Rollerboy

I am not sure quite how I discovered this picture from Old Bike, an online bicycle museum, but it made me giggle so much that I had to keep a copy of it to share with you. The photograph is from 1905 and shows an amusing early form of bicycle crossed with rollerskates. His outfit is truly the crowning touch. He’s only missing a pair of mustachios. 

We Spent Years Up Late

Here’s one I prepared earlier …

No really, it’s 8.37pm on Wednesday as I write this and schedule it to publish at an aptly late hour tonight. For right now I am tucked up sound asleep (I hope) as I must rise at 4.30am in order to make a 6.35am flight to Sydney.

But what it is that usually keeps me up so late? Forever trying to cram things into the day, it’s usually art-making that keeps me up late at night. And so often even after I finish up for the evening I need to wind down, and end up window-shopping researching on Etsy, or playing a few games of solitaire. Whenever I stumble into bed exhausted, I think of those Warren Zevon lyrics, I’ll sleep when I’m dead … and think with satisfaction about all I’ve accomplished for the day.

Time Flies Away From Me

November 5, 2012

One of my New Year’s resolutions was to get more sleep. At least a reasonable amount. I think I was failing by day 2 – maybe even day 1. There just never seems to be enough time in the day, in the week to get everything done that I wish …

October 16, 2012

time flies away from me
i try to catch it with
my fingertips
to hold it close
come back, come back i cry
and chase it into
the early morning hours
until sleep at last drags
my reluctant feet back to earth

Too much to do, be, see –
there really needs to be
two of me.

The Red Boots

Recently I was reminiscing about a beloved pair of tasselled red boots I once owned, and decided to create a little collage in homage to them. I’ve been using paper ephemera in my random poems for a while now, occasionally including drawings. This time I incorporated some red and grey thread to create the whimsical pair of suede tassels that swung on the outer sides. Although I had already been thinking about this evolution in my collages, this picture was the first of a new series I am currently working on. A step in a new direction. Thank you Red Boots. 

Seeing Spots

When I was a little girl I really loved freckles and was sad I didn’t have any. Just a small scattering across my nose would have been perfect. Of course, it was not until much later that I discovered freckled girls often viewed their sunkissed spots as blemishes that needed to be blotted out at all costs.

My February calendar page features a very cute illustration by Nancy Mungcal of Pretty Little Thieves. This freckled girl looks sad, although many of Nancy’s characters are rather pensive. This melancholic look is offset however by the casual lines and brushwork. The artist works with ink, marker and graphite, an appealing combination of mediums that together with a contemporary colour palette and repetitive symbols or patterns suggest a fresh, modern approach.

Happy February.