The things we do

It’s been a very busy time with family staying (there were many spread over the weeks), and me working on promotional material for my novel throughout to meet the publicist’s deadlines. But there were nice moments, like drinking Prosecco on the patio with family. It was a brother-in-law who spotted the clay forms clumped on the outside table, and said “what are these?” “You may well ask? I replied. “I made them years ago, as part of my teaching degree.” I was a late starter regarding my education, and began this, my first degree, at fifty. And although I had been tutoring art to adult students for years before this, I decided to give academia a go.

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A special interest in this year’s World of Wearable Art

Te Ao Mārama entry by Fran and Lauren Kidd
The World of Wearable art show is a New Zealand invention conceived by Dame Suzie Moncrieff, Nelson. The fashion extravaganza was shown in her hometown from 1987 until 1990, when its gathering popularity demanded a shift to the capital city, Wellington. WoW had become a phenomenon. In Dame Suzie’s words, she describes what WoW personifies for her:

“To take art off the wall and out of static display. To adorn the body in wildly wonderful ways. To celebrate creativity in a lavish and unique on-stage spectacular that will inspire us all.”

And inspire it certainly does, attracting entries from all over the world, which have audiences looking forward to the annual event with much anticipation and excitement. Especially this year.

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I believe in challenges, or I used to

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There is a new baby arriving any day soon, a great-grandson no less! With the baby being Australian, I immediately thought, ah ha! I’ll knit him a toy from my Australian knitted toys pattern book. It’s true, I do have such a book, and I found the perfect animal to knit. As an experienced knitter, and having made other toys from this book, I assumed it would come easy to me. However…

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It breaks my heart

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Ready and waiting

The post I planned for this week was going to be about my process of executing a self portrait in oils – a first for me. That will happen, it is just that I needed to attend to a far more important matter, another first, which involved helping my friend Gabby decorate clothes-peg dolls, for an extremely important cause. Continue reading

The making of a special doll

doll stuff

doll-making paraphernalia

Being New Year, it is customary to make resolutions. Mine are pretty general; just get those unfinished pieces of sewing, artwork and writing completed. I didn’t need to write a list, I have known for too long what needs to be done. So, I started with the calico doll, which has been in bits since my granddaughter stayed last year. Continue reading

The road trip to WOW and back

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Vivienne by Lara Macgregor

I begin with the destination, for there are approximately 650km between Auckland, where I live, and Wellington, the city I drove to last week with my daughter Lara. This was a long-planned road trip to see the phenomenon of the World of Wearable Art show, which so many have seen in its thirty-year history, but has managed to elude my  daughter and me. This may have remained the status quo if I hadn’t seen a figurative print in a local gallery earlier in the year that I instantly desired, and wished to hang on my  newly-painted studio wall.

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In the absence of electronic devices

exploring copy

Having my granddaughters to stay was as enjoyable as it was interesting. I knew the eldest had an iPhone, but what I didn’t expect to find, was how little interest she showed in using it. I mean, most children I see these days have some kind of device they’re staring at, speaking into, or plugged to their ears; whether out walking, sitting with friends, or eating with their families in cafes. The use of these devices is endemic – or is it? Not as far as Phemie and Beatrix were concerned, for they were more interested in following their creative instincts: they drew, wrote, read, and played their days away. Continue reading

Why I knitted a year away

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It is often said that moving house tops the list for the most stressful situations in life. I’ve recently experienced that truth; we were moving, to an interim home in the country, just as my husband came out of hospital.

We looked out to lush pastures, Alpacas, ponies, and Shetland cattle. A bucolic setting; good for my husband’s recovery, and mine. Until … my heart decided to change its rhythm; racing at intervals, making me swoon (lovely word) during my daily walks. Continue reading