Ahh... Christmas is done, but it was pretty good. The hire car was nice, and I enjoyed being able to get around with out public transport for those few days. Josh came down with me, said he had a good time, which was nice. Was a pretty relaxed day though, lunch, presents and some nonsense chatter with the family.
Unlike usual conversation didn't deteriorate to poo and wee jokes, which was a little surprising, somehow it didn't completely feel like Christmas....
Spent boxing day relaxing at home - no one else is there as Mark has moved out and Al is away visiting family. It's been LURVERLY having the house to myself.
Christmas eve had two people around to have a look at the room, and a guy - Anthony - is moving in shortly. Apparently he is going to call sometime today re keys and when he will actually be moving his things. Seems ok, but all remains to be seen - what can you tell about living with someone after having met them for a mere 1/2 hour or so? But it' shouldn't be too much of a hassle I wouldn't think, and if it is, it's just back to the drawing board of finding someone else again...
On the Saturday after boxing day I went to visit my sister, and stayed the night - felt soo guilty about leaving Summah at home by herself in the back yard. But she was ok when I arrived home the next arfternoon. Played play-doh with Brodie on the Sunday morning which was actually heaps of fun. Always wanted one of those things that you stick play-doh in their heads and squash them down to make their hair grow.....
Lost my purse this morning - agonised for hours over my tram ticket and the little cash that was in their, but got a call just before lunch from the bank saying they had it their for me to pick up! Soo pleased, and so lucky that it was still complete with cards, cash and ticket.
Our new system will be on line this afternoon, which is earlier than expected - so good - should be soo much easier now to get things done. And no more watching things pile up on my desk calling to me to complete them. Mind you I have been ignoring the cries from my filing for a few months now. I am deaf to its pleas!
Anyway, there is much work waiting, must get back to the grind!

My eyes are about to fall out of my head - I should be wearing swimming goggles as a saftey precaution, and why not? there is no dress code here, hell, I may even wear a wet suit and flippers to work tomorrow.... Maybe going a bit far... hmm?
BBQ last night, was fun but I just wanted to stay in my warm safe bed this morning. Gawd I love having it all to myself, spreading out, scrunching the whole doona around me. It's just so yummy. I could easily be one of those hibernating creatures, if you get to choose your form in the next life I may even consider becoming one..... or not.
The lovely J's seemed to enjoy coming over, and it was delicious to have them around, hardly ever get them to leave the comfort of their little den to come to mine - a little like me with my bed... But it was good, and a few other friends who I won't see until the new year or after.... It'd be nice to have a friends Christmas one year, the family that you actually chose, but everyone has their own family obligations don't they... Maybe when we are all old and decrepit.
And now it's all the last minute organization for Christmas, pick up that blasted cray, sort out the bed side tables for Simon, get around to pick up the hire car and Josh, then back home to collect the pressents, and around to Jess' before heading down to the WOZ. Hmm, a nice restful Christmas day. Ach well at least I will have the freedom of a car for a few days! That'll be very nice!
And possibly a short day tomorrow as all the systems we use for work will be down. What a pleasant thought....

Time for a Christmas blog... a pre Christmas blog anyway. The weather has gone RUBBISH! Glad Josh and I didn't hire that convertible to go down to Dad's for Christmas lunch... Still don't know what kind of car it is, I'm just praying that it has a stereo, and air con. Fingers are crossed and am touching wood. - Although I was crossed on the stairs by some woman in a shoe shop yesterday so this may negate all my precautions...
She even saw me walk backwards up the stairs to avoid crossing some other girls going up - what was she thinking??!
Have finally got all my present shopping done, if anyone has been forgotten it's just too bloody bad, there is no way I am going back to the stores for anything other than dog food, and maybe beer.... Had a pretty easy time of the old shopping gig though, was thinking it was gonna be a shit fight to get around on the footpath, let alone in the stores, but it was suprisingly quiet! Much to my delight.
Am going down to dad's with Josh, which should be interesting, and I will let you know how it goes... Hopefully well, but can't tell now due to that stupid woman on the stairs - ha ha. My brother Aaron and his wife should be down as well, but the Linc and Yvette have piked this year - wish I could'a, but the whole O.S thing sorta means I really probably am obligated to have the last Christmas in oz - for a few years at least - with the nucleus group.
Got myself a christmas present or two - some sandals and a book mark. At least then there is something I will like, how mercanary of me! Bad....
Work is still pretty busy, but slowly winding down. Can't wait til NYE when I will have 5 FULL DAYS OFF IN A ROW!! Sorry for shouting, but I'm very excited...
Anyway it's almost 5, time to log off and get my arse home to start cooking for this BBQ, crappy weather for it, but hopefully will still be fun. A few friends, a few beers, some laughs and present giving, what more could you ask for other than good weather and no rain?? Ach well.... I guess you can't have it all, but I don't know why not!

