Winter Colours

I could have sworn these mushrooms growing on a tree on the footpath just outside my house weren't there yesterday! They're huge, the largest one is about the size of my hand across. I mean, I know they can grow fast, but can they grow that fast?

Like magic.

Guerrillas In The Midst

"Guerrilla knitting" (aka "knit tagging" or "urban knitting") and crochet has been around for a while now, but locally seems to have been back in the public eye again just recently. A guerrilla knitter was 'tagging' the columns in the ABC foyer during the ABC702 Knit-In that I wrote about recently, and on a very local level bits of guerrilla knitting have been cropping up around my 'hood of Newtown.

A new example in Camperdown Rest Park, Newtown.

The other day when I was at work in the yarn store, I sold some Australian made 'self-striping' sock wool to a woman who was heading off to the US to meet some other knitters and get her guerrilla knit on.

Tagging with a spray can or paint marker I can't support, but this kind of non damaging tagging I love. Like many things that spring up in the alt craft community, the origins are shady and various claim have been made about who had the idea first. It seems likely though that the best candidate for inventing the idea is the Knitta crew, who have been knit tagging since 2005.

Whomever it was, the idea certainly took root fast and knitted 'tags' started cropping up all over. Some international examples are the Swedes Masquerade, Knit Sea and Niclas & Jonny of KnittUps, and Chicago's The Micro-fiber Militia. Another website, The Knitted Landscape, has many great examples contributed from all over the world.

My favourites are examples where a specific and unlikely object has been wrapped, transforming it into something different. For style, colour and the sheer joy it gives me, my all time favourite piece of guerilla knitting is this maritime piece from Sweden by Masquerade. So gorgeous and unexpected.

Another tagged tree in Camperdown Rest Park, Newtown.

I find guerrilla knitting as being somewhere between graffiti style tagging, street art, murals and even performance art. The act of wrapping an object in something soft, handmade and colourful makes us look at the object differently. It's part joke, part leaving a mark to say "I was here", part civil disobedience, part advertisement for just how cool craft can be, and partly a gift of fun to the community. It's certainly non harming, and quite charming in my eyes. There is a great post on Deputy Dog which calls it the "world's most inoffensive graffiti".

Similarly, some artists have used ephemeral and community based knitting projects to great effect. Josie Schimke created the beautiful A Tree Undone at Burning Man in 2007. A 9 foot tall artificial tree was clad in hundreds of knitted leaves contributed by individual knitters, with the specific instructions that the knitting not be properly bound off. The wind, and Burning Man attendees, where then invited to unravel the leaves throughout the course of the festival. Josie has posted albums of in progress photos and one of the tree in situ. Fabulous!

If any of my local Sydney peeps see anymore guerrilla knitting about I'd love to know. Just email me the location to andrewmr(at)ihug(dot)com(dot)au!

Winter Wonderland

I woke up feeling marginally better today, like my cold was on the retreat. I had a lazy start to the morning, lying in bed with a good homemade coffee and crying my way (manfully) through the last couple of chapters of Jenny Kee's autobiography A Big Life. (Wow, what a life! It's a cracking read.)

By early afternoon I was climbing the wall with cabin fever, so I packed a pocketful of tissues, grabbed my camera and umbrella, and decided to go for a nice long walk. I ended up walking for over 2 hours, mostly around the suburb of Petersham, with one short detour for a quiet afternoon schooner of beer at The Clarence when the rain started pelting down. After 3 days of lolling in bed or on the sofa it was nice to get out and get some fresh air, and finding little treats like a footpath paved in golden ginko leaves and suburban fence topped with gnome sentinels buoyed the spirit as well. A nice afternoon and just what the doctor ordered.

Golden ginko leaves underfoot.


A leaden winter sky with ginko leaves in silhouette, just shortly before the rain started pelting down.



A gorgeous pink and white camelia, a lovely punch of colour on a greay day.


Pink azaleas peeping through a weathered fence.


I was entranced by this fence with it's gnome sentinels.

[Click any of the pics to enbiggen them on Flickr.]

Lane Walking: Weekes Lane, Newtown

Looking at the bright clear light in these pictures it seems almost impossible that I only took these last month. I heard someone on the tv say that we've had 8 days of rain in the past 10 days. Really? Only 8? Blech, Winter I am over you already. Thankfully the Winter Solstice was a few days back and now it means we are on the gentle climb towards Spring.

Anyhoo, Weekes Lane. I love Weekes Lane! One of my friend's has a back garden courtyard and back gate that opens onto Weekes Lane, and the first time I visited I realised that Weekes Lane was something special. A bit of an art gallery of street art that is frequently changed and renewed. I have even seen guided tours of the lane during Sydney festival events. Some of the works I shot have gone already, been defaced or painted over.

But that is entirely the nature of the art. And one of the reasons I find it so exciting!

For me photographing these is a way of ensuring that when they are painted over or defaced, they can live on in my archives. With my memories of a bright sunny afternoon wandering with my camera.

[Click to see them full sized on Flickr.]

