ROSIE'S BITS 'N' PIECES

I HAVE MOVED TO WORDPRESS

2010-10-31T14:40:00.001+11:00

Click on heading and come visit me...pleeeeeese!

ring-a-ring-a-rosie

2010-10-27T19:56:00.000+11:00

I am sure that is what these beautiful swans were playing, round and round they went.

Dad checking

2010-10-27T19:31:00.000+11:00

Dad checking on progress..."one hatching to go" says Mum

Mother and babies

2010-10-27T19:24:00.000+11:00

Amazing how these little ones survive. Sitting right on top of the water, Mum and Dad spent quite some time as I watched chasing other birds who were either curious or a predator. Photo taken in Den Haag, Netherlands

My beautiful Melbourne

2010-10-27T19:17:00.000+11:00

My beautiful Melbourne City. St.Paul's Cathedral. It has recently been cleaned and she stands proud in her new dress.

Olives and chillies

2010-10-27T19:08:00.000+11:00

Vic Market, Oh! the sights, sounds and aromas. I wandered through with a Borek in one hand and camera in the other. These olives and chillies caught my creative eye and appetite.

Long time no see

2010-10-27T09:56:00.000+11:00

I am not very good at updating my blog although I have travelled a lot this year then fractured my rib so I do have some excuses.

Spring is in the air one day, not the next although that is typical spring weather I guess. To wake up with the birds chatting is the first delight of the day, well...at my age to wake up, is the first delight of the day.

I have finished my 'This is not a sketch book" for the Sketch Book Project. I joined it mainly for motivation, to keep doing something creative each day. It turned out such a source of enjoyment and discovery. I recommend their site to everyone, they have many different projects going on.
Another project here in Australia is the 'Notebook Project" from Fibre Arts Australia www.fibrearts.viviti.com/notebook-project
It doesn't have to be done necessarily in fibre, it can be anything you like.With this project you get your notebook back after its tour.

If you are looking for Art Gifts, Stationery or just a creative wander then 'Orlando and Ivy' is the place to visit in North Melbourne www.orlandoandivy.com check out the website first.

Little fishies

2010-10-27T09:35:00.000+11:00

Not sure if I mentioned it before but for those that don't know, the little fish can be fed by holding your mouse anywhere and giving a few clicks and it lays down yummy fishy food and they gobble it up...how cool....not my invention, it came with the template of the blog but whoever thought it up...thank you..I luv it.

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Last Page

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The beginning: The Book of Nowhere

2010-10-26T19:07:00.000+11:00

This is the beginning of my second art journal. I enjoy art journaling as it gives me a place to flow and the ability to be able to make my own books if I wish. This book is not handmade. It is a black hardcover sketch book that I bought from my favourite art shop. Random shapes are the foundation of my art. I begin by intuitively building upon abstract marks and shapes; gradually refining and arranging forms. This process can lead to surprising and varied results. My work is intricate and surreal, often taking on a natural organic theme.
My title is as ethereal as my work.

Another of Professor Strebor's discoveries

2010-10-26T18:55:00.000+11:00

Professor Strebor has been with me for quite some time now. My first handmade book was on his reasearch in Dendrology and his investigations in the far North Forest.

Symbolic Woman - Lazar

2010-10-26T18:49:00.000+11:00

A meditative piece, building shapes and thoughts on textured papers. The papers gave me a sense of nature, hieroglyphics, cave paintings and icons.

Cambodia memories

2010-10-26T18:41:00.001+11:00

I had a lot to work with here. I manipulated some of my photos and used memorabilia I had gathered over there. Cambodia is a mixture of black and white...sadness, struggle, poverty at the same time, such a colourful thread runs through it with love, laughter and peace. My love of Cambodia is huge.

Yellow Circus

2010-10-26T18:30:00.000+11:00

I have torn some pages and on each one did 'ink blots' with acrylic ink to take the 'white' off, having no idea what I will do as usual.
I made my first mark with my blackUni pin and within a short time I felt a circus was coming.
Some weeks earlier I had been to see Cirque du Soleil but never realised it had made such a subconcious impression. I am sure that is where this came from.

