Artnomadix Wearable Art

35Degrees Centigrade and Rising

2012-01-08T21:08:00.000-08:00

...well ... I am resting today !! .... it's over 36 degreesC here, (97F) and I've only just bought the thermometer outside and the mercury is rising ('twas 35 as I brought it from inside 2 minutes ago.........
'tis so hot I forgot what I went inside to get ......and just got the camera'/puter cable to start doing pix from saturday and yesterday ........
a while ago the breeze from the fan 6 feet away seemed to stop !! .... I think the air just got tooo thick for a tad .....?
37 already ..... it feels like it is over 40 ! I bet it is out in the sun ..... it'd have to be !!
Came home early from The Channon market yesterday

as soon as cars could move thru the packing stallholders, and as the drummers and dancers were just getting going at The Chai Tent ........ where Amanda (Blossum) has garlanded everyone with Marigolds !(had to drive home in the hot westerly sun !! 'tho !

Our Art Cafe went Brilliantly and everyone was most impressed
...... we gained an active new member who learnt to make Toasted Foccacias and has delegated herself 'publicity officer' !! hehe

We'll be getting her to send an invitation to the CEO of DreamWorld,to our next ArtCafe, He/she Flew down to Tyalgum in 3 Jet Helicopters for lunch at Flutterbies Cafe !!! ....landing and taking off out the front of hall beside the Tyalgum Cricket match ! 'Twas all on in Tyalgum ! (our sleepy little village )
37.5 now ! and rising
Thought I post my chat comment from over in our DUST forum thread as
seem to be writing in there than ever posting in here ...... just about to
'process' my recent photos and then I'll maybe add them in here too
it got to 38 and dropped back to 37 ...... 'tho I hopped into the cooling
overhead waterfall of my new outside/undercover shower several times as it
rose and fell
Put thermometer out into the dappled shade for a short while and just
checked it 41C.. (103F)

15th Annual Beaniefest @ Alice Springs

2011-06-25T02:18:00.000-07:00

My 'Mother Earth with First Breath' hat has won the Champion Elements category for this years Beaniefest's theme In our Element : Earth Fire Air and Water

It started off with the sky and the clouds...... and as I worked down I just had to finish it off as a newborn baby sized hat, as it just looked so cute at that size, I couldn't imagine spoiling it.

It sat for a few months as I began a couple of 'volcano' hats to go beneath it.... but neither of them was going to work as they'd be hidden.

Finally with time getting shorter, I decided on a second sky hat with a central hole for the mother's hair to cascade like a waterfall, and attach the baby's 'First Breath' with a crochet Dragonfly Brooch, never having crocheted with wire before! Having created the first one I realised I'd need two more to secure the baby Breath of Sky hat ....( they were great fun to make )

Living in an extinct volcanic Caldera made me wish to include Mt Warning into my hat .....so around the brim there are two active volcanos either side of Mt Warning and then two mountains of earthy rock to their sides.

I really love being involved in the AliceSprings Beaniefest, as it really stretches my creativity each year !

Artnomadix Wearable Art: Stand in the Sand

2011-05-29T19:09:00.000-07:00

Artnomadix Wearable Art: Stand in the Sand

Stand in the Sand

2011-05-29T15:25:00.000-07:00

Nearly 3,000 people Stood Together In The Sand (STITS) on Byron Bay's Main Beach yesterday May 29th, followed an hour later with nearly 3,000 down at Austinmer Beach in the Illawarra to form the words "Stop Coal Seam Gas!".

I'm Standing with my Rainbow Sun Umbrella and two yellow Lock The Gate Triangles
The weather turned on another specky array for us like the 3,000 strong rally in Murwillumbah on 14th May, where we had a Rainbow Corona high in the Ice Crystal Cloud honour our presence below.

We had an amazing build up of tumultous mushrooming, towering clouds as we drove down from Tyalgum in a quite 'cool' morning, with rain predicted for sometime later.....

The Clouds held back, out over the Ocean allowing all to enjoy a glorious Northern Rivers autumn day ....and only came in over land for an afternoon/evening torrential downpour !! We were so lucky ! This morning it's grey and drippy wet again, out here in the hills

I didn't have my camera as the battery charger for it is dying, waiting for a 2nd hand DSLR to arrive in the post any day now .....(fingers crossed) ...so these are photos from the plane or helicopter and Michael Mc of NRG....the Northern Rivers Guardians.

And another from Ashley, who got the Byron STITS going after hearing about the Illarwarra one on Austinmer Beach near Woolongong.....

Circus Skills at The Channon Market

2011-05-29T08:31:00.001-07:00

Circus Skills , originally uploaded by ArtNomadix.

Someone just added this pic to their favourites, on Flickr, and it reminded me of the weather back in early 2008....

Via Flickr:
Out on the oval, a new stall has set up, teaching circus skills to all those wanting to learn juggling and other skills.

It's been so wet since this was taken I'm not sure if they've been back ......or if they were nomadically 'travlin' thru..........

Oh bring on the 'Dry Winter' ...'rumoured' about today ......

Our last market day at The Channon ....was a beautiful exquisite autumn warm day just like this.........after near on 2 years of fairly constant rains every month, with sporadic dry & sunny 'glorious northern N SW' weather.
Today we had perfect sky weather down at Main Beach Byron Bay, for a 3,000 person Human Sign for Aerial Photos.......

An incredible Array of Mountainous Mushrooming clouds ...out to sea......Towering over the Land.......waiting for the Event to Enjoy The Sun, The Wind, The Water,
Those Clouds .....came in as we finished and later the heavens opened and cleansed us yet again

Beaniefest time again

2011-05-27T05:11:00.000-07:00

Aaaah I have finally sent off my 12 hats for this years Alice Springs Beaniefest.
The theme is 'In our element - Earth, Air, Fire and Water'

I have had much fun creating my two exhibition competition hats which I will post pix of soon.

Just getting the 12 hats detailed and hung with their swing tags, their details written onto entry form and swing tag, took me most of the day, and then I had to drive 25 kms into town to get the box into the mail, for slow post.

I had weighed and priced the box the day before at my local PO and it was just over the 1kg, which meant it would be cubed and priced accordingly, we cut a bit more off the cardboard box, but it still had 50gms extra. Local PO worker said it'd be OK.

Today with the 5kg express bag full with the above 10 hats sealed inside, I had to open the box and take out one competition hat and send it in a separate tough bag, as "It would be fraud" said the PO worker, ( in larger town), when I asked if she could just let it thru. No you'd have to pay $28.74 (an extra $15.68 ) than the stamps I already had on it.
Buying an extra tough bag and postage came to $5.40

Yay they're off at last and on their way ! I won't be able to make it out there in person again this year, :( ......but, maybe next year I'll get back out to the Amazing Alice Springs Beaniefest !

It is an incredible feast of Colour and Yarns

Flood Relief AppealShop

2011-01-17T05:15:00.000-08:00

Being a member of DUST, the Down Under Street Team, I got involved in helping set up a online shop on Etsy, the Australian Disaster Flood Appeal Shop.

At first I just volunteered to make a shop banner and Avatar for the shop for Manda of 'City Kitten' who has taken on the role of chief co-ordinator of the whole shop.

I soon found myself quite busy helping out with the 'flood' of enquiries about how people could donate items from their shops of handmade or vintage shops.

So far over 226 shops have donated wonderful things for people to buy, with 100 of the money (less Etsy's and Paypals fees), to go to The Queensland Premiers Disaster Relief Appeal

In 4 days the shop has had 310 sales, with a tally of US$3541.68 to date.

We have 256 still listed for sale, with more being listed daily by a small team of **Listing Fairies**.

Please support the shop, as it gives everyone a sense of being able to help those in need, by donating something personal that they have made, particularly those who can't afford to donate cash.

The shop has had Donations from the US, Slovenia, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore, France, Germany, Britain......

....a Land of Flooding Rains

2011-01-17T00:38:00.000-08:00

This weeks devastating floods have affected so many people.

We hear about some of the loss but some people just accept the loss, and don't make too much of it.

Yesterday as we went about our normal market at Byron Bay serving Chai to the community,

our dear friend Lewis, calmly replies to Liffy's question, "so how have things Been lately ?" with .......

"Oh I lost my house and 2 jeeps"

Someone rang him during the devastating flood of water that tore thru the Tabulum area, Lewis asked him "How's my place, can you see my place?"
"No says the friend, it's just all water!"

Lewis, tells us that normally the creek is 150 metres below a cliff ! His house was torn off it's stumps, and "went turtle-ing down the creek", he jokes.

My mum Liffy, asks him, were you insured , ....what are you going to do... etc

Lewis smiles and says " Aaaaah... I'll go and live in a cave "

This strong and proud man is Uncle Lewis Walker
The Keeper of Bunjalung Country.

He is the last man to walk through the old song lines and story lines and corrobaree grounds and still doing it today.

He is a warrior who believes in the oneness of All Universal Spirit. He is teacher to those who are willing to learn about the pearly fruits that will heal those who thirst for healing upon the Sacred Land that we walk upon.

He recognizes and lives the truth that we all come from the spiritual enlightenment.

He is a wise storyteller, a cultural reclamation leader, a unifying force between separated peoples, a healer, lover of all beings.

Uncle Lewis teaches us to feel and think with our hearts about the inner sacredness contained within everything.

Uncle Lewis believes that the children and the elders are to be treasured, respected, learned from and taught to be what they really are shining like the morning star.
The First Light People!
He leads groups of people on walkabouts to discover the true wealth of this world, that which is given by the Creator.
If you are interested in having this kind of experience, please feel free to contact Sky at skyhemp.gmail.com

Lewis is an acclaimed artist, with large paintings selling for upwards of $5,000
Some of his Bunjalung Dreaming Drawings can be viewed here

Lewis spoke 13 languages by the age of 14, when he came out to the white world, and learnt to speak english.

We had a brief first meeting at the market yesterday, to begin organising, the recommencement of the annual dancing of the Rainbow Corroborree.

This corroborree, was meant to be Danced every year, it hasn't happened or many years.
Lewis first heard about it 30 years ago, and is determind for it to be Revived.

A small team will begin to organise 3 events in 2011, in preparation for a large Rainbow Corroborree in Central Australia in 2012
Julinbah Yowarl

Lewis's house was near Tabulam, which is a rural village in the far north east of New South Wales, Australia, 800km from the state capital, Sydney. Tabulam is located on the Bruxner Highway (Highway 44) between Tenterfield and Casino and on the Clarence River.
Tabulam is a picturesque village and its position on the northern catchment of Australia's most voluminous river affords it geographical and environmental significance. According to the 2006 Census, there were 573 people living in Tabulam. Tabulam is locally administered by Kyogle Council.

Etymology

The name Tabulam is derived from Bundjalung Dahbalam..

History

Originally, Tabulam and the surrounding farm and bushland was inhabited by Bundjalung Aboriginals. The land was first settled by Europeans in 1839.

Heart of Arts

2010-11-30T20:20:00.000-08:00

Well ..... what has been happening in my artistic life lately ....?
Not much in the way of creations, as I struggle to find energy within, to complete the re-organisation of my studio, which is much smaller than my old warehouse in North Melbourne....... aaaah ......(dreams of all that space .....!)
Yet it is far bigger than a camper van or little bus ! So I can't complain.

I just wake up exhausted each morning, despite how much sleep I get, and many days never seem to pick up, so it's hard to even start to feel creative.

I am way behind on the last few finishing off jobs on the bus also. Soon it will be able to be parked under cover, when a new carport and back veranda roof are added onto the shed.
This will help me in the studio, as it will allow me to devote areas for each type of artistic work, and utilise the outside without the searing sun making it way too hot.

Every Wednesday I am now looking after the Heart of Arts Gallery Shop, in Murwillumbah, which has moved into being a Co-Op and I have finally begun putting my hats and shirts in here.
It is helping me to feel more inspired about getting back into creating work again.

'A Head Full of Love'

2010-06-29T04:42:00.000-07:00

As I continue to wait on the final results of this years Beaniefest Awards, that being the People's Choice Award, I shall post some pictures of my hat taken on the 1st of May, during it's creation.

Modelled for me by the lovely Lisa, of The Nimbin Environment Centre

Beaniefest Special Mention

2010-06-27T16:33:00.000-07:00

Well I didn't win a'Camel Trophy' (if they indeed do have them again this year).
but I did receive a 'Special Mention' with my hat in the Loveliest Madcap section, second to a 'Wild Thing Monster hat, by friend Louise Thackeray.

I still wish I could have been there this year, to see for myself the calibre of artistry, that whichever judges they choose to judge the event, failed to really see, (yet again).

Whilst glad to receive a Special Mention, I am almost 'offended'by the section.
I spent many many hours layering and adding fine detail working directly to the 'theme', (A head full of Love), and I am again totally bamboozled by the judges decisions. How can four people all agree on many of the 'winners' they chose ?

Why do they 'go for' the relatively boring ones, over those that really stand out with creativity.

Have a look at what I mean here

Fingers crossed for the People's Choice !!

Fingers Crossed and Wishing I was There !!

