ffffound...com

Yellena James - paintings found at Booooooom.com
























Above and below: Chris Duncan at www.booooooom.com
Jason Karolak at Booooooom.com


below: www.woostercollective.com

I had almost finished posting something completely 
different tonight when suddenly it was deleted....
how?...I do not know! So these images were all 
found at ffffound.com which is a curious site worth 
a look if its not known to you!

paper + acrylics + archival ink + glue + 9 parts ingenuity = Sarah Gee kaleidoscopic abstractions

Weeks ago I wrote to Sarah in Vancouver because something of hers had caught my eye.  Now I think it was Vancouver... funny how location is the one thing that may slip under the radar.  She has been a very industrious person and uploaded new work onto her website which she sent me to look at.

I've been observing cross-sections of fruits and seed pods of late and noting the amazing symmetry to be found in some. I see a connection here even though these are complex, layered and assembled to exploit the hard edge to strong effect. Very contemporary and fresh - Sarah's work engages with its repetition yet variation - something also evident in the world of nature that I'm enjoying exploring up close at the moment! Check her website here -  with interesting links !

Thanks for sharing these Sarah - by the way - liked reading about your process!

UPDATE from the artist 10.3.10 : 

Sarah Gee wrote - Its so interesting that you related my work to the seed pod, because I find all sorts of connections to the natural world -  transparent jelly-fish, microscopic life, even brain scans. I like how Joseph Albers said he hated it when people called his work abstract: "its real, not abstract"

Pia and the city for sore eyes

Pia, of the wonderful weblog Pia Jane Bijkerk fame, caught my attention tonight. I just happened to look in on her charming blog  and ...where had she been posting from? Not Paris or London or somewhere in proximity to her home in (currently) Amsterdam - she had been in my neck of the woods with her camera and taking some really fascinating photographs.

I am going to share a couple but suggest you visit Pia's blog to see the whole series - they're good! Her images are special indeed.

visit here for more from Pia on Brisbane.

Now you must go on her walk in the rainforest here... it'll make you sigh deeply and breathe out!

I told you it was worth it!  Pia's blog is full of treasures - with many links off in different directions. It has a peaceful quality which makes for pleasant reading and it was certainly a treat to see this familiar city through different eyes!

What is this?

well... if you dont know the significance of this tree above read my latest post at Homage to the Seed!
Below: from theselby.com - also featured at this homage post!

on a completely different tangent

This morning I noticed in my sidebar blog-list a new entry from David Byrne's Journal. Even though in a hurry to go out I had to stop and read this post titled DREAM - THE ART TRAP . 

You will have to read the post to see what this image below left has to do with the story. I was a great fan of Talking Heads and Byrne's work. In 1986 whilst living in London I saw his film "True Stories' which I thought was ingenious. Coming from where I had been living in south east country Australia before moving to London there were things that resonated strongly in parts of the film. It certainly stayed with me and I bought a copy of the script in book form later on in Jerusalem of all places.

What happens after attending a VIP opening! It reminded me of the recent discussion on art museums of New York....with a uniquely quirky angle - Byrne's signature style! Have a look if you're the curious type!
      
        

when the occasion calls for it

Milestones are important - and 5 decades is well worth celebrating! Janna, my one and only sister, lives 2 hours north and will be marking this milestone with a wonderful gathering very soon. What is a birthday without a cake and reaching 50 requires something perhaps a little elegant, certainly not ordinary. Some of these finds below I think would be easier to paint than make....so the gesture on my part at this stage is more fantasy than fact.  I have been known to employ artistic skills in the kitchen - at times to good effect.... other times...dont ask!

So what inspiration did I find this afternoon?

This good old aussie standard below - the ubiquitous 'lamington' is something I might have created 40 years ago

When going 'all out' one would have added the cream layer - very sophisticated!

I never did get round to making the infamous 'pavlova' which provokes a debate between Oz and NZ as to where it originated.

I've looked beyond the good old standards - with my sister in mind. Of course I shall have to see which of these the birthday girl herself fancies - (please let it be the chocolate and pistachio...I could manage that!) I recall she loved cheesecake a long time ago. She was smart and married a very good cook. She's smart in many ways actually! 

Below is a bouquet - edible of course - from an legendary Sydney Cake shop SWEET ART that specialises in exotica. This is rather a quiet offering - I well remember walking past their Paddington shopfront years ago and seeing some remarkable constructions -  perfect for a locale full of galleries and a plethora of culturally diverse venues!

 

The blood orange cheesecake actually looks sensational thanks to Martha - that colour!

Another Martha number - 'darkest chocolate layer cake' that LOOKS pretty memorable!

Nigellas Lemon Meringue cake is looking good...lemon is one of those brilliant flavours - this looks like a grown up's pavlova really.

From Gourmet traveller, an excellent foodie magazine from Australia comes this Cassata below.

The afore mentioned Chocolate Pistachio cake from Martha

 

The finale - Martha's Carrot and Ginger cake is rather an elegant statement! Baking is definitely a skilled pursuit... especially when venturing out on a limb to create something magical! I think 5-0 calls for some magic!

H a p p y   5 0 t h    B i r t h d a y   J a n n a  x o

the big wet

These images of country areas of south west Queensland are not exactly down the road but we are getting some of the rain here in Brisbane that has completely swamped places like Roma and Birdsville. They've been inundated with many scrambling to safety, some with little warning. 
I'm reminded of growing up on the Clarence River in northern New South Wales where the river would invariably break its banks from time to time. We would get to that point where we would look at each other knowingly and say "flood rain". There's rain and there's flood rain.
For me at the moment there's rain and there's the studio. Its cooler than recent times... sleeping is good with the sound of falling rain and there's no flooding downstairs (we had a little fiasco last year!)...so all is well!