Drinking:
Eating:
Wanting:
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
random holiday pics
I'm waiting until Chris gets back to do a proper tour diary etc as we've done a kinda photo journal already really...
Monday, February 25, 2008
I'm finally getting over the jet lag and sleeping through most nights which is a relief. I'm taking Cipramil which is fairing better side effect wise compared to the Zoloft I have been on and off for years...
I have a new house mate who is very nice and plenty laid back and not too tidy. I think we'll get a shock when Chris comes back as he is really tidy by comparison to us. My room is a disaster zone, trying to fit two people's stuff in there, including computers and boxes. It barely fits me and my craft stuff as it is...Part of me is tempted to leave it until he gets home but I know I can get stuck into it and make progress ( I have made some progress, but regardless of how many storage containers you buy, if you have no where to put them its a bit hard...).
What' I've been up to:
Monday night I saw Juno and drank lots with some good friends. They were wonderful as I was so upset about Flossie and with drawing from the meds that I kept bursting into tears at all opportunities (including during the film).
Wednesday I caught up with an old friend on the tram whom I had not spoken to for several years. Had a good chat and caught up which was good as we fell out a while back. I also went to a shop front gig which was fun and inspiring in all sorts of ways. I especially enjoyed The DIamond Sea.
Friday night I had a bath and hung out watching dvds and drinking vodka and wine which was lovely.
Saturday I dropped some consignment wares off then went to Ikea with Marni and Amy. Found it a rather frustrating experience I as found the lay out confusing and was difficult to translate the goods displayed with what was in the boxes. Bought some bits and pieces like bath mat. chopping boards, scissors, storage boxes-ended up with the wrong size which is annoying.
Saturday night we all went to Afterdark for Below the Surface, a night
chrischinchilla was putting on. Because he was still in the UK I had to organise the money and such but everyone was really lovely and it went well.
It's very hard not having him here. Long distance relationships are a bitch, we're never near a phone at the same time and keep missing each other and he tends not to reply to emails and sms as he assumes we will catch up on the phone which i find very frustrating. Even just trying to organise stuff like internet connection at home is confusing as I don't know which one to ask for and whether my modem is adequate or whatever. All confusing. Plus, the whole parallel lives thing is a bitch and I miss him terribly as I do things that I think he'd enjoy and he's not there to be part of it :-(
Yesterday I went to Sydney Road festival with Marni and Robin which was good fun.
I discussed the option of a shop with someone recently, but would require me paying $100 rent each week and I'm not sure how much commission I'd make for sales. Plus I'd need to do shifts. I love the idea of the opportunity but I'm not sure I could make enough stuff or break even. Will need to think about it.
Current Mood:
thoughtful
I have a new house mate who is very nice and plenty laid back and not too tidy. I think we'll get a shock when Chris comes back as he is really tidy by comparison to us. My room is a disaster zone, trying to fit two people's stuff in there, including computers and boxes. It barely fits me and my craft stuff as it is...Part of me is tempted to leave it until he gets home but I know I can get stuck into it and make progress ( I have made some progress, but regardless of how many storage containers you buy, if you have no where to put them its a bit hard...).
What' I've been up to:
Monday night I saw Juno and drank lots with some good friends. They were wonderful as I was so upset about Flossie and with drawing from the meds that I kept bursting into tears at all opportunities (including during the film).
Wednesday I caught up with an old friend on the tram whom I had not spoken to for several years. Had a good chat and caught up which was good as we fell out a while back. I also went to a shop front gig which was fun and inspiring in all sorts of ways. I especially enjoyed The DIamond Sea.
Friday night I had a bath and hung out watching dvds and drinking vodka and wine which was lovely.
Saturday I dropped some consignment wares off then went to Ikea with Marni and Amy. Found it a rather frustrating experience I as found the lay out confusing and was difficult to translate the goods displayed with what was in the boxes. Bought some bits and pieces like bath mat. chopping boards, scissors, storage boxes-ended up with the wrong size which is annoying.
Saturday night we all went to Afterdark for Below the Surface, a night
chrischinchilla was putting on. Because he was still in the UK I had to organise the money and such but everyone was really lovely and it went well.It's very hard not having him here. Long distance relationships are a bitch, we're never near a phone at the same time and keep missing each other and he tends not to reply to emails and sms as he assumes we will catch up on the phone which i find very frustrating. Even just trying to organise stuff like internet connection at home is confusing as I don't know which one to ask for and whether my modem is adequate or whatever. All confusing. Plus, the whole parallel lives thing is a bitch and I miss him terribly as I do things that I think he'd enjoy and he's not there to be part of it :-(
Yesterday I went to Sydney Road festival with Marni and Robin which was good fun.
I discussed the option of a shop with someone recently, but would require me paying $100 rent each week and I'm not sure how much commission I'd make for sales. Plus I'd need to do shifts. I love the idea of the opportunity but I'm not sure I could make enough stuff or break even. Will need to think about it.
Current Mood:
thoughtful
Craftsters and zinesters wanted for warehouse party
Are you are interested in holding a stall at the next warehouse party in Stafford St, Collingwood?
Saturday 15th March
from 3pm
$5 gets you a stall/space.:
artists, badgemakers, writers, kitschy retro..whatever you like!
There will be bands playing, there will be a market, there will be mask making and mural painting, there will be DJs, there will hopefully not be a noise pollution fine. But otherwise it will be as damn fun as the last ones, and if you came to those, you know what to expect.
(obligatory facebook link)
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=33496265536
We'll also hire some tables and try for plenty of light-I'll make sure personally of that.
Bands so far confirmed:
ouch my face
GAY
the females
drumheller
surf surf surf
smoking hot bitch
So...let me know what you think and feel free to spread the word so we can get lots of people there
cheers
Cate
ps- contact me here or email me ms.cate[at]gmail.com
Saturday 15th March
from 3pm
$5 gets you a stall/space.:
artists, badgemakers, writers, kitschy retro..whatever you like!
There will be bands playing, there will be a market, there will be mask making and mural painting, there will be DJs, there will hopefully not be a noise pollution fine. But otherwise it will be as damn fun as the last ones, and if you came to those, you know what to expect.
(obligatory facebook link)
http://www.facebook.com/event
We'll also hire some tables and try for plenty of light-I'll make sure personally of that.
Bands so far confirmed:
ouch my face
GAY
the females
drumheller
surf surf surf
smoking hot bitch
So...let me know what you think and feel free to spread the word so we can get lots of people there
cheers
Cate
ps- contact me here or email me ms.cate[at]gmail.com
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Crafting and mental health...
(excert from an article I wrote for Mixtape zine recently).
Art and creativity have been long been considered therapeutic tools. Initially thoughts turn to conventional mediums such as painting and the act of painting or throwing pots as an act of catharsis in itself. But you can take it a lot further when you think about crafting.
Ways crafting make you feel better:
Meditative-The act of knitting can be likened to yoga as a rhythmic meditative activity. You may recall, Like Water for Chocolate(1992) where Tita knits a wedding blanket which grows and grows and gets longer and longer throughout the film symbolising her endless personal struggles and grief . There’s something relaxing about the act of knitting or cross stitching. You have to concentrate, yet you can also let your thoughts drift. Of course drifting thoughts can be slightly more problematic with other crafts as you embroider a cross stitch to your jumper accidentally or superglue your fingers together…
Tactility- There’s nothing like the feel of alpaca wool or velvet or doing something creative with feathers. It gives you a happy feeling inside.
The creative buzz-Inspiration is a wonderful thing to lift the spirits, and there’s nothing quite like the creativity of crafting, and the pleasure associated with looking through books, internet blogs, or nature for inspiration.
The search-Finding the perfect fabric or knitting needles at a neighbourhood garage sale, sorting through a stash of forgotten fabric you’ve had hidden under the bed… all of these can bring a sense of pleasure and achievement.
Achieving a goal- Creating an item of clothing or soft toy is a fine accomplishment. It involves, planning, getting supplies, cutting out and sewing and ending up with a completed object. When things seem rather pointless or relentless, even quicker crafts like badge making and pin cushions can make you feel like you’ve achieved something in your day. Having something in your hands that you’ve created from scratch is very tangible.
Risk taking- Everyone has that piece of fabric that they haven’t been able to bear cutting into in case they ‘ruin’ it. It’s an amazing feeling when you finally take the plunge!
Sharing your pleasure with others- Being crafty means there is never a shortage of gift giving ideas as a way of sharing your craftiness. And there’s nothing like socialising with other crafters! Through markets, blogs, knitting groups and online crafting communities you can get great pleasure in the sharing of ideas with people whose eyes don’t glaze when you talk about selvage.
