World War 3

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The Bloke brought me a green velvet recliner from the op shop and it's prompted something
approaching WW3. The cats think it belongs to them. They are sadly mistaken. Whenever I get up, there's a bitch fight as the felines battle for possession of the vacated territory. If I'm in residence there's a black cat perched on the right armrest while the grey cat perches on the left armrest, waiting like vultures for the opportunity to occupy my (prewarmed) spot.

It IS a very comfy chair, and there's a danger that I will just sink into it and be planted for the duration (especially with the recliner feature engaged - good for napping!) with my knitting, book and the tv remote in easy reach. I have some sewing to do, but I hear the green velvet siren calling me...

Mythology

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I've been perusing the book of South American mythology I bought the other day and the
images are seeping into my drawing.

Had a productive day today: finished sewing up a cute vest in gecko fabric (bar buttonholes and buttons - I tend to stockpile items needing buttonholes because it's a pain to change the foot on the sewing machine. Easier to do a batch than change the foot every time), cut out and got about halfway through sewing a skirt, read (Ben Elton's "Blind Faith"), took a walk to the post office to send a parcel - bit windy out but a pleasant day for walking and I like having a peak at others' gardens, cleaned all the lint out of the washing machine filter because last time I used it there was a minor flood (gerk! Yucky job but removing the lint seems to have fixed it), and then washed two loads of laundry and hung it all on the clothesline.

I also took Pye cat for a 'walk' in the back yard - more of a graze, really, he seems to think he's some sort of cow and must munch up all the grass in sight. My cats are indoors only, except for on the lead. Bel won't tolerate the lead, she either flops down limp and pretends she's dead, or does her Freddie Krueger impression and attempts to claw me to death, but Pye actually half
co-operates in having the lead put on and gets excited about a walk. I'm trying to teach him to associate the word "walkies" with going outside so he'll come when called, but he gets so worked up that I don't think the word registers. Usually he stays out about ten or fifteen minutes, then asks to go inside, but sometimes (today) he wants to stay out when I've had enough - he had a cat tantrum, full on with hissing and growling and bushed out tail. I think laughing at him made him even crosser with me :)

La la la

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Haven't made a found poem for a while, felt like one today.

Spent a very windy day in the city centre, visiting an artists' books exhibition. Came away with lots more ideas. Lunch at Crossways with the Hare Krishnas - Wednesday's menu is chickpea and potato, with the standard halvah and custard dessert. Yum! A visit to a couple of secondhand books shops (didn't buy anything) and a quick trip to St Vinnies in Crewe Street Oakleigh on the way home. I did buy at Vinnies: an animal lotto game for $1, a book on South American art for $3 - lots of lovely inspirational photos, a length of batik fabric for $2, and a pair of salt and pepper shakers for $1. I've been looking for a set of shakers with not-too-big holes, and for a buck these will likely fit the bill.

Op Shop Treasures

Here are my op shop finds from the other day - the light is finally cooperating, in between downpours there is a little sun :)
I bought these 'How and Why Wonder Books with the idea of taking them apart and using them as found paper, but I'm getting kind of attached to 'Winning of the West' and 'Mathematics'. The maths one has some interesting facts and explanations (including googol!), which for a definitely maths-averse me is saying something! And the western one is getting cuter and cuter. Perhaps only 'Caves to Skyscrapers' will fulfill it's destiny to become art...

And these FABULOUS boots I had to have. Blame it on acquisitive lust and retail therapy deprivation, because I have no idea what I'm going to do with them! I saw them on Friday when I bought the books and tshirt, thought "Wow!", and managed to leave the shop without them. But I thought about them all night, wishing I'd given in to temptation. I dreamed about them. I woke up Saturday morning and said "I'm going back to the Salvos, and if those boots are still there and less than $20, they are MINE." They were still there, priced at $14.75, and they ARE mine :)
And they even fit, except around my chubby calves, but I don't care. I didn't plan to wear them. I just needed to have them. Perhaps they'll turn up in an art piece. Perhaps I will just get a pieces of shiny red satin and mount the boots on it on top of a plinth, and call them found art.

