faces

Herewith some old paintings of mine, of eyes and faces, all oil on board, just for something different.

Gembaku Domu

Old and abandoned for a very different reason, this is the Gembaku Domu or A-Dome building in Hiroshima.
Built in 1914 and once known as the Industrial Promotion Hall, it stands as a silent reminder near the hypocentre of the atomic bomb blast of August 6 1945.
It was one of the only structures not totally obliterated within a 3km radius of the blast.
Eerily suggestive of the ongoing plight of many in present day Japan after the earthquakes, tsunami and Fukushima nuclear disaster .

eye see

So this is how my little red book has turned out so far. 
Carved, painted upon with gouache and then nailed. 
Might even mount it upon one or two slightly larger cloth covered old books to give it a bit of substance to stand alone, either that or I could frame it to hang on the wall.  Still thinking........ so not completely finished yet.

Lost

This poor old house used to belong to a loving farming family, but the farm and the family who loved it have long gone, as has the house now.  It was knocked down to make way for a mega nursery complex, which has consequently gone bust.  The land where this lovely old house stood is now earmarked for small lot urban development.  I wonder if the developers of this latest venture will fall upon the same misfortune previous owners seem to have found.

Ra ta ta tam

 

 

Herewith a few illustrations from one of my favourite childhood books "Ra ta ta tam" .

Written by Peter Nickl and illustrated by Binette Schroeder.  The story was translated from the German by Michael Bullock.

The book went everywhere with me. I spent hours exploring the illustrations, relating to the main character Matthew Tiny, who was always being told what to do by everyone else.  I loved his eccentric inventions, especially the bicycle powered hot air balloon which he uses on his adventure to find and reclaim his beloved little train Ra ta ta tam.

The book was a gift to me from my eldest brother when I was 8 years old, and I think I have treasured the book as much for the inscription he left in it, as for the wonderful illustrations and tale.

The inscription reads:  "Dear little Robyn, I hope you enjoy this short tale.  I chose it because it is almost as strange as you are, Forever your Big Brother, Gary, 1975"

favourite vintage Christie covers

Three more vintage Christie covers by Tom Adams.  None too gruesome, but all suggestive of a little bit of evil.

Japanese drink bottles

Not tea cups today but drink bottles.  Japanese soft drink bottles to be exact, with their bright, happy packaging.  The glass one is rather fun as it has a marble in the neck like old fashioned soft drink bottles.  You have to push the lid in to activate the carbonation process.

little red carved book in progress

Work in progress on a little red book that I have been carving away at, all the time thinking how I can make it somehow different to the ones before it. Tick, tick, tick go the clock and the brain!

Vintage Christie

Some cool vintage late 50's, early 60's Christie covers (not Tom Adams - and unfortunately the illustrator is unacknowledged).

New Zealand Fur Seals

Holiday photo's of New Zealand fur seals a few years ago at Kaikoura (pre earthquake activity).

Winter Sunrise

Winter sunrise Western Darling Downs QLD (near Oakey West of Toowoomba).
I am on a winter theme with the temperatures being relatively cool for SE QLD at the moment.
Living in a sub-tropical climate cool weather doesn't last for long, so I am really enjoying a bit of crispness in the air!  It's also nice to have clean crisp days after such a long, wet summer.  The ground is still muddy even though we haven't had rain for quite a while.

small folded book

 

Scant winter light coming in through the window creates shadows across the folds of a small book.

Winter Mornings

Early crisp winter morning had me out searching for the elusive sun , but it's hard to find here early in the day because of all the trees surrounding us on our side of the hill. 
Well worth the wait on a quiet Saturday morning.
Looks like my friend, Scamp, the wallaby was out searching for sun this morning as wel!

Altered Book (Antipodean Steampunk)

 

Herewith, the latest tome I've been working on. Not 100% happy yet, but it's all a learning process!

Have enjoyed working with cogs and nails and shellac immensely and doing little cross hatch pen drawings (which I  will refine further as, whilst they look fine to the naked eye, they don't translate very well in photo form and look very amateurish).

Am very keen for the little vintage "Ready for Everest" illustration.

Unfortunately the expensive circle cutter I purchased doesn't work effectively on books (due to bumping on the spine), so have had to cut out the circles by hand which, due to my cavalier approach, gives a less than satisfactory outcome when cutting through multiple layers.

Arashiyama (Western Kyoto)

Today some photographs of our time in Arashiyama which sits beside the Hozu-gawa in Western Kyoto.
These photo's were taken from the opposite bank, across the Togetsu-kyo bridge, looking back at the main township of Arashiyama.

As you can see by the photo's it is a beautiful place to visit, not too far from central Kyoto, with many temples, beautiful bamboo forests , rickshaws, wooden punts and also a monkey park.

Ephemera Photo's

Random objects of little or no apparent value which I find intersting - massed together to create photographic compositions.
A follow on from my photocopy storyboards as access to a reasonable photocopier has all but disappeared for me at the moment.

ephemera pl. n.
items of short-lived interest or usefullness.

which makes me an ephemerist - being a collector of such nonsense!

perhaps we could apply this nomenclature to the majority of items produced, and those who accumulate them, in our current time!

More Drinking Vessels

More teacups from my collection.