silk silk silk!!!

so excited to be about to try my first silk painting experience.
I have a 28cm square to play with, and have heaps of gutta to make it look fantastic and it will be painted in dye.
The finished piece will be to wrap around my new tarot cards I bought a while ago to protect them from attack and spiritis. They are most beautiful and feminine, Goddess Tarot, all women bar the Kings and Prices, even the major arcana like the Magician is Isis, ingenious really.

Pride finished

about time too, took forever and quite a few many hours as it was fiddly to paint. I had to just accept that there isn't much more I can do to it on the tee, would be great as a canvas painting. May do one as I love peacocks and have some great photos from pet ones of friends in India when we visited last year. Would be great with some vibrant, impressionistic background.
Here is the finished tee - hand painted in acrylic paints.

today's dyeing

some pics from today's dyeing. I spent from 9:30 - 12:30 dyeing without a break, really feels like work that way. I still have some dip dye items in buckets, dyeing three colours onto a shirt can take hours (min 20 mins dye, min 15 mins soda ash each colour). I usually stretch it out so the colours are perfect, it isn't easy to touch up colours once they have been dipped, better to have them right first time.

The yellow/green tee will be a hand painted pic, something I have wanted to paint for a long time and in a style I have been planning for. There will be more in this series.
The other bucket included a custom tee, very girly colours and a bag.

This is an experiment with a new dyeing method. If it turns out like it should, it will be fabulous. Very time consuming for each items though, not like just throwing it in a bucket and walking away.

All done, near empty dye bottles and a full bucket of garments curing. They could be left for 4 hours, but I prefer 24 hours. I'll rinse them tomorrow.

fine things

I'm coming to a point in my life where I will not have study commitments so I can return to fine art. The snippets (only small grabs) of painting shown above are a series I call A Love Story. There is a third and yet unstarted painted to complete the series. It will be primarily green, and although I have always had an idea of what the composition will entail, I'm not sure if it is the correct ending to the tale. I painted this back in 2002 or 2003 long before Z and haven't had time until soon to start the last one.

This woman's torso was started last year but has only had two sessions. The background colours are almost complete, now to add the foreground and detail.

dyeing day

white - so stark, sterile and clinical, I'm not a fan! Can't wait to dye these tomorrow. The ones banded up and for direct application method and I have another lot for immersion dyeing.
I'm also not a huge fan of wax resist but wanted to give it a try again.

Finally Pride

I have tried to finish this so many times but never found the time, but finally time has given way to art. I am including an aqua pair of huggalugs with the tee for winter weather. Huggalugs are Australian made, organic cotton arm and leg warmers.
Auction will start on Friday @ Ozebaby.

Peace Convergence

it's that time again when the big boys want to play with their toys and play battleships and war games. It's a two player game - Mr Howard and Mr Bush, and each player has their own army, navy and airforce. Mr Bush has a large army - the numbers will build to 20,000 US troops by June 18.

And the area for these games, our backyard!!! World Heritage listed Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and also natural heritage listed sites which include indigenous sites and Ramsar wetlands.

"Operation Talisman Sabre is scheduled to taking place over a six week period from the end of May to 2 July 2007. According to the Public Environment Report released October 2006 it will involve approximately 13,700 US personnel and 12,400 Australian personnel.

The establishment of three Australia-US joint 'training facilities' (Bradshaw, NT, Delemere Range, NT and Shoalwater Bay, QLD) and increased joint training send out a clear message of antagonistic military mite. Australia is falling in with the new US military strategies to develop lilly pads for its troops around the wrold setting itself up to be the launch pad for a US lead 'perpetual war'.

Talisman Sabre will involve US nuclear-powered vessels. All US "attack class" submarines are nuclear powered. The US fleet may also be carrying nuclear weapons, as well as depleted uranium munitions. The US has a 'NCND' policy regarding nuclear weapons - that is to 'Neither Confirm Nor Deny'. The Australian people are not allowed to know what weapons are in Australian waters."

For those in Brisbane, there is a peace rally Saturday 16 June 10:30am for an 11:30 start from St Mary's Church, Merivale Street West End.
For those without family commitment or job commitments, there is an organised Peace Convergence - a nonviolent gathering in the Shoalwater region on 18 to 24 June 2007.
A bus is leaving from Brisbane on Friday the 22nd of June.

For more information of the convergence or to become involved - visit Peace Convergence

new threads for Z

funky and fresh threads for my little lad. The tee has the funkiest patch sewn on that I bought a while back but couldn't be bothered to sew. I love the naughty little goblin. The path is machine embroidered and sold by local doofers (ravers). They sell all types of trippy mushroom goblins and elves.

