The Quicklime Quickstep

I'm back from London. 

With THESE!!!

I had to wear them home!!

 Incidentally, I ran into a friend I hadn't seen in 12 months in the line-up for customs.

She was behind me. 

Eying off the SHOES thinking 'I could really get on well with the girl wearing those...'

Then I turned around ;-)

Funny how life works, isn't it!

I also came back with 2 other pairs: both rather more sophisticated, rather less 'zany' but with heels so high I could touch the sky.

All 3 pairs are hopelessly impractical for a woman who lives in the middle of a very muddy or dusty countryside, surrounded by horses, who homeschools her messmonsters and plays with pigments and ink at least once per day.

I just ADORE the impracticality of life.

Mind you, it's probably best that I have a propensity to avoid cities and shopping most of the time…

For an art blog, shoes should not be very important. Unless, that is, a girl is wearing them whilst shimmying around her studio to the tune of 'Mamma Mia,' breezily whizzing herself up a quick fix lighting solution for over her work table with some plaster and old bedsprings. 

They inspire me to create

What can I say?

Hope your weekend was fabulous too.

(still have to bunch up my kiwi fruit vines and cement them into a gumboot)

Stay tuned for a 'lighting tutorial' later in the week 

and some specs for those of you who asked about the recipe for the lime mix.

 

Much love to you all. 

Mixing the blues… colour of the sky, flying high!

As you can see, I've got a case of the blues. 

Up to my elbows in it. Literally!

You have to use your fingers to knead out the bumps made when mixing lime powder and fine sand with water, before you add the acetate that binds it all together so you can plaster it to the wall.

There's something that drives me crazy about blue pigments

Bleu Céruleum…

Bleu outremer...

I know I have a big load of visiting to do.

But this weekend I am taking the extra special friend 

who spent ALL last Monday helping me 

apply lime putty to my new studio wall 

with a big blue border around the door frame :) 

to

LONDON

for the weekend.

In fact there are 3 of us taking her.

And we have reason to suspect she's never taken a plane before.

So it was quite a job getting an identity card for her without her guessing ;-)

We told her she would need her bikini and skis.

So far, so good! She hasn't guessed where we are going!

Although she did try and wheedle a clue out of my messmonsters on the sly!!

It's amazing how kids pull through in urgent situations ;-)

I love girly weekends

Especially when they are a big surprise

for someone so lovely as my sweet friend Nath.

She doesn't read my blog. Or anyone else's for that matter.
Internet is not her thing.
Fortunately for me she is the world's leading expert in mixing and applying blue lime putty or 'la chaux' as we fondly call it here.

So she will never know I wrote this, thank goodness.

She is uncomfortable around verbal outbursts of affection.

.

She doesn't speak ANY ENGLISH

Hehe. The weekend is going to be a blast.

When I get back, I shall grab a wine and tell you all about it,
(as well as doing a bit more visiting from the seat of my chair :)

She'll be like a messmonster in a lolly shop

Hope your weekend is bright blue too :)

Dancing through 2009

So here we find ourselves together, you and I in the wee hours of the morning that begins Wednesday 30th of December. Only a few more hours to go and we will all be popping champagne and sparkling and smiles. And dancing! I know I will be ... This year it just feels right again to wear some glittery tights and a girly dress, a tiny speck of sparkle and party with a few close friends.

But 2009 is still hanging in there for a day or so and I have been having a great time looking back at some of the high points. Not just in terms of fun and excitement, but more so with respect to those situations where I got to be the cartoon character with the proverbial light bulb of recognition flashing over my head. Insights! Flashes of Recognition! AHA's! They have often been my most magical moments. So many pennies have dropped over the last 12 months that I find myself now more wealthy than I could ever have imagined ;-)

One other magical moment for me, in terms of intense joy, admiration, fun and ooooh yes, heart pounding exhilaration was seeing this show that I was over-the-moon lucky to have been invited to during a trip to London last March.

If you find yourself floating around the London area, always check out what's on at Sadler's Wells. It will be well worth a look. 

One of the unique aspects about Destino was the involvement of Dance United - a dance company that works with the disadvantaged and the marginalised, including women in prison... Imagine the vision, belief and dedication it must take to bring these projects to life!

"Destino is an ambitious artistic collaboration that celebrates the belief in the transformational power of dance to affect and change lives." The programme said.
Ambitious. A great word. In this case, a slight understatement. As well as introducing young Ethopian dancers Junaid Jemal Sendi and Addisu Demissie to London (if you see their names on a programme anywhere else in the world - buy your tickets quick), Destino's finale was a unique large-scale community work which saw over 130 people aged between 9 and 80 odd, most of whom who had no previous experience in dance, performing to live music by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra! 

The thought of the work, conviction, courage and dedication that had gone into the preparation for this event gave me goose bumps during the whole performance. What will never fail to move and inspire me, is watching (and helping) people transform themselves, push their own limits, find their inner courage, and reach - or even transcend - their goals. What an example this was... sigh. I'm still reeling from the effect and it's nearly time for me to hit London again already! 

Hmm - has anyone heard of a similar concept on such a large scale involving art? If not, surely a worthy project to consider for for 2010... 

One more day or so of this first though...