Hurrah! I've officially been in Melbourne for a year!!

(photo by Michael Pham)

I hope you don't mind that I'm posting this Luci but this just has to be the worst idea I've ever had for a photo! 'Put your head down in the folage (deliberately mis-pronounced) and look up at me' actually pushing her head down and turning it for her - never again!

This one's a bit better but not by much..

And I really like this one.

All taken at Open House yesterday, which was the most educational experience I've had in while!

Tourist Destination - my Bedroom

crocheted blanket

Top left (clockwise) Sarah McNeill, Luci Everett (carbs) Dawn Tan, Luci Everett (arresting)

Teddy Bears Picnic and 'real Hawaiian flowers made by a special process into objects of art'

What Luci described as the wardrobe of an old lady (I do have a lot of florals)

Fireplace/Storage space/Bookshelf

My friend Michael Pham took these pics last night, something I've been wanting to do for a while but have never quite got round to.. thanks man!! My fave is definitely of my blanket, crocheted by my grandma with my name conscientiously sewn on by my mother, undoubtedly to ward off blanket thieves at school camps or something! 

I've booked my first ever solo show! Hoorah!

It's to be at Hand Held Gallery in the delightfully dated Paramount Arcade, the red sign in this image is the entrance. It's a cosy space which is perfect for the hair cross-stitches I'm showing. Now to get to work!

The lovely (and very talented) Abby Storey is awesome enough to have her exhibition Touchstones on at Platform, down in the Degraves Subway at the moment. I finally got to go and see it today after missing the opening, they are such beautiful images.

I was a different type of productive this evening, I gave my room a much needed tidying and sorting. Which included making better use of my mantelpiece than as a place to pile crap. It involved combining three of my favourite things - a hyperbolic crocheted scarf (not made by me as all attempts to learn remain useless) two bears and one pig, all knitted by my prolific, dear, sadly deceased Grandma and of course, the fairy lights that have always had their home there.

Just wanted to share.

Right now I'm excited about three things.. (from left to right)

a) The exhibition I'm in at the end of this year, curated by the lovely Kim Brockett, that I really need to start working on as I'm knitting LARGE scale cakes and such.

b) Watching Milo and Otis, which has to be one of the greatest animal movies ever, bought on VHS yesterday, that I will watch on the video player Frank got off the side of the road. Awesome!

c) This one's in two parts:

i) I actually found a place that stocks this magazine here, and it's mere metres down the road from me!

ii) Getting to read the latest issue of my favourite NZ magazine, in which, of course, being from NZ and Auckland in particular, I know at least 3 of the people whose faces and talents feature.

Wow. I fell in love with this jewellery this afternoon. 

Something I've started working on.. I'm really enjoying doing more intricate work, I just need to get better at it! 

These illustrations of my chucks are from my 2001 sketch book, received in the mail along with my craft book, there's some pretty good stuff in there when you take into consideration that I've always been a pretty useless draw-er.

I really hate the moments when I realise how little technical knowledge I have after my three years at art school! 

However, after figuring things out for myself and battling my camera which I don't think picks up reds too well, here are my new product shots, featuring, as of 5 minutes ago, on my online store.. so you, whoever you may be, can pick your own fruit bowl at leisure and send your money my way, in exchange for what I guarantee will be a lot of happiness.

Luci and I are curating a show. A show of teenage art. As in art made while we and our friends were teenagers! I got my first feel of cringe-worthy oh-my-goodness this afternoon when I received in the mail the sketch book of drawings and 'craft book' I instructed my mum to post me. This craft book is seriously embarrassing, I thought I'd share 2 of the ridiculous pages. 

It's slightly unfortunate that I actually made this outside of the age bracket (as in lower, I was 12) we've set, although at the same time, it is just so humiliating I don't know that I want to stretch the rules.. but then that's one of the points of the show.. I'm in a bit of a pickle!

This is a small piece I completed this afternoon, it's hair cross-stitch on a piece of old couch cover.. it is harder than I expected to keep to a straight line, I've never cross-stitched on anything other than the traditional gridded material. Hopefully it's semi-obvious that it's a heart! Because the material is so thick and almost velvety, the cross-stitch, especially with such thin strands, has ended up resembling a stain of some sort, which I kind of like.

I'm going to be doing some trial pieces over the next week with a large scale hair cross-stitch in mind, or a few small scale ones on different materials. Fun!

My little lemons are quite happy in their new home.

A small change to my route home this evening led me to a tree that had strung into it's branches quite an extensive toy collection. There was a note taped to the tree. Once my computer lets me download the image I can make a more informed comment on what it was about but until then I'll make do with what I overheard a father telling his two children (sitting behind him on an awesome tri-dem, or whatever 3 bikes in one are called!) - that it is telling us to treat the world better. Fair enough.