at home in Auckland New Zealand... via the Selby.

The other day this post at The Selby arrived in my email in-box.

tracey tawhiao - artist and daniel 'hype the native' haimoana dam native - mc and musician
at home - auckland new zealand - june 21 2011

I so enjoyed time spent in New Zealand that I look out keenly for stories like this one.

One artist + one musician + a beautiful harbour outlook + wonderful natural habitat + maori cultural heritage adds up to a wonderful series of Selby photos on these two creative people Tracey Tawhiao and Danny Haimoana.

I am posting just a few small veruson form the seris of excellent photos... hop across and click through the images... up large and fabulous! Do... you'll get to see what's so appealing and distinctive about this place.

I fist saw images of the artist and her home about 2 years ago at Inside outside magazine (I think!) I was smitten.... being Selby there is less gloss... less perfection... more honesty and the real poeple in their home. Loved the collection of 60 odd photos .. go see ... and if you jut haven't the time then I do hope this gives you an idea at least!

Tracey Tawhiao's Gallery
Dam Native's Website

OK go see the proper photos now!

As for what's happening over here in my back yard, studio etc....  busy as anything ... a huge week ahead ... GREAT workshop at Percolator Gallery Saturday... wonderful people! Will have photos of activities from that very soon I hope!

Wishing you a good week ahead... must get to bed before the clock strikes 12 tonight!!


PS ... Im back with a little Update... just noticed that the lovely Katrina who attended the Saturday "Colours of Nature" Workshop has posted a story on her blog Katrina Recycled. Here's a small exercise from the class she did. Loved those colours and cant wait to see more that follows with some of these new threads!

Katrina Stirling - "untitled"

news from the farm...

A note in my email in-tray this morning brought these photos with it.... from Nicki on her farm in the Darling Downs whose story has been on my blogs lately.  


See recent posts here and here. 


When I was staying there she said I probably wouldn't get to see the Koalas because of all the visitors staying! So I loved finding these photos in the email today!

" I will send more of my favourite farm pictures a few at a time... Koala in a tree only 4 years old. He gives me inspiration, below that is my favourite tree I will be chained to if the mines (mining company) come ..... the  last one is a tree skeleton at dusk recently."

She noted also that 3 front pages of today's newspapers were covering the story from the Downs re Mining: 

  

Toowoomba Chronicle, The Australian and Courier Mail.

Hope you enjoy these photos from Nicki!

Time for a story?

A week ago I was in this tunnel ... walking along with my friend Nicki when we got to the point where the noise of bats became most unsettling. Maybe you're a tough-nut and would have kept going all the way through this tunnel ... I know Nicki, formerly a vet, would not have been nearly so nearly so keen to turn around and go back as I was... she's a formidable person... read her story and the others who play their part in the tale here at the homage blog post just up.

We'd been visiting around the area near her farm on the Darling Downs ... people on the land are generally a tougher mob that those of us fond of our city comforts. When she and her husband received a notice that they might lose their farm to a Mining Company she did not lie down and give up ... in fact she was in the middle of working on a large exhibition about the town nearby that was dismantled so an Open Cut mine could take coal from where the people had lived and communed daily with each other for decade upon decade. 

This flowering gum - Ironbark: Eucalyptus sideroxylon- great hardwood, termite resistant- (Nicki's notes) was photographed in the town that is no more ... Acland. Well...not quite no more ... it has a resident still... that amazing story was written up in the Australian, the national newspaper - page 4 no less - on Saturday!

The weekend I went to the Downs was quite eventfuI I can tell you ...stories in every direction, stories that are going national... that are symbolic of other's stories from around the globe.

Its was so exciting to see the way the visual arts, in this case Textile art, could play a major role in communicating, on a number of levels, something very important in the lives of this community... and beyond. 

We are all touched by the most profound density and velocity of change in contemporary life and as artists we have much to contribute  and in so many varied ways - whether subtle or overt - the time is here for artistic interventions of all kinds. 

Before I dash off to get on with things a little reminder in case you're down the road... and interested ! There's been a great response to the workshop series Im starting up at Percolator Gallery in Paddington this weekend...a couple of places are left for this Saturday, 25th of June and July, 9th and July 23rd too! With more dates coming soon!

Click on website page for more information or email me here: sophiemunns @ iinet . net . au (without the gaps of course!)

close up of section of a new work - view at website

The other day I got around to posting new work at my website...  and added a post at my studio archives blog about all this. I was reflecting on the fact this free website provider has continued to develop what they offer and is surprisingly user friendly ... and best of all I discovered a much better slideshow facility the other day to upload work onto. Maybe its new or maybe I missed it before this.

A couple of years ago I felt like I would never get my head around creating a website ... then I saw Robyn of Art Propelled renown create an excellent one through weebly, so I wrote to her about it, then worked on one myself. It was a very basic start... but after last year's busy-ness I had time in January to rejig it... and then again recently and every time I do I find I am learning how to improve the way I use it!

