winton library

So many dead kangaroos on the road between Toowoomba and Winton. I'm keeping the smell out by keeping the windows closed, I've got my earplugs in and music up loud. How many times can you listen to Tina Turner on a 6 day voyage? I try to sing along but the earplugs makes my voice sound like a rusty bucket.

Winton library has internet access, what a great service for my travelling log.

on the road again...

One sleep to go before the big dry calls me north to Darwin. Cruising down the highway in my gray Echo (I'm imagining it's a pink Cadillac). Looking for the best coffee shops and bakeries and op-shops along the road. My friend Sue asked me if I had some photos of my paintings on my blog. I suppose it was a bit of an oversight on my part so here is one of my favourites.

embroidery

I stood in the kitchen of an old women today who was wearing a grey-green tracksuit top with fake printed embroidery. The design was beautiful with blossoms and long feathered lyrebirds. She had cut the neck out because it was too uncomfortably tight. There was beauty and poignancy in the moment as I thought about lost embroidery skills.

I made a range of vases with damascene like embossing called Chatelaine suite. I was looking for a minimalist form with an intensely decorated surface.

weekend cholesterol fix

"There's an interesting taste in this lasagna" he said. " Well, it's got chilli, coconut milk and coriander in it" she said. It looked authentically Italian which was amazing considering the difficulty she was having mastering the vagaries of the new Smeg oven.

Yes, it's the weekend and time to throw the vegetarian menu out and eat meat. I thought we had some mince in the freezer but no. Lentils to the rescue, I made a cross-cultural lasagna with some left over green curry of lentils. You may not believe me but it was delicious.

I put in the mechanism for a moon clock today. The face is similar to my 'Contentment' vases.

tick tock tick tock

Awake at 3 am, I'm thinking of how uncomfortable it might be to sleep angled into the back of the Echo with my head up against the back hatch and my feet wedged next the driver's seat door. I have a camp foam mat which is probably inadequate to the task of cushioning me from the spare wheel housing. Motel rooms at Longreach, Camoweal and Three Ways are looking good in comparison.

Some new ceramic jewellery pieces look good so I will incorporate them into necklaces this weekend.

Territory calling

Only 16 more sleeps before I set off on my road trip to Darwin and the Territory Craft Studio residency. I've just put some glaze tests into the kiln so I can finalise what to pack into my mini Toyota Tardis. Hot weather clothing is sitting in piles on the spare bed and equipment and tools on the floor. I'm trying to anticipate the minutiae that I might need for three months. Will I need a tent because I heard that all the seasonal workers lob into Darwin at this time of year?

Athena, Parvati and Lakshmi all escaped again yesterday from an unknown location along the perimeter fence. It turned out that the food in the hopper had run out and the call of the wild was too strong. They found the lady finger bananas on the veranda.

photo opportunity sort of day

"Do you want anything for the shopping list?" he said. "We've got leftovers in the freezer" she said. "Yeh, but we're going out, remember?", he said. "Ahh, now I remember, I said I would cook frangipani pie with prunes" she said.

After rectifying the disaster in the kitchen, that is, I put unpitted prunes in the pie, I eventually got around to photographing a drawing called Palindrome from 2002. The light outside was good so I shot it on the verandah near the vegie patch.

Venus escaped and then Parvati, the chicken run had to be reinforced.

Cobalt Suleyman

The big low off the coast last week blew into my studio creating soggy storage boxes on "the Tank", my stainless steel storage shelving. I put out some old work onto the top shelf to dry and my sister had to take a piece home with her. I'm glad it's going to a good home instead of sitting in storage. It was a two part stoneware vessel based on Suleyman the Magnificent's ceremonial hat. It does look a bit like a cobalt blue cactus though, or maybe a life form from another planet.