It started in Adelaide

the attraction to mosaic - these are just some of the ones I found there. This was by far my favourite - I've already shown you a detail of her face - here is the entire Angel Lounge of Goodwood Road, Unley... It seemed too beautiful to sit on to me. If I'd been able to get it into my bag and home on the plane undetected (what a dreamer!) I would have been sorely tempted.... Even the ends of the bench were something special.... i just loved it. It was made by Vaughan Green and Devi O'Donnell in 2000. It was such a treat to find at the time - I was kind of lost, or at least off course for the direction I was aiming for. Finding this made my small detour all worth while!
Then there was the beach front at Glenelg where we stayed. There was lots of mosaic there too - some with an aviation theme given the proximity to the airport and famous residents. Of course it was the curves that really called this one to my attention. I've been trying to find the name of the artist via Google - without success so far. Will post if I find it. Anyone out there know?
And then this lovely little iris piece - right low at street level in Hindley St - again I haven't found the artist yet.
There was lots of great street art in Adelaide - I even found the most wonderful brochure with maps highlighting where lots was to be found - that was how I came across the Andy Goldsworthy piece. If you are thinking of visiting Adelaide its definitely worth hunting the brochure out - I picked mine up at the Central Markets.

Stay tuned for more mosaic - from Brunswick St found during my super quick flit through one of my favourite cities.... I'll just need a touch more illness in the house - it really encourages blogging activity!

The magic of stone

Another dose of the plague house here (well just a sore stomach actually) so I thought I should pop up another post. That last photo of Andy Goldsworthy's Black Spring really didn't do it justice. What I love is the texture and colour of the stone.... the construction ideas....
and the reflection of the local environment that his work is always reliant on, given its formed from locally available, found materials. There was stone in abundance for me to admire while we were in Adelaide. Buildings were I live are typically wooden - moves better in the earthquakes - so the novelty is probably part of the appeal of the stone. After all, part of the human condition is to want what we don't have - just look at the rage for hair straighteners and curlers if you doubt me for a moment.
This wall - from the Adelaide Art Gallery - particularly appealed. Such a good quilt pattern....
Do I sound truly odd yet???

Breaking the Silence

I'm not really sure whether I should be saying that I've sort of lost my blogging mojo of late or whether I should just put my hands up and confess that its all been a bit busy and hectic of late. I had a trip away for a week which was great and lead to lots of marvellous discoveries.... like this - the first Andy Goldsworthy work I've ever seen for real... I had a smile on my face all day!
or this - I've been swept away by mosaic, which I kept finding on my meandering walks around and about, and now I'm wondering about trying it out (as if I don't have enough unfinished projects already!)....but isn't this just fabulous....
or this....the favourite cafe I discovered, overlooking the beach and complete with knee rugs to ward off chills. One morning on my way to coffee I even saw a dolphin playing in the surf....
or this... which bought a smile to my face as we were leaving... have you seen one? can you guess what it is?

I came home so refreshed. It was great. And no sooner had we all settled back into the routines of life than the plague house sign was back out and I was in hospital for two nights with one of the boys. It was all something of nothing but sleeping in hospital chairs (or more accurately not sleeping!) seemed to wipe me out for twice the number of nights that I spent there. Such are the joys of parenthood!

On a brighter note - I'm pleased to report work on the wedding quilt has finally commenced... stay tuned for progress reports and sneak previews - the happy couple don't know about the blog so I'm sure I'm reasonably safe in maintaining the surprise.