Da Art critic is in da hizz-ouse!

ok, so i have one word to sum up the new silverchair album: gay. and not in the fun, poppy way of the scissor sisters, but in the thinly disguised, we're not quite ready to come out of the closet despite the fact everyone knows, kinda way. And daniel johns' latest facial hair disaster ain't helpin any either!
Heard something cool on triple j tonight, a brisbane artist called Kate Miller-Heidke. Just google her name, you'll find her website. if you go to her myspace page it plays a few of her songs. She's a classically trained opera singer, but she sings great pop/ folk songs. Check out the lyrics page for 'Gaydar' and 'Australian Idol' very very funny! she sounds a bit like Tori Amos, just happier!
Oh yeah, and if you're looking for a start to your David Bowie music collection and aren't too cheap just to buy the $12 remastered versions of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars or Diamond Dogs (both excellent albums despite the bargain bin price! hit wikipedia before listening to get an insight into the concepts), then grab yourself a copy of '1. Outside.' It's the first of a planned quintology of concept albums based around David's story 'The Diary of Nathan Addler.' Very trippy cyber-punk/ industrial/ goth sounds. If you like Nine Inch Nails, you'll love this! And you can jump on the bandwagon with the rest of the world in trying to petition DB and Brian Eno (producer extraordinaire!) into putting out the second album before we all die of old age!

Moving from music to theatre now, I was priviledged to see 'Dream Masons' last night. It's a play centering on water mythology and has been concieved and developed to celebrate the 30th birthday of the Salamanca Arts Centre, and it coincides with the '10 Days on the Island' arts and culture festival here in tasmania. The play takes place on specially-built scaffolding on the outside of the sandstone building, and the players moving along the scaffolding as well as in and out of the windows, sometimes using ladders or wires to do so, with no nets to catch them if something goes wrong! It tells individual stories of disparate characters, who are then united in a common crisis. Combining action, comedy, tragedy and debauchery, innovative set design, shadow puppetry, wire cables, a live band and choral performances which actually made me cry, and a graceful, moving finale, Dream Masons is a completely engrossing presentation. It even makes you forget that you're sitting on a paved road! Dream Masons has only 1 performance left at 7.30pm 26th March, it is a free event and they close off the road for the audience to start congregating 2 hours before the start of the performance. Take advantage of this, as well as blankets and cushions!

From theatre to the visual arts/ crafts.
There are 2 other fabulous installations around hobart as part of the 10 days on the island that i've managed to get to so far. I am planning to get to the Pacific Crystal Palace later this week. It is a fantastic venue, designed and built in new zealand, and is able to be moved and erected almost anywhere! featuring stained glass windows, cowrie shell inlay detail on the seating, a dance floor and stage and an elaborately appointed bar, the PCPalace is an attraction by itself! for the duration of the 10 days it will also be a performance space for a whole range of entertainers and the location for 'litarary lunches' and ongoing bookclub for the festival.
But getting back to the 2 installations i've seen. The first one is easy to find, it's the Write/ Here project and consists of billboards around the city which have been paid for by corporate sponsors and feature white writing on a red background. Each one is a unique thought about life in Hobart. Check out the website for more details: www.writehereproject.org which includes photos of each billboard as well as the locations.
The second is a knitting exhibition. I know, sounds boring. However, the knitting room, a free event located in the Moonah Arts Centre features the work of several elderly care homes and primary schools. Well over 200 people participated in the exhibition to produce a stunningly detailed world of wool. Walk in under the knitted arbour to the front garden featuring a full-sized knitted fountain complete with knitted water, waterlillies, fish and doves! Walk through past the knitted people (life sized!) to the knitted living room featuring a knitted fire in a knitted fireplace under a knitted mantlepiece. The knitted television shows footage from the fifties, the central theme of the exhibition, subtitled 'Yarns from the Fifties.' The kitchen features incredible details like a knitted loaf of bread and knitted bacon, sausage and egg in a knitted frypan on a knitted stove. The detail is stunning, and the many hours of work and effort are obvious in every stitch. It may sound boring at first, but get on down, it's free and it takes about 20 minutes to get around. Support the work of our elderly community and make the time to admire their fantastic work.

The 10 days on the island features a massive list of plays, exhibitions, musical events and film. Get yourself a program or jump on the website. Tasmania has a rich art scene and are justly proud of our culture, show some support and get yourself an education! www.tendaysontheisland.com

Something else going on this week that i'm excited about is the Craft and Quilt fair on at the Derwent Entertainment Centre from Wednesday March 28th to Saturday 31st March. I'm thinking of getting into one or two of the craft circles this year, depending on time and if mum thinks she can amuse herself or join in! If you didn't get your Fair Friend in Saturday's mercury, jump onto their website: www.craftfair.com.au it's one of the bigger craft fairs to hit hobart during the year, and has new techniques, products, kits and equipment to indulge in! This years also features a nationally touring exhibition of quilts made by war veterans and their families, as well as the families of those who did not return. The exhibition is said to be centred around thanking and acknowledging the sacrifice of our diggers and the ongoing sacrifices and suffering of the ones they left behind. It is also a poignant reminder of the futility and waste of war.

