Not doing much

For the last week and the one coming I've been on uni holidays. Given that I work full time, you wouldn't think that would make much difference. Surprisingly though, it has made a huge difference. I've got two extra nights at home.

When I did my undergraduate degree I would go out a whole lot more when I was on uni holidays. For some reason now I've had the complete opposite reaction. Even on weekends I've just pottered around the house, rather than going out.

I think my homebody-tendencies have come from a subconscious recognition that I need rest. To not do much. I feel more relaxed than I have in a long time. And I've been writing much more than usual as well, which is never a bad thing.

heart and intuition

This morning I woke up and read this lovely quote over on black*eiffel . Seems quite appropriate for how I've been feeling lately.

“Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” - Steve Jobs

image by scilit

I don't know where I am but I'm not lost

I haven't written for a few weeks now. I've tried - I've sat at a blank page, waiting and thinking of something interesting to come many a time. Somehow nothing I had to say seemed quite right.

I've been feeling a little bit lost lately. A little bit torn between wanting to have a plan and being enthusiastic and ready to get on with life, and having no idea whatsoever what I feel like doing with myself. Sometimes I get caught up in all the "should do this" and "have to do this's".

The upside to all of this is that in the last week or so I've began to try not to listen to all of that going on in my head, and not worry about where my life is going for awhile. And I feel a little bit more free. I know that I'll work it all out as it comes and until then I am going to enjoy this time that I have, being young, being around people that I love and being open to where ever life may take me....

Image by aprilbrimer

Filling in time

It's a Friday evening and I'm filling in time. I'm about to get on a bus to Canberra to visit my folks and I'm really looking forward to it. I love spending time with my family - I'm constantly amazed at how much more I appreciate them after living so far away from them.

But I'm also looking forward to the trip itself. I've got three hours to myself to write, read, stare off into space, listen to music. And when I get to the other end I'll no doubt stay up late with my parents and brothers talking and yawning. Tomorrow night we're going out f0r dinner to celebrate Mum's birthday, which was last weekend.

This little sojourn co-incides with the start of uni holidays. While I'm still working full time, I'm glad of the break. It will give me a bit more time at home, something I'll appreciate even more after a weekend away. And I'll have more time to write.

Image by Hoosier Graphics.

Changed Plans

On Saturday morning I was supposed to go to a writers' group with my cousin, who is also a writer. I got up early and went to the supermarket to do my week's shopping (I can't stand the crowds of a Saturday afternoon) and got through a few loads of washing before my cousin was due to pick me up at 9.15. It was warm, sunny and I felt on top of things.

Then plans changed. Car troubles meant that my cousin was unable to pick me up, and neither of us could go to the writers' meet. Strangely, though, I wasn't overly disappointed. I had wanted to go, had been looking forward to it, but now I had the whole morning to myself. And it was a beautiful day!

From about 10am until 6pm, when some friends arrived for pre-gig drinks, I sat in my shady backyard and read and wrote. It was lovely.

My change of plans coincided with a change in weather; and I was reminded that sometimes all one needs is a change.

Image by tofrg - I wish I could say this was an image of my backyard...

Circus

For a variety of reasons, this month I've had the circus on my mind. So we thought we'd set it as the theme for this month's Monday Project.

Feel free to keep your responses as light and fluffy as you like, or to delve deep into some kind of dark, creepy world behind the tent flaps.

The deadline for this project will be Monday 6 October.

As usual, please send through any responses to themondayproject85@gmail.com.

Happy clown-hunting!

Photo by isabella.jorgensen.

Am I Boring?

This weekend I attended 'Guwanyi': National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Writers' Festival. It was held at the New South Wales Writers' Centre on a very rainy Saturday. The Writers' Centre is a lovely old building inside Rozelle Hospital grounds; and the perfect location for such a festival.

I went with another non-indigenous friend and we agreed that it was an insightful experience to listen to so many writers of indigenous background talk about their experiences, both as people and as writers; and to do so with a certain level of objectivity, not playing the part of the bitter victim, a box I believe Aboriginal people often find themselves in. So many of the writers had very moving, and sometimes tragic, personal and familial histories.

Many writers that I speak to write about themselves. Maybe not directly, but definitely on some kind of subconscious level they write about how they experience the world. At the moment I find it very difficult to do this. I often write about sadness, but it is not very often my own.

I realised yesterday that I have often felt like my own experiences and the way I think about the world are not interesting enough to write about. I am middle class and white. I had a lovely childhood and still have a loving family. I have already received a good education and am in a position to pursue further study. I am in no way complaining about any of these things, quite the opposite: I am very thankful for them.