2010-06-24T08:42:00.000-07:00

Well it's now Friday 25th June ( although it's only 1:15 am as I begin to write ).
For the past two days, my mind has been deeply focussed on a large room, in 'Alice' s Araluen Centre, where a hive of very busy women and men, scurry like Beaniologists can only do, creating Beanie Central, which last year had 6,000 Beanies in a Riot of Colour and Yarns. I love helping set up for the Worlds most Bizarre Festival of Beanies........even 'tho it can and does become 'Beanie-Bedlam' at times !! lol

Today is the day they judge this years entries in the National/International Beanie Competition at the 14th Alice Springs BeanieFest. My fingers and toes are crossed,hoping the judges, will choose mine, amid all the other incredible masterpieces, there will be there again, undoubtably !

I realise I never got around to posting a follow up piece about the hat when it was finally finished, partly because in the busy final week of it's creation, I was journeying down to Buundi( Bondi Beach), with The Chai Tent (See Here for that story Part One), and in the busy-ness of that week I totally forgot to take any proper photos of it......(D'uh !!! lol )

Luckily I did get a few more during it's mid-way point during Mardi Grass Festival at Nimbin, where I gave my hats a rare 'outing' at The Chai Tent. ( See Here for that Story ).

And while giving the finished hat a final Needle-Felting prior to gently placing it in it's travelling post box, a beautiful young 6 year old girl Mirinda,

and her 8 year brother Lance, took some pix of my working on it, as we ate breakfast at a cafe on Bondi Beach, before we commenced our journey home.

It was wonderful to have it with me over the weekend, as the inspiration for this hat, has very strong connections to the Ceremony, Celebration, and Parliament of Sovereign Originals, that occurred that very special weekend. And yet, I only 'knew' of the gathering about 4 days before heading down to it !

I shall post this now, and go and edit photos which I have been too busy to do since I took them. It will have to wait til after the Exhibition ends and the hat returns to me, to take some more detailed photos.

Beaniefest Competition Hat Work in Progress

2010-04-19T17:54:00.000-07:00

Just realised that I haven't uploaded any photos of one of my major Works in Progress.....It has been put 'On Hold' for the the past month or so as I had to make something new for the Fibre Exhibition......and also for the next part, to 'Gell' into my creativity....

How to achieve the results I envisage ......??????? Hmmmm that is/was the question. I think, I have now acquired the right materials, and the other night, lying awake while I was sick; I began visualizing the next steps.....

But first I have to document what I have already begun

My starting concept for the Beaniefest's 2010 theme, 'A Head Full of Love'

An all encompassing umbrella over Australia and the World.

So ....How to 'Realise' the Creation of this ???

An Umbrella Frame ..????

No....Not quite working after all.....maybe this will work ........

Aaaaah ....Yes, much better, and it was even raining when I was making it !! lol

And Then ........for quite a radical change in design, as I realised that my umbrella stand would sit too high, I decided that a small earth would/might be better.......Hmmmmm we'll see further down the track if my ideas actually work out ......????? lol at the processes of a Mad Hatter Beaniologist !

Since this pic, I have added in a large Australia in Aboriginal Coloursand a swirling mass of clouds, which I think still need some working on. Maybe with the new blue tones Wool tops I recently found at gallery ......

This is where I am about to continue work, where the yarn finishes, Here I must begin to add in a row/round of tall forest trees, which will, (I hope), give support to the earth. She does tend to 'wobble' a bit if not nurtured and supported.

This I intend to achieve with the new wool tops and some floristry wire I found in the opp shop last week.

Mt Warning, one of my favourite mountains that I love dearly.

A Giant Scrub Turkey tending his nest, the Volcanic Caldera surrounding him.

Hopefully the mountain will be seen peeking thru a gap in the forest.....

OK until there is more to show, that is your sneak peek at one of my hats I must complete very soon, to enable me to send off to Alice Springs, early enough for it to travel by slower mail, as it will be in a box too large for the 3kg Express Bag.

Hmmm ....must check with the Post Office how long they expect it to take to get my Deadline for sending.....and really get 'stuck into' some work !!

'Fibble Fabble Fibre 2, - Unlikely Stories' Exhibition

2010-04-16T07:16:00.000-07:00

Polly Stirling, welcoming everyone to the 2nd 'Fibble Fabble Fibre' Exhibition at Blue Knob Gallery near Nimbin.

My cluster of pieces

Coral Reef Wrap/Cummerbund/Over Skirt

Red Dots !!

Sold to Deb Cross, another Fibre Artist

A wonderful evening was had, sharing a meal, and connecting and watching Satchiko's moving film, screened in the new 'Moore' Workshop Space, behind the gallery.

Fibre Exhibition Pieces

2010-04-15T23:21:00.000-07:00

Well Tonights the Night !
The Opening of the Fibble Fabble Fibre 2 Exhibition at Blue Knob Gallery

I have put 9 pieces in and 7 hats into the Centre Stage Shop attached

Here are some pictures of my recently completed Cummerbund Wrap That can double up with many uses.

Fibre Fibre Fibre

2010-04-02T21:10:00.000-07:00

Not long now till I need to have my pieces ready for the Blue Knob Hall Gallery Fibre Exhibition, and still so much to do.

Recently I was able to give Sophie her new hat she'd ordered, as she was once again at Sphinx Rock Cafe last Sunday, and celebrating her birthday, so it was very timely.
Just remembered I have another custom order when I have time, a rainbow hat for a woman who bought one 10 years ago, but it is over in New Zealand now.

So how are my various fibre projects coming along ? Here is the next photo of my felt Seascape

I must add a little more definition all round and then decide how to finish it, will it be made into a bag, or a cushion cover, just framed some way ? That is the question I ask myself

Works In Progress for Fibre Exhibition

2010-03-26T19:34:00.000-07:00

Well what has been happening in my messy studio lately ?

I recently learnt that the annual fibre exhibition at Blue Knob Hall Gallery is happening in April this year, so I have until April 11 to get my pieces ready, and since I haven't been being very productive lately, I must get working quickly.

This piece above is a fibre collage,using some 'found' crochet circles, the crown of someones felted hat wip, also found, and one of my first pieces of 'scrumbling'.

I am Needle Felting these together, and have crocheted round the edge, with still more to come.

I began with the idea of a shoulder wrap, but am thinking it may become a Cumerbund. I am working a pocket or two into it and will sew on quite a few buttons, to enable it to be worn many ways

Next I began working on a bag that I also found.....a very plain crocheted bag in pale light blue, which I am revamping with Needle Felting.

I have attached a NF piece made late last year, and left the inside open so it became a pocket.

I am currently adding some more internal pockets from some pieces of a 'fulled' shrunken jumper, and will join the back one to the lid of the first pocket outside, giving the bag a very sculptural shape. I think I will have to hand sew these into place.

Next I have begun work on a Felt painting, a seascape, that may be sewn onto either a bag or a cushion cover, I am not sure yet

This is just the first stage of this piece, and I will embellish lots more detail in the coming days, some with the sewing machine some by more needle-felting.

And the OWOH winner is ......

2010-02-16T17:35:00.000-08:00

Jane of QuiltSmiles from Adirondacks , has been selected by a long and exhaustive process of Random Number Generator and personal re checking the blogs of entrants and a shortlist that I then created and then another Random Generated Number.

I did a second painting ....so I could keep one as my field notes for the larger canvas to follow one day.

I had a lot of fun again this year seeing soe very creative blogs by some wonderful people. 'Tho I was bemused by the number of people making very similar collaged works that really left me wondering about this new 'craze'. It does very little for me personally and sometimes got very bored with the same type of stuff that kept appearing.

Would you like to Zibbet your Artworks ?

2010-02-08T15:48:00.000-08:00

There are only 460 Premium accounts left at the discounted rate of $7/month. Get yours today to lock in this special price for life! Normal price is $15/month

Here is the latest WIP pic of my OWOH Giveaway Painting....I think it is nearly finished.... If you'd like to join, just leave a comment, "Is it Finished yet?", on the Giveaway post http://bit.ly/ctT05C

Join Our Vibrant Community of Artisans!

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It's FREE to list your items on Zibbet, and when they sell, we don't take a cut of your sales. You get to keep every penny... That's the way it should be!

You have the choice between either a Basic or Premium account...

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OWOH Painting Update

2010-02-07T19:06:00.000-08:00

Some more pix of the Work In Progress

To join in this giveaway please click on the link below and leave a comment there
http://artnomadix-meg.blogspot.com/2010/01/one-world-one-heart-2010-giveaway.html

From my niece's birthday to mine

2010-02-07T04:43:00.000-08:00

From my Niece's birthday Jan 26th to mine, today 7th Feb, both of us always sharing the number of the year, ie. this year is a 5 year for both of us Hmmmmmmm What will a five year bring I wonder

Here is a sneak preview of my painting for my OWOH Giveaway , I finally have had some time, two days ago, on Friday afternoon after we had taken the bus into town to get a stunning facelift of new green paint. What a couple of weeks !! trying to get the final preparations done amid a heck of a lot of rain and humid weather.
So now the bus is gone and out of sight for a few weeks Yay !!!

And so I managed a weee bit of time to get started on my painting.
To join the OWOH Giveaway leave a comment on my second post about OWOH
http://artnomadix-meg.blogspot.com/2010/01/one-world-one-heart-2010-giveaway.html

Australia Day AND Survival Day

2010-01-25T17:40:00.000-08:00

Hi all,
yes it's That Day again, Australia Day January 26th, the day the Invasion of Australia began when the British Planted the Flag and claimed it for the Queen and Britain.

This is my mum, waving one of Benny Zable's flags down in Canberra a few years ago on January 26th,
in Garema Place before we all marched back to the Aboriginal Tent Embassy.
Don't you love this flag !!

But despite it's dubious origins it is a day to celebrate Australia, and like many of my friends in the Australian Etsy street Team DUST (DownUnderStreetTeam)

Read the Storque Article about Australia's Dust Team Members Here

I am offering a Special Sale today only........I am offering to sell one of my 'Signature Beanies' The Sunset Silhouette' for a bargain price of $100.00

They have sold for $180.00 and recently in my etsy shop I have had it at $150.00

'Tho, since I actually donated this particular hat the other night to an Art Action at a Fundraiser for one of our Greens MLC Ian Cohen, (facing a $1M Court Costs, for calling a Developer a Bully and a Thug !!!)............

I think I will change the listing to this one instead also a sunset silhouette, but with a Whale playing in the southern Ocean off the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia,
Quite appropriate at this time with the Australian Protest of The Sea Shepherd in Antarctic Waters.

See them in my shop

And have a look at the other many talented DUSTers works here

One World One Heart 2010 Giveaway

2010-01-24T18:57:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my blog and another One World One Heart magical event

Feb 17th Update
And the Winner is #157 Jan of QuiltSmiles of the Aidironack Mountains, (sp?)

OK today is the day you can all step onto this Magic Carpet, and Journey all over the world.
Come and meet new people and see what they do in life.

I am offering a painting from the amazing area I live in, an extinct volcano Caldera, the largest in the Southern Hemisphere !

I haven't painted it yet, but will begin soon, my blogpost below this one, and after my first early post about OWOH, has some paintings I am working on at the moment.

Any suggestions of which landscape I should make for this giveaway is most welcome. There are a few more Work in Progress paintings further down the blog.

The giveaway will be painted on high quality paper and sent between some cardboard or in a roll tube.

This giveaway is open to all Bloggers taking part in this Magical One World One Heart journey.
Please leave a comment and a link to your blog so I can easily find you, and read all about you.
This is where I live .....just below the mist, on the left hand side where you can see a tree appearing out of the mist.

This may be the view of my next painting and some lucky person will receive a mini version of this to hang on their wall. I call this the 'Mystic Lake' of Mt Warning.

Also there are these two other blogs The Rainbow Chai Tent and ArtNomadix Tales ( in which I plan to start detailing some of the amazing stories from some of my journeys soon)

A sneak preview of the first stage of the painting as of 7th Feb.

Ok I have now updated this post to show the nearly completed painting, I am starting on another variation so that I will have one painting as 'Field Notes' for the larger canvas that I will paint one day.

The second one is starting out a bit differently with the horizon line pushed up a bit higher.

Thankyou everyone for their comments on this post, which as of now at 9:30pm on Feb. 15th Australian time, has closed.

I will endeavour to visit more of the wonderful blogs that have taken part in this years OWOH. I will do my random number drawing tomorrow as there is a large thunderstorm rolling down our ridge at present and it is time to switch of my computer.

2010-01-23T16:45:00.000-08:00

Here are 3 mini panoramas that I am in the process of painting, one of these views could be what I will paint for my One World One Heart giveaway this year, either on good quality paper or a canvas board, for ease of sending from Australia. It is now the 24th and I still haven't started on it but I will asap

formspring.me

2010-01-12T01:51:00.001-08:00

Ask me anything http://formspring.me/ArtNomadix

One World One Heart

2010-01-11T02:56:00.000-08:00

Hello all, step on the magic carpet for a journey into other people's lives, come meet folk from all around the world, and let them into yours.
(Wooops just found out this is 10 days early, for some reason I had the 15th in mind as the date.....at least that gives me more time to start painting my giveaway, lol)

Welcome to my blog which has grown a bit since my first involvement with the very interesting One World One Heart giveaway.

