EAird

2012-01-31T13:06:00.000+13:00

Twenty four pages as yet unbound, 3 inches by 4 inches, 6 pages per line, 4 lines merged together. I intend them to make a book that will fit in my wooden crate. I have bound them several times, no effort has turned out exactly how I had hoped for. They are a series of influences from my past, indelible in my make up and they are as fresh as the day they happened, sight, smell and sounds accompany them. A map of sorts.

2012-01-28T07:51:00.001+13:00

These road photos are not interesting enough by themselves so I shall try posting them in blocks, starting after this one, which actually was a bad photo to begin with. I shall continue with the exercise series of more than 500 photos as I originally intended. Vivien Blackburn writes about a timely topic for me, what are the key elements of drawing and painting better, see her blog here January 6th 2012 Hopefully I will find what I am looking for.

2012-01-27T08:09:00.000+13:00

This is looking strangely like something it's not. What I am enjoying with these snapshot sketches is starting each day with a new one even if yesterday's is unfinished.

2012-01-26T10:46:00.000+13:00

Drawn with a black Cretacolor pencil (which I found was hard to get different shades with). I wish to be accurate and not losing that but getting some sort of movement and life. Should I leave out or put in objects because the photo was a snap? I am evaluating this out loud, why I am doing this - it is to help me interpret what I see. Maybe simplify too and that gives me the go ahead to omit.

2012-01-25T08:41:00.000+13:00

No 2: Sketching from a photo taken in the car whilst traveling at 100K down to Hawkes bay.

2012-01-23T08:33:00.000+13:00

I want to try and change how I draw things, starting with a series of sketches from my road photos taken on the way to Hawkes Bay. This is number one and it's amazing how it's as bad as the previous post. I shall continue - maybe it will take many sketches to work out where I want to go.

2012-01-15T20:26:00.000+13:00

This is not what I want to do, so I have a starting point. Perhaps it will be more difficult to change how I do things than I think.

2011-12-05T19:03:00.001+13:00

I have made a really rough crate out of a recycled grape box from Chile. I have featured the printed wood on the inside because of a box my father made. It was WWII in Scotland and 'waste not want not' was a useful adage. He made a box for my mother's letters out of a Scotch Whiskey box, the labels still cover the wood on the inside. Today I keep used postage stamps in his box. In my new box I am going to make some small books that fit like sardines and might include some other items of interest. Each binding should be different and maybe more experimental.

2011-11-25T10:02:00.001+13:00

On a wet, windy day Diane and I visited the Satellite Gallery in Ponsonby and afterwards took the opportunity to try urban sketching in the car. (Left) Franklin Road known for it's Christmas lights, and (right) part of the Unitarian meeting house at the top of Ponsonby Road. This was followed by a brief visit for supplies at Studio Art Supplies and an excellent lunch at Oh!So - just what we needed.

2011-10-21T07:10:00.000+13:00

EDM # 90 Draw something with wings. Using my brayer and new printing inks with nothing in mind, the first roll sparks my imagination and I have a field or two, then the sky - looking suspiciously like geysers just over the hill - some tree shapes on the left ahh, pause, where to put the birds. Do I have a flock flying through the geysers, far off up to middle distance? Deciding just to do one on the ground, I cut a stencil and rolled it. Hmm... now I think it should have been the flock and that would have solved the geysers. The ink is taking a long, long time to dry, I intended fixing the clouds with more ink, or even pencils - but it is still damp. On the reverse pages the oil has soaked through, so experiment needs more developing. Using the brayer across the gutter also caused a few problems, ink going where it shouldn't, build up on edges, marks on the brayer transferring. I did try to mask vulnerable areas.

2011-10-15T09:58:00.001+13:00

EDM # 89 Draw a button or buttons. I had to look out my button boxes and they were perched in the cupboard, right up near the ceiling, piled high on the top of many other boxes. The box of blue ones bounced down and I caught it, I must find some in here surely. These are actual buttons and harder to draw than I thought, I did them before breakfast and had the hunger pang shakes.

2011-10-13T16:30:00.002+13:00

EDM # 88 Draw something breezy - something that blows in the wind - a flag etc. I chose a piece of crumpled up paper, inked up and printed turning each one a little, then coloured in with pencils

2011-09-27T10:32:00.000+13:00

Small Journal entry no 71 Create an image using dots. Once again Asher proves to be reliable for a short time study.

2011-09-27T10:26:00.002+13:00

Small Journal entries no. 69 and 70. Do nothing was 69 and this is as near as I could do to recording nothing. 70 is to write a list of things you could do, and do the last thing you list.

