A little bit of Sunday Art and Autumness....

Today, my mum, myself and my little boy all headed off into the sunshine to visit Appleton Street Studio's in Richmond for a little slice of Sunday art-iness :) Excellent I thought- what a great opportunity to meander through 16 different studios to see some amazing artists work including painters, designers, textile artists and printmakers.... John and I lasted 10minutes....however it piqued my incessant interest about this type of thing, so of course somehow I managed to return (albeit briefly) later on....

So since, it was such a beautiful morning we continued for a wonderful Autumn walk down by the Yarra river. The sunlight dappled in John's copper hair and cast itself amongst shadows and between golden tree leaves.... people walked and talked, kids played and the brown, murky yarra flowed ever onwards. Photography opportunities galore, shame no camera on hand....We climbed hills, played with leaves, sat on little wooden jetties and eventually 2.5 hours later managed to make it home.... Autumn really is truly a beautiful season to walk in.....

Anyway back to Appleton Studio's - what an inspiring place so full of talented individuals and all their art! Co-founded by Jeff Martin and Sandra Bardas, it is a place for emerging and professional artists to well CREATE :) and create they have. Of particular interest to me, was Jeff Martin whose studio was full of culinary delights.... walls covered in huge painting of kitchens, and a side table covered in olives, bread and wine and yes a glass I did but have :) This man had some amazing visual diaries and after looking into his work- I highly recommend a look.

Other artists of interest to me were Sarah Louise Rickets (a lady inspired by the medium of felt and hello runs workshop & yes I am going to sign up), Jacqueline Tiepermann whose beautiful symbolic paintings showed so much color and movement, Jonathon Fletcher whose paintings of lips and eyes were incredibly luscious and
Katrina Carter who plays with the idea of recycled things (well this is always close to my heart!).... All were amazing, all were different and I highly suggest you check out Appleton Studio's website : http://www.appletonstreetstudios.com/artists.html

Not only did I go for a long walk and visit Appleton Studio's today, I also paid a quick visit to "Off the Kerb Gallery" to see Kirrily Anderson, another beautiful and talented artist who I can also say proudly is my friend. She held her first solo exhibition at "Off the Kerb" and has also recently been part of a group exhibition there by the name of "El Dorado". Today was "El Dorado's" last day and a celebration was afoot with art, music, people and cake...

The purpose of "El Dorado" was to reflect on the idea of "an exotic place of fabulous wealth and opportunity which unfortunately is always short of discovery". It featured a variety of artistic mediums, including animation, interactive-media, text based projection, painting and photography. Of course I would highly recommend Kirrily Anderson (I & the Other) and was also hugely impressed by an artist who did some beautiful industrial images using black fine liner pen on paper (his name I will find out by tommorrow).

And that was my Sunday- full of artistic discoveries, autumn delights and family goodness..... I feel I can go to sleep happy! :)

Written by Briony

Brown Owls Crafternoon

Last Sunday I went to a Brown Owls Crafternoon afternoon in Carlton North. I spent the afternoon learning about the craft of felt, getting my hands soapy, playing with wool rovings to make them felt, talking and eating delicious home-made goodies. Mmmmm cupcakes, cakes, dips, strawberries, grapes, biscuits and red wine..... What a great way to spend an Autumn afternoon!

This crafternoon was rather inispiring for me. Not only was it an afternoon of texture and colour, but also an afteroon of opportunities. An afternoon to meet other crafts folk (and yes they seem to be generally lovely and talented) as well as an afternoon to re-establish my connection with a medium that I was once so enamoured by.

Brown Owls is recent discovery for me, but it would seem that it is a definate movement amongst craft circles, indeed probably any creative circles around Melbourne, Australia and even overseas. These afternoons allow for people to get together on a regular basis,craft together and share ideas.... what a wonderful initiative and what wonderful craft it will no doubt inspire!!

For our next crafternoon, we will be busy making tiny look alike Stitched Selves to contribute to the Stitch London Stitch Yourself Exhibition to be held at the London Science Museum. People from all around the world have been invited to send a tiny ( 6 inches high) stitched self to London so they can be put on display... These dolls can be crocheted, knitted, created out of felt pieces, adorned with lace, buttons, bead, embroidery thread, stuffed with wool.

So I guess a mini-stuffed-felted-bejewelled me who is about 6 inches tall is off to London by the 26th June.... how fabulous at last I can travel without really leaving home:)

With that, I would like to thank the wonderful Claire for creating the Carlton North Brown Owls Group and for allowing us the use of her beautiful home. I have only just met Claire, but her hospitality, generosity and general craftiness is a lovely thing to behold.

Written by Briony

How to Host the Perfect Post-Apocalyptic Picnic!

Recently a friend of mine Tiki compiled/edited the 2nd Issue of an e-zine by the name of "The Post-Apocalyptic Housewife's Domestic Companion". Needless to say she is quite involved in the Australian Sci-Fi community!

This e-zine is very funny and I loved the 1st Issue so much I thought I might try my hand at writing a tongue in cheek article and submit it. I was so thrilled when she included it, that I thought I would take the opportunity to post it here too. I hope you enjoy!! :)

Please check out both editions of The Post Apocalyptic Housewife's Domestic Companion by following the following link - http://wanderer.lostrealm.com/library/pahdc/


How to Host the Perfect Post-Apocalyptic Picnic

Got bunker boredom, your kids looking Vitamin D deficient, electronic communication completely unreliable? Why not organize the perfect post-apocalyptic picnic?!

