MONA love

There's a whole lot of beauty, inspiration, and surprise waiting for you if you haven't yet been to MONA (Museum of Old and New Art) in Hobart, Tasmania.

Where do I begin?

The location for one. Oh my goodness. MONA sits carved into a cliff face on the gorgeous Derwent River. You can arrive by ferry or car. I've heard coming via ferry is pretty special. I had a car so went that way. However, I parked about a kilometre away (accidentally) and walked in. That was pretty special in itself. You get to see glimpses of MONA sitting there on the edge of the cliff facing the water from various angles around a small cove.

That cement truck iron sculpture in the pics above captivated me. How extraordinary that someone could make something so mundane and ordinary so intricately beautiful! Something so bulky like a cement truck has been utterly transformed into this delicate sculpture.

Inside MONA was mind boggling to say the least. Exhibition pieces have been chosen deliberately to push the boundaries of peoples' expectations about art. There are a lot of surprises in stall. And I won't ruin them for you by telling you too much here. Let's just say you need to set aside at least half a day - one day to be there. It's massive. There's so much to see and experience. And the place is gorgeous so you might like to have lunch and a glass of wine and sit outside on the pink bean bags and look at the river while you're there.

I was especially moved by the pencil rubbings (pictured above) by Okabe. These were made by hand over a 9 year period of the Ujina Station train platform in Hiroshima. Eventually the train station was demolished to make way for a freeway but Okabe's rubbings remain as simple reminders of what was once there. You can read more about their background here. And here's a picture of Okabe with his work.

I'll be going back to MONA later in the year. My brother also loves the place so we thought we might go again together. There is no other art gallery like this in Australia. It's extraordinary on so many levels. So if you can, go!

lines + shapes

The Yarra Valley can be incredibly beautiful at this time of year. I was a bit absorbed with lines and shapes while I was there on the weekend. Oddly enough (given the location) not the wine. I don't know what that's about but am hoping my taste buds are just having some brief time out. Most of the time I do love a good glass of red. There were lots and lots of spring baby lambs out frolicking with their mothers. Too cute for words.

travels in the red

red dust about 3 hours north-east of Katherine (in the Northern Territory). we camped here overnight.

the most exquisite orange gum flower

dawn at our camp around the half-way point

morning vista over the escarpment (half-way point)

dusty, hot camping feet

the journey... follow the red dotted line

and a bigger map of Australia (in case you're not from here & don't know where the Northern Territory is)

So, a little more about the weaving trip. For those who like a map to get some idea of the journey I've tracked a red dotted line indicating our drive - 2 days by 4WD from Darwin to Mapuru (NE Arnhem Land) - see first map. Keep in mind that the bitumen road runs out after Katherine. And that the last half day drive is not for the faint-hearted - very rough 4 wheel driving indeed! In fact on the way in on that part of the 'road' we managed to get bogged in sand and break the tow-bar off the back of one our troopies (we had 2 x 9 seater 4WD troop carriers each towing a trailer full of food and gear) leaving our trailer stranded. Luckily for us, gorgeous folk from Mapuru rallied to the drama and came to pick up our stranded trailer in the middle of the night. Yay Mapuru locals - you guys are awesome!

All the pics above are from the drive in and most are of the half-way point camping spot overlooking a majestic escarpment. If you'd like more of an idea of what Mapuru looks like and the weaving set up check out the Mapuru weavers site.

The journey in is incredible but also pretty full-on. Two days each way in a troopie sitting sideways looking at your fellow passengers is a close and bonding experience. Still, it sets up a very good base for working together at Mapuru itself.

The weaving experience was wonderful. Sitting on the ground with the women in the bark weaving shelter each day was very calming. Watching their hands and learning from them about pandanus (we went collecting pandanus leaves one day), about colour (natural dye), and about the various weave techniques was pretty magical. The whole time kids and dogs play in and around the women as they work. Babies sleep in between piles of dyed pandanus leaves waiting to be woven. Weaving is all very much part of the daily lives of the people in the community.

It's only possible to go on one of the weaving trips during the dry season (May - October). And for good reason too! I can't even begin to think of negotiating those roads during the great NT 'wet'. It's warm enough during the dry though - a hot but pleasant 30-32 degrees celcius each day. Excellent weaving and camping weather!

Oh and the Mapuru weavers now have a new online shop.

weaving the land

one of my pieces. i loved learning this weaving style.


dilly bag by Gitjpulu


open weave bag by Gitjpulu


basket by Margaret Bambalarra


dilly bag by Gitjpulu


dilly bag by Gitjpulu



Oh my goodness. I cannot begin to put into words how I feel after the 10 day weaving trip I've just finished to a very remote community in north-east Arnhem Land (in the Northern Territory, Australia). So much learning on a cultural and making level! These images of my precious purchases will have to suffice for now. Please note the first image is one of my humble weaving pieces (I'm a beginner). All bags are hand made from pandanus leaves stripped and dyed with natural dyes. If you'd like any more information about the community or the weaving program please click here.

pretty paws

My neighbours were trimming the flowers off their gorgeous kangaroo paw plants last night so that more can grow. I stopped them in the street and asked if I could take flowers from their bin. They laughed and snipped me a beautiful branch full of perfect flowers to take home. I can't stop looking at them - they're just so sunny and furry and lovely and uniquely Australian. I mean just look at those gorgeous furry paws! Aren't they beautiful?

