Ikebana - Day 1

Ikebana (生け花, "living flowers") is the Japanese art of flower arrangement. Always had a thing for this. I guess its due to the design elements.  Long way to go with this and next year I am going to enroll in a course with a Japanese lady and graduate with a black belt Ikebanahood.  I'm going all delicate... be scared, be very scared.

Special Aunt

Would love to recieve a card like this. Tickles my fancy!!!!

Jessica Jean Eddy

I love this girl. Jessys birthday is today. I wanted to make some art for her but nothing would come so I decided to do a portrait of her.  I really hope she likes it.  Its always a risk capturing someones image. It takes courage to be an artist.  Part of honoring my art is to make presents using my art. Bloody scary stuff. On the upside I got a lot of cleaning done before I could attempt it............

26 Year Old Neice

Gezz, that time went fast. For a girl who has everything, its hard to work out what to do for birthdays.  So I attempted this portrait of her and was quite pleased with the result. there are some similarities there and its kind of dreamy. Attached it to a card and sent it off.  Hope she likes it.

Ive been on a quick holiday to Victoria visiting freinds and relations. Very satisfying trip which requires a follow up post later.

DV

My Niece In Law sent me this picture of Simmone and Mark in Perth today. Mark probably hasn't heard of the term "don't raise a hand to the hand that feeds you" which mum always said after she told me "your too lippy my girl".

Knight Of The Highest Order.

Here is Dad in an Adelaide pub with his school teacher Wilf Stiller who taught him in Katherine. He was an outstanding teacher from all accounts, but couldn't quite impart Latin on a boy who was destined to be a brilliant motor mechanic and boiler maker. I love it that Dad takes the time to catch up with him when ever they can. Little Gentlemen..... 

Mental Health Week

Today at work they asked for people to design a little something for Mental Health Week. This is what I came up with.

On the sea of life things come at you from all angles so aim for something while balancing and holding on to something that will soften the edges.

Turkeys

About 13 years ago Hansy Croft (nephew) went up to Darwin for a weekend. My birthday was coming up and we got this little gamin bird and planned to show Hansys mum my new bird when we arrived back in Katherine. When I got out of the car to drop him off, I held the bird with just the head poping out of my hand and said "look at what Hansy brought me for my birthday" the look on my sisters face was priceless....sorta like "your joking crossed with "WANKA"! Too funny, she knows me well - that I don't like caging birds.  Anyway this little bloke is still going strong and sits on my balcony rail to stooge the cats of the neighborhood. Which tickles my fancy.

Gladdy and Gwenny

Sunday fun in a photo booth with Toni Tapp Coutts who has come to spend 4 nights with frolic amongst tulips, art, good tucker and to talk like Katherine girls do. Amazing how we hit it off and lift each other up. Known each other for 50 odd years but never really talked before. Toni is recovering from breast cancer after all her treatments and has short hair which I think really suits her. Can you see the comb over on the top right. We were in that booth and laughing and playing and when we come out the ladies behind the counter were talking about us smiling and I guess wondering..... Gezz it was fun.

During this weekend we have taken on our grandmothers names and personas. They were best friends. So from now on we will call each other Gladdy and Gwenny. I think they might have had something to do with all this. Hearing words I havent heard for a very long time "look now" "which one did this? Come on you mob, cant be no one!"

Clouds

This guy at work is a surfer and he has been asking me go surfing with him for a long time now.  Of all the things in the world. I think surfing would be the most poetic. Hes a dreamy kind of guy who loves cloud spotting, fossils and surfing. We became friends at the gym at work when I yarn-bombed the weight set.  So today I sent him a copy of my latest yarn-bomb and we started talking online about our most beautiful days. His was walking in the sun. His take on the sun is that it is more beautiful than the moon but because the sun is not allowed to be looked at but for a very few seconds we have to admire the moon for beauty. My beautiful day is when the sun and the moon are up together and perhaps a rainbow appearing. My take on the moon is that its more beautiful because it has an effect on every living thing on a monthly cycle but most of us don't know that. He said most men don't know this and its only because he surfs that he knows the cycles. I had never really thought about it being a bloke thing but there you go. After that conversation I was more focused on the clouds that usual and was rewarded with this beauty. Never seen one like this before.