greenolive

at least Drew is being creative

While I've been taking it easy this past week, at least Drew is doing some creative stuff. Or at least as creative as he can be with the materials, inks and screen available to him.

He's turned the old wooden tool shed in our back yard into his own screenprinting studio. The walls have been boarded out and painted - the same soft pale greay as the studio. He's built and L-shaped bench, at the perfect height for him, out of old IKEA desk tops. He's made some shelves for storing inks and stuff. The stereo has been hooked up som he can play the music HE likes, and he's even got curtains to filter the light from the large north-facing window. And to finish it off he's scraped off all the built up soil on the concrete paver at the front door and added a mature succulent in a lovely green planter. If I didn't already have the studio I'd have to claim the screenprinting studio as my own!

While most of the fit-out was done while I was in hospital, this week he's been screenprinting. We've dusted off the urban type screen and re-imagined the design to be right on trend: brights, neon colours, hot pink, yellow and orange.

Starting with a white cotton-blend basecloth, he painted on slabs of colour and then overprinted it with white type. The design gives us the look of a two-colour print but he only printed one colour. I'm calling it the "Fruit Tingle" collection and its available in yellow, orange and hot pink.

Now all that's left to do is sew these pieces into cushions and pop them in the studio.

the typewriter, the book

Image from Uppercase

You probably already know I have a thing for typewriters - that design, the colours, those keys, the sound of the keys striking the paper, the look of the font they produce, ...I have three vintage typewriters in my collection. We even make envelopes from old learn to type manuals for our business.

It seems that the good folk at Uppercase have a thing for typewriters too! They are publishing a book all about typewriters. I'm going to put it on my Christmas wishlist.

The Typewriter: A Graphic History of the Beloved Machine is a beautiful ode to an all-but-obsolete creative companion. That's what their website says. Currently in design and production, I'm sure the book will be as well-designed and written as their magazine, Uppercase. I've got issues eight through twelve and alas, all of the earlier issues are sold out.

Uppercase needs funds to produce the book and the call has gone out for backers. See their webpage for all the details on the book and how to support it. At the time of writing this blog post they had reached 17% of their goal of USD $25,000. Isn't the webby design community lovely?

Spread the word!

the blanket that grew & grew & grew

Once upon a time there was a lady who had a lot of wool. She had so much wool that she didn't know what to do.

She decided that she would use as much of the wool she could, so every night after dinner she would knit and crochet and knit and crochet.

In her boxes and boxes of wool, she had lots of wool from Iceland. Over twenty balls of cream, coffee and chocolate coloured wool, bought on sale many years before. It was very thick and a bit scratchy, not the best wool for a scarf or jumper.

This lady had a little dog called Jack. Since the weather was turning cold she thought she might make him a blanket to keep him warm at night. As Jack was white and tan, she thought she would make his blanket from the cream and coffee coloured wool from Iceland.

One night after dinner, she sat on her sofa watching TV and started to crochet. First a thick stripe of cream wool. Then a stripe of coffee wool. Another stripe of cream wool. Followed by more coffee wool. Fairly soon she had a cream and coffee blanket big enough to keep Jack warm on winter nights.

However, this Lady also had a husband. And it seemed he too was cold on winter nights. Seeing Jack's blanket, and feeling how warm it was, he told her it was too good for a dog blanket. He asked if she would make it into a blanket to keep him warm instead. The husband was in luck. His wife had lots of wool, more than enough to make a blanket for him. And she was very crafty, so she could easily turn the dog blanket into a man blanket.

The next night after dinner she started to add crochet stripes of chocolate to the stripes of cream and tan. The blanket grew and grew and soon it was large enough to cover her tall husband - from under his chin to the tip of his toes. And it was toasty warm.

Her husband was very happy with his blanket. After dinner he would sit on the sofa, under his blanket, while he watched TV. And Jack would sit on his lap, so he could enjoy the warmth of the blanket.

And the Lady, her husband and Jack the dog were warm all winter long. 

Peter Rabbit cards

One of the things I was able to do while taking it easy (and was just a little bit Matisse-like as it did involve scissors, paper and sticking things with glue) was make a batch of Peter Rabbit cards.

