the close of a year .....

The year has almost passed - it certainly snuck up on me.  I haven't posted for about two weeks now since Fiona and I finished our envelope project and I headed off to Noosa for a holiday with Steve and various arrangements of our children, arriving home a couple of days before Christmas.   Normal craziness ensued and now it is settling down a little.

Taking my lead from Fiona  and her post 2012 favourites ..... I decided to post on some of the work I have done this year.  I guess it would be true to say though, that my favourite work of all this year has been my blog.  It has been such fun and through it I have made some very dear and fine creative friends.  I count that as blessing enough for years to come.  Thank you to all of you who have encouraged me in my efforts, who have extended the hand of friendship even beyond the bounds of tracemarks.  A special thanks to Fiona who set up my blog and got me started.

This was the first thing I made this year - a book out of Conkerberry Wood with embossed pages.

I am thinking I will take this book with me as a journal and book to work into when we have our Simpson Desert trip this year.  I have covered much of this ground before going down along the Ghan to the south end of Lake Ayer and then up the Birdsville track.  We had a look at Big Red, just outside Birdsville - the first of hundreds of sand dunes which we will need to traverse to get across the desert.  We will be travelling with a group of experienced four wheel drivers in August 2013. Hopefully I come back with this book filled as an artist's book.  One to hang onto, which speaks of recorded memories.  Good to hang onto those ....

This was the first of the collaborative pieces Fiona and I worked on this year.  The start of something wonderful.

      Between the Mountains

This little piece is not quite finished - a tea bag book on 'A Sense of Place'.
Markings and images I would like to emulate in a series of etchings during 2013.

This is the first of two alphabetical books that I completed this year.  This project was initiated by Fiona and is coordinated by her too.  I am so envious of those who have now completed six alphabets by being in the project for three years.  Hope we continue in 2013.

This book is the second of Fiona's and my collaboration.  This was really hard to make, full of emotion.  It is actually one of my favourite pieces for the year. 

He Loved the Ocean Best

This is a small snippet of my Moeraki Boulders book.  I was thrilled when Helen Cole from the State Library decided to add this book to their collection.

These prints became the starting point for my

                       Standing Stories

                     




                         Standing Stones

 This ex libris project was coordinated by Gael Philips and Wim de Vos - all 31 artists received a boxed set of prints and a couple of boxes have been sold into Collections already.

This is the second of my Alphabets.

And the third of my works with Fiona.

                         e x 13

This is the last of the works I have tackled for 2012 ..... a little personal book about searching for my place.  Not quite there yet .......... 90% finished.  Waiting for words - if they come.


So, tomorrow is the beginning of a new year and I hope for us all it is a year of satisfying and surprising creativity, of family and friendships, maybe even New Beginnings.  Jennifer in one of her recent posts has asked us 'What would you like to do in 2013?'  I will have to give that some thought tonight as we bring in the New Year.

e x 13 complete

Sometimes projects take on their own momentum .... this was one of them.  When the idea was conceived I think I had quite different ideas in mind for what each envelope could/would contain.  I wrote none of this down which was remiss and I could recall none of those ideas when I tried. 

As the time came close for completion, I decided I just had to start the work and let come what may.  As I began gathering bits and pieces around the studio, papers, small copper etching plates, embossings and so forth a storyline began to emerge and once I was into the first few envelopes, the creative energy just seemed to take over.  In the end the thoughts all came rather quickly and spontaneously.

I think I will title my project  'Searching'  - a very loose title which I think encapsulates the random thoughts I had along the way, mapping part of that search knowing inside that in fact I need no longer look.  That I belong just where I am.

the thirteen envelopes

first - etching seen in last post

second - etchings, writing drawings

second - envelope and internal details

third envelope - etching, embossing and markmaking

fourth envelope - etching, embossing and marks

fifth envelope - etching, embossing and marks

details of envelope six  - embossings on leather, stained and marked papers

luminous graphite markings

seventh - etching on rusted paper, scratchings on envelope

envelope eight - leather embossing and rusted detail with marks

envelope nine - sewn together, suggestions of something inbetween layers

detail of envelope nine

envelope ten - sewn envelope, embossing and etching, markmaking

detail of envelope ten 

envelope eleven is a bound folio - thread supplied by generous Jennifer

envelope eleven - embossings on sublime fine paper, and etchings, marks

more details of envelope eleven

eleven - details

envelope twelve - etching, drawings, marks and scratchings on transparent paper

details of envelope twelve

details - envelope twelve

the twelfth  envelope has two etchings on its flap

thirteenth envelope - etchings on envelope and one page, staining, marks and writing drawings

details of envelope seven - (the search is over)

I smile often when I look back over the collaborative work Fiona and I have made in the latter part of this year.  I think I like it as much as any of the work I have ever done.  I am not sure why that is but I suggest it is something to do with such a lovely energy between us, the encouragement we give each other and the profound respect and liking we have for each other's work. It is more than this I am sure .... Fiona brings out the quieter side of my creativity I think, or at least the timing of this collaboration with the fact that I am in a happy place in my life, seems to make my work my thoughtful and quieter.

I count myself fortunate indeed :-)

two bundles meet .....

Our two bundles met on Wednesday.  Fiona and I spent such a lovely couple of hours together each opening and enjoying the surprise of each others' envelopes.  The sense of anticipation was enormous actually and surprised us both and yet we both lingered over the contents spending time looking on both sides, peeking back into the envelopes to see if more treasures were within.  When I think upon it now, I think there is often a wonderful sense of anticipation when I receive 'snail mail' now ..... when the envelope is not a bill but something handwritten and unexpected.  The sense of wonder was very evident - both of us letting out exclamations of delight. 

It was a strange experience really as we had both worked with the same envelopes and hence were very familiar with them - yet inside the interpretations we had made were quite different.  Both interpretations felt very like 'us' which was not at all surprising.  I found that the work we had done echoed many of the thoughts we have been having during the year - visual thoughts.  Fiona actually used her envelopes in a manner that mapped her time away with Barry in New Zealand.  To me they expressed a quiet gentleness, a sense of peaceful exploration.  In her  beautiful artistic manner nothing was overdone.  Just simply exquisite.

Fiona will show you the details of her work in a post soon, as will I.  We both decided to post on our twin bundles together so I imagine much of what we have said will be similar too.

bundled - not yet boxed ....

Envelopes - tick.  Such a good feeling to be finished. I am not sharing much of the design yet as Fiona's and my books have yet to meet.  Here is a peek of the bundle though .....

We are still going to house these in some manner - at this point all we know is they will be the same.  The same envelopes and packaging, our own thoughts however have interpreted this project.