Ahh, what a week, and this is shaping up much the same.. So close to Christmas and still so many things to do - finish present shopping, pick up the hire car, organise Dad's cray, tickets for NY day... it just goes on!
Never mind though, it should all be worth it. Whenever I start to think about new years eve I get that excited sick feeling in my gut. Hope it's a good night...
Mark moves out this weekend, plus the garage sale happens, and I'm supposed to finish my Christmas shopping.. I guess I'll be finding some extra hours somewhere? No time for relaxing before the Christmas break, plenty of time when it rocks around maybe?
Hopefully with Mark moving on out we can remain friends, all I know is that I can't live with him any longer. Just got too much with the bickering, and I didn't even know half the time what we were arguing about... Maybe he didn't either. Who knows, but if absence makes the heart grow fonder, maybe it will also make the friendship stronger... Possibly wishfull thinking there Vic, but rhymes well still.
Am going out tonight to see "goodbye Lenin" with him though, so maybe some entertainment and lighthearted fun will do it all good. God I hate conflict.
Haven't seen the new boy for a while, and probably wont for a while longer, no time, or space at the moment. Still all that can wait, there are other more important and interesting things going on at the moment.
Steve had papers served last week and we're still talking friendly which is good. Was dreading the call after they got served, and in the end there was nothing to worry about! A nice suprise for a change! Have the week off around my court date, so will be organising visas and tickets to go OS at the same time. CAN'T WAIT!!
Work - database is still down, still watching things pile up 'round my ears, and still waiting to find out if the two weeks worth of work before it went down will have to be re-done. Not a pleasant thought really. Never mind though, what doesn't kill you just makes you bloody angry!!
Well enough rambling! Will blog again later when I remember...

Wow, it's been ages since I had a blog.... This should make me feel a bit better.
This started off though as a diary of my clay progress, supposedly building to an exhibition at the start of next year. Have since decided that I won't be able to do that AND save to piss off OS next year, so have stopped working like a maniac to get all the pieces done, and now the clay men and women, sculptures, pots, eyes and other body parts serenely lay in my back shed waiting to be fired. Hopefully I will be able to get along there before christmas and take it in. Then I can start to clean out the shed, and start selling my worldly possesions and trim my life down to the bare minimums...
Still all that work hasn't gone to waste. If or when I get back to Oz from my travels I can use them as part of my portfolio to get into a fine arts course. I may be actually able to sit down in a class for long enough to get a degree. Wouldn't that be a bit good?
So life has been sailing along with less clay work and more social fun. Met a friend of a friend the other day, and have been having some great laughs with her. Always a good thing. And it's nice to be spending some more time with the Jessie one, and her lovely boy.
Savings are going very well for the os trip, almost above target, so I guess that means I am on target, either way it's all good. Am getting some boots made for when I go away, although they will be ready long before that. Some mid calf black biker looking things with a zipper (shoes with zippers - arrgh!) but with a sole particularly made for walking! And I'm gonna do some long miles in those.
Divorce is almost through, papers getting served this week, and court date is Feb. The court screwed it up and set the date for Feb that is already gone, but was easy enough to fix - only had to stress for around 1/2 an hour.... So it's all basic process now.
Anyways, time to go and I have been waiting for today to end since it began... Hasn't been a fun one - so bloody busy!! Anyways I'm off. Will try to blog more often, don't want to get all blocked up.... Heh heh heh.

Ahh busy busy busy. Haven't had time to write, time to clay, or much time to rest. Work has taken over, and the rest of my time seems to be filled with looking after my hound, and doing things around the house - or visiting friends of course.
I'm going to need to make some time for my clay work other wise this exhibition wont eventuate... Ah well I haven't booked the space yet, so if I don't show it maybe I can use it in a portfolio when I get back from travels. And they are what's taking priority at the moment, hence the full time work hours.
But apart from the busyness all is going well and life is good. The little people have dried well and are awaiting a trip to the kilns - something I keep saying I will do next weekend, and then not getting there, much to their dismay.... But soon I will borrow a car and make my way accross ever so carefully so as not to break any of my work. It's always nerve wracking making that trip.
Well I wish I had something to say about what I have been making but as I haven't been in there for about 4 or so weeks now there's naught to write. Maybe in a week or so...