Blue circus

2010-10-26T18:25:00.000+11:00

The galloping circus, I realise now that I have to keep this going as the pages link to each other...I wonder if my creativity will last?

Purple circus

2010-10-26T18:23:00.000+11:00

I am so excited doing this, I can't believe it is still flowing. I can feel the energy, hear the music...my circus.

The circus-the end

2010-10-26T18:20:00.000+11:00

This is the end of the circus. I have to say I have never had so many meditative hours in art as I did with this little set of drawings.

Tick tock checkers

2010-10-26T18:05:00.001+11:00

My girlfriend gave me the piece of black and white check cotton. I pasted if on the far side of the book and made marks with my black uni pin pen on the other side and as usual it flowed. I don't know why but it reminds me of the inners of a clock but of course there are many other elements included in my eclectic style.

She is wise

2010-10-26T18:01:00.000+11:00

The picture on the left is a photo gone terribly wrong for a night shot but the pieces of light that did appear told me something had to be made of it. I already had the piece of hand dyed calico (I love calico) which matched beautifully. The shapes of the light sent me on my way with this piece.

Rock a Billy

2010-10-26T17:54:00.000+11:00

I would like to introduce Billy and his keeper Renoo. Billy loves nothing better than to eat rocks (hence Rock a Billy). they roam the countrside together with the other creatures of Bazoo devouring rocks. Renoo keeps all his belonging around his neck for safety.
I have a store of my handmade paper and these two pieces were the basis for this piece. A black Uni Pin pen was the inventor of Bazoo and its inhabitants. And as often happens a piece of poetry evolved as I worked. All my pieces take on a life of their own.

Over the mountains they do trek
Carrying belonging around their neck
Billy devours a feast of stones
Renoo gets tired and forever moans
The creatures laugh and tease
poor Billy and Renoo
Saying and braying
"You freaks should surely be
IN THE ZOO"

Blue Lagoon

2010-10-26T17:33:00.000+11:00

My pen collection is varied and vast and every now and then I feel guilty they haven't had a turn so this page I used my ZIG blues. I began with the long horizontal shape (one line) but quickly came in with the second and straight away sea creatures were born. I can't help myself with becoming intricate so the bottom of the lagoon is a world within itself. Of course in my world of imagination there are dwellings everywher and anywhere.

Fashion parade

2010-10-26T17:28:00.000+11:00

I so enjoyed doing this. I started this page with the shape which is now the head of the model on the far right of the page using ZIG pens in their pure brown. After about 5minutes of looking I added one stroke which is now her neck from there it all flowed. As I said in the beginning of this journal I gradually refine and arrange and here I needed balance which came about with the birds. Birds of course are my staple diet in my art.

Alphabet Horse graffiti

2010-10-26T17:19:00.000+11:00

Oh! how I love graffiti. I don't profess to do it well at all but it is something I keep trying. Alphabet horse came about when I was just playing with 'free sewing'. The shape I made accidently looked like a horse and for no good reason I sewed some metal alphabet's on it and decided to use it on this page....again, intuitive working as I painted the page (acrylic) and just stuck the horse on and it tended to tell me 'graffiti'. It took off from there.

Head talk

2010-10-26T17:13:00.000+11:00

A girlfriend and I were discussing how 'head talk' interrrupts art process. Especially for women. We both agreed, we would settle in (if we finally get to that point) and make progress when the 'head talk' starts....better do this better do that...don't sit and fiddle with art and if we listen enough our art process becomes unravelled therefore our work suffers. This piece I guess, whilst not contrived in any way, it did begin with a thought.

