Weeds and Wild Flowers

Today I took my camera for a walk, the first in a long, long time. I've been waiting for inspiration to hit me. For me to feel like going and doing. Inspiration didn't come. Instead today I hit a new low and realised that I had to go and do something or I was going to sink. So I did.

The pond is unusually green for this time of year. Other times of year I've been here and the mud has been dried and cracked and the plants various shades of brown.

In writing those words I remembered that I had written a post called 'shades of brown' previously so I just went in search of it. Ironically it was written almost exactly 2 years ago.

The walk with my camera has helped occupy my time and distract my mind, but more than that I now realise that I do have to feel like going in order to do it. There are plenty of things I do when I don't feel like doing them but I motivate myself because they are necessary. Just like this was.

ICE storm!

ICE 2011 #8

Society is a Nest II

Fragile Series

Title: Respite 

Eucalyptus and fennel dyed paper, recycled paper and paper scrap, thread

We all need a little respite now and then to make us stronger, more capable, less fragile...

ICE 2011 #9

Society is a Nest II

Fragile Series

Title: Responsible.

Eucalyptus dyed paper, recycled paper scrap, thread.

The text says 'I don't want to be responsible for a broken heart and fractured beat" which is similar to a line in a song by Alanis Morrisette.

ICE 2011 # 10

Society is a Nest II

Fragile Series.

Title: Freedom

Eucalyptus and fennel dyed paper, recycled paper scrap, thread, pencil

Even freedom is fragile.

The text says "Song of Freedom" inspired by Bob Marely (of course!)

ICE 2011 #11

Society is a Nest II

Fragile Series

Title: Wedding Vows

Marriage, it can be so fragile yet it should be so strong, if only we could always remember that we promised.. good times and bad. True acceptance of each others imperfections. It doesn't need to be perfect to be beautiful.

And Strong.

WAHOO! That's 11 done and 2 more fabulous collages to go! I actually haven't touched my art supplies in 2 weeks thanks to the kids going back to school and while that means more free time for some, it means busier days for me. I've got 2 of my children doing correspondence at home this year and it's taken a bit of getting used too, this new time commitment! It's o.k though and I'm sure it will be worth it, I just need to find some sort of new balance again! These collages were made between my last ICE post and the start of Feb, I was hoping to have the last 2 done by now but life's like that! You may have noticed I did do some dyeing with some delicious eucalyptus dye (incorporated into most of these collages) and I am pretty pleased with the results. Today I boiled up some walnuts and made ink and a post about this and the eucalyptus dye is on it's way...I hope!

Crop Circles, Lollie Pop's and Bull's Eyes.

I'm back home again after an FABULOUS camping trip to Mclarens Falls. It's 170 hectares of land just waiting to be discovered and enjoyed and we most definitely did that! Waterfalls, cricket, roasted marshmallows, photography and nature art...bliss!

So many lovely things to be gathered....

....sticks, berries, flowers, moss, leaves, pine needles, pine cones...

All found on the ground of course! No picking allowed!

There was some debate as too what I had created...was it a crop circle, a lollie pop or a bulls eye?  The kids originally thought I was making a nest and were quite unsatisfied with my answer that I was just making something to leave behind...but that's what it was, something to be found by someone else.  I just hope someone enjoys it before the lawn mower man gets to it! lol.

I also collected eeucalyptus/bluegum leaves and bark to make dye from. The bag of bark smells devine! I'm  all inspired again now and am looking forward to some time to play! If anyone can offer me advice on how to make the dye fix to paper as a wash I would be most appreciative. So far I am only finding recipes that require me to boil fabric with a moderant in order to 'fix' it and some how I don't think my paper will appreciate being boiled!

Festival of the Trees

I was wondering what I was going to do for my NY eve post and happened to come across this blog call out from Jasmine and Nature's Whispers whose supporting the Festival of the Trees. You can check it out here. Good idea Jasmine! For my post I am re-posting some of my favourite tree photos. It's a chance to appreciate the beauty of the moment once again as I remember what it was like to be there. I hope you will enjoy this quick revisit!

Treescape taken nearly a year ago on our family camping trip to McLaren's falls. I collected bark to make a pigment from...and still have it!That's now on my list of things to try (again) when the mood next inspires me to do so!  I am pretty sure it's a bluegum tree and it has the most beautiful bark with a coppery brown dust. One of my happiest times in this whole year was at this camping trip, enjoying the sun, scenery and quiet with my family.

Autumn treescapes. Seeing these again takes me right back and immerses me in the beautiful light.  Autumn is my favourite time of the year and I barely saw it this year with my son in hospital. I am immersing myself in Autumn this coming year! Treescapes, leaf prints, seedpods, lino cuts....I am excited already!

Spring cherry tree blossoms...

