28 September 2009

mural musings

because there are quite a few brick walls at our place, my mind turns to painting them,
a few ideas, a few examples:
1. ghostpatrol - mural on the side of a shop in lorne
2. ghostpatrol again, this time a commission in someone's garden
3. illustrations on a hoarding in elwood, not sure if it's permanent or not, by jane reiseger

there is no need to make the mural twee or sweetie
but it might be nice to have a tree of life in gold leaf (get it!) on the front wall, on white
(it doesn't need to be as mr curly as klimt's tree)






more trees, more life...

darwin's twigs of life on paper
on skin
birds in tree of life

not sure i like this one, but it's got the germ of an idea


a beautiful tree of life on a laotian temple
Wat Xieng Thong is the most venerated wat and arguably the most magnificent temple in Luang Prabang...The rear of the temple is encrusted with colored glass pieces in a red background, depicting a bodhi tree; This is the impressive 'tree of life' mosaic, with small tiles of colored mirrors forming the mural of a large tree, two peacocks and numerous mystical figures. The exterior of this building features wooden panels of Ramayana figures, sculpted by master artisan Thit Tanh. The sun brings the dazzling gold-leaf-overlaid figures to life--they practically glow.
aah

23 September 2009

more-ish food

there's yummy food out there for the making,

low gi snackerals

recipes from some us site so measurements might be weird...

Banana Oat Bran Muffins
2 c oat bran
1 c whole-wheat flour
4 t baking soda
Pinch of salt
2 eggs
2 ripe bananas
3 tbsp canola oil
3 T honey1 t vanilla
3/4 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup blueberries
Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Line 12 muffin cups or grease 6 jumbo muffin tin. In a large bowl, combine the oat bran, flour, baking soda and salt. Mash the bananas with the eggs, oil, honey and vanilla until smooth. Add the buttermilk and combine well. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones along with the berries; stir until just combined, but not over-mixed. Fill the cups 3/4 full and bake 15-20 minutes
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Yummy Bliss Balls
1 cup puffed rice
1/2 cup coconut
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1 cup almond meal
1 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup carob powder
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup tahini
Blend all dry ingredients in food processor. Gradually add tahini and honey. Roll in extra coconut. Feel free to change any quantities to suit your taste. If you want them chunkier add the sunflower seeds (or some of them) at the end so they don't all get chopped up. Enjoy!
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Cashew Butter cookies
1 1/2 Cups Oats
1/2 Cup Cashew butter (or other nut butter as preferred - hazelnut's good!)
1/2 Cup Honey
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 Cup Wheatgerm
MIX the cashew butter and the honey in a large bowl. ADD the oats and the cinnamon and combine well. TAKE small amounts of the mixture and make into circles about 1 cm thick and 4 cms in diameter. ROLL each one in wheatgerm, place on a greased tray and cook at 160c for about 12 minutesCOOL on baking rack
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No-bake cookies (makes about 16)
1 1/4 Cups Almonds
12 Dates, pitted and chopped
1/3 Cup Dark chocolate chips
1/4 Cup Desiccated Coconut
1/4 Cup Pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
1 Tbsp Honey
1 Tbsp Linseeds
2 Tbsp Tahini Paste
1/4 Cup Pear Juice
Put all the first 5 “dry mix” ingredients into a food processor. Process everything together until approximately half the mixture is in small pieces and the other half is processed a little more, to a fine consistency. Add honey, linseeds and tahini paste to mix, process until just combined. Then add pear juice and mix through. Roll the final mixture between 2 sheets of baking paper, until it is about 1cm (0.4 inch) thick. Cut into squares or rounds with a cookie cutter. Place into an airtight container and chill until required.
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Sunflower & Linseed snaps
To make these gluten free, use millet flakes in place of the rolled oats
1 1/2 Cups Oats
1/2 Cup Linseeds
1/2 Cup Tahini Paste
1/2 Cup Honey
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 Cup Sunflower seeds
Preheat oven to 180C. Line a greased baking tray with baking paper. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl, make golf ball sized balls out of the mixture and place on prepared tray. Be sure to leave enough space between each ball, and press each down with a fork. Cook for 20 minutes, and allow to cool on the tray for 5-10 minutes to harden slightly.