Cambodia

2010-10-26T17:07:00.000+11:00

I had not long returned from Cambodia when I began this piece. The pages had been pre-painted with acrylic before I left and I was most surprised, again, working intuitively what evolved. Of course in Cambodia there is lush and tangled nature but to produce that was never a concious decision

Graveyards of time

2010-10-26T17:03:00.000+11:00

Kinda hard to see this but it was thoroughly enjoyable to do.
(Acrylic ink and pencil-Staedler Micro Mars 0.5 retractable)

As I worked this piece of poetry evolved:

Before they came
They'd lost their rhyme
They lost their youth
Not told the truth
Of the passing of time

Now they are here
They've found their rhyme
In the graveyards of time
They come and go
They blend and weave

With the flow of their shroud
And the drift of cloud
They slide and glide
With the moon and her tide

In the graveyards of time
They dance and sway
They've chosen to stay
Together in rhyme
In the graveyards of time

Owl's domain

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Nature is a never ending source of beauty
(Mixed media)

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Hand Made Book

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Little Shadow girl. Who is she? Where did she come from? I took this photo as the sun shone in through my window. She has a story but it is in the shadows. It will appear in time....I wonder what it will be.
That is the beauty of creative writing, something prompts a beginning, let it bubble long enough and it will take form....more on Little Shadow girl at a later date.

2010-05-31T21:54:00.000+10:00

2010-03-25T08:15:00.004+11:00

The link below is to The Picasso e-book. I am there 'brainstorming'. It is a great site to browse around for ages and anyone can contribute. Have a go, it is fun. there is all different sections to suit your particular creative flair.
This is a bit of info taken from the site:

'The images in the ebook can be downloaded to your computer

and you can then change them in any way you like and send them
back for reinclusion into the ebook

To save an image right click on it and save it on your computer
OR
2. Submit you own image on the theme :
THE FACE, One you know/ One you created ...

3. Kids (big and small!)can colour in the Minotaur Man -
follow the link to the large version of the Minotaur Man
- colour in the black and white image, or change it in some way,
send it back either by post or by email

Your contributions will be added to the ebook
so that the ebook evolves and grows'.

http://www.zyarts.com/ebook/papiercolle.html

2010-03-18T22:35:00.001+11:00

I want to talk about one of the loves of my life and that is the 'unipin' fineline water and fade proof pen. I have been using them for years. They dry immediately so you can keep that creative flow going. I wouldn't spill a glass of water on them immediately but you can the next day. I accidentally left a bookmark that I had made many years ago outside and didn't discover it till the next morning after a night of heavy rain and it was perfect. Here are some illustrations I have done with them.

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Visit Artist Books 3.0

'The Word Museum' by Jeffrey Kacirk

2010-03-04T22:14:00.000+11:00

I love words, old ones, new ones, made up ones. Jeffrey's books deals with the most delicious mix of remarkable forgotten english words. I thought I would post my favourites, but that would be the whole book, so I have chosen a few at random. The best thing to do is buy the book. Have look at Jeffrey's website for heaps more amazing words, books and a 2010 calender of vanishing vocabulary: http://www.forgottenenglish.com/ . But right now lets have a brief look at some of the wonderful bizarre old english.

miscomfrumple:      To rumple, crease. If one female sits so close to another as to rumple or crease her dress by pressing or sitting upon it, she is said to miscomfrumple it.(Northhamptonshire (J.Wright)

yird-swine:         A mysterious, dreaded sort of animal, called the yird swine, was believed to live in graveyards, burrowing among the dead bodies and devouring them.(Gregor)

Witch's-stirrups:     Matted locks in a horse's mane. (Jackson)

ninny-broth:       Popular name for coffee. (Nares)

I just love this one as I am a coffee addict...sorry...ninnybroth addict!

merry-go-sorry:      A mixture of laughing and crying (R.lHunter)

pixilated:        Led astray, as if by pixies; confused, bewildered, intoxicated (Mathews)

mobble:       To dress grossly or inelegantly. (Walker)

thrunched:      Very angry, despleased. (Mackay)

and last but not least...

offmagandy: The best and choicest of delicacies. Rich, stiff cream would be described as 'real offmagandy." (Darlington).

Jeffrey dedicates the collection to Lewis Carroll, who was inspired by antiquated English to imagine words like the wonderful "Jabberwocky,"

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:

All mimsy were the borogroves

And the mome raths outgrabe.

