Lost Aussie on the loose

Coming Up for Air

Finally, I am starting to feel somewhat human again and my face is thankfully resembling something that I am moderately familiar with...only a small gobstopper sized swelling left and I have quit sticking pills down my neck at a rate of knots - which is nice!

In between naps and aimless wandering about the house I have managed to make some progress on a fun little project that my friend Chris and I have cooked up - namely a little paper weaving of old magazine pages.  So far I have created a re-cycled journal for her and have another piece of woven strips ready to be fashioned into something funky..not sure what just yet.....

I think about the only other productive thing I have done this week is spend and hour and a half on the phone with #2 son in Australia, helping him with his English homework.

Tomorrow I face the surgeon again...this time for him to take out the garment's worth of stitches he left behind!  I have already warned DH to have Bail money ready if the guy messes me around again - there is only so much "laissez faire" practice that this Bear will Bear!
(Yes, too much knowledge can be a dangerous thing!)

Sunshine and Rain

The poor old Blog has been a little neglected lately....mostly because I have been busy - entertaining friends from Germany for a couple of days, working on projects with a looming deadline and co-ordinating #2 son's return to Australia from the UK.  At least this time I was spared the plane trip to the London as DH very kindly volunteered to go in my stead, nonetheless there was much to keep me pre-occupied and I did not really draw a good breath until I knew David was back safe and sound in Aus' this morning!  Phew! 

Then to backtrack a little, Christine and her hubby came and stayed with us earlier this week.  Sadly Long Island did not put up much of a show for the tourists as it rained, rained and rained some more....we did manage 4 hours of more-or-less dry moments and fulfilled Andreas's wish to get to the Beach....which is a whole 'other' story!  Who knew you are not supposed to turn "left" on Robert Moses beach unless you are comfy with the 'maximum exposure and mimum clothing' crowd?????  Not that I am a prude by any means, but some kind of advance warning would have been good!...instead of practically walking into the arms of some chap who was definitely 'very pleased' to see us, as Christine so eloquently put it!  Ahem! And thank goodness for broadminded company is all I can say!

So.... haben Sie eine gute Woche .........and may the rain just stay the heck away! Ugh!

A Tiny Break from the Rain

It's been raining non-stop for days here. To the point where I have foregone the chance to put away my winter woolies as I am STILL wearing them!!  However there was a small window of sunshine this afternoon, long enough to get out my camera and snap a few pics of the Spring events in the garden as well as tuck about 250 impatiens into the garden beds.  I still have another few hundred to go but I guess they will have to wait for the next break in the weather!

In the Middle of the Night

Why OH Why is she posting at 4am you ask?  Hmmmm....good question!  Seems that since I got back from my travels I conk out on the couch at 9:47pm, sleep for three or four hours, miss CSI, Numbers and whaterver else I want to watch and wake up with a crick in my neck but wide awake and raring to Go!  Hopefully not a pattern that will last too long!

Thankfully the 'normal' day hours are productive.  More gardening done and tonight we stopped off at Home "Despot" and procured some new plants which will contribute to the ever evolving garden.

I'm pleased to report that "Springly" events have not been confined to the outdoors. Today I rearranged the Studio (AGAIN) into what DH describes as a more 'refined and defined' workflow - yep, he can Six Sigma just about everything!....fortunately I describe it as just 'making life easier"!!

Inbetween heaving furniture and sifting through piles of "artistic mess" I have managed to fire up the Photoshop and fiddle around a bit.  I bought a stack of new fonts and filters before I left and have not really had the chance to give them a good road test until now.....which is OK, but my poor processor has a major headache :-))

And now I guess I had really best get to bed!

Ciao for now

Mom Chores

Probably like most Moms, I am not that 'turned on' by doing laundry BUT when I have the boys in my clutches, there is a certain satisfaction derived from having them all clean, pressed and ready for 'whatever'.

At 15 & 16 years of age, you could say that they are quite capable of doing their own washing, but call me soft, I don't know, it just seems like something I do because I love them.  That and sewing on buttons, fixing tears and re-hemming pants...mind you, I DO get lots of love and hugs in return!!

Anyway, today is sunshinny and gorgeous.  I've put off my early morning walk for an hour or two in favour of a bit of a lounge around in bed with my "cuppa" and the MAC perched on my knee while I check my mail and catch up on a bit of blog browsing.  It's been a busy week with 6am wake-ups, breakfasts and lunches to be made before I've had to head down the Freeway to take David to school.  James has been held captive at the "Study Gulag", apparently he can't prepare for exams under anyone's supervision other than his Father's but I will go and pick him up later today so we can all have some FUN together.  Seems there's not been much of THAT going on around here of late!  However I shan't bore you with all that stuff.

Stay tuned for some sunny day pics!
ciao for now

Keeping It Real

Recently someone emailed me wanting to order a print of one of the pictures off my blog (and yes you can do that!)...
Happy to oblige I scrolled through a number of months worth of entries on my blog until I came to the post they were interested in, found the master file and sent their artwork along it's merry way.

In scrolling through my old blog entries I realised that the subject matter and content of my blog has changed over the years.  Lots more of my own photos and less and less artwork that relies on the use of stock or purchased imagery!  Not that that is a bad thing, for I feel there are times when you don't have quite the right picture to suit a piece and buying one is an easy solution.

What I do find though, is that my conscious decision to try and use as much of my "own" photo stock as I can has changed my artwork considerably. 
Whether or not you like the finished product is entirely subjective and up to you to decide, but as the artist and creator I feel like I have a lot more ownership...even ALL of it...when the components of a piece, be it digital or mixed media are contrived by my own hand (and camera)....and you know..that feels good...

"Sowing Summer" is created with hand painted acrylics on watercolour paper, scanned and  manipulated in Photoshop and the seed pod graphic was arrived at by picking dried pods from my garden, scanning them into Photoshop, tweaking the threshold settings and adding them as a new layer over the background.

In the end, not just art, but a wonderful memory of my Summer garden!

Lost In The Land of Photoshop

Yesterday went to heck and back in a handbasket as I had to stay focussed while a crew of workman tramped in and out of the house to put a new furnace and AC unit in the basement.....and if you think you heard THAT story before...well yes you have, and I can tell you it's both a nasty and expensive taste of deja vu, having done it barely a year ago in our old Delaware house!

So today I was up bright and early and ready to tackle a bunch of chores in and outside of the house only to be stymied by a day of rain and thunderstorms....then on the good advice of a friend, when the sun came out for 5 minutes I used the time to snap a few pics....that was at Midday...and I've been lost amongst the pixels and pictures ever since...what can I say?  Time flies when you are having fun?  Too bad about the groceries...let them eat cake! Ha!

Here's a sample of some of the pics I played with.... I love my Summer garden!