Maybe not many posts, but some quite lengthy posts about by life and art. I was 'caught up' and busy with a protest last year, and all I have learnt about connecting online, was very useful.

But it didn't leave me much time for other online pursuits, such as returning to the interesting blogs I found in last years OWOH. Hopefully this year I will be able to spend more time reading.

At the moment, I am thinking that my Giveaway this year will be a painting, a landscape of this beautiful area and it's dramatic weather. I haven't painted it yet, as I get this post ready on the 11 /01/10, (Hmmmm interesting numbers !), but I will commence soon and I will blog about it's progress, as it occurs.

If there are any views in here, or here that you think would be good as the painting to be selected, please let me know,

Last year I arranged to send out three giveaways, getting carried away in the fun of it, only to find , when I came to send them, that they were quite heavy, and the cost of postage overseas, was quite high. Luckily for me the third person selected by Random Generator, never got back to me with her mailing address, so I only had to send out two.

I have enjoyed finally getting back into my art on canvas recently, while we have had some pleasantly cool weather, a break from heat and high humidity thru October, November, and up until just before christmas.

For the last two years my energy has been nearly non-existent, as I battle with fibroids and the energy drain they inflict on me. So my creative energy wanes with my lack of physical energy. I am considering buying a Magnetic Pulsing machine to try and 'fix' all the various ailments, currently assailing me........and become once again a vibrant artist capable of boundless energy.

If you would like to see the art wares in my shop have a look in here, and if you would just like to see some other photos of some stunning weather and the like Click here.

Please leave a comment about in the post posted on the 25th of January to be included in the give away.......something you have read in here, or another post, and don't forget to also include a way you can be contacted or your email.

For those of you who don't know about the 'One World One Heart' give away please click here , or on the Magic Carpet picture at the top of this post.

I will draw my winner on the 15th of February Australian Time so 14th US time is the cut off time, to leave me a comment and a link.

Have fun meeting a wide variety of people.

Sunrise Silhouettes

2010-01-03T23:22:00.000-08:00

Nothing could be cuter than a newborn in a stunning sunrise silhouette shirt, or could there......???

What about an 80 year old bear rock and tree climbing in a sunrise shirt .......

Check out 'Bobby' he is just as active as my 79 year old mother, who inherited this bear from a neighbour after he died at a tragically young age.

Both the shirts are available from my etsy shop and are 'On Sale' for the month of January, as part of the DUST Team's Brand New sale

Warning Sunrise Mists Arising

2009-12-29T22:04:00.000-08:00

Took the plunge, and got out the other large canvas that has been staring at me for over a year saying, "So what are you going to paint on me ? Huh !"

Again I am deviating from the true colours of my original painting....but since I began painting, (the original) just after sunrise, and didn't finish till 11:30 am, the colours and shadows changed all the time. As the sun moved up I gradually was able to distinguish all the ridges of the inner caldera ring that earlier were lost in a darker haze.
Speaking of haze.....I now have a good 'hazy' photo of the stage before this pic above, that I took as a photo doco of the painting progress, forgetting the camera was still set on Macro (found an amazing Funky Forest of Fungi just after sunrise this morning!!)

I normally don't start 'blocking in the horizon until I've sorted out the sky, but as I was cleaning up my pallette container, I mixed up all the shades of green,brown, and black on a bed of dried blues, and loved the dusky shade of Turquoise that appeared....tipped off the excess water, and proceeded to use it to block in the mountain with it instead of just going with a more neutral greyish, which will be added in later I think.

This photo while a write off for my records, IS a reminder to try and keep the painting hazy with the morning misty brightness....Hmmmmm can I actually make this happen....

Then I had great fun painting in a glowing golden dawning sky, such as has awoken me on many of the mornings that I have camped at this glorious spot in our van over the years.
Having spent so many years painting what I saw, as it was, trying to recapture every detail in the landscape before me, it is quite invigorating/rerfeshing to 'allow' myself total freedom, in how I paint these memories onto canvas.

I'm liking the feeling of this painting so far, as I walk back into the studio, and see the glowing golden sky, it gives me a warm glowing feeling.....quite different from the original in small frame in middle, and the Brummies Lookout Panorama on the right.
Hmmm .....I wonder what that could look like painted in a free form colour sense, like the Blackbutt Lookout ones. ....Food for thought....and another canvas......Hope the shop gets another of same dimensions in soon, and I'll try that too.

Still have two canvasses that I stretched myself, still waiting to be begun, just can't quite decide which aspect of Warning it will be.
I seem to be do a series on the mountain.....I guess it has been a dream of mine for so long, and I am always taking pix of it these days with the digital as we drive around it.
They can't be allowed to build a dam in Byrrill Creek !!! It is too valuable a valley, both for it's wildlife (Koala Crossing), and residents homes and lives, not to mention the Tourism from scenic drives and walks !!!

What do you think? Any comments welcome.......

A work in Progress continues, with a dramatic change.........

2009-12-25T22:36:00.000-08:00

The chocolate box image,......going going gone.......

After the celebrations are done with again.....I can get back to painting work.....I had to stop, just when I was on a roll and head out to Mt Warning Hoilday Park where my sister is staying as she wanted to host a birthday party,(mother) cum christmas with our brother, nephew, outlaw nephew, and semi-ex SIL, on the 22nd......that exhausted me!!

Next day had to go shopping for forgotten items from previous shop, and forgot just as much, as my brain just didn't seem to be functioning, (low iron,anaemia!?). Got back, and felt totally stuffed.

But I did receive a second invitation to join 50 local women artists of the Tweed Region, in a specky coffe table book showcase !! Thanks Lesley !!

On the 24th, I got caught up with some minimalist preparations for the 25th, made a new christmas cake....for change and simplicity...a Sienese Italian spicy Panforte, which turned out very well despite my alterations/additions to the recipe,(I don't seem to be able to stick to a recipe, that often, lol)
And found out, I'd had a sale online while I'd be PC Free ! for two days. Yay !

And spent time helping try and make a CD of old family slides into a modern screensaver slideshow to be playable on the larger TV, but the discs refused to play !!! Aaaaaaaah waste of several hours !

Yesterday was another exhausting day.....with just my older sister, who seems to have become perpetually 10 years old, and who did not stop talking from the moment she arrived til the moment she left 10 hours later. Luckily she went and had a short walk around the property between courses. ......!! My mother and I were pleased to have the short break !
Boxing Day and it is another big rain day, with much cooler weather, and only an occasional humid patch.......So after relaxing, with a book in bed after brekky in bed, I spied my Panorama painting in the studio/living room, and decided it was 'Too Chocolate Box' like, and maybe I should paint it with some of the very dramatic thundery Black/Blue clouds we regularly get here.

But first, I read the contract details for the art book promo, and (will attempt to get everything needed for that, done ASAP, Lesley), and I did some digital photo processing work, which can take me longer than normal, as I still wrangle with the new OS that I've recently switched over to.

So here is a radical change from the earlier blue sky.........After I'd put down some dark gray, then some light gray and white......I fingerpainted the blending of the two.......Haven't done that since I first played round with oil paint as a youth.

Cleaned the brush off a bit by spreading some of the grays onto lower section of painting.
As I have been sitting perusing my paintings of late.....I really want to thank one of the best art teachers, I ever worked for, for all the extremely valuable tricks and painting tips I learnt from him as I posed as a Life-Model, for many of his drawing and painting classes, at MSC for 9 years. William Harding, Bill was/is one of the best teachers I had the pleasure of working with, and as a model I got to see a large number in Melbourne in the 80'sand 90's. Thankyou Bill, I applied all your painting tips for nudes and drapery to my landscapes whilst out on the road in the later years.
Life Modeling was great ! A fantastic way to get paid to have free art lessons !!

There is still a long way to go until this one is finished......but that's OK, ......I did start working on this project way back in late '95, on a short stay in the caldera between trips to Tassie.

Originally drawn on 4 sheets of Canson Paper (brought in paris in '79), I walked up to Brummies Lookout, a short but steep climb on the Inner Core Ring of mountains surrounding the Central Core Mt Warning, and sat right on the ledge, across from the Cliffs above Cedar Creek.

An awesome spot to spend an afternoon, watching Goshawks fly from side to side beneath my swinging feet, and trying to manage two sheets of paper when linking the next section......not easy.

But to paint 'plein air' you can only do so when the weather is dry , (and stillish) ! The wonders of digital photography have helped me, by being able to record images to check my first draft, ( I had to compress quite a bit as I had 'stretched some ares quite grossly, in hindsight.) I re-climbed to the lookout twice more, once in 2000, noticing the trees had grown on the skyline and more green moss and creepers adorned some rockfaces; and again last year to escort a new local, this time with a camera, digital no less !!

And as I have been constantly taking stunning photos of the dramatic storms we experience here in the Mt Warning Caldera, I decided this one needs to 'Go Dramatic'........

I wonder what the next instalment will produce.....laptop battery is now low, so I'll post this and head back into studio and hence out of wireless broadband range.

To see the earlier stages of this painting click Here and Here

2009-12-21T11:35:00.001-08:00

Aaaaaah I feel I have crawled out of the wilderness.....I have begun to paint again ! It has been sooooo long since I have had the energy and motivation to be creative.....which is quite unusual for me.

Don't know how long I'll be able to keep it going.....but while I have my studio all to myself, I feel like I can........as I can choose to do what I want, when and IF I want !

Managed to paint one whole new painting that I will give to my mother today for her Summer Solstice Birthday....(see above) This is the original painting I did back in '95, from Blackbutt Lookout, on the Border Rangesfrom Sunrise til 11:30 am.
And the two different versions together

Happy Solstice to you all, shortest night last night........(down Unda)

Recommenced painting my Landscape Panorama canvas.......

Have 4 wearable art Sunset Silhouettes, nearly ready for heat setting.......

Handmade vs Imported Sweat Shop Work

2009-11-10T20:05:00.000-08:00

When we undersell our own work, we also devalue other Artisans

Today I began a correspondence with someone making fine crocheted juggling balls, in the hacky sack style, I checked her shop out as I wondered if they were imported from a third world country, with the seller still making a small profit, as they were so cheaply priced.

But no, she had made them herself and was only asking $10 for 3 of them, the sort of price you might pay for them in a discount store.

I asked her how long each ball had taken her to make, her reply was probably 2 or more hours each.
She states, "I take a lot of time and put a lot of care into each piece that I make."

So $10, for six hours time and labour, less than $10, because there are still the costs of the yarn, the listing fees, the commission for Etsy, the fee for Paypal, the time to photograph and list her work, and then the time to promote her work.

She asked me what I would charge if I were making them...... I replied
" If I was making them I think I would charge at least $7 or $8 each, with 3 for $20 or $22.50 maybe, which is still way under the time factor but I agree you can't really charge for the full amount of time. That's why I don't make them, when we have to compete with $4 hacky sacks from Guatemala :(
It's very tricky. But think on this.....if you got three orders for 3 more sets to be ready by a certain date or just asap, would you, still feel OK about working your fingers off, to make them to order at that price?"

When I first started making and selling my hats, back in the late '80's, I had prices like $8- and $10- on them, they did sell well, but it wasn't until I was making orders that I began to realise the value of my own work.

To have 3 or 4 hats ordered one week, when I was only charging a small amount, I began to calculate a little bit more into the time factor. Was it worth my while to spend 6+ hours on one hat, usually longer and get paid $1-$2- per hour or so. No way. So, hat prices went up to $30- $50 and more people started buying them.
One sale at $40, was heaps better for my fingers and neck, than 4 x that work-time, making four hats.

But it wasn't until I entered my first Beaniefest Competition that I began to price them for their individuality, creativity, skil, time, etc.etc. because my partner said "put proper prices on them "

I couldn't have sat behind the counter, with a price of $220-, and had to take a BIG breath before I wrote it on the entry form, before sending off to Alice Springs, but it, and another at $180-, but both sold !! (see below)

Fibre artists using the medium of Knitting and Crocheting have the added stigma attached to this work, 'that women do it' and normally don't get paid to do it. Little old ladies crochet hats and donate them to charity shops to sell for $3- !

I feel this must change ! If I make an artwork/craftwork that takes me 5 hours of my time, I am going to charge appropriately. There are hidden costs involved there too, in the time it takes to source the wool and yarn that make my hats unique. There are countless hours unravelleling jumpers and scarves, after washing them first, to find certain colours, and rolling the new commercial 'loose winds' of wool into 'balls' that enable me to work more easily. It is also a meditative process to get wound up for work

If I was a silversmith/jeweller, people might value my time for much smaller pieces that may, have taken less time to create

I have just made and listed, some small clothes for pre-loved teddy bears, the two smallest ones are really priced a bit below what I should ask for them as they took hours of my time,( worked with a small hook), the other 3 (the larger ones), are made with a bigger hook and I switched from small fiddly to faster and quicker styles. I just wanted something to put in our DUST Team (Down Under Street Team)'s monthly sale 'Stocking Stuffers' to try and get back into promotion and marketing after being busy elsewhere for quite awhile. See the full sale Here
After the sale, the two small ones will go back up to a more realistic price.

