Day 15- 100 days project

This dress is very textured. A friend has loaned me a book called the 'Secret lives of dresses'. It is a novel and in parts the dresses tell of their experiences as if they are speaking. I am going to read it this weekend. It sounds fascinating. I like the history of the clothes I collect. However most are from second hand shops...so I often get a feeling of 'needing to be loved' coming from them...I like the idea of giving them another run at 'past glory'. I have a bright pink dress the same as this one. The brooch is one I wear often.
Photos by Ella-aged 12

Day 14 and 15 -100 days project

Technical hitch! Photos are done but the required way of down loading the images on the borrowed camera, is at work, back in town! Should be able to get the images up tonight for yesterday and today. But just for fun and a bit of 'eye-candy' here is an image from my last trip to Auckland. In St Kevin's Arcade found this cool piece of street art.

Day 13- 100 days project

Today I REALLY just wanted to put on jeans and an old tee shirt...but I dug about in the dark recesses of the wardrobe and found this dress. It is a bit big. I got it at 'savemart' for about $6.00 but have not got around to wearing it until today. The bag and earrings came from the hospice. The 'fill a shopping bag' for $1.00 deal...but about 5 years apart. Got the bag last week with a whole lot of other stuff. Got the earrings about 5 years ago and have worn them heaps. I really like the granny bag. Heaps of compartments and even though it was made pre-mobile and computer, it works really well for everything I need to carry in the 'Mummy sack' during a day. 
Photo by Clyde

Dogs

Large clay dogs are piling up all over the place. Nice.

Going grey and issues with symmetry.

Lately I have been having a few issues around NOT aging gracefully. There are so few positive role models out there for middle aged women. On a number of levels I do not want to go out with a whimper. So...Lets consider one question.."To dye or not to dye?" has been a pressing question. Philosophically I should not...it is expensive and toxic and does not fit into what we are trying to do here. BUT..I have this small patch of grey that is like a zebra stripe. No where else...just this stripe. Now, I know I should let it be...but..I have a few 'issues' and symmetry is one of them. This grey patch is not symmetrical...it is to one side. I know I have Ausperger's tendencies and I can cope with that...but can I cope with letting the grey make things weird? BUT then I found this picture! She has the same hair style as me. But is grey...proud...feisty and looks cool ! There is hope...

I don't know who she is...but she looks fantastic!

Auckland art gallery.

A few weeks back, we went to Auckland and hung out doing stuff while visiting my older daughter who is up there at Elam art school. Ella and I had great fun in an artwork at Auckland art gallery. I like it when art is fun. This artwork was all mirrors and reminded me of one that was here at the Govett Brewster art gallery recently...all optical illusion...and black and white. The mirrors in this were crazy and not good if you were wearing a skirt! Only a few people were allowed in at a time. When Ella and I were in there we had lots of fun taking photos. Here is one.

Day 11-100 days project

Hmm. It is a rare thing that I do not know where something came from. I often buy black trousers from second hand shops as they go with everything. The top... I have no idea where it came from, but I love it with shorts, skirts and trousers. Goes great with orange accessories. Probably got the top at Savemart... as it is the best place for finds here. I wish I could live, here, on the edge of the national park... but have K'Road at my doorstep. The retro shops along the sea side of K'road toward Symonds street are just soooo cool and reasonably priced. It is 5 or so hours to get there by car, so I make do with what I can find here. Over the years there have been some good finds locally...but it is intense keeping an eye out for the rare item rather than just having a stