Murrurundi had a short but intensely hot and dry Summer. There was no rain for over 6 weeks between the beginning of December and the middle of January. Our fishpond dried up and we lost 99% of our goldfish which saddened me greatly. The towns dam storage was at dangerously low levels and we went onto level 5 water restrictions which meant you couldn't even wash your car - let alone water a garden or fill the fishpond! Fortunately, though it became very stressed, most of the garden survived. The water level in the town dam became so low that poisonous blue-green algae bloomed and the towns residents were warned the tap water was too dangerous to drink - potentially life threatening! So for 10 days the regional Council handed out thousands of litres of bottled water in a daily delivery round to everybodys houses.
Towards the end of January it finally rained and the weather changed quite abruptly. Daily temperatures fell from averaging in the mid 30s to the mid 20s (celsius) and rain was falling at least every 10 days. The ground which had been parched yellow straw and dust was a carpet of luminous bright green within a week! the resilience of grass never fails to astound me.
Rodney and I have been doing some home "renovations". I put that in inverted commas because our definition of renovation is probably not the conventional one. Our philosophy is to update only what is absolutely necessary and to recycle, upcycle and make do with what we have available with the intention of minimising consumption of new materials. Of course its an easy philosophy for us to live within because our financial resources are negligible and our taste in decor leans naturally to the rustic and bohemian...
I have also been plodding away at my own creative enterprises. In January I discovered Spoonflower, the American company which prints textiles in small runs starting from only one metre. This inspired me to start working on an exhibition concept for later this year. I've designed some textile prints and made them up in my clothing designs. For the exhibition I want to show the continuum from the original art (working drawings, paintings, image boards, fragments, collages) to the patternmaking and the production of the finished garment.....
Heres pictures of the 2 dresses I've made so far.
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If you are interested in buying an artwork or booking a commission, please email me at pearl@upstairs-art.com.au