A BIG day.

Yesterday was a big day in our lives, the Prof fortunately came through the procedure he underwent. Atrial tachycardia or 'flutter' as it is called (an almost whimsical term for a potentially very dangerous condition) was his problem. The surgeon performed an ablation of  the nerve and it was successful,  hopefully for a long time. All seems well and he is home again in his big chair, TV remote in hand and looking forward to exercising a little more in a few days time, at least that is my view of the future!
Still carving stamps but now they are getting bigger I wonder if I could presume to call them prints?
The artist Frida Kahlo has long been interesting to me, she battled very severe injuries which affected her for the whole of her life but nonetheless she went on to create works of art that still resonate today.
Monkeys too feature in her work and it seemed a logical step to combine my recent monkey preoccupation and an image of Frida.

Frida Kahlo's vivacity and lust for life is the stuff of legend, her affair with Trotsky a strange footnote to the Russian Revolution. Viva la vida Frida!

Sock it to me!

An etegami celebrating that most American of toys, the homemade sock monkey and the '60's TV show, Rowan and Martin's "Laugh In". Pun intended!

Yes, it is another stamp!

Happy Birthday Lizzie! and an etegami.

Sitting at my computer enjoying a holiday thanks to Her Gracious Majesty Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth the Second Regina...it's the Queens Birthday weekend! I must write to thank her for the holiday but I guess Her Royal Irrelevance would be too busy with the celebrations taking place right now in England for the Royal Jubilee to notice a missive from the colonies.
In holiday mood yesterday we took ourselves to an Art Bazaar at a nearby town, met our son and his family and had a lovely lunch to celebrate his birthday, surrounded by art. Strolling through the Bazaar later these bowls caught my eye.

The card is self explanatory. I am a little red faced, having lately declared a moratorium on buying 'stuff', but hey, 'ars longa vita brevis' as they say, that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!

Also this weekend, another rather brown etegami in response to a call for an "American" etegami, rather predictable this one but I was having a hard time thinking past Hollywood and the gun culture.
I have lived in the USA for a total of five years many years ago and thoroughly enjoyed the people there but coming from a country where gun ownership is not the norm the number of firearms in people's hands the US is frightening, so, Apple Pie it is!

Very brown offering today but they match the grey weather. In any case, Toodle pip!

Nonsense!

Prompted by an etegami made by Debbie, I took up the challenge to make one based on a nonsense rhyme. So many to choose from! While everyone is familiar with the works of Edward Lear and Lewis Carrol, I thought a more contemporary author might be fun. Poor old Spike Milligan has departed this life  (his tombstone sports the fabulouse epitaph, "I told you I was sick!") but he lives in the memory of many in the English speaking world for his work on the BBC's Goon Show.
It seemed like a good idea to indulge my new found passion for stamp carving, that way I can send the cards I make to more friends, and carve a couple of cheeky monkeys. I hope Spike approves.

My second one is based on that nonsensical game 'Barrel of monkeys' which many of us remember from our or our children's childhood.

Last Wednesday marked the official opening of the etegami exhibition in the hospital and the Prof and I trudged along in atrocious weather to see the works launched. They have been hanging for about three weeks already and the lady who organizes these exhibitions made a very nice speech telling how they were entertaining passersby and patients who often stopped to look and read.
Even my friends who had seen many of the works in isolation remarked how well they looked hung together.  It was nice to talk to the people at the opening to explain a bit about etegami and the way it is becoming not just a way of doing art for art's sake but as a means of reaching out to others.
All in all a good week.
Next Wednesday the Prof has his medical procedure so I shall probably be a bit preoccupied with that, hopefully another good week, fingers crossed.

Take two on the new etegami cards.

A strange morning, out of touch with the cyber world and colliding with the 'real world'.
Our electricity supply was interrupted for several hours this morning, no hot shower, no TV and gasp! NO INTERNET!
The reason for the interruption was the tree removal happening in the park across from us.
Sad to see one of the venerable old ficus trees go but it was clearly diseased and posing a risk to the park users.
The removal took longer than usual as protesters turned up 'stormed the barricades' and had to be removed by police. Tree removal is an emotive issue here in Newcastle, several iconic trees have recently been cut down in the city center and now protesters have been sensitized to any tree felling operation, warranted or not. I am somewhat relieved it has gone, hopefully its replacement will provide shade for the next generation of picnickers in the park. So much excitement  in our quiet backwater, I think I shall have a little lie down.
To show my bona fides I thought an etegami celebrating trees would be appropriate.

This card is one of the No 10 quality ordered from the Rakuten site. A little difficult to get a handle on the nijimi factor but quite a serviceable card.

