Getting a bit rusty

Now that's what I call FUNCTIONAL ART! 

I have recently fallen in love with the works of Cal Lane,

a woman who has quite a way with a blowtorch!

I can't imagine how much time it must take her

to achieve such intricate precision in her work

This is how she describes her approach:

"I have always been interested in embracing the very thing that repels me in order to understand it: I prefer to make sense of things or in order to suspend (or pass) judgment."

I like the way she sees the world...

... and admire such technique, such patience ... 

I also admire how she accomplishes exactly what she sets out to do:

"I like to work as a visual devil’s advocate, using contradiction as a vehicle for finding my way to an empathetic image, an image of opposition that creates a balance - as well as a clash - by comparing and contrasting ideas and materials. This is manifested in a series of “Industrial Doilies”, pulling together industrial and domestic life as well as relationships of strong and delicate, masculine and feminine, practical and frivolity, ornament and function. There is also a secondary relationship being explored here, of lace used in religious ceremonies as in weddings, christenings and funerals."

I am humbly inspired

Thank you so much for all your support and kind words on my new website. 

I'm a bit new to the 'publicity' thing

I'm much better at sticking up for

and promoting others...

It's rather strange to do it for myself

So I'm trying to pretend it's not me I'm doing it for

Then that jolly photo keeps popping back out at me ;-)

For now, I shall go to bed and dream of 

lacy wheelbarrows

and reconciling 

the frivolous with the practical, 

ornament with function 

and the industrial with my domestic life...

Ange

PS - There is a list of upcoming events on Cal Lane's Website 

Her work is coming to Le Musée des Manufactures de Dentelles

Here in France!! In the Auvergne region.

That's not TOO far from TOulouse ;-)

Much...

Testing, testing ... going live!

Lots of late nights, learning and laughing ...

A few glasses of good red wine...

Some ummings and aaahings...

A website is born!

Thanks so much to Nathalie @ Coaching and Web 

for the hours and hours 

and hours 

and hours (ad infinitum)

she has spent

writing the code,

and

generally putting it all together.

I think she's done a great job!

Thanks to Mlle Julie@ Being Ruby 

for the great work she did 

on transforming my blue shutter

for the front page.

Can ANYONE help me convince this girl 

to put her photo works/writing into book form?

Thanks to the exceptionally witty 

and verbally gifted Lulu Labonne 

who helped me define 'who I am' 

then put it into some sort of intelligible 

and I like to think interesting perspective. 

DITTO FOR THE BOOK idea above!!

The unintelligible bits are still written by... moi

Mille mercis to Anne Sacramento for her invaluable advice 

and the work she is still helping me do on my logo 

(soon to be replacing the 'Signed by Ange' you see now)

And mille mercis also to my lovely friend

who is on her way to Toulouse

armed with a camera and

enough talent to make a photo of moi

look unfrightening

(if you get the picture ;-)

Thanks for all your patience as I have been very remiss 

and sporadic in my visits recently.

I know :(

Guess I'd better get on to translating this all into Français now!

And maybe get a bit of painting done too

N'est ce pas?

If you get the time to visit my site, 

would you be a sweetie and let me know 

if any of the links don't work, 

something seems wildly out of place 

or if I've made some huge embarrassing 

spSPelling mistakes? 

Otherwise, it's a bit like having a poppy seed 

stuck between your front teeth all day, 

or your skirt tucked into your knickers ...

 by the time you realise yourself, 

it's too late!! 

Lovely spring day to you all.

HOPE YOUR EASTER WAS FABULOUS!

My brushes are calling...

Believe the Impossible!

I know I've gone MIA again.
It's just that I'm trying to:
 finish my new website,
organise some exhibitions
grow an extra pair of hands,
paint
clean the house
get some sleep
fit in some sport
and play Easter Bunny all at the same time.

The good news is we will have lots of Easter Eggs and
 a real, grown up Website ready for Monday.

