to write and draw

finally the first reveal of some new non-clay products . . .
these pencils have been a long time coming
something i've wanted to do for a long long time (years really)

to make our mark, to draw
to doodle, to make lists . . .

to write : poems, books,
messages, music . . .
love letters . . .
(whatever really)

and although everything is getting more computer-focused it seems
the rawness and realness of a mark on paper
still draws me in . . . i will always use a pencil

and so i've got these FSC timber pencils
printed ( here in australia )
not only with some of my favourite quotes
but quotes that i also felt appropriate in
why or how to make a mark :

honesty . . . giving . . . children . . . heart

i will list some of the stores (here) that will stock them next week

soon they will also be online at biome
( and also in my online store when that goes live )

they come with four different quotes :

be silly, be honest, be kind - emerson
the love we give away is the only love we keep - elbert hubbard
it takes a village to raise a child - african proverb
fill your paper with the breathings of your heart - wordsworth

i hope you like them
and they inspire the breathings of your heart
to live on a page

i am off to write a letter now
x

pencils . . .

some new work is soon to be revealed . . .
and sometime soon (within the next few months hopefully)
i will have my online store
up and running . . .

to get the store going
i'm having to get used to the computer
being a bigger part of my work life
(which is challenging)

but . . . all the while i still have the raw, real,
and immediateness
of pencils on hand . . .

& in more ways than one (hint hint)

today

a thousand years, you said,
as our hearts melted.
i look at the hand you held,
and the ache is hard to bear.

- Lady Heguri -

translated from the Japanese by Geoffrey Bownas & Anthony Thwaite

new work

these little desk or table or bookshelf plaques
are ready to be released to my stockists . . .

they are one of the first in a growing line of new designs
i'm releasing this year . . .

there are 6 quotes so far in the range
with the one above being my favourite
followed closely by THIS one . . .

more new work, and of the non-clay variety soon

poems within poems

in these bisque pots just out of the kiln

i have been playing with some new ideas
finding poems within poems
and sometimes just highlighting single words . . .

so, not just using the size of type but colour too,
to tell the story . . .

and blue is the colour of choice -
the melancholy colour that seeps out of my heart . . .

what's in a name ?

the print press in this country has been so generous
to my art and my business.
the latest is a little mention in the valentines day gift spread
in the virgin blue in flight mag

it's always nice to see how your work is styled
and what other work shares the page.
this time on the facing page is work
by two potters whose work i so admire:
Kirsten Coelho and Patsy Hely
and then sharing the page a piece by Bridget Bodenham
(i have a piece very similar of hers in my collection, love it)

the only problem was there was a typo,
and these are forgiven of course . . .
they listed my business as paper boat EXpress
and i have to say at the rate i'm working at the moment,
it does feel a little fast around here with so much on my plate . . .
so i saw the misprint as a sign to slow down and
keep things in perspective . . .

if there is one part of my business that people always
comment on - it is its name . . .
i'd written a poem 14 years ago about a paper boat,
and somehow the name came from there.

then i was using paper, making cards and my handmade books . . .
now i press words into clay, and although the word press
in a business name often denotes publishers or printers
or something paper like - it still has meaning to me . . .

the quote on the featured tag says:

that love is all there is,
is all we know of love
- emily dickinson -

and those words are something i take into my everyday
especially today . . .

drawing . . .

slipping flowers for a new something
i am working on . . .

(more details soon)

it is ....

in every cloud, i hope for you ...

hallelujah ...

that angel of a man glowing in the centre of the
(sorry, grainy phone) photo above
is who i was lucky enough to see live last night
with some wonderful friends of mine ...
we had great seats and were in absolute awe through the whole concert.
there aren't many words to describe the magic
that is leonard cohen
his humbleness and voice are still ringing in my ears ...

there's a crack, a crack in everything
that's how the light gets in ...

yep, this man knows what he's talking and singing about,
he is to me, inspiring beyond words ...