reasons to be cheerful - home comforts

I'm not usually one to invite the internet into my bedroom, but I've been spending some time on Etsy recently, and I'd like to show you one of my finds.

I saw a cushion by Utilitarian Franchise in a magazine, and decided I had to have one.  I love the collage images silk screened on their handmade covers, the only problem I had was choosing which image (I couldn't, and got two...)

Utilitarian Franchise is based in San Fransisco, and you can buy their work here.

Left: Growing Human Heart and Lungs, teal on unbleached canvas.  Right: Growing Human Heart, red on light blue, both by Utilitarian Franchise 

anxiety #437 - how soon is too soon?

I'm all about Christmas cheer.  I love the idea of a festive meal shared with family.  I work out gift wrap themes well in advance (including contrasting paper colour and ribbon ideas).  One of my favourite compilation CDs is Christmas Cocktails, from the Ultralounge series.  Last year, I even bought Christmas decorations, but they were for someone else's tree, but I found people don't really like it when you try to decorate their tree...

Anyway, this is the first year that I get to decorate my own tree.  Stan & I went out and chopped one down...not really, why would anyone want a dead tree dropping pine needles all over their beautifully furnished apartment?  We got a fake one and it's pretty nice for a fake tree; it's taller than I am and while it'll never look that real, it's real-looking enough.

Is it too soon to put it up?  I never thought about it before, but apparently there isn't a set time to decorate your Christmas tree.  I don't remember when we used to put it up when I was little.  I've read that in America it's okay to put up the tree the day after Thanksgiving, but that doesn't really help.  Even though decorations have been out in shops for a while,  any time in November seems too early.  To be honest I wanted to put it up the day we got it, but I don't want people to think I'm one of THOSE Christmas People.  We all know one.  They're a little too full of Christmas cheer, spending far too much on decorations, usually own some Christmas themed, sparkly jewellery and maybe a funny t-shirt or two?  

It's getting closer, and I'm placating my urge to yule by buying decorations.  Our box of Christmas is constantly being swapped with a bigger box, my biggest extravagance so far being some vintage West German mercury glass drops, in a lovely aqua blue.  I feel like I have to wait until it's well into December, or I'm a "Santa stop here" nightie away from living the dream. 

bauble collection

worst. blogger. ever.

I know, I'm sorry, it's been ages, and worse than that, I left my last post about the tenmoregirls exhibition promising closure to the nail-biting, edge-of-your-seat "what's bernadette going to make" question.

The thing is, back then I had a great idea of what I was going to make, but then I changed my mind.  And then I got discouraged.  Sometimes over-ambition can be my enemy, because I think I'm on to a winner, but the ideas become over-blown and convoluted.  

Originally I decided that I wanted to try to cook recipes I hadn't tried before, and make a piece that reflected each dish.  To finally conclude the last post...it was a lamb roast.  I had never made one before.  I think because it's the sort of meal reserved for Sundays and Easter I assumed it would be difficult.  Imagine my delight when I found you just stick in some garlic and rosemary, put the whole thing in the oven, and that's it.  

In retrospect, my awe does seem a little misplaced.  (But it was pretty delicious.)

The piece turned out like this...

Nested: comfort #1 & #3. 925 silver, silk, 2011

It's a vessel and a pin, and meant to be like a little nest, warm and cosy, like that feeling you get at home.

I continued cooking, and tried to design interpretations of dishes, but I wasn't happy with the outcomes, nothing worked together as a cohesive body of work.  It just looked messy.  I was cooking things like tagines, hot pots, soups; slowly it dawned on me that I was drawn to making comfort foods.  They all had that warm, cosy feeling.  It was one of those lightbulb moments, my work became focussed on the idea of the home, the warmth of the hearth.  So I've been making a series of silver nests, holding silk, cast glass and pate de verre glass, representing comfort, stability and protection.

works in progress

They're nearly finished, which is lucky, as we're installing the exhibition in 2 days time.  

The other reason I haven't been posting is that I've been pretty busy on the home front.  Stanwell, my resident mixologist, and I have packed up the tikis and moved.  We are Marrickvillains no more (the best I can come up with now is Dulwich Hillbillies?)  Anyway, all the pottering and tinkering around the new place does seem to take up a lot of time, but it's looking pretty spectacular.  I'll post some pictures soon, I promise.

In the meantime, I hope to see you at the exhibition opening, 

10 girls. 10 colours. 18th October, 6pm-8pm, 

Salerno Gallery, 70 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe.

