You know when you have a really big secret, and you're just desperate to tell? Every time something comes up about that particular subject you nearly blurt it out, and stop yourself just in time?
With the craze for patchwork abundant at the moment, I thought I'd share a project I made for a friend recently.
Congratulations Logan Brown - Cuisine Magazine's 2009 Restaurant of the Year Supreme Winner. No-one could be more deserving of this recognition than Steve Logan and Al Brown! Any occasion at this fabulous Wellington restaurant is just that, a fabulous occasion!
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OK I exaggerate (but only a little) - this is not actually what my house looks like. But at times it sure feels like it.
I have a chair fetish. I can't seem to help myself. I blame my mother - as a child I seem to remember an endless round of junk shop scouting, and her buying up every old bentwood chair that we came across. The extent of her 'problem' was revealed last year when my parents moved house. Mum had something like 60 chairs to try and fit into her new home. Mind you, at the same time, all the chairs that I had stored under their house also came to light, and Mum & I had to think fast before Dad had them loaded up on the trailer for the dump. (Don't worry - it would never have happened!)
I know, I know - the fact that there is an iceberg in Wellington's harbour has been all over the twittersphere & blogosphere for the last few days, but just in case my 1 or 2 readers haven't seen it, I felt I should post about it. It is quite close to the shore as you can see, and in the usual calmness of the harbour, looks quite surreal."We're just people who care, people who have children. This is an appeal to every New Zealander who sees this artwork to stand up and take action. It's time to really do something about climate change, before it's too late."
My day didn't start all that well this morning - rushing to get out of the house, attempting to get the girls to school early for Milly's choir practice, Brunnel to a meeting, the usual hurly burly, and when we got to school Eva decided to put on her 'I'm distraught at my mother leaving me' act. Something she does periodically and very well (lots of yelling, real tears, distraught sobbing, clinging) and all in the middle of the school driveway-hallway-classroom. Fabulous! After literally peeling her off, and feeling like a bad neglectful working mother I needed the walk to the store to recover. A phone call to school to check she was OK, & a restorative brioche from Floriditas later, and I found myself outside Avid Gallery. The new John Parker ceramic exhibition opened earlier this week. It is 'the same but different' - some new shapes, and creeping in amongst the remarkable signature whiteware, a little black & a single red piece.
I was peering through the glass at this beautiful work when the door opened & I was invited in. The lights were flicked on for me, and I had my own private exhibition viewing. Dorothy introduced herself to me, and I discovered that she is the owner of this lovely gallery. Although I visit Avid periodically, I had not met her until this morning. How lovely then that she invited me in, gave me a tour, let me take these images, and more than anything, imparted her obvious enthusiasm for the artists she represents. Some galleries are full of their own self-importance. Not Avid thankfully! The John Parker exhibition is on until 24th August. There are already many red stickers, but visit to enjoy!
Yesterday Milly & I joined the Outdoor Knit brigade for a spot of graffiti knitting. Some fence-ational craftivism as they would put it. What the !#!&*!? I hear you say. In short we helped decorate/tag a very ugly fence which borders an inner city wasteland with a little fence art in the shape of many woven hearts. The purpose is two-fold - both a social commentary on the divide between craft and art and the bleakness of some of the industrial world, and to let everyone know that knitting is cool. And it looks pretty! I have long been intrigued by the words 'It Will All Be Ok' woven into the motorway bordering Buckle St fence, and now I know who put them there.
Milly was somewhat perturbed by some spray can wielding taggers doing their thing over the back of the derelict section, and thought we should tell the police. I was hard-pressed to explain to her that what we were doing could also be considered tagging by some. It just goes to prove that sometimes disobedience can be beautiful. And not necessarily vandalism. And our afternoon was surprisingly therapeutic!
Only at this time of year can I imagine what it must be like to have a garden prolific enough to satisfy my flower obsession. And only because the thoughtful gardener who lived here before us planted some beautiful camellias which practically bend in half, so heavy & plentiful are their blooms. I love being able to whip outside & snip off some gorgeous flowers to bring inside. OK - that makes it sound too romantic - the reality is trying not to slip on our half rotten deck, and avoiding the dog poo, while negotiating the elements on the way to the camellias. BUT - the end result is so worth it! Aren't they perfect! Best get them into some vases now...
I have just got back from a busy weekend in Melbourne. It's hard to believe, but in the retail world, Christmas is nigh!! The venue for this trade show, at Melbourne's Royal Exhibition Building, is pretty hard to beat. You can take a break from the busy-ness of the show floor whilst gazing at the loveliness of this beautiful old building.
Without giving too many secrets away, I think I may have found a few treats that would be very nice in your Christmas stockings this year... Ho Ho Ho
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