Day 7/12 (Daily craft effort)

I purchased a pvc table cloth in preparation for this project! I dispensed paint, glue, glitter (SO much glitter) and glitter glue at liberty. We painted all the backs first. The first ones were dry by the time we'd finished. It was then that I realised that we had made A LOT of shapes, and this was going to be Some Task. The girls had a wonderful time, especially since I had chosen to restrain myself from being a tyrant concerning correct glitter procedure and application. They were free to unwittingly waste it to their hearts content.

That naked tree waits patiently. Such art requires time.

Lost in creation

Kybe was still at it when all others had left the table, determined to finish the assignment.

Bells and curling ribbon

We only have a few of them to hanging stage as the girls were all crafted out and experienced some trouble getting the ribbon through the tiny holes. This will be my job tonight instead of folding washing. Woot!

We swept up the glitter spills for use in future wild applications

Day 6/12 (Daily craft effort)

Some emergency babysitting meant that Salt dough decorating day had to be delayed. No way was I game to let FIVE kids at the paint, glue and glitter! Luckily the girls were distracted and totally forgot about it. Three packets of Plasticine provided 2+ hours of quality entertainment. They were so clever with trading colours if anyone needed more than their ration. It doesn't take long though, for the colours to become smooshed together to form a greyish brown. I have a snaplock bag to keep that colour-compromised stuff in to be used for objects were colour discretion is not required. It's so cheap I buy a few packs at a time when I'm in that section of the supermarket.

Day 5/12 (Daily craft effort)

So now for the salt dough decorations. This recipe works well, except we probably should have rolled them half as thick as we did. They weigh the tree branches down! Jaeda and Makybe had so much fun kneading the dough we set some aside to play with after the shapes were cut and in the oven.

We made a LOT of dough

Totally absorbed in industry

The hardest part was waiting two hours for them to be cooked!

Tomorrow's craft effort will be the decorating of them. More fun (and mess) to ensue...

Day 4/12 (Daily craft effort)

Despite the Daily craft effort being not-so-daily an effort on my part for one day out of 12 the girls sallied on all by themselves. I was inadvertently napping on the couch, and was roused by a summons to the tree to witness their handiwork in action. Patty pan tree decorations! 

I had been planning to make the cookie cutter salt dough decorations that day, and I was impressed at the girls' initiative and resourcefulness to carry on with the plan regardless the lack of salt dough shapes.


The other thing they've been enjoying immensely is a little key and padlock set I got for each of them to practice fine motor skills. They LOVE finding things they can lock together with it. I've kept one of the spare keys from each set for emergencies.

By the way, I just LOVE this smoothie.

So this is not MY actual smoothie. My camera just ain't up to doing it's thing right now, but my smoothie is green from all the baby spinach, and was inspired by this one by Kimberly Snyder, except with two additions. For anyone who cares to know you'll require a blender, a young coconut (scoop out the meat and include it, and be sure that no shell bits make it into the blender or your smoothie will be gritty), at least two handfuls of baby spinach, juice of one lemon and one pear diced up, skin on. I whiz mine on a low setting until it looks under control, then on full speed for a good minute or so. Serve over ice. It's a good shot of green power for your system, electrolytes, all manner of vitamins and antioxidants! Dare you to give it a go.

Day 3/12 (Daily craft effort)

Day 3: Pretty tea light candle jars


I found a huge bag of "confetti"- massive confetti- in the $2 shop. It's basically a whole lot of tissue paper circles. SWEEEEEET. So we painted PVA glue onto a clean jar, arranged the "confetti", and then painted more PVA over the top to finish. 

Ain't that just the biggest confetti?

SO very pretty with the tea lights inside.

Doing their thing.

It was then decided that we would try to make Christmas gifts for people we love in our daily craft efforts. I've already thought about experimenting with printing photographs onto tracing paper to stick onto the jar and be lit from behind. Hmmmmmm.

Day 2/12 (Daily craft effort)

Day 2: I had saved up some packaging from the recycling: cardboard cartons, nuttalex container and toilet paper rolls. I laid it out with some tissue paper from yesterday, some different tapes and glues and waited to see what would happen. Jaeda was soon frustrated. "I want to make a ballerina, but nuffing's right" I suggest a ballerina robot, her little face lights up and off she goes, almost crackling with the energy of creative process. She pounces upon materials and tries out methods of fixing pieces together before she arrives at a solution, which involved MUCH masking tape.

She actually forgot all about the initial ballerina idea. It was definitely a girly robot none-the-less. Once it was finished Jaeda set about making a tray of tea and cakes for the robot.

Then she made robot children and a car. These were played with for the rest of the day. What amazing value. 

The twelve days of craftsmas

In an effort to be more consistent with encouraging moments for creative flourishing, we've decided to do a make something every day for twelve days in a row, which leads us right up to Christmas. We're the third day in and the results have been so inspiring. I'm experiencing an inspiration snowball effect with all sorts of ideas for new crafts being conceived so prolifically I can hardly keep up with the jotting down of them! And the girls are jumping in to what ever on the menu, often expanding on my original plan. 


