Mail delivery to Wake Robin! And it was snowing over there!

wake robin: mail call:

I am going to share this with you directly from  Velma's blog. I was so amused at the thought of a parcel sent from my summery studio arriving in the dead of a northern winter in Upstate New York.

Velma is a teacher and artist from north of the Adirondack blue line, New York working in fibre, textiles, paper, books and landscape.

     This is what Velma wrote... 

(click on the highlighted text just above to read her lovely blog!) 

mail call

while i was sick, 

the mail still came. 

wireless worked.

a few new goodies arrived

as i was becoming ill

and then during.

some i've written about

some are not yet seen, 

but sophie, and carol, and haystack, and pien

here they are!

 sophie munns sent me a book and a few goodies

that made me dance and shout

 carol showed me some tempting process photos, 

as did aimee

 these are mysterious

but there's even more mystery i can't write about, yet

 a place i want to go to this summer

maybe

and i may have some interesting teaching gigs popping up,

 can't give details till they're worked out.

 and pien rotterdam, 

someone i "met"

years and years ago as part of the YAHOO papermakers group

evertything was beautifully wrapped

 and her sample book was lovely

really fine papers

the kind that take your breath away

I have posted all her images and most of the text because I so enjoyed seeing all the mail that arrived in the snow, and whist she was laid low and feeling poorly. I must say how I loved those gifts from other destinations!

Thanks for the mention my northern friend... glad you were up before too long!

sankofa...

Over summer there has been some time for doing just that ... sankofa ...  not sure what language that word is from ... it was found here on an interesting tumblr site called otherworldly... where, under 'about' it says that this blog; 

" is about strange and lovely words. Sometimes those are words from other languages that can’t be translated. Sometimes they’re words for feelings we’ve felt but never been able to name. Sometimes they’re just words that sound good."

That description  of 'otherworldly' is quite fitting for describing the space I sometimes get into when working in the studio. Reverie... musing... formlessness... the mind quietly letting loose and thoughts going where they will... the "going back and fetching it" referred to above is something I actually did a lot of over summer!

And on some of those days I was in the studio making, printing, painting... but doing it in a loose way.

Not task oriented... allowing things to just be, to become from simple beginnings.

Like these experiments on paper using one simple motif of a seed capsule cross-section.

juxtapositions... with colour shifts

and this pod form below

 shifting the composition slightly... or the colours 

a book yet to be bound... not sure about this one...

There was no particular imperative to this as yet unbound book. It was a simple visual experiment and I was more than pleased to work without boundaries for a time.

Some days there was just the simply rhythm of applying paint to lino and printing and then painting over, on, around ...  all the while the radio paying the best programs of the year on our national broadcaster. That only added more layers to the reverie. In the last week however the momentum is on to get ready for the showing coming up soon... see previous post.

I'll be beck with more details before long. And images!

Sophie

I forgot to say... if you pop over to the visual eclectica blog I posted on new work for the show... a large cloth that in some key ways references the tradition of the Tapa cloth... without being derivative or copying ideas but through creating as a homage to the seed this cloth which can be hung in a large space ... a work to meditate on and slowly take in... noticing endless little details and subtle shifts in colour and form.

 A close up:

Exhibition coming up in February

At the moment I'm quite preoccupied with making plans for the February exhibition at the Paddington Gallery where my studio is located. Things are coming along quite nicely now. I'm looking forward to showing here as the atmosphere is lovely and the area brings locals and travellers alike in search of the boutiques, cafes and specialist stores. 

I'm drawing up a Biodiversity dialogue program to run in the gallery... a bit of a challenge at this time of year when everyone has finally recovered some energy, many enjoying holidays and a welcome slow down. Heat and bushfires have added to the feeling of lethargy.

By February though schools and most things are picking up momentum... so I'll let you know what is on the books. Stay tuned.

SOPHIE MUNNS FROM ONE SMALL SEED encounters in bio-cultural-diversity Exhibition 13 - 24 February 2013 Viewing Times Wednesday to Sunday  |  12pm - 5pm (or by appointment) Opening Night Thursday 14 February 2013  |  6pm - 9pm Artist Contact 0430 599 344  |  sophiemunns.weebly.com Images left to right: (1) "QLD Rainforest Fruits, Seed Capsule Motifs", Acrylic on Linen Boards, 9cm x 10cm & (2) "QLD Rainforest Fruit, Seed Capsule (Cross-Section) Motif", Lino-Printed Fabric - Linen, 45cm x 30cm. Percolator Gallery 134 Latrobe Tce, Paddington  Q  4064   Tel: 3368 3315 info@percolatorgallery.com.au www.percolatorgallery.com.au

domestic rearrangements...

Now that 2013 is here I hope you've had a little quiet time for reflecting on last year and the year ahead. In the southern hemisphere were are enjoying the longer days. Summer is lovely ... especially on the days when a breeze is blowing and the heat is not too intense..

I wrote on the Visual Eclectica blog about some changes coming up domestically which I wont go into here as you can easy read more there. Hence all the painting I've done this week is of the house painting variety... in readiness for getting the house on the market!

Plenty of thinking and reflecting time whilst painting domestic spaces ... 

... reviewing last years artworks and events.

I keep telling myself... its only the first week of January. The commitment to sorting out home is first on the list... so I will pop in here when I can...bur I do wonder whether I might have to put up the gone fishing sign...        

If its quiet at all I will return....

best wishes to you all for 2013!

holidays

water is something I love

and the place I stayed for almost a week

has a stunning series of connected waterways, river, lakes, ocean

 on the sunset cruise last week the sun was hidden behind billowing clouds.

there were boats of all kinds... houseboats... yachts... ferries....

even a Gondola that looked a little lost in the Antipodes

 the clouds were dramatic ... there were many moods this afternoon

a kayaker was out

love the way the land was so so dark

and the moon was coming up

 the houseboats spoke to me

and the shores beckoned

90 minutes in the river-ferry at sundown was peaceful

all this water was so good for the soul!

I could have spent a whole week going far up river, visiting the lakes... doing the Everglade trip and then there's canals and more lakes and waterways... and kayaking and board-riding standing up paddling! The ocean meets the river and swimming is mostly wonderful down at the beach. But I did run into a blue bottle in the waves one day and my leg still bears the tell-tale signs.

Sigh... always love the water... whatever the mood!

I wander if the studio will reflect this at all... or perhaps it was just the simple act of having the wind and water washing over and around me.... taking away some of the worries and tiredness of the old year and making space for the new year to come in!