Equinox the balancing point

Susan Kapuscinski Gaylord sent this beautiful photgraph of her Peace Leaf out into the world to celebrate the Autumn Equinox in the north countries as spring has sprung here in the Land Down Under

Laurie Anderson’s second Norton Lecture – The Forest was available for 24 hours, I watched it three times… will post a link to part 3 of her Norton lectures next week
over and over “I find myself lost”….

just picked up my new eye glasses yesterday! Waited a year after the cataract surgery to let my eyes settle before seeing the optometrist, he said my distance vision is 110% better and wow these new transition lenses for reading and the computer are brilliant, so comfortable & stitching is a dream!
PS a bit shocked by the latest wrinkles but at least they’re honest…

Peace offerings from Barry and Fiona

Fiona and Barry of Deckled Edge Press sent out their beautiful peace offerings for this International Day of Peace

This year’s Peace is a Journey weathergram hanging out with the rest of the gang at the front door

it’s very windy this afternoon so it was a bit tricky to get all the weathergrams facing the right way!

and here’s the Peace button (I must do some dusting!)

we had a picnic with our friends Richard & Marika for the first time since the Covid variant D lockdown started 3 months ago here in Sydney, it was so good to catch up with friends again!
Richard took this magic photo of the Full Moon last night!

how to make a plant burrito

the vertical garden in this courtyard needed new plants for spring and has lost a lot of the original potting mix over the years. I have some vintage stockings from the 60’s and they make the perfect plant burritos!

the old nylon is so fine yet strong, it will last for quite some time!

filling the knotted stocking with a bit of potting mix and a viola

easing the plant burrito into place

it works, will add more plants along the top next month now that I know how to to it!

a red Belgian hybrid Clivea

Neomarica aka Brazilian Walking Iris

the deconstructed kid gloves are becoming a new pair with thoughts of Honesty being fragile and in need of being handled with care

throwing down the gauntlet!

Back in 2019 Beth Brennan of Still Life Pond who made the beautiful Tree of Life pennant for I Dream of a World Where Love is the Answer sent me her mother’s exquisitely fine leather gloves with this note. In our e-mail conversation she added, “Ah good! I felt like Cinderella’s stepsister trying to put them on. My mother was impossibly tiny and had elegant taste. I don’t know how much they were worn—not much by the look of them! She was married to my dad in 1940, so they probably date from the late 1930s. You were my first thought for repurposing and I knew you would appreciate the fineness of the leather. But I also absolve you from doing anything at all with them. Set them free if you need to when the time comes.”
The time has come to throw down the gauntlet!

whilst carefully dissecting the seams on the very fine leather I dreamed of merging the two pairs into one pair of starry gloves with contrasting stars as a follow on to Reaching for the Stars

love how the fourchettes with quirks look like birds!

as I explored all the seams and felt the different textures in the leathers I realized these gloves have their own ideas about what each pair wants to be next!

the gloves need to be longer between the thumb hole and fingers for the bigger hands of today & in the width so I cut a 1/2 inch strip from the bottom edge to insert across the knuckles and cut the foredge to increase all the edges with hand stitched button hole lace. I was going to use white silk but have some vintage Silkworm thread that works much better.

last night as I was trembling on the edge of making the first cut, I spoke to my wild artist friend Dotti & she helped me see how I needed to throw all caution to the wind & jump into the stitching so at midnight I did just that! The other challenge was Artsite advising to not share work in process for the Collector’s Choice xmas show on social media this year. I bristled at first, then settled my hackles back down after talking to the director who recognizes this blog as an important part of my process especially with this l-o-n-g Covid lockdown (ongoing here in Sydney since June 26th) I need to communicate what’s going on & with just reading Jude Hill’s latest post and seeing her pocket collaboration revealed I love the magic that happens when minds meet through the ether!

some Cream coloured Cliveas
our gardens are looking spectacular this spring!

A Heart from Barry Smith and Fiona Dempster of Deckled Edge Press

this beautiful heart just arrived in the post from Barry Smith and Fiona Dempster of Deckled Edge Press!
Fiona has recently revamped their three websites with her trademark elegance and their shops work perfectly!
Deckled Edge Press Shop
Barry Smith Art Shop
Fiona Dempster Shop

a heart to hold onto in my hand

New Moon in watery Cancer

Cancer © Mo Orkiszewski 1999 from the Celestial Times Zodiac Series

as the moon moved into the watery sign of Cancer the River of Moons (go with the flow) was looking dead in the water, simultaneously Jude posted about reconsidering her ideas which made me look again at having a loose starry fringe along the top edge of the river and am busily stitching the stars down, they are working much better!
I want to have this finished by August 7th in memory of my best friend Julie.

the gardener’s perquisite

• 

Old Man Crow is back on deck with this photo of a Cymbidium orchid in full flight at one of our gardening jobs this morning!

Old Man Crow getting out and about!

Rod enjoying his first excursion up to King St on Thursday, he’s healing so quickly!

River of Moons and Old Man Crow are works in progress

The River of Moons is moving along with more stars and backing with more velvet

a balancing act dancing one step forward two steps back

more parchment stars !

Rod got out of hospital on Wednesday afternoon, the partial knee replacement went very well. He has been able to walk up and down all the stairs here from the minute he got home with the help of a walking stick and can even walk across the room without it already. He is pain free for the first time in years!
Getting to the pub is still a way off so I bought him a 6 pack of beer to enjoy on the upstairs verandah when the sun goes over the yardarm.
Magic Days!
thanks to everyone for all the good vibes!

one day to go!

This fabulous roadrunner is from Marti in New Mexico along with these good wishes for Rod’s knee surgery tomorrow!

Dear Rod,

Sending you an early birthday greeting as well as best wishes for a successful knee surgery. Here in New Mexico, it is June 1st and before you know it, June 7th will roll around. Getting a new knee for your birthday is one fine gift and we wish you all the best as you go forth, getting stronger each day.
Wanted to send you a smile with the accompanying photos.  Without further ado, let us present to you our favorite Road Runner, the state bird of New Mexico.  Spotted this bird on a trip down south to Las Cruces, New Mexico.  Now we know that road runners are fast birds, sometimes clocking over 20mph but who knew they could grow so huge…this particular bird is 20ft tall and 40 ft wide…!  Made up of recycled bits and bobs, old shoes, pieces of metal, batteries, etc. and was made by artist Olin Calk. 

Here’s to rocking around again, with Mo at your side, here’s to strumming your guitar, strutting around just like the road runner, singing your wonderful bluesy songs, celebrating your birthday and your new knee.  

Happy Birthday, Marti and Rich

love the crutches in the wing and these sneaker feathers!

&

“Rodzilla is coming to kick arse with his New Bionic Knee!”
by Richard Whitfield June 2021
x fingers the surgery goes well tomorrow!