tillie and toby

Tillie and Toby - that smudge in the top right corner isn't on the painting. I did it while cropping the image...

Finally.

I've finally finished the dog portrait I started weeks ago.

Why did it take so long you ask? Well, sometimes things just click.

Then other times they don't.

This was one of the "don't" times. When I started I got Toby right straight off - he clicked. (that's the little black dog.) I felt I captured his expression straight away.

Tillie was much harder. She looks like an ewok or cousin It. She's the sweetest dog in real life, but I just couldn't find HER under the hair.

In the end I think I scrubbed her out and redrew her three times.

I'm using pastels on Art Spectrum pastel paper - this paper is like very fine sandpaper so it holds pastel really well, but it also allows you to wipe it off and even wash it off with a damp sponge and redraw over it.

I'm finally happy with it now and I can say I'm so relieved. I thought I'd never finish it and I'd never get my new adirondack chairs. They're the trade you see. If I never finished the painting, I'd never get my chairs.

The deck isn't finished yet of course. I'm still painting the house. Like a greek: siga siga.

That means "slowly slowly". Wouldn't want to over-exert ourselves now, would we?

I did a bit of painting this weekend. I worked on the front part of the house, undercoating 2 sections of the rails and posts before I ran out of my 3 in 1 Prepcoat/Sealer/Undercoat.

(I was really glad to run out 'cause I hate painting with oil based paints. The reprieve is temporary... I have to buy more.)

Then I moved to the back of the house where I started painting the topmost bits of wall and under the eaves. This is slow going, greek or not. Its climb up, paint above your head, get down, move the ladder, find a relatively stable spot to put it, climb up, paint above your head. Repeat endlessly.

I think I did about 2/3 of that side before I decided to call it a day. The horses, chickens, ducks and dogs all needed feeding. Not to mention the human.

Today I spent all my energy brushcutting the weeds in our yard. Its ridiculous really. We have "journey to the centre of the earth" cracks in what used to be our lawn and is now a crispy desert, and yet along the fenceline we have weeds and thistles almost waist high.

On the plus side, the garden is producing well. I'm being over-run by tomatoes, zucchinis and apple cucumbers. Don't get me wrong, I love fresh home grown produce. Especially the tomatoes and cucumbers... but they're staging a revolution in there, I swear. Every time I look around they've multiplied!
z

a different kind of horse

I've had these photos for ages and found them while tidying up my desktop today. I just have to share cause I think this is incredible work.

One day, a long time ago, I drove down the Cygnet and as I came around the bend and looked down the hill I saw a horse grazing in a paddock just outside town. As I got closer the horse started to looks strange... see through, ghostly...

It was made of barbed wire!

Since then they've moved the horse to just inside town, outside a gallery on the main street. I'm so sorry I didn't get a photo of it in the paddock. The weatherboards don't do it justice. In a paddock it looked like a real horse, here its just a sculpture.

Even so, its an incredible piece of work. I have no idea who made it or who owns it, but its beautiful. All made of wire and metal.

How cool is that? I think we need one of these for our paddock. And a couple of corregated iron cows. And a corregated iron poodle of course.

z

chipped paint, old motorcycles and good coffee

There's nothing better than a good coffee.

And there's nothing better than a good coffee in a great environment.

I lived in Melbourne for about 20 years and Melbourne's full of cafes with atmosphere. If I was to be honest, one of the things I miss most about living in Melbourne would be the cafes... breakfast at a retro cafe on Brunswick Street, or a lazy brunch at a cafe on Sydney Road a short walk from my flat, catching up with friends after work or after a long roller blade in a cool cafe in St Kilda...

There are a few nice cafes here in New Norflolk and around Hobart, but its always great to discover another.

A few weeks ago a new place opened near work. Its called Moto Vecchia and I thought it was going to be a motorcycle shop. 

I was half right.

Its a cafe in a big cement-floored room filled with old furniture that wouldn't be out of place at my grandmother's house, and old motorcycles which could have come from my grandfather's shed.

Natalina, the owner and chef, told me it was a tribute to her family and told me a bit about her grandparents who came to Australia as a young couple many years ago. It struck a cord with me, I remember the stories my parents would tell of their early days here. 

I also knew exactly how it felt to be the 'wog' kid in school, having a lunchbox full of home made bread, cheese, fresh tomato and boiled eggs for lunch while the aussie kids ate vegemite sandwiches. 

I still remember how embarrassed I'd be when mom would pull out her checkered tea towels and spread out our lunch in public: small fried meatballs, boiled eggs, olives, chopped up tomatoes and cheese, rolled vine leaves. All I wanted was to go buy a pie from the shop like everyone else. I didn't want to be stared at, I wanted to fit in.

Nowadays I'd kill for one of mom's lunches.

How the world has changed.

Anyway, if you're ever in Rosny, drop in and check it out. Its worth it.

This old motorbike is from the 1920s, sorry about the blurry photo.

This tiny children's bike hangs on a wall.

Its normal to have a motorbike next to your lounge suite.

z

dragonfly windchime & other shiny things

I haven't been doing much these last few weeks, but I 've been messing up the living room with my wiring and beading so I could knock up a few more wind chimes for the local shop I sell through.

I do enjoy making these things as I watch TV, sorting through my boxes and collections of odds and ends till I find something which inspires me, then putting bits together to form something pretty.

As you know, I love rusty things, old things, crystal beads and shiny wire. A few weeks ago I bought my first couple of spools of coloured wire and I'm loving them!

This little dragonfly is made of a mix of silver wire, gold wire and silver beads. It sits on what I believe is the cover from an old car light I found in a tip shop. It makes the best sound when the wind jingles the tea spoons.

 

This heart is made from an old coat hanger bound with red and white lace and embellished with an odd collection of keys, crystal beads and a tiny sugar spoon.

A silver napkin holder makes this very loud windchime for those who like more of a chime. It consists of a collection of spoons, forks, orange glass beads, a large clear crystal and a tiny star cookie cutter.

More chimes to share soon, though I should really be concentrating on finishing the house painting. But that's ok... I can wire and bead while I catch up on episodes of Dexter, The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, Supernatural, CSI, Bones and Downton Abbey.

I have ecclectic taste in TV series.

z