kathe kollwitz

I love Kathe Kollwitz. This photo is of a print hanging in my parent's house. I love it for so many reasons, not least because she looks so happy; in contrast to the more .... hmmm ... severe? intense? self-portraits she has done. I love those works too though. I fell in love with her woodcuts as a teenager. Sigh ... she's just so great.

rediscovery

At the moment, Vincent, Izmae and I are staying at my parent's place in Wellington while David is away for work. One of the things I really enjoy about staying at their place is rediscovering things I made an eternity ago, like this pottery head. I love him. There's something of the ancient body discovered in an English bog about him.

embroidery experiment

 I have embarked upon an embroidery project. I've never embroidered before, but one evening recently found myself armed with hoop, an old cloth nappy, needle and thread. David was reading on the couch in front of me so he was first. I considered ironing it, but I think the wrinkles and creases give his face a similar character as in life. I might iron around his face. We'll see.

And then it was Vincent's turn. He woke up before I managed to finish his ear. But sneakily, today, while he was crying on my lap, I picked up a pencil and paper and drew his ear - it was even on the same angle! So, terrible mother that I am, I put my son's grief to artistic purpose and may actually get to finish his portrait.

mt arthur adventure

On the weekend two friends and I went tramping in the mountains and it was so good! We found a giant native nz snail on the path (and managed not to step on it), heard kiwi calling in the night, and were joined by a friendly robin and several inquisitive weka. It was so beautiful up there.

wet sand

A few weekends ago we explored the estuary at the end of the road. At high tide, this area is covered in water, so we waited for low tide and went for a walk to an outlying island. Vincent reveled in the wet sand and together Izmae and he searched for treasures in the puddles.

children

So, as I mentioned in my last post, I had a baby! That's her on the right. On the left is my first baby; and this is them together right at the beginning of their adventure into siblinghood. Five months have passed since then (isn't that incredible?? It's amazing to think that my baby girl is not a newborn anymore - where is the time going?). When I first started writing this blog it was in an attempt to capture the transitory nature of the things in my life - mainly the art and craft work that I was creating and then allowing to slip between my fingers ... into other people's fingers usually, but sometimes things just fade or deteriorate, and then soon those things are gone from my memory too. Then, of course, I started noticing that so much of everything else is transitory too - everything in fact - and it became difficult to know what to include. Luckily (!) I've been way too busy looking after my family to really worry at all about what to include or not, but the one thing that really has to be here is my children. Look at them! They're luscious and blooming. My newborn girl is gently dancing! My son is filled with wonder. Their skin glows, the world is new.

Crop

A plate of peppers picked from my garden! The crop is now pretty much over, but the enormous satisfaction of growing vegetables from tiny little seeds is great! I love my garden. It's very wee, and mostly in pots, but I love it. It's currently being ravaged by I don't know what though - all my baby broccoli plants are looking very chewed.