Archive for April, 2006

• meet April Showers

  Date: 2006.04.30 | Category: sewn | Response: 1

  

  Hi, I’m April. Yeah, that’s right, April Showers.
  Very funny, like I haven’t heard that one before!
  Look, it’s not my fault, my parents picked the name. What? You didn’t think April was a girl’s name?!?
  And who are you, anyway?

  Huh? You were expecting someone more goth looking? What, all black and grey?
  Someone told you I usually wear black eyeliner and grey dresses with raindrops?!? And I’m all gloomy and wintery looking? No way, that was a stage, i’m over it!

  Oh, you can hear someone muttering in the background about using what they have and not having any decent black fabric paint or decent black pens? Yeah, i dunno who’s muttering either.
  Look, it’s Autumn colours, ok? It’s Autumn here now and it hasn’t rained in days.

  

  She’s my April entry for A Month of Softies. She’s a proof-of-concept doll. The concept is graphix girl, number 19 on my to-do-list. Yes, I think the concept is proven, I’ll make graphix girl one day … but not in May, I’m working on back-tack!!!

  And just to show you even prototypes have their prototype:

  

  I love finding out how people develop their softie patterns, so I thought I’d show you how I’m developing mine ;D

• Illustration Friday: Robots

  Date: 2006.04.27 | Category: drawing | Response: 2

  I’ve been seeing so many great robots arround recently. I love Claire’s / Loobylu’s links and wow, how much effort were Mimi’s softies here and here? And great use of sewing items to make them look mechanical! It seems all the best ideas are already taken!

  So what’s new in the world of robots? Baby-bots?

  

  Ballet-dancing vacuume-cleaning bots?

  

  Menacing assembly-worker bots?

  

  Surely not!

• street art #03

  Date: 2006.04.25 | Category: random | Response: 0

  

  Found on a wall in Australia Street (yes, really). Unfortunately, I’ve no idea who drew it, nor why it’s there. But I love it lots! Wouldn’t it make a great softie?

• Orlando (Teatro Pupi Macri)

  Date: 2006.04.20 | Category: random | Response: 1

  

  Yesterday, I went with A & her Nonna (i.e. my Mum) to see a traditional Sicilian puppet play – Le Avventure Di Orlando at the Italian Forum in Leichhardt. I loved it! Above is a little memento.

  I spent a lot of high school borrowing & re-borrowing books about puppets and marionettes, particularly this one. (The other books I read and re-read were about Berlin, Germany and the Holocaust). Yep, odd. Anyway, I already knew all about the types of puppets used, without ever really expecting to see them. They are simple puppets, heavy wood with a metal rod for the head and another metal rod for the sword arm. What was fascinating was the skill of the puppeteers – each character had his own walk, even though there is no string for the legs. The Saracens moved shiftily, one stroked his beard. The Christians strode bravely. I loved the syringe of red paint for blood, the different choreography for each battle and the slaying of the dragon.

  My Dad spent his life studying old stories – mediaeval, and also Australian Aboriginal. I’ve done the opposite, tried to always be 20th century, now 21st ;D When he told me the stories he was thinking about, I used to tell him they didn’t translate well to the modern world. Oh, except one about an old noble, a warrior, who had outlived all his family, all his friends and allies and was forced to spend his last days in the court of an enemy… that could be a film.

  Anyway, the puppeteers made this version of Le Avventure Di Orlando relevant to today: about the futility of war. Orlando doesn’t blow his horn to summon reinforcements when he realises he and the other knights have been lured into a trap. Instead, they fight, and, yes, win. But then Orlando stands on the battlefield, not enjoying the victory, instead realising all his brothers, his friends are dead. He blows his horn as he should have earlier, but, poetically, blows so hard he bursts blood vessels. As he lies dying, either (as the announcer explained in English) he slays the dragon of his own errors or (as the puppeteers played it) an angel visits him. Whichever, it’s a good story. I wish my Dad were still here so we could talk about it …

  On a lighter note, A loved crawling the length of Leichhardt library and back – I think it’s the longest building she’s gone crawling in. She crawls on all fours now, although sometimes she looks like she’s trying to stand up

• Illustration Friday: Spotted

  Date: 2006.04.19 | Category: drawing | Response: 2

  

  Well, spotted could be so many things, but it occured to me the other day that tabby cats are actually sort of spotted. Based on this photo, which I like a lot – such attitude!

  I don’t draw from photos much (ever), but as I don’t have a cat, I can’t see a cat’s shape in my mind. The first picture is more careful and more spotted, whereas the second one is moving away from the photo, and freeing up a bit.

• Wow, so clever! (Scroll down to see how these wall hangings were made!) http://t.co/oh2Uuhci From Design*Sponge about 7 hours ago from TweetDeck
• Grey water RT @sarahfielke Colour of your pants + last thing you ate or drank = #yourbandname about 8 hours ago from TweetDeck
• This is what I miss about Japan: things that just fit back into their boxes, with no trouble, clear instructions which way up... *sigh* 07:55:05 am 04 February 2012 from TweetDeck
• #talknt Fabric travel is global warming worry, but Organic is still worthwhile > rivers, land near cotton fields not damaged by pesticide 02:24:45 am 01 February 2012 from TweetDeck
• Good question! RT @helishingly: why don't UFO's visit us now we all have camera phones? #AFPInvestigates 10:34:08 am 30 January 2012 from TweetDeck