Tate turns 2

Today is our Grandson Tate's second birthday and yesterday he partied hard with family and friends. We stayed overnight and this morning we gave him our present which was a Magnadoodle. He picked this up really quickly. He received loads of presents and had an amazing Birthday Cake which looked like a train. We are very excited because we now have another Grandbaby on the way, a little brother or sister for Tate, due in February - someone to look forward to meeting :)

Fibre Art

I had a wonderful morning yesterday at Art Society creating my first ever piece of Fibre Art. This was so much fun and has given me loads of inspiration for incorporating this into a mixed media piece. I have scanned it into a photoshop document and then digitally stitched around the edges. Of course this could also be done on a sewing machine as an applique.

A Wonderful Day

I had a wonderful day yesterday at GoMA, viewing some of Picasso's works and his collection. At the same time there is a Sydney Nolan Retrospective showing at the regular Art Gallery so we were just able to squeeze that in after a quick lunch break. I also found time to visit the shop and pick up a book and some fridge magnets. It was so interesting to learn different things about Picasso and the way he amassed his collection and displayed it in his home and many studios. Seems like he used to haunt thrift shops and found one very valuable painting for just a few francs, and he also traded his work with other artists he admired.

I discovered that his favourite painting is the same as mine, a still life of Oranges by Matisse - except that sadly mine is a print which I purchased in 1995 at the Matisse exhibition in Brisbane. :) I spent almost half an hour looking at the original, just amazing. I also discovered that he liked to lean paintings on walls, on the ground and move them often, and I do this too. These photos show a group of us at the exhibition and my print, displayed on the floor.

Picasso and his Collection

I'm excited tonight as tomorrow I am off with some fellow `Friends of the Gallery' on a bus trip to Brisbane to see `Picasso and his Collection' at the Gallery of Modern Art in Brisbane. This is the first time this exhibition has been shown in Australia. So I will see works by Matisse, Renoir, Cezanne, Rousseau, Modigliano and Braque plus 80 important works by the artist himself.

It will be a 2 hour trip down but definitely worth it. I will take a packed lunch and forget about my tendonitis. In honour of this occasion I have created my own piece of modern art in ArtRage and Photoshop.

Magic Happens

I did this page for this week's Frameworthy challenge, just a bit of fun. I need that this week as I have been back to the Doctor with Tendonitis which I have had since late May and which is getting worse rather than better. Seems like the only cure is total rest of my right arm (luckily I'm left handed) but I am getting frustrated with the constant pain and inability to do very much. Yesterday I had Acupuncture (recommended by my Doctor) and it seemed to help a bit so I will go back next week. In the meantime I am working hard at being positive and keeping my energy levels up - and hoping for a bit of magic :)

First Sighting

August 1 and still a while until what we experience as Spring begins `officially'. There is frost on the ground in the mornings, but I have found that the Jasmine and the Brunfelsia are beginning to flower in our garden and this always means that the weather is changing. It is always interesting reading Blogs from the Northern Hemisphere where I can tell that people are beginning to tire of Summer. It seems like we all want what we haven't got. I really envy people who experience seasons, especially in the Northern Hemisphere where the Festivals like Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving mesh in so beautifully with the right sort of weather, as they were designed to do. I think this gives life a kind of rhythm which must be so settling, especially for children. Here it seems everything is always upside down and for us of course there isn't really a Spring or Autumn. Also winter can be very long and dreary in some places without holidays and festivals to break it up. Ah well - roll on Summer :)

Frosty Morning

The last week in July is always our coldest and this morning we woke up to Minus 1 degree celsius and a frost all over our lawn. In this photo which I took just after we woke at about 6 am you can see the frost plus in the foreground the greener grass which Alan hosed. When he picked up the hose it was stiff. Inside the house it was 13c when we woke, but after having lit the fire we are warming up.

Finally my 2 week Jury Duty is over - there were 2 Empanellments and I missed out (final selection is by a random draw). But I did have to go in for Roll Call on 4 different days, twice on one cold, wet and windy day last week. The experience has left me with great admiration for anyone who is selected for a Jury Panel. Just ordinary people from all walks of life who are called on to perform a very difficult and sometimes harrowing Civic Duty. There were about 40 of us, all strangers, but we gradually got to know each other during the long waits. I got the feeling that no one `wanted to be there' - it is an alien and daunting environment, but having said that everyone was determined to do `their duty'. Jurors everywhere I salute you.