Three Things... Lifeline Bookfest

art. house. mum.

It's on again.  Lifeline Bookfest.  Love the feeling of hundreds of books pre-loved and crowded into a massive shed waiting for a new home. 

Two things I especially love... the books are cheap enough, and have already served some of their purpose, so I can give them guilt free to my kids who don't always show books the respect they deserve.

...and the books are unique and quirky and pot-luck!

I will, however, be hunting for some more of my favourites (other than the given Dick Bruna and Miffy books and the illusive Julie Vivas Nativity...). 

I'm a sucker for a good  Annual;
I love the illustrations and repetitive text in the old school Readers;
and I have been enjoying reading the old-fashioned Uncle Aurtur's Bedtime Stories (try to get the Comedy Company image out of your head...) to the kids at , well, bedtime. 

Say g'day if you pass me in the aisles...

What will you be hunting for?

g

Julie Vivas Long-time Favourite Illustrator...

art. house. mum.

I've never been a great reader.  I do love to read, but pretty early on I found out that it is much quicker to ask your well-read older sister for an in-depth synopsis than it is to actually read a book cover to cover.  She was very generous with her time and knowlege when we were growing up and there are some books that I come across now and I am just not at all sure whether or not I read them...

Kids' books, however, have always worked really well for me!  The combination of a few well-chosen words and illustrations a-plenty suited me even well after I was capable of reading "grown-up" books.  And so, long before I became a mum I was a big fan of the Australian illustrator Julie Vivas. 

Julie lived in various parts of Australia and studied design before working as an artist.  At an exhibition of artworks completed while living with her husband in Spain, her work was spotted by an author and she was invited to work on her first book "Tram Ride to Bondi" which went on to become an award-winning book.  Her next project, "Possum Magic" with Julie Vivas,  suffered many knock-backs before it was accepted by Scholastic on the proviso that the lead characters were changed to be more Australian...

 

You can see from this handful of illustrations from three books ("I Went Walking" by Sue Machin; "Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partrige" by Mem Fox; and "Possum Magic" also by the timeless Mem Fox) that her whimsical style and comfort with portraying awkwardness is endearing and magical... a perfect combination for children's books.

Though I always keep my eyes out for her illustrations when I'm shopping for second-hand books, I would especially love to get a copy of her "Nativity" which illustrates the story of Christmas straight from the King James Version of the Bible.  I have seen it at a friend's house, and my absolute favourite of her illustrations is her portrayal of the angel Gabriel.

 

In the books which we've collected, though, I love her ability to capture the wonder of childhood...

The movement of animals...

And the way in which elderly people can be comfortable in their lives and bodies.

Do you have a favourite illustrator?

g

 

Rain...

art. house. mum.

Obviously, camping in the rain has its downsides.  But with kids, the upsides are surprising (and exhausting) and valuable.

(Here's a gratuitous photo of our lovely old caravan, now with a sanity-saving extra covered area.  We love the groups of fellow caravaners who come by to admire her and the old couple who asked if they could take a photo of her... we think she's gorgeous too!)

And the rain... well, once we got over the fact that really EVERYTHING was going to be varying degrees of moist by the time we left... well, then we let go a bit and let the kids run amuck.  The little boys in the group loved it the best...

During patches of dry we did actually go swimming in the dam, but I'm pretty sure that these little fellows much preferred the times spent running in puddles at the campsite.

Another thing about caravanning which I am loving is the grey nomads who seem to enjoy having the kids around (I like to think that it reminds them of their own grandkids and kids).  And despite the element of chaos which we bring (two families with seven kids in total) most of the next generation who we spoke to just seemed to love encouraging us with their stories of camping with their own children decades ago.  The feeling of continuity and value in a fluid community like a caravan park amazes me.  

Which brings me to one of my theories on life... 

On Travel... 

The less you pay for your accommodation, the more likely you are to make friends...

Agree?

g

Grammar Art...

art. house. mum.

We had a lovely busy week last week. I spent a good few hours stretching canvases and painting for the upcoming Toowoomba Grammar Art Show.  (Each year the two most prominent private boys' in the city hold art shows... the protestant Grammar, and the Catholic Downlands College.  Each show is different, with Grammar being know more for its conservative feel and Downlands for its Modern and occasionally Post-Modern feel.  Like many local artists who have very few ties to either school, I participate in both shows and enjoy the silliness of the competitive spirit which drives two sets of parents to work exceptionally hard to put on almost professional shows year-in year-out).

I've been so enjoying my Happy Bike Riders series and I've had some lovely comments so I decided to continue the series.  Again I worked with acrylic paint mixed with thinning medium.  It's definately growing on me and I especially like the way that parts of the painted surface on the canvas become translucent after drying.  These paintings, though, seemed to need something more to anchor them to the artwork.  I decided to use pattern as an anchor and this also emphasises the lighthearted feeling of the artworks.

Did you notice, too, my "studio" behind the paintings?  Rather tidy, wouldn't you say!  Exceptionally functional while still being inspirational...  what more could a girl ask for... okay, maybe a bit more floor space...  