Just been reading through this blog. Gawd you can see where I've just gone off one a complete tangent, (how would I ever finish this writing I am doing... I should take that traveling..) see there again. . But back there I just stopped making sense... Oops. But then it does give you something more to think about.
Sort of makes it hard to link all these clay pieces together. It's like I'm researching why I had the ideas I had in one night about this clay thing. I just sat down and thought aoubt visual interpretations of the idea of fitting in, and then as I do each one need to try and understand the beginning of each idea. Like why is people all dancing around in tha circle part of fitting in? Is it do with early Saxon tribal people having rituals such as maypole dancing, does it have to do with mad trance parties, or is it the ring a ring a rosey from child hood, is it further back than that even. Maybe it has something to do with world spirit and everyone remembers somewhere a feeling of belonging through dance even before they start dancing....? Where is that connection? Is it relevant to the greater part of community the people looking at it? Or is it a personal glimps at the artist recreateing it? Is it relevant to the viewer?

Well I've gone back to working on these naked figures holding masks, and am pleased to say that I have finally got them staying up, and looking reasonably human like. Although I still seem to be going for the fat arsed look. Not to say there is anything wrong with that - especially when I am sort of modelling them on myself!
So far I have two done and need to make another 4 - 5 and choose the best 3, or 5. Will have to see how they look once they have been fired.
Speaking of which I will have to get off to the kilns very shortly as my work space is quickly filling up with greenware and I can hardly move for fear of smashing things. Still at least I am on the way to finishing, or at least getting half way towards finishing the ideas I had mapped out for this exhibition.
Still have to speak to the gallery owner about hiring the space, plus she's moved the gallery to Sydney Rd Brunswick, so I'll have to get over there and check it out before booking the space. Hopefully it will be just as appropriate as the other one, if not more so....
I got some excellent things for my birthday which should help with the whole figure sculpting. A little book of some of Rodins' famous pieces, and some cards with like things on them. All to be delivered into my clay room for me to ponder and envy...
Anyway there's the up date, best get back to it, the clay is calling!

Some ideas for hand tesselations

Well the pidgeon holes are finished. It was satisfying to have something work from start to finish for a change. I have decided to fill it with 'things that people use to categorise others' like cars and tellies. Hopefully I will be able to get a lot of them from a toy store, as I don't want to make them all out of clay. But I suppose I will have to see what I can find and make what I can't. The box that is to be filled with miscellaneous things I am still pondering on. But there is plenty of time to figure it out as I am still waiting to here about booking a time at this gallery... Should probably send another e-mail.
When I get a chance I will post a picture of this one, and the other that stillisn't showing.

I guess this is what happens when I get all skitey and boastful. The fat business man's legs broke off just below the knee, his crotch cracked and then he split his side - not through laughter either. I had gone out to my work room to finish his arms and head, but found him in pieces, much to my dismay! So I pummelled him back into a lump of clay and have started on a different idea instead. I can't deal with these figures anymore - for a while at least.
I decided to go with some slab work, something that I have more experience with, so I shouldn't come up against so many disappointments. Then once I have finished that I will try again with the naked figures. But I think I will make them smaller and solid rather than hollow.
So the idea I have started in the mean time is idea no. 8 - Pidgeon Holes all holding like objects with one 'stuffed' with miscellaneous things. So far so good, although I am still in the process of making the pidgeon holes themselves and not yet decided what to do as far as the objects I will fill them with, something to ponder I guess as I finish the slab work.... Will post a pic when I get a chance. By the way I am still waiting for the pic Aaron took to be posted on his web page so's I can paste it here... All in good time I guess!

Ohh S'ah! it's all coming along pretty nicely now. The fat business man is taking shape, and at present is laying down on a pillow in my clay room so that he doesn't distort. The use of coils has been my saviour, rather than just sticking bits on and moulding him to shape as I was in previous attempt. So finally I have a near complete figure, that just needs a little sculpting to look 'real'. He stands at about 40cm in hight, and has a big belly. Nice!
I also started a woman, she has pretty wide child bearing hips, but nothing past the waist at the moment so she stands upside down awaiting some more attention from me. Nice feet though, if you're into that sort of thing...
I'll get Aaron around shortly to take some photos of them both soon while they're still in their early stages so you (and I) can see how they are evolving.

For some reason the picture for this isn't appearing - I'll have a look into that and fix it when I get a chance. Anyways, this is the first finished piece, I still haven't decided what to call it, but am thinking along the lines of something like "Where do I belong?"