Fireworks

I had a late night last night so I started the day with a lazy sort of morning, a sleep-in, a bit of interwebs cruising, a coffee... all rather sedentary activities. Late morning I popped my head outside and got a pleasant surprise. Today was beautiful! Sunny, mild, less "Autumn" and more "Spring".

So I kicked my butt into, well not exactly high gear but out of 'park' anyway, and climbed out of the gravitational well of the sofa. I decided to take a wander with my camera at lunchtime, making my way slowly to The Courthouse Hotel for pub knitting at 2pm.



Look. At. This. I'm sorry, Autumn? Look at these showstoppers! These attention seeking show-offs! Clearly they are meant to be blooming at this time of year, which is actually Autumn, but whatever.



Right around the corner from these was a shady wall covered with grape vines, grape vines that were covered in leaves turning russet reds and and dark browns. Which I tried to make some nice pics out of, and they were quite beautiful, but my heart just wasn't in it. Not compared with the hot pink fireworks. No contest.

Fabric Mayhem!

I have fat quarters.

If someone had said that about me only a few months ago I would have assumed they were talking about my ass, but no. No! God help me but I have started buying quilting fabric. Frankly I need another craft in my life like the world economy needs another bank closure, but The Lure Of The Fabric has suckered me in.


One way they sell quilting fabric is in roughly 50cm x 50cm cut pieces that are called Fat Quarters. My favourite fabric store was having a 25% off sale yesterday, so I swung by just for a look. (The way crack addicts seek out dealers, just to keep abreast of current pricing.) At $3.75 a piece after discount, the pretty pretty fabrics had me.


I'm thinking that I might combine the blues and greens together, with lots of white in between to break it up, into one quilt. I like modern styles of quilts like this one, this one, this one, this one and pretty much every design this woman comes up with.


And I loved these charcoal and pale grey squares! I'm thinking of doing something along the lines of a freeform 'log cabin' style quilt with lots of white, some rich greys, a touch of black, and maybe a couple of spots of bright colour like an orange, a red, or maybe a fresh spring green.

See, bitten by the bug.

Mabon

The Autumn Equinox.

Sigh. Although you wouldn't know it from the hot, humid weather today, Summer has ended. Today is the equinox, the "equal night", where day and night are at equal length, crossing over from the long days and shorter nights or Summer to the longer evenings and shorter days of Winter.

For pagans Mabon is a thanksgiving celebration at the end of the traditional harvest season, a time for meditation, thanksgiving, of finishing old business and enjoying the fruits of your own personal harvest.

Sounds pretty good huh? In truth Sydney doesn't have 4 strong seasons, the pictures above were taken by me years ago in Canberra, which certainly does have them. Winters, and even Autumns, in Canberra can be bitter. But even so, seeing the shorter days advancing makes you think about giving thanks for the joys of Summer. Making the best of the warm days that crop up in amongst the cooler days of a Sydney Autumn. Then about settling in for longer, cooler nights. Planning knitting and craft projects to do rugged up on the couch. Autumn and winter foods; soups, stews, risottos.

I think in my ideal world Autumn and Winter would last about 3 months, combined. Long enough for a taste of it, a bit of contrast, some time to appreciate the crispness, the rugging up and the snuggling in, and yet not so long that the frustrations of cold bathrooms, wet feet and coming home in the dark bring.

When I get to be God Emperor/Benevolent Dictatrix of the Universe I shall make it so, but in the meantime, and in the spirit of Mabon, I shall give thanks for the bounties of Summer. Cheers, Summer!

Ludwig Hohlwein

New obsession! I love really strong, graphic poster design and I have always been especially drawn to those with an Art Nouveau or Art Deco flavour. Whether they are vintage Aussie travel posters, modern retro styled posters like the work of David Lance Goines, or vintage Russian posters, I love 'em all. I just discovered the work of German illustrator/designer Ludwig Hohlwein, 1874-1949. Hohlwein did all sorts of work in a variety of styles, including lots of propaganda posters for both world wars.



I'm not so drawn to his works of the little house painter, the evil creature that would bring his twisted ideology to the world. I do love his other works though, especially those like the ones above that use interlocking flat planes of colour and negative space to great effect.




His character driven advertising images were very popular, and personally I like it best when he used the looser style of flat watercolour washes.


I really like his graphic use of light and shade, and composition, and I think this beer ad is especially effective. Kind of brutal, but effective. (Pink, naked muscles and beer. Happy Mardi Gras everyone!)




Pretty birds! See, not all propaganda and big lugs with a beer attitude.

Try searching Google images for "Hans Hohlwein" and marvel at the variety and sheer volume of the man's output.

Why Don't You?...

Go native.

With eyeliner.

A Sunday Afternoon In Newtown

I grabbed my camera while I was out and about on Sunday, and snapped some little slices of Newtown within a few blocks of my house.

Christmas decoration fail. a) Ugly b) it's late February - time to let it go.


Here's hoping it loves him back.


The colours in this are subtle and gorgeous.

GLBT Mardi Gras Fair Day, 15 Feb 2009!

Sunday, part 2.

