Wednesday 9 July 2014

back to business .....

I had all the time in the world this last week to work and instead didn't put a mark on paper.  I did manage to have a huge clean up in the studio (should have taken 'before' photos), located buried projects like this ALAW project.  I realised when I came to post on the last letters of my alphabet, that I had erased all the photos I took of them prior to sticking them on the embossed book pages I had prepared.  I hope I don't regret 'erasing all images' from my cameras before heading off on the trip - I thought all were downloaded to the computer but as these ones of my letters were missing, I wonder how many others were deleted from my camera at the same time.

Before my holiday I designed the book in which to house my new alphabet.  Irregular pages which once the cover is opened will reveal three of the letters A, G and Z I think.  The rest are all hidden in various numbers amidst the other pages.  I embossed slightly larger squares on the pages and have stuck my letters inside these embossings.  Although they look quite effective, I still want to do some other work on the pages.  As yet I have no idea what, so they sit patiently waiting.





I was wiping some dusty 'stuff' on this page, which turned into a small smear.  Retrieved a rubber and proceeded to make that small smear into a number of large ones which I cannot now remove!  This will mean I need to carefully take the letters off this page, cut and tear another piece of Moulin de Gue paper, emboss it and stick again.  What a nuisance.  Stupidity really.



I spent days clearing out the studio, all the drawers, rearranging tables and making heaps more space. Creative avoidance is a great motivator for all those other jobs you have been procrastinating.  I now have a beautifully organised studio (and office space) and like to think that I could put my hands on anything for which I was searching.  May indeed resort to labelling drawers and stacks so I know what is in each but have not yet done that - nor decided upon that.  I used to be wonderful at the 'memory game' as a child, but doubt that I will be able to retain the knowledge of drawer contents in my mind's eye for much longer.  Think I may just have decided on labels!



Yesterday morning I looked down towards our orchard and saw a visitor warming itself in a patch of sunlight - chewing on the grass (for which I was happy) and then reaching up to tug at fig leaves (which I was not happy about and should it become a regular visitor, will have to cure it of that habit once fruit returns to the tree).  I am aware that grammatically, that sentence should be erased but you will know what I meant I am sure.

In the years I have lived here I have only seen wallabies four or five times so it was quite a thrill.






I found that it is quite easy to spend a week doing lots and yet achieving very little at all.  Feel quite rested in fact - and hope that this week I will start something more productive in the studio.  Only three months till my Open Days and I would like to have lots more work to show and tell.

10 comments:

  1. After all that delicious input of your trip you needed a period of quiet digestion, for which the activity of tidying is a wonderful facilitator.
    How I empathise with the need for labels! My once excellent memory is also now shot full of holes - mostly noun and name sized.

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    1. Thanks Olga. i have already moved past the tidy stage into the messy which now means that work is happening. As you said though, a necessary process between being on the go and moving forward quietly and steadily. Haven't yet resorted to labels though think I will soon.

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  2. What a lovely studio space and garden - I often spend unproductive days tidying and labelling - it makes me feel calm and ready for the next creative step

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    1. Thanks Rosie - I am lucky in my studio even though it is under the house, as it opens onto a verandah on the eastern side (also full of tables and equipment) which looks down through the hills and across the ocean. Pretty special.

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  3. what a fabulous studio and garden and are you sure you can't incorporate those wild marks as an extension of the image?

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    1. Took that suggestion on board Mo and will wait till I work out what to do on the pages before I rush in and remake the page with the 'mess' on it. I rather like the messy lines but am afraid they look too much like a mistake than anything creative!! We will see.

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  4. i have serious studio envy. you did a grand job and yes, i'm ready to move in. or, maybe i could take a little inspiration from you and get mine cleaned up!

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    1. I realise it has been ages since did posted on my studio and I may do that properly in a couple of weeks. I have a gorgeous space, masses of tables, all of which i use when I am printmaking and clutter when I am not! The view through the garden, over the hills to the ocean is pretty special too. Lucky me.

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  5. Your studio is stunning (those big tables are wonderful) and finding a wallaby in your gardens must be a treat... I love your line and texture in your work.

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  6. Hello Donna. Yes the big tables are marvellous - I have an 8 ft oak one and a 7ft old pine one, another two six foot tables (impossibly heavy blue gum ones), one of them a high one to stand at whilst working and another three outside on the verandah. And at times I need all of them and more! The little wallaby hasn't returned yet but I am watching .....

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