Mid-winter in the south

I didn't sell any of my artworks at the exhibition, but it was an interesting experience, and now I can hang them on MY walls! Here's "Comfortably Numb" (top) and "Rust Madonna" (below). Madonna is under glass, so there's a bit of reflection on it that makes it hard to see.
We had a big frost this morning. That piece of ice on a tray in the back garden is about 1cm thick (1 inch=2.5 cm)
Even by 9am when I took these photos, it was zero degrees as not much sun is on the ground there at this time of year.
Plants were well and truly frosted. They have to be tough to take the cold winters and hot dry summers that we have in inland Canterbury.
And here's Frodo being a "snow dog".

Where have all the bloggers gone?

Gone to day jobs, every one.
When will they ever learn? (Apologies to Peter, Paul & Mary)

I know I have been very bad at reading others' blogs, and mine is suffering too. Many of my blog friends are now on Facebook and I think that we don't have the same time to spread ourselves over 2 programmes. I have even less time, what with a fulltime job working for someone else, and part-time working for myself. So apologies to those I haven't visited. Mea culpa.

Creativity is also at an all-time low. The best I can offer today is some wicked (that's wicked as a past tense, not evil)dye pieces, where I have placed each end of fabric in a different colour and allowed them to wick up the dyes and meet in the middle.


And the dogs, who are currently in their winter woollies, being twins again.
And little white-eyes feeding on the bird feeder I have hanging on the arch leading to the front lawn.

Hika Kids rock! (thanks to my dyes)

Recently, Hikurangi School, a small rural school in Northland, bought a variety of dyes from me to use on t-shirts for a stage performance. They kindly sent me their newsletter with these photos, to show me how amazing the colours were. You kids certainly rock!

In the frame

This is "Taniwha", trying to look like a biiiiig piece of art when it's really only postcard size. It's backed with handmade paper.
And here is "Comfortably Numb", on a fabric-covered canvas frame. Boy, it's hard to operate an industrial stapler when you have small hands. I only get about 1 in 5 staples in.

Now to tackle "Rust Madonna".