It's Spring!

Winter is something of a time of torpor for me.......I tend to stay close to the fire and be a bit inward looking. Which might go some way to explaining why I haven't posted here since April! It's not as if we even get particularly severe winters here - in Tasmania, the coldest state in Australia. Our winters are mild by North American or European standards. No snow to speak of, a few frosts, some rain but also lots of sunny days, but still I like to huddle up inside in winter.

Spring has arrived quickly and greenly this year - things are burgeoning in the garden and I feel more inclined to look outwards. Longer days, warm sunshine and life feels good.

But my winter days by the fire do produce a fair bit of artwork, so here is a sampling from the last few months.

A sweet red-haired girl in a smocked dress and winter woollies:

 

An Izannah Walker-style doll in clothing trimmed with feather stitch and crochet:

 

"Sparrow":

 

"Mouse"

 

                                                                     
                                                     "Juno":

And a doll made to Deanna Hogan's "Verity" pattern. I called her "Patience" because she waited ten years to be made! I also made her a little wooden chair to be patient on.

 And that was about it for winter projects, apart from a few more jobs around the house which you can read about on my home reno blog at http://www.fourteenstepstothebluedoor.blogspot.com.au  

I've started working on some new things now and I promise to blog about them very soon! 

Early Spring

It's early Spring here.......another birthday come and gone and the late-winter-into-Spring weather has been magnificent this year! Loads of sunshine and magnificent wattle blossom.

The weather has been great for walking and one place close by that I love to visit, is Notley Gorge. This is a remnant of the rainforest that would once have been common in the gullies of the West Tamar - unfortunately not too much of it is left after clearing for agriculture and timber cutting. This is only a short walk, but it takes you down into a gully with manferns, mosses, lichens, fungi and very tall trees and there is a creek at the bottom. It is simply a beautiful place and I'm glad it is there.

The low mood I posted about last time has all but lifted and I'm looking forward to a busy and productive Spring and Summer......Bring it on!

Oh yes.........and the swallows are back!

The Dark Place

I have been struggling a bit just lately......finding myself in that dark place where you just feel like curling up and forgetting the world. Motivation can be hard to find in that place. The only good thing about it is that it passes - you just have to ride it out. I feel it passing now, just as I feel an early Spring coming on. So different from August last year with endless weeks of wet, wet, wet!

I'm managing to stay focused enough to work on projects......just not as much as I probably should, because I always feel better for it. This is "Luna" - a cloth doll with painted, applied lace textures on the head and bodice. She has a lightly stained silk and cotton layered skirt. I really like these colours - a greenish blue with pale ochre and ivory. Subtle complementaries.

I'm also working on a large ferro-cement piece for the West Tamar Sculpture Prize - needs to be completed by the end of September. To be installed at Goaty Hill Vineyard for Artentwine in October. No pictures - keeping it under wraps!

My grand-daughter Leila has just turned 18 - so among the many celebrations she had, we held a family afternoon tea (but with champagne!) Here's a collage;

It's Here!...........It's Here! And An Exciting Announcement...........

After a month of almost incessant rain, which broke all August records, Spring was heralded by a number of warm, sunny days. Right on the dot. The swallows are back, having arrived about a week earlier than usual and you can almost hear things growing (especially the weeds!). So I have been very busy in the garden planting vegetables and getting things under control. Mulch is my friend!

I had a birthday last week.........and look what my sister Linda made for me:

Isn't he the best?

He's all of about four inches high, seated. You can check out more of her work on her blog: http://bensonbears.blogspot.com 

This is a new doll I am working on - she's going to be finished in a very monochromy kind of way - like an old sepia photograph. I'm going to use the piece of fine old Irish crochet in her clothing somehow.

And I've been working very hard to get my studio re-configured to include a small gallery area, because I am one of ten artists on the West Tamar who will be opening their studios/galleries to the public this summer as part of the Tamar Valley Art Trail. (Check out the FB page: http://facebook.com/tamarvalleyarttrail ) The official launch will be in December, but I think most of the spaces will be open before that.  I am planning to be a "working studio" - people can come and see me work, but I will also have a number of my works on display: sculpture, dolls, paintings and drawings. I will also be displaying a selection of Bob's wonderful landscape photographs. I'm excited! I'll post some pictures as soon as I get it all done.

The Little Acorn Child......

......is done!

We're into the last few weeks of winter now, with the promise of Spring all around - warmer days, wind, sun, blossoms. It feels great to be alive!

Here's another doll I'm working on:

And look! The other day my husband came home from a little shopping trip with a guilty look on his face, saying, "I did something very bad". Bad, bad Bob! Look at the size of that baby! This is what happens when children who had chocolate-deprived childhoods grow up!

It's Here! It's Here!

After a week of flooding rains, sodden ground and grey, drippy days, the sun has come out and it is actually WARM! The swallows are back (about two weeks earlier than usual) to check out their real estate under the studio eaves and to begin the necessary renovations and sweet things are popping up everywhere in the garden. After a fairly traditionally cold, wet winter, it is lovely to finally feel a bit of Spring in the air.

Do you remember me posting about our glasshouse that got completely destroyed by violent winds a few months ago? Well, here is the magnificent replacement that Bob (with a little help from Y.T.) has built to replace it. It's about four times bigger, so we'll be able to grow heaps more in it, and being a poly-tunnel, it should be flexible enough to withstand big winds.

"I built this!"

The "Sukeshi" dolls are in my Etsy store now and I'm working on a little "Zozie" doll like this one, which Tanya chose as her prize in my recent giveaway.

A Quiet Corner

Here is a quiet little corner of my dining room - beautiful Spring flowers!

And the next little head taken from the silicone mould I made last week - interesting how different it looks from the first one I made from the mould.