When we undersell our own work, we also devalue other Artisans

Aaaaah,Time to Reclaim my Life back, Post Rally

2009-09-18T03:12:00.000-07:00

Well it has been a very long time since I have had any time to even think about posting something in here......I became obsessively busy, with the stop Repco's, World Rally Championship, high speed car rally, racing thru residential areas and National Parks in our amazing Biodiverse Hotspot, the Green Cauldron, the Iconic Mt Warning Caldera.

We had a large successful and fun rally, in late May, marching thru the town of Muwillumbah on a Thursday afternoon, with about 350 people, not bad for sleepy quiet Mur-bah

We have been privileged to have been host, to the Four Endangered Animal Costumes since then, although the Koala did head off to Japan on a mission, to highlight the plight of Australia's Forests, being turned into WoodChips

We had a lot of fun making card board Rally Cars, and our march was a vibrantly colourful piece of Street Theatre

We tried to shame the Minister for the Environment, into honouring his 'Launch' of our 'Green Cauldron' a hotspot of more biodiversity than Kakadu!, but he failed to see the point. Rumour has it that he is teetering on the edge of revoking the State Government's 'Special Legislation', that they rushed thru parliament, wiping out 12 Environmental Acts, designed to protect our environment, at the behest of a foreign company !

We gathered at the Service Park on 29th August to begin our Rally Week Public Peaceful Protests, but RRA was running behind schedule, and weren't about to open for another 5 days ! It gave us a good dress rehearsal, of organising large groups of people quickly, into impressive photo shoots. Such a pity most of the regions anti rally folk became too scared, of the fear of encountering the Public Order and Riot Squad (PORS), and the never seen Dog Squad.

I have been painting banners and writing out lettering for other people to paint as well,

Our wonderful Mt Warning Spear Lilly, grew it's first flower in 17 years, and it finally opened the week before the rally after taking 1 year to grow to full length, looking like a boom gate, saying "No Road...No Rally Here", a perfect place to hang some of my banners for photographs.

Some of my painted boards, designed to be roadside, in places to remind people, that animals have died here on the roads, like the road accident memorials one sees along dangerous roads.

The 7th Generation is a group of concerned Kyogle Shire residents, who began the anti rally campaign back in February or before. Although mainly grey haired grandparents, they have been recently described in the media, as a " Radical Fringe Group ", lol.

We have had an incredible amount of false reportage, since the rally weekend approached, with stories of Frozen Koalas, being thrown onto rally race 'special stages', by anti rally protesters, in lieu of real roadkill from the rally.

The biggest false story, which has vilified the peaceful protesters, was that anti rally protesters had hurled/pelted the first 3 rally cars on special stage 6, before they decided to cancel it. Despite those 3 top drivers saying to media that they had not witnessed any such behavior, and that they normally do not race thru residential areas or National Parks !!
No evidence was ever provided, and 1 week later rally organiser Garry Conelly, finally stated, in the Sydney Morning Herald," there had not been any rock throwing" on the said Friday on stage 6 !!

Yet those rumour based stories, did ensure that we made the 'New York Times', Abu Dhabi's 'The National' weekend magazine, and the UK's Daily Mirror.

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2009/09/04/sports/sports-uk-rallying-australia.html?_r=1
http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090908/SPORT/709079864
http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/2009/09/05/134151_world-rally-championship.html
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/car-rally-rock-attack-story-false-20090909-fhna.html
http://www.tweedecho.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1532&Itemid=543
http://www.tweedecho.com.au/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=754

Some of the rally drivers have said publicly, that if locals don't want the rally in this beautiful green region, then rally organisers should re-locate it to a more suitable location.

There have been reports of quite a few animals, several snakes/lizards,

and several birds hit by rally cars. There are 3 wallaby joeys, currently being fed by wildlife carers. Also two reports of Koalas behaving strangely, since the rally.

Rally Australia's Koala Management Plan, to ascertain no Koalas ran across roads during the rally, was to scare the life out of them, with low flying throbbing Helicopters and cars with air horn sirens. Also to station Koala guardians beneath the Koalas daily chosen, tree. They sent two people along in a ute to 'spot' where the Koalas were, a very short time before the rally cars were due. Koalas are notoriously hard to spot, even for our Resident Koala Watcher Kathryn, who has started an incredible Koala Watch program, with some amazing photographs, of Koalas doing their morning yoga, and showing off their new babies !
They also sent 10 cars in after the rally cars, before allowing the wildlife 'sweep car' to check for and record any injuries.

Although we were told by rally organisers, that rally drivers, would respect and obey our road rules, whilst driving on the liaison stages between the special stages, that they race on, we soon found that they thought nothing of some very dangerous driving. Overtaking slower cars, across double white lines, on some of our most dangerous corners and bends.

This one started overtaking our diesel van on the way up a mountain range, and as he began, my 78 year old mother, driving, exclaimed, "There's a car coming down the around the bend", I snapped off another shot, and caught all three vehicles in the same frame. The rally driver thankfully, held his nerve and with a recent road repair, widening the edges and fixing the deep potholes, there was just enough room for us all, and a major mutli car accident was narrowly averted.

The car traveling down in the opposite direction, was actually a ute with a box trailer on it, and could have been in real trouble ! As could all the vehicles following.

It has been an amazing campaign, we have all learnt an amazing lot of new skills, particularly computer literacy, not something everyone was up on, at the beginning. Without our online groups, facilitating ideas and discussions between infrequent meetings, due to the distance that the rally route encompassed, we would never have achieved as much as we have.

They had to drive some 1,600 and something kms to race just 344kms !

I have 1 & 1/2 scrap books already filled with news clippings, with many more clipped ready and then many, many papers still to be gone thru. ( I leant the scrap books to two NRG members to allow them to compile all the 'lies' and 'spin', put out by Repco Rally Australia.

Tune into Media Watch this coming Monday 21 September, as I have been talking with one of their researchers last week and this week, to try and get our story set straight and the truth out to the people, seeing that our local media has been so biased, except for the Tweed Echo.

Iz's Over The Rainbow

2009-07-04T18:12:00.000-07:00

One of my Favourite singers singing a Wonderful song so I thought I'd embed it so I can find it easily, as it Sets Your Day off in such a Positive Way !!! Enjoy
I played it several times yesterday before heading out to the 'Rainbow Bridge to Woodstock' fundraiser held at Durumbal Hall, near Mullumbimby, organised to help fund the journey of the 'Children of the Rainbow' Exhibition, being taken over to the 40th Anniversary of Woodstock, via the Nimbin-Woodstock Connection

Beaniefest Olympics

2009-07-02T06:59:00.001-07:00

beanie festival olympics, originally uploaded by gusseting.

With a 9mm crochet hook and a ball of Cleckheatons 'Gusto', Who will be the Fastest Beanie Maker in the Land this year?
Just a snippet filmed by 'Gusseting' and posted on Flickr, have a small squizz at some of the 'Beanie Madness' that overtakes Alice Springs every winter at the end of June, in the Centre of Australia !!!!!

Hyperbolic Crochet and Anti Rally Protests

2009-06-22T00:33:00.000-07:00

Wow where does Time Go ? I knew it was quite a while since my last blogpost, but April 16th ! Where did May go ?

I have been very busy lately, with many things, I have neglected this blog, and I have not been very active with my Etsy shop or our DUST (Down Under Street Team) Forums either.

I have been made a moderator and admin on our two Anti Rally groups (Yahoo and Ning), and seem to spend lots of time doing lots, of both online and offline 'stuff', for the 'No Rally Group', or NRG Warriors as we are also affectionately called.

I have also been busy crocheting and needle felting...
( and dreaming about trying to 'fix the cardboard rally cars by finding the photos of them on the PC and Needle-Felting them !! ) How Bizarre can your dreams get !

Getting two competition hats and 10 hats ready the Alice Springs Beaniefest and sent off

Finishing and devising my After the Firestorm Hat, for the 'Fibble Fabble Fibre' Exhibition at a local gallery, along with several other pieces and more on sale in the attached shop.

This 'After The Fire Storm' Hat was inspired by the images broadcast around the country and world during the horrific Mega Firestorm in Victoria in February 09, (Trees left standing ,unburnt amidst devastation, Blackened trees on a ground of Ash, Huge clouds of roiling smoke(need to take more photos over at the gallery soon to show the final fluffier smoke), in front of the massive wall of flames, and very Thirsty Koalas.)

We had members of the Tyalgum Women's Group painting these cardboard cars, what fun, it was like 'Play School'

We got over 300 people, mid afternoon on a weekday ! I made this hood/poncho to be worn with one of the plastic Roo masks, with paws and tail from a scrap of material I found at local Tip Shop.
See here for a short video of out Street Theatre
Now for a bit of light relief I have been having lots of crocheting fun making Hyperbolic Coral Reef piecesto send down to the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney, to contribute to the Australian Branch of the now worldwide Hyperbolic Coral Reef Installations.
First started by the Australian born Werthiem sisters, Christine and Margaret, who live in NewYork, to high light the plight of the worlds Coral Reefs, The Institute for Figuring http://www.theiff.org has spread the artform of Hyperbolic Crocheting, far and wide.

Learnt yesterday a wonderful easy 'trick' to cut plastic bags into 'Plarn' I had used some last year by laboriously cutting up old plastic rain ponchos, but to receive an email from a fellow Etsy Trashionista with the YouTube link was so timely , as plarn is the most suitable yarn for Coral !! It has a wonderful sculptural rigidity, and the florescent translucence that you see when swimming above Coral. Reminding me of Ningaloo Reef Aaaah !
I

Kimberley Wilderness Threatened !!! Wilderness is Precious !!

2009-04-16T19:11:00.000-07:00

People of Australia and the World, Please Stand Up and Speak Out Against this atrocity about to occur.

Watch these videos and write a letter to those who need to hear from US as we are SOMEONE.

I am sickened and appalled at the recent announcement of the Green Light being given to the LNG Gas Processing Precinct, and DeepWater Port , with it's 5 km Jetty !
The local Indigenous Community were forced into agreeing, by 'Blackmail' by a White/Puppet/Premier and Those Evil/Greedy/Wielders of Power, who control our Governments !

They were told we'll give you better Health Services, Better Housing, Better Education for your Children......ALL things that should be theirs anyway, and are the NORM for Australians in the non remote areas !

And if they didn't agree " We'll just Purchase it 'Compulsorily'" ,*(and you won't get as much then)*

The Kimberley has been Named as One of The Last Remaining Wilderness Areas in the WORLD !

An industrial deepwater port at James Price Point,will open the Kimberley to Large Scale Industry, the export of minerals including Uranium, and Strip Mining of Bauxite on the Mitchell Plateau !!!

Wilderness is Precious

16,000 individuals, the World's Largest Population of Humpback Whales return HOME every year, to mate and give birth in their sheltered warm water Maternity Wards, after making their 13,000 km journey to the Antarctica to feed.
The entire coast from Broome to Cassini Island is considered to be a whale calving area.
Camden Sound is the main maternity ward for the Humpbacks.
At 292km Montgomery Reef is Australia's Largest Inshore Reef, and subject to a Mining Exploration Tenement.

The Kimberley also has the highest diversity of coral species of any area in Western Australia.

We need real and urgent protection for our
wildlife and the Kimberley Coast
In the form of Marine Protected Areas, and a Whale Sanctuary

The Liberal Government of Western Australia, intends to push ahead with legislation to give the premier the sole power to approve industrial projects.

Industrial shipping noise affects the cow and calf's ability to communicate.
In the US, a third of all Right Whale deaths are caused by shipstrikes.

We already have an industry that is totally sustainable.......Tourism

Whale Watching worldwide is worth $1.54 billion per year and over $45 million in Western Australia alone

Wilderness is Precious

When I was younger.........

2009-04-11T17:56:00.000-07:00

My very first stall at St Andrews market back in the early 80's

Thought it is about time to start relating some of the stories and events of my earlier life. Writing this blog is a good way to begin working on the art of writing again.

As a teenager I wrote a lot, but then life really started happening and I 'got too busy' doing interesting stuff.

I once shared a studio with an amazing sculptress artisan Lizmania, who constantly wrote snippets of her life story on 'scraps' of paper, then stored them into small suitcases.
I'd always imagine the job she, or a biographer, would have one day of un-ravelling,
re ordering, deciphering, these random pieces of her life.

Well apart from an A2 sized folio of photos and a very different sort of Curriculum Vitae in it, my life story is in my head.
This will help me begin to document some of the interesting parts in the hope one day that I will actually print a book with patterns of hats made without patterns, recipes of food made without recipes and inspirations for a creative life. This has been an idea in the back of my mind for some time.

Having spent 12 years living as a traveling nomad has provided me with some almost 'unbelievable' stories ! ..... but they are in the future.....LOL

Well......... as a 14 year old I was very fortunate to attend an Alternative School, called ERA (Education Reform Association), where I began, to be allowed to think for myself, to decide what I wanted to do with my life.