My point is that I have never felt like I can write about myself because my life does not really provide any interesting material. And so I write other people's stories.

Of course, just because I don't write about myself does not mean I don't write for myself. And, in the end, I guess people that have had incredible experiences and go on to write about them are doing the same: writing for themselves.

I'm not sure what my overall point is here, exactly. I guess I'm interested to find out what motivates other people to create. Is it an exploration or an exorcisim of sorts?

A new project tomorrow! And we will put the responses to the last up sometime this week. Apologies for the disorganisation this month.

Image by soartsyithurts.

PS. I am aware of the irony inherent in me writing a post all about how I don't write about myself!

Patience and Pebbles

I've felt frustrated this week. On Tuesday or Wednesday I went to get in the shower in the morning after writing for forty minutes or so; it was raining outside and I thought about how lovely it would be to stay at home, inside, writing all day. But, like every other week day, I had to go to work. I felt sad about it for most of the day. It was probably quite an immature response: to mope and pout all day.

I emailed a good friend of mine to have a whinge, and she offered the following advice, passed on from her mother: "People who move mountains start by moving very small stones".

And so I am going to practice patience and start with the pebbles.

The monthly project is due tomorrow.

Image by cocoi_m.

Quiet weekend

This weekend is going to be a quiet one, and I am so looking forward to it. My love is away until Monday and I will miss him very much but I will also enjoy having a quiet lazy weekend catching up on reading, creating and perhaps even venture out to some markets. It's going to be very nice.

(Weekend mornings from J. Evans)

Rediscovering the library...

Today I have had the most productive day. I love monday's because I don't have to work and I get a chance to get lotsof things done. Today was tax return, shopping, and FINALLY getting to the library near my new house. And perhaps even the gym....

I remember when I was little going to the library every Saturday morning after netball with my Mum and sisters and borrowing several books. I had forgot how much fun it was spending time browsing shelves upon shelves of beautiful books, agonising over which ones were to be coming home with me. I hadn't been to the library for so long and told myself that this was because I much preferred to buy books. Which is still true, but there is also something nice about borrowing books you normally wouldn't really buy, to learn something new or look at all the pictures.

Today I went in search of books about trees, looking for some pictures and inspiration. I found two incredibly beautiful books, which reminded me how much inspiration there is to be found in nature. How beautiful are these pictures?

Top four images: Tom Petherick - Trees that shape the world.

Bottom three images: Thomas Marent - Rainforests.

Little People

So lovely I just had to share. Thanks to Scott for the link!

thinking about trees....

Today out shopping I found this great paper which reminded me so much of the tree for this project, I'm not sure exactly what I'm going to use it for yet but I'm thinking I might try and use it somehow in some jewellery? Or maybe this month I might make some kind of artwork in the wall hanging sense... it's been so long since I've made anything like that, and my new house has lot of empty walls that need something on them!

I need, need, NEED these!!

I have a thing for tea. I love it. The only thing I love more is teacups and teapots. I can't remember where I saw these teacups, (so please let me know if you know!) but they are the best I have ever seen and I must have them! They are designed to change and build up a pattern, with areas getting darker with each use as they are stained by the tea. You can order them here. Mine will be so dark in no time!

(Images via woodlondon)

The Tree

We thought maybe this month we'd try an image as the theme. This beautiful tree shot is by tgallivan. He has some other, very beautiful nature shots - worth a look!

The deadline will be the first Monday of next month: 1 September.

As usual, send any response to us in an email: themondayproject85@gmail.com.

And if you'd like to join the mailing list for the monthly projects shoot us a quick email at the above address and we'll add you.

Happy creating!

Finally: "... and then there were three."

Finally, I have had a chance to type this up. Sincere apologies for my tardiness; my life has been a little crazy-busy of late. But here it is, as yet unfinished. But begun, which is the point.



She couldn’t believe how unlucky she was. She looked at the small bucket of food in her hand; three pairs of eyes blinked at her from behind the wire mesh. She didn’t think there would be enough food for all three, particularly because the little one probably wasn’t strong enough to push past the others and get his fair share.

She crouched down, put the food on the ground and pressed her right eye up to one of the holes in the mesh. She wasn’t quite sure how this had happened. Yesterday there had been only two guinea pigs to feed, both male. Now a third had appeared. She didn’t understand how a baby could appear without a girl guinea pig.

“Where did you come from Little One?” She asked, using the name her father called her, and poking her fingers through the mesh at the animals, who were all whining at her in expectation of food.