Some resources that might interest you:
The Dax Cunningham Collection
http://www.daxcollection.org.au
Frances Reynolds (2000), “Managing depression through needlecraft creative activities: A qualitative study” in The Arts in Psychotherapy
Volume 27, Issue 2, 2000, Pages 107-114
Like Water for Chocolate
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Como_agua_para_chocolate
Stitchlinks
http://stitchlinks.com
Tara John Manning
http://tarahandknitting.com
ps- I end up writing alot of things about crafting and mental health these days and can never come up with suitably pithy titles, hence my dull working title
Art and creativity have been long been considered therapeutic tools. Initially thoughts turn to conventional mediums such as painting and the act of painting or throwing pots as an act of catharsis in itself. But you can take it a lot further when you think about crafting.
Ways crafting make you feel better:
Meditative-The act of knitting can be likened to yoga as a rhythmic meditative activity. You may recall, Like Water for Chocolate(1992) where Tita knits a wedding blanket which grows and grows and gets longer and longer throughout the film symbolising her endless personal struggles and grief . There’s something relaxing about the act of knitting or cross stitching. You have to concentrate, yet you can also let your thoughts drift. Of course drifting thoughts can be slightly more problematic with other crafts as you embroider a cross stitch to your jumper accidentally or superglue your fingers together…
Tactility- There’s nothing like the feel of alpaca wool or velvet or doing something creative with feathers. It gives you a happy feeling inside.
The creative buzz-Inspiration is a wonderful thing to lift the spirits, and there’s nothing quite like the creativity of crafting, and the pleasure associated with looking through books, internet blogs, or nature for inspiration.
The search-Finding the perfect fabric or knitting needles at a neighbourhood garage sale, sorting through a stash of forgotten fabric you’ve had hidden under the bed… all of these can bring a sense of pleasure and achievement.
Achieving a goal- Creating an item of clothing or soft toy is a fine accomplishment. It involves, planning, getting supplies, cutting out and sewing and ending up with a completed object. When things seem rather pointless or relentless, even quicker crafts like badge making and pin cushions can make you feel like you’ve achieved something in your day. Having something in your hands that you’ve created from scratch is very tangible.
Risk taking- Everyone has that piece of fabric that they haven’t been able to bear cutting into in case they ‘ruin’ it. It’s an amazing feeling when you finally take the plunge!
Sharing your pleasure with others- Being crafty means there is never a shortage of gift giving ideas as a way of sharing your craftiness. And there’s nothing like socialising with other crafters! Through markets, blogs, knitting groups and online crafting communities you can get great pleasure in the sharing of ideas with people whose eyes don’t glaze when you talk about selvage.
Some resources that might interest you:
The Dax Cunningham Collection
http://www.daxcollection.o
Frances Reynolds (2000), “Managing depression through needlecraft creative activities: A qualitative study” in The Arts in Psychotherapy
Volume 27, Issue 2, 2000, Pages 107-114
Like Water for Chocolate
http://en.wikipedia.org/wi
Stitchlinks
http://stitchlinks.com
Tara John Manning
http://tarahandknitting.co
ps- I end up writing alot of things about crafting and mental health these days and can never come up with suitably pithy titles, hence my dull working title
Women and art
In the current crafty DIY revolution I see loads of art of this ilk:
Lots of very delicate, whimsical creatures with big eyes, often looking sad.
Or otherwise lots of cute animals (often bunnies) looking rather cute and sad:
It's not that I dislike them (on the contrary! But I would really like to see some strong happy women doing happy things. Women that are not childlike or melancholy. I spend enough time being melancholy as it is to not want to look at it on my walls....
I really like social realism and communist china propaganda for this reason, as it shows strong/industrious/happy women. Yes, I realise they are not necessarily authentic pictures of women (not all were happy under poverty and enforced labour) and no one looks radiant doing hard labour, but at least they look like women!
So I am inspired to do some art of women. I have a vague idea involving fabric patchwork or mosaic.
Lots of very delicate, whimsical creatures with big eyes, often looking sad.
Or otherwise lots of cute animals (often bunnies) looking rather cute and sad:
It's not that I dislike them (on the contrary! But I would really like to see some strong happy women doing happy things. Women that are not childlike or melancholy. I spend enough time being melancholy as it is to not want to look at it on my walls....
I really like social realism and communist china propaganda for this reason, as it shows strong/industrious/happy women. Yes, I realise they are not necessarily authentic pictures of women (not all were happy under poverty and enforced labour) and no one looks radiant doing hard labour, but at least they look like women!
So I am inspired to do some art of women. I have a vague idea involving fabric patchwork or mosaic.
Women and art
In the current crafty DIY revolution I see loads of art .Lots of very innocent, delicate, whimsical creatures with big eyes, often looking sad.Or otherwise lots of cute animals (often bunnies) looking rather cute and sad . It's not that I dislike them (on the contrary)!