The illustrations were from a vintage 1960s book that was falling apart. Gorgeous, sweet, pastel illustrations that make the perfect card for a baby shower or new baby.

I'll pop some in the shop soon. But if you need one NOW, just email me.

PS: for the eagle-eyed ones among you, yes, the shop name has changed - its now vintage and nostalgia. 

creativity delayed

I'm supposed to be chanelling Matisse. Getting all creative with scissors and paper. However those plans are delayed slightly while I rest up in bed, allowing my wound to heal.

A quick trip to the Doctor a week ago revealed that my mid-line incision (up & down the abdomen rather than across like a normal cesarean scar) had opened at the top and bottom meaning it wasn't healing and was leaking stuff. What I thought was a patch of purpley-blue bruising was actually not!

After some cleaning and closer inspection the Doctor diagonised that the opened bit was red and inflamed, BUT not infected. So no antiobiotects, but cleaning and redressing every few days and we'll see how it goes. He was a bit concerned about the Prednisolone I'd been taking for the chest infection as that would be slowing down the natural healing process.

It was almost three weeks since the operation, so I thought I'd be past this point by now. Instead I needed to take things a bit more slowly, and rest up more than I have been. I should have known this whole process would not be smooth sailing: first the cut bladder during surgery, then the chest infection I managed to get in hospital and now the opening wound.

So I haven't been chanelling Matisse this past week. Instead I've been playing or rather distracting myself with Pinterest. And having 12 hour sleeps.

Oh, a followup with the Doctor reveals the wound is healing itself so antibiotics aren't necessary. And, I went for a walk on the beach yesterday. Maybe I am on the mend.

the golliwog and the fairy

It really is chance, or luck - the way vintage books and I find each other.

There is no way I can force the process. Nothing I can do to increase the odds of me finding such a vintage treasure other than get out there and look in every bookcase I come across. So when I do find a treasure its all the more special.

This GORGEOUS illustration of a sad Golliwog and the little Fairy trying to cheer him up is from a delightful book illustrated by Connie Christie. Born in the UK, Connie emigrated to Australia in the 1920s, and lived and worked in Melbourne.

Her illustrations are known for their simple, fantasy style. This particular book, "The Fairy Balloon", has several fairy illustrations, but I think this one is the best of the lot.

Available now in the Etsy shop - only one available as this is the vintage illustration printed in the 1940s.

If you prefer Fairies, we have an awfully cute fairy taking a ride on the back of a happy green caterpillar. Check it out...

 

dreaming of matisse

Before the operation, when I thought about my weeks of recovery (6 to 12 depending on who you listen to) I imagined myself following in Matisse's footsteps.

Matisse creating cut outs after his operation in early 1940s. Image from here.

You know, lolling around in bed surrounded by sheets of coloured paper, scissors in hand and churning out works of such exquisite creativity. A surge of creativity. Exploring new techniques and creative styles. Yep, that was going to be me.

The Clown, from the JAZZ series. Matisse's cut outs had a HUGE impact on my design work and style. The flat blocks of colour. The graphic silhouettes. The tension and play of shapes. Positive and negative spaces. Image from here.

Images from here.

I have always loved Matisse's cut outs. Some of his forms, composition and colours have found their way into my design work over the decades.

I first discovered his cut outs in the school holidays between Years 11 and 12 at High School. I can date this discovery so precisely because my art teacher, Mr Phillipson, told me to immerse myself in art, to find artists whose work I loved, that inspired me. He was helping me to find my voice, my style, though at the time I didn't realise it.

That summer I discovered Picasso, Matisse, Leger. All great artists indeed, but what I loved was not their traditional paintings, but their more graphic work.

Picasso's posters, ceramics, drawings.

Matisse's cut outs – amazing compositions of colour and form.

Leger's strong black linework and bright colours.

And later came Wharhol and Haring. Again, masters of form and colour.

So while I haven't yet become Matisse, I have rediscovered my passion for collage. I am itching to get back to my studio and surround myself with pages of vintage text, maps, postage stamps, scissors and my sewing machine. I can already see in my head how my creations might look, but the actual act of cutting into paper and moving it around on the page has a way of transforming things. I can't wait.

 

vintage horses

What I love most about working with vintage materials is the way the final product I create is directly influenced by the materials I find.