Winter leaves, it amazing how they can hold on in the wind and rain!

Tree's are a near perfect theme for me and in keeping with the spirit of Jasmine's posting here are my 'New Year TREEsolutions'

1. No matter how busy life gets I will photograph more trees and spend time walking beneath them. This is where I am most grounded and at peace.
2. Something I have always wanted to do is Guerrilla type art...leaving art flags in trees and writing messages on leaves. This year I am going to fulfill this!
3. Make pigments or dyes from tree leaves, bark, berries or seeds.
4. Even though I already recycle and use recycled papers I believe there is always room for improvement so I'm committing to improving my 'green-ness.'

Happy New Years to you all...may 2011 be even better than 2010 and may you each fulfill your hopes and dreams what ever they may be. Thank you for your love and support over this past year,it's been a tough year for me and my family but we've made it!  I look forward to being a part of your 2011 and having you as part of mine.

Onwards and Upwards I say!

Misc.ICE # 10, Crazy Swap, Vegetable Dyes...

Misc. Miscellaneous. A word to describe a mixed bunch of things that don't neatly fit into one catergory. It's been a miscellaneous kind of week.This blog post certainly is. ICE, Natural Dying, Paper swaps, Paper -making. A miscellaneous collection of things that describe my art. I ramble.It's been a rambling kind of week.So many things have happened here lately that have really sucked my creative time up, my time when I connect with myself and with nature.How did that happen?Well, I know how..but why? I don't know. It just did. Now I feel all dried up, ideas without motivation to carry them out. The TO DO list getting longer and time just tick, tick, ticking away. I finally realise that my art is connected to my emotions and that one does not thrive without the other being totally in tune...I realise that by allowing situtations to affect my emotions I also allow them to affect my art. I said in my last post that 'quietly in the chaos' I had made progress with an ICE collage and that there'd been some exciting Pulpy happenings.The latter is still in progress, I am expecting Alicia's book to arrive any day now and I've just posted on Lisa J's to Debrina. Round 2! I can't wait.

ICE 2010 collage # 9

Series: Chain Reaction

Title: Urban Suburban

Owl book image, handmade paper from Danit, handmade paper dyed with onion skins (mine) painted paper scrap, old bridge pad paper, thread.

Above is my 9th ICE collage.. it should've  taken 1 or 2 good days has taken me about 10! It's been completed in small steps and stolen moments! They're precious moments arn't they? The difference between progress and standing still, the difference perhaps between being alive and simply living? Sounds dramatic I know, but as I said- it's been one of those weeks!

I don't quite connect with this piece the way I did with some of the other collages, I think it's because the main image is not mine. It does express what I wanted it too though, the crossing over of urban and suburban. Wild birds in well populated areas, still free but modified to suit their new environment. This is the chain reaction created by human's moving in and taken over their habitat. We either force them to move out or force them to move in.  Ever noticed how many sea gulls live a long way inland? How many predator bird species dwell in cities? How fuzzy the line between urban and suburban has become. A bird can build a nest without leaving a negative impact on the space in which it has chosen, why too don't most of us?

I think my vege dye experiments are a result of this awareness. An effort to keep my own footprint on this earth down. I'm also curious about the cause and effect created by different plant sources. Red cabbage makes a beautiful, deep violet colour until you add fabric to it. The fabric is much paler. I would have thought that the violet would overpower the white but they seem to have met each other in the middle. It's completely different to mixing paint when one teaspoon of violet would have a big impact on 4 or 5 times that amount of white.

The paper is of course, hand made. I saw the resulting colour from the cabbage and cloth experiment and didn't want the same shade of paper so I decided to add a really strong brew of tea (about 7 tea bags to 250 ml of hot water) and tip it in. The resulting dye was black with a slight hint of purple. The colour when the pulp was added was a really exciting shade of stone grey. The result when dry? Light grey! My hands while mixing the pulp? A strangely coloured tea and cabbage smelling mess! haha. Good thing I was outside. The cabbage smell took a while to go...

Below: Crazy Swap items from Carla in Canada...

Isn't it amazing how 2 artists who've never met could send each other such similar things?

My partner also sent me some lovely, lovely vintage postcards (1926) and a vintage valentines card...they have real messgages on them and deserve their own post...so their own post they will get!

LaWendula of Woven Letters organised a crazy paper swap. Participants had to be brave and sign up for the swap without knowing what we'd be swapping...a fun kinda crazy! The top 2 pics of the 4 below show what I sent my partner (who is dosn't have her own blog..sorry) and the bottom 2 show what I recieved. I am very happy and will make very good use of it all. Thanks Carla and LaWendula!

Pulp Redux Update # 3 Lisa J's book.