It was a valuable experience , and we loved going to school. I didn't want to do my Higher School Certificate, but elected to stay at school that final year, and study things I wanted to learn about whilst still in the security of the school.
It was a year of learning how to motivate myself to try new things, something that has helped me throughout my later life.
I was also fortunate to have the time to work with the drama teacher Lynne, as her assistant/apprentice drama teacher, with the attached primary school.

Had I been doing my HSC, like the two other students who began this with me in the first term, I would not have had 'time', for the valuable experience, of learning how to create lesson plans with Lynne all year.

The year before Lynne had taken a 'Term of Absence' to live in the bush, while she dealt with personal life.
We drama students, who had become very close and dedicated, from a Traveling Theatre Group earlier, decided to do our own Drama for the duration of her absence.

We wrote, directed, sang and danced an original Rock Opera, 'Genesis' , and helped the Junior High kids, with their own version of Rocky Horror Picture Show.
An incredible experience, to be involved in, as were our weekly drama sessions with Lynne.

We were actively working in some very avant garde forms of theatre, from 3-5 every Thursday after school, a form of Movement Drama, non verbal Experimental Theatre. We once explored' Sanity and Insanity' for several weeks or months, taking the final product to the school community as a performance.

A small group of us attended a Master Class held by the extraordinary Lindsay Kemp, at the suggestion of Lynne, who had been to the first one offered.
Before it started we felt very young and inexperienced, watching professional ballet and theatre folk 'warming up' !
But as soon as Lindsay 'bounded in wearing a bright red leotard suit, we were in our element, and some of the trained ballet folk were out of their depths, unable to 'let go', and "SHOW us that you ENJOY! a grand jete".

All of these experiences, paved the way for my desire to create more understandable Non Verbal Theatre, (parents in the audience would say "Wow that was great !, but what did it mean when you all did......this or that......") We were still working in a 'personal dream state' .
'Seeing' and 'walking/dancing', thru an unseen world of creativity, self expression, and therapy, but it needed to be 'enlarged, and made clearer for an audience.

This work really helped me overcome a very debilitating, and isolating case of Stuttering, and Stammering, an inability to speak, that had plagued me, since the age of eight.

So when we saw an article, about another Australian returning home, from studying at Marcle Marceau's International School of Mime, I sent an application to join !

I then went off on a hoilday to Tasmania, with a friend, ending up staying there for 8 months. I received a reply to my application saying ' Dear Mr Jack Megan, Sorry not accepted" .
This was followed two weeks later by a Telegram saying " Further Cancellation, Has been chosen for next fall. Kindly advise your decision by return and send registration fees "!

And so, off I headed to Paris for an extraordinary year with the famous mime, and a school of International students from 19 countries!

Went searching thru Facebook recently to see who I could find, and found another student of the Ecole, and he sent me this photo of us showcasing our work on the school stage.

If you'd like to view some of Claudes work now, a mixture of spoken and mime/comedy, check out his adds for his father's invention the Twist Mirror, which he now sells. He was one of the most talented and comic of the students, the youngest at 17, he'd have the whole room in hysterics. Once when he had nearly upstaged Marceau, Marceau told Claude, to try and use his facial expression a little less ! But Claude was just a natural Chaplinesque comic, even when he was being himself, and shyly bobbing and saying "Pardon, Pardon " excusing himself for just being in the room ?? http://www.twistmirror.com/epages/61625346.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/61625346/Categories/%22Clip%20Vid%C3%A9o%22

........to be continued..........

Aussie Autumn SALE

2009-04-02T03:45:00.000-07:00

Well now it's April, and the start of the Etsy DUST Team's Aussie Autumn Sale. This theme, has given me the added incentive to actually finish a hat I started ages ago in the Heat and Humidity of February or March.

On Monday I finished it off, then made two more slightly quicker hats, as the rain poured down unceasingly. Perfect weather to crochet in.Today the rain is back again and we hear that the creeks are rising rapidly. If it keeps up overnight and tomorrow, we could see Floods in the lower Tweed valley like last year.

This one I have called Shades of Autumn

Three hats, very different to each other, that will hopefully appeal, to three very different people.

This one I have called Autumn Bee Hive, as it somehow reminds me of Bees

This one I like , for it's rich vibrant Amber Burnt Orange colour. It has ear flaps , that keep the ears and side of cheeks nice and snuggly warm, on even the coldest days.
For those of you who have not seen and held one of my hats in Real Life, they are very thick, tightly crocheted work often using double yarn to create a dense fabric that the wind does not penetrate thru.

Click to see the DUSTers Aussie Autumn Sale

Publicity Makeover Giveaway

2009-03-26T01:44:00.000-07:00

Contest: Giving Away A Power Publicity Makeover Spot!

Crissy Herron is giving away a spot in the upcoming Power Publicity 6 Week Makeover session. This is an $85 dollar value.

The winner will be working one-on-one with her to create a whole new marketing and publicity plan - plus implementing that plan during a 6 week session!

To enter, you can do one of the following 2 things:

1) Post about this on your blog. Your post needs to be at least 200 words and must link to:
http://indiebizchicks.com/wp/power-publicity-makeover/

For example - you could do a review of the makeover session, explain why you would want to attend the session, what publicity means to you, etc

2) Put in 3 Tweets (Twitter posts) about the makeover session using the hashtag #powpub6. Again, your tweets must link to: http://indiebizchicks.com/wp/power-publicity-makeover/

Once you’ve completed one of those, go to her website and leave a comment letting her know which option you completed, along with the URL to your blog post or your Twitter username.

The winner will be drawn on April 6… Good Luck and thanks for entering!!

Share and Enjoy:

Studio nearly Sorted, ready for easy use, Work can Now really, Get Under way, Down Under

2009-03-23T21:35:00.000-07:00

Wow ! thought I had sorted out, my new shelf, the other day , but I'm still fine tuning the sorting process.
Certain things need to be with the others of their kind, everything in it's place, and semi visible, so I know where it is and can also 'see' it, to realise it's best useage, or remember that I actually have it, to use !!!!

Life in the traveling bus was the same I had all my balls of yarn in plastic zip up bags, to contain them, yet allow me to view the contents easily.

Things are beginning to look organised and ready for my new creative surge, which I am prepping up, pumping up, trying to zap myself into gear, after this year or more of depleted health, trying to drag me under......

.....But "I come from a Land Down Under............where women glow, and paint Rainbows....."

Sooooooo...... I Will Suceed !

I have started my Competition Hat for 2009, I have sorted most of my wool, LoL, (still 3 plastic zip bags that need some big baskets to be found at Tip or Opp Shops), thought I had a lovely basket at the Tip Shop, last Wednesday. It was sittimg on the front counter , and I picked it up, only to be told that a woman still down the back had put it there to buy. We were there for ages, and the basket was still there even after all the other women , who were there when I arrived, had gone.
I was still eyeing it off, drooling over it in fact, as it was such a good size. Was just telling a friend we had met there, about it and went to show her, and it had been put below the counter, out of sight !!!
As we were just leaving I said hi to a Market Stall aquaintance, a woman who sells second hand items, just arriving, and suddenly it 'clicked', the basket I desired was being held for her to re-sell !!!!! , Hmmmmph !

What is Megg Working on Now ?????

2009-03-17T06:06:00.000-07:00

Well as usual, I am working on more than one piece of work at the same time, as well as still trying to set up a workable studio. I dream of my old warehouse with it's plentiful storage shelving and space for large tables.

These pictures, illustrate why I need to go to the Tip Shop soon, to look for some appropriate shelving, pigeon holes to sort and store my growing supply of materials and bits and pieces.

Something that will enable me to find things, rather than just bury other things beneath other things.

I'd love to find the right sized tables too, one that can be narrow and long, and extend out width ways or have a larger top that sits behind for easy re-arranging. I've left my old table top over in the house, as it is a little to large for the room in it's present configuration, and with such a diverse array of crafts/art I am attempting to do in this one little room.

I've got the easel in the corner with two canvases on it the front one is a panorama, that I move up onto the ironing board, when I want to work on it, after first removing whatever is currently sitting stored on there, (all the nicely ironed pieces of fabric ready for the over-locker or sewing machine.)

On the two sides of the larger canvas I have my two finished or nearly finished dresses, for want of somewhere else to hang them up.
This black card table, and the white one with machines on, is constantly being emptied and it's use changed from sew/cutting out/pin-ing table to drawing painting table.

These two baskets hold the wool and latest two
hats I'm working on.

The Green and Purple one, was actually started last year, with the spiraling green top, before the Beaniefest !
And it sat and sat and sat.......!

Last month I pulled it out,when a friend was visiting, and got started on the addition of the purple.

It's still sitting, awaiting the right inspiration to complete it !

This earthy colored one, is progressing well, and will be finished, well before the above hat.

I will finish it off with a dark brown rolled brim, I'm thinking .......?

This is what I made today, using a pre-loved
Rainbow singlet top, with some fabric I found at the market on Sunday and some rainbow fabric found at Uki market some years ago.

It's not quite finished yet, I plan a few more finishing touches, possibly a balancing 'flower on the right hand side under shoulder strap.

This is so much fun to be able to sew, using my new over locker, I think I will really be able to immerse myself in all the material I have been acquiring over the past several months.

I plan to make Wonderful Dancing Dresses,
like this young girls size 8 dress, as well as
Accessories, like bags, headbands, and other colourful stuff,

This is a wonderful piece of exquisite bead
work made by Sue of Dancing Wind Design, made to honour the Fire Fighters, that came from all over to help control The Great Turn-around Fire in North America, which miraculously turned around , burning for two months. It burnt out the Okefenokee Swamp, just a few miles from Sue's house.

She was so thankful, she made this to honour them. She then donated it to our Aussie Etsy Down Under Street Team's Oz Bush Fire Appeal Shop, where I bought it.

I am going to incorporate it into a hat, in memory of Forest's Lost, Dear Freinds Lost, 200+ Lives Lost, and so many homes destroyed, by what has been called a Mega Fire Storm, which began on the 7th of February, my birthday.

Here is the start of it, begun tonight, the trunk of a tree, crocheted around an armature of wire.

You can see the bead necklace wound around
the basket of selected wool for the first stage
of this sculptural piece, that may well be one
of my entries for this year's Beaniefest, we will
wait and see, how it grows

Dreaming Greener Dreams for Victoria

2009-03-06T18:17:00.001-08:00

Here is my latest hat, created for the DUST Teams, Down Under Monthly Sale 'Green Dreams', wishing new green growth for all fire ravaged areas of Victoria
http://www.dustteam.com/sales/salelistings.php

2009 Beaniefest Competition Categories

2009-02-28T14:38:00.000-08:00

OK it's time again to really start making beanies for this years festival, I have had quite a break from hat making lately with only a few made here and there.

Here are the categories for this years comp.

This year we will be celebrating the United Nation's International Year of Natural Fibres. Along with renewable fibres we value the handmade. Our textile techniques- knitting, crochet, felting, weaving are easy to learn and difficult to master. Amazing levels of technical skill can be developed to make ideas come alive. This is when the ordinary beanie becomes extraordinary. We invite you to test the possibilities of your creative fibre and the fibres you work with.

1 Natural Fibres Beanie
For a fabulous beanie made from natural fibres, incorporating a great idea and skill.

2 The Madcap Prize
A festive beanie that invites interaction and fun.

3 The Rich Layering
Embroider, scrumble, bead, dye, weave: use a mix of techniques

4 Spirit of the Land
Explores the ranges, the bush, the sea, the desert.

5 The Passion
Make a beanie that reflects or embodies an aspect of a passion

6 Best Animal Beanie
Animals, birds, reptiles, insects and strange invertebrates all welcome.

7 The Eileen Bladon Tea- Cosy Prize
Tea- Cosies are sister objects to the beanie.

8 Best Hand-felted Beanie
Including wet felting, needle felting or knit and felt techniques.

9 The Central Australian
Prize for an outstanding local piece of work.

10 Festival Committee Acquisition Prize
For wonderful and unusual work.

11 The Robbie Beard Handspun Prize
Prize for a work made with yarn handspun by the artist.

12 New Wave Beanie Encouragement Prize
For a school-aged beginner beanie maker.

13 New Wave Beanie Prize
For a school-aged advanced beanie maker.

And the traveling Exhibition, is still moving around the country, soon to be in Victoria again, Here are it's next galleries for you to visit.

