Peace from Fiona Dempster and Barry Smith

Fiona Dempster and Barry Smith send Peace into the world every year for the International Day of Peace
Their generosity of spirit inspires hope for our beautiful broken world
old and new weathergrams at the front door
and out the back
with deep gratitude
Peace & Love guide the way!

crook as Rookwood

Old Man Crow and I are both crook as Rookwood (a cemetery in Sydney)
these photos are of a magical gathering of crows at Waverley Cemetery  back in 2006
a fantastic view from the clifftops
love the way the crows seemed to pose just for us
totemic beings
x fingers we’ll start feeling better soon!
NB feeling crook is Aussie slang for feeling sick with a dreadful lurgy
& can also mean getting a scolding as in “my Mum went crook at me” which totally confounded me in a grammar test when I first went to school in Melbourne back in 1969 (nearly 50 years ago!)
the good news is the framer did a great job framing Beauty
for All is [not] Black & White at Artsite
but I was way too out of it at the opening on Sunday to get any decent photos
this beautiful thank you card and clay scrolls mounted on a piece of Silky Oak
just arrived in the mail from Fiona Dempster of Paper Ponderings
with such good timing my beautiful friend!

love, love, love… love is all we need by Fiona Dempster

love came today in a brown paper parcel from Fiona Dempster
Fiona and her partner Barry bring hope for peace and love in all their work
love is all we need
love revealed
Fiona’s own heartbeat script beautifully backstitched
from the other side
Fiona’s love meeting the gathering of dreams
you can see her accordion fold book “Peace Is Every Step” on the top shelf
Fiona has more words and photos for love over on her blog today
Hope Care and Kindness letterpress cards by Fiona
namaste
… As Carl Wilkens writes, “When we make something with our hands, it changes the way we feel, which changes the way we think, which changes the way we act.”
from ‘The Hour of Land’ by Terry Tempest Williams

there’s no place like home

the real estate agent is doing the half yearly house inspection this morning
we tidied up a bit so please come in and have a look around
Fiona Dempster’s Imagine Peace weathergram
afternoon sun in the lounge room
the crepe myrtle branch seasoning for the dream
studio space with xmas card in production
Honesty
the stairs with Mia Illuzia’s 7 hag stones and Barry Smith’s water buffalo horn talisman for peace and love
Old Man Crow working on a new song in his music room
afternoon sun through the wrought iron on the front verandah
the Jacaranda from two doors up purpling the view from the bedroom window with two species of Brugmansia, the garden has grown a lot in 9 years
Fiona’s Imagine Peace weathergram at the back door
Hoya flower
the Gardenias are flowering madly, the scent is divine
x fingers we’ll be here for a good while yet!

Wild Peace

Fiona Dempster sent three of her hand printed Imagine Peace weathergrams with such impeccable timing! One of our favourite gardening customers has been put through hell this year, the new upstairs neighbour has been so awful she decided to move, found a place just up the road, bought it & put her lovely home of 31 years up for auction on Saturday but in a strange twist of fate the awful neighbour bought it… way too hard a deal so we invited this brave woman and her gorgeous cat to stay at our place until the bathroom is renovated in the new place, we need to Imagine Peace!
and Deb Lacativa sent these two strands of her “dirty” thread! I have lusted after some of this magic thread all year since watching Hazel, Liz and Grace make such “wild peace” with it! look forward to having a go as soon as I finish Once in a Blue Moon
magic is afoot, love really is the answer

mending our beautiful broken world with Love and Peace

Liz Ackert sent a Peace Leaf made by Barry Smith wrapped in her hand dyed cochineal cloth along with peaceful words hand printed by Fiona Dempster, her finely stitched Take Heart safety pin and stitched my mending words into the blue for our beautiful broken world !

Sydney Contemporary Art Fair

Shona Wilson Offering represented by Arthouse Gallery
at the Sydney Contemporary Art Fair at Carriageworks
detail of Shona’s Offering
Joshua Yeldham represented by Arthouse Gallery
Joshua Yeldham detail
more detail
Juz Kitson Jan Murphy GalleryChris O’Doherty aka Reg Mombassa Twilight of the Patriarchal Gods VI Watters Gallery
Chris O’Doherty aka Reg Mombassa Twilight of the Patriarchal Gods VII Watters Gallery
visiting the show is an almost overwhelming experience with 90+ galleries representing 300+ artists so it was good to catch up with friends!Sue Anderson and Gwen Harrison Impediment Press the lovely Fiona Dempster with  Good to Print Studiowearing the new linen dress she made for the show!
I enjoyed Fiona’s gracious & informative presentation
she gave me this beautiful second from her print series after the talk, it was lovely to meet in real life!
here it is at home with her partner Barry’s Peace Leaf
they are making such good magic!