I have been on a roll these last few days! Today's been especially great, not only did I get lots of time to work on Lisa Jurist's book I also got my nest paper made and attempted to turn my bark into some sort of useable pigment. I got it to dust stage but as with the nest dye and kowhai dye the resulting wash is very pale when dry even though the liquid is not! I need to do some further investigation and work out why this is, the colour will be fantastic if I can pull it off!
Thankfully the nest paper was quite successful, I havn't photographed it yet so that will have to be another post. I have however photographed the work I did on Lisa's book! Here it is below...

Above is the closse up of the embellishement below. I didn't make the embellishement today, it was made last week and was patiently waiting for me to work out where it was meant to go!

The embellishement is a bit like a small book. It has a pocket on the front which can hold a small item but dosn't just yet:)  I've used my own paper beads (the text one says 'see') as well as tea dyed fabric, a found roofing nail cap, ribbon and various bits of recycled fabric. I am really pleased with the difference the red makes to the page and have added it to the first page I did as well.I still need to trim the lace and fabric behind this piece but the embellishement is done. You can see the 'page' inside it below.

The fabric bundle the small book sits on is actually another fabric book! The book is able to be taken out of the spread completely. I love things that can move and be played with!

The cover of the book opens to reveal a lace pocket with a poetry quote..

...and the next page of the book reveals a fabric collage made from 'nest dye' fabric and cotton wool soaked in 'nest dye.' I baked the cotton wool in the oven .Sewn to the top layer are non-organic items found in the nest I took apart (technically known as rubbish to us humans!) to make the dye. It was sad to find this stuff inside the nest. There was actually a lot of it, including plastic and ciggerette butts. Poor bird! My inclusion of these items isn't meant to be a negative statement however, I have simply carried on the recycling process the bird started. He or she thought they were useful and pretty enough to put in their home so why not on the pages of a book? I didn't know it when I picked it up in the car park but finding this nest has resulted in a collaboration with a bird!

For anyone who missed it, Lisa's book theme is "Roots, beneath the Layers.' I wrote above that  I was carrying on a process but as it turns out I've quite literally followed that theme and I've only just realised!

Funny how things turn out!

Disintegration Collaboration- part 2

For some of us the Dis-Co project is far from over. Seth has announced that there will be a call for artists to 'show and tell' what they did with their bundles on Sept 1. I am posting this now because my Dis-Co project is made up from 3 parts. Part one started and ended with the first bundles reveal (which you can see here.) Part 2 is this post and a definite continuation of part 1. So here goes....

Above: The unfolded and dried out contents of my first bundle.
Below: Yes, I did rip up all those precious pieces of carefully unfolded papers into a thousand tiny pieces. I hesitated for a moment...this was going to be irreversible after all...took a deep breath and started ripping! I really wanted to mesh all those paper goodies into one thing, one new thing that was a direct result of my scraps ending up in a collaboration with Mother Nature.

Yes... I made paper! It wasn't very good paper being my first attempt but my willingness to trust my instincts and rip up the contents of my bundle has opened the floodgates to a whole new path of creativity. Paper making! Although most of you will have seen my more recent attempts here already. I intentionally left little bits of the source papers visible but it did result in weak and sporadically bald paper! I liked being able to see little words here and there (even a complete...nest...wahoo!) but the project didn't seem finished so I.... reserved a few bits and bundled it up again!

Today, June 19 in my part of the globe my bundle went back out to the clothes line. Carefully bound in more handmade paper and tied with cotton to two seedpods my bundle has started part 3 of it's journey. Watch this space...SEPT 1 is the 2nd big reveal by artists all over the globe. The paper making journey is far from over too:)

Disintegration Collaboration- The unveiling

Well today's the day when we finally unwrapped our bundles that we left out in the elements for mother nature to play with and disintegrate, distort and transform at her will. You can see my original bundle here which I hung on my clothes line on Feb 21 and the results after 9 weeks outside are shown here. This great project has been organised by Seth from the Altered Page. Please check out his blog to see his project plus the 'before and afters 'of some of the 120+ artists who took part! You can see a video recording here that my blogging friend Mick Mather made of his project out in the elements. Please go and take a look!

Below: Drying out in the sun! Today's was the first fine, non-windy day in ages and perfect to dry my pile out in!

I think my bundle has survived pretty well! Somethings have changed their texture (like the full magazine page with the wood pigeon) but not really disintegrated and other things like the birds nest photo have had a surprise change- the mullberry paper leaked its dye onto the photo changing the colour. I like this new version better than the original! I didn't expect any thing to survive as well as it did and we've had quite a lot of rain in the last few weeks. I always intended to make a collage with these papers once they'd finished there time out side but looking at them now I think there will be a 'step 2' for some of these items. Watch this space! I am pretty sure Seth has something else up his sleeve too so if your interested in finding out what it is don't forget to bookmark his page while your there!