Lost Aussie on the loose

The Long and Winding Road

Tomorrow we drive back to Long Island to for a few more days of house-hunting before I return the boys to Australia.  We've been 'given' a new Realtor to work with and hopefully she will be a little more useful than her predecessors.  I admit to being a somewhat tarnished (or is that seasoned) house-hunter but as I explained to one woman recently, this is not like buying a bike, you can't take a house back in 30 days if it does not suit..so a little more time and effort invested up-front don't seem to me to be too much to ask.

While I have been back at 'home'  I've managed to knock off a number of projects that were due.  One of them is the digital painting above, based on a photo I took recently of the boys.  The sculpture made such a great frame for the backdrop of the Indian Ocean and of course the two of them horsing around as the focal point.  The joys of youth and gay abandon!

A New Toy

Some time ago, after spying one of my felting projects on the blog, my art pal Terry Berg mentioned that she had an 'embellisher' machine she liked to use for art quilts and felting projects and recommended that I hunt one down. 
With that thought in mind, while I was down in the wooly wilds of Western Australia I played around with two machines that were in a local store, one by Pfaff and one by Janome but sort of decided that for the short amount of time that I spend there each year (albeit several months) that I could not justify the price of the machine for such limited use.
Well, today I lucked out (which in American language, is a good thing) and found a local dealer that had the Janome machines on sale for a ridiculous price and given that we don't pay sales tax in Delaware it was really a no-brainer!
The machine embellisher uses felting needles to punch and meld fibres together without the need for thread.  You don't necessarily need to use felt or wool in any given project and in the instance of the piece above, which is btw the first 'experiment', I used heavy cotton duck backing and an assortment of threads and ribbon.  The scan doesn't really do justice to the piece as there are lots of glitzy threads and textures to the piece, but you get the idea I'm sure....and what total, total fun.  It's like painting with fibre!

Just the Wrong Way Around

One of the projects I have on my list this week is to concoct a "photoshop phantasy" from some of my own pics.  I was going great guns with seagull wings, odd trees and sundry doodles until I realised that I needed the piece to be in "VERTICAL" format, not horizontal...I finished it anyway but it's back to the drawing board I guess!

In The Pink

AT last, back at 'home' in Delaware. So nice to be surrounded by kids, kitties and the claptrap of my studio, including the high speed internet connection and the zoom zoom computer.  Impossible to grind 50meg files in photoshop on my laptop these days and I am currently sussing out new options in that department...even a MAC - dare I say!

We have a week of peace and continuity before we have to hit the road again.  The boys want to catch up with their Delaware bud's and I have a stack of art projects to get done.  I am so looking forward to a few days out of the suitcase and back to the closest thing to "normal" that we ever seem to reach!

On The Road Again

Heading back to Delaware tomorrow after an interesting few days here on Long Island.

We were lucky enough to be invited to view the 4th of July fireworks in New York City atop a Penthouse on Park Avenue.  What an amazing view! 
I don't think we will be in quite the same league for house-hunting - which after three days of pouring over listings and peeking through stranger's closets is proving to be the 'usual' frustrating experience!

I'm looking forward to taking the boys back 'home',getting back to my kitties, the pooch, and catching up on work in my Studio.

Happy 4th

...To all my American friends and family may you celebrate with Joy and in Peace.

I've arrived Stateside, safe and sound with my small men, despite heightened security and flying through dubious airspace!  AND we also have news that our oldest son, Ryan has returned in one piece from his tour in Iraq, which is such a great relief!
God bless to one and all.