Am recovering after telling my imaginative Libellule
the horrible truth about the Easter Bunny
(at her insistence)

Not sure who was saddest, her or I.
I promised her that Angels were still real ...
So between the Angels and the chocolate eggs
things are looking up!

HAPPY EASTER EVERY ONE

See you on Tuesday when the rush is over

Thanks for being patient with my absences ...

Please Sir: The Art of being an entrepreneur

Before I get into today's rather short post (thought I'd give you a break after the last tome), I just wanted to thank you all for your inspiring and uplifting comments regarding my 'education' dilemma. They have given me lots of food for thought and a good deal of encouragement. I will show you all a picture of that hand painted manifesto as soon as it is finished - and keep you posted about the unique solutions I might find to overcome this situation, all inspired by you!

In the mean time, I read this post (and found the beautiful image) over at Please Sir and thought it may pique the interest of a good many of you artists, crafters and creators out there. It's all about 'The Art of Business.' 

 Below are some key points shared by William Mangum, an acclaimed watercolorist and gallery owner,  on the art of business and what it means to be an entrepreneur. Please Sir would really like some additional input from any of you (us)  who have set out on our own, or are thinking of doing so, particularly in an art related field. Is there anything any of you would add to this list? If so, pop over to Please Sir's blog and let her know. 

What is the "Art of Business?"

A - Alliance: seeing what is possible with other people, corporations and causes
R - Resourcefulness: connecting the dots to make a vision into reality
T - Tenacity: having the fire to get started and stay motivated 


Mangum also said an entrepreneur:

1. Dreams big
2. Takes risks
3. Never rests on their laurels
4. Constantly raises the bar
5. Creates value and carves out a niche
6. Exploits and identifies market opportunities

In any case, it seems that this is another great list to paint up big and stick to a wall for those times when pulling it all together seems a bit much!  I guess the kitchen's where I spend the most time, so I shall put it there. I have been known to paint and cook at the same time, which is why the messmonsters will flinch before no food, even bottle green spirulina ;-) Hmm - it's not a bad English lesson for them either!

Off to grab those brushes again then.

PS... I have been requested to write a few more posts en Français, so every now and again don't be surprised to see a bit of 'Sacré Bleu!!'

PPS. Thanks again for all the encouragement.... There are lots of little windows of opportunity opening up again!

A rebel in her own mind

The French have an expression I love ... 

'Refaire le monde' 

Literally, 're-make the world' or 

Make the world what you'd like it to be.

It's a popular expression used to describe those moments whiled away in conversation with friends. It evokes images of wonderful dinner parties or lazy afternoons chatting away the hours, of dreams for the future and memories of the past. For the French, ' Refaire le Monde' pretty well stops there: having a lovely conversation that will be stuck on pause until you next see your friends for a good bout of reminiscing about the old days or vaguely pursuing the what ifs...  

photo found here

What I've always found peculiar about this phrase is that, inspite of the verb, in real life - it has nothing to do with any action other than the art of talking.  'Doing,' is not a verb for the people in France, it is a verb for the Government.

I came to France expecting a country of revolutionaries brandishing slogans like 'Joie de Vivre.' There is none of that; little joie de vivre, and certainly no revolution.  France drowns in its own traditions. While we have scrumptious cheeses, great wine, fabulous villages and 65 million essentially lovely and well  meaning individuals - we have a general apathy about the state of the world and our own country, and an inherent distrust (may I go so far as to say dislike) of any sort of change, that I find alarming.  This can be found anywhere you may say - Sure! However, in my personal experience, it is particularly entrenched here.

The part that touches me most at the moment is the education system. 

My nearly 11 year old will be starting college this September. I left the parents' information evening in tears. Not because my little girl is growing up - but because this system is just so, so SAD.

