Lost Aussie on the loose

Be Seen Doing

I've listened in amazement at the connundrums that have plauged the American Government this week.  How is it that a caucus of parlimentarians can fail to find common ground and see to the good of a nation?

That they would  be willing to put in jeopardy the fate and livelihood of good women and men who serve this Nation - without the risk of their own paycheck?

I'm sorry, but that does not seem to be what democracy is about.  Making - or not making in this case, decisions that affect millions but leaves the lawmakers with their own salaries in reprieve, their "per diems" intact whilst the rest of America trembles and wonders if they can make their car payment next week ????

I don't believe that those who currently sit in government are setting anything near a "visionary" example for generations to come.

In fact, their example is extremely wanting in my opinion and that makes me rather sad.

What do you think?  I'd be interested to know.

Getting My "Illustrator" Pants On

It's been a while since I have posted any art that I have created in Adobe Illustrator. 

I confess that I have a love hate relationship with the program, not it's fault by any means, more that skills I acquire in the use of it decay faster than I can use them and well .... Photoshop is just "easier".

Once I do wrap my head around Illustrator though, I enjoy the clean lines and the scalability of the work. There is definitely something to be said for vector vs raster based images.
(And if you want it in layman's language, one is about math and the other is about dots!)

The biggest difference for me between the two programs is that in Illustrator I have to create the start, middle and end all by myself.
In Photoshop there is always a jump off point from which you create an image, be it a stock photo, a texture or background.

The fact that I admire so many Vector Style artists always serves as good inspiration and ultimately keeps me plugging away!  And that is a good thing!

 

The Rest of the Weekend

.... was spent cleaning out the garage and getting ready to change out the snowblower for the lawnmower - is that wishful thinking or what?

We also cleaned out the loft above the garage and found about 5 tons of DUPLO and Lego and Brio.  I have no idea what to do with it all, as there seem to be so many rules about giving away toys these days.
Needy apparently does not marry with "choking hazard" - I am loathe to put such lovely toys in the rubbish though...none of them killed my kids .... and it seems to me that somebody could use them ...

And, after all that, there was still time for some fresh air on the beach .... it was just lovely!

Graffiti Heaven at 5 Pointz

This weekend we tripped to Long Island City to check out Moma's PS1 and also found graffiti heaven at a place called 5 Pointz - which is an outdoor art exhibit space, considered to be the world’s premiere “graffiti Mecca,” where aerosol artists from around the world paint fabulous images on the walls of a 200,000-square-foot factory building.

There is a similar environment hidden under the bridges of the Thames River in London, but this was really the most fantastic exhibition of aerosol art that I have ever seen.

Apparently they are trying to close the place down and build some shiny new condos - which would be an awful shame in my (and many others) eyes!

I took over 400 photographs in the space of an hour or so - well worth the visit.

It was impossible to decide which ones to share and post on the blog - here are a random 5 ...

(And please note, there is some offensive language on one of the walls.  In deference to the Artist I have not edited it out, but some may not like it.  I apologise if you do find it offensive and personally mean no harm nor wish to offend.)

Remote Parenting

 

Some seven years ago we made the tough choice to send both my sons back to Australia (from the US) to school.
It's a decision that has been fraught with much loss (on my part and theirs) as well as many difficulties, but triumphs through their many achievements and personal development.

I do go down to Australia for two or three months each year and then they come and visit us here in the US but inbetween times, the "internet" has played a key role in our communication.

In latter years  Skype has become my main platform for communicating with them on a daily basis.

I probably "TALK" to my children for an hour or two each day - real conversations - about what they are doing, what they are thinking, who they like, what they are listening to ...

We proof read papers together, nutt out design ideas for projects, surf the 'net in tandem, feed links, cross check, spell check, share photos and generally talk, talk, talk.

Even though my children are thousands of miles away, I daresay I TALK to them more than parents who live in the same house as their own .....

It's not the perfect way to parent your children, but I wonder sometimes if folk who have kids living in their house, and in their own space actually "communicate" with their teenagers?

I don't know if you do ..... but I do .. from 12 thousand miles away!  Thank You Skype!

Illustration Friday - Duet

This week the theme over at Illustration Friday is "Duet".

A happy coincidence as I had already been working on this painting of a ballet student and her teacher.