in the garden

and forgotten in the general buzz of things

there are few activities quite so satisfying

as carefully weeding out grass

from in between the freesias

while an old

and slightly tubby

Border Collie snores contentedly nearby

observed [a little disdainfully]

by a small fluffy CatfishWeaselBear

[for enlightenment scroll down the right hand side

to the image labelled 'Martha']

at sunset my parents and i

washed our hands and faces

put on clean socks

and tucked fresh hankies into our pockets

got into The Beastie

drove to Adelaide

and sat rapt in the audience

as David Helfgott

played piano, like an angel on speed

a truly splendid day

ps dear Mr Leunig, i know your images are copyright but i hope you don't mind me borrowing them cos they do link back to your site...

ohio

Petrus kindly reminded me of this song...nothing like music from the good ole daze




and while we're at it here's another one



and just to finish up...that view looks much prettier at sunset...most things do

be sure to wear a flower in your hair

i still cherish the memory of running long-haired and barefoot in the park on Russian Hill [in San Francisco] at seventeen; accompanied by a borrowed dog. the white cheesecloth top i lived in back then is now worn by my eldest daughter and somewhat threadbare ...the flowered skirt still exists as testament to my much-missed waist. reader, i was sylph-like in those days. 

now some 33 years later i wear shoes and carry a batfone - but the ringtone is Jimi Hendrix "purple haze" and the alarm call is Janis Joplin singing "summertime" [in duet with Jimi]

so you can imagine my delight when i spotted this glorious chariot in the carpark of the public house at a nearby village.

it's good to know someone is still wearing flowers in their hair... 

this version was recorded in Stockholm but it's no less a pleasant trip back in time...and here's that purple haze....

windfalls and whimsies

after teaching in Canberra for the weekend i trekked still further north ... in order to dye a wedding dress using windfalls gathered in the wild by a magical river. no images of the dress available though, it's top secret for some time yet...

on the other hand i have an abundance or river images ... something we've a lack of here in South Australia!