Daybook entry #9

Outside my window ... not today, but recently. 

Today is equally cold, but regretfully no snow.

From the kitchen ... a birthday cake for my now 10-year-old blossie. She requested a Beanie Kid cake. Thankfully daughter #1 rose to the challenge and produced this masterpiece for her sister!

 For those uneducated in BK mania, Beanie Kids are little teddy bears, unique to the Australian market I think. New designs are released each month, in every theme you can imagine. They are inexpensive, addictive and very collectible. 

Source

I am stitching ... blocks for a new quilt using the lovely Figtree Quilts 'Strawberry Fields'.

I am reading ... the last couple of chapters of 'The Help'. I have been searching for some time for 'that book you just can't put down'. I found it in this book. It is the story of black maids working for white housewives in 1960's America. It is at once heartwarming and infuriating! A wonderful read.

I am inspired by ... a creative website that I came across during the week, Dear Photograph. The site invites you to take a photograph of a picture from the past matching it to the same place in the present. A very cool concept! 

Source

I am listening to ... a beautiful song by a young Aussie songwriter, Jamie MacDowell, written for his sister and played at her wedding. I bet there wasn't a dry eye in the house!

Have a great weekend. Bloom x

Two favourites from the Art Express exhibition

Back to our visit to Art Express, an exhibition of the best of last year's Higher School Certificate works. One of my favourite works was an astonishing drawing, worked in graphite on recycled library books.

Regretfully, I didn't get a photo of the work in its entirety. It was displayed at knee level and was roughly a metre square. Discarded library books were pieced together to form a 'recycled' dimensional canvas.

The artist purposely illuminated sentences from the books. Her drawings were beautiful, especially considering her chosen canvas. It is hard to believe these works are done by 17-year-olds. Amazing talent!

A second of my favourite pieces was 'The Good Wife's Guide'. This one made me smile! It is a clever series of photographs inspired by a set of 'housewife's rules' that the artist found in a 1955 issue of 'Housekeeping Monthly'.

From the artist: "These rules, placed on women by women, are my way of representing the impossibility of perfection and, through humour, deconstructing our futile struggle to achieve it."

The artist must have had a ball dressing up as a '50's housewife for the photographs. Although each image is so carefully composed and detailed that it must have take her an eternity. She also prepared a poignant video to accompany the stills. I have included a few of the panels for you to see. If you click on each image, it should be large enough for you to read. Enjoy!

Warming the cockles of my heart ...

... or perhaps stomach! Not sure that stomachs have cockles? 

A cold winter's night in Bloom country is conquered with some warming French onion soup. 

french onion soup

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

6 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

7 onions, peeled and thinly sliced

salt & pepper

1.5 litres good quality beef, chicken or vegetable stock

8 slices sourdough baguette, toasted

gruyere cheese, grated

Put butter & oil into a thick-bottomed, non-stick pan. Add garlic & onions, season with salt & pepper and stir. Put a lid on pan, leaving it slightly ajar, and cook slowly for 50 minutes, stirring occasionally, without colouring onions. 

Remove the lid for the last 20 minutes so the onions become soft and golden. Stir occasionally to prevent the onions from catching on the bottom.When the onions are soft, add stock. Bring to the boil, turn the heat down and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. 

Ladle soup into four bowls, top each with two slices bread. Sprinkle with grated cheese and put bowls under grill to melt the cheese.

p.s. poorly focussed photo = direct result of Bloom's raging hurry to devour soup :)

Sweet girl, are you sure you want to be an artist?

We visited our Regional Art Gallery during the school holidays. Our eldest daughter (15) is on the brink of choosing her subjects for her Higher School Certificate, and is contemplating choosing Visual Arts. To help her to understand the commitment involved in creating a HSC Major Work, we took her to a travelling Art Express exhibition, a diverse showcase of the very best artworks from last year's HSC. Oh my, what astounding talent was on display, and what sophisticated ideas portrayed. Here are just a few of them:

 
'Personal Sanctuary: If you are alone, you belong entirely to yourself'

Printmaking: oil-based printing ink on Fabriano paper

"Popular culture has warped the term 'intimacy' to mean purely physical pleasure. I diverged from this ... capturing moments of inner tranquility of individuals in their personal environment"

 
'Once Upon a Time'

Graphic design: acrylic paints, textas and varnish on wooden skateboards

"A representation of the contrast between the naivety of a young, innocent child and the confronting search for identity found in an adolescent"

 

'Set in her Ways'

Sculpture: an entire dinner setting made from hot glue

"Art nouveau designs symbolise the extremely precious and intricate nature of families, despite their increasing tendency to be replaced, lost or forgotten in today's society"

 

'Illumination'

Painting: acrylic paint on canvas

"Brushstrokes ... gently move, silently with the morning light seeping through the window ... creating a concentric pattern of radiating light that mimics the continuity of life and spirit"

 
'Conflict of Interest (inner)'

Collection of works: mixed media on wood

"This piece ... questions the preconceived notions we hold regarding the nature and definition of hypocrisy by exposing the complex nature of the subconscious"

 

'Heading Towards Annihilation While Engaged in Trivial Conversation'

Sculpture

"Bright unnatural colours comment on the lack of knowledge of the dodo's true appearance ... (and) act as a warning about other endangered species that are in imminent danger of extinction"

 

'Facial Facades'

Drawing: charcoal on paper

"We don't quite remember when we were children why we were so good at getting what we wanted ... children are brilliant actors, it comes so easily to them"

 

'Eliphant, Bich, Barbq 

(Elephant, Beach, Barbeque)''

Drawing: pen on paper

"I want to take you inside a dyslexic head. Eliphant, bich, barbq, three words that I could not spell as a child. Red crosses dominated my exercise books. I felt a failure. I finally learned to spell elephant, beach, and barbeque ... Looking through dyslexic eyes, things move, are complex and always changing. There are feeling of confusion and frustration. For me, there was eventually calmness. "

Our visit to the Gallery was perhaps secretly intended to intimidate my daughter into choosing a less challenging HSC subject. As it happens, she came home excited, inspired and even more encouraged to follow her artistic heart! 