2011-09-27T10:19:00.002+13:00

Small Journal entry 67 and 68. The first task is to draw an outline of an object without looking at the page (contour drawing). This is Asher, our new naughty boy kitten. The next is to write down what you are thinking about right now.

2011-09-27T10:11:00.001+13:00

Small Journey entries 65 and 66. The first is to write about something secret, cut it up into several pieces and glue them back in. It troubled me finding a secret - I don't have any! What's new my family would say. The second 66 is to write down definitions or descriptions of words you are interested in.

2011-09-27T10:01:00.000+13:00

Small Journal entry no. 64. Out of town day trip enabled me to look for the brief ' find several colour combinations in public, that you respond to. Document them using swatches.' The ominous sky next to the bright yellow petrol station was one. I found a paint shop and selected some colour charts, took them outside to match the clouds in the sky. The yellow blue photo concertinas out. The weather closed in over the top of us and it rained. We visited the almost new Morrinsville Gallery, then to Hamilton's Artspost and Museum, Chris caught up with us here. Saw Steph and Em and then Ann met up with us for a long long lunch. Ailie, Diane and I headed back home.

2011-09-27T08:26:00.000+13:00

Small Journal entry no 63. The instructions were to physically alter a page (cut a hole, stain it, burn it, fold it etc) I took five pages to play with this. I wet the page and tore holes, then water coloured the shapes on one side and on the other added paper weaving and tech pen detail. On following page I cut a rectangle, melted wax round the edge, held a flame to further melt the wax and char the edges and tore off a third of the page. Final page I stuck on the rectangle from the cut out added further collage and wrote over the narrowed page and the final one. I haven't posted this journal often because it's purpose is fun, experimental and a warm up, things often change or do not get finished.

2011-09-23T17:10:00.000+12:00

A pleasant few hours were spent with Elizabeth last Thursday. I thought I should try and remember the room. This time I would work over the gutter, OK, but found afterwards that the handwriting was hard to read over the ditch. This is the room we spent most of the time in, heads down looking at books and talking. The view was overlooked almost, just a glance every wee while and an exclamation of wow! This is not how Elizabeth's room was - just my memory of it. Proportions, scale are my misery!

2011-09-17T07:31:00.001+12:00

EDM # 86 Draw a traffic sign. We stood beside this road sign up Mt. Ruapehu way back in 1967, that's over 40 years ago! We were chaperoned on this weekend away because we had only just got engaged. How things have changed.

2011-08-09T14:16:00.012+12:00

EDM # 85 Draw a store front in your neighbourhood - inside, outside or both. The more I tried to make this right the more wrong it went. The mistake was in the initial pencil sketch and I leave it here - impossible to fix.

2011-08-03T08:12:00.004+12:00

EDM # 84 Draw some bread and write about it. The bread crust has always been a special treat in our family. The walk back from the shop as a child, small holes picked into the end where it was thought no one would notice, fresh bread made me a criminal. Then for years when I made my own bread - the first slice was for the cutter. If it was just a family lunch the tops of the bread were cut off so we shared all available crusts. Nothing to do with being a martyr but reverse psychology may have been used somewhere in my family history.

2011-08-02T11:52:00.005+12:00

EDM # 83.

The task this time is to draw a body of water, ocean, lake, pond or river. I started with no padding under my journal page and ended up with the lines from my cutting mat showing through. I am OK with that, it just adds another uncontrolled element.

2011-06-19T11:19:00.002+12:00

EDM no 82 Draw your art space, drawing board, desk, studio. That's the challenge. My studio is 1.5 metres by 3 metres - it's tiny, and packed to the hilt with stuff, shelves upon shelves, ledges with blu tack to hold stuff on top of other stuff, hanging stuff, boxes, trays and equipment. My chair has wheels so I can reach most things without getting up, it's the area underneath the desk that has seldom used stuff, I crawl and wallow to retrieve. Me, on my chair, at my desk - my art space.

2011-06-18T07:59:00.003+12:00

Solar printing reinforced and revisited this week. Slowly I am collecting the necessary equipment, stochastic screen, some new inks, making a graph guide and getting it laminated, now I wait for the sun - warnings and a really beefy weather system crossing over the country this weekend, patience needed. I have moved my press indoors at last before the cold weather gets our winter going properly. These experiments are with Graphite Chemical Ink and done at Susan's.