My contribution to such wonderful words:

I'm thrunched. I needed my offmagandy and ninnybroth however the restaurant owner looked at me, huffed loudly, looked down his hooked nose and sneered just one word 'mobble'. How dare he. I held my head high and told him in no uncertain terms that he looked like witches stirrups or more so like a yard swine. I went on in the hautiest voice that I muster up from within that I had been miscomfrumpled on the way here.

He then suggested I have been pixilated. At that comment I slumped down in a merry go sorry state.

I know, I know, a dreadful piece and a cheek to put that up straight after Lewis Carroll...but that is the beauty of having ones own blog. Poetic licence or just plain 'cos I can', anyway, back to 'The Word Museum', you can see how delicious this book is and besides learning what 'used to be' one can have so much fun with it all as well.

That's it from me on this subject...for now....signed rosie 'gapesnest' (see if you can find out what it means).

More poetry from Rosie

2010-03-02T22:22:00.000+11:00

MASK OF LIFE

The masks we wear
us human creatures.
The masks we wear
to hide our features;
not features of the face
we play a role
we hide our soul.

Society demands perfection
so on with our mask;
the fear of detection
turns us to puppets.
By rules we're bound
by fingers we're wound.

We must never be found
To be diffr'nt … unique
Nor show our wings,
we must conform
to society's strings.
Sever the strings?
Do we dare?
Nurture our wings
fly inside … listen … hear
the mask is worn
thru our very own fear.

Society demands
there must be rules
should we command
our own set of jewels?
Never be a puppet
they don't have wings,
they can never fly
they only have strings.
Their soul is wooden
never to see
life's colours
of a soul set free.

Society can demand - but
cannot take
our colours of life.
No rules can hold
the strength of a soul
that's been set free.
Our fear is the lock
but we hold the key.

So use the key now
show your true self
spread unique wings
live life …without any strings.

Observation in the food court

2010-03-02T22:08:00.000+11:00

A CUP OF TEA AND A SLICE OF LIFE

People in wheelchairs
old, disabled.
Men behind counter in striped aprons
cappuccinos on special.
Cleaning lady busy at work
trolley laden with brushes brooms buckets and such.
Tables, chairs,
people sitting, chatting quietly or
pondering.
happy/sad.
People in coats
people in suits.
Children - dancing, laughing
asking questions questions - tiredness
Mothers strained.
Mothers - feeding babies
to the breast so warm.
Elderly - together always
sharing life
For some
sitting alone
with silent thoughts.

Being Neurotic

2010-02-28T19:08:00.000+11:00

In our newspaper today 'The Age' (Sunday) there is an article that made me laugh and certainly made me laugh at myself. The article is titled 'This week I am happily neurotic' by Sarah Wilson -
http://www.sarahwilson.com.au/.

She talks of personality quirks and openly acknowledging them. Not just acknowledging them but perhaps celebrating them as they are a big part of who we really are. She mentions coming across a newly released book - i am neurotic (and so are you). Author Lianna Kong (she apparently has a blog of the same name-I haven't checked it out yet). It is a collation of anonymous confessions the author spills out page after page, more eccentric than the next. For instance: I have to eat Cheetos with chopsticks and I have to touch someone I do not know, with a quick pat on the shoulder and another one of Lianna's: Any pasta with holes in it I have to poke my fork through the holes and eat them four at a time.Sarah goes on to tell of many other quirks of people including herself.

It tickled my fancy and I began to think about myself and thought, hell, why not expose them to the world, what fun to show ones neurotic-ness (my word only). So here goes.

When I see an ambulance I have to touch my forehead with my forefinger, which makes me safe from going in one. How ridiculous you say; I agree. I have tried so hard to break the habit. There goes an ambulance...I will not touch my head...I will not!...well...maybe just this time...just incase, and so it goes. Unfortunately for me I have recently moved house and am now living right near a hospital. Disaster. I seriously need help. One day as I was passing the hospital there were none less than eight ambulances lined up. My head hurt by the time I got passed. Neurotic I am, I admit it.
Another one of my oddities, where it came from...who knows. If I get something wrong with me, no matter what, a cold, a headache, cut my finger or maybe burn my tongue...I need to limp! Yes, laugh you may (bet you have some doosies as well). One of my daughters see me limp and asks politely if I perhaps have a headache.