But I would really like to see some strong happy women doing happy things. Women that are not childlike or melancholy. I spend enough time being melancholy as it is to not want to look at it on my walls....
I really like social realism and communist china propaganda for this reason, as it shows strong/industrious/happy women. Yes, I realise they are not necessarily authentic pictures of women (not all were happy under poverty and enforced labour) and no one looks radiant doing hard labour, but at least they look like women, albeit state sanctioned women!
But I would really like to see some strong happy women doing happy things. Women that are not childlike or melancholy. I spend enough time being melancholy as it is to not want to look at it on my walls....
I really like social realism and communist china propaganda for this reason, as it shows strong/industrious/happy women. Yes, I realise they are not necessarily authentic pictures of women (not all were happy under poverty and enforced labour) and no one looks radiant doing hard labour, but at least they look like women, albeit state sanctioned women!
Yes, the whole innocent art is quite a phenomenon inspired in part I suspect, by Blythe dolls. It's interesting that it seems to be very much art by women for women, and is aligned with women 'taking back' traditional 'female' activities such as baking cupcakes, knitting and such, activities which require time, something which I suspect many women do not possess, thus in a sense it is a luxury to be part of the DIY movement. Interestingly, time is the biggest issue bemoaned by women desirous to make the move from employee to self sufficient creative women.
There is something wrong in that women's art work (usually prescribed with the lesser title of 'craft') is undervalued in any commercial realm as most women with any desire for payment for their time, labour and creativity are subject to consignment payments which work out less than the minimum wage.I discussed this with a male friend recently. His response was that, surely it was enough to create things and have them out there? I wonder if a male artist would receive this response? (Quite possibly).
At any rate, I am inspired to do some art of women. I have a vague idea involving fabric patchwork or mosaic from recycled goods. I would like to create authentic women but I am cognisant that any such attempts are invariably considered 'feminist' and relegated to a different category again, often suggestive of discomfort rather than the whimsical ways of innocent art. .
Monday, February 18, 2008
Blue monday venting
Just writing bits and pieces here. I'm having a hard day. It's very hot and I'm mega jet lagged after three hours sleep. I had all my medication stolen in Rome so I'm mega weepy. My dear sweet Flossie the bunny died a few days ago when I was overseas and a student I know threw himself under a train outside the university last week. The coroner's report on david's death should be finished next week in the UK.
Sometimes I feel like death is surrounding me. I'm trying to cope as best I can.
Chris remains in the UK until his (intention to marry) visa comes through-hopefully only a few more days.
I'll write something decent and articulate once I put some pics up as it makes it easier to write descriptively and put things into context.
Going to see Juno tonight with some friends and have some drinks. Should cheer me up as I'm feeling lonely.
On the plus I bought some great things on holidays, met some amazing people and saw some amazing sites. And I've got a transfer to work at another campus which is more arty and creative. A new shop in Singapore is considering stocking Polka Dot Rabbit stuff, and another has asked for more jewellery! Also have a couple more market plans and I'm thinking of starting a directory of underground markets in Melbourne
Crafty things I need to buy:
brooch backs
earring backs
Things to make:
Sometimes I feel like death is surrounding me. I'm trying to cope as best I can.
Chris remains in the UK until his (intention to marry) visa comes through-hopefully only a few more days.
I'll write something decent and articulate once I put some pics up as it makes it easier to write descriptively and put things into context.
Going to see Juno tonight with some friends and have some drinks. Should cheer me up as I'm feeling lonely.
On the plus I bought some great things on holidays, met some amazing people and saw some amazing sites. And I've got a transfer to work at another campus which is more arty and creative. A new shop in Singapore is considering stocking Polka Dot Rabbit stuff, and another has asked for more jewellery! Also have a couple more market plans and I'm thinking of starting a directory of underground markets in Melbourne
Crafty things I need to buy:
brooch backs
earring backs
Things to make:
- earrings
- rings
- belts
- robin brooches
- ladies
- kitties
- baby tops
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Random Musings
 | |
| italian fashion appears to centre around skinny jeans topped with knee high boots and parkas with hooded furred collars. I suspect this will be very popular next winter. planes are annoying Primark is an awesome shop, though i fear all the clothing comes from sweat shops. carrying two new pairs of shoes, knee high boots, two glasses and three mugs makes your luggage heavy buying a bigger bag is suprisingly cheap' Do i take a sleeping pill for the rest of my flight (from singapore to melbourne)? Tempting. |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
