The staff meal of the week award goes to Ramona. Her vegetable curry ("the only vegetarian dish I can make" she says) warmed our cockles and other bits besides on what was a ridiculously wintery day. It was so good we didn't even leave any for Ganesh, our plaster dining companion, who as the deity of poets and theives, remover of obstacles and lord of beginings seemed a particularly appropriate staff meeting observer.
Even if one of us is Catholic.
Long time fans of Sydney based artist Noel Mckenna have come to love his quirky and sometimes vaguely sinister drawings (his series of 'Lost' animal posters was amazing). We have been served up a rare treat with his ceramics exhibition now on at Niagara Galleries in Richmond. Be warned this isn't a show for purists, or even for potters (some pots aren't thrown by McKenna, some are badly thrown by Mckenna, and some things just seem like he's been noodling around in the potting shed).
The ladies of hml were utterly charmed by the show and if we'd had a spare $800 smackers would have fought over this lost cat bowl (sigh).
So if you are zooming down Punt Road this week (or crawling depending on the peak hour traffic blues) why not take a driver reviver - any gallery that paints 'Art Does Matter' on the side of the building is well worth a pitstop in our books.
Important things I have learned while being laid up on the couch:
So here are the presents i've made from the couch: two hot water bottle covers for two cold footed friends and a bunny bag for my accessory mad neice. I hope they like them.
There has been much discussion in the log cabin this week about craft for pleasure, craft for business, high craft, low craft, hobby craft, renegade craft and generally how craft makes us happy and frustrated all at the same time. Beck's birthday haul got us thinking about all the unfinished projects that have been shoved away in the vain hope that one day we can get back to just sitting on the couch on a Sunday afternoon and NOT FREAK OUT about not generating enough income from our work...
Now no one can say that I am a great needlepointer. I certainly couldn't land a gig at the tapestry workshop but I can honestly say that almost no other 'hobby' apart from cooking and knitting has made me happier.
Well hml had a birthday over the weekend, and given that the birthday girl is laid up with a bung knee after a winter kerbside slippage these presents couldn't have arrived at a better time. Regular readers will have noted the needlepoint header we've adopted as part of our 'makeover' and will also know that the birthday girl is an avid collector of other peoples stitchery. Now however she has the guidebooks to create her own. 
We poured over these two excellent books yesterday at our staff meeting, enthusiastically picking out new things to make for our homes and our friends and yes, even ourselves.
These homespun vintage styles warmed our cockles, 
And as we're always on the hunt for new 'signature' looks, Beck picked out the above smocking detail for her winter wardrobe, while Ramona has decided that 2007 is all about velvet puckered sleeves.
and we've both gone ga-ga over this free form owl embroidery...
We must admit we have had a bit of an epiphany over the last few days, (thanks miss penpen for the reminder) and decided its high time we got back to making for fun rather than profit. Its easy to get caught up in banging out product and forget how nice it is to have a wee project to do in front of the telly on a cold winters evening without having to think about pricing, packaging and branding the bloody thing. So heres to busy work, just for the hell of it.
Sometimes at the hml headquarters our breath is quite literally taken away. Such was our response to the invitation to the Samantha Everton show on at Dickerson gallery in Richmond until July 1. Without the lurid overtones of Bill Henson, more like the cinema inspired work of Lily Hibberd
We were thoroughly seduced by these beautiful and disturbing images. The show is called Childhood Fears and we can all recall all to readily just how scared of the dark we can be...
For those who dont know BETSEY JOHNSON is one hell of a kooky old school American designer known for her celebration of the exuberant, the embellished, and the over the top. according to her bio "Betsey has been rocking the fashion industry with her unique and original designs since the 1960’s." Edie Sedgwick was her house model, while the Velvet Underground’s John Cale took to wearing her designs both on-stage and off. Good enough for me, even if she needs to lose the hair extensions shes sporting at the moment, not such a good look.
