Yesterday I had a little craft session with my mum, making some groovy cards!

It was so much fun!

Cutting, pasting, double sided sticky taping, decorations, ribbons, colours, glitter, stars, shapes, so much to do and choose from ….. Now this is something I will get right into!

How nice to make personalised greeting and birthday cards for friends and family …. certainly would  make me feel appreciated receiving a handmade card, made with LOVE!

Simply Google card making, then go to images for some great ideas!

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Lolita and I have been friends for 15 years since we did a ‘Certificate in Arts’ together.

We were in the BRUSH & SPONGE category and started painting at 11am, with brushes down at 5pm, then made our way to the judge’s room for judging at 5.30pm and hit the catwalk at 7pm.

Unfortunately we did not come a place as the competition was fierce but we had an absolute ball taking on such a fun adventure that took a couple of months preparation. We were certainly a crowd favourite and as they say “Art is in the eye of the beholder”!

We were also quite the crowd pleaser at Crown Casino having a couple of wind down drinks after the event!

Please read our concept and development for the ’Wired for Sound!’ theme here!

Melbourne Body Art Competition at Carlton Brew House, Abbotsford Saturday 20th August 2011, The Melbourne Age Newspaper Image Gallery here.

Fraser Coast Chronicle News here.

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Recently I was reading an article in our Fraser Coast Chronicle by Peter Chapman | 29th January 2011 titled ‘Local firms lose tourism tender’, where (after some investigation) apparently only one local marketing firm actually got to tender!)

Fraser Coast Tourism chair Anne Nioa said, “that while the local companies’ tenders were given extra weight the tender accepted was considerably cheaper.”  …  But no local PRINTERS were given the opportunity to tender? 

After news of this got out there was a Tourism Fraser Coast MEDIA RELEASE on Tuesday 1st February 2011 Statement by Tourism Fraser Coast CEO Damien Massingham quoting , “Tourism Fraser Coast confirms today that McTaggarts The Printers, our only local Printer member has been invited to quote on this aspect of the project.” … hmmm pardon me but has local print company Inkworks not been a member since Tourism Fraser Coast first started 9 years ago plus successfully operated a printing business in Hervey Bay for 20 years?
(Not sure what value for money you are getting for your fees there Anton?)

(Download Media Statement Here)

When asked from several sources around town both the Council and Tourism Fraser Coast are refusing to say who won the tender, even to their members and the media.
What is the big secret?
Is there some corruption involved?
What’s wrong with being open and transparent?

The evening started with a viewing of: ‘The Sun Behind the Clouds …..Tibet’s struggle for freedom’ Movie. This movie was excellent, clearly portraying the current and ongoing dilemma Tibetans and His Holiness the Dalai Lama face in trying to see a middle path so that Tibetans can live in their own country (currently overtaken by the Chinese), keeping their customs alive and the practice of Buddhism.
This was a special preview as the movie is not officially released till October so we very blessed to be given this viewing.

We then enjoyed some food as many brought along a plate to share.

Following our break we had a great live performance from Alena of some of her original songs. Alena is a student at our local Buddhist Sanctuary and this was her first ever live performance – The Oddiyana Dharma Sanctuary.
The theatre was also decorated beautifully with pray flags by Alena earlier in the day.

This was followed by an exciting performance by the very talented special guests Tenzin Choegyal and Tibet2Timbuk2.

Their music ranged from relaxing, to mesmerising, to captivating to upbeat I want to dance songs!  
Most of their songs are either written about birds, lakes or mountains!
They were very amusing making us laugh.

Tibet2Timbuk2 has an eclectic repertoire including group arrangements of Tenzin’s Tibetan songs, Marcello’s English songs, collaborative songs and instrumentals and even classical tabla solo.  The overall sound is full and organic, with all three musicians sharing bass, percussion, harmony and melody roles to create a solid yet easy groove.

All up over $3,000 was raised on this very successful and enlightening night!
Awesome job, Kirst xox and all who participated, helped and attended!
There was alot of love in the room!

On Saturday it was off to Noosa for the Noosa Half Marathon. As it has been awhile since I visited we decided to pull in and check out the Eumundi Markets.

The markets have grown considerably since my last visit a few years ago and the quality of the food, stalls and entertainment is still the best I’ve ever come across.

I met a lovely bloke from ERD (Educational Reptile Displays) who was not quite able to fully help me develop a liking for snakes on this particular visit anyway! Next trip I might have the courage to hold it on my own!

A visit to the markets is definitely a pleasant way to spend a few hours on a Saturday!!!

Yesterday I went to the Art Gallery NSW to see the Monet and the Impressionists exhibition.
It would have been Monet’s 168^th birthday yesterday if he was still alive.

“The method of Impressionist painting, where a picture is assembled in a riot of flecks of colour, reflects the kind of experience to which the eye of a big city dweller has become accustomed.”

The paintings were beautiful with an array of mostly pastel shades; I particularly liked the Water lilies and The Seine at Chatou.
There were so many flecks of colours that some of them reminded me of the magic eye images from the 1990’s. I felt if I stared long enough something 3d might pop out at me!

Claude Monet Water lilies 1905          Claude Monet The Seine at Chatou 1881
Museum of Fine Arts Boston                Museum of Fine Arts Boston

“We live on a thin crust over a bubbling mass of molten lava and the fuel of hell. What’s marvellous is that, in spite of everything, we’re alive. Do you understand? To make up for the suffering of the living, there’s the joy of life.”
Sidney Nolan 1967

This morning I went to the Queensland Art Gallery to view the Sidney Nolan exhibition. The exhibition is the first major Nolan retrospective since the artist’s death in London in 1992.

Sidney Nolan was born in 1917 and grey up in St Kilda, Melbourne. By the time he left Australia in 1953 at the age of 36 to permanently life in England he was already celebrated as this country’s most exciting contemporary painter.

He was very well known for his Ned Kelly series with ‘the black shape of Ned Kelly cutting violently into the landscapes of great delicacy’.

In July 1947 Nolan left Melbourne for Queensland. He was intrigued by a lady Eliza Fraser who was shipwrecked on Fraser Island in 1936 after whom it was renamed. Nolan spent time on the island which resulted in an exhibition of Fraser Island paintings at the Moreton Galleries in Brisbane in February 1948.

In 1957 after migrating to Britain Nolan began a Mrs Fraser series (almost 20 years after he first explored it) suggesting that the episode had a strong impact on his work and was instrumental in his development as an artist.

Convict and Mrs Fraser,1957 Print & Canvas.
During this period Nolan experimented with the effects of layering. He worked in a dark key, using wiped back paint to allow white grounds to gleam through. Towards the later stages of his career the artist made large scale spray painted abstractions.

[Information via QAG.]