Sometimes Bloke brings me treasures!

When he is out and about in the paddocks!

We are often lucky enough to play host to a small flock of Red-tailed Black Cockatoos.

And here is a treasure of a different sort. 

A wee bag that India Flint taught us how to make at the workshop in Nelson.

It is Japanese and translates to 'horn bag'.

This one is made from a tiny scrap of stiff silk dipped in a left over pot with iron in it.  

Very rustic but I had to convince myself I was still able to make it.  So confusedly complex in its simplicity I had to unpick the one I made at the workshop to figure it out - made my head hurt.

Setting foot on my birth land

I have run out of my 'this times last week' already! Back full swing in the tumult of small lives - classroom style. 

But I did take a whim as far as it would go, perusing the blog of India Flint (as I often do and recommend) and finding a workshop in WA - alas was full.  I spied one also in Nelson New Zealand and all I could think was - Why not!  

And not many cons followed not even from bloke.  

Why not indeed - so less than one week later I found myself in the beautiful Lud Valley, Nelson New Zealand.

I say 'follow your whim see where it will go'.

For I had a marvelous and magical five days (and some more), filled with the utmost of self indulgence (because I feel that is what I'm all about this year).  Which really is simply just doing what I want to do - duh!

And met many magnificent women at the lovely home of Judy Keylock and family, ate magnificent lunches and sighed and dyed.

India Flint tending the cauldrons.

Beautiful, strong and purposeful hands.

A pot of eucalyptus.

Unfurling treasures.

Stay tuned for I shall reflect some more.

Mucking about!

Haven't managed to get a decent camera yet.  Thought I'd still have a muck about, got dangerously caught by photoshop tutorials - what fun!!  My Frida inspired hair do for our local Spring Festival last weekend. 

Francesca

I'm hooked, it's on its way. 

 

And I'd love to drag out the old Minolta - but it has been so long and I have become accustomed to the immediacy of the digital point and shoot.  Not that long surely - hell I took that camera to Vietnam in 2000, seemed quite normal to have film. So I am researching digital SLR's and will be purchasing shortly.  Tomorrow I return to school and I am happy to do so - not so long ago I was not. I have had a quantum shift these holidays - yes sudden and significant!  I am re-framing my thoughts on teaching.

Crow Planet

There are a lot of crows on the farm, usually I dread them at lambing time.  They seem to lurk around new borns, waiting for the boon of fresh placenta.  I sometimes wonder if there is something more sinister and that they wait for an opportunity to pluck the eyes of said newborns - I am yet to witness this.  They do however have a merry feast over dead lambs.  For this reason I began to loathe them where before I hadn't. Oh, they also very cannily spy out the chickens fresh laid eggs and nab them if I'm not quick.  Bloke went on a bit of a crow rampage at one point and we dubbed him the crow cowboy.  But now I'm not so sure that my venom is warranted.  I enjoyed reading this and did take the time to check on a fledgling crow squatting quite calmly and naively on the drive eying me as keenly as I eyed it - all was fine.  The other day I spotted a pair ripping up old carpet presumably for nest building purposes. Perhaps a more considered Naturalist in the making, in the looking.

The Woodmans

The Woodmans -SBS On Demand

Quite a riveting and tragic view - Francesca Woodman was unknown to me until I watched this.  I could get lost in her images for a while I think.

On the work table

Some terrible shots - light box is out of commission.  The second doll I have made using the techniques learnt at the Akira Blount workshop.  I'm really enjoying working solely in textiles but have ideas brewing for some clay over cloth work.