Finding the muse

and I forgot to mention that my new favourite movie is CAPOTE. Oh wow. I was enthralled from start to finish by an amazing and definately oscar deserving Phillip Seymour Hoffman. What a genius, what a story, what an incredibly incredible movie.
my johnny cash loving husband, who thinks that joachim pheonix was robbed of the award really needs to check this movie and reassess his opinion. oh wow, what a film!
warning..... i may be on this rant for quite some time. good movies only come along (for me) once in a while and this was one of those good ones!
now i need to read "in cold blood"....

I think it's really funny how things happen! One minute I'm dreaming of a community art space and some studio space for myself and anyone who wants to share and the next minute its all happening.

I've just secured a great space on a local vineyard for myself as a studio/gallery/workshop area. Okay, it needs a heap of work done to stop the birds getting in and to make it a bit cosy but its mine to do whatever I want with. A whole barn to play in!

Then, at the Scarecrow Festival awards last night (congrats to Dan etc who came equal 1st with their very fantastical, whimsical scarecrows), not only did I discover a new place to go and meet lots of lovely local people but I met a guy who loves the idea of a community art space and is willing to work with us and aim at building the space right here on the peninsula. OMG! And you should see where it is.... best not to mention names yet, until it is a formal agreement, just in case!

So, in a very short space of time, the wheels have started turning..... really quickly! oooo I'd better get moving!

I'm feeling a lack of photos in my blog.... must work on that too!

Amidst all this madness and fun and organised chaos of art and life a little bit of my private world crumbled yesterday for my dear, dear friend Marty and I was forced to stop and breathe for a bit.

Marty's dad passed away yesterday morning. He had been very unwell and so for this reason it was a little bit expected for Marty and his mum but regardless of how sick, how old, how young or how sudden it doesn't stop the fact that Marty doesn't have a dad any more.

I remember these next days. Something akin to a vaccum or vortex. Everything in slow motion while faces and tears and phonecalls and plans and funeral directors and flowers and food and music and conversations all float past. Somehow your magical body does the work for you while you just keep breathing.... just breathe Marty and at the other end, when the funeral day is over, you'll sleep and that's when you'll need us. When you do my beautiful friend, we'll all be here waiting to catch you.


xo

She's wrapped up posting now but she's got some great things to say. I'd like you to meet Natalie....
http://www.greenfoxbarking.blogspot.com/

Things are happening. The gentle breeze is pushing me ever so softly in a direction that I should have travelled along long ago, and I think I'm ready. I'm tied up nicely in my world of art, my protective covering, my quilt. My place for free expression, where for some reason I'm not scared of others responses. I do what I can and what I feel I'm going to enjoy, and most times it comes out okay!
But this breeze.... Gary and I have thought for ages that we'd like to have a square (or rectangle, triangle, whatever angle comes to us) of sanctuary somewhere in this mixed up crazy world. We nearly had one two years ago and I lament the day we walked away.... always will despite what my head keeps telling me. This morning Mandy and I chatted on the phone about land, co-ops, sharing, environmentally responsible stuff and having something, a gift even, to pass on to our next generations. Then just now, as I did my usual peruse of my favourite blogs, I tried a random new one from Teesha's blog.... it was this one http://chestofdrawers.blogspot.com/. Not so much the blog that got to me but the links at the end of the October 12th post. Why did I randomly pick this blog? I really like the little brown dress site....
There are some really responsible people in this world and I really admire those who can be. Sometimes it takes huge strength to say "no thanks" and to keep walking in the direction that you feel you should. I am ashamed to say that I don't even have a bucket in my kitchen sink to catch the drips. I try to justify my actions by saying that I don't turn a tap on outside, I don't water anything except the tree fern and that's only when I'm changing the pets water bucket. Water, water, water... wow, it really makes me wonder where we'll be without it?
xo

What a wonderful weekend..... perhaps only slightly marred by a certain migrane/girly trouble sickness which forced me to miss most of the second day of an amazing workshop with Glen Skien .