She will start school at 9am and finish at 5.30pm (with a bit more than an hour's lunchbreak in between), except for Wednesday where they finish at lunchtime so they can go to afterschool activities. Until they are 13/14 yr's old, in order to keep up with lessons, they are expected to do at least an hour's homework each evening, after which it grows to 2hrs per evening. She will have some 'free lessons' which she will spend in a room with god knows how many other kids (we live too far away from school for me to be able to pick her up for that lesson), and in which she will be admonished for whispering or looking out the window, rather than concentrating on the books in front of her. 

Can anyone explain to me, realistically when my child will be able to play, imagine, create or discover the pleasure of learning and discovery? Let alone getting to bed at a reasonable hour. 

Of course, there are longer school holidays here. Thank goodness for small mercies, with weeks so crammed full of books and lessons - I guess she'll need more holidays. To my mind, more holidays do not make up for a balanced schedule. 

Am I whinging? I think so. In fact, I'm distraught. Not only am I saddened and sickened by this education system, that so many people find normal, but I was also brought up not to whinge. ACTION! Which basically means, if you don't like something - do something about it. Armed with my 'positive planks' that's what I set out to do... but it's not enough...

I have just spent a few months finding out all I can about homeschooling my kids (thanks Camilla and Jeanneoli, amongst others). Yet I have also started my own business (after a good deal of struggle with prevailing attitudes) and need, for various reasons, to become financially independent. It seems pretty insurmountable, given my environment, to be able to teach 3 messmonsters full time and become financially independent simultaneously. Could this be the year to try? The French have finally brought out a system by which one can be self employed and only pay social security charges and taxes based on what one earns - rather than in advance (ie BEFORE YOU EARN IT!), like it was last year and those before. 

Anyone else out there done it??? Let me know - I'm in need of a bit of encouragement... 

Would I move them back to Australia/NZ for school? This very afternoon! I dream of them having drama clubs and sports to choose from and swim carnavals etc etc; various outlets for their energy that can orient them at least into other avenues when their self-esteem is flailing. Everything that the French school system doesn't offer. But there is the small matter of Mr (French) Beaker who forms an important part of the family equation... Moving a French person takes years - unless he is a yachtie! Mine only gets seasick.  Faith might be able to move mountains, but she never tried to uproot a French person.

Anytime anyone lifts a finger to change the French education system, the strikes go out in earnest. Nothing, REPEAT NOTHING, must be changed. None of the parents I talk with  really like the system, but not enough to want to change it. After all, they went through it and they're alright. Overtly fearful of any form of change, but they're fine, normal, nice people. 

So why do I have such a sense of dread?

As I paint my 'positive' in tears today, I wonder how my child is going to pay for having a rebel mother. I was brought up to work hard at my studies and work for what I wanted to achieve. But this is too much. If she does not keep up with those lessons because I think it is too much for her to spend so much time studying after an already over full school day, how will she feel in class? Falling behind is not a fun thing for a tween, a teen, or anyone for that matter. So somewhere in there, I'm even likely to become instrumental  in maintaining a system I can't abide by. 

Friends say that I will be able to bring my messmonsters a different perspective, because I have a whole other outlook on life. I don't think that, where I come from, my outlook is in fact that different. Or is that the years talking? In any case, it seems like so little with which to confront the mastodon that is the French education system... And then ...

... I chanced on this piece by one of my favourite 'guerillas' earlier on this morning.  Keri, famous author some of you may know already, has just finished reading a book on revolutionising the education system. I've just finished editing 100 pages on the same thing (albeit in Africa) for an NGO, and it all just seemed to fall into place. 

Guess what I have to do is go straight to point 13 then activate point 8, point 3 being illustrated by the fact that I pinched this list!!  Allez - time to make a mess with my paints and inks... I may just be able to bring Point 7 out in a positive light.

Thanks for listening to the rant ... don't know what I'd do if you weren't around...

AWOL: a tale of strange (dis)appearances

"Didn't the fox never catch the rabbit, Uncle Remus?" asked the little boy the next evening.

