Slough of despond

Drawing 411

Drawing 412

Drawing 413

Drawing 414

Drawing 415

Long time, no blog.

Unemployment sucks. I hit a really low patch and couldn't get motivated to do more than work at the two temporary part-time jobs I managed to find (one of which has now ended), and look for work. Looking for employment is like a full time job in itself: scanning the job sites/newspapers/cold calling (which is the worst of the lot). I did have one interview for a job I would have loved (again part-time, but I'll take what I can get), but didn't get it. Sending off applications for jobs that don't inspire me but which I could do (I'll work at just about anything), apparently into a black hole or a trans-dimensional portal, because very little gets acknowledged or responded to in any way. It's as if I'm talking to myself, or writing to myself. It's a little eerie and very discouraging.

Not much art happening, bar drawing-a-day (lots to update the blog with, there! Six or so weeks of drawing...), but I am thinking about stuff again. Painting. Drawings other than the little daily ones.

Just to top off my despond, my car broke down last week. All the coolant escaped and the poor beast almost died of thirst. She now has a new water pump and a secondhand radiator and is back on the road. The Bloke and I trawled the wreckers for the radiator. I quite like visiting the wrecker, it's a whole other world I didn't know existed until I met him. Dirty hulks lie rusting in huge yards, picked over and scavenged for parts, like a pack of predators have savaged them. Cars that have been in catastrophic crashes, cars that have just reached the end of their useful lives, cars that don't seem to have had much wrong with them on the surface. All washed up in dusty, greasy, rusty, festering, mouldering rows.

Actually, they're quite organised; each car is numbered and the remaining parts available entered in a computer database, which prints out a map of where in the yard each vehicle reposes. I was impressed! I'm not much use when it comes to the assessing of viable parts, and even less in tool wielding to remove said parts, but I took charge of navigation and equipment toting. Photography is forbidden (not sure why) but some car graveyard images would be interesting to have. I picked up a part-logo: FA. Falcon, perhaps. I may make it into a brooch. And I scavenged some of those little bulbs from rear brake lights - they look like they'd make
good glow-worms with the addition of some paperclay and wire (and maybe some glow-in-the-dark paint). Or wreck-worms.

Consumerism begone

The above is a fat quarter featuring cats in a fabric I didn't have - now added to the basketful of cat fabrics already in my collection. $2 from Bentleigh Market.

On the weekend I went to DFO, Direct Factory Outlet, looking for new saucepans. I haven't really been shopping in over two years, an economic move made necessary by the limited means available to me whilst living on a student allowance and little more. This enforced removal from the world of consumerism appears to have become an engrained habit. I wasn't enticed at ALL by any of the fripperies on offer, though I did look in the bookshop and at the Birkenstocks (ooh, pretty, oh my, look how expensive, quick, run away!). No saucepans within my budget, either, except at the really cheap warehouse place - one large 24cm pot purchased for a measly $10. I was quite surprised at the level of non-interest the place held for me. Shopping is no longer an entertainment to me, I couldn't get out of there fast enough :)

On the other hand, a trip to the Bentleigh market was more my speed. Trash and treasure, yep, bring it on. I bought three things for under $10 total. The fat quarter above, and the game below for $1 - I plan to re-paint it and turn it into an art piece, a book-like object. I've been looking out for a wooden version of something like this for a while; there are lots on card, but few wooden ones, particularly complete. This doesn't look played with much, or perhaps the previous owner took good care of it.

And a pair of embroidered shoes, too pretty to leave at $4 and just my size. I gave them a gentle hand wash and they're now nice and fresh. Of course, now the weather has turned to rain and I can't wear them. Yet.

Horn(y)

Drawing 407

I've been perusing a book of Aubrey Beardsley drawings - some of his sweeping lines and use of classical mythology is emerging in my own drawings. The horn'd beasts in particular.

Drawing 408

Drawing 409

Drawing 410

Before and After

Before: a 99 cent tea towel from Savers.
Don't you love the colour and those polka dots? I'm obsessed with this lime green.

After: a new tote bag for me. Materials other than the tea towel were from my stash - interfacing, thread, one long and one short zipper, lime green with white polka dots lining fabric, scrap of batting. I winged the pattern, using the shape of the tea towel to dictate the dimensions. It's basically a rectangle with the two bottom corners sewn at right angles to form the base of the bag. There is one large zippered pocket inside (handy for keys and the mobile, which always sink to the bottom otherwise), and another pocket on the other side with an open top. I put a scrap of quilt batting into the handles to make it more comfortable on my shoulder. I even shortened the long zipper to make it fit the opening (a process I've only tried once before with limited success, but it worked well this time. Voila, custom sized zipper). The sewing in of the zip in the top is a bit wonky, but it works!

I needed a new tote to carry my sewing project to work, and this fits the bill.

I'd show you a photo of the lovely spotted interior with my custom zipper, but the camera's memory card is refusing to give up the photo, despite me turning the air blue with swearing and jamming the card in and out of the reader about ten times. Pooh!

Beep beep, reverse

Drawing 404

Drawing 405

Reverse of Drawing 405

When I turned this drawing over, the bleed through from the front of the page caught my eye and set me wondering: what if I drew something like this on the front just to get that effect on the back, and then drew over the bleed? Or added to it on the back? Hmmm. Pondering...

Drawing 406

In my head

Drawing 403

I woke up with this image in my head, pretty much as she appears on the page. Don't think I was dreaming her, but who knows?

Head and tails

Drawing 398

Drawing 399

Drawing 400

Drawing 401

Drawing 402

I think that when I crack 500 drawings I'm going to get myself a treat :)

Champagne? A great big steak with all the trimmings? A new pair of shoes? A ginormous
canvas to play with? Hmmm...