I would love to hear of your favourite artwork from this post. Or perhaps your experiences in getting a child through Year 12 Visual Arts :) I have saved two of my very favourite works for my next post. Stay tuned!

A new Frilly Dilly for a winter’s day

I put the finishing stitches on my winter Frilly Dilly last night, in time for a very wintery day in town and a visit to the local art gallery (more on that in my next post).

The fabrics are a muted (not mutant!) hybrid of French General and Barbara Brackman I think - I don’t have the fabrics at hand right now, so I will check that and be back with more detail.

I have used an interesting brown herringbone-weave linen as the base of the bag. I found this fabric ages ago in a remnant bin at a furnishing fabric store. And I used an old wooden buckle that I picked up on my travels. Both have been waiting patiently in ‘the abyss that is my sewing cupboard’ for just the right project.

I tend to live in jeans in the winter, and this frilly dilly just feels like it was made to live with comfortable, old denim. And comfortable, old me as it turns out!

I barely need to say it, as I have made so many of these bags, but the pattern is Janelle Wind’s ‘Frilly Dilly’ bag. You can find availability details for her patterns on her blog.

Something to read with your Saturday morning coffee

The very first issue of Etzcetera magazine arrived in my inbox today. 

Etzcetera is a brand spanking new digital publication headed by Australian talent, Kim Archer. The first issue is free for your reading pleasure, available at their website. It is a fresh and inspiring read, true to their theme of 'craft ... lifestyle ... family ... home ... you'!

I am especially excited about this release since the Stitching Editor is none other than Janelle Wind, one of my favourite Aussie designers. Warmest congratulations to Kim, Janelle, and all the editorial staff and contributors on a thoughtful and visually beautiful launch issue. I will certainly be reading it with my coffee in the morning.

Bound for Botany Bay

I spent two days this week as a parent helper on a Year 4 Australian History excursion to Sydney. What a great time we had! Well, it was great once we'd survived the bus-sickness chain-reaction vomiting on the trip down! Our first stop was the Old Schoolhouse at Rouse Hill, on Sydney's outskirts. It was built in 1888, and has recently been restored and opened as a hands-on exhibit of early Australian education. 

It afforded a fun opportunity for the kids to dress up and step back in time.

Back to a time when boys dipped their hats, girls curtsied and all children were silent and straight-backed!

To a time when lessons were written on slates, or with nib pens and ink. And if you stepped out of line, the cane was liberally dispensed. Our modern day children were suitably horrified and fascinated!

As if they knew I was coming, one of the activities was a lesson in the 'sewing room'! It was special to see the boys taking to the hand-stitching with relish & boisterous enthusiasm.

There was a wonderful original reference sampler, partially stitched on the wall.

Of course, I was drawn to the botanical designs!

The highlight of the trip for me was visiting the Royal Botanic Gardens. We had wonderful, knowledgeable guides, who talked us through the indigenous and settlement history of the Gardens. And pointed out trees with excellent 'boomerang potential'!

We also went to Hyde Park Barracks, a world heritage listed convict site built to accommodate convict men and boys. It was designed by architect Francis Greenway, himself a convict transported for forgery. He was responsible for many of the significant early colonial buildings in Australia.

The students were particularly excited about trying out the sleeping accomodation - a closely strung succession of hammocks, barely wide or long enough to sleep an adult.

 

Wandering through this historic and very beautiful part of Sydney with the students was such a treat. 

I spent my University years in Sydney, but never seemed to make the time to appreciate the wondrous history that was on my doorstep.

On our way back home, the bus driver took us over the Harbour Bridge. One of the girls next to me started jumping up and down in her seat excitedly, her eyes sparkling - this was her very first time on the Bridge. Witnessing her genuine joy was so lovely!

The excursion left me with a sense of how privileged our children are, with how well Australia is conserving its history, and how teachers are worth a lot more money!!

Something for Kate ... at last!

This little quilt has been finished for a while now, and has been patiently waiting to have its photo taken. The weather remains dismal, so she is not in her best light.

It is (unsurprisingly!) a gift for Kate, a new niece.

The fabrics are from Melanie Hurlston's happy fabric range called 'Little Menagerie' for Windham Fabrics.

The fabrics feature owls, monkeys, and elephants in Melly's inimitable sweet style.

 

The pattern is the little version of my 'Abracadabra' pattern.

This quilt makes me happy. I hope it makes Kate happy too :)

An open garden

The weather has been cold and miserable here, and not conducive to photography. In lieu of sewing news, I thought I'd share some photos of a local garden we visited recently.

The garden is set stunningly amongst rolling hills, lined with vineyards.

The thing that impressed me most about this garden was the extensive and clever use of perennial plants.

It was all I could do not to whip out the secateurs and pinch some cuttings :)

The silver birches were just turning their brilliant yellow at the time, ready for leaf drop and preparing to show their beautiful, white & spotty legs!

I love the use of spiky plants in a garden ... 

... and I'm also a fan of grey or purple foliage. This garden had it all.

There was a significant collection of roses ...

... in every colour imaginable.

Brilliant splashes of cherry red coreopsis ...

 ... and deep gold and russet red.

If purple is more your style, it had that too: 

 And of course, there were plenty of spots to just sit and admire the view. 

 It is the Queen's Birthday long weekend here in Australia. I am looking forward to getting my hands dirty in my garden. Have a great weekend. Bloom x