The pants are my own pattern made to fit Z's measurements. They still need elastic. The stripes are nice and fluffy and warm, the most amazing fabric but a PITA to sew. The optical illusion fabric speaks for itself.

sewing space

to my surprise I was in a sewing head space last night. I have a pile of fabric here to sew into funky threads for Z but haven't had the time or motivation. My machines have been a little neglected, but they performed as good as ever. I am really getting overlocking down too, just a bit more practice on corners and I will be expert at it. Here is my sewing set up at home. I have no dedicated space for art/craft, so I use the dining table.

art the Z way

yet another fab piece from Z. His daycare was going to throw it out but I managed to nab it to put on the wall of his room. It is about 1m by 1.3ms, so quite large, they actually traced around him.

fancy liners

I love Nice Knicker's liners, they are my favourite by size, shape and prints. Here are some more to my growing collection. What i especially love about them is they have colours on both sides, not just a hemp or white (which stains quickly). My favourite (not pictured) has bright elephants on a black background on the inside and a cotton batik type print of the other than resembles elephant skin, very cool. I am collecting a mixture of colours and patterns at the moment and I believe wearing different colours near the base chakra affects one's mood, so I need differetn patterns and colours for different occasions LOL. Yet another reason why I like pads/liners coloured on both side and especially the side against your skin. Can't wait to see what mood will be induced by the ice-creams LOL!

somewhat of a start

on the first official day after my prac I have manged to make an effort to get back to my business. I didn't do any dyeing today, it was much too cold, but I did start to update my art folio with pics and details of some of my favourite pieces so far. In doing this, I came to the realisation that since I started my small clothing business venture June last year, I have dyed/painted/stenciled nearly 300 pieces!!! That's a hell of an effort considering I study and am a full time sole parent. I feel quite in awe of my achievement.
My folio is looking really good. Hardest part is to decide what is worthy of inclusion as I am not going to add every piece to it. About half of my hand painted stuff has made it in and now I might make a few pages of dyed stuff. I had heaps of fun as desktop publishing, especially typesetting is an old love of mine.

Getting back on track

I have had a long break from doing business stuff and I am ready to start creating again. Next week I have only one day of field experience and then a long holiday until later in the year.
I have some great new ideas and hope everyone likes them. I am also getting into my sewing and have a few mumma things to sell.
My zencart store is working again. Watch out for fabulous colours and prints, and painting for the more pagan among us. Then again, I have a few of my favourite themes to come.

oh bloody hell

you know it's time to make art when on a fun quiz you come up a mixture of Mistress Slutty and Dr No-Backbone LOL. I promise no more crappy quizzes for a while.

the dark side

so my astrology must be right. I have a lethal Mars and Venus combo, from the book "mind that can produce war strategies, business strategies or FBI/CIA-type work". Well I have always though about being a spy LOL and have nearly applied for the ASIS and ASIO many a time but never sent in the application.
In Harry Potter land, I am dancing just over the line of the dark side, only just though!

Your in-depth results are:

Slytherin - 12
Ravenclaw - 11
Gryffindor - 9
Hufflepuff - 8

I do have a tinge of naughtiness in me, but I have always known that from way back when I used to do ceremonial magic in playgrounds late at night as a teenager LOL.
As in Star Wars, without the darkside, the light can not shine. I am the type of person that makes the moralists look like angles with sun shining out of their ass, but as a great Hindu teacher says, "it is often the demons who are moral". I say let them be moral, I hate PC (political correctness and moralism). PC + KC = BS.

store Meez

this one is for use in my Zencart store

repairing and refreshing

I am currently in the process of repairing and rejuvenating my Zencart store after many haywire happenings to do with my host. All issues are resolved but I am taking this opportunity to make it a little easier to navigate. I am also brainstorming new lines for my store as dyeing has become a bit trying to do all the time. Items incorporating sewing is all I can say right now.

when you're left, you're left

I hear so often about people who 'once were' green, left, alternative, political, activist, feminist and the list goes on. But I actually question this because I believe once you are left, you are! you don't go back because you have a family, or because you finish uni, or because some type of ching ching $$$ economic rationalism takes hold of you.
If you have read this far and don't like what I am saying move, and probably best not to visit my blog again because I think mainstream greed is destroying the people of the world.
The trees I love and the animals, but actually it is people who have the potential to dive deep into what is reality, what is it that ties us all together but also leave us different - achintya bheda bheda tattva.
But people are so quick to jump on the underdog, put the boot in when they are down because the mainstream actually want to live in a 1984 (George Orwell) world, told how to feel, act, sleep, eat, work. But what about the people who just don't fit the mold? What happens to them?
I am teaching at a school full of mainstreamers. I have never been surrounded with so many mainstream personalities in my life and I see them everyday breaking down children who show emotion, expression and independence. It is hurting my heart and makes me feel like screaming!!! These children need to know that they are special because we are all special. They need to know that the way they dress, talk, write, read is not the real them, the real them is what they express, but it is unwelcome. No wonder there is such a high youth suicide rate, hardly anyone wants to listen to youth to hear them express themselves.

that's it for now, but I have more to rant as it is an issue close to my heart... more later...