nudibranc

I dug up these two small batik pieces today - I hadn't seen them for a very long time. They are based on a species of nudibranc (sea slug) called Chromodoris magnifica - quite a common nudibranc but still very beautiful. I am not sure why I didn't do more of these... I like the idea taking a small area to examine the colour, patterns and textures, rather than the whole thing. 

taking stock

literally and mentally....

I have amassed a lot of artwork these past few years and little by little it's been stored in the spare room, crept into my room, into cupboards, wardrobes, drawers. I've collected gorgeous paper from various travels and that is scattered all over too. I decided a week ago that things just can't go on like this - and so I've ordered a large plan chest and have embarked on sorting out all my artwork. 

Well, I thought it might at a stretch take me an afternoon - how wrong could I be?! I have photographed the majority of my work now, but that took me a whole day. Now I am going through everything section by section - deciding what to do with it all. I just cannot hang on to all this artwork. Apart from anything else, I'd like other people to see it! Also, I think it is time to reflect on what I've done, and move some of my work to new homes and move on... I reckon it will take me a week or so to really figure things out. In the meantime, here are two monotype prints I made about three years ago. 

batik baby

My niece is a fan of my batik! I made a wall hanging for her a few months ago - I intended it to be mainly primary colours. In the end it turned out to be mainly burgundy red and deep autumn colours - hardly traditional 'baby' colours! But my sister assures me my niece is entranced by it! I loved the little turtle tjap (stamp) I used in this piece. I used it over and over again - I was thinking of the urgent run baby turtles make to the sea after they hatch. 

north sea coast

I started a long windy description of Kijkduin, Scheveningen and the harbour, but have decided to let my photos do the talking instead… Here are my eight favourite and inspiring things about this lovely stretch of coastline in Holland:

1. strolling along the beach watching seagulls, oyster catchers and terns on the breakwaters

2. walking over the dunes at Kijkduin

3. watching the sunset over the North Sea

4. looking at coastal paintings by the Haagse school of painters and ‘seeing’ the coast a hundred years ago

5. eating pannekoken (pancakes) and steaming hot chocolate after a walk on a cold day at a pancake house in Kijkduin

6. buying fresh fish and seafood at Scheveningen harbour

7. eating fresh fish and seafood at one of the harbour’s restaurants

8. seeing hundreds bikes line the paths leading to the beach

celestial vault

This August I'm here in The Hague. Last Sunday we walked through the woods at Oxenburgh to the Kijkduin dunes, a few kilometres from the city. A leisurely stroll, we stopped now and again to take photos of ducks slicing through the weed covered canals, water reflections and rose hips at their fullest. 

Out of the woods and near the dunes, we climbed a short flight of steps to reach what looked eerily like some kind of tomb. Apparently we’d been there before, some years ago. How had I missed this? There was no inscription, it was puzzling. Marcel said it was an art piece – oh, ok. It was slick and monumental, and did not move me particularly. I stood and looked at the view in front of the tomb - it was impressive – to the left you could see all the way to the Hook of Holland and to thee right the beach resort of Sheveningen. 

Further on was a short tunnel leading to a wide bowl with an identical tomb like structure in the middle. A man sat on the rim of the bowl pulling out weeds while his dog looked on. Was he the guardian of this place? It seemed strange to be pulling out weeds when all around the ‘tomb’ were shards of glass.

Then it all clicked into place. Not so much sculptures, these are places to gaze at the sky and experience changing light and colour. These two pieces are ‘The Celestial Vault’ created by one of my favourite artists, James Turrell. Lying with your head resting on the stone plinth, your view is shaped by the manmade landscape in the 'bowl', and the restriction of your head - your field of vision is severely limited. We were there with the sunlight drilling into us so we didn’t stay too long on the plinths. From the top plinth you could see the horizon to horizon view and upside down the sky became more magnified and majestic. With blood slowly traveling to my head, the focus was not what was on land and tangible, but what was in the sky - intangible and ever moving. In the bowl, the angle of the plinth was parallel to the coast and the sun directly in my eyes made it impossible to experience the full effect. The plinth resting in the bowl shape gives the illusion you are looking at the sky as if it were indeed a dome. Given less harsh sunlight, I can imagine this being a wonderfully meditative place. My field of vision was somewhat wider than the photo below, but this gives some idea of my view from the top plinth.

marbling

Lucky me - I am spending a week in Melbourne, one of my favourite cities! There's always so much going on and around just about every corner you can find something interesting from the fabulous street art to offbeat little shops.
Yesterday I was on a mission to find a new photo album - sadly the leather cover of our lovely wedding album has fallen victim to Singapore's humidity and kind of gone mouldy. At least the photos are alright. I headed up to Brunswick Street in Fitzroy where there are loads of interesting shops - in fact I had already planned to visit Kami, a shop specialising in Japanese paper, specifically Chiyogami (decorative designs which are silk screeened onto strong mulberry paper). They sell fabulous albums, photo frames, notebooks - I could spent hours in there, and I found our new album there. Then made a fantastic discovery.
Just next to the checkout was a pile of papers - I took a closer look - marbled paper! This was not the usual psychedelic swirls of colour, but a limited palette of blues, greys and golds on white. It was exquisite. Organic, earthy, otherworldly, this marbled paper contained so many elements I love - especially the contoured lines, I ended up buying two (A1 size) sheets. I have no idea what I will do with them - they look great behind a light (though you lose some of the colour), and look lovely just loosely hanging on a wall...I found out that the paper is not Japanese at all, it was made probably near Chiang Mai in Thailand.
One of the joys of the inner CBD are the laneways of Melbourne - Desgraves Street is the first one I ever discovered. Just as you turn the corner it's like being transported into Europe. Little cafes line the street, the smell of coffee permeates the air and there is Il Papiro! This tiny shop sells Italian marbled paper products, notecards, notebooks, photo albums, you name it. The marbling couldn't be more different from my Thai paper. The swirling designs are far more controlled, intricate and colourful yet also very beautiful. I have to admit seeing all this marbled paper has made me want to try it out myself - and find out more about its history.

natural orange

Wow! My first attempt at natural dyeing produced an amazing orange! It's quite incredible. I don't know how 'fast' it is (time will tell), but even when I rinsed the fabric very little colour washed out. I am very excited about this and hopefully this will make its way onto paper in a short while. This orange came from the seeds of the Annatto tree (Bixa Orellano), which apparently is used as a food colouring agent for margarine amongst other things. It certainly is pretty orange - I haven't tried to use any mordants with it yet, just keeping it simple for now.
I am also experimenting with eucalyptus and mango leaves - let's see where this takes me! I've go the fans on full but even so there's quite a strong smell of eucalptus...