Game Over, dudes

Yesterday Natalie, my excellent studio resident, and I sat down and scanned the fruits of her labour. How's this for eye-popping?



I've just written a couple of posts about the student residency itself and Natalie's working process, and put the posters up at my Duckshop, which is where you can buy much of my work, and now the work of people who make things with me. Fun! If you can think of anyone who would like to support Natalie's work by buying or promoting these broadsides, please spread the word.



So. Next I need to finish my Book Art Object edition, make solid plans for my NZ experience, teach a few workshops (Megalo, Tuggeranong Arts Centre, Book Studio Winter Typography School. If you'd like info about any of these, head to my website) and organise Peter's broadside residency. Amongst other, more domestic things that need to be done. Is that enough to be going on with? I think so...

Coming soon

Coming soon to the Ampersand Duck website: four broadsides by my student resident Natalie Azzopardi. She's been working hard, splitting the one ration of Fabriano Rosapina paper into smaller piles so that she could work on a few different designs and allow herself to play with my orsum (the way I hear my son say it) equipment.

She's built up a 'Game Over' theme, and all of these figures have been painstakingly handset from individual metal type ornaments. The Mario broadside is particularly hard to reproduce, because his face and hands are embossed rather than printed with ink.

Aren't they cool? We're scanning them today, and they'll soon be up for sale on my website for $50 each plus postage and handling. These photos are just taken with my phone camera, so the scans should really make the colours pop.

Next resident, Peter McLean, will start working either in July, before I go to NZ, or October, when I get back from NZ. Either way, I can't wait to see what he does -- he's a printmaker who loves type and wood engraving, so I think his work will be a little bit more traditional than Natalie, who is a photographer who dabbles so well in the book arts & print that I think she should keep her practice broad and papery :)

MYSUFOP

Oh my goodness, this seems to be my Year of Standing Up in Front of People.

Just when I thought Mackay was done and dusted, here comes an Art Forum (which is a public lunchtime lecture presented at the Art School, usually by visiting artists but sometimes by staff if they're doing anything interesting -- or filling a gap, like I am!) and an opening talk at the exhibition opening of two wonderful artists who happen to be good friends and very lovely women.
I'll mention this again closer to time (just in case you're around) but just for now I'm mopping my brow and feeling a wee bit nervous. But that's a good state of mind; it generates jokes, which seem to be essential for my speaking gigs, if only to keep myself amused.

'angels'

Did anyone else have offspring who whooped & hollered on the edge of the couch last night during Dr Who and then who woke in the night, freaking out at every slightest noise and asking if they could sleep on the floor of your bedroom?

We settled for him sleeping on the couch in the loungeroom, with Ultimate Cat Protection.

And now my eyelids are finding it very hard to stay open.

Muvvers day

Damn, did it again. Every year I buy my mother a present and every year I forget to send it to her, so every year my Mother's Day morning phone call starts with

I'm sorry, I did it again...

Luckily her response is usually along the lines of

That's ok, you know I don't mind!

I heart my mum.

Luckily BB and his mother don't celebrate the day, or that would just be two lots of things to forget!





Myself, I was woken with a menu that offered me sensible choices like

Eggs Benedict (poached eggs with bacon and hollendaise sauce on a bagel and a side serve of rocket)
Eggs Florentine (the same, but without the bacon)
Eggs Cochrane (a family name): rotten eggs nestled on a fly-poo bagel, layered with rancid bacon fat, and served with chocolate ice-magic, with a side serve of cucumber and orange peel.

Banana pancake served with yogurt and maple syrup
Quince pancake served with quince syrup and cinnamon
Snail pancake served with slug slime speckled with wasp droppings

and for beverages

White wine
Twinings Prince of Wales tea
Peppermint tea
Grapefruit fizz
Cup of cold sick

Ahem. I chose Eggs Florentine and a cup of tea.

Now, if you watched Spicks & Specks on Wednesday night, you will not be surprised to hear that I asked my family to buy me a copy of Bat out of Hell on CD for M's Day, to replace my quite-forgotten, once-well-loved and completely played-to-death adolescent cassette.

What did surprise me was my mother's response to my telling her this:

Oh wow -- can you make me a copy??!!

Heh.



We spent the day today driving to Bundanoon (Bumblebee and I roaring along to Meatloaf at top volume while BB concentratedly listened to ABC RN podcasts on his Blackberry with a stiff face) to visit my darling Sasha, who was visiting from Brisbane, and driving slowly back, popping into whatever Antique and secondhand book shop we passed. Then tonight I'm cooking a very slow-cooked Hoggett stew with preserved lemon-stuffed green olives and lemon-roasted potatoes. Yum!

...and it's ready just in time for Dr Who.

facepalm

Never underestimate the crappiness of getting 3/4 of the way through a job only to discover that you've done it wrong.

I sat in my studio today, happily sewing books to Radio National until about 3.30, when I discovered that I'd not sewed on the endpapers, so they'd have to be completely unpicked and resewn. DOH.

Luckily, soon after, I had some visitors: Elsewhere and friend, who sat with BB and I in the autumnal splendor of the ANCA courtyard and supped wine and chortled. It was a glorious evening. Thus I don't really feel like it was a totally wasted day.

Remember to breathe

...and read this post. That will make you remember to laugh.