explainin loooosy

WELCOME to the Forest Flaw.
If you are here to check out my portrait work, please click HERE!
If you would like to see my Pet portraits, please click HERE!
If you would like to see my Forest Flaw babies, see HERE!
If you would like to follow me on facebook, click HERE

You can see by my blog that I have many interests, including sewing, drawing and writing about various crafty art related things.
Custom orders are available, just message me.


Tuesday 25 November 2014

Woah Woah Woah...Merry Xmas

Sometimes our creative flow gets blocked. We've all stared at a blank screen, hovered over a white page, sat at an empty sewing machine (haven't we?).

But other times the dam walls break down and overload begins. There are bits of material flying across the room, typing all over the house furiously, pencils scribbling across every surface, cats playing in yarn, dogs wearing makeshift hats from remnants of the creative volcano, husbands hiding in cupboards.
Well, this happens in my house anyway (except for the multiple husbands).

Never is this creative eruption more active than at Christmas time.
All the ideas are there - gingerbread men, red and white dresses to be made, nifty crafty wire arrangements, lampshades, candle holders, place-mats, presents...sometimes it's hard to sleep for all the ideas that are exploding in the air around me. Now, if I'm honest, only probably 5% of these ideas some to fruition. I mean, all my time is spent coming up with these wonderful creations - to actually make them all - Woah woah woah, settle down.

I blame the printing companies.
If it wasn't for the yule logs of advertising material that are shoved into my mailbox daily, I wouldn't have dreams of perfect shiny toothed Xmas ideas. Families of happy Christmas people enjoying items with wide smiles, Brand new clothes that have never been worn, uncomfortable shoes that look amazing, gifts all tied up with ribbons.
Yes, printing presses and Christmas has a lot to answer for.

I am not a materialistic person. But come catalog time, I am a voracious velociraptor vacantly devouring various vestments and vouchers with vulgarity.
 So, this year, I have decided to make a list - perhaps i'll check it twice, I'll only make items that are naughty or nice, cause the Christmas clause is coming - to my house.

(note - clause is that I will promise to only make items I have time to finish)
So good luck to everyone out there. Especially those of you (like me) that have yet to brave the shops to buy all the useless things we don't need for presents. Just remember, sometimes the wrapping can make up for a crappy gift...
my excuse anyway...


Saturday 15 November 2014

Sticks unite!

When you boil it all down, there is one thing that is guaranteed  - and that is that nothing will stay the same.

Now, I'm not opposed to change, in fact I crave it sometimes. When things are the same for too long, the gypsy in me gets pouty and begins secret machinations to get things moving. This can be (and is mostly) without my consent.
'What?' you say, 'are you hiding some extra personalities in there?' well, yes. Who isn't if we're being honest? See how fast change can happen? I didn't even see that one coming...boy, this computer age really is fast.

Where would we be if the seasons never changed? If the laws didn't change? If the remote didn't change the channel?
Stuck. that's where.

This brings us to where I live most of my life, my modus operandi, if you will - is at stuck.
I'm writing this in the hope that I might find some other 'stuck-ees' out there who feel the same (perhaps one of you can come up with a better name for it - sticks maybe?). To give you an example of what gets me in this predicament, here's my own checklist of sticking points;
"What do you want to be when you grow up?"...? = stuck

"Do you want to wear dresses or climb trees?" ...? = stuck
  
"Combat boots or heels?" ...? = stuck

"Computer games or classic literature?" ...?  = stuck

"Cup of tea and blankie or vodka and lipstick?" ...? = stuck
Now, all those things can and have changed as I've grown. And by that I mean I have mostly chosen both. That is probably due to the gypsy inside of me again - I mean, really, who says change means you must let go of what you already have in order to move forward? Can't we do as the Romans did and embrace the new in one hand while weaving it into it's already thriving culture? Let's move past the fact that the Roman empire is now defunct and focus on the 500 years or so that advanced civilization existed...

So being stuck maybe isn't such a bad thing. Maybe it's a mechanism that means we don't throw out things that make us who we are in a bid to keep up. So be stuck. For a little while, then embrace the bits you want and move forward with it.

I have been stuck on drawing for a while now, but still here with me is the Forest goodies that made me start this venture in the first place. So to honor being stuck with my past while still moving forward, I have compiled a page of stitched flaw babies so you can peruse them all in one place. They are still all made to order, so If you get stuck on one of them, I can make it happen for you.

Happy sticky beaking. (see what I did there? shyeah...)



Sunday 2 November 2014

you say intention, I say pretension; lets blow the whole thing up

Most of us, when going to an art exhibition, will have a preconceived notion of what we will be viewing. Maybe we are being dragged to something that holds no interest, or perhaps it's an exhibit of famous underwear or something that we have been waiting our entire lives to see. From the classical to the mundane, Art can encompass anything that is put together and displayed for us to see.

Either way there is, is find, a level of pretension involved in art viewing.

Yes, yes, I may have rankled someone. Don't get me wrong, I love to view art. As an 'artist' myself, I find it inspiring and sometimes reflective. Sometimes moving, but always annoying.
"Why?" you might ask?
"Because there is always - that one". I will reply and point to the person bailing someone up in the corner.

This is going somewhere. Here:
Last Saturday, I went with friends to an exhibition I was itching to see. It was 'Body beautiful' at the oh so prestigious Bendigo Art Gallery. This is not sarcasm by the way, it really is an amazing gallery, you can check it out here: Bendigo Art Gallery

After handing over our tickets, we walked into the dimly lit, hushed space and spread out to ogle the goodies. Not five minutes after we entered we saw an usher walk very quickly by. Then not long after, another.
As we made our way through the exhibits of Ancient Greek statues, tombstones and some of the oldest surviving representations of  the human form still in existence, a loud nasal tone wafted towards us.


There, between the iron age statue of Pan and the Classical busts and carvings, was a lady who was desperately trying to compete with it all. In her enormous haired splendour, She was trying to run her hands over all the things. All the things that were dated from about 5000 BC to about 1AD.

"I just want to feel it beneath my fingers."
"No, you really mustn't" said the poor usher who was obviously abandoned by her usher friends.
"But the form and the composition...this is my heritage."
"Please don't touch the things."

My friends and I raised our collective eyebrows and continued our tour.
In the next room was the opium den the oversized round lounge that had well dressed people draped across it awkwardly watching a video explaining the 'vision' of the artists. The value of the design, the florid strokes that encapsulate the essence of time in the way that only true visionaries can.
Ok, I only heard a little bit, but I think I got the gist. I'm sure some of it was quite interesting...

Then into this room.

 I like to let art speak for itself. I will enjoy it as long as I can before I read the plaque explaining it. After all, isn't this what art is? If a picture is worth a thousand words, then why do we need to spend ten thousand pulling it apart and examining it? This statue was larger than life size and really takes your breath away. Which is mostly all I need to know. I did overhear that it is not the original head. Bam, lalala, don't really want to know more. just want to enjoy it.

Walking back through the rooms, we encounter splendorous hair again.
"This is my heritage! I just want to breathe it in you know? Touch it, It's where I'm from" (Arms are flailing ala sound of Music on a hill top).
"Please don't touch the things."
"But don't you just want to enjoy the contours? I love the way the form has been primitively juxtaposed in this picture..."
"Just...sigh...don't touch the things."

And so, the exhibition came to a close. As enjoyable as it was to admire the pieces, it is invariably pretentious art 'lovers' that can ruin it for others.
Surely with that, I have secured myself a position of never ever working in an Art gallery again, but most likely, I am being pretentious in thinking that anyone who might employ will read my blog any time in the future.