2011-05-27T08:10:00.002+12:00

This may not appear to have moved on from the last photo, but it has. The books have content and it takes time because they are larger. The two opened on the top contain copies of sepia photographs of family and friends, the smaller one has a selection of my hand carved stamps. The ones used as hinges have copies of old family letters which can identify the writer - a guessing book for family.The scroll is a calligraphic sampler. There is more to this level than meets the eye.

2011-05-18T07:44:00.005+12:00

Solar Printing Workshop. I haven't done this process before. Using a softish water soluble surface over metal, and a process of selected exposure and washing, I ended up with the print above. My first solar print. I have lots to learn, even what is considered a desired print effect.

I am always surprised by printing, part of it's charm, and the lines, I know I like lines, so I am trying to fit in more printmaking before it is covered by the mundane.

2011-05-12T06:14:00.004+12:00

This series of photos has nearly caught up to where we are at the moment. These are a more muted restrained set of boxes and books than the earlier ones.

2011-05-11T01:46:00.001+12:00

We have been going for a while on this project now, still looking at Randi Parkhurst's video but having to compromise with structures and proportions, finding individual solutions. The previous post's books and boxes are on the left hand side of this shot, in a box. Once again there is a hinged book, a concertina swing book and a tiny pamphlet book. Some of these books still need content, but we forge ahead with the structures.

2011-05-10T08:26:00.000+12:00

The next section looks like this.

The purple book from yesterday's blog is in the left hand side box and contains what I have made to date. There is now another hinged book sandwiched between two concertina boxes with books. It is so hard to hold back, this is so addictive.

2011-05-09T06:43:00.003+12:00

The longish box on the left is where we started. It is now joined by a hinged book with covers that stretch over the whole structure. Diane and I can tell at this stage that our books are going to end up with completely different proportions. It is the first time I have sewn over tapes. A word we used often at this stage was organic, a euphemism for when things did not quite meet up or were not plumb or true.

2011-05-08T17:23:00.003+12:00

After watching a video of Randi Parkhurst, http://vimeo.com/7694315 paper artist and book maker, Diane and I both thought we would like to attempt to make a similar construction. So together we set about to do just that and after watching the video, minutely, frame by frame, Diane suggested we start with the smallest set of boxes and books. We agreed to meet each week, also constructing independently at home, buying nothing new, using only what we had stored. (This was hard and I failed early on) I had saved the soap wrappers from many gifts and thought they would be ideal for highlights and features. The concertina in front lives in the small box to the rear right, and will contain Randi's details. The other concertina has two covers and contains words to do with patience. This is the beginning.

2011-04-07T16:56:00.004+12:00

My sister in law, Chris, and I have decided to start a monthly project using stitching and fibre. This is my first effort, using tyvek as the base (couldn't find my calico or canvas - but I have now) and then everything else has to be found at home, we are not allowed to buy anything and compromise is part of the deal. This looks far more brightly coloured than in proper light, you'll just have to believe me. The size was to be under 25cms, mine is much smaller because I have found a little book and I hope to fill it up with the trials. Mine is roughly 140mm. by 90mms. I have suggested a monotone effort for the next month. Chris what do you think?

2011-03-30T06:52:00.002+13:00

Multiple, Shaped Plates:

Print multiple plates in one press pass, on a single ground

Your plates can be inked or not inked, cut to any shape or size.

Out my bedroom window, an experiment with technique. The content is uninspiring I know but I was more worried about other things. Getting ink on the paper where I didn't want it to be, uneven inking of plates, getting the prints straight, no tearing of paper between prints, all of these things went wrong and more. As I cleaned up after each mistake I thought about all the exciting things I could do once I had worked out the basics. I promise myself to be braver next time.

2011-03-12T14:36:00.002+13:00

An imaginary island where you can study medieval life and crafts.

2011-03-03T07:09:00.003+13:00

Several cups of tea and nothing down, formulating but with no direction, not exactly floating but similar so decided to doodle in the last moments and this is the result. Not sure what I was doing, I might continue, probably not.

2011-02-21T09:26:00.000+13:00

Journal. Small sketch opposite the beans.

2011-02-21T06:43:00.001+13:00

2011-02-18T06:42:00.002+13:00

Quite a few of the journal writers I read on the web regularly, use a photo for reference for their sketches and paintings, so that is the way I thought was the best for me - my memory for detail is shoddy. I forget to look for connections to and relationships between. Hmmm, maybe this is not such a good way for me to do it. Perhaps I should start an exploring phase in my journal and see what happens when I draw just what I remember. It might improve how I look at things, draw what has the most impact on me, I might be able to draw what I feel. It might also be most frustrating - how to fill the gaps!

