Branch moulds

Branches and apples

It was 7 o'clock on a cold, dark and windy Friday evening by the time I could pull out (a not quite set) wax of each of the moulds I made. I couldn't go home until I had at least one wax. I really like the the meltable red mould making material (can't remember the name). Need to work on the bubbles though.

Blood jelly!

I was in Barnes this morning, buying a couple of kilos of mould making material when I walked past this shelf... Blood jelly, pumping blood, flowing blood, stay wet blood, realistic drying blood syrup..

Silhouettes in copper

So, I have started learning a new skill, thanks to Mikyoung it has been very easy. Thank you for lending me your tools and expertise.

The copper just needs to be oxidized to make the figures dark, then I need to work out a neat way of inserting these into the cedar lamp base.

Autumn queen

Sarah very kindly agreed to model this costume I made many years ago (that I can't wear any more). It was great to get some photos of it. Today was also the day that the second and third years were being assessed, so all their work was up. My favourite photo of many is this one with Erica's installation.

Crochet

So after all these years of being able to knit, albeit somewhat simply I have learned to crochet. Taught by You Tube. After practising with a few samples I crocheted a beanie/beret. Using Noro yarn and a selection of stitches (single, double and treble) I kind of made it up as I went along. I used the treble stitch on 2 different rows to make a kind of ladder that I could thread a ribbon through. I can't believe it has taken me this long to try crochet, it seems to be free-er than knitting and so much quicker. Except of course if you are making granny squares...then of course you need to pay attention to the number of stitches, something I'm not very good at. My stitches tend to come and go at whim.

Light in Winter

Exciting news, I have 2 pieces in a group show at Kirra Gallery, Federation Square. The exhibition coincides with the 'Light in Winter' festival in Melbourne. The theme for this years festival is words and story telling. Kirra Gallery for the last 4 years has had an exhibition of 'illuminated works' to tie in with 'The light in winter', a multicultural soltice-y kind of celebration.

Thank you to Crystal Stubbs for suggesting my work to Suzanne at Kirra Gallery.

The brief was to make a light out of the hot cast pieces that I have been making. The stands are made from recycled Australian cedar, with a burned designed, finished with a natural hard wax from Whittle waxes. The light is a strip of flexible LED's set underneath the glass in the cedar base. At last they are packed and on their way.

Letter box

If only every long day working hard was rewarded with a letterbox full of books!

Mother's Day

Gifts for my Mum and Dad, with handmade gift tags. The flower is a water colour and the soy fish is a screen print.

Autumn leaves 2012

This year I have had even less time to appreciate Autumn leaves which are one of my great loves. I still find old pressed leaves of autumns past in various novels. On our way up the Dooralong this weekend valley we stopped to admire this long driveway of plane trees and liquid ambers.

The growing bibliography...

Home by Miler Lagos

Thanks to reading Virginia A. Walter's paper 'Metaphor and mantra: The function of stories in 'Number of stars'' I have come across Jerome Bruner and Robert Coles. 'Acts of meaning', 'Actual minds, possible worlds' and 'The Call of Stories: Teaching and the Moral Imagination' the titles of their books that I hope when I get to them will shed some light on stories, imagination and cognition.

And more papers from today's research are:

• Why fairy tales matter: The performative and the transformative / Maria Tatar. Western folklore 69:1 (Winter 2010) 55-64
• Learning about ourselves through fairy tales: Their psychological value / Meredith B. Mitchell. Psychological perspectives, 53: 264-279, 2010.
• Declolonizing fairy tales / Donald Hasse 

I read a few more that weren't after all that relevant or informative, and realise that I have got to a point that I have read enough to begin to find where my own opinions stand, I feel another map / diagram coming on!

Through one paper 'The Magic of Fairy Tales: Psychodynamic and Developmental Perspectives' by Martin J. Lubetskyi (which for me was too focused on child psychology to be pertinent) I found a reference to Julius Ernest Heusher (1918-) who wrote 'A psychiatric study of myths and fairy tales; their origin, meaning and usefulness' (1974) and 'Psychology, folklore, creativity and the human dilemma' (2003) I'm hoping they won't be too much like Bruno Bettleheim's 'The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales  (1976). Bettleheim for my literary palate proves everything far too neatly. Every fairy tale gets psychoanalysed for usefulness within an inch of it's life! The enchantment fades as reason and usefulness is hammered into every word, in every story.

Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty

Very funny.

Post it wall

The beginnings of a research essay

Chapter Headings and epigraphs

Honours Research Paper

The other day I had an idea about the way I am going to set out the Chapter headings. I am trying to find ways to get myself to enjoy some parts (at least) of the Research paper process.

So the idea is to write chapter headings like a novel, indicative but slightly mysterious with an accompanying epigraph. Popular I think in Victorian novels. I think it's a style that has fallen out of use except when an Author employs it to evoke an other/older world. I think it could add a sense of humour and wryness that could alleviate some of the 'seriousness' of a paper.

Thomas Malory uses the epigraph for his chapters in Le Morte d'Arthur, giving us a summary of the events in the chapter ahead, somewhat giving the game away. Given his antiquated prose one could be forgiven for reading only the epigraphs.
For example in Book X
Chapter 21: How King Arthur let do cry a jousts, and how Sir Lamorak came in, and overthrew Sir Gwain and many other

Though the best use of this style I have seen is in Neil Gaimen's Stardust, informative and compelling!

Chapter One: In Which We Learn of the Village of Wall, and of the Curious Thing That Occurs There Every Nine Years

Light and shadow experiments

Some quick, basic tests

It is annoying when the 'torch' on ones smart phone is brighter than the 'spotlights' one has bought to be ...you know spotlights!

Cee-lite by Flexalite

These cee-lite panels looks awesome, need to get some!

Hatched artists: Then and now

My first out of uni 'Artist talk' for Hatched at PICA in Perth.

Hatched 2012

Hatched opening night

and the Bullseye Emerge Winner* is ...

Émilie Haman with 'Once upon a time'

 Well, what can I say. I like it, it's all fairytaley. It's sweet and disturbing. What happens if you put your foot in there? Do you become something else? Tempting...




Actually they don't use the term winner but 'Bullseye Glass Emerge 2012 Gold Award recipient' but that would make my heading waaay too long.