Rhizomes - root like stem growing along or under the ground, and sendin out both roots and shoots. Rhizomes alway aspire to the consolidation of their networks. The global market, for instance, naturally aspires to its own growth, monopolizing multidimensionality and producing a self-reinforcing monodimensionality.
Nomadic lifestyle - fitting in to all, and at the same time not fitting with any societal view of life but their own. Remaining transient to continue moving forward in all aspects of life/ existance. Unlike western, or "community', village living, ie: adapting surroundings to your ides of life, rather adapting your life to the immediate reality.
Is this continued with us as a society trying to adapt our physical look, our visual face to that of our surrounds, do we all want to become one with what is in our imediate vicinity? Why would this be so?
22/08/03 What the hell am I on about here?? What do we want to look like trees? Or am I meaning in a more community sense of the idea? Like we want to look like each other to feel like we are a part of something? Is this where this strangeness of liposuction and cosmetic surgery, even make up and fashion comes from? Are we so media hungry that we think every one looks like people from magazines? Are we so affraid to look at ourselves that we would rather watch ou t.v's, rather watch somebody elses life than take note of our own, and our immeadiate reality? Or do we do that in order to mimic and assimilate better? Why do we want to be like one another? A culture where even the word alternative Modern Oxford dic- " offering a different approach from the conventional or established one; belonging to the counter culture" can become "main stream"in the world of comercialism & marketing... Rambling again?

Arrgh! He was going so well (the plump business man) and then he twisted and fell, his foot broke in half, and then his crotch cracked irrepairably. Much to my dismay he needed to be returned to the clay, and I have to start again - after a week of patient building!
I think that he was getting too much weight on his ankles and knees and he got taller, causing him to twist and kneel. I am going to have to use another tactic I think, otherwise it will just happen again.
I was speaking with a friend who suggested I make a simple/basic hollow shape and then add the muscle definition and detail once the basic form has hardened a little. Unlike what I was doing which was building a hollow structure with all the detail as I developed him upwards, this was causing him the harden irregularly, and then as I worked my way up the little movemet I needed was causing him to become more and more unstable, until he finally cracked from the presure. (I have put him into councelling and he should be back to work by the years end...) So I will try the other way suggested and begin this tonight. Hopefully it won't take nearly as long as the first way I tried. It took me about a week to get half a man sculpted, and then he broke anyway. How frustrating!! But I should look at it all as a learning experience...
Realistically I need to be able to finish one figure (they are approximately 30 - 40 cms in height) within 3 days, or near complete anyway. Otherwise I will never meet the deadline I have given myself for the end of the year.... Plus I want to speak with Keesan soon about an exhibition, and don't want to confirm that until I have at least two pieces finished, at present I only have one.
That was the easy one though. It's a round board with different sized round holes. On it stand 5 figures with triangular bases. Looks quite ok I think, will see how it goes in the firing of course, just as with these figures for idea 1. But it has dried without any cracks which is a good sign...

Thanks to Rodin, I finally got the arse sorted on my first figure for Idea 1 (the naked figures holding masks which don't fit) He's a little plump, not nearly as athletic as Rodins dancers, or Michelangelos' David. I like to think of him as your modern business man without the suit. Still there's only half of him at the moment, and he needs a little smoothing out to rid him of the excessive cellulite, but he should be finished by the weekend, and then onto the next one. I am wanting to make five of them in total, all differing in their body shape and mix of gender, but holding the same style masks. I think I am going to go with the highly stylized Venitian masks. It accentuates the prententiousness/fakeness of the idea of 'showing your best side' or even hiding the real you in order to be one of the crowd. To be a part of something, even if it's not really you.

"Eternal Spring" Rodin

"The walking man" Rodin

"Age of Bronze" Rodin

Haven't decided if I should go with similar masks, or each figure hold a diffenernt mask from the other - maybe one from each culture, chinese, african, venice? Want to check out various styles first... Have a look at these:

Symetry. Trying to copy or mirror behaviours and appearances to be able to fit in better. Is this the same throughout all of nature.

Curved lines fitting together even though there is variation in their form. Seems to give a sense of calmness....

Aboriginal art, culture explaining their environment. Explaining, understanding in order to fit in better?

maybe 3d tiles? all hands interlocking to make a globe? tacky?

another tesselation.
Maybe do tesselation of hands and animal paws? Something to show the interlocking of all life forms? Rather than just focusing on humanity.

idea 2. Escher type tiles all fitting together to make a square. 2d represtentation? Tiles to be moulded as hands or 2d flat shaped hands? Possibly 3d Respresentation linking to make circle? Stick with circle theme, fitting in, ease of existance, ease of shape, most energy efficient way of being. "A bubble is a sphere as it is the most energy efficent form."

An evolution of ideas for a series of sculpture, to be ready by the years end. Hopefully this will record and help develop some ideas to be created in 3D, clay, a combination of terracotta and white earthenware pieces. To explore the concept of fitting in to environment, society, our own lives and ideals, and ultimately the world as a whole. Belonging and being one with ourselves, nature and society. Finding where and how we belong, and what it is we want to belong to. Knowing where all the pieces go and liking the way they fit.