Following on from my last post here's a lino print of the same vine that I saw at the Botanical Gardens.
Here's the photo of the vine that set off these pieces.
And a magnificent desert rose that I'm sure will turn up in an art work soon!!
Here's a photo of the verandah table on Friday morning - a few sewing projects. The fish are to make into small hangings - 'charms for good fishing' - for the next craft fair which is coming up fast in mid-July.
I put the magazine in the photo to remind me to write about it!!
Dumbo Feather is an Australian magazine, I don't know how widely it's distributed outside Aust/NZ. The format is simple, 5 interviews with people who are doing "something" with their lives!
I first read it about 3 years ago when a workmate had a copy, and first bought it (not long after) when an artist was one of the people interviewed. Of course I'm most interested in the interviews with artists/writers, etc, but it's fascinating to read about people in all fields who are following their passion and through that making a difference in the world. It is in equal parts inspiring and depressing - inspiring to read good news stories instead of what makes the headlines on a daily basis; depressing because I don't have the get up and go to even tidy my house never mind change the world!!
In the latest issue I've learned a little about the tiny developing country of Bhutan (which is between China and India). The radical thinking of this country is to be more concerned about Gross National Happiness than Gross Domestic Product!! I'm fascinated by their guidelines for happiness (which doesn't include access to high speed internet, which I'm sure would be on my kids list of requirements for happiness!!)
'You have to have a house to live in, no more than 3 people in a room, 3 meals a day and time off. You should work 8 hours, have 8 hours rest and 8 hours for socialising reading or working your way towards good health...You should have enough income to look after yourself. You should meditate once a day, for a short time: it doesn't matter how long...Once a month you should help your neighbour or your community. You should be with nature as often as possible...If you meet all these criteria then you're rated as being sufficiently happy."
I'd also like to send you off to look at a couple of blogs.
I first came across
annamariapotamiti on flickr, her watercolours are lovely, it seems she's doing a daily painting challenge, many are of the same room in different lights with different family members wandering through, you can also see them on her blog
annamariaart. (by the way I hate the new flickr, where I can't seem to choose how to view photos and get a bit of space around them...)
When I first considered starting a blog one of the things I read was that you need to blog frequently (daily if possible) to keep your readers interested. Well I haven't followed that rule and nor does Julie Whitmore, who writes one of my favourite blogs
Julie Whitmore Pottery. She only writes once or twice a month, but her posts are always worth a look, a wonderful peep into her world, what she's working on and what's inspiring her.
I hope you've had a good weekend, we've got a public holiday tomorrow, hooray!!