"He come mighty nigh it, honey, sho's you born--Brer Fox did.

(from, The Wonderful Tar Baby Story, as narrated by Uncle Remus)

Mighty nigh but not quite, eh Uncle Remus!!

Meet my my newest excuse for not showing you any new work... 10 feeds per day  and some serious supervision so he doesn't go AWOL from his temporary new mummy until he's big enough to fend for himself. In the mean time - he runs fast, so I am getting lots of exercise in the back yard ;-)

When we are not rescuing 3 week old rabbits, we are setting fire to the dangerous pirate ships* that sail to 'La Rivière' to bomb us with chocolate fudge cake...

I shall pop over to catch up on and admire all of your latest adventures this evening. For now, it's time to make hay while the sun shines, feed 'Chanceux' ('Lucky') who has become my shadow, and sneak in a few brush strokes while he's between feeds. 

*The super duper mega cool 'successful' version of this pirate cake comes from the blog 'Chapter 40' which you can find on my sidebar. I have to race off so can't put in the link till later. In the mean time - go have a look through her February and March posts where you'll find out how to make it.

The trees are happy

"...but it was so long since he had heard a bird sing in his garden that it seemed to him to be the most beautiful music in all the world.

Then the Hail stopped dancing over his head, and the North Wind ceased roaring, and a delicious perfume came to him through the open casement. 'I believe the Spring has come at last,' said the Giant; and he jumped out of bed and looked out. 
What did he see?
He saw a most wonderful sight. Through a little hole in the wall the children had crept in, and they were sitting in the branches of the trees. In every tree that he could see there was a little child. And the trees were so glad to have the children back again that they had covered themselves with blossoms, and were waving there arms gently above the children's heads."

From, The Selfish Giant, by Oscar Wilde.

This is one of my favourite stories. One I remember fondly from my NZ childhood, snuggled up in bed on a Sunday morning listening to the radio.

It seems that the trees are happy here at La Rivière at the moment, waving their blossomed branches gently in the blue sky. That's inspiration enough for me!

Back later with some Wishcasting Wednesday thoughts, a bit of Saving the World, and some globetrotting ...I've missed you over the last few days ;-)

Right under Washington's nose!

A slender acquaintance with the world 
must convince every man 
that actions, not words, 
are the true criterion of the attachment of friends.
George Washington

If you've been reading recently you'll know that I've been on a lucky streak. This lucky streak has been going on for most of my life. Well - that's how I see it anyway. But recently, things have really been picking up! Life has been even more full of surprises than usual... 

 For example, I won my very first giveaway. (OOPS! It was my 2nd - so that means I'm extra lucky. Cheers and applause!!) I knew the parcel was coming ... Ma chère Gigi had forewarned me. What she had brilliantly kept secret was it's exact contents, so  I wasn't prepared for was the beautiful aroma when I opened the mailbox. It seemed vaguely familiar, but I couldn't quite put my finger (or nose) on it. The day the box arrived, the messmonsters were all jostling each other to get to it first- it's nearly Pokemon's birthday you see... 

'PAS TOUCHE!' said I in very bad French, 'c'est pour moi!!'

To the messies' disgust, I took my time opening the parcel. They just couldn't understand why I didn't rip the paper off and fling it on the floor in wild abandon like they would do. Actually, although I'm  annoyingly precious about conserving wrapping paper, I confess to wantonly throwing myself onto presents  food, art, supplies, food, life, exquisite clothing, brocantes, food... with wild abandon - so 3 pairs of inquisitive little eyes eventually left digusted, in search of more promising adventure. But not before Libellule threw  at me in her usual flippant manner, 'Maman, I smell lavendar!' What can you expect from a child who has Provençal genes? 

So that was it! And right under Washington's nose at that, for the said lavendar was beautifully encased in a small glass bottle and wrapped in a fine beige tissue paper, which was humbly adorned with a tiny red stamp. That tiny red stamp wore nothing but Washington's face! 