Have a great week! 

g

Happy Bikers Pattern...

art. house. mum.


And just to confirm my addiction... and my need to master a few more photoshop skills...

I call this one Happy Bikers Pattern.


Have a restful and refreshing weekend.

g

Cake Tin Addiction

art. house. mum.

Who said that Photoshop wasn't addictive?


I have no desire to retouch photos of people, but creating repetitive tiles and dreaming of them in print... my kind of addiction.


...the only question is wallpaper or fabric... okay, I'm getting a headache too.


Happy week ending all!  


g

Three things... My Art Round Our Home

art. house. mum. 

Three more artworks from the vault....  Or from our walls at least...

Do you have a favourite?

Advance Australia Fair...

art. house. mum.

It was a few weeks ago now, but this Australia Day we went to the Highfields Heritage Village to join in their celebrations.  Knowing little of what was in store for us (impulsive, us, never...) we were surprised by the acres of car-filled paddocks and the subsequent variety of bush-celebrating activities and displays.

It's a treat to go to days like this with young kids...  Things that have sadly become ho-hum for us jaded adults are awe-inspiring for the little ones seeing (and hearing and smelling) them for the first time.  Things like a didgeridoo, whose rhythmic base notes and squawking top notes made the girls ask "Where are the other instruments?"  A haunting one-man-band.

And an old bushie shearing a sheep on the back of a beat-up truck.  His "Jackie Howe" singlet (okay, don't pull me up... it's not blue, I can see that) looking like it too had already done a good day's work.  "Mum, is he hurting the sheep?"  So much to explain to hungry (semi-suburban) minds...

And then "Mum!  The sheep did a wee on the truck... What are we going to do?"  Nothing.  Absolutely nothing.

And a spinning wheel in motion... "Just like in Sleeping Beauty!"  I guess so.

Ominously, a sign was hanging just above this loom with first aid instructions for local snake bites...  Ah Australia, home of the deadly reptiles..  thank you snakes for staying away... or at least hidden.

This alpaca wool is just a delicious mix of burnt-umber and antique white, isn't it?  And so soft to touch.  

In an endeavor not to bore you I will save pics from the animals, damper, mower collection (yup, mower collection) and whip cracking workshop for another day... too much Australia might be, well, too much!  


g

Helpers

art. house. mum.

Lately Miffy has been so keen to help.  Which is lovely, but rarely easy.  So when she asked if she could help me make dinner the other night I groaned (inwardly).  

But then came her suggestion that she take her basket out and pick herbs.  Almost automatically I started my inward groan again before my brain caught up with my (frazzled) emotions (some days are long...).

When I stopped and thought, the idea was brilliant!  

It takes one child outside at the hardest hour of the day;

She is allowed to use scissors to cut the herbs (she, like me, loves to cut, cut, cut...);

Our herbs are growing at a ridiculous rate right now, so I even managed to hold myself back from following her outside to teach her the "proper" way to cut basil... I've got years to teach that and it would be almost impossible to destroy our herbs at the moment;

She likes eating the herbs fresh and it's great for her health if she does sneak some;

I can have a positive thing to tell Matt that she did when he gets home (some days are long...);

Because the herbs are growing so enthusiastically it doesn't matter if we have too many cut and throw some in the compost;

The more she feels like she contributed to the dinner, the more likely she is to eat it!

So for the past few days, we've had herbs in previously unherbed dishes and I've thrown away a bit more basil than I usually would and we've made a few extra batches of pesto.  One of the nicest images of my day is when I have glanced out the kitchen window, caught Miffy's eye, given her the thumbs up and seen a ridiculous grin of sheer pride swamp her face.  

Now she's got me thinking... how can I turn "helping" into real help?

g

Weekend Horses (trying a new medium)...

art. house. mum.

One of the things that makes for a great weekend is finding a corner of time to paint.  Our lives are often intense at the moment with the little ones, but that doesn't mean that times aren't often great.  This weekend was intense at many times, and great over-all.

We had the chance to get out in the garden.  For the first time ever we were able to have both our push and our ride-on mowers going at the same time, which obviously meant that for some time we were working at double-speed!  (I'm determined not to think about the 1.5m snake skin which I found about 10m from our laundry door...)

We were even able to work as a family to plant seven baby trees on the block.  Miffy was keen to help dig, Hope loved watering-in the new babies and Sammy was pretty content playing in the grass-clippings.  I consider it no small feat to find a real activity and engage each of our family's individuals in it...

But rest-time today was mine.  I am really enjoying painting these rocking horses, and these little acrylic on canvas boards were a first for me in that I tried a new medium in the hope of achieving my free-flowing lines using acrylic (usually I use calligraphy ink, which is best on paper).  So to allow these fluid lines I made a 50/50 mix of acrylic paint and flow medium.  The lovely thing about painting with this was that I could actually move a little more slowly than with ink on paper, which is a very judgemental medium.  But the down side is that there is no change in the depth of colour... the ability of the ink to soak into paper is a property which I have enjoyed exploiting.  And naturally, the ability of the acrylic to "bleed" is non-existent compared to adding a little water to a pool of ink.

