Catfacehorse

I finally bit the bullet and bought a sewing machine. I bought a pack of stunning fabrics at Ink & Spindle’s open studio recently, and figured I would just sew with it up at my sister’s place. I whipped together this clutch (from Amy Karol’s wonderful book, Bend the Rules Sewing) in around twenty minutes while I was over for dinner a week ago.  I got itchy fingers to make more things, at a more leisurely pace.  After idly window shopping online, I found a place selling the same model as my sister’s machine (a simple, reliable Janome). A phone call later, and I had a machine ready to be delivered.   Only problem is I have been too busy this weekend to get my hands on to it.  I am clearing my diary for next weekend, nothing’s going to stop me. I have washed a stack of fabrics ready to go.  The next step is working out what to sew. Something simple? Clothes or a bag? I have also been ogling a few patterns online, like this stunning dress from Anna Maria Horner.  I had better warm up on a few smaller projects first. If all goes according to plan, I should have a few new things to show here next week. Wish me luck!

I had a lovely quiet walk around my neighbourhood recently, taking Owen’s camera with me. Walking is one of the few things I enjoy doing my own, I let my mind wander and possibilities pop up effortlessly.

I live in a pretty industrial suburb, but there are so many beautiful little nooks and crannies if you look closely.  I can see a branch heavy with blossom poking over a corrugated iron fence, or a weathered door in the middle of a back alley. Secret gardens and bluestone cobbles soften the edges around here.

A weekend or so ago I went back to my little home town of Hobart - the capital city of Tasmania, a state with a population of only 500,000 people.  One of the things I miss about Hobart is the amazing winter sunshine.  You can’t find those clear and piercing days in Melbourne, where winter tends towards the grey and damp.  It is, of course, much colder there - it was 3 degrees celsius when we touched down at the airport at 9.30 in the morning.

A lovely time was had by Owen and myself, with just the right amount of visiting and relaxing. One of the biggest treats was lunch with my Grandmother - my arts and style icon. She has moved from a fabulous heritage-listed big house-on-a-hill to a supported unit, but it still feels like home, filled with Persian rugs, paintings and etchings, and of course, fresh flowers on the table.  We had wine and pickles, cheese and bread, and an incredible home-made soup (another particular talent).  Bliss.

This is a ring that Owen bought me for my last birthday. It was designed and handcrafted by Dan McGill, a gifted local jeweller. I adore this ring and wear it nearly every day, and I have had it for over six months now. (Check out Dan’s website for some amazing photos of his work, my poor little photo doesn’t do it justice).

Each time I look at this ring I have two thoughts: ‘this a beautiful object’ and ‘Owen gave me this’.  If you think making beautiful things is frivolous, then this is my disproof. Every day for six months I have got pleasure from this object, it has improved a small part of my world in a tangible way.  I deeply appreciate having beautiful things around me, and have started to realise that this isn’t frivolous. In fact, listening to a podcast from Inside Story a while back, I heard Denis Dutton explain how art has been a key part of our evolution (listen here). He argues that the aesthetic urge developed right at the birth of our species and has persisted universally through human cultures.  Whether or not he is correct, it is a good reminder for me that aesthetics are a necessary part of life.

For a few glorious weeks I have been borrowing my sister’s made-in-this-decade Janome sewing machine. It’s actually only a few years old and runs like an absolute dream. My sister was given it for her 21st (I got a Persian rug, so I’m not complaining) and I babysat it for a few weeks while she was moving house. I went into a never-before-seen sewing frenzy;  I sewed two bags, a scarf,  seven bibs and a little baby quilt, which is more sewing than seen in the last five years combined.  There was no swearing, the bobbin stayed where it was supposed to, and even sewing hemp to raw silk the stitches were strong and even. Bliss.

My sewing machine is a refugee from a 1970’s north-western Tasmania home economics class. My grandmother rescued it when they were all getting replaced a few years ago.  On the upside it has a lovely solid feel, no-nonsense metal levers and dials that are satisfying to twiddle. On the downside, the bobbin has gone dodgy again, and the tension never stays right. Which is a recipe for swearing and giving up. With a machine that works I can actually contemplate trying a few more complicated things. I know ‘a poor workman blames his tools’, but at least with my sister’s machine I had a fighting chance of finishing things that stay together! My plan now is to find someone with a neglected new-ish machine sitting guiltily in the corner that they are willing to get rid of for a reasonable  price.