 Another No 10 card celebrating the best autumn display we have had in years in our mild climate.

Testing, testing...

I was pleasantly surprised today when some cards and replacement paint pans that I had ordered only a few days ago arrived from Japan.  Keen to try out the cards I did this etegami.
 I am quite happy with the cards, they are thinner than the ones I usually use but okay for mailing in an envelope.

I am posting the link here for any English speakers who are having trouble sourcing etegami cards or paints. http://global.rakuten.com/en/store/shuyodo/item/ga4/
Just copy it to your search engine. As usual the cost of postage is quite an impost but these cards are not really readily available except in Japan.

Scaredy cat!

Yup, that's me!
A few months ago my friend in Japan, Shungo, sent me a lovely handbound blank book which is intended for drawing in. The book is so lovely that I was too scared to use it, sure that whatever I did in it would not be worthy of it Shungo has told me that he did not make the book, it was made by one of his friends, Masuko Nakamura. I initially thought that it had been made by Shungo who is a man of many talents but he has waded through the language barrier to set me straight.
There was an added complication in that the pages are double with an insert of felt. Why? Was this to protect the thin washi on the other side?
I have finally plucked up the courage to actually paint something in the book.
It seemed like a good idea, as the book itself is actually a 'keeper', to use it to record some of the ideas I have had for etegami(s), so that is what I have done. I hope Shungo san approves.

The book with Japanese 'stab binding'

My painting in the book! You can see the thinness of the paper because the image on the other side of the folded sheet shows through a little bit in the photo.

Not only am I enjoying the book that Shungo sent, it has inspired me through the magic of the internet to learn the art of Japanese binding and I have made a book to bind the watercolours I have done of copies of origami girls I have made...phew,  that's complicated.

My attempt.

One of my drawings in the book I made out of watercolour paper, about 5" tall.
All of this fun from one kind gesture, Shungo, you're the man!

Passion.

The passionfruit vine has been given that name because it reminded people of the passion of Christ, the cross in the middle and an encircling crown of thorns.
 Lately it is more apt to remind people of a different kind of passion and that too is apt. The fruit is wonderful, sweet and musky but it excites passion both in those who love it and those who hate it. I am a lover of the wonderful fruit and I cannot understand not liking it but then there are those who will eat the Durian, famously known for its disgusting smell. Our current vine (they only produce well for three years or so) is a fragrant Panama Red and the fruit does not develop the wrinkly dark outer skin of older varieties but stays large and round and a lovely mauvish purple spotted like a plover's egg.

Heigh ho, off to eat this beauty!

Are we worthy?

Are we worthy? It is a question I often pose myself when I see an object of great beauty such as an orchid or a butterfly. The privilege of seeing the splendour around us surely demands a price, that price must be a concern for the environment. That concern can take the form of consuming less and to that end I have resolved to follow the advice of William Morris who said  something like " Have nothing in your homes that is not beautiful or useful".  It is a difficult creed to follow but becoming easier as I enter a phase of winnowing out my possessions and rejecting the ephemera which is (are) daily thrust at us. A task made even more difficult when I look in my email at the many 'opportunities' offered to me from merchants with whom I have dealt before.
Lest all this sound too high flown and sanctimonious, I have exempted a few notable categories of goodies...etegami supplies being the first!
So on to today's offering of beauty (or an attempt at).

An orchid I bought from a man whom I met in hospital who was very ill and was dispersing his huge orchid collection, a sad task but this one at least has gone to a very appreciative person.

Etegami call.

For all of you out there wishing to 'dip your toe' into the etegami pool, here is a great opportunity. Dan Brown from Shropshire has decided to mount an exhibition of etegami celebrating all things English and has invited submissions.

ETEGAMI CALL! Please submit your etegami on the theme of England or Englishness to help celebrate us hosting the Olympic games and our Queen's Diamond jubilee-60 years on the throne. Please submit to me at: 15 Aspen Way, Newport, Shropshire TF 107EE. Deadline is 26th June. Im going to try and get some gallery space in Shrewsbury, if not I will create a Blog to exhibit them.

I have made an etegami but have taken a little licence with the subject (we Aussies can never resist taking the mickey out of the English). I have made two versions of the card, again nijimi and no nijimi paper.

Hope you will have a go, it is fun once you get started.

Nijimi.

No nijimi.

Not completely in the spirit of etegami but I traced over the first one to make the second one the same.

(For those not aware of our illustrious history here in Oz, the first european settlers were prisoners from overcrowded English gaols, mostly Irish, sent here to take their chances in the Antipodes. From this unpromising start sprang this great nation, a place still regarded as a haven for rascals and scallywags by a majority of Brits I fear, though they do look with envy on our climate.)