2011-02-17T07:54:00.003+13:00

Left hand only journal. On Tuesday three of us met at a Buddhist Temple at Flatbush. There was an embroidery exhibition by Yao Hong Ying we wanted to see. We decided to visit the teahouse and explore as well, surprisingly we were there for 4 hours, an interesting enjoyable day. A watercolours and neocolour II sketch shows my plate at the end of lunch. We stayed drawing and talking at the table until it was time to leave.

2011-01-30T10:02:00.002+13:00

EDM #81 Draw a streetlight. I have been on a short summer holiday to New Plymouth and the Coromandel. Great to get away from the stifling humidity and oppressive heat. Down country it was different weather (it may well have been at home too but I wasn't there). This light was an individual one next to the boardwalk that runs 10km along the ocean edge.

2011-01-10T21:44:00.005+13:00

A small concertina fold book that I made for an exchange next month, I have also made a little slip case to hold it in. The book measures approximately 2 inches by 2 inches and just under half an inch thick. The subject matter is to do with birds. I did an almost monochromatic tree scheme adding in more colourful features as the cycle unfolded, winter through to autumn in a vague sort of birds year.

2010-11-30T07:52:00.004+13:00

The colours of my succulent for botanical drawing change so I thought perhaps some trials with coloured pencils were a good idea. It will help with my final composition too. I have not yet learnt the teacher's way to blend and layer the colours together. Sadly traveling with the plant has knocked off several heads, a branch too, and it also suffers in the studio dark, preferring the bright sunlight.

2010-11-14T11:31:00.002+13:00

Layering practice with round shapes, maybe apples? These are just a few of the apples I have been making, the left hand page has light from the left and the right hand page has light from the right. I can still see the layers so more work to be done. Both are with different paint mixes/brands/brushes and even the paper is not smooth hot pressed. I hope my brain is in gear and I am learning valuable lessons, I estimate I have done over 100 of these little green shapes. Can you find a believable one?

2010-11-01T15:18:00.003+13:00

I think this is what I am supposed to be learning. Practicing brush techniques with water colour, looking at the shape, volume, shading and proportions of leaves. Starting with a very light wash graduating to the pigment heavy colour. This is the beginning, there are so many things to learn. The bottom two leaves are me just looking at patterns.

2010-10-27T06:22:00.003+13:00

I have started a course on Botanical drawing. I have the materials list and attended the first two classes. So far we have drawn leaves from observation, a couple of timed sketches, drawing with a continuous line, drawing with out looking at the paper and then drawing looking for the negative spaces, these helpful techniques kept us on our toes for the first lesson. The second lesson we mixed a healthy green, ( this was time consuming ) then painting various strokes aiming for a smooth brush technique, talking about layers and light, and graduated colour. After seeing the examples we all wanted to go home and make our own sample sheets. I do not have any examples to show you yet.

2010-10-19T08:42:00.004+13:00

A baker's dozen of dry point envelopes for me to use, they took a while to make and I will think about the appreciation factor when I send them out. Or, perhaps, I need to make lots so they become less precious and I get faster at making them. Yeah.

2010-10-15T06:53:00.000+13:00

With a left over piece of aluminum plate not used in Glen Skien's workshop I thought I could try something else, I made some marks and took a proof copy. This will enable me to use it as a reference for registering when I work the picture up to be printed over. I will cut out the areas I want to work on and then print over the top, capturing it under the ink. Approx. 210 x 300

2010-10-14T08:13:00.001+13:00

Regretfully because of ill health I was unable to attend the last day of the workshop with Glen Skien. So I have this set of unfinished prints. We started by making randoms marks with teabags or paint, having previously chosen a motif that we intended to work with. I chose fish, schnapper in particular (they ended up looking like whales!) Then we added other elements, pencil, ink, paint. We trialled chine-collo, collage and various inking techniques. Several days later when I had recovered I continued, I had problems with torn images, poor inking, and layouts that I wanted to improve. In the end I decided to leave as unfinished. I will try and find out what happened on the day I missed.

2010-10-10T04:18:00.002+13:00

I have had a wonderful week learning mixed media and dry point printing with Glen Skien, he has a blog and from there you can access his website. http://silentparrotpress.blogspot.com/ Above is a small book, one of many examples of his work that he showed us as he talked about how he worked. So much more interesting to see and hold the objects in real life. There are some more photos I took of his work on my other blog, look at the first week in October 2010.

