something to look forward to . . .

at the moment in the studio

between orders for vessels and quote tags
( and a few other creations for exhibitions and other things )
we have begun with earnest to create
christmas ornaments !

as the years have passed i have so many more
stores to supply and now an online store too
so this is simply the reality now . . .

and before the real madness starts
i have recently booked a short trip to japan for september . . .
giving me something to look forward to until then, and after
to inspire me for the months that lead to christmas
where the work load seems to double . . .

above is a photo of a manhole cover.
i was obsessed with photographing them
last visit and have quite a collection of images
( and i look forward to adding to my photo album this visit )

this weekend i have been reading with joy the adventures
of lisa's recent visit,
and also researching other amazing places to visit . . .

but now it's back to work . . .
samples of this years bird ornament are out of the kiln
and i'll give you a sneak peek soon . . .

scattered hearts

if you are not too long
i will wait here for you all my life

- oscar wilde


little heart cut outs, scattered and left, from a new ornament design for this year . . .

my mistake-collector

my precious friend sarah b
is a collector of my spelling and other poetry/pottery mistakes
she loves that i am a poet who ( sometimes ) can't spell

so a few years back when a mistake pot, a second i suppose
( but in an oddly endearing way ) came to be, it was she
who gave it a home.
and although it's a bit of a running joke between us
she has a nice little collection now indeed ( here's another ). . .
above is the latest installment . . .

life is full of missing things . . .
things left out . . .
and sometimes it is the missing parts that are the ones most treasured

nesting bird

this morning i had a cup of tea with my dear friend momo

then we visited one of my favourite stores around town
nesting bird . . .
( you will find work by both myself and momo in store )

the stairwell to nesting bird always inspires me,
it's the little touches that always make a difference . . .
( and i always love a quote, click on the picture to see it clearer )

my mum . . .

above is a snap of a pillow i discovered at the willows last week
( or was it the week before ?? time flies )

my mum had made this in the early 80's i think . . .
during primary school and high school my mum was the
local volunteer screenprinter . . .
printing everything from library bags
to collection bags for red cross door-knock appeals
or shirts for youth groups
( we were all involved in red cross, mum incredibly so )

it was not uncommon to have our veranda at home
covered in something or other . . .
and my brother, sister and i would distribute the mass
of bags or shirts along it as mum worked.

i remember her spending hours carefully cutting
the patterns out of the special paper for the screen . . .
and the smell of the paint as it was sealed with ironing . . .

above is one of her experiments
laying leaves directly onto the screen and printing away . . .
with so much beautiful screen-printing happening
around the place now, it's nice to find this treasure
and be reminded of where i was first introduced
to such a beautiful craft . . .

and although this is a craft i haven't delved into ( yet ??? )
it is lovely to be reminded of the working-creative home
my mum nurtured me in as a child

pbp shopgirl . . .

introducing my fabulous friend teresa
who is my shop girl . . .
teresa is enthusiastically packing and sending orders as they come in
from my newly opened online store.

the smooth online-ness of it all couldn't have happened
as stress free without her . . .
i'm so blessed to have a friend, and now work mate like her !

there's also a few other thankyou's that need to be made:
to the beautiful tiel and alischa who helped with those bigcartel
questions and a few other bits and pieces
that seemed aplenty with this non-computer minded gal.
and to erin who created the little button for the side of my blog.

i'm lucky to be surrounded by such inspiring and giving friends !
so lucky . . .

p.s. i made the little name badge for teresa and all my other friends
that help at my christmas and other shows so if you've come along to my
shows over time you may have met teresa already. . .

words from the west

i am home ( sweet home )
after some much needed time away

time where new poems have revealed themselves,
and old poem-ish scribbles have been reformed and sculpted
into new ones . . .

so it's back to answering mountains of emails
( some with exciting work prospects )
restocking parts of the store that have sold out
filling orders for my lovely stockists . . .

and cherishing the memories of time spent with my far away family

road trip

i set off early ( very very early ) friday morning with my dad
on a road trip to the willows
to have some time away,
spend some time with my beloved oma (grandma),
have a bit of time to calm my heart and head,
and do some writing . . .