Outside of all this cultural indulgence, life at work is sucky as ever. Instead of having full-time hours thrown at me from all sides as had been indicated, i have enjoyed 3-4 days off for the last 2 weeks. Granted not having to go to work is a joy and a pleasure, especially as it gives me more time to work on my Swarovski competition masterpiece! However, the need to pay bills is pressing while the means to do so is dwindling. It's the lying that hurts. And the fact that i got a 'thanks but no thanks' letter from spotlight in response to my application. Doesn't help the confidence in being able to get a better job.

Congrats to my good friend Blunty3000 (that's his YouTube handle) for getting nominated for the YouTube inaugural awards. Check out his Guns Vs Spoons video which has been nominated. He was even featured in today's Mercury (nice pic hun!) and was quoted as saying he was getting actual payed work as a result of his YouTube involvment! YAY!

under construction: the winning entry & ebay!

Well there has been movement at the station. I still hate work, that hasn't changed, but i have set a few things in motion to start decreasing my reliance on it. Firstly I have (reluctantly) applied for a credit card in order to set up a paypal account and an ebay shop as well as probably an etsy account (for those who don't know, etsy.com is like ebay, except it just sells handmade things and i don't think it's an auction, just set prices.) I am also working on a website to showcase some of my better work as well as what I am able to turn my talents to for commission or custom work. There is a flyer in the works featuring lots of pictures of some of my best pieces and contact information which I'm hoping to get spread about the place.

I have also started work on the fabled 'big one!' this will be a triumphant masterpiece of glorious wonderment. if i don't botch it! Stay tuned, it will take me a week or two to complete.

Thankyou to everyone who keeps voting, or trying to vote in the Swarovski competition. I know I kinda told ya'll to do it, but I am very grateful that people have chosen to vote so often. Thankyou for the support and for thinking the things i make are worth it. It really gives me confidence to pursue the idea of selling my work. you guys rock!

productive me

Work is becomming the annoying chore in between living these days. I know that if i hate it that much then it's time to get out and find something else, and I'd started doing that, but full time hours in a place i'm used to is easier than looing for something which may be less secure. And I do so love the pay packet. mmmmcash!
Said paypacket is currently helping me feed my chainmail/swarovski crystal habit which i'm sorry to say has me dashing for the craft shop at the end of the working day (provided the working day actually ends at a time when the shops are still open) desperate for more jumprings, findings, crystals, beads, etc.etc.etc.
It is high time this became a 2-way thing. money in as well as money out.
My dilemma is two-fold, the first erm fold (!) being pretty simple to iron out (am i mixing my metaphors?). In order to sell stuff i must first have a place from which to sell it. answer: ebay or etsy. problem being i need a credit or debit card to maintain a profile on either site, even if i'm using paypal. solution: apply to bank for debit card. told ya that first one was easy.
Second fold is that I have no idea what I'm worth. I mean i can easily work out on paper what a piece of jewellery has cost me in materials, and i can even calculate the time it takes me to complete the same piece. The problem is what is that time worth? $5 an hour? $10 and hour? Should it be a percentage on top of the materials, or a set hourly rate? And what about the intricacy of a piece. I mean I can pretty well zone out and let my hands do the work for simple chainmail. But for composition and design, and more complex work I have to try harder. Is there a difference in what my time is worth then? And how do I justify the price I charge to someone who I'm charging it from for a commission that they've been kind enough to ask me to make because they like what i do?
argh.
btw, learning to make corsets is hard but kinda fun! I might try crochet next. mmmlacy

almost forgot!

ooops, didn't mean to leave this place for so long. been busy i guess.

generic update: had birthday, birthday rocked. still not got fulltime job, but have 3 departments fighting over me now! woot! been crafting heaps, check out deviantart for my new beaded flowers and my chainmail pieces. didn't win last months swarovski prize, but the coronet is still on the site and available for voting, and my newest entry, "A charmed bookmark" has been added and is currently the first thing on the list (or was a few hours ago!). Currently completing a chainmail mobile phone/ clubber pouch to add to it.

I am eating pikelets.


If anyone knows how to sew, I'd be grateful for some help! Spotlight had an awesome sale on dress patterns so i bought the 2 patterns i need to make my wedding dress! the only problem is i have no idea what to do with them! One is a corset and if i could learn how to make it in a month or so I could make an awesome one decorated with swarovski and enter it into the competition!

the pikelets have apricot jam on them.

Spent the last 2 weeks housesitting for the new mr and mrs dukayn while they were on their honeymoon. Their feline masters are both twisted and unusual. However, there was Austar and hence the joys of latenight She-Ra episodes. There was also much beading and chainmail and hence much praise from the mother of the bride, the meek and humble Marik followed by much chest puffing and egotistical parading by yours truly.

except for the one's with sugar and lemon juice.