2010-10-07T06:14:00.006+13:00

Everyday Matters # 80 Draw something you like and journal about it. This shell was given to me at a book club Christmas picnic several years ago. Written inside the shell are the words 'Janine said this was a HIllary shell' She picked it up from the beach at Longbay 2007. I agree it is a HIllary shell - I like it and it sits on my desk on my light base so I can wonder about it. The colours in a true light are amazing.

2010-10-05T23:00:00.003+13:00

Three centre page spreads from a small experimental book made in Glen Skien's workshop over two days. My content images were to do with windows and buildings, a theme that grew out of the old prefab with exposed rafters that we were holding the workshop in. Somehow a lighthouse became one of my major printed images. The book had 24 pages in all, 150 x 110 approximately when finished. Simple exposed journal stitch with no cover, something to keep and remind me of of the things I learned.

2010-10-04T06:43:00.002+13:00

These are the horizontal trials, one more successful to me that the other. I would like spears of grass along the bottom in the top image to start with and make the stingrays image underwater with a blue wash along the top. I will change both probably.

2010-10-04T06:38:00.001+13:00

The series continues, these two have birds collaged, the one on the left are under the bird feeder with seed dropping down, the one on the right, has a seagull and shell shapes.

2010-10-04T01:43:00.000+13:00

A second print at a workshop with Glen Skien covering drypoint printing and collage techniques. This is the same seaweed plate looking like a nautilus shell vase of dried flowers in front of a window perhaps. But no, it's to commemorate the small pelagic purple shells that are delivered to the shore by heavy seas, doomed. I have written illegibly my thoughts here too.

2010-10-03T22:21:00.005+13:00

A first in an series exploring various printing and collage techniques with Glen Skien. A dry point plate done of seaweed and a shell. The paper was water coloured and drawn on first, there is a weathered fence post and wire, some repetitive shell shapes and sky blocked in with watercolour. I added a small area of illegible script about my feelings of this place.

2010-09-29T01:40:00.000+13:00

Experimenting with the same products as previous post. This time I had an idea to work with, that's not saying that the idea worked, oh no. This was harder because I had a picture in my mind. I need to try again.

2010-09-28T07:50:00.002+13:00

Experimenting. I masked the journal pages first because I thought this might be messy. Using fluid acrylics, fiber paste gel medium, acrylic polymer medium, charcoal, pencil, and some adhesive sheet, I began with no ideas of how to fill the page. It was interesting and I might even do it again sometime. It measures 28.5 x19cm. The colour is brighter and deeper than the original I think.

2010-09-13T22:46:00.002+12:00

This final buoy was the most difficult for me to draw. Using a limited palette of Neocolor II sticks and trying to draw curves with blocky crayons was nigh impossible for me with my left hand. I couldn't get the colours correct and nearly chose the rainbow! I think it was the wrong media to have chosen for my skill level.

2010-09-13T10:11:00.002+12:00

Left Hand Journal. Pilot Croquis 6b pencil, drawn without looking at my paper. I did have a photo the same size, so with the masking tape around the edges it was easier for me to work out the starting points on the sides. I didn't want to be able to erase the lines so was deliberately heavy handed. If I kept the pencil on the paper I was less hesitant, finishing off with smudging some areas. I wonder if others would know what it was if it wasn't in this series!

2010-09-12T14:50:00.005+12:00

Left Hand Journal. I thought I should try each one of the buoys from our trip to Motuihe, in a different media. This one is coloured pencil. The paper has been bruised by the printing on the other side, leaving valleys, I don't mind this. I found it easier to control than the water colour but still awkward. However the picture is not true, I got it wrong - the curves on the tank are going the wrong way. Basic rule is to draw what you see not draw how you think it goes!

2010-09-12T10:19:00.004+12:00

Left hand Journal. No 13 Green buoy. I drew this in pencil first using the left hand, then I washed each area with water before I went to paint it. Seemed like a good idea, being really slow meant the colour stayed wet longer and I had the chance to work out the brush pressure. Then I struggled with small awkward dabby strokes filling in the detail. It felt very contrived at this point. The mast went crooked, when it was dry I added a line with my pen and ruler. Surprised when I looked at it the next day, just the weird feeling of painting with the offside hand remains.

2010-09-10T07:19:00.002+12:00

A bit sterile but a record for me, a memory of sitting on a fallen concrete post, painting Takutairaroa Bay on our trip to Motuihe on wednesday. Rain was falling out to sea and to the south over the city, but it clung to the clouds above us. The head land was very clear and the colours were muted and dark, brooding.

