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In honour of W.B. Yeats #Yeats 2015

In honour of  W.B Yeats Day #Yeats2015

The silver apples of the moon,
 The golden apples of the moon





















The Song of Wandering Aengus


BY WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS
I went out to the hazel wood,
Because a fire was in my head,
And cut and peeled a hazel wand,
And hooked a berry to a thread;
And when white moths were on the wing,
And moth-like stars were flickering out,
I dropped the berry in a stream
And caught a little silver trout.

When I had laid it on the floor
I went to blow the fire a-flame,
But something rustled on the floor,
And someone called me by my name:
It had become a glimmering girl
With apple blossom in her hair
Who called me by my name and ran
And faded through the brightening air.

Though I am old with wandering
Through hollow lands and hilly lands,
I will find out where she has gone,
And kiss her lips and take her hands;
And walk among long dappled grass,
And pluck till time and times are done,
The silver apples of the moon,
The golden apples of the sun.


image copyright Linda E Clarke Illustration

Fat Pants

Think that this little guy might be the start of a new way of looking at my fruit and veg. I just might not get much cooked from now on. Who could eat this guys fat pants?






























Wabi Sabi

Recently on one of the sunny pre-spring days we have been enjoying I went for a "wabi sabi walk".  Just to explain myself in very simple terms, wabi sabi is a Japanese aesthetic which celebrates the old, the worn, the ethereal and the impermanent. It is the acceptance and enjoyment of the imperfect and the transient, and the celebration of aging and the ensuing marks of age and patina. It is finding beauty in humble everyday things or things which may even be broken or damaged. Wabi sabi reflects beauty which may not be what is the commonly accepted ideal. I have realised that this aesthetic is one which I have loved ever since I was very young but I never knew it had a name until a few years ago.

Serena Barton is an artist who incorporates wabi sabi into her work as inspiration she suggests going outside for a wabi sabi walk. The idea is to look for wabi sabi elements which you may not normally take much notice of.  I was astounded to see how much inspiration there was within a few hundred metres of my home. Texture and worn out beauty everywhere. It inspired me to paint a large abstract expressionist painting for my home. I found it liberating and so enjoyable to create texture and to allow the painting process determine the outcome. These are some of the images I collected around my streets followed by the painting I did.























 The following 2 images are part of the larger painting I mentioned which is still a work in progress. Strictly speaking the colour palette for wabi sabi should be  more earth tones but it was the aged look and texture I was focused on. 






A Nice Surprise

Thanks so much to This Enchanted Pixie for including "Wise  little Owl" in her gift suggestions for children. Check out her lovely Blog full of great ideas!

It is so lovely to know that somebody on the other side of the world has seen Little Owl and liked him! The internet is amazing isn't it!


The art of randomness

Is randomness a real word? I am not sure, but it describes what I would like to think about today.

One of my favourite processes to get my imagination working is to make random scribble drawings and develop them. There are no preconceived ideas when I begin. I simply draw a whole bunch of scribbles on the surface on which I am working. The original inspiration was from Carla Sonheim's idea of looking at sidewalk cracks and making pictures from what you see. I then started seeing creatures everywhere, on my wooden floors and on the ceilings...no I promise I am not crazy!! It is particularly weird if you are in somebody else's house and you see a cool creature in their floorboards and you want to draw it. Come on! I know I am not alone in this!!

Here is an owl from my kitchen floorboards. I hope you can see him too!




And another cute little floorboard face!





















 
 


 After you have made your scribble have a look at what you have drawn. I find the best scribble drawing is one where you are mindful of how your pen or pencil has been moving, draw slowly but don't over think it. Make varied marks. rounds curly ones, square ones, zig zags. The following drawings are examples from my sketchbook. The first one shows the scribble and what I found within it.Of course you can add lines if you want to, this is only a starting point.





















The drawings are then further developed as you like.




















I enjoy looking for characters in my scribbles and love it particualrly when there are a whole host of weird 
and wacky findings in one drawing. I just finished a set of ACEO's which are 3 1/2 by 2 1/2 inches and are full of weirdness! It was really fun and challenging doing it in such a small space and trying to create a unity of composition and meaning. They will be heading to my Etsy Shop shortly.


























 This is a great project for children when you are trying to amuse them and have no resources.
 Have fun discovering the weird within the random!

Ironically when writing this, the tree outside my studio fell down...how random!
Monty the cat lost one of his nine lives.




































Little Angel

This little angel was standing on a pile of rubble behind a fence in  Port Adelaide.
The image seemed symbolic of hope to me.