Glen is a boxmaker extraordinair. Oh my goodness, talk about appealing to the "collectors" sense of everything! I am entranced by his stuff. What a fabulous way to record history or any narrative of life. Silver pocket watches, vintage cigarette lighters, photos and documents all placed thoughtfully together in a box decorated with lovely handmade paper. Something that sits on a shelf just calling for someone to open it and peer in, to pull out a drawer here or there and to find a little secret hidey hole containing something precious.

If you get a chance, Glen is currently exhibiting at Icon Gallery , check out his work. I'm going to try! It finishes on the 25th November.

So, the workshop was organised by the Papermakers of Victoria, a wonderful group to whom I belong. There were about twelve of us in total and we toiled away, cutting remarkably precise pieces of boxboard which eventually turned into the most incredible works of art. Unfortunately due to the fact that I was in bed throwing up for most of Sunday, my box cannot yet be shown here! Watch this space though!
Glen is a beautifully patient and gentle teacher, who spent much time with all of us, watching our work, guiding us gently, and sharing small little insights into his work and inspiration for it. Think Japanese bento box. I loved every minute of our workshop.

Dolls..... who's got one and who hasn't?! I haven't but here's a secret, I know it's not far away! Dan promised I'll have it soon - woooo hooooo!

oh dear! the time has come. she's leaving home tomorrow...
she's all packed up, two more things to add to the final package, some brown paper to wrap the box in (is it bad to pack her in a "maxwell williams" dinner set box???) and an address label and off she'll go.
i'm okay with this, really, i promise. i've talked to mandy about it, and she's okay. her doll left a little earlier this week, she's still okay, i think!!! i know mel has sent hers, and her emails remain cheerful. so, i'll be okay, won't i?
plans afoot for mandy and i to do fibre forum next year and then art and soul the year after. oh my goodness, how much fun could that be? oh yay! i'm trying to find a course to do. i need to find the right one. i think i've whittled it down to two, both only one day a week which suits perfectly. it's just a matter of choosing the right one - hmmm.
xo

so, i decided to start a doll and journal swap. i posted a picture a little while ago of a funny looking bird thing, she's staying home with me now..... too scary to send her out into the world on her own!

I got the latest edition of Cloth Paper Scissors and followed Katie Kendrick's great directions for making an art doll and then there were two! neither of my dolls have names yet and the plan is for doll on the right to go out, cause trouble, learn some stuff about life while doll on the left (twin sister) stays at home and "grows" at the hand of her maker! could be fun.

hmmm, inspiration thursday asks for inspiration
for me it involves my head. once an affair starts in my mind, it doesn't leave until satiated. words and flickering images that jangle my thoughts, keeping me awake at odd hours, speeding my heart and metabolism. it started yesterday. some broken thoughts, innocent at the start, browing bolder by the hour, by the minute, until i find myself awake at 2, at 4, again at 5 until now at 630, im out of bed putting the thoughts out on paper and hopefully out of my head.
business, no not work business, but the art of being busy.... that's what its like in here right now. a collage, or two, an unfinished felted melty stitched thing, an idea for a quilted piece to enter into a competition, an art doll round robin about to start....is my journal okay? a small installation, to use poor miss polly's dolly - a small treasure for my mum who watches, ever watchful from above, a piece to say "i still hear you". now the tears, more inspiration or do they make me question what i do and what i think of doing?
two finished but unsent canvases for another round robin - they sit waiting for the money to send... will it ever come?
lots of words, sentences, almost a book but not quite yet.
unfinished business - something to dream about, perhaps a reward for tb when she's ready, when she's ready for her flight. will that flight ever land?
an exhibition perhaps? not scared, more inspiration... something tangible, a goal, involves others so i'm accountable
see, inspiration comes from within. with the seasons as they drift on by. today is a doing day, i hope i do
ps once again i've missed the photo boat but i may do an abridged version!

feint memories, a breath, a touch
whispers in the dark
heat

back's up against the wall
cold on my skin
hot breath,
cold wall

years of words
broken lines,
wishing again
heart's racing

xotb