2010-09-06T18:08:00.002+12:00

EDM #79 Draw an ear or two or three or more. With no thought of planing the page I just started somewhere in the middle. This challenge ended up just as confused as the nose page. I have since numbered the sequence of drawing in my journal, hoping I will pay attention when I have to assemble more small things together. Using mirrors worked quite well drawing my own ear, it is just the sketcher that needs to try harder.

2010-09-03T09:42:00.003+12:00

Left handed journal experiment, prompted by my first entry where some writing had been erased but the bruised marks remained in the paper. So I needed a defunct roller ball and had to deconstruct one, empty the ink and build it up again. I wrote my notes with the left hand and then drew over with some of my light coloured pencils. The insert is me trying to use up the pen. I like the texture of it.

2010-08-31T23:09:00.003+12:00

E.D.M. # 78 'Draw a souvenir of a place you've been to. Journal a bit about your memories of the place.' This is a small glass souvenir from Murano, about 2cm across. We stayed in Venice at the Hotel Gorizia A la Valiga. We have some great memories of the breakfasts and the waiter, the lift and the language. Touring on the edge of summer made for very few other tourists, the odd cool wet day and we got to see St Marks Square with water threatening to inundate it. It was wonderful to see the city and other islands, we not only left a clock and a buffalo but probably a little of ourselves.

2010-08-31T14:50:00.003+12:00

E.D.M # 77 Draw something cool, cold or chill. People. Thought about this for a while, and decided to see what my imagination and memory could come up with. Even on a nice day you can feel exposed and cold while waiting for the bus, this poor person is trying to shelter behind the pole.

2010-08-28T22:14:00.002+12:00

I collected beach glass from Narrow Neck, Torpedo Bay and Devonport Beach. I drew round these pieces and then painted them to go with my notes. Still stalling with my other projects, maybe tomorrow, yeh, right.

2010-08-24T15:02:00.003+12:00

In the doldrums, just not the right head space, this is a doodle because I have to start somewhere.

2010-08-14T09:24:00.005+12:00

Number 50 on the list in my smallest journal. Draw a map of your favourite sitting spot in your town or city. Photocopy it and give it to someone. It's pouring with rain and the middle of winter here right now, so my favourite sitting spot would be my lounge chair. There is no map because this chair moves about at my whim. I am sort of giving it out by showing it on this blog.

2010-08-12T06:23:00.003+12:00

Some elegant Giant Bamboo drawn with coloured pencils in my 'left hand only' journal. On looking back a few pages I see that the last few things I have drawn are green, I wonder why. I notice that I am selecting things to draw that require mainly straight lines, is this because I like them or is it easier to control with my weaker hand? It is quite a while since I have done anything in there and my hand is unused to it.

2010-07-29T16:49:00.004+12:00

Waiting for us when we returned to the carpark at Aratiatia Rapids were two feisty roosters, we thought they were friends until feet started flying at each other. This is for Roz, Chris and Steph.

2010-07-26T11:15:00.003+12:00

EDM # 76. Draw some flowers (or colourful showy foliage if you're in the southern Hemisphere and don't find flowers in bloom) I decided to make a picture using found objects suitable to make impressions from. Squashed and flattened bottle tops found in carparks from our Taupo weekend, mesh strips from gibbing the wall, and cutting mat score lines all drawn over with coloured pencils and tissue paper. The tissue is done in four sheets and only glued down on one edge.

2010-07-15T21:01:00.002+12:00

I have been exploring the concept of personal mapping. Jill Berry suggested this project and it has been exciting to see ideas developing, and to see work from the others has been amazing. Several maps have been completed, two I shall send off to join the others and in due course I will put them on this blog. I have also joined an unscheduled envelope exchange and that is coming to an end. I am working on a piece for my daughter, once again hoping for completion. The last one I started is still unfinished. Soon I shall get back to EDM and my journals, I am missing them. Apologies for lack of posting on here.

2010-07-04T09:52:00.001+12:00

Thought I would try this, as an experiment and just for the record.

2010-06-27T08:40:00.002+12:00

Yesterday was always going to be showers, by that I mean the thoughts in my head were interrupted or scattered. I have taken to giving myself a score for the day, 10 being as good as I get and 1 meaning just leave me alone to sleep it off. This doodle was supposed to be a warm up but I never finished or got onto other things. It records a mood scores of 9. Yes number 9 is there.

2010-06-25T11:44:00.002+12:00

EDM no 75. Draw the ingredients and/or process of a favourite recipe - journal about it. This would be an essential part of every picnic I go on. Easy to make in the morning, cooling as I pack up the rest of the things to take. However it is probably a food of memories as I try hard to stay away from items in this category (fats) on my new regime. It is not on the list!!