Day 1
"Stained glass" suncatchers- the idea for this one came from Rachelle at Tinkerlab here. It involves Contact book covering and shapes cut out of coloured tissue paper and cellophane. We cut a long piece of Contact (this brand has the least static cling and is easiest to work with), placed the coloured shapes on to fill half of the area, then fold the other side over. The girls loved sticking them to the window and seeing the full affect of light through the colours.

Day 1: "Stained glass" suncatchers

Two lines!

There they are!

Preggers for the fourth time, and we are just as excited as ever. I've felt so blessed having the opportunity to give birth and then get a front row seat to see this person unfurl and expand. I am astounded at the development of a being inside me- how a tiny heart begins to beat on the 28th day after conception. How when the teeny child is the size of a strawberry, the workings of the inner ear are complete. The little thing is busy just about doubling in size every week. And I am eating like a pig. And looking at bassinettes on ebay. And thinking about how we won't fit in a sedan anymore. Wondering if,...just maybe,... we might get a son this time. But totally into the thought of four girls at the same time. Who IS that in there??!! Absolutely looking forward to seeing who it is and what they will bring to our family.


I've been thinking about a water birth this time. Electronic equipment came between me and the water last time, and the time before that baby was already crowning by the time we got into the delivery suite!! 


Disappointed though, that I can't birth and stay at my favourite hospital. They kick you out 4-6 hours after delivery these days. Drat it. So now I have to decide whether I want to travel 45 minutes up or down the freeway, without a seat belt on. I have to travel on my knees and wobble my hips side to side during contractions, and I'll uppercut anyone who tries to make me sit down.


Childbirth is SUCH a rich experience. I never tire of hearing birth stories. And natural is so rewarding. No drugs or panic. Just concentration and primal noises all the way. 


It's in us to do it. 


We are WOMAN, hear us ROOOOAAAAR!

In the desert...

Haven't been painting for weeks now.


Joy-less.


Dried up.


But necessary, because I am forced to consider where my energy has been coming from. If it runs dry, it ain't coming from the Right Place.


 I cry. Frustration. Restriction. Starved and in despair.


It's just Not Right. 


Ill equipped to live in this dark world. (apart from the Light) This place where we live with things. Things that break. Things that distract and drive me to exist in a world of flesh. Flesh that breaks down and divides us.


and I cry. 


And it took a lot of crying frustratedly to myself to find that the best crying happens when I cry to Him. It goes somewhere, and says something. Proactive crying.

inspiration begat change...

Been commenting generally on creative unfurling so far. For the last two days I have been poring over websites to do with all things healthy eating. I've always been a healthy eater by most people's standard. Plenty of fruit and veges, wholemeal bread, ...all that sort of thing. But my daily diet is frequently jeopardised by comfort eating, impulsive eating and just plain over eating. Makes me feel fat, very lazy and gross. Especially not good for somebody who still has 30kg to drop. A couple of years ago I read "Skinny Bitch" by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin which outlined a vegan diet for good health. It was a good read with interesting facts about meat and dairy production and the processing of the food we are accustomed to eating. I wasn't inspired enough to birth real exciting change though. Perhaps it was the place my brain was in at the time... I don't know. A couple of nights ago I stumbled upon a link to (celebrity nutritionist and vegan) Kimberley Snyder's blog. http://www.kimberlysnyder.net/blog/ 


And there I was, engrossed and completely stuck, save for opening new tabs to avidly search for online suppliers of organic whole foods. I have to brush over parts because the LA american part of her grates on me, but still, I feel like I've discovered a diamond mine. And she's absolutely RADIANT, which speaks volumes about her eccentric eating. I'm not about to be entirely converted to veganism, but I am reading ingredient labels in the supermarket, buying organic, snacking well and feeling energised and so positive about change.
And I like to emphasise fresh whole foods as the biggest, most important component of our family diet. The recipes make me want to try them.

So I'm going to try this one tomorrow:
http://www.kimberlysnyder.net/blog/2009/07/11/green-smoothie-recipe/

AND I'm keen as a beagle to start using coconut oil, oat groats, activated nuts, cacao, stinging nettle (which has to be steamed to de-sting it), stevia (which I have to buy seeds for and grow myself) and start making recipes with raw whole foods.


I found these suppliers:


Santos Natural Food Store
http://santostrading.com.au/

and 


Loving Earth
http://www.raw-chocolate.net/

I am ecstatic about unfurling through intelligent food decisions. I'll be posting updates and new finds on this topic!

Beauty Therapy

And by "beauty therapy" I am not eluding to anything a salon can provide. We just got back from 8 days down the NSW South Coast (2.5 hrs south of Sydney) and I am feeling fit to burst with beauty.

