Growing up our kitchen always had a few quirky tea towels bought as souvenirs of some far-flung outpost in back-country Australia. Maybe we’d bought one on one of our family road trips when all six of us were all crammed into the old station wagon for hours and hours on end. Or maybe it had arrived in the post from one of our aunties along with a postcard. I miss getting those postcards…
That moment when the tension suddenly releases and you realise the board is gone…
Late last year a beautiful couple of close friends commissioned me to put together some special invitations for their wedding.
This afternoon I had a window of a few hours to go exploring again down the rabbit hole…
“Deeper” – digital illustration.
Waves of consequence require commitment to going further, deeper…
For the 7th year running, the Marine Conservation Film Series is on again.
It’s a hard decision to make but I just don’t reckon this thing will qualify as carry-on luggage. My 6-tonne bottle jack press now needs a good home so I’m looking for a printmaker who is keen to be good to her. Today is our final Sunday at the Strandhill People’s Market in Strandhill, Sligo, and I’ll be bringing the press out and be assessing the submissions of potential suitors.
Last few days left before we move out of our house in Sligo and begin the long journey back to Australia, eventually Hobart in Tasmania. Exciting and hectic times. There’s a lot on, a lot of loose ends to tie up, decisions on what to pack or cull…
This print continues to prove to be a tricky one to get out right – and it’s the getting it out right which is what the printmaker’s ongoing challenge is. Each fin is a direct reference to fins I’ve owned, trialled, coveted, with one in the collection that is the golden hatchet to rule them all, the one that has been pivotal (ahem) to my Rooster-shaped, 9’6 BeachBeat Pacer.
It was a busy few days knocking these out. The one on the bottom right was carved and printed in Tasmania, Australia, about three years ago and only now have I gotten around to carving others in a similar style.
So I had in mind these two buddies, Fatty McGoldfish and Monsieur Snaps, escaping the kitchen benchtop and heading off. Perhaps for just the day, perhaps for good. The skies are clear and they’re in the clear – full speed ahead, let’s go!
No matter how far I find myself from the Sunshine Coast the dunes have always stuck with me. Every morning before the first foot-fall of even the earliest risers, excluding of course the jittery scamperings of all those things without backbones, those majestic, wind-combed undulations of ground white gold, sparking with spinifex, snuggle up to the sea in their new forms – a subtle shift on the shapes of yesterday.
Some packaging ideas for the hand-pulled t-shirts lead to making up a small stamp with the OD snoozing possum insignia. With no soft rubber on hand an offcut of lino was used. Some ideas, like this one, start small and stay small which can be a bugger – the spine-bending time spent in bringing them to life is paid for later.
Another east-coast novelty arrives and fades layering fresh glazes into memory of swoops and arcs, of undeterminable chattering acceleration across the surfaces of a sea come alive, its writhing undulations an ephemeral space exploited by few as stage, as canvas, as tapestry; clandestine soloists or the more gregarious exhibitionists. Revelers, artists and illustrators loosening their terrestrial fetters for the dance.
There’s a lot to be said for precision timing, careful planning, critical execution, waiting for just that right moment… that sort of thing. Isn’t there? Well sure, but then there also seems to be a lot to be said for having a crack, giving it a go, spontaneity, free jazz and interpretive dance. Who or what are we waiting for? Who are we trying to impress here and now or later? I’m uncertain if I’m really confused at all. Am I really indecisive? Why do I ever second guess myself, shrug off intuition?
Sure, single-colour prints on t-shirts (black on white, white on red) can look great but getting two or more colours happening together can add depth and energy. Planning how the colours will overlap when screen-printed onto the shirts, the palette can be expanded and create a looser, more livelier image.
This week I’ve been messing about with colour separations for the t-shirt design for the Dunes Bar in Strandhill, Sligo (Ireland). It worked as a single colour but I wanted to see it jump in two. Playing with negative space has seemed to make the other colours pop and with only two colours, the print is still budgie (cheap cheap). Stoked with the above version and looking forward to getting one of these on.