La Trobe University
14 March 2009- 19 April 2009
La Trobe University, Victoria 3086
Tel:(03) 9479 1111
http://www.latrobe.edu.au/

Bega Regional Art Gallery, NSW
1 May 2009- 30 May 2009

Cowra Regional Art Gallery, NSW
11 Jul 2009- 16 Aug 2009

Wagga Art Gallery NSW
1 Sept 2009- 11 October 2009

Shear Outback Museum VIC
20 October 2009- 1 February 2010

To be confirmed- Touring through the Northern Territory 2009

Territory Craft
Katherine NT
2010

Slideshow of some of my work

2009-02-26T08:55:00.000-08:00

Some of my many hats made over the years since 1987, and some recent ones. To see some currently avaiable go to my etsy shop or have a look here

http://www.flickr.com/photos/artnomadix/sets/72157607144456485/

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Slideshow of some of my hats

2009-02-16T19:14:00.000-08:00

Click on this cute photo of Rosie the Gumnut Pixie to be linked to a set of my Flickr Pix, Click full screen expander icon lower right corner, move the cusror away, .................put some nice music on......... and sit back and enjoy.
To get back to Flickr page press the ESCape key on your keyboard, top left

One World One Heart Winners

2009-02-12T20:44:00.000-08:00

OK, That was hard to choose, counting backwards , forwards, with the RGN and my own favourite numbers and then finally my best friend 'Intuition'

Here we go .......................the winners are..............................

Ist drawn............. Hege-Anne Simonsen , Norway 'Hege-Annies Paper {He}Art'

A packet of Rainbow Chai Tent Chai and a small sample of Yarns and beads, plus a few bits of possibly interesting 'stuff' about Australia or my local region.

2nd drawn............. 'Digital Misfit' of 'My Hiding Place In Cyber Space'

A small Sampler bag of Chai and a snuggly Neck Cosy, some cushy foot pads, and some Hopefully interesting 'stuff 'about Australia,

3rd drawn............. Danielle Barlow from 'Notes From The Rookery'

A gold bag full of small samples of yarn , in shades of earthy colours, to make something cosy with, a small Sampler bag of Chai, plus some extra goodies and interesting 'stuff' about Australia and where I live.

If anyone is sad they missed out on the Chai, check out Rainbow Chai Tent.com
you can order some from Michael thru the links there, also have a look at our new blog here
The Rainbow Chai Tent Blog

Black Saturday 'Mega Fire Storm' 7th February 2009

2009-02-12T01:03:00.000-08:00

Well my 7x7th birthday has gone done in history as a 'Black Day' in Australia, So many people caught out in an horrific, devastating, unbelievably fast Mega Fire Storm of an unprecedented Bush Fire.

In another life I may have settled in the region of Kinglake and St Andrews, as so many of my friends have done.

I still don't know how many have survived, and how many are now 'Gone' ! I have heard a few stories of amazing survival, seen a few on the news coverage, and learnt of the death of two dear artist friends, actor Reg Evans, and his beautiful artist partner Angela, who I used to enjoy chatting with at St Andrews market, where I began my Living Rainbows Stall and began selling my Gumnut Pixie Hats.

I fear for Murray and Oku and their beautiful daughter Mahli, in Kinglake, I fear for Martin Carter and his family in Dixon's Creek, I 've heard Hannah Sky is safe, having lost her house in Steels Creek, Bob Brewster and his lovely wife , survived in the concrete cellar, beneath their 3 storey house above in Kinglake West, I saw fellow stall holders, jewllers Michael and Megan amongst those left standing in Kinglake Central, but there are so many others who I know nothing about as yet.

How did my dear friend Deborah Woods and her son Jarrah fare, do they still live along the Toolangi Rd ?
And all those friends, customers, and acquaintances, that I know from St Andrews Market yet have know idea in which valley, or ridge they live in, or lived in, past tense!

Tonight there is an Telethon Appeal Concert in progress and in the first 47 minutes, the Red Cross donation tally has jumped by 1. 7 something Million Dollars ! How amazing is that !

In 4 or 5 days the amount has just been incredible 56 Million

Now it's $60,235,888.00 at 20:53 pm !!!!

And now at the end of the night the Telethon total has reached a staggering $19 Million.
Not sure what the grand total is, yet, but how amazing is that

Our Etsy Down Under Street Team DUST,
has created a special on line sale shop OzBushfire Appeal
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6902734
created on Sunday 8th Feb and it already has had 208 sales, and raised over $35oo as of earlier today,I don't know what the actual tally is at present.

Here is a link to some survivors stories, just out, http://www.abc.net.au/news/events/bushfires/survivorsstories.htm just to give a fragment of the picture.

One World One Heart Giveaway

2009-02-03T02:09:00.000-08:00

This Giveaway is now closed, I just need to learn how to 'actually 'close' it
.......aah worked it out
I will be choosing 3 random numbers out of 166 comments.
Good Luck to all who visited and entered !

Click this logo to find out more and to find all the other people taking part, with links to their blogs in the Gypsy caravan

It started on 19 January and ends on the 11th February at 6pm when a winner will be chosen at random. I will announce the winner on the 12th February ASAP.

HOW TO ENTER TO WIN:
All you need to do is leave me a comment ON THIS POST and be sure to include your name and email so I have a way to get a hold of you if you are the winner! It's that easy!

My Giveaway will start with this, a Packet of our Handmade Masala Chai Mix, seeing as I have recently begun a Blog for the Rainbow Chai Tent, as well as my own ArtNomadix Blog, and making comments on your blogs tonight, my Username keeps displaying as Rainbow Chai Tent. I will add some other items to this and add them into this post when I have got them together and taken a photo of them in a group, ( Some eclectic yarns, beads and surprises I can only imagine at the moment) but I must post this now and send the email to Lisa.

To learn more about The Rainbow Chai Tent or to order more Chai go to our Main Website

OK here's an Update with more photos of my extra giveaways. My laptop has been playing up these last few days since I joined this OWOH, and so I haven't been able to load the new photos let alone post them here,.....so .... here they are,

No 1 is A full packet of Chai plus a small selection of little extra selected items, from these next photos

No 2 is a small sample bag of chai, (in one of our soon to be 'Collectors Item, Bags', as the packaging will change to a box,.... sometime in the future.....) plus a larger selection of wool and beads, and extra stuff ( things I have kept for some reason or other, and have decided might be of interest to folks who live in totally different types of countries.

No 3 is a small sample bag of Cha,i (Like above), and the blue Neck cosy to keep someone warm somewhere, plus some of the extra paraphenalia abpout Australia, seen in these coming photos .

I will email the selected winners giving the first drawn the first option etc thru to the 3rd drawn lucky blogger.

I'll be closing these comments very soon,..... after dinner, .......seeing as it's most probably the end of 11th Feb over there now too. It's actually 18:43 of the 12th Feb here now ! Lol.

But first it's time for dinner Yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

DUST Down Under Street Team

2009-02-01T02:43:00.000-08:00

I am a proud member of DUST ,
it's a wonderfully supportive group of Australian Etsy sellers of beautiful handmade creations.
Etsy is an American based International On line Site for sellers of Handmade, Vintage and Supplies.
At Dust, we have a wonderful forum, with friendly people always ready to help out those new to the on-line world, and selling on-line.
We have a monthly Themed Sale that we can take part in if we want, with sale items appearing on our front page, click banner above to go to the Front page.
We also have a Gift Guide http://www.dustteam.com/admin/gift_guide.php
And the Dust Team Blog http://dustteam.com/blog/

The Dust front Page is an excellent way to find some truly amazing Australian Artisans and see some of their stunning work http://dustteam.com/

Other Studio Work

2009-01-22T03:17:00.000-08:00

Last Friday I was fortunate to attend a local Chillingham Community Centre, art class with a visiting guest Water Colour Painter Lorraine Rogers, http://www.sidewalk-gallery.com.au/ it was great to learn from her skill, and simple tricks of the trade.

Much easier, than from the 'How to' collection of newsagent lessons I inherited from a woman living in an Alice Springs Caravan park a few years ago,along with two sets of water colours and a bag to carry it all in, that doubles as an excellent travelling 'Beanie Making Bag'.

I have been using wax water soluble crayons for about 25 years and have often felt that a watercolour wash for the first few layers would make life easier. And it is ! Now I just need to practice my new skills.......Here are my first two attempts...

But first, a deadline........ Monday 19th,........ must have the 'Old Chai Tent Table Curtain' spruced up somehow,????......for the Rainbow Chai Tent's 4th visit, to the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in the Gardens in front of Old Parliament House, Canberra, for Sovereignty Day 26th January 2009, and the Action for Climate Change at New Parliament House on 3rd February.

I have made a new table curtain for the regular market set up, but for longer set ups, with extra marques and preparation and servery counters, we always need more table curtains to screen off and hide the under bench area for storage etc.

This old one I originally painted back in the late 80's or early 90's, and is looking quite seedy, especially when wet. It's old and faded, and has some bad areas of mold spotting. But at 6 metres long it is still redeemable with some more paint and I did think for a while, I might sew a backing layer and do the revamp with some applicque-ing! Maybe that'll be the go the next time round.
When I was making the new one I did a tiny bit of over painting to try and keep it going and disguise the worst spots,( see the first 5 pictures )

Decided to just add some more fabric paint (Silver, gold and light silvery blue, with a pink red heart that darkened to more red than pink). That done I nearly finished there, late Sunday afternoon. Then at 4pm Geradus suggests it needs some words ! So we set about working out what words describe the Chai Tent, we came up with quite a few, and I had just enough time to paint thru 3 DVD's til late night, and till 1pm Monday to get 47 words painted in, before Liffy, my Very Active 78 year old mother, headed off to rendezvous with my brother, for the long 2 week trip south.

Geradus kindly cooks the dinner while I work !
I used my wax water soluble crayons to write the words and colour in , then used Fabric Medium to make it colourfast, Much easier, than trying to paint letters with fabric paint, and achieving clear straight edges
And the colours are super bright
Unity, Clarity, Hope, Service, Community, Freedom, All One, Harmony, Equality, Communication, Creation, Acceptance, Music, Friendship, Happiness, No War, Caring, Sharing,
Dance, Wisdom, Listen, Communal, Culture, Sing, One Mob, Tolerance, Inclusion, Education, Integrity, Peace, Love, Charity, No Nukes, Joy, Justice, Serenity, Loyalty, Family, Truth, Growth, Fun,Honesty, Awareness, Heal, Birth, Flow,
Such a change from a tired old curtain, it is earning it's status as a Chai Tent Heirloom!
There's still room for more, that I'm sure folks down there will come up with some, when they read all of these.
That will be for painting on in the next round of revamp, when I'll probably start on the applicqueing and strengthening with a backing cloth.

A Bit About Etsy.com

2009-01-17T16:09:00.000-08:00

Found this and thought what a good thing for people who don't live in the US, to see. To learn a bit about Etsy.

Nimbin's Hippyfest'08'09

2009-01-05T04:22:00.000-08:00

Old Years Day '08, a very hot humid day, became a beautiful balmy evening, without a hint of thunderstorms, of the preceding and following nights ! The main street of Nimbin was very quiet, the young had gone elsewhere for excitement, the older folk stayed out of town, except for a perfect quantity of happy smiling people, gathered in the Mingle Park behind The Nimbin Museum.

The Rainbow Chai Tent was set up by Michael, and created the colourful atmosphere to brighten up the area and cleanse the area of a brutal attack in the lane two nights earlier.

The evening began with a didge welcome by Robert Corowa and friend

followed by two young men from Tuntable Community, with a clever rap,

Next up were Al and Nerida the Patriarch and Matriarch of 'Earth Reggae',
currently without a band behind them, (Correction :"Tonight without a band behind/beside them", They actually have their three eldest kids as members of the band along with Ren Waterfall on Brass), as they have been and are, extremely busy with their seven kids, and all the extras, (friends of kids) , that like to call Al and Nerries place 'Home' too ! Nerida says they're thinking of offering workshops and music jams and events at their home, centrally located in the village of Nimbin , beside the community centres market stage.
See http://www.earthreggae.com for purchasing wonderful CD's of 'Earth Reggae's excellent Australian Reggae
They got up and did an acoustic version of 'Aboriginal Land' and other Earth Reggae songs,with their youngest kids, plus friends eager to join in. After their set finished, Nerida told me that the music playing during the space between sets was actually their older kids, now playing the accompaniment !

Won't be long til we see the 'Earth Reggae Family Band' , playing alongside the 'Perch Creek Family Jug Band' another local family with seven kids, plus partners of the older ones. The tribe starts to grow bigger!

See http://www.earthreggae.com for purchasing wonderful CD's of 'Earth Reggae's excellent Australian Reggae, with songs about caring, and conserving our precious planet and sovereignty for Indigenous Australians !

Next up were the inspiring duo Marcella and Chris, from 'Monkey and The Fish',

with their exceptional songs, that I just love to dance out the stories of, in mime. They nearly had some 'guest singers', until 'stagefright' over took one, instead they played some percussion, and changed places with two others mid way thru the song 'For the Children'
The evening carried on with a new band ' New', who got all the others up for a good dance

All, ably mixed by Bo Kaan, in the Kombi sound van, he worked all thru the heat of the humid day getting everything set up and ready for the evening
The New Year was heralded in by a small drumming circle, a few fireworks in the main street and a guided meditation, and we all drank lots of chai both hot and iced, and iced Turkish mint drink, and ate luscious cakes, made by Michael, the gluten free Chocolate Hazelnut Meal, and the Orange Almond Meal, and the vegan Orange Poppyseed and the Decadent Chocolate with Everything !

A wonderfully Good night was had by all with donations gathered, to pay the musicians and Sound man and contribute to the Chai set up. Even the local Police Woman came down to congratulate organisers, on such a Peaceful, and Good Event !!

2008-12-13T11:58:00.000-08:00

Off toThe Channon Market today, it is a beautiful looking morning, albeit a hot looking day, it is perfect at the moment. Here's some pix of my new studio, transforming from a many carpeted floor space, with very white walls cabin, to a space where I can feel inspired to create.......wonders.

Glad I painted this shelving into a pale blue instead of the lime green it was when I got it from the Tip Shop a while ago, for my sister to use while she was in the cabin temporarily. She didn't like the colour either, but never got around to painting it. Now the colour is provided by my materials for my sewing. Don't you just love the new 'concrete carpet' !!!
Back late tonight, have de-activated most of my hats from my shop for the day, but they'll be back.

My Largest 'Canvas' Ever

2008-12-11T01:11:00.000-08:00

Well after starting off emptying the space, of furniture and rugs, I had a huge 'canvas', to paint !
The Floor. !!
When the 'Shed House' was converted/updated to 'The Cabin', the concrete floor was painted a light blue/grey colour.
It hasn't worked well, for the stains and scratches, make it look grubby, even when clean.

So, as I prepare to move in to have a live in Studio of Fixed abode, and taking out the carpets and rugs of old and recycled nature to clean the floor, I decided, that a fresh paint job, was called for.

And being summer, I'd only need some rugs for a while, till winter cold, will call for more carpets to be found and acquired by then.
A quick look in the shed end, (1 quarter of space is now behind a wall), and I found 6 pots of paint, that should do the job, Yaay!!
Brunswick Green with White, Blue with White and Gold, don't know if I'll use the Orange as yet , or the silvery blue spray can, but we'll see later on....

The next thing was to make some 'Brushes',
luckily I didn't, remember, to throw out in the recent Hard Rubbish collection, these bits of foam, I had cut up for hat rims, back in early 2007, down in Tassie, and the old plastic, Under Bed Container, that used to hold our Hand Painted T-Shirts, before they started breaking up. This, is to be my paint mixing pallette, The pieces of bamboo, we used to use for display coat-hangers, for our Sunset Silhouette Shirts.
The weather was extremely Hot and Humid, luckily I had some fans to stand in front of periodically
After working all around the edges, using a piece of cardboard to shield the skirting boards, I them began to cover the floor wih the first colour of a jade green, using one of the foam and bamboo brushes.
As I worked, the foam, began to deteriate, making an even more random shape to my sploches, which is what I wanted. I nearly spent time at the beginning, making the foam covered ends more varigated, I'm glad I didn't bother, as it wasn't needed at all.

I would spread the density of paint around,as I refreshed the brush with more paint, working until brush became paler and paler, I think I will also paint my crocs in this manner too, when I finish off tomorrow...... I left lots of narrow pathways, so I could walk easily around for the second coat....... The humidity was rising as the weather outside was building to a Thunder Storm........
I nearly used this long 'brush first off, but I'm glad I used it second, as itprovides a wonderful contrast. It is the old squeegee mop which we are about to throw out, having bought a new one on Monday !!
This is what it looked like before I started
And this is how it finished up at the end of the day, with more to come tomorrow, when I start with the Gold, top layer.
I'm thinking I'll also paint the Fridge, and maybe the cupboard doors at some time in the future too, in a different style. I've also got two bookshelves that need painting and a Secretaire, that I bought at a Garage Sale a while ago.
I wonder how it will look tomorrow when I finish with the Gold and maybe the Silver/Blue ???

And I can't wait now to paint the shelves and secretaire, which I have been meaning to paint for months and months !!!!!

I've re -found my Creative Energy

2008-11-27T20:46:00.000-08:00

This is the farm I am looking after for 10 days. The first 2 days were filled with rain, nearly constantly. A really good excuse to watch a few DVD's while I get some work done.
I had made these two crocheted, over sized hats and fulled them down in the washing machine. The first one, made before I'd deciphered the 'weird' pattern was still too large to ever be a hat, so earmarked it for a bag. But they have sat unfinished for ages!
Now, here in a 'new space', and on my own, I have a 'freedom' I haven't known for what seems, like years !

This is one of my temporary work stations

Also I was not able to be online for those two days, until I worked out the ways of using the house computer so look what I have been doing instead.....

This is one side of my freeform needle felting, which I have no idea as yet, what it is going to end up as/ If by a miracle, I get it finished into something, or close to, I will give it to a talented local musician, who turns 21 tomorrow. Something stylish for her to wear or carry as she travels the world's music venues. Lokk out for Camilla Hadgkins, the eldest of 7 kids who along with Dad Bob make up The Perch Creek Family Jug Band.
Camilla won a scholarship, years ago and went down to Sytdney to study at The Conservatorium. High School, She used to busk with her Harp, made by father Bob, at all the local markets and had her first CD out at 15, or so ! They're having a big party over the weekend with bands playing and lots of freeform music !

And this is The Pinacle, which towers up behind the house. It's a peninsula of land, that sweeps down from the Border Ranges, the western rim of the Caldera. The track down across and up to the tip is very narrow in places, and they have even semi-closed the track now, I think. Haven't been out on it for years. My partner and I used to camp further back along the rim at Black Butt Lookout. our most favorite breakfast balcony in the Life of a Nomad! The sun came out today ! but there are thunderstorms predicted for tomorrow. Went out mushrooming again this afternoon Mmmmm, mushroom omlette for tea!

'Welcome to Country', Party at Hanging Rock Hall

2008-11-27T17:21:00.000-08:00

Finally I have time to write this up.

November 22nd we headed of to the wonderful community made, stone and wood hall, to help brother Michael set up the Chai Tent, for a community party put on to invite some 'new friends to be' from the Mulli Mulli Community, somewhere west of here, in the Kyogle Shire.
Put on with the help of a grant, which enabled the Mulli Mulli people to bring a school bus of kids and teenagers,and a few cars wirh some of the elders, the one and a half hour journey, and paid for food and drinks for them, ably cooked on the BBQ and in the kitchen by the men and women of the Bush Fire Brigade and Hall Committee.

It was a wild and windy day

and the flags and tent were buffeted. and flapped with gusto. but held up ! And the promised Thunderstorm was never seen ...?
I was a wonderful day of two communities coming together and sharing music and dance and cups of Sovereign Tea and Chai !

Local singer song writer Loren, played around sunset, singing about community. I couldn't resist his awesome words, and danced the stories out, for all to see. ( an impromptu performance, as I was, for a long while, the only one dancing, and my style is movement and mime based.)
It made up for two recently missed, cafe concerts he has played, ( I was just saving up for the right venue, Somewhere with lots of space to dance in, on grass!)
My crook hip paid heavily that night as I tried to sleep, rolling round trying to get comfy !

After dark the fire lantern 'Phoenix was placed in it's stand, on the centrally laid fire, (Beautifully built by the 'Fireys',who had their truck on hand for any firey emergencies).
With a north wind, blowing hot all day, it was not, the ideal day to light a fire, but with sunset, the winds dropped back, to a balmy evening, so Fire Ceremony lighting was approved ! Yaay !

Lewis Walker, of the Bundjulung, spoke and played the traditional Welcome to Country, then played, to the Phoenix as the flames took hold, and an awesome sight it was, as the Spirit of the Phoenix was released, to be reborn in us all, in the Spirit of New Friendships !

But the final parting was very moving, as Lewis farewells the Spirit of the Phoenix !

Can you 'see' the 'spirit' leaving the fire .......

There was music and dance in the hall til midnight, with the wondeful 8 person line up 'CBD Dub Collective', and music and dance, out round the fire, til the wee small hours, of a quieter nature. May there be more such gaterings and coming together of community !

( and may there be 'better communication about what time thiings start, an order and a program, known in advance. The Elders and young Mulli Mullians left too early, as they'd arrived at the advertised time, of noon as we had beleived too, that the official 'Welcome to Country was to be held then.)

Etsy DUST Gift Guide

2008-11-16T21:05:00.000-08:00

Have you seen the New etsyDUSTer's Gift Guide ? You can browse for gifts by category. There are 12 items shown per shop with more to be seen within each. Check it out here
http://www.dustteam.com/admin/gift_guide.php

And for the Month of November we have the DUST (Down Under Street Team) Oceans and Islands Sale
http://www.etsy.com/search_results.php?search_type=tag_title_all&search_query=%22dust+team+sale%22

Welcome Back Benny Zable

2008-11-09T22:40:00.000-08:00

Well the day started out looking pretty wet and miserable, but with all our positive intent, we lifted the cloud and a beautiful cool day was had by the few who braved the ominous early rain.
Benny is back from his 3 months in America, all 'abuzz' with Obama, and his adventures over there.
The Chai Tent was 'up and at em' early ! with Michael and Ots there at 6.30, the tent was up, the flags were up, the Chai was ready, before 9.30 ! (lately it's been getting later and later, with one thing or another).
When we got there, all was ready, and I didn't have to do a thing, except put up my stall, which was nice and small, just a display and an outing for 'the hats'.
Just as well too, as my energy is quite low at the moment, with another heavy flow.

Here's Benny, getting his tight neck and shoulders worked on, receiving a much needed massage from our resident 'pop-in' masseurs, Branwen and QJ. Branwen is wearing her newly remade Gumnut Pixie Antenna to the Universe.

Later when the drummers started up, Benny climbed his Barrels and created a spontaneous piece of theatre, the energies gathered and built up, and later when it was very 'high', I entered into the dance, and physically, psychically, and ritually gathered in the combined energy, and sent it with full intent, down to our Brothers and Sisters,(Forest Defenders), in Southern Tasmania, who are in great need of support !
I received several SMS messages the night before from Rissah, back down in Tassie, living in the heart of Geeveston, (Gateway to the Southern Forests), saying she is living in a War Zone, amid unprecedented violence, she has to take great care going to the shop, and she Doesn't Go Out At Night !
People at the market had heard on the news, something about severe beatings and car bombings ???Not sure what's been going on fully, but it dosen't sound good. Tasmanian Loggers have been watching and learning from their mainland peers and subverting to violence. Not good !!!

Who 'Nose' what's going on ????

Long after the market stalls have packed up and gone home, they party on at The Chai Tent, as we pack up.

At this time of year we are graced with the beauty of the Jacaranda Trees, not indigenous to Australia, and now classified as a 'weed' here in Northern Rivers region. But oh so nice ! I just Love Jacarandas, they fill me with yummy-ness, the colour grabs me every time I see it. Soon I shall make a painting featuring them. Here at The Channon, there is this magnificent tree, and yesterday it was spectacular! Last year the November market was canceled due to heavy rains, so we missed seeing it's glory, but yesterday late afternoon, the light was wonderful.

It's a long job as everything needs to be washed and certain pots and pans have to be packed into the OLD trailer first. The order of packing is due to loading the trailer right, for the weight distribution. So it is not until 10.30 ish that we are packed and ready to leave. Sometimes a bit earlier, many times a lot later.

Usually we have music nearly all the way to the van doors being closed !! One day the 'Dream' is, to have a new purpose designed trailer, built to enable a much better functioning system. Michael gets very 'stressed ' at times with the inadequacies of the current trailer, and would so dearly love to build his design.
It would make taking the Chai Tent to functions such as The Tent Embassy in Canberra for Sovereignty Day, a much more feasible proposition !
Anyone feel like being a Benefactor, or do you know of someone who needs a good 'Community' effort to support

About DUST sheet for DUSTer's

2008-11-08T03:41:00.000-08:00

Here is a sheet for interested DUSTer's to copy and print on the back of Anna aka Petit Palais' sheet on About Etsy flyer, if I can work out how to attach it or link it. Here's hoping....... I will be away all tomorrow at The Channon Market, leave early get home round midnight, long, long day, but lots of fun serving chai, washing cups and dancing to the drums (little bit only for these injured bones).

Don't think this has worked, but will post it and see if it corrects itself.

No it didn't like all the html text at the beginning so I kept deleting every thing it didn't like which was the Dust banner and then squashed the two long flyers into one repeated list, I'll have to learn how to share it with you all.

Panorama Update

2008-11-02T01:11:00.000-07:00

The horizon has appeared at last ! Early stages yet, just blocking in the basic colours, but it's good to see it appearing out of the white-out !

Click Here to see the next instalment.

Win A Beautiful Handmade Bag

2008-10-14T17:04:00.000-07:00

Would you like to win a beautiful handmade bag, knitted and fulled (felted) by the 'Bag Lady' Nerys, from Wonderful Western Australia ! Well just dream up a title for her knew book of recipes and post it as a comment on her Blog, go to http://gypsysoul-au.blogspot.com/ to read all about her 3 competitions
A bag like this could be yours if you come up with the winning words !

Second Sunday of the Month

2008-10-10T20:48:00.000-07:00

Hi there,
sorry if you tried to visit my shop today, it is temporarily 'on vacation' from cyber world, while I give all the hats an outing to The Channon market, in Northern NSW.
They don't get out very often these days, and they do enjoy meeting new people! 'Tho, sometimes they like someone so much, they decide it's time to leave home, and journey 'off' into the big wide world.
This is where they will spend the day, watching all the people having fun at The Rainbow Chai Tent, while I serve Chai and wash,wash, wash lots of mugs.

We will all be back here on-line on Monday morning, sometime later in the day, as we recover from the 'mini-festival' that the Chai tent creates. We don't get packed up til 10 or 11 0'clock at night. It's a big job.

Please have a look at my work on Flickr till we get back www.flickr.com/photos/artnomadix

Back to Painting

2008-10-03T02:31:00.000-07:00

Well I have started work on an old Work In Progress. In late '95 I sat up on the edge of a cliff on a local landmark called Brummies Lookout, and sketched a 180 Degree view, on 4 sheets of thick paper. I took them back up in 2000, when I joined my mother's walking group, and found that in 5 years the tree line on the skyline of the mountain had grown somewhat.
On Tuesday we took a friend up there, in her 4WD and walked up the short but steep and very rocky ridge, and the tip of Mt Warning is nearly not visible behind the even taller trees. It was great returning with a digital camera, to be able to take photo field notes to add to my 'in-field' sketch notes, and use them to correct my on-site 'stretching' that can happen when trying to record directly from the Landscape.
Re-inspired I set to yesterday and worked with the photos , editing them and balancing them, and changing the contrast on some to focus on a specific ridge. I was able to 'see' my mistakes, and make a small sketch with corrections on a scaled down thumbnail, from the 20" x 60" canvas I purchased back in Feb.

I've even made a plastic sleeve with an over-laying graph to help translate the basic layout onto the canvas.
Went to start work today, but it was not to be what with interruptions from my sister and her long-windedness, and an extremely hot day where it's hard to feel like doing anything. But hey thats OK, maybe tomorrow will be more suitable

To see the futre stages of this click Here and Here

My Etsy Shop

2008-10-03T00:13:00.000-07:00

Well I've finally listed a dozen items in my on-line shop with Etsy, it's only taken me more than a year since I first heard about Etsy, and joined up ! Living on the road, and trying to teach myself to use a computer for the first time, was not exactly easy, especially trying to get enough on-line time. We were rarely in phone zone's as we travelled around Oz, usaully camping in very remote places, and only passing thru towns and phone zones for very short times, just to pick up a bit of shopping.
But since our bus/mobile home, decided for us, that 12 years was long enough, by having the gearbox pack it in, we have been at my Mum's place, as we spend time fixing the bus up, and finishing some of the features that we didn't get done 4 years ago. We had 9 months off the road, to transform a 17 seater bus, into our new travelling home, and we were itching to get back out there!
We had previously spent 8 years living in a Toyota HiAce Pop Top Campervan, so it was wonderful to have so much space in our new bus. I soon filled her full to the brim with all my Yarn that I could fit in, now that we had more space!
I began to dream about having a fixed abode studio again, although I do love the freedom of the nomad, and my partner Geradus was constantly wanting to be somewhere else, further along the road, he really loves the driving and the constantly changing country, with new places to explore.
We kept asking ourselves that year, "12 years on the road, will we make 15?" So 'Dancer' our bus decided for us, just after we arrived back in this region which was always one of our places that we stay in for longer spells, to unload, offload, repair, set up short term studios, sort, and reload the revised "so what do we really need, what can we do without".

The roads around here are very windy around the caldera, with many a steep hill to access some friends houses, not a place to drive a 5.1 ton bus, it is bad enough in a van sometimes, so it was divine intervention that we lost 3rd gear whislt nearby Mum's and we could limp back there and take stock. Timing has been good too, as the price of fuel has risen dramatically, we are so glad that we were able to do all the traveling that we've done.
But now, a year off the road, and we are really missing the sense of freedom we used to enjoy. Yet we are still very lucky, as where we are living, is one of the most beautiful parts of the country, and every drive out, even just into town to shop, is a scenic adventure, amid stunning views and awesome weather, with stunning cloud formations of huge thunderheads against deep blue skies.

Had a call today from a friend with a local Art and Craft Gallery Shop," Heart of Arts" They have finally located a venue to run various art and craft classes, and she asked if I was still interested in being a tutor. They will get going in February, so that gives me plenty of time to get my class notes and patterns finished.
I went into town on the 12th of September "International Crochet Day" and did a Cafe Crochet Crawl to promote Crocheting, and see if anyone wanted to learn to do Tapestry Crochet, and got several names, and contact details, so sometime soon, somewhere I'll find a suitable venue, and get going with some more Hat and Tapestry Crochet workshops going.

I even had my photo taken by the local paper, which was a great bonus to reach even more people who weren't in town that day.

September Spring Cleaning

2008-09-04T01:17:00.000-07:00

1st of September saw the start of a new me, as I began a series of BodyWork sessions with two incredible body workers who look at, and treat, the whole 'You'. The physical and the unseen meta-physical realms.
My connection with these two, began back in June, at The Channon market, where they spied my hats out on display, ( one of their infrequent outings), before I headed off to the Beaniefest. They asked me if I'd be interested in a barter of their services in exchange for hats for them.
We spoke again at the August market, about what styles and colours etc. and they emailed me their head sizes.
I began their hats,

and they rang to suggest Monday 1pm for my first session.
I nearly didn't make it as I was having a very emotional day, and trying to drive the 1 1/2 hour journey around this beautiful caldera to their place on the outer eastern side, with eyes blinded by tears was extemely hard.
I sent them a text message, to cancel, and they repied, "Sounds like you need to come even more", so I took a "deep breath" and managed to see thru my recurrent tears.
QJ said when I arrived, that people often had 'things come up' like me , on the day of their appointment. They'd be more worried if nothing showed up, this would mean you were really locked up.
So although I couldn't get my words out at first, they asked questions and expressed what they were intuitively picking up from me. and I was soon able to verbally fill them in on my background. I ended up telling them a long and convoluted story, which helped them see and understand where my physical troubles originated from, and what they needed to do to 'free' me up from things linked in some strange way to one or more of my past lives.
This tied in with the stories of my life.
They then worked on me in tandem, one doing the deep and often painful or ticklish, the other doing very soothing and nurturing work. It was the most amazing massage/bodywork that I have experienced, (of which there has been a lot).
I felt totally nurtured and gifted from their caring ministrations, and it felt wonderful to be receiving such care.
Afterward we shared a cup of chai, and chatted on for a while, relaxing. I left and blissfully strolled around the nearby Crystal Castle's gardens, in a state of 'newness'.
At home late I felt tired and my body was aching a bit.
Having gone to sleep quite early, I found myself awake at 3:15 am, my time of birth, and one quite related to the issues being worked on that day. I had quite a headache and my hips were aching, I felt terrible all over, but as I lay in bed, rolled this way and that, I experienced what I call an etheric Hands-On. I could sense the Presence of QJ and Branwen, as if their hands were working on me again, and signs and sounds of 'release' kept up for an hour and a half. I went with it and watched the whole process, til I went back to sleep.
In the morning I awoke with the headache eased, which you'd think is the normal way, after sleep, although recently I have often awoken still with the headache I went to sleep with! Also, my body was no longer aching,sore, or afflicted with the qroin pulling hip injury, I was able to walk without pain for the first time in 4 years.
It still possibly needs another session, but in the next one I believe they will be able to tackle another of my long term physical problems.
What a good start to Spring, I feel like I have new spring to my life, maybe I'll be able to dance freely again soon.

Not long til the Beaniefest

2008-06-05T06:26:00.000-07:00

Well I've finished my two entries for the Beaniefst competition, and sent them off. Then a load of hats for Beanie Central, the largest sale venue of beanies probably in the world. I even managed to write and send an artist's statement this year, which the past three years I haven't managed, but thanks to computers and printers,and being in a fixed abode, for a change, I am on top of things this year.
Soon I leave to make the long Journey to Alice Springs, travelling this time with my mother Liffy,who has missed the festival for the past two years, despite travelling to Central Australia both winters, yet just missing the festival weekend by a week or two.
I am still madly creating beanies as well as trying to complete a project, making a new table curtain for The Chai Tent's servery table. The old one is approximately 17 years old and becoming threadbare. So began preparing that today ready to paint the dyes on tomorrow, wash, dry, and sew up on Saturday, so I can take it to market on Sunday, giving it to Benny Zable to add in a Hand-painted Earth in the centre over the central Heart. Will I succeed in doing all that in that short time span ?????? Maybe, maybe not, but I'll sure give it a go.
Leaving on the 19th June and possibly away for 4 weeks. Doesn't look like we'll be going out to Uluru for the big gathering now unless brother Michael gets a belated invitation, and then we will and we won't be back til mid August or so.
That is when I'll finally get moving with my Etsy shop, now that I'm a little more computer literate and not so nomadic.

Well it's now Wednesday, I managed to paint, wash out, dry, and sew most off the new table curtain, but as the hour got late on Saturday night, I decided to take it, as was, which was the right decision, as having a test, for length, and height, was very important, as I'd bought fabric that wasn't quite the right length, or width. I had been going to add a thin strip to the top edge before sewing the 'Velcro' on to it. Checking it out on Sunday while we were setting up, showed me that all I needed to do was fold top edge over 1" and then sew velcro on it. It was the perfect height after all. The length needed two pieces of extra fabric added on before sewing the velcro on, which I've done today, tomorrow I'll paint in the Teacups, that now appear as funny shaped clouds, and Benny is going to paint an 'Earth' onto a separate piece of silk, that will get sewn on later down at Newcastle during the Students for Sustainability conference or the Climate Camp following, as he is heading down that way today.

Garden Party Hat

2008-05-09T21:13:00.000-07:00

I bought this white gauze hat in the local opp shop thinking I could do something with it. Got home and found an invitation to a friends 60th Birthday, a Garden Party. Christine was thinking we'd be on our way back up from Tassie, on our way to Alice Springs, therefore passing thru St Andrews/Cottlesbridge where she lives. But no, we are in Northern NSW, so I decided to make her a Garden Party Hat instead. It has been such fun, I hope she likes it, she is an avid green thumb with a wonderful garden of flowers. Last year it was showcased in the Open Gardens tour.

"Urban Excavation Effect"

2008-04-24T21:14:00.000-07:00

Well having begun my own "Urban Excavation Effect" project a few weeks ago, by cleaning out my bus's nooks and crannies, and beginning to crochet them into an "Urban Excavation Creation", to maybe enter in this years Beaniefest competition, or 'Winter Warmers'comp. I was amazed to Flickr-meet Wooldancer, aka Michelle, with this wonderful concept. see www.wooldancer.blogspot.com

I've also just applied to join a local recycling group, an on-line group that posts 'things' they need to 're-house', sharing what we don't need anymore, and possibly finding that, which we do need now!

How I love all this networking that's possible these days. Why has it taken me so long to get Computer-wise/literate/Co-Nected ????

So here are some pix of my 'Finds' and what I have begun..........

Sorry about the weird layout, got a bit to learn about loading photos, or which layout to use and when, but I guess this is creative! Where will my project go next?????

Will I get back in to this one now, or finish the latest sunset silhouette that was started back in January, and re-started today, finishing the orange and yellow areas, ready to begin the black rolled brim.

I've found some more 'stuff' for it and taken new pix of the growing 'stash' of 'stuff', maybe I'll re-size them and then load them first. well thought I'd worked out which format to use for photos But No, think again! Stretched the photo of stuff to re-locate the text back to where it was originally.

From little things big things grow

2008-04-21T22:57:00.000-07:00

...and She's Off and ...Crocheting ...Again !!!

2008-03-23T05:44:00.000-07:00

It's only been two months since I started my last hat, whilst sitting in the waiting room of the Tweed Heads Fracture clinic, for my mother's broken arm. While out of plaster, for weeks now, she still doesn't have full use of her hand yet , asher wrist and fingers 'froze' while encasesd, and we have been off and into town (25 kms away) and Tweed Heads (50 kms away) 3 or 4 times a week, so adding up the return journeys, I've been behind the wheel, on these very winding, but scenic roads, quite a lot of late. The rest of the time has been taken overby this here computer.

Learning stuff, meeting new fellow crocheter's, and soon opening my first Etsy Shop.now that I have recently puchased a new digital camera, and recommenced taking pix of current work.

Today we got out, I left the computer, and took my trusty basket of wool with me to our local music venue, (on the other side of the mountain) Sphinx Rock Cafe, for a rain free afternoon of music and friends. With my trusty, better than the old camera, I took pix of WIP as I recommenced this fourth or fifth in a series of earthy tones and autumn colours.

So good to get back into work, as I begin to realise it's not that long to the Beaniefest again . Haven't yet made a start on my competition entries yet, although I have given them some thought! Need to make a lot to sell out there again this year as our bus has a broken gearbox along with some other major ailments that need attending to. Lucky we are safely 'stuck here at 'Mystic Lakes' in the lush volcanic caldera of Wollumbin, and not 'stuck' on the side of some highway, in Outback Queensland, trying to sell our wares to the passing few, to buy and fit new gearbox ASAP !
OK, enough for now," to bed, to bed," said Fred