These neighbours don't know how much I covert their front garden. They have lots of healthy clumps of red and yellow kangaroo paw and a lovely weeping gum tree too. Top all this off with a stylish black wrought iron fence and you have one pretty special inner city front garden.

Will it ever stop raining? Everything is so damp inside and out. And we haven't even been flooded like our poor fellow Aussies up north.

flood appeal: prints

Unfortunately, here we go again (the Victorian bushfire horror still feels so recent). It's disaster relief time in Australia again, this time for the flood victims of Queensland.

As part of the Brisstyle Handmade Ark Flood Appeal the proceeds from these 2 prints from my shop will go to the QLD Premier's Flood Relief Appeal.

SOLD

SOLD

More info about Brisstyle can be found here in case you'd like to sell something crafty and handmade of your own to donate.

Update: thanks to both people who bought the two prints above. You are total stars! I'm about to send the proceeds to the Premier's Flood Relief Appeal as promised.

shots of blue

Sharyn Cairns creates the most beautiful photography, many shots infused with gorgeous hues of blue. The pics above are mine where I've tried to apply a similar idea. They're not a scratch on Sharyn's photography but were fun to play with. The Design Files has a story on Sharyn and some of her work, including some of her exquisite photograhy from Inside Out. Take a look if you're in need of a shot of inspiration.

abundance

white paper dresses

rough edges

produce

abundance
mixed media collage
washi paper and sumi ink on Japanese ho-sho paper

I'm surrounded by many pregnant women and women with small babies. They are everywhere it seems these days. I was interested to see that my choice not to be is shared by Elizabeth Gilbert in her new book Committed. A thoroughly excellent read by the way. I wasn't expecting it to be with a title like that, but just goes to show that titles and covers can sometimes be misleading. She is one switched on, smart cookie.

woodblock print set

Living things, from the desert: the finished set. Woodblock print made using the traditional Japanese method, that is, watercolour inks (no toxic chemicals), hand pressed with a baren, and printed on lovely textured Japanese paper.

dry desert places

I've been away in places with lots of red dirt and beautiful coloured sands. It was hot but not too hot because it's autumn and the desert is more bearable at this time of year. Mungo National Park is a long, long way from Melbourne and Sydney but worth it if you have the energy and nerves to navigate a 110km long bumpy dirt road into the park. It was really good to be out in the bush again.

I had no idea Mungo is considered to be one of the world's most significant human cremation sites.

slow progress

I did hint it would take weeks of carving. The pic above is a print off one of the 5 blocks that I need to carve more from before it goes into the 5 colour print I'm making for the commission. I just wanted to print this little B&W number off it before I reduce it further. And that's my hanko (Japanese name stamp) purse you see on the left. I love that little thing!

We've had to cancel a trip to the Prom (aka Wilson's Prom) due to all the crazy fire activity still plaguing Victoria. And we were going to be hanging out with some lovely folk from the UK and be near the ocean and everything! We cancelled because we're being super careful and didn't want to risk being smoked in or the possibility of being stuck there due to fires all along the highway. They're predicting more craziness tomorrow with a forecast of 38 degrees and wind.

of floods and fire

I've just returned from flooded Queensland to the bush fires of Victoria. Australia truly is a country of extremes due mostly to its sheer size. While wildlife die (and a boy is suspected of having been taken by a crocodile in a flooded area in north Queensland) and homes are flooded in the areas around Ingham near Cairns, Victoria (in the south) is dry and hot (it got to 46.4C degrees in Melbourne on Saturday or 115 F) and suffering from massive bush fires that have killed 131 people at last count. It's a disaster zone and the fires are still burning very close to Melbourne (in the north). Everyone knows somebody who has been affected. A woman I know from work lost her house to fire on Saturday.

If you live in Victoria (or Australia) give blood to the Red Cross if you can. Katie's blog mentions other things you can also do.

PS.
10th Feb - 173 people are now dead and 24 fires are still burning in Victoria.
12th Feb - 181 + many more that have not been counted in Marysville yet.

rosalie gascoigne

How is it possible that I didn't know about NZ-Australian artist Rosalie Gascoigne (1917-1999) until I saw her exhibition at the NGV today? All afternoon I've been asking myself if I have been living under a rock (this is, of course, very possible). Just look at all this gorgeous work!
Her story is truly inspiring. Self taught as an artist, she had her first exhibition at the age of 57 and then went on to become the first female artist to represent Australia at the Venice Biennale in 1974.

If you live in Melbourne you can see this wonderful exhibition of her work until 15th March.