In the photos above are the most recent fruits of my sewing labour - a little baby blanket stitched together for my new neice, and a raw hemp and hemp silk scarf for my lovely Owen’s birthday (funny story, neice arrived three weeks early, on Owen’s birthday - her middle name was very nearly ‘birthdaythief’). (Also good reason for sewing, avoiding being bankrupted by double birthdays!) I actually enjoyed sewing these pieces together, sigh, missing the Janome already.

I have moved over from my home at The Sanity Project with my lovely Owen, to a blog of my own. Owen’s photography is now at Night Apes Dream, and we are still encouraging each other as much as ever. We both just thought at the same time that it might be more fun to have blogs of our own.

I will be sharing some painting, and plenty of inspiration to feast the eyes upon. (Because it can be hard to paint after a long day’s work!)

Today’s visual nourishment came courtesy of the National Gallery of Victoria’s international collection (and a convenient public holiday).  There was an incredible bamboo sculpture in the gardens; Five elements - water by Tetsunori Kawana. Made entirely out of bent bamboo and twisted wire, it was like standing right in front of a massive wave in the surf just as it is about to crash. It was beautifully linear, but had so much movement. The other standout for me was a video installation by Bill Viola, Ocean without a shore. I found it deeply moving, quiet and  powerful. It took me a while to shake off the feeling,  which for me is a very good sign. The beauty is of course, that both these pieces are in the general collection, and are free to go and see.

Thanks for dropping in, and please leave a comment, I’d love to hear from you.

I was a little bit excited by the topic of ‘fleeting’ this week on Illustration Friday. I have had a dead beetle sitting on my drawing table for a while. The beetle’s fleeting life fitted with the theme for me, as did a lost feather from a passing bird.

Finally, after looking in at Illustration Friday for a few weeks, I have found a theme that struck a chord - ‘talisman’. I have managed to finish the painting over two nights and scanned it in tonight, just before the theme is changed over.

For those of you that don’t know Illustration Friday, it is a wonderful site aimed to get people making by offering up a theme each Friday, which anyone can then submit to the site. They also have a blog, which often has interesting interviews or articles on artists.

Feathers instantly struck me as an appropriate talisman - they got me started drawing again, and I find them everywhere. They may only be seagull feathers, but they are still perfectly formed and just as beautiful on a patch of city lawn as at the beach.

Last weekend, a dear family member had her baby shower. I wanted to make something special and borrowed my sister’s new sewing machine. My poor old machine is a teaching model from the 1970s and has given up the ghost. Again. With only limited time to sew, I didn’t want to spend the whole time swearing and re-threading bobbins.

I chose a ridiculously easy bib pattern from Amy Karol’s wonderful book, ‘Bend-the-Rules Sewing‘. Amy has a great blog that I have been reading for a few years now, full of great photos and excellent writing. I had the pattern photocopied and cut out already from a previous bib-sewing session for my first-ever niece. Last time, I made the bibs with the recommended snap studs, but I found that they snapped together too tight, making them hard to undo. I was going to use velcro instead, but forgot to buy any, so in the spirit of ‘bending-the-rules’ I dug through my sewing box and found some bias binding. Luckily, the colours matched the fabrics I had chosen, two Japanese-inspired craft cottons, and one precious piece of vintage Japanese fabric with owls on it that I had been saving for a special project. Hopefully, the ties will be practical once they are put to the test. The bibs apparently can be just rinsed out in the sink and hung on the high chair to dry. I am looking forward to seeing them all stained and well-used in a few months.

I managed to sew seven bibs (one for each day of the week), and a matching storage bag in one sitting from 6pm Saturday. I had them pressed and wrapped ready for the shower the next morning. Whew!

Once again, I am participating in Meet me at Mikes Words and Pictures write-along.

As a kid, I loved making little things. Little loaves of bread from cut up corks, little painted pictures for the walls of my doll house (made for us by my dad - a square house for me, a triangular one for my sister). I also made lots of little books - one was entitled ‘Rid the Flat’, and was about a world-travelling cat called Rid, who meets with an unfortunate end. This booklet is sadly in Tasmania at my parents house still, so will have to be shared another day. I did find another booklet however - the slightly less imaginatively titled ‘Holiday Booklet’.

Click through to view on Flickr, I have put in little notes about the story.