Nest Eggs

The sets of nesting eggs on display

Blurry much? I didn't want to be annoying with flash photography...

The show looks amazing! Congratulations Christina, you did a fantastic job, and congratulations to all the artists. The eggs look spectacular.

If you didn't get a chance to come to the opening, the eggs will be up for a couple more weeks, and the food and drinks at Petty Cash are great, so drop in and check it out!

My set, The Feathered Nest, inspired by 1950s decorative arts, atomic ranch houses, and everything inside them.

Petty Cash Cafe

68 Victoria Road,

Marrickville

Exhibition Opening - Nest Eggs

Christina Adamson is curating another exhibition at Petty Cash Cafe. Artists have received a set of 5 nesting eggs to decorate.

Nest Eggs is opening this Tuesday night, from 6 - 8pm.

Hope to see you there!

Petty Cash Cafe

68 Victoria Rd,

Marrickville

I won't spoil the surprise, but this is the direction I went in, finishing just in time...

10 girls 10 colours: orange

So it's all systems go for another tenmoregirls exhibition, 10 girls 10 colours. This year we each drew one of 10 colours, looking at our personal response to our colour. What does it represent? How does it make people feel? My colour is orange.

Orange runs a close second to red, as a favourite colour in our house. My first thoughts ran to the kitchen, home to 1970s orange handled utensils, vintage Pyrex and linen. Then they turned to cooking.

A warm colour, orange stimulates the appetite. I thought of spice markets, towering pyramids of ground spices, with heady, exotic fragrances. My searches returned images of spices, but in amongst them, pictures of food. There were thick curry sauces, tagines, spicy soups; I found myself not so much inspired to make jewellery, as inspired to start cooking.

I've always been a defeatist in the kitchen, daunted by recipes with too many ingredients, or what I thought to be tricky cooking methods. I could talk myself out of trying new things pretty easily. Recently though, I've been breaking down my self imposed barriers, finding that just following a recipe can bring surprisingly delicious results, and a little confidence can inspire creativity.

And so for 10 girls 10 colours, I'm going to spend some time in the kitchen. I'm planning a series of wearable pieces, inspired by the things I'm learning to cook. Stay tuned, first thing on the menu is a family favourite.

reasons to be cheerful - unexpected blooms

One day, on my walk home from work I saw a large growth, like an artichoke, on a tall, skinny cactus. I was intrigued. I had never seen anything like it. Was it a fruit? A flower?

Over the next few days it grew longer and my curiosity grew with it.

It was late at night when I saw the flower had eventually opened, luminous under the streetlights. I woke up early to photograph it, before anyone could pick it.

new year updates

My goodness, what a long time it's been! Happy New Year!

The end of the year is such a busy time, I barely have time to think, let alone post anything. Here's a quick pictorial review of some things I've seen and done since I was last here...

The amazing Christina Adamson put on another wildly successful show at Petty Cash Cafe, these are a few of my favourite things, each artist getting 3 small square canvases to decorate as they chose.

my canvases, L to R, Atomic, Outrigger, Organic.

925 silver, stainless steel, acrylic paint on canvas

Then came Christmas and New Year's, spent mostly lying in a hammock overlooking lush bushland, with my superb family and a refreshing drink.

After a quick stop home to unpack and repack our suitcases, my lovely mixologist and I headed south, mobile bar in tow. We stopped at various towns and old wares stores along the way, until we got to the Robin Boyd designed motel, the Black Dolphin, in Merimbula. We then headed inland, reaching Canberra at the same time as summernats (worst timing ever), and then back to Sydney.

These are some of the things we saw:

wollongong antiques centre: if I had roof racks that dining set would be mine.

mmm, pavlova...

treasures of the deep, shell museum, 142 Beach Rd, Bateman's Bay

I was overjoyed to find it hasn't changed in 20 years.

The sun rising on the way to the beach, Merimbula

This would be my dream house, if only it wasn't in Cooma...

A wall of death, Mittagong Antiques

Two weeks break went by in a flash, quite like 2010, and I'm now back at work.

2011 is shaping up as a pretty interesting year, but in the meantime, if you missed the National Contemporary Jewellery Award in Griffith, it'll be showing at Sturt Gallery, from the 6th of February to the 13th of March. The gallery is on the corner of Range Road and Waverley Parade, Mittagong, open seven days, 10am-5pm.