Turnip Bouquet

 Yep! you read that correctly. A turnip bouquet. Vegetables are now the new vogue in the floral arrangement world and leafy cabbages are rearing their heads in a variety of ways, The curly purple varieties of leaf are making outstanding statements along side the delicacy of roses. Deep dark blooms of strong character and defined presence.

Once arranged these ornamental bunches are photographed in subdued lighting and highlighting the beauty of such arrangements.
So inspiration is driven by one of these photographs. Which unfortunately I cannot reproduce as I cannot remember where the original source is from (so I could ask permission)

You will have to content yourselves with my turnip markings and the beginning brush strokes of this odd assortment. I must say I have quite enjoyed finding my rhythm in painting and mixing colour upon colour to make play of light.

So this is what we have so far, painted over an old canvas of a large frangipani flower. It will be waiting until next week sometime before I will be able to paint further. Unfortunately I will be working the nest 8 days out of 9 and do not foresee any free time where I will be fit enough to enjoy the lure of the oils!

A Day For The Birds

Suns out

Tides out 

'But the birds are all about

 Pacific Gull feasting on a crab, with common seagull on lookers - trying for a free feed!

I think this is a silver gull...lots of them lolling around in the sun and waiting for some unsuspecting kayaker to catch a free feed.

Plenty of time for preening...the tide is well out today.

Just a Galah

 I love the perspective and focus that a good lens can give. Whilst craning my neck to see what these two guys were up to,  my camera allows me to zoom in with ease and do a photographic study without diffuculty. I was far enough away from these guys that they felt comfortable with me calling out to them and that they would careen over and perch precariously on their chosen limbs and look at me..who know what they were thinking. Bathed in the evening sunlight they just seemed to busy themselves in consumables...not unlike some adults I know that bathe in the sunlight and concern themselves with pleasurable pursuits.

From the garden to the beach to capture the golden rays as the sun goes down. And once again you can appreciate perspective of the lens as it draws the distant in nearer and a fisherman becomes closer than you think

 The fisherman above and below is one and the same

 Can you see the boat in the distant horizon? It is depicted easily in the above shots and appears deceptively near.

Magnolia - oil painting

Over the last two weeks I have very spent very little time in the crafty arena, Although I would have had buckets of time last week with 5 days off, I was unable to do anything due to a very sore neck.

Following the 5 days off I started working full time..flat out busy at work and then collapse at home!

So today is one of the first days I've done anything for me. A little oil painting in a very pleasant splash of sunshine  ( following the mornings drizzly mist that threatened to cloud the day)

Anywoo this is my progress so far.

That blob of bright green is not actually part of the painting. It is old dry acrylic paint that fell on the painting when I was doing my clean up

Might have to buy another mini canvas for tomorrow!

Size 10x10 cm

Crochet Bag

Jordy sent me a photo of a bag she wanted crocheted (The original bag/photo is below but I am sorry I dont have the original source) I quite like the original bag and its colourings and thought it was a simple enough design  that I could manage it. Then she told me she wanted it in black. Cringe. I can not think of a worse colour to crochet with! My eyesight is not the greatest and black does not bode well with night time crocheting.  So this bag making event has strictly been limited to day time efforts. I started this the day before we went to Warrnambool so that I would have a project to do in the car . Several weeks later we are done.

The base of the bag is done in half treble, the sides in treble. The strap is double thickness so it doesn't cut into the shoulder when being worn. All in all not a bad effort and most of all Jordy likes it!

Threw a Frankenstein comment in for good measure! Hmmm

(street art - Goodwood road Adelaide - tattoo parlor)

The original bag (*Jordy didn't want the clasp included) and I made mine more of a V shape .

Fractured

I've been working on a quilt pattern by Kathy Doughty, an Australian designer who always manages to capture my imagination with her earthy tones and beautiful interpretation of patterns. This is still in pieces and some of  the blocks will be shuffled around. It is a little to dull in the bottom right hand corner but I still have several rows to add on before this quilt is big enough.. 

I will be sewing it together in rows of two and  then quilt as you go those rows together to make it a little more manageable on my machine.

I still have a lot of cutting to do, especially in the light coloured blocks but I find it hard to do any extended cutting quilting because I end up with neck and back pain... so slow and steady she goes.

A couple of quick snaps taken of the charity quilts that I helped make with my fellow quilters at Brighton Light craft . One for the boys and one for the girls.Sorry a little blurry.
My apologies for not being around much lately.. a bit lumpy in the tummy and family matters have kept me at bay. Also the computing room is freezing and I cant warrant heating it up just for me . See you soon when I am more inspired..plenty of half projects but nothing completed as usual!
Stay well, stay happy xx Blessings and best wishes to Kim and her husband , you are often in my thoughts.

Spanse of time

Sometimes people evoke words you do not expect. I went to the shops after the dropping my daughter off at school. A few moments too early for the department stores to be open I decided to bunker down in the coffee shop and spied an elderly couple savouring a morning coffee before shopping. They sat there, contented with each other, not speaking . I was tempted to grab my camera but didn't want to intrude so I started to scribble words that reflected a little of aging as a couple. It is neither happy or sad but reflective of them as a couple and my mood.

What happens when you run
out of things to say? Yet time
has whittled us so much away.
Worn and eroded like the
rocks lapsed by the waves of time
The ebb and flow, transient tide
and blistering sun.
wearing out limbs, perhaps feeble
of mind
And yet you still sit
opposite me
Crouched and bent, curved in the spine
Your gnarled hand buckled
Crooked fingers
Reach across the spanse
Say nothing.
Yet a glance,
a warm look
heart and promise held
within your eyes
We know each other
through the breathe of time