I've spent about 20 summers on this beach and was always entranced by the downright beauty of it. Going there in Autumn with the low light and Banksia and Waratah in bloom was heart-hurty beautiful. The girls and I frolicked on the beach morning and afternoon, delighting in the rock pools, sea shells and radiant autumnal sunshine. We would wander around past the island to the lake and play in the sand dunes along the way. 

My four year old summed it up: "... the trees and the flowers,... the lovely day... mum, it breaks my heart." 


Of course there is an Intelligent Design.


I am becoming fanatic about low light! The highlights and shadows provide a chorus of captivating harmony for the eyes! I was desperate to do some painting plein air but alas, timing and weather were in disagreement. 

Rock pools are microcosmic worlds of wonder.

Where the ocean feeds the lake. (Pigeon House Mountain in the distance.)

Even the bush is fraught with magic.


The spirit of this place lives deep in my guts.
Thank you, Intelligent Designer.

Time-saving secrets revealed...

People often comment "I don't know how you do it... Three little kids and still finding time to paint!"

Well, I have this couch that features a perpetual pile of washing. It may give one clues as to the state of the rest of the house! It's not that I don't enjoy cleaning and tidying. At this point in time I'd rather put more time into thing that don't get undone- like painting. Doing things that don't get undone is great for sanity maintainance. 


I also trade a little bit of my sleep time now and then. Don't cope so well as a tired person so I don't do it often, but I got four hours of painting in last night using that method!


The other thing I keep in mind is that in a year's time it won't matter that my house was in disarray. What will matter is whether my creative cycle is fit and healthy and I have a good, fat body of work on the go.


Priorities.


By the way, I find messes very frustrating. 


Not as frustrating as not having time for painting.

so it's all settled then.

My first "real" exhibition is booked for the 11th of the 11th, 2011. The date was unintentional. I really had no say since it was the only week left during November for me to put up my stuff. 


The body of work I've settled on is the aerialscapes. This grew from the absolute ecstatic buzz I get from looking on Google Earth. Hours fly, and it may sound odd but the beauty of the landscape from this angle takes my breath and gives me tears. The textures, shapes, lines and colour are just plain entrancing. Many of my previous abstractions already looked like aerialscapes, so it was a natural progression to draw inspiration from actual geographical locations that yield a fine composition. Although the trick for me is not to get "bogged down" in simply reproducing the picture, as I find this extremely laborious and exempt from the joy that keeps me courting canvases.

This is an Aerialscape of Catherine Hill Bay, NSW, Australia which is indicative of the body of work I am currently birthing. This painting happened rapidly as an outlet activity after becoming "bogged down" in reproduction which sometimes happens inadvertently when working from an image. This one was like a relieving sneeze where I was free to play and indulge in the colours I am often caught fraternising with.
The painting below was the aforementioned painting I "bogged down" with.

You may notice that the first one is a zoom-in of the bottom middle section of the lower painting. I'm not so happy with the composition of the lower one. It's all too "middley", as in, it dissects the painting in half horizontally and vertically. I may crop it, but it is on stretched canvas so it will all depend if I need it for the exhibition or not.
Anyway, that's what's going on. So I've been thinking a lot about joy and process and How Good Things Happen.


over and out.

a rant or two...

Gives me rage, thinking about all the artists who sustain the idea that making art is something to be conceited about. Sure, everybody has their own unique way of expression. Sure, some people seem to just "have it" while others don't. I feel sad to hear of people with inklings for creativity quell their urge because of the notion that art making is an ethereal, inaccessible feat. And the weight of import placed entirely on the product is a stage set for great discouragement. 
I so often hear this sort of comment:
"oh I'd love to be able to draw! I couldn't draw a stick figure to save myself."


or "I can't even draw a straight line!" (not sure why the ability to draw a straight line should be a prerequisite for art making)


What we need is a revolution. Because learning to function creatively teaches us vital lesson after lesson for functioning well in life. 


Picasso once said "All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up."


Children are free to immerse themselves in process. They learn very quickly though, to become precious about the product. Discouragement follows. They cease to create for fear of the impending inadequate product. 


I'm not saying that anybody could be another daVinci. I do believe that as creatures we are inherently creative and benefit holistically from a healthy creative cycle in one form or another. I believe that those artists who are currently immersed in healthy creative cycle have obligation to dispel the common myth that art making is only for the "chosen ones". 


that's all then.

To chance upon...

... a group of starving artists is like finding a perfect spot for the vegie garden. They long to grow but feel all dry and weedy. All the potential is there. Just needs a bit of a dig, some poo, a handful of seeds and a sprinkle. Or, in this case, a bit of a dig to find out the nature of the "weeds" that would prevent the flourishing. Some  materials, the media and the inspiration to feed on. Seeds. Ideas and inklings to nurture. Sprinkle with the Hose of Encouragement and stand back to watch them and all the boom-shizzy-nizz that ensues. 


We talked about the importance of the process over the product. Also quantity over quality. These ideas release us from the burden of the Product. The force and labour of it. The joylessness. The arrogance. There is no room for creativity there. 


Creativity. Process.


It really is all about the unfurling.