Creativebug Inspiration

Did I ever tell you that I met Amy? Well, yes I did (and I will tag this post "name dropping"). We had breakfast in Portland at the end of last Summer and I think we both spoke (probably at the same time) at full pelt for an hour and a half before she drove me around downtown Portland like a crazy person and then dropped me back with my conference posse. It was one of my favourite Portland experiences. She is almost exactly how you would imagine her, that is, pretty much perfect - creative, warm, passionate, a little bit wicked (you know, in that good way), hilarious and beautiful. Anyway, she was off to San Francisco the next day to film her craft tutorial for Creativebug. You can find Amy's tutorials here. 

This morning I have been watching some of the other instructor introductory videos from Creativebug, learning a little bit more about some incredibly creative women. The videos are all inspiring and beautiful but here are some of my favourites. I originally had more than 15 in this line up but decided it was too many. Narrowing it down was really hard. Please take the time to have a look at the other videos at Creativebug. 

Spray in May

Finally!!

I got a chance to finish those stencil images I sarted working on before everyone got sick.

Speaking of stencil art, J.otto seibold had an awesome looking exhibition in Portland at the beginning of the month - his work was all stencils on wood - fabulous fabulous fabulous.

The Friday Archives - inky houses

Back to 1995 - and back to my printmaking sketchbook from that year again for this week's Friday Archives.

I was obsessed with houses in 1995 - it was the year I moved out of home and my friends and I trawled through open inspection after open inspection looking for the perfect, affordable rental home. We saw some incredible places, places you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy - but we ended up moving into quite a nice  place - an old 1800s double story shop on a bustling main road. It had just previously been a "massage parlour" called Golden 111 so we had some interesting gentlemen attempting to get in the front door in the first couple of months.

So my printing making folio that year was full of Melbourne's inner city architecture; terrace houses and quaint boom-time worker's cottages. These images were carved from lino and then printed with artist's pigmented inks which ran and blurred in a way I really liked. It was different from printing with the sticky printer's ink and gave me a way to print at home and also get unexpected and sometimes beautifully spontaneous images. I love the colours in this image. Reminds me of patchwork.

Are you playing along this week? (It’s as simple as posting some of your past work - be it art, craft, writing, photography or anything really - to your blog). If so please leave me a comment!

On my desk... Gocco!

Arghhh! I am having one of those days. Everything I touch seems to turn to poo. This is my desk (for On my desk... on a Wednesday). I am in the middle of doing some gocco prints and it's not going so well. The little spring which helps hold the lamp unit in to the gocco has gone, and all my inks look splodgey. Originals have been fusing to the screens and I am feeling like gocco and me were not meant to be.

This is my floor, where I did most of my printing yesterday (note splodgey ink). Today my neck, legs and arms feel as though I have been having a major work out so this afternoon I have moved it all to my desk. Lara makes it all look so easy... sigh.