• shared sibling moment – her slightly older brother comes out to get her, sent by her mother, and realises immediately hat one of the ‘boy’ guinea pigs must be a girl.
• the parents only gave in to the repeated requests for a guinea pig on the condition that they only got one; but the man in the shop explained that guinea pigs don’t survive very well without companionship. The daughter overheard this and was horrified to think of how lonely her guinea pig, Max, would become, so the parents reluctantly agreed to get two, as long as they were both male: “we don’t want any baby guinea pigs”
• now the girl and her brother are terrified of getting in trouble, and of what might happen to the baby if Mum and Dad find out it exists.
• they discuss their options: letting it go (“but what about the neighbour’s cats!?”), hiding it, taking it to school to give away.
• their mother opens the back door of the house and calls out to them to hurry up – she is going to be late to work, and they to school. At this point a hurried decision is made: the brother expertly catches the baby guinea pig and his sister puts it in the pocket of her school dress: “Sally always said she wanted a guinea pig.”

Ice men

I just found these great ice sculptures here. They are by artist Nele Azavedo, but that is all I know and I can't find anymore information about them.! If anyone knows anything about them or about the artist be sure to let me know, I am so curious! I think they are fantastic!!

(Images via Lemoox)

I'm late, I'm late for a very important date!

So this month I thought I'd set a really good example to others regarding tardiness. As such, I have yet to type up my response to "...and then there were three". I have written something, but it is still in my notebook.

I have a weekend music festival, camping for three days, wearing gumboots and not showering to blame. I guess I have a good excuse... But I promise it is coming. And as proof, the shot above is of the text in my notebook. Apologies for the blurry image - after a two day festival, a twelve hour drive and a full day at work I just didn't have the patience to focus the camera properly!

But tomorrow is another day and I promise I will post my response then.

three little speckled eggs

Check out this beautiful embroidery at unbecoming lily. I love the idea of the eggs and the mother bird! Thanks to Jeana for playing!!

Its so interesting to already be able to see how different the responses are to the same idea!

scott mckenzie

A submission from graphic designer Scott Mckenzie. You can read about his inspiration and ideas for this project right here and check out his website here.

three

So my response for this months project is this:

I focused more on the "three" than on anything else, and I made a silver ring riveted together with three 18ct yellow gold rivets. Excuse the bad photo's it doesnt show the gold very well. Quite simple really but at least it got me at my bench which is the idea I guess! "Then there were three" also got me thinking about birth and new life however I ran out of time before I could develop those ideas, but perhaps at some stage in the future I will.

A new project will be up tomorrow, as well as any responses which will be able to be found on the side bar, as well as any links. If you wish to be included in the future you can link your blog with your response, or a link to a photo in flick in the comments, and this will be posted in the sidebar. Look forward to seeing other responses!

A new year

These days I spend so much time worrying about where I am headed and how I am going to do all the things I'd like to do and some days what it is I even WANT to do, and it's getting me nowhere to actually figuring it all out. In fact its stressing me out and its got to stop.

Today starts a year of not knowing and not trying to know. Of just being and letting everything else follow. Of trying new things, meeting new people, and then in a year, some travelling to places I have never been.

(photo the road to ragged mountain)

suprise!

Today I received in the mail the best suprise I have ever received ever in the mail! I received the most beautiful print from bubbo-tubbo that I posted about a few weeks ago. It was so beautifully packaged I didn't even want to open it! However I did, very very carefully so as not to rip anything and I love it! I cant wait to get this up on my wall. Thankyou Natasha so very very much!

“… and now for something completely different.”

Well, not quite. But this week I have tried something new. Every morning I got up at 6am to write for nearly an hour before I had to get ready to start my other (paid) working day. I sat up in bed each morning, opened my laptop or my notebook and put words on the page one after another.

Some mornings I got further than others; some mornings the time seemed to drag on as I tried to squeeze the words out of my brain; on others the time seemed to pass in the space of an early-morning yawn and I was suddenly scrambling to get all the ideas, phrases and words onto the page before I ran down the hallway to have a shower.

A couple of the people I have told about my new routine have raised their eyebrows and said things like, “Wow, you’re dedicated” (read crazy). At the risk of sounding like a pretentious git, it’s not about dedication for me. This is what I want to do with my life; it’s an absolute compulsion. When I’m not writing and putting some type of story together I feel frustrated, even angry, and am no doubt rather unpleasant company.

Of course this compulsion to write does not mean I can avoid frustration altogether. I still struggle to write more than the synopsis of a story, or the first three paragraphs. The ideas are constant – there are stories happening around me all the time, all I need do is look – but following them through from the gruelling process from interesting thought to a story that is not entirely dull is a very difficult exercise for me. My biggest problem is stamina.