Guest List
It is advisable to only invite humans. Others, particularly zombies, radiation mutants or robots, can be problematic- even if they used to be your friends.

Location and Weather

Beachside is usually a good option – zombies have limited cognitive abilities and cannot swim; they tend to flail and sink. The sea also provides a nice change from typical wasteland views.

Beware hotspots of grey goo- self replicating nanorobots seem to be rapidly on the rise in some marine locations. Also note localized garbage gyres are not due for a shore landing- no one likes unsightly rubbish.

Weather is unpredictable. Advise guests that in the instance of acid rain, dust-storms or high radiation- picnic will be cancelled.

Safety and Gear

All guests should carry weaponry: a gun of choice, ammunition, a back up pistol and hatchet should suffice and perhaps a trusty household item of some description (eg. a brick)

Request guests also bring Anti-Rad drugs (eg. Potassium Iodide, Prussian Blue) and their Bug -Out -Bags (BOB’s) in case of unforeseen circumstances such as a mass zombie assault or change in weather conditions

(Note: For aesthetics and peoples general demeanor, weapons should be kept discreetly out of view)

Menu Suggestions

Marinated human knuckles may be the flavor of the month, but please respect those in the group who are non-cannibals (a rapidly declining demographic but they do still exist)

HeaterMeals EX ©, portable and high in calories is obviously a winner. Thanks to Innotech’s Flameless Ration Heater technology, these meals also self heat.

Canned mussels or oysters may show you are woman of means but please keep an eye on expiry dates

Since it was discovered as edible, specially ‘radiosynthesised’ and melanised black fungi has become a very popular aperitif (eg. Cladosporium sphaerospermum).

For a beach side picnic bring your hand operated water desalinator, all other instances water purification tablets should suffice

Entertainment

Zombie piñata – be creative and make one or just use and old discarded zombie corpse

Zombie bowling- all you need is a few zombie heads and 20 or so plastic bottles

(Note: With all zombie games, the use of protective gear, such as goggles, mask and gloves is highly recommended)

If you follow these tips, and ensure you remain a ladylike hostess at all times (even in the event of a zombie attack) - everyone should have the perfect post-apocalyptic picnic experience!

Written by Briony & published in
"The Post-Apocalyptic Housewife's Domestic Companion"
thanks to Tiki

Great Pacific Garbage Patch- Gyres of Trash

Until late last year, I had never heard of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. I was quite surprised by my complete ignorance... so lets hope in the near future that more people become aware of this huge environmental issue so we can do more about it!

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is commonly described as comprising of two huge underwater sub-continents made up of plastic trash.... However this description makes it sound like one huge solid mass, in fact it is more like galaxy of trash- made up billions of smaller trash islands that may be hidden underwater and spread out over many hundreds of miles. Basically it is an ecological disaster of epic proportions swirling around the ocean between Hawaii and California - its total mass estimated as twice the size of Texas!

This underwater mass of trash has been created by many decades of trash getting caught up in the strong currents of the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre and converging in the middle of the Pacific. There are 5 major ocean-wide gyres recognised: in the North Atlantic, South Atlantic, North Pacific, South Pacific, and Indian Ocean. The North Pacific gyre is the largest, but despite it's size and density, it is not visible via satellite or indeed from the air- as it swirls around in the upper water column.



The North Pacific garbage gyre was discovered by Charles J Moore after completing a sailing race in 1997, when he came across miles and miles of floating debris. Since then he has founded the Algalita Marine Research Founation and attempted to inform the world about this detrimental environmental catastrophe of the Pacific Ocean.

What is more scary is that it may not be the visible bottles, plastic bags, razors, bottle tops, plastic toys etc..... that are the ultimate concern. Due to photodegradation, this plastic is breaking down into smaller and smaller pieces while remaining a polymer. As it disintegrates it becomes small enough to be ingested by aquatic organisims- hence entering the food chain.



Moore has discovered that the amount of plastic in the central Pacific Ocean outweighs zooplankton (small marine life such as plankton, crustaceans and tiny fish) at a ratio of 6-1! Surely plastic is not a good thing to ingest for fish, birds or jellyfish...... but these tiny floating beads of plastic are approximately the same size and shape as plankton. Jellyfish eat plankton (in this case plastic plankton), birds eat jellyfish.... I think you see the severity of the problem.

Furthermore, the plastic that does decompose in the ocean leaches off toxicchemicals.... poisoning the ocean further.....

Every year we dispose of more than 200 billion tonnes of plastic, of which 10% ends up in our oceans (Greenpeace). The United Nations Environment Program estimated that in every square mile of ocean, there is roughly 46,000 pieces of floating plastic (UN Environment Program). We consume and we throw away. In the future the cost of this carelessness to our oceans and our land, is just unfathomable......

So please take care, use as little plastic as possible, reuse it when you can and avoid products that package in unnecessary plastic - rethink, reduce, reuse, recycle. Ultimately the responsibility is up to us as a global community- perhaps start by boycotting bottled water.... so we can keep this little guy safe! :)



Written by Briony

Eggceptional Eggs!

Some lovely non-traditonal eggs from all around the world.......