I spent a while contemplating that stamp.

Before I unwrapped the parcel...

I then spent a while examining the BOSTON bottle inside from every possible angle, before letting myself discover the rest of the box, which in itself was a visual feast. A vibrant rainbow of blue, yellow and red that took me all the way to the Dominican Republic and the back streets of its cigar industry. From France, to Boston to the République Dominicaine... Two extra countries without leaving my sofa. Travelling in the mind's great for the morale, not to mention the bank account!

 

I could just tell from the whimsical and careful way everything was wrapped, then placed inside the box that Gigi did not become a poet, but was born one. Poet is as Poet does. Poetry is not merely about writing words. Many of us are word mills. Ahem ... (blushing)

A true Poet feels before she thinks.  This shines through, not only in the delicacy and poignancy of Gigi's prose, but in the regular, imaginative musings and snippets she shares of her daily life in her blog The Magpie's Fancy. And for me, (blessed I be) it was oh so present in the thoughtful arrangement of  goodies she added to the exquisite photo that was the initial prize. I have one of these typewriters ...I wish I could type butterflies with it.  

There were many other wee treasures in that vibrant cigar box: a little red notebook, more of the polished sea glass I love so to add to the collection I started with Fearless Nester, hearts nestled safely within the folds of a woven nest, vintage cards, precious beads to adorn the simple string bows... 

...and two of my favourite words: 

DARE 

(TO) FIND

They just ooze challenge and adventure, don't they? 
Conjures up all sorts of fun ideas, like treasure hunts...

Now Mr Washington, I dare to agree and not disagree for once. Should I consider intently this slender acquaintance, I am certain to find that the attachment of friends is both defined by words and sealed through actions...

In other words - you've won a heart!

Merci Gigi, 

Je suis sincèrement touchée.

For more secrets and fun ideas from artists around the world, don't forget to pop over to Seth's Secret Sunday at the Altered Page ... it's up there on my sidebar.

You've got mail!

It is nearly midnight and I have rewritten this post 5 times now. Sometimes I wonder if it is just me that takes so long to find the right words - or if you all have the same dilemma. 

Do you?

Of course, a good dose of the wearies doesn't help. Nodding off on your keyboard only reduces your alphabet to a lot of zzzzzzzz's! Never fear though possums - the old second wind has kicked in and we may now chat all evening, or rather into the wee hours of the early morning ;-) I'll just have to inspire myself with the postcard LaWendula sent me this week in order to continue (you can see it in my collage below! becoming a collage maniac).

If you've been reading along this week you'll notice that I've been on a lucky roll!
Yup - almost every trip to the mail box has been a winner!
Do I go to the mail box everyday? you ask.
Why no! But at the moment all my numbers come up
I keep hitting the jackpot
I am worried
I may be developing an unhealthy addiction to checking my letter box!

LaWendula organises a paper swap every month to which I've signed up as a participant.

This month's theme was 'Letters and Numbers' and we both had a great time (at least I did) rifling through our ephemera to find bits and pieces that the other might find useful, attractive,  fun to play with, inspiring ... or even odd. Now - the alphabets, that's my game so I could hardly not dive right into this theme. 

You don't have to be an artist to participate ... just a lover of ephemera. A collector of those stray bits and pieces that get lost in no man's land between rubbish and 'next month's project.' This swap is great for the soul. I get a real kick out of seeing an enormous envelope of my stuff leave the house. 'Yeah! Decluttering!' I say to myself, allowing myself a moment's pause to savour the emotion. 

And how do I feel, you may ask, about hiking up to the mail box and coming back with a similar sized envelope to the one I just sent away so much for the -uncluttering!? Why happier still - All is justifiable in the name of art - at least as far as recycling paper is concerned ;-)

It's getting a bit late for Madame to continue ce soir ... so take a wee peek into the treasure chest above ... It holds the key to Sunday's post!

Bonne nuit ;-)