2010-06-24T06:13:00.000+12:00

An entry in my left hand journal. While out driving early in the morning I was reminded how interesting it is to live in a city of extinct volcanoes. The long shadows from the rising sun made the mounds stand out and this was quiet evident from up the top of one, looking across to another. I think I might like to try a profile of some, from various points starting with the one whose lava flow I live on.

2010-06-02T22:13:00.004+12:00

So long between posts on this blog, why? when I am trying so hard to make time. I think I have too many projects running. A sketch 25cm x 9cm. of a small lavender field just at the beginning of spring. The farm house was deserted and probably only used in summer when the flowers are harvested. The trees are showing the first bright green leaves and the foothills behind were misty and tending towards a pale bluish lilac as they disappeared into the valley behind the house.

2010-05-17T08:22:00.012+12:00

Dale-Cormack, Glennis, Roselda and myself, all sitting around a big old wooden table, on a cool autumn Sunday for a day of play with coloured pencils. Starting from scratch we chose a peach from the book below and each set about following the instructions. No one had all the suggested colours but tried to get as near as we could. The two peaches above are mine, the one on the right is using as near as I could get to the recommended colours and the other was an experiment. Hmmmm!

26.5.10 Later Dale sent me a photo of the all the experimental peaches so I will add it to this post.

2010-05-12T10:22:00.004+12:00

EDM # 79 Draw some clouds and write about them. Last Friday, we started driving south towards Kaikoura before first light and this was a rather blurred sunrise we saw through the car window. I was interested in the colours but there was not enough time to look properly ( it takes me ages to look properly) and I didn't take note how the colours merged. I have made a promise to myself to have another go later.

2010-04-23T10:56:00.002+12:00

This is a sketch in my smallest journal and is number 41 on the list. I have tried to imagine someone I didn't like and dispensed attributes that I don't particularly admire, but keeping him real at the same time.

2010-04-23T08:41:00.002+12:00

EDM # 73 Draw a mailbox and write about the most important piece of real mail you've ever received. In hindsight this may not be the most important letter I have had but it is the most memorable. A small pen and wash sketch of where I lived nearly 50 years ago and received my School Certificate results by snail mail.

2010-04-11T11:15:00.002+12:00

Left handed journal entry. I think I am stalling, putting off a new project until I feel I know what I am doing, but I must start. Ideas are slowly collecting, I want to enjoy exploring it ..... rushing as the deadline approaches is not a good idea. Choice of paper, materials, pigments, (overview needs work) over all cohesion - have I thought about that? Tomorrow I will start, today I will prepare.

2010-04-06T21:33:00.004+12:00

EDM # 72 continued. This is the second little drawing from the Kaipara Coast Sculpture Gardens that we visited on Easter Sunday. Done in coloured pencils from Alison McGarvey's work with ceramic balls and hardwood. I wasn't able to spend time when I was there so this is mainly from the photograph I took. It was quite tactile and made me want to touch the colours.

2010-04-06T07:05:00.004+12:00

EDM #72 Draw somewhere new. Go somewhere new to you and draw what you find. Write about it too. This ceramic egg was resting in the garden at eye level, I guess it was about a foot round, maybe 22 cm diameter. We were visiting the Kaipara Gardens Sculpture Trail on Easter Sunday, it took a little over an hour to walk around and I have a wealth of material for this challenge. We started with a cold drink, signed the release form, listened to the instructions and set off. The squeals of children as they participated in the easter egg hunt (organised for them) was nice to hear, lively children need to be supervised around sculpture, for the need to climb, touch, push and pull is strong, just a giant playground in their eyes. The garden and trees muffled their noise somewhat. The day was overcast and pleasant and the pace was slow as we looked around us.

2010-04-05T11:24:00.002+12:00

EDM #71 Draw something representing your favourite sport. Most sport has been filed away in my memory, as the bones, muscles and will have slowly realised there are more things to explore. I have a long history of following and participating in sports and have inked a few here. I still watch from the side many folk participating and having fun. My favourite when I was young would have been surfing and the last competative sport I played was badminton.

2010-03-21T13:18:00.003+13:00

Number 39 in the smallest journal I am using at the moment, 175x110mm, and the task was to draw the contents of your bag or purse. The page was too small and I had to list some things.

2010-03-20T13:52:00.001+13:00

Everyday Matters #70. Draw something you fear and write about it. Spiders would be a close second.

