Mystery bug: craft and food remedies

I generally move about at 100 miles an hour moving from project to project, place to place.

You can imagine how unusual it was for me to sit still when I recently came down with a mystery bug that totally knocked my socks off!

All I could do was sit around and read all day. I devoured Rose Water and Soda Bread by Marsha Mehran in one sitting. It is a delightful read and is the sequel to Pomegranate Soup. Both are tales about 3 Iranian sisters who move to Ireland,  revolving around a story about cooking and healing with food, it also includes the recipes that are integral in the story.

Colcannon = yum!

Inspired by unusual and untried recipes I tried out an irish dish called Colcannon - which is a dish of delicious flavours inspired by mashed potatoes. Its definitely going to be on the menu this winter as it is easy to make. Another iranian dish, Gormeh Sabzi, a lamb and spinach stew also captured my imagination and sounded like a good recipe for the slow cooker (and it was). And finally over Easter I substituted hot cross buns for soda bread with currants (or sultanas). I used a recipe similar to this but without the egg.

Gormeh Sabzi is a great way to enjoy winter greens

With so much sitting still I also turned my hand to a spot of knitting. I recently was given a stash of odd balls of wool, and so I was looking for a project to use them up. I had already made a rug, and wanted to make something for others so I embarked on a pair of wrist warmers. 

easy to knit wrist warmers

Being a small project they were easy to knit up and quick to make - and especially fun to make using bright and unusual colour combinations.

I am enjoying making them, and it is especially nice to share the love and give them to others as gifts.

x

Anish Kapoor at the MCA

If you get a chance, go and experience the Anish Kapoor exhibition at the MCA in Sydney. It has been described as 'a ground-breaking exhibition that challenges, intrigues and excites’ by art almanac.

It is one of those exhibitions where the images simply dont do the work justice. 

Large scale works play with light and illusion.

And because touching is forbidden many of the sculptures are puzzling and intriguing - they play tricks with the mind.

I just love the large corton steel sculpture called Memory, above. You can view it from the outside, and in another room you can look into it - from what first appears to be a large black square painted onto the wall - it is actually a void into the Memory sculpture. Amazing!

Many of the works are reflective and encourage the viewer to interact with them.

The exhibition is on until 1 April 2013.

As seen in House & Garden

Late last year I was invited to include my wares in a photo shoot for House & Garden. So I obligingly sent them some of my current works including tea towels, ceramics and constructed textile pieces. 

I have been hanging around news agents and surreptitiously flicking through magazines waiting in anticipation for this issue to appear on the shelves.

My carved ceramic cup is on the right hand side behind the lemon juicer.

To my delight they included my work on two pages: my ceramics (above) and almost an entire page to my constructed textiles (below).  Click on the images for a larger version of the image.

The results were fantastic and I am very flattered to have my work photographed alongside other artists who I greatly admire.

A big thank you to everyone who was involved in the photoshoot.

Hill End Residency

Its official! I have been selected to be an artist in residence as part of the Hill End program -  Im so excited as its considered to be one of the best residencies in Australia (according to Artshub).

image courtesy of theage.com.au

Its such an interesting looking place full of beautifully preserved buildings left from an 1800's gold rush in the area, when a 286kg nugget of gold was found.

image courtesy of simonbeedle.com

I will be following in the footsteps of some of Australia's great artists. In the late 1940's Donald Friend and Russel Drysdale discovered the town and Donald Friend became so enamoured with the area that he ended up living here for a number of years. During this time he was visited by other great artists such as Margaret Olley, Jeffrey Smart, Jean Bellette and Paul Haefliger. Later the region inspired Brett Whitely, John Olsen and a number of my contemporaries. 

Russell Drysdale, Hill End, 1948
Image courtesy of www.geelonggallery.com.au 

Artists Jean Bellette and Paul Haefliger also lived in the area. It is filled with relics from their time ( they moved to live overseas with the intention of returning regularly to the cottage, as a result it remains largely unaltered with works of art, books and furnishings that echo their presence.)

Image courtesy www.hillendart.com.au

image courtesy www.homelife.com.au 

Im looking forward to continuing my investigation of early Australian pioneering times whilst at Hill End.

Behind the Scenes: I heart Canberra tea towels

A behind the scenes look at my tea towel design for the Centenary of Canberra being printed by Copperhead Printers.

Amazing machinery, lovely people and very cool that they listen to my favourite station: Triple J

Images of the printed tea towels can be found here

x

In the studio - creativity and chaos

I always find it interesting to see inside other people's studios - its a fantastic mix of creativity and chaos...

a much loved sewing machine borrowed from Mum. Its about as old as I am.

 So I thought I would invite you into my studio

I just love all the colours of these spools of thread

This is where the messy stuff happens 

An attempt to throw a very tall vessel

Hello Beautiful

Hello beautiful!

Thats what I say every time I see Melbourne.

The streets of Melbourne

Everything is done so stylishly and effortlessly, from the graffiti in Hosier Lane in the CBD, woven wicker sculpture in Federation Square by Patrick Dougherty and a spot of tasteful yarn bombing just up the road, a project that was supported by the City Council.

Graffiti in Hosier Lane in the CBD

Wicker work in Federation Sqaure

Views of the City from inside the sculpture

Yarn bombing

And talking of tasteful, we indulged in a delicious slice of Chocolate Fig tart from the charming 19th Century Hopetoun Tea Rooms -  a real treat and a must if you are in the area. 

Chocolate Fig Tart

We spied some beautifully presented macaroons ...

Macaroons

and found some non homogenised milk by Jonesy's Dairy Fresh - and enjoyed scooping the cream floating in the top of the carton. Yum! Decadent top quality milk at regular prices (only $4 for 2 litres. I refuse to buy the cheap milk from Coles or Woolies)

Jonesy's non homogenised milk

By this stage we were travelling through the countryside and found a charming some charming scenes

and a fabulous shop that sold local produce and delicious home made cakes, including an intriguing Persian cake that was flavoured with cardamom. Unfortunately I was too full from lunch to indulge, but Ive found a similar recipe here.

Inside Cliffy's Emporium

Love letter from the resident jam maker - cute!

 And to top it off a National Trust plaque that reads:

"On this spot on the first day of March 1755 nothing much happened. It was a very, very peaceful day".