Shoes make me happy.

Drawing

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Ahhh...holidays :)

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Had my last class a couple of days ago, now it's holiday time! Three weeks with no homework and no pressure, lovely :)

Went out for lunch with some classmates today, paid some bills on the way home, did a little op shopping (the Salvos is just a few doors from the bank, so hey, convenient!), visited the library to change my books since I now have more time to read, and now I need a nana nap after all that fun. I made some interesting finds at the Salvos: Simplicity's Simply the Best Sewing Book for $2.75, three "The How and Why Wonder Books" (Caves to Skyscrapers, Mathematics, and Winning the West) at 75 cents each, and a plain white t-shirt (looks like it was never worn) to tie dye, for the grand price of $2.35 because blue tags were halfprice today. The "How and Why Wonder Books" will become part of my found paper for printmaking. Well, maybe not Winning the West - it's kinda too cute to tear apart. No photos of my haul because it's turned rainy and the artificial light is flaring on the covers; maybe tomorrow.

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Almost there! One more day and I can draw a deep breathe and enjoy the semester break - well, for a couple of days anyway, then I need to look for a temporary or part time job.
Just got to hand in my printing folio and visual diary, and the year is half over. Scary thought!

White tree dahlia

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Hmm, I think I'm winding down for the semester break a bit too fast! There are still two classes to go and handing in my print folio, but my brain seems to have flipped into holiday mode already.

I think I want to sew something that's not for Etsy or Ebay, and rather just for me. I need to go have a rummage in the fabric black hole(s) for something not too challenging, fast and satisfying.
Perhaps now is the moment to deconstruct the Josie and the Pussycats doona cover I bought in the op shop last year and make a skirt - I don't usually do pink, but who can resist (hums) "long tails and ears for hats"? Now I'm going to have that theme song stuck in my head...

I mentioned that my white tree dahlia was finally flowering - picture below. I bought a tiny piece at the local market, probably only a few centimetres in length - you plant sections of an existing plant to propagate these. It took a year or more to really establish (the corner I chose is perhaps a little dark) but I took a cutting and planted more near my clothesline. I thought they'd died of drought, but after a bit of rain in December, two healthy trunks sprouted up and now have buds and a couple of flowers out. They're different to my established pinky-purple dahlias, with a double flower of tight little curved centres and sparser long outer petals, probably around 8cm across. Forgive the photo, it's winter.

White tree dahlia

Almost there!

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Almost at the end of Semester One! I have two classes on Tuesday, a day in the printmaking studio on Wednesday and handing in my print folio plus visual diary, and that's it.

I handed in my painting (so-called) folio today, then came home and was at a bit of a loss what to do! No homework, nothing to finish off (well, there is the printmaking diary to work on, but I've got days to do that, nothing like leaving it to the last minute) , oh the freedom...so what did I do with all that freedom? Had a coffee, watched an episode of the X files on DVD, made drawing-a-day, unpacked my painting bag (hey, look, there's the sharpener and the ink brush and my favourite eraser, all of which I've been hunting for a week - all tucked up together cosily in the very nether regions of the bag). I watched the rain and wind bring down two trunks of my tree dahlias, finally flowering prolifically and now prostrate on the lawn; the weight of the water was too much for them. Oooh, and the white tree dahlia I planted two years ago is flowering for the first time this year, a pretty double flower. I'll get a photo of it when it's less stormy.

Breathe

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Ahhhhh....

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Busy bee

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I'm missing in action for a little while - end of semester is approaching like a freight train and I'm in a frenzy of finishing and handing in. Six more classes over the next ten days and one face-to-face interview with my painting tutors (eek!), so the end is in sight but I am one busy bee :)

More ketchup

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Catching up

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