Buffy, balls and batik

Another happy trip to Dandenong Savers yielded three Buffy novels I hadn't read (though that state of affairs did not last and I finished all three in a glorious reading binge - they're like chocolate, I can't leave them alone until they're done). Ah, how I miss Buffy! They had twenty or so of  these novels and about a dozen Angel ones but I limited myself to three, though it was tough choosing. $1.99 each.

A bag of assorted eyelash-ish yarn for $2.99. There are eight untouched balls, and two part-balls to add to my burgeoning yarn stash.

Approximately two metres of a really pretty cotton batik fabric, destined to become a skirt. I think. At $3.99, it was impossible for me not to buy this, even though I really don't need more fabric!

One sheet to the wind

An unexpected op shop visit to the Red Cross Shop in the mall in Oakleigh yielded this pretty floral sheet for $5. I'm going to use it for fabric - I've already created a lined wrap skirt for my Etsy shop, and there's still quite a bit left to make something else.




Vinnies in Crewe Street, Oakleigh, is great for books. Au Revoir by Mary Moody (once a presenter on Gardening Australia) made me want to run away to France, too (mind you, I'd run away to almost anywhere I'm so keen to go travelling again!). The red book is a great basic guide to knitting, in the Pelham Craft Series (I have another of these on soft toy making) and published in 1973. It might actually encourage me to learn a couple of new stitches and make something other than socks and scarves! Each of these was a mere $1.

Brighton opping

I went to meet friends for morning coffee in Brighton, just opposite the St Andrews Church Op Shop - just too hard to resist popping in before time on my carpark ran out. A Scientific American, 1982, from the free basket, just because I like the fish. May be used in a collage. There are some great images of brains inside, too.

Continuing my enjoyment of Richard Gordon's Doctor... series with two I haven't read before, $1 each. A red covered novel for my ongoing art project, 50c, and "Cornet of Dragoons" because I loved the cover, also 50c. I may use the Dragoon dustjacket for collage or drawing over, and the book also goes into my stash of books for the mysterious project.

Two brooches, bear and bub and Mr. Moose, $1 each. Matchbox for scale. There was a basketful of these brooches on the counter.

Artus interruptus

Drawing 536

Drawing 537

Drawing 538

I was feeling a little uninspired with 538 and 539 - I think it shows. Ms Mermaid has a rather sour expression. I don't mind the patterning below, but it was more an exercise with this one than it's been for a long time.

Drawing 539

Drawing 540

Feelin' better with this one :)

There were a couple of (false) starts in the past few days. I bought a nifty spray device from Bunnings that attaches to any screw top bottle, then you pump the plunger to pressurise the bottle, set the nozzle to spray or stream and press the trigger. I was hoping that it would give me a nice even paint coverage on a canvas, but no go. To get it to spray properly, I had to dilute the paint to the point where it was barely a wash. Yuck. I may just have to accept that an airbrush and compressor is the only way to get the finish I want, but it's so noisy (and a pain to clean). I put the canvas in the naughty corner to dry and paint over later with something better. Then I pouted and took myself off to sulk, thwarted.

The pressure thingy will be useful in the garden though, and it was only a couple of bucks.

I had another semi-disaster with impasto medium. I want to use it to make an outline "drawing", then paint over it in a solid colour so that the "drawing" is revealed in the light and shadow of the three dimensional shapes. I tried using the impasto in a makeshift piping bag, a sandwich bag with the corner snipped off, and yes, the stuff will pipe, but the operator needs a LOT more practice in order to control the damned thing. Squeeze gently - curses, blurt, blob, more curses, thick, thin, louder curses, air bubbles make gaps, really loud and colourful curses, then I bit my tongue. Literally, because I had it poking out the corner of my mouth in concentration, and cursed a bit too vigourously. Scraped the mess back into the piping bag, now a scrunched and wet mess, and tried again. Slightly better result, but not what I was after - it was still too variable. Perhaps I should practice icing cakes for a while until my technique improves! But not that day, I scraped the canvas back again, put it in the naughty corner to dry, pouted and took myself off to sulk. Thwarted again.

I also tried painting on a book cover, which has turned out okay but next time I want more detail, even though I mixed the paint with liquidizing medium so I could use a tiny brush and make it detailed. Paint and I still have a troubled relationship, it just will not do what I want. Hmm, impatient operator lacking the necessary skills, again? Probably. Perhaps next time I try a book cover as a canvas I will return to my beloved ink. No books were destroyed in this enterprise, the cover is one I rescued from the bin last year at school. I do like that this piece will stand up on its own, no need for a frame or a stand. Photo to come, I didn't finish it till dusk today and the artificial light does it no favours.

Flat out like a lizard drinking :)

Drawing day forty-seven

Drawing day forty-eight

Drawing day forty-nine (perhaps that should be "image day forty-nine"!)

Drawing day fifty

Woohoo, made it to drawing fifty! Given that I anticipated this might last no longer than a week, I'm pleased that I'm still going and, what's even better, still enjoying drawing-a-day. The image for day forty-nine is another found poem - my drawing mojo was on hiatus that day and words were simpler. I kinda like the blacked out page with the white rectangles :)

Busy, busy, busy. Two excursions this week. One into the city centre for printmaking to view several galleries plus a paper-buying opportunity - oh, how I agonised over all the gorgeous papers but good paper is pricy! I settled for four large sheets of 350g Dutch Etching paper. I want to re-use an image from last year that I silkscreened from an x-ray of my wrist, using it multiple times over the large sheets and inking something else over the top, maybe in several layers. Dutch etching paper is made from cotton and feels soooo lovely.

We also went to (and this both amuses me and makes me squirm) to my ex-employer: the library where I used to work, to the Rare Books department to view their collection of artist's books. Felt a bit wierd having the libarian know me, plus he dragged out their copy of the book one of my short stories appeared in and had me sign it - even stranger! The artist's books were fascinating and often beautiful. I coveted one in particular, called "The Art of the Cake", which was fashioned as a concertina with gorgeous hand coloured and gilded drawings, presented in a patisserie box with a lace edged pair of white gloves, all contained in a gold etched clear plastic carry bag. I could go on and on about the books...