I want that chair!

This week's favourite selection:

Street Art by Pablo Delgado

Tiny figures are popping up all over London www.guardian.co.uk

Blackberry & Apple Jam Recipe!

It's BLACKBERRY season! Yeah! The lovely British summer has yielded a bumper crop of lush blackberries, and the local Suffolk fields nearby are heavy with fruit.

My mum makes a mean, tart bramble jam/jelly, recipe follows:-



INGREDIENTS
1.3kg/3lb blackberries, washed
2 large cooking apples, washed, cored and diced
450ml/¾ pint water
1 lemon, juice only
Granulated sugar

Sterilized jam jars and jam pot covers (place in boiling water)

METHOD:

1. Prepare a jelly bag or tea towel by boiling in water for 2-3 minutes. Wring well and leave to cool. Arrange the jelly bag on a stand or up-turned stool with a large bowl beneath, ready for the fruit juice to drip through.

2. Place the blackberries, apple, water and lemon juice in a preserving or large, heavy based saucepan.

3. Bring to the boil, then simmer over a low heat for 20-25 minutes or until the fruit is completely soft.

4. Tip the soft fruit and juice into the jelly bag and leave to drip for 8 hours or until all the juice has been released.

5. Prepare the jam jars by washing in hot soapy water and leaving to dry and warm in a cool oven - 130C/250F/Gas ½ for 10-15 minutes.

6. Measure the juice. For every 600ml/1 pint weigh 450g/1lb sugar. Put the juice and sugar back into the clean preserving pan, heat over a low heat until all the sugar has dissolved. Bring to the boil and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until setting point is reached.

7. Skim away any scum from the top of the jelly and fill the jam jars to the brim. Cover, seal and label. Store in a cool, dark place until required.

8.   EAT! x

Patternista Papercuts and Rob Ryan fever!

Suffolk, July 2011

Must be due to Rob Ryan madness over here, but I'm now obsessing with papercutting.  I started with native British birds, and then LOVED the shape of thistles, the agapanthus, garlic heads and all things wild!

I started off with black paper and a very cheap set of Exacto knives from the discount store... Here are the results, after scanning them into Photoshop:

Feathers!

Suffolk, June 2011

There are lots of feathers lying around at the moment....  All those loved up doves mating feeling the Spring fever, and rustling up their plumage....

After picking up a few, drawing them, and making black paper cuts of all things feathery, I came up with a VERY bright design!  Hoping to get printed very soon.

See my visual diary here:-

Suffolk in the Spring

Bye bye beautiful Byron x

Byron Bay, 29 March 2011

How time flies... haven't had chance to update blog for long time...

Just quick note to say I'm moving to beautiful Suffolk, England for a while and hope to get some amazing design inspiration from the beautiful forests and countryside over there.

I will truly miss the amazing friends and creative family in Byron Bay that I have come to know and love, but will be back soon hopefully.

If you want to keep in touch, please email me : patternista@yahoo.com
or via my facebook fan page: facebook.  I will also be setting up an Etsy store very soon!


In the mean time, I will leave you with some photos of rings that I designed and made,  inspired by my beautiful surroundings, whilst living in Byron Bay...

Silver rings... new Patternista line...

Byron Bay, 28 November 2010

I finally got to spend some time in the studio today, and got out my trusty jewellery tools, hammer and block.

The result is a new line of rings that will be on sale soon through my website and the upcoming Byron Bay Artisan Market.

 Bird amongst the wattle

 Owl on the hills

Patternista Pillows

Byron Bay November 2010

It's schoolies week and I've disappeared into the bush for some peace and quiet...

Amongst the greenery, the fairy wrens and the bracken, I came across some beautiful gum trees, which became the inspiration for some new pillow case designs...

here is a sneak preview ....

Ron Mueck at GoMA

15/06/10  . .

I'm still reeling from the sheer magnitude, brilliance and detail of Ron Mueck's sculptures, currently showing at GoMA, Brisbane.

Photos courtesy of my partner, Francesco Domenico Romeo

SMH Review, May 7, 2010

Human flesh is on display in all its flawed, porous glory now at the Gallery of Modern Art with the anticipated National Gallery of Victoria's touring Ron Mueck exhibition officially opened today.

In a sign of the times, gallery officials have allowed the startling works to be photographed by the paying public in an attempt to harness the promotional power of social media.

Gallery Director Tony Ellwood said it was hoped photographs uploaded to networking and file-sharing sites such as Flickr, Twitter and Facebook would fuel grass-roots buzz about the exhibition and boost visitor figures.

"We're encouraging people to take photographs of themselves with these lifelike sculptures and pass them on to friends," he said.

"Sometimes colossal and at other times miniature, the works resonate with deep emotion.

"Often naked and suspended in states of self-consciousness or deep contemplation, Mueck's figures are overwhelmingly human."

The exhibition is the largest collection of the world-famous Melbourne born artist ever collated and includes several of his most recognisable works as well as a four new pieces which made their public debut in Melbourne earlier this year.

Dead Dad 1996/97, an allegory to his deceased father, greets patrons with stark fragility at the display's entrance - the diminutive figure lies prostrate on a blunt white board, scaled-down but eerily lifelike.

In provocative contrast, the next work A girl 2006 confronts viewers with the grotesque reality of birth as embodied by the 15 foot long sculpture of a newborn infant girl complete with blood, umbilical cord and matted hair.

Mueck's fourteen year career has been plagued by critical acclaim and outcry - derided as a shock-sculptor, celebrated as a meticulous genius - but he is no less one of the country's most influential working artists.

Ron Mueck is current at the Gallery of Modern Art until August 1. Admission for adults is $12 with concession and group discounts available. There is also a public program of talks, workshops and tours. Full information is available at www.qag.qld.gov.au/mueck.

Art & Life Collide (SMH): Ron Mueck