I've been seriously impressed by some wonderful streamlined websites ive seen ... like blogger friend's website: Mary Zeran ... they can add so much to the viewing experiecne ... but you know...its almost impossible for me to do minimal... my first page of the website is spare ... relatively... but after that its just what it is!  I guess I could apologise to the International Style Council for Artist's Websites... but what is this whiff of homogeneity all about anyway ...I'm all for bio-cultural-diverisity! Bring it on!

Bye all... have a wonderful week where-ever you are ... go forth  and may you be fruitful!

Oh... and if you're into textiles and living in this region you must check out this week's big event here at the website for Textile Art Academy.

two things to share with you!

Bloggers...  for all of you ...artists, designers, makers, gardeners, carers, world-makers, thinkers ...

all of you who love the authentic... the precious... the gift of time plus hearts and minds put to good purposes...

Chloe proudly showing her drawing!

Firstly....

This graphic is about protecting the interlinked systems of Biocultural heritage...

                 

                       What I hear you ask?

Well thats the whole thing... all of us...  every living thing on this planet.... every language, cultural tradition, blade of grass and more.

And no... life is always changing and we cant keep things still... but we do need to understand the links and act now to preserve a great deal of what is passing.

Revered Goddess via Ghost Colours tumblr

Secondly... I'll share this thought with you from indigenous people of Chile:

"The seeds are our mothers because they nurture us. Sometimes they become our babies, and they need our protection, care and warmth. In other moments they are our sisters, with whom we enjoy, sing and dance. That's how we are all family in our Andean world."

please visit the homage blog where you can read more on this and leave a comment today if you will....

Sophie x

    and a good weekend to you all!

what's cooking at your place?

Its winter here... OK... there's no snow. I admit our winter's are hardly worth a wimper ... but we still think about soups, keeping warm enough and avoiding runny noses and worse! What I dont like about winter is that I have to wear shoes!

I stayed at friends on the weekend up on the range (Great Dividing Range as its known - extending along the entire eastern side of Australia). My friends assured me it can get a lot colder up there than here... yet its only 2 hours west. It was wonderful sitting in front of their fire... and it seemed a million miles away forn the very green urban environment I wake up to each day.

I didn't get enough photos of their views... nor have I downloaded what I took... so stay tuned I hope for some decent pics from weekend!

image: Sabra Krock - I'm afraid I've never used
such fancy things as this  But I did like the photo
... it does spell out that baking is on the cards!
Plus I'm into blues and browns at the moment 

Why these photos you ask? Well... lots of home cooking where I was on the weekend... people who bake from scratch...  Thats always particularly nice in Winter. But thats a whole other story. 

Sabra Krock

anyone got one of these?

Now this is more like something I would get around to cooking! I'm a fan of quinoa. of green food, particularly herbs. I found this at "a billion tastes and tunes" blog.... the recipe for Quinoa Tabouli was adapted from a Moosewood book... simple ingredients... looks good to me!

Quinoa Tabouli

1 cup raw quinoa

2 cups water

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon dried mint or 

1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint

4 scallions

5 garlic cloves

2 or 3 bunches fresh parsley 

3 or 4 tablespoons lemon juice

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

salt and ground black pepper

I just noticed these images below at two posts at the same blog called "they draw and cook..." ... any of you draw and cook... I find the camera every now and then to record something but I must admit its been awhile since I drew something I've prepared for the table.

A Well-Salted Salad with a Little Vinegar and Good Olive Oil by Bozena Wojtaszek. This one is all textile and thread!   NOTE: Text and link from the blog!

Spring Garden Soup by Meta Wraber. 

Chickpea Dip by Sali Swindell.

Whilst posting this I thought of the wonderful Janis at Paintbox who delights us with her take on things around San Francisco where she hails from  ... and her drawings... like this one. Posted May 17...  its missing a title hence link to that actual post...   so just visit the blog and you'll find it and many other treasures! - May, 2011... 17th.

A sketchbook drawing inspired by Francesca's post on making tea
with fresh jasmine blossoms. * Note from Janis

And I'll finish with this from the also clever and lovely  Sanne van Windon in the Netherlands whom I was delighted to see had a post at Bloesem on her wonderful work last week.

"Last week was about flowers and melon gazpacho, really nice on a summer evening". Sanne's text!

Sanne

Sanne

Images from the Bloesem blog story : Art in your home : Sanne van Windon

Sanne van Winden is a Dutch illustrator and pattern designer , who graduated at the Royal Academy of Art in the Hague at the fashion&textile design department. You can find her colorful portfolio right here, read her journal here and visit her etsy shop right here. I also love her designs over at Envelop. 

{in the image below, Bedcover  by Beddinghouse} Text from Bloesem!

well busy week... must run!

Ive just booked at seat at the local Slow Food evening "the History of the Pie" ... after the talk we apparently partake and the warning is... dont eat beforehand! I can't promise drawings... but I'll try and take photos!

Art and food do go together so well don't you think?

The Slow Food manifesto:  SLOW Food began when delegates from 15 countries gathered in France and endorsed this manifesto, written by founding member Folco Portinari, on 9 November 1989... Read more here.