2010-03-19T07:10:00.003+13:00

Everyday matters 69, draw a beverage and write a little about it. I did draw on the small round rubber stamp, and using the baren set that my family gave me for my birthday, carved a stamp. Somehow I smudged the page when opening the stamp pad and that meant I had to cover it with the image. The first stamp was uneven because I forgot to pad the back properly, so I did another image over the top, a double one, no register! and finally the last image on the top and decided to stop. Along the bottom are single images without re-inking.

2010-03-19T07:02:00.002+13:00

Everyday matters number 68 continued. All the major parts of my studio computer are together and working well. I am still going to buy the equipment to drive a TV, I am running with borrowed gear at the moment and it works well (although I seldom watch TV there, preferring just music).

2010-03-12T09:07:00.002+13:00

Fun with the left hand journal continues. This is an imagined aerial view of the houses round ours, and I would like to develop it more. Maybe even making it into a print, after all I am supposed to be print making this year - I say the year can start when I choose. I would like to play around with colours I haven't used in a while. Maybe even use those ones ordered from far away.

2010-03-07T08:43:00.001+13:00

Everyday Matters # 68 continues. This is the newest part of my studio systems, the MacMini. Slung under my slab of wood desk and safe in an aluminum and wood case. There are still pieces to arrive. A sound bar is due to arrive any day, with a keyboard and mouse on order. The last two have arrived in the country and awaiting pick up by the local courier. I must give full credit to Martin and Ian for the encouragement and help in this upgrade, applause guys. I just sat around and watched as the fingers and banter flew.

2010-02-28T22:11:00.003+13:00

I am floundering about, not enough decision making or maybe too much, trying many different things - the result - not good, I am shaking my head slowly in despair. I need a plan and a course to set off on.

These entries have been done in the smallest journal I am using at the moment. Number 34 give away something you love - soap, 35 choose an object and draw the side you cannot see and 36 list all the places you have ever lived at.

I had thought to make my next extended project one of print making, but for that I will need to prepare the pages, and stitch the journal when I have finished the printing. Or the alternative to insert the prints afterwards. Or use a bit of both - still waffling! Best to wait a bit longer until definitely swayed one way.

2010-02-25T21:42:00.003+13:00

EDM 68 Draw your computer. This has kept me away from my journal for a while and today I thought I just must get over it and on to the next challenge. Totally wrong thinking Hillary (hit the forehead with the heel of the hand). It doesn't matter what you are given to draw, it is up to you to make the best drawing you can. So I am very disappointed with myself for this lack of effort. Tomorrow I upgrade to a new mac mini, a better screen and later when the budget recovers a new keyboard, mouse and mini eye tv which will reduce the clutter on my desk, cutting down to only one monitor.

If you select the category 'sketching' on this blog, and go back to Saturday July 28th 2007 you will see my computer as it was then, and I promise to draw the new set up as soon as it is up and running.

2010-02-22T21:52:00.002+13:00

Every Day Matters #66. Draw a fire hydrant and journal about fire fighters. This was a long time coming because in New Zealand we do not have fire hydrants and I looked for ages for the rectangular yellow boxes in the ground. Then whilst out with some friends I found so many all at once. It was an older, more established area of the city. This one was between the roots of a Pohutukawa tree, lying crooked and quite proud of the ground. The base was built up with cement. The fire service in NZ is both regular and voluntary and both men and women are permitted to serve their communities.

2010-02-09T11:42:00.000+13:00

Number 33, draw a page of dots and colour them in - was this task. Therapeutic!

2010-02-09T11:38:00.001+13:00

Number 32. List 100 uses for tin cans. I have left this list open ended rather than mention all the things you can put in a tin can. As I think of them I will add to it.

2010-02-09T11:31:00.002+13:00

Number 31. My small journal which is running a list of 100 tasks has a few entries not up here. The pages are notebook size 12cm x 18cm. This one is to list the neighbourhood smells, I did not want to go smelling the compost, or my neighbour's dog kennel or the drains, it was such a lovely day I chose pleasant smells and can you blame me?

2010-02-08T11:08:00.002+13:00

Like a fish out of water, so clumsy. I had to paint with the left hand so quickly before the acrylics dried, I even used my old mixing brushes, it still dried long before I had finished. They of course made the narrow lines and small areas very rough and ready. So busy concentrating on holding the brush and using the colours I didn't notice the table against the wall and yet there is still room for the chairs? Don't you think the bar under the table would make sitting there almost impossible if not downright uncomfortable. This is supposed to mark Diane's over seas trip which is approaching quite quickly.