I discovered this gorgeous book from the 1950s filled with B/W images of horses. They were such classic images: horses racing, show jumping, on the farm. Some were suitable for framing, but most weren't. But what to do with those images?

I thought about all the horse-mad people out there, especially girls like my niece Hannah who has riding lessons and wants a horse of her own. I imagined their bedrooms decorated with horse bunting - a string of classic B/W horsey images along one wall.

Seems I might be onto something as the horsey bunting has just been featured in an Etsy treasury full of horsey goodness.

And if you have a horse-mad person in your life, you can find the bunting in the etsy shop.

the studio: after

long overdue - this is how the studio looked at one point in time...

The front entrance – trying to disguise the brickwork and industrial setting with plants and screens made from old wooden pallets. Handmade felt open sign.

View from the front doors into the studio/shop. The large bank of windows on the right face the street.

One of the three windows that face the street - they are great for a window display. Bendind that curtain you can see at the back is the office area.

Disguising the brickwork - Drew made this planter from an old pallette.

 

Inside the shop area. The office area is to the left. Through the half open curtains on the left is the work room. And behind the mirrored door at the back of the shop is the kitchen and bathroom.

Looking into the shop from the windows. This is my "red" themed window display made with products and vintage props I've been collecting over the years.

One nook in the studio – metal and glass shelves were bought from my landlord's shop.

Another nook at the back of the shop. I painted the studio in three shades of grey – the darkest shade was used on the back wall of the shop.

Another nook – this time with the map prints. I've been buying old lamps to add more light to the shop.

Window display detail – I love the tricycle that I got at a local market. I've had a few offers to buy it but I'm not sure I want to sell.

finding my feet again

wow.

That was quite a blog break, wasn't it? Almost five months. 

I'd like to say I was busy, so terribly busy, but all I can honestly say is life kinda took over. Or rather, got in the way...

We moved house, AGAIN. Not sure if I told you that. A 1960s beach house just a hop, skip and jump from the Inverloch beach. (Next time I go for a walk I'll count the steps, just so you can be horribly jealous!)

The studio makeover and move was completed, but anyone who knows me or has vistited the studio can tell you that its not "completed". I am endlessly moving things, tweaking displays or asking Drew to make me something or hang something. I think the technical term for the studio is work in progress. And the technical term to describe my behaviour might be obsessive complusive.

I struggled with the balance between homelife, the studio, searching for vintage books and the actually creating part. None were done particularly well, and I'd have to say I'm still struggling with that balance.

A part time job was found to boost the cash flow and pay the bills. Working as a "retail assistant" in a second hand bookshop seemed a good match but I must confess that most of the time I was there I wished I was in my studio working away on new products, finding new wholesale clients and promoting vintage prints.

And, in the biggest news of all, I had the operation. The surgery was almost two weeks ago and I got home almost a week ago. This operation was a very long time coming. My very large uterine fibroids were diagonised in 2004 - EIGHT years ago. At that stage they were already very large, so God knows how long I'd had them! Without suffering from the usual symptoms, I, and every medical professional I consulted, seemed content to let them be, to adopt a wait and see attitude to them. This in retrospect was not wise. In February 2011, the hospital gynocologist who examined me (the first female I had seen about the fibroids) put it all in perspective for me - my uterus was large enough to carry an 18 week baby. Imagine being that pregnant for eight years. 

The stars aligned, finally, and the fibroids were removed in late June. The size and bulk of the uterus and fibroids resulted in complications – I ended up staying in hospital for eight rather than the planned five days. I went home a bit lighter, with a rather impressive scar down my abdomen and a chest infection.

Now I'm home I'm trying to rest and recover and am looking forward to feeling well. All the stories I've heard from others who've had the same operation are positive - feeling lighter, happier, with more energy - I could do with all of that. So while I patiently wait for my happy ending I'm trying to take things slowly, to not do too much, to not rush the recovery. (This will be a challenge because the drugs for the chest infection/asthma complications give you HUGE surges of energy, hence the 3am blog post.) I hope to rediscover my creativity, my creative voice. I hope to start to find the balance in my life. And I'm going to try and smell the roses along the way.

Wish me luck.