22 September 2009

that girl needs therapy

i have a feeling that my inability to do art is at the heart of my depression. it's just a feeling i have.
last year i was given a certificate to do art therapy at abbotsford convent. i haven't taken advantage of this, but i will. even if the certificate's expired.

because exploring myself and encouraging myself to do art - hopefully in a nice supportive environment has got to be good!?

years ago there was a song on the radio which had samples, "you're a nut ... crazier than a coconut!" and a hypnotic repetition of "that boy needs therapy" (but i would sing, "that girl needs therapy")
here's the clip (bit stupid - so's the song)

the coconut bit always reminded me of the marx brothers - a scene where they're hitting people on the head - like coconuts?
i think i saw this in a woody allen movie, a scene within a scene. i have a feeling he was watching duck soup, but i don't know.

17 September 2009

cradle mountain

we need to book to ensure we can leave on the day we want - the track gets overcrowded, so they're managing numbers
maximum number of people in a group is 8
fees - $160 per adult; children (aged 17 and under), seniors and pension concessionaires is $128.

plus spas, mmm



what wood you like to know?

fell across this website, stu's shed which includes LOTS of links to other woodworking fancier's sites. i think i'll go through them slowly and keep the ones i like. but for now...
Acornhouse Workshop
Adam King Studio
Adventures in Woodworking
Beautiful Wood
Benchcrafted
Blanchard Creative WoodworkingBois Shop, The
Box Making 101
Buzz Saw
Cornish Workshop
Craftsman’s Path, The Dan’s Shop
Dorset Custom Furniture
Evenfall Woodworks
Flying Chips
Folding Rule, The
Furnitology Furnitude
Furnituremaker’s Notebook
Heartwood Holtey Planes
In the Workshop with Charles NeilIncidental Woodworker, The
Inquisitive Woodworker, TheKhalaf Oud LuthieryLogan Cabinet Shoppe
Lost Art Press
Matt’s Basement WorkshopMod Mom Furniture
Modern Woodshop
Morning Woodworker, TheNorse WoodsmithNorthwest Woodworking Studio, The
Original Rudge’s Blog
Part-Time Woodworker, The
Peter Follansbee, Joiner’s Notes
Refined Edge, The
Renaissance Woodworker, The
Robert Karl Woodworking
Robin WoodRockDoggy’s WoodshopSandal Woods
Sawdust Chronicles, The
Sawdust is Life
Sawdust on the FloorSleepydog Wood ShopSplintered BoardStu’s Shed
Syzygy
Tattooed Woodworker, TheTaylor Garage, The
Timberwerks Studio
Tom’s Workbench
Tony’s WoodshopToolCrib
Toolmaking Art
TreewrightTumblewood
Unplugged Shop
Village Carpenter, The
Wisdom of the Hands
Wood Mechanic, TheWood Whisperer, The
Wood Zealot’s Workshop
Woodjerk’s Hafwit Blog, The
WoodTreks
Woodworking Life, The
Woodworking Magazine Blog
Working Wood

09 September 2009

take me to your teepee

ooh, how lovely is this!?
some come with floors, but others have roll-up floors, so you can take the tent to the beach, or set it up on the grass and live yurt-style



all re-enact scenes from lawrence of arabia, with king fasal in his tent
soul tents (or something) - soul pad, that's it

08 September 2009

sway with me

i found this beautiful garden
and of course, when the wind (or music) starts to play, .... the plants sway
















01 September 2009

inside the box/outside the box

phooey architects (peter ho and emma young) design cool stuff with sustainability in mind, but not (that i can tell) in a holier than thou way, but in a "we may as well use it and have fun with it" kind of way

their website is under construction at the moment but may work soon http://www.phooey.com.au/
they've received lots of awards and attention for skinner's playground in south melbourne using containers
also some images of their erstwhile home/studio-office space

smokin!

hemp-crete will save us!
snippet from inhabitat:
Buildings account for thirty-eight percent of the CO2 emissions in the U.S., according to the U.S. Green Building Council, and demand for carbon neutral and/or zero footprint buildings is at an all-time high. Now there is a new building material that is not just carbon neutral, but is actually carbon negative. Developed by U.K.-based Lhoist Group, Tradical® Hemcrete® is a concrete substitute made from hemp, lime and water. What makes it carbon negative? There is more CO2 locked-up in the process of growing and harvesting of the hemp than is released in the production of the lime binder. Of course the equation is more complicated than that, but Hemcrete® is still an amazing new technology that could change the building industry.
more information about building with hemp here
and not another brick in the wall recent research into hemp - nsw has an industrial hemp bill