And so I’m forcing myself to write every day; to have a writing routine. Hopefully eventually my stamina – and of course the quality of my writing! – will improve.

Tonight I start my Masters in Writing at UTS. No doubt study and the ominous presence of assignment deadlines will do a great deal to improve both my motivation and stamina!

What keeps you motivated to follow a creative project through to completion?

Just a week until the deadline for the current Monthly Project!

Photo by sucka74.

The ones we love

This site is so lovely. Appeals to the romantic in me! I love seeing photographers taking photos of the people they love. Some very beautiful photos and people on this site that I found via the girl in the green dress

(image from the ones we love)

some nice numbers

six
C211

IMGP4751

train numbers
twenty three is the natural number....

On my "desk"... which is this week actually the floor.

This week I have been feeling so very un-creative... which makes me feel a bit stressed about not feeling creative which makes me feel a bit stressed about being stressed! Vicious cycle! I haven't really even been making anything this week, been mostly doing things on my computer, and reading through magazines looking for some inspiration! Tonight though I have been playing around with paper and I think I'm onto an exciting new idea! Can't wait to try it in metal and see how is looks!

Other than that, on my "desk" (ie: this week the floor where my computer is...yes, yes i need to get myself a desk...) I have lots of lists and a gas bill.... Oh and a mug which you can only just see the corner of that says "What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?" I like it alot.

More desks here.

More knitted graffiti...

More knitted graffiti here at kitty's kaboodle. This one is even better! Thanks to Kirsty for pointing it out to me!

(Photo from kitty's kaboodle)

Winter

I couldn't resist a few more chilly Winter photos from my trip to Canberra this weekend!

Senses

I know I’ve been rabbiting on about observation a bit lately. I guess that’s partly because I went through a stage earlier this year of not feeling, seeing, hearing, smelling or tasting much at all. By which I mean that those messages were not really getting through to my brain from their various receptors. The messengers were milling about, vaguely nervous, outside my door. I was in a weird fog that I’m only really ready to talk about now because coming out of it was a quietly but very distinctly painful process to go through.

Happily, one of the side effects of suddenly feeling when I hadn’t for some months was that I felt everything very intensely: the positive as well as the negative. All of my senses were hyper-alert. And since that time I feel like I have been rediscovering all the sights, sounds, smells, tastes and textures in the world around me, as though I were a small child again.

I know I’ve written here before about how I envy children and their ability to interact with the world (I have a habit of repeating myself it seems…), but I am endlessly in awe of the way children view their environment. And so to feel like I am achieving an information-gathering process that is even remotely similar to that of a child makes me feel happy. I feel like I am stepping out into the world for the first time.

Some things my senses have liked recently:

• the sound of sand scattered over still water

• the smell of the early, chilly morning

• the taste of my Mum’s pumpkin soup recipe, lovingly prepared by yours truly

• the taste of spinach and fetta gosleme with lemon juice, bought at Leichardt markets on a Saturday morning

• the feel of pasta dough as it starts to become a stretchy, malleable ball in my flour-covered hands

• the sight of my new-found friend, Astro cat, bounding around my house with a mad energy

• the feel of the soft, frail skin under another person’s arms and under their eyes

• the feel of hot water running down my face and through my hair as I put my head under the shower head first thing in the morning

• the smell of real, fresh chai

There are, of course, plenty more but these are what I can think of off the top of my head. I just hope I can keep this awareness of my senses in tact!

something nice

Today I went to the Melbourne Design market which I have been really looking forward to all week, and as usual the level of talent was extremely high, so many clever, interesting designs. Unfortunately it is (understandably) always packed with so many people I find it so hard to get a really good look at EVERYTHING and hate thinking I may have missed some awesome stuff.

The best part of my day was had when I was walking home and stumbled upon this:

Someone has knitted a scarf/beanie/teacosy thing for a pole down one of Melbournes great laneways...! I would love to meet the person that did this! I love love LOVE when people do things that are good and fun, purely because they are good and fun and need to be done. I think there should be more of this going on in the world.

I'm off to snuggle up with a cup of tea and finish the weekend newspapers. What a great Sunday.

truth.be.told

This week I stumbled upon Jess Hyde's blog truth.be.told where I found some beautiful drawings and collages and all things crafty! She is such a talented drawer and gets bonus points because because she is from Melbourne and because she creates work from her "little bungalow with the help of lots of tea." That sounds just lovely.

She is currently exhibiting in the black white and shades of grey exhibition at Pigment Gallery, but it finishes this Saturday the 19th, so if you are in Melbourne hurry on over there and see some of her work!

You can also see more of her work here and here, read an interview here or buy some for yourself right here.