OMG, what a fabulous day! Yes the weather was a bit crap, cool but sunny one minute, bucketing down with rain the next, then sunny and humid. Hello, pick just one and go with it Global Warming, at least I could plan my wardrobe.

Speaking of which, kilt pics! (As promised.) I LOVED wearing it, and got lot of attention, including some favourable comments from strangers. In my opinion though there was one guy that looked better in a kilt on the day, and that was Mr Leather Sydney 2008 in a leather micro kilt. Woof.

Oh yeah, and there was this other rather attractive boy there. OMG IT'S MATTHEW MITCHAM. SQUEEEEE!

He and his partner Lachlan were just hanging out, watching the drag shows, while gay men all around (and I speak from first hand knowledge) were plotzing so hard. I could. Have. Died. I was too shy to talk to him but I did snap some pics, and I took a pic of Graeme with him for Graeme. (Who was braver than I). And you know what, he and Lachlan couldn't have been nicer and more gracious. Crush! These guys are a class act.

Gratuitous underwear competition photo, no explanation required.

The fair was as fun as always. The unpredictable weather was a nuisance, but didn't dampen (ha!) the spirit of the day. I wandered with Graeme and James, chatted with other friends I ran into and hung out at the Leather Pride stall and chatted with Fin and Bec (right) for some of the afternoon. Speaking of hot bitches (sorry ladies!) there were adorable puppers everywhere (left). I could die from the cuteness. Couldn't you?

The Budweiser Bunny! Sometimes the funny things you see, really. You could not make this stuff up.

How about that pink fur, and the licorice button nose! OMG, diabetic coma!

So it was a really fabulous afternoon, one of the most enjoyable Fair Days I've been to. A few beers, and lots of fun just hanging out with James and Graeme, and meeting up with people was had. It was so refreshing to be reminded of the diversity of the community again, and that is one of the great things about Fair Day. In my own small way I did my bit for the team by answering every darn community questionnaire that came my way.

AND DID I TELL YOU I SAW MATTHEW MITCHAM?!

These Are A Few Of My Favourite Things

Red summer fruits. Pomegranate anything. Texture and gloss. Green majolica dishes. Leaves.

I've had a rough week, mostly because it has been about being sick and also being super busy at work. Not a great combination. While I was at the doctor getting my gastro bug checked out I discovered my old buddy High Blood Pressure was back with a vengeance. Add another pill to the mix. When I dance I now sound like a maraca, but that's festive, right?

Patina. Things with a past. Stories. Inscriptions*. Shine.
Leaving a lens cap and piece of fruit in shot.

Mind you, in amongst that there was mucho goodness. Haircut Day (back to super short), knitting with buddies and Opera In The Domain. Pagliacci, bitches! Even doing overtime at work has its upside, tell the man with the money to come and pay me. On the way home there were luscious fruits to buy, and one gorgeous pomegranate, solid and weighty with promise. Then I thought, maybe my favourite fruits would look nice in my favourite old silver plate pedestal dish. (They didn't, the fruits too big and the dish too small.)

Now, a guilty pleasure chick flick on the teev ("The Devil Wears Prada"). So this new week hasn't had a bad start to it after all. Maybe it'll be weighty with promise too?

[*It reads "Semaphore Carnival. 75 yds Sprint. 2nd. H.G.Toms. 26.1.31"

Updated
In the comments Cathy wrote:

Not sure if the cup is a family heirloom, but I would put money on this being the previous owner;

TOMS, HEADLY GORDON
Service Australian Army
Service Number SX3560
Date of Birth 1 Sep 1913
Place of Birth ADELAIDE, SA
Date of Enlistment 25 May 1940
Locality on Enlistment MILLSWOOD, SA
Place of Enlistment ADELAIDE, SA
Next of Kin TOMS, LINDSAY
Date of Discharge 13 Nov 1945
Rank Warrant Officer Class 1
Posting at Discharge 2 ECH AIF (ME)
WW2 Honours and Gallantry None for display
Prisoner of War No

I am just fascinated by old stuff....

Cathy, I think you are right. I bought the cup in Adelaide when I used to live there. Interesting fact, he enlisted in Millswood in Adelaide which is the suburb I grew up in! Plus, he would have been 18 when the cup was awarded, which was a good age to run a 75 yard sprint I think. Thanks for the research and for sharing!]

The Chrissie Pissie, 2008

One of the benefits of blogging for a while is being able to go back and revisit memories from previous years. I wrote about our annual Chrissie Pissie get-together in 2007, 2006, 2005 and it's fun to go back and remember those years.

As always, the 2008 edition was a fab afternoon of catching up with friends, eating, drinking and exchanging $15 crap/fabulous gifts. This year the signs of change were noticeable, a few new partners and friends, some absentees as some friends have moved away and so were weren't there, children that seem to have almost grown exponentially. But the enjoyment of the afternoon and evening was unchanged.

Zoe.


Daen gets upsized in the inflatable Santa suit.


The lads; Nick, Mikey and Evan.


Megz was the lucky recipient of the inflatable Santa suit. One of the hits of the day.


Jasper, and the ole ball and chain.