thank you to all who have written to say
how much they love the shop,
and to those who have already purchased from it too
( it's overwhelming really )

my online store is in the capable hands of my shopgirl
teresa ( i'll introduce you to her soon )
she is doing a great job, and her commitment has
allowed me to venture away without worry for a couple of days . . .

the ability to head off into the sunset ( or sunrise as it was )
from time to time
seems easier these days with all the technology at hand
( and thanks to my dad having wireless internet on his laptop )

as i write this i'm sitting in the little room at the back
of our stone house, overlooking seemingly unending scrub
i hear nothing but wind in the trees, and birds . . .
( and the occasional tinkering sound as my dad
tries to fix his homemade solar hot-water system )

i will return to the city in a couple of days
but for now i'm off to have a cup of tea with oma and do some
crosswords with her . . .
happy mothers day to all those mums out there ( especially mine )
x

ONLINE ( finally ! )

thank you all for your patience and kind words of encouragment.

i am so happy to announce that
paper boat press has finally got its
very own online store . . . !

i know i've been saying it's been coming
for a long time now . . .
but as i've been reminded in life (many times by friends)
the best things are worth waiting for.
this may not be that highly thought of, but it is
a pretty special moment for this shopgirl . . .

i hope you like it !

fortune cookie wisdom

upon opening a fortune cookie the other day

i was sent a small message that rings true . . .

new little things

today in the studio we made some
pretty little things that will be available soon . . .
small sweet tags for decorating and labeling kitchen bits'n'pieces
i've tried designing these tags for many years
but keep changing my mind on them

i think finally i've worked out how i want them to look
after much trial and error, and many a shape . . .
the simple things sometimes take the longest time
( strange but true )

but now it comes back to the good old tag shape and
of course a little bit of pattern . . .

even though i love them at this stage
( just made and still raw )
i'll follow up with images of the finished results soon

field of vision

i tend to rave a bit about my friend lincoln
so be warned i am about to again . . .

his most recent show has opened at the IMA in brisbane
and it is nothing short of amazing !

there is architecture and beauty
play and colour
light and shade
spaces within spaces

in this infinite pattern series of works (above) lincoln has said
in beginning he had dreams for a level of perfection within the work
while understanding that he may not reach that level,
and with that knowledge: not being disappointed
and actually embrace the imperfections . . .
and that, in fact making little imperfections in the work makes it more human

and he wants the work to confuse and daunt
but not to the point of being oppressive . . .
he has succeeded . . . and beautifully

lincoln is humble, hard working and passionate
all the makings ( i think ) of a good artist, and a good person,
of which he is both

the photo above shows the sculpture that inhabits the corner
( and a significant part ) of a large room
it is made of over 5800 pieces locked together . . .
and there is another room full of his silver mesh sculptures

if you get a chance it's worth the time to view this show in person
it's on until june 27 ( i am biased but it's true )

images of text . . .

above are some images of the show i've been a part of
these past few weeks
text closes this sunday. . . it has been
so lovely to have been asked to a part of this beautiful show

a big thanks must go to the wonderful stephanie outridge field
who curated the show.
stephanie's passion and dedication was also a major part
of the fusions gallery space becoming a reality
( when it opened late last year )

below is the artists statement i wrote about the work:

this piece extends my work practice into installation work,
something i haven’t ventured towards for many years.

visually i aimed to keep the pared back style
my vessels have taken on of late,
but instead of the poem pressed or stamped into the clay
i wanted to create words that came out of the surface
(in this case a wall),
yet all the while keeping the overall effect
minimal and quiet, despite its scale.

words have always been a part of my art practice
in one-way or another.
i see them as a means of a mark as much as line or colour may be…
this particular poem represents to me: connection and steadfastness.

however, as i like to think with poetry…
it talks to each of us from our own perspective,
experience and heart,
and also in this moment,
for next week it may convey something different again...

poem from: count me the stars