Enough of me, I have a girlfriend who she claims some idiot told her if she sees roadkill she must spit, thank heavens that hasn't caught up with me but when one travels with her...look out, especially on our country roads.

For those that feel they don't suffer this neurotic-ness, trust me...you do. You either won't admit it or you just haven't thought about it. For those that are ready to share I would love to hear your foibles. What fun it is to raise from the shadows the most wonderful thing about us all and that is our human-ness (I just love 'nesses').

2010-02-28T18:30:00.000+11:00

My Grandson the artist (6years old)

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Michael loves to draw and be creative. He has his own sketch book. These are two drawings he did today on his visit with me. He takes his drawing very seriously and his attention to detail is growing by the week. Batman seems to have fared better in background than Batwoman. I asked him about this matter and his logical answer was, "Well Nanna, the two pictures are on the same page so I don't have to do the background twice!" Well said young Michael. Only an adult could possible have a problem with that.

Blog block

2010-02-08T08:56:00.002+11:00

Mmmm...It is all very well to have a 'blog' but what does one do when one suffers from 'blog block'? I have sat with the blank page 'new posting' for days now on and off, my fingers itching to get going but the brain just stops every attempt. I wanted to talk about our very warm weather here in Melbourne. We have this special affinity with weather. One day can be 42c then the next 18c we never quite know what to expect, therefore, we never get used to any one type. We have had three days of hot with another two or so to come (30's) so we are all tired and moaning, too hot, too long, can't sleep etc. (20's overnight). Finally when the cool change comes, probably in the form of very cold we will enjoy it for two days then we will all moan again how cold it is and so on it goes. Quick fingers! Keep typing, don't stop! You are going well, It is very early in the morning and the fingers are moving but the brain is still asleep so keep going quickly because when brain wakes up it will start. "Don't write that, it is stupid...Remember what I told you the other day, all the blogs you have encountered are intelligent, full of wit and importance...Rosie's Bits 'n' Pieces are just scattered nothings. Oh, how I hate that chatterbox, so while it is still foggy lets keep going!

Oh no! I desperately needed a coffee and the brain woke up and has started its chatter so I have posted some of my pics from one of my handmade books and I will come back when brain is sleepy again and chat some more. Over and out.

Corrections

2010-01-30T17:10:00.000+11:00

Well, I did say I was new at blogging, and I was so excited to get it up and running that I missed some rather important mistakes. To begin with, the drawing I did of course is not of my own Avatar, but of my own Pandora. I am sure my 'other self' doesn't come in that form! doh! The other mistake is Pixma....my trusty Canon printer, what I meant naturally was Pixar Animations....another doh! I will learn.

Whilst I didn't make up new words, it did remind me of Shakespeare who did, well, how many are true coinages by "the Bard", and how many are simply the earliest written attestations of a word or words already in use who knows, but I like the idea he made them up. So if I make anymore 'boo-boos' maybe I can say they are intentional...I made them up or twisted them around to start a new trend.
Some of Shakespeare's words I particularly like are: "assassination", "bedazzled", "consanguineous", "dishearten", "enmesh", "eventful", "eyesore", "lackluster", "moonbeam", outbreak", "quarrelsome", "radiance". A mixed bag of wonderful words.

2010-01-28T21:38:00.000+11:00

Well, here goes. I am new at this blogging but I love to talk so this is as good a place as any.

I went to see Avatar the other day and it blew me away....fantastic, best movie I have seen and I have seen a lot and enjoyed a lot but Avatar wins hands down. Now, I know the storyline is very cliche', but I just didn't care as the effects kept me spellbound. I came home and as luck would have it I had bought myself a new mechanical pencil; a Steadtler Mars Micro o.5mm. I love to draw and as soon as I made the first mark with it, I knew I had a gem. I work spontaneously, the first mark usually guides me the rest of the way. I wasn't surprised to see my own 'Avatar' appearing. This is the finished version.