Gothic Punk 2008

Next week is the opening of the Gothic Punk Art Exhibition. The show runs from the 24th Nov - 13th Dec at Our City O-Tautahi gallery, Christchurch. It's the fourth year I've participated in the show and each year it's bigger and better. The opening night is Monday 24th November from 5pm - 7pm, so please come along if you're in the area! For more information on the show and to view the artists' profile pages, go to the official site here.

I'm working hard this week to finish off some pieces. I'll be showing the she loves series and will have prints and gift cards available. Here are my two latest works:

she loves stars

mixed media

190 x 115 mm


she loves cupcakes
(doesn't everyone right now?)

mixed media

190 x 115 mm

(click on the pictures to view them larger)


And as they say, there's no rest for the wicked. I've been gathering supplies for my next project which is a christmas ornament swap. As soon as my artwork is installed in the gallery I'll be starting on those babies! (I'm keeping the actual design secret, but here is a preview).

Enchanted Dolls

Look at these lovelies. They are by Marina Bychkova and you can view them and oh so much more on her website, The Enchanted Doll. Have a look - they are amazing works of art, and Marina even makes tiny shoes, jewellery and bead encrusted dresses for them! If I had a spare $1,985 CND lying around I'd sooo be buying one...

Somerset Studio

A while ago I participated in a Spirit Card ATC round robin. It was organised by the lovely Susan Tuttle, and the idea was that each participant created a folder to hold the cards. As it made the rounds everyone would add a card to each folder, as well as adding some art or embellishment to the folder itself. This month the project was published as an article in Somerset Studio magazine. Unfortunately the editors didn't show any photos of the finished folders (they did a good enough job showing a selection of cards from each participant!), so here are some pics of my finished folder.


A Spirit Card usually has a word or meaning associated with it, and the idea is that you have a deck of cards with different words, affirmations or phrases on each card. You draw one each day and reflect on the word or quality.

Here are the cards I made for each participant. Some people provided a list of words to choose from and others left it up to the artist.

Miniature stitching and gardening

This is a little garden of alpine plants. In the middle is a viola and to the left, a miniature aquilegia. It's only about 15 cm tall. There is a cushiony patch of moss and at the back, a tiny climber which I'm told will flower in red and black!

It's looking a bit fragile at the moment - hopefully a bit of tlc will bring it round.

Here we are a couple of weeks on. The aquilegia is flourinshing! All that this scene needs is a tiny little house, don't you think?

Yes, I am a bit obsessed with making little houses. Probably because I long for a house of my own. So here is a little house ornament, complete with embroidered flower garden.

I have plans for a series of these. Maybe even some larger freestanding houses... but first I have to finish off the hundred and one projects clamouring for attention!

Including this - the tinyland firescreen, currently about 3/4 complete.

More finished projects soon... promise!

Pretties from Tamsin Cooper

It's hard to stick to a budget when Tamsin Cooper is having a sale. Look at these pretties:


Silk and velvet and beads oh my. But at up to 50% off they are almost reasonable...

Lolly colours

Some days, you just feel like painting rocks. Usually they are the days when you should be doing ten other things like the dishes, planting out seedlings, finishing a project with a looming deadline or organising your next project with a looming deadline, but instead you pull out some nice round rocks and put some coats of paint on them.

Then you paint them with little scenes of birdies and cupcakes and houses.

When they are dry you add some finishing touches to sparkle and captivate...

Then you spray with several coats of clear varnish. Because you are hasty the spray goes on too thick, and doesn't dry properly. Then it smudges and you realise you have to repaint some details. Damn.

So you repaint, respray and this time everything is perfect.

And then you have a pile of brightly painted, lolly coloured rocks to sell at the market next month.

Things to do on a sunny Sunday

Go to the Spring Show at Hagley Park
Have a walk in the botanic gardens
Weed my garden and pick some flowers
Go to Spotlight - pick out some yarn for my next crochet project
Go to Briscoes and get a new toaster
Work on my mini needlepoint
Find a patch of sunlight and bask in it
Read
Cuddle Lui

Colours of spring - hot pink

"Spring colours" are always considered to be pastels, aren't they? Not so at my place! Looking around me all I can see are vivid hot pinks, intense yellows, deep and moody blues and of course vivid green growth everywhere.

Here are some of my favourite hot pink photos from yesterday:
Pink socks on the line
Pink silver beet
Pink polyanthus
Pink buds on Miss Rose Chiffon (promises, promises)
Pink oxalis
Pink collaged magnet, flowers and ribbon scraps
Pink pincushion
Pink polys and pansies
Pink crochet thread
Pink magnolias
Pink weird lilies (these last two were taken at the botanic gardens a week or two ago)
Pink buttons (spilt hearts)

Yes, it IS spring and there's not a bunny or duckie in sight. What are your favourite spring pictures?

She loves her cat

she loves her cat
mixed media
190 x 115 mm

This one felt like it took months to complete. Probably because I started off with a completely different concept and then changed to this when it didn't work out. I have been working hard though (evidence below!) and I've even started on the next painting.



PS. You can click on these photos to see them bigger.

It IS spring!

It's spring, and here's proof! Daffodils are blooming and blossom is blossoming. The first of September was sunny and warm, and ideal for a walk beside the river.

Or a paddle and a piece of bread, if you felt so inclined.

How pretty is this little spot? I want to step into this photo and disappear forever!

I don't know what this flower is, but I like it. One of these days I want a rock garden of my very own, filled with tiny alpines and miniature bulbs.

That was just over a week ago. The weather since then has been unsettled, mostly cold and a fair bit rainy. But spring is here, I promise!