I’m sorry Mrs Prendergast

The school I went to in my secondary years, had a compulsory ‘Dressmaking’ class.  While mildy fascinated (my mother sews), I mostly saw this class as a great opportunity to have a chat and relax in between other subjects.  It seemed a bit of a laugh and impossibly easy to avoid doing any actual work.  [...]

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White

Yesterday we packed provisions and warm clothes and drove up to Lake Mountain to see some snow.
There was tobogganing, and snowman making, and snowball fights. Here is Horatio the third. For some reason whenever we make a snowman his name must be Horatio. It kind of suits him anyway don’t you [...]

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Free-range Work in progress

work in progress – Free Range.
This has been a hectic week – for lots of domestic and head-splitting reasons.  I missed my usual Dr Sketchy (burlesque life-drawing), and am still burning for the lost opportunity.  It’s my little bit of self-indulgence and a super-great way to forget about the domestic responsibilities that are a part [...]

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Transform and roll out

Click, zoom, scroll, comment, flick, new page.  Silence.
……
My broadband account for the month has been all used up, and I blame Youtube.  My son spent hours during the holidays trawling youtube for demonstrations of ‘Transformers’ toys, and now – quite alarmingly can do a fairly good impersonation of a 25 year old overweight american man [...]

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The horse has bolted

The horse has bolted, Oil + wax on linen, 2007.
New painting from me for the Caulfield show coming up next month. The horse in this painting represents mother nature to me, and the woman, our confusion about how we got ourselves in this situation. Hopefully it’s not too late, or we can reach [...]

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self-portrait wednesday

Feeling very constricted today.  I have painting commitments, family commitments, personal commitments, monetary commitments.  Responsibility aplenty and all I want to do is go and lie somewhere in the sun without any worries flitting through my head and breathe deep and just be.
Don’t get me wrong.  I’m not sad or anything, I am just feeling [...]

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Comfort

Detail of new painting – Comfort. 120cm x 120cm. Oil on Linen, 2007
I finished this painting yesterday for my dear friend who has just moved into her palatial new home.
I’ve known my friend since we were 17, had heard about her for a long time before as she went to school with my [...]

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Wabi-sabi and fluffing around

There is (taken from an interview with Susan Borham – Sunday Life magazine), a Japanese aesthetic called wabi-sabi “about humility, imperfection, asymmetry and the passing of time, as in the way materials weather with age”.
I’m coming to truly fall in love with wabi-sabi, and love having a name to apply to it. The things [...]

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Mixtape

A new magazine called Mixtape – a collision of craft, eco-cool and pop culture kitsch is soon to be released with a kids art project from yours truly inside. Isn’t the cover wonderful!
I’m afraid I’m a little bit late in pointing you in the right direction (life just whizzes by here). Pre-orders have [...]

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Respecting simple

It’s rainy days like these, when it’s nice to stay inside, take things slowly, and savour the gentle moments we take for granted.
Things like, the satisfaction one gets when cleaning out the crumb tray on the toaster, nestling clean bowls together, washing up after a successful breakfast and loading the washing machine.

Deciding to top-stitch the [...]

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