artists palette

ive used this palette on and off for 20 years,it’s almost a painting in itself….

new mould & deckles

have spent today making new mould and deckles for my paper making , old ones looked a little worse for wear,at the moment they are sitting in the sun with the final coat of shellac drying and tomorrow will staple the mesh covering,think i may make some smaller ones as well….have sorted out my filing cabinets and it is all looking and feeling very organized…willsand my work bench in the morning as it is covered with a combination of wax, ink,shellac and linseed oil, not good for my beautiful printmaking paper………all is mellow here, my little man is asleep, my eldest son is completing a snake tank that he has made for his soon to arrive new snake (darwin carpet python), and partner weilding together the new ferret cage as the female has quite a few new babies..me, im about to finish this post ,pour another glass of red, and sit outside in the garden while the bbq cooks..im sure my little man will be awake by then and will probably go for a swim…more later…………….

studio clean out………..

[gallery] haven’t written here for quite a few days, have been really busy cleaning and sorting my studio, lately i haven’t been able to ground myself and have been all over the place , so a couple of days ago i made a list and that gave me a clearer direction

# 1 clean up , organize, and make definite work area’s in studio ( photo’s are proir clean up)

# 2 work areas – a desk for paperwork,writing, journal and research

#3 file all tid bits and ideas scrawled on bits of paper (100’s)

#4 an area for encaustic,an area for printmaking,a clean paper area, a table for making my own paper, containers to store all collected material for papermaking, a corner for my easle with all my paints, thinners etc..       so far so good………tomorrow i will continue sorting paper work,sketch books etc……….

my fresh new goals as of next week- begin making more handmade paper, print my collagraphs, lino’s ,monoprints etc…continue with encaustic with handmade paper……a little directions feels much better, instead of going from one thing to the next……………once i get back on a roll as i usually am , i am going to learn how to make artists books with my work on my paper, have joined a group called “artists books 3.0″ a wonderful website full of wonderful talented people,worth looking at,anyway all sounds good in theory, i’ll see how it goes with the 2 teenagers,1 three year old, a partner, a garden, dogs, ducks,chickens,ferrets(& their babies), errands,cooking, cleaning,friends and xmas just around the corner…

purple……….

we sat for ages collecting these awesome purple shells today at the beach, well part of a shell..love the colour………

where the ocean meets the land…………….

found myself needing to be near the ocean today, i find at times when all seems just too much and mind goes onto overload, the coast is the answer, it clears my mind and rejuvinates me, thoughts on today………

overcast,cool,water grey, noone around, just me, my 3 year old and the edge of our eastern coastline facing that mysterious pacific……….i love the beaches that don’t have flags, hardly any sand, pebbles small and large, rockpools, no previous footprints, places to explore, somewhere to sit with a coffee (red wine would have been, but i had to drive) and think about everything and nothing, things we found or noticed today – the lack of people- funny how the magority of people don’t find the beach as appealing when it isn’t a scorching hot australian day, smooth tumbled glass- all colours, brown, green,blue, clear, i like to get away from towns for that glass as i have found beaches closer to large populations have more brown glass and further down the coast there is more green and blue, i remember reading somewhere that it is called ‘mermaids tears’..driftwood,mmmmm would like to make some chairs out of it..one day i will…shells, smooth rocks, awesome rock formations,love them for designs for future works..fossils….pelicans,it’s been a good day,

another great afternoon experimenting in the studio………….

have been really enjoying doing these monoprints with encaustic, last year i saved up and bought myself an etching press, something i have wanted  and needed for a long time, coming across a second hand one seemed impossible as people seemed to keep them , but fortunately i came across one that had been sitting in somebody’s shed for 12 years and had never been used, it was at Perth about a 5 day drive from here, so picking it up wasn’t viable, so across the Nullabor Plain on a train it came and we picked it up from Sydney..Just having it in the studio is great, having the time to experiment with types of my printmaking without having to rush as somebody may also be waiting to use it such was the case whilst studying creative arts at uni, when you know that a class of people also need to use it within a specified time frame experimentation is pretty much out the window….ive always worked with intaglio (etching ) & relief printing but lately the freedom of playing with random one off prints has been great and i find it broadens and pushes the creative flow, i lke this work although it feels a little dark in colour, over the next week im thinking about doing a series of this style and putting them together to for one work….no rain today ,it was so cold and windy yesterday that we actually lit the fire, which is so bizzare for November in Australia..today i’ll get into the garden for a while and plant some more vegies……………….

afternoon in the studio….

have just come in from my studio to make a coffee and warm up a little, has turned out to be a very windy ,cloudy and cold day..inside my studio is like a cocoon though, i can see our linden tree being blown about and rain apon the window, will have to move the windchimes though as they keep hitting the wall…have had another pottery day, i have noticed that i am working alot more lately since i have put big works that i am working on to the side ,and am just happy to experiment any which way and just let the work evolve on its own, this one is a collagraph( still following the lake &reed theme) combined with encaustic…would like to experiment with transferring,still need to find out more about it..anyway will finish for the time being &write more later..want to get some more work done before my little man wakes up from his afternoon sleep………

saturday morning………….

raining gently, all still asleep, partner left early for work, (not for long though by the look of the weather),coffee, one chicken that won’t stop clucking, i look through the window the ducks are already busy foraging through the garden,what will today bring i wonder, the frogs have started, rain is such a celebrated thing now here in Australia, the drought is terrible,read that our local water supply dam is down to 59% and it isn’t even summer yet…am reading a wonderful book at the moment,have read it before, but a second time is always good..” COLOUR – TRAVELS THROUGH THE PAINTBOX ,by Victoria Finlay, a wonderful book about Victoria’s travels throughout the world sourcing history to discover where colours used by artists etc originate from,one fascinating anecdote from the book is where she goes to a small village in Central America where women still wear skirts that are dyed with the purple tears of sea snails……….if you are amazed by colour and in its natural state i recommend this book………….at the moment i am really inspired  about the ochre and natural pigments…………….

that invisible feeling………….

        strange day today, i suppose it has been slowly creeping up on me for a few weeks, just that feeling with a family when the balance isn’t right, and as a mother you go through the motions and there is always so much to be done and not enough me time (studio time) how dinner miraculously appears at the table, dishes done, washing, cleaning,shopping running around, everybody wants a part of you, then they all wander off happily to do their own thing, and you are left feeling ,well im not sure of the word to describe it, this post sounds terrible, anyway tomorrow i’ll probably feel better, i suppose the word is melancholy, we all get it at some time or an other……….anyway enough of that did manage a little time in my place of sainty (studio) played with some more monoprint and encaustic,i lke this technique feel as though it could pushed further, maybe tomorrow……….

monoprint/encaustic…reed inspiration