reasons to be cheerful - a bittersweet bombshell

Sometimes, after a long day at work, a girl just needs a drink. I never say no to a Tom Collins, but was inspired by its refreshing flavours to invent the following, and my resident mixologist is always happy to oblige.

bette marie

1.5 oz vodka

0.5 oz cherry brandy

0.5 oz sugar syrup

1.5 oz lemon juice

soda water

Build on ice, in a lovely glass, stir and top with the soda water.

Adjust the measures to suit whether you prefer it bitter or sweet.

PS. Maybe you'd like to try a Bombay Bette, switching gin instead of vodka...

pieces available at the Gaffa retail store

woodshed
925 silver, tiger eye, cord
necklace, 2010



remains
925 silver, stainless steel
brooch, 2010



lamb
925 silver, quartz, cord
necklace, 2010


woodshed & lamb
925 silver, stainless steel
brooch, 2010


I decided to return to the farmhouse when making work available at the Gaffa retail store. The Midwest Farmhouse series was inspired by photographs from the Great Depression and the music of Tom Waits. I was struck by the bleakness shown in the images and the sinister darkness of the characters and situations Waits creates.
The pieces are made from cast sterling silver, snapshots of things commonly seen around farmhouses. The pieces are small and innocent when seen individually, but suggest a grim narrative when seen together, a macabre twist in the tale.

new work - coming soon

Thanks to the lovely Zoe Brand at the new Gaffa retail store, I had a grand motivation to get back to my bench. I'll post some photos of what I made soon, but in the meantime, you should really go to Fidelity, opening Thursday 11th, February, 6-8pm.

Gaffa Gallery

281 Clarence St.

Sydney CBD

N.S.W. 2000

RIP J.D. Salinger

With love and squalor.

January 1, 1919 - January 27, 2010

anxiety #618 - loose threads

In my day to day work, I constantly encounter new challenges. I have recently been sewing new lemel catchers for jewellery workbenches. There are about 50 to make, and I think I became the in-house seamstress because I remember how to thread a sewing machine, from my year seven home economics class. Although I do have a sewing machine at home, it doesn't work and I keep it mostly for sentimental reasons.

My lemel catchers are slowly coming together, but I realised what's slowing me down: loose threads. Whenever I get to the end of a seam, I have an obsessive compulsive need to tie a double knot. It's as though there's a danger that without a knotted end, the entire thing would unravel, zigzagging back and forth like a knitted sweater in a cartoon.

I'm sure that people who sew on production lines aren't always stopping to tie knots, but I guess their skills, equipment and confidence are far greater than mine. Slowly, slowly, I keep sewing and tying my knots.

Coming soon: Why don't they make see through bobbin cases, so I can prepare myself for when it's about to run out?

This post dedicated to Mrs Rogers, my year 7 home ec teacher.

I can still make great library bags.

reasons to be cheerful - the bricks of waikiki

Waikiki is full of great buildings, decorated with great bricks.

This is an apartment pool surrounded by feature bricks, palm trees and hibiscus bushes.

'

The apartment building above, facing onto the Ala Wai canal, is delightful, but nothing beats the Waikiki Skyliner.

amazing architecture - hawai'i

Above is a little apartment building on Kanekapolei St, Waikiki, three floors high, joined by a zigzagging exterior staircase.

And this is Uncle Billy's motel, on Alii Dr in Kailua-Kona, on the Big Island. Fantastic mid-century modern building, but Bobby, our bus driver, warned that if you stay there, you sleep with your mouth shut. Apparently they have a roach problem...