As the weeks grow wings to fly, may we all find time to do the things we love.  And may we be blessed with moments of calm and even clarity to enjoy the people around us who walk this journey with us...

g

 

art. house. mum.

HAPPY WEEKEND!  

      

g

Art House Fun...

art. house. mum.


So, I've been playing with Photoshop.  I've never tried using one of my hard-copy artworks as a starting point before and I really enjoyed it.   Might try to get one of these as a background in the next few days...

Have a fantastic end-of-week...


g

Three Things... Round Home in Summer

art. house. mum.


Summer is finally acting like the season we know and love... long hot days perfect for splashing in the wading pool on the deck... with afternoon thunderstorms right at school pick-up time.  

We've taken the chance to light the candles when the lights flicker in an evening storm.  We loved black-outs when we were kids and I see the excitement in my kids' eyes when we have our own little self imposed black-outs.  There's something about a flame in a darkened room.  Even better when there is lightning and thunder outside...

We Made Paints!

art. house. mum.

Let me confess.  When the kids and I do an art project it is so much more about the process of exploration and creation than it is about the finished product (maybe one day I'll collect those thoughts clearly enough to lay out my case for the support of process-oriented pre-writers artworks...)

Which is good for this project because these paints aren't brilliant to work with.  

But have you noticed that if you make a kid something they are nearly always impressed just that you made it?  I sprung this paint-making project on them as a surprise and their enthusiasm rivalled mine.

The science behind these paints is that you create a suspension out of thickened cornflour and water, then simply add the pigment in the form of food colouring.  Perfect for the little man who simply cannot resist eating any kind of mark-making material.

The kids loved that they got to mix their own food-colouring in to each "paint" and I loved that they were able to sit outside in the shade and burn some creative energy without fear of the boy eating anything toxic or too much uncleanable mess being created.

The boy (and the dog...) did eat the paint and the girls got into some decidedly postmodern painting techniques.  And at the end of it all I sent them round to splash in the wading pool to clean up while I tossed a bucket of water on the patch of deck where they'd been "painting".  Ahhh. Art win.

This was the most coherent painting by the end of the exercise, but as I mentioned it wasn't about creating masterpieces.  It was about an opportunity to play with paint.  Learn how brushes work, how colours mix,  how paper reacts to paint, how paint looks when it is wet and how it changes when it dries.  

I am truly grateful for these times with my children.  That I can be learning things as they learn other things.  But I think that my favourite thing of all is when we are all involved in the same adventure and I see my kids work together enjoying learning and playing side-by-side.

g

A few short thoughts on Washing Up...

art. house. mum.


Why does this image strike dread into my heart, and leave my kids saying "Oh please can I do the washing up?"

1.  To me it's a job with a time-limit and a best-practice way of completion.  To them it is splashing in bubbly water while standing on a stool.


2. To me it's a never-ending chore.  To them it's a grown-up privilege.


3.  I know what can break and that I have to clean it up if it does break.  It's all just learning to the kids... 

Another observation...  letting one kid do the washing up is a thousand times less stressful than letting two kids do the washing up together.

And lastly a pearl of camping wisdom.  One of the things that kids love about camping is that all the grown-up chores are brought down to kid's level.

How's your washing up?

The First Little Rocking Horse Paintings...

art. house. mum.

Let's start our week with a little Rocking Horse art. 

I love the red and yellow on this horse, and the bold line-work.  Most black paint has a blue base and that just wouldn't have worked so well with his yellow and red adornments, so for this painting I chose to use Burnt Umber instead of Black. 

Did you get the chance to make any art or craft this weekend?

At Last, A Rocking Horse Collection...

art. house. mum.

I'm not too sure when my interest in rocking horses began, but it sure cemented itself when I began doing paintings inspired by them about six years ago.  Mostly I have worked from photographs, given the distinct lack of rocking horses in my life...  But I've been harboring a desire to collect antique (or just lovely) rocking horses for a while now.

So it was with delight that I picked up this miniature (and decidedly NOT antique) wooden carved rocking horse for a mere $5 at the Op Shop where the ladies now greet our kids by name...  Op Shopping is all about keeping an eye out all the time...

He's found a home in the kitchen where I can catch a glimpse of him many times through the day.  I love the simple colours and decorations, and I especially love that there is a really comfortable manner in which the paint is applied.  He even manages to give the impression that there are parts missing... just like a real antique.

 And I definately feel some new rocking horse paintings coming on. 

But he isn't the first rocking horse that our family has had (just, you may agree, the better-looking one).  This simple toy came flat-packed.  Mum picked him up for a pittance because he was missing a piece (note the decorative triangle between the two front legs, which I think adds a nice soft bit of personality... thanks Dad).



The paint was house paint.  some of which was used in our old house to add a bit of character and some of which I'm not too sure why we had!  But I had fun painting it for the girls when they were way too young to appreciate it...

So many little ones have had a laugh riding this little pony that he is definately of more worth than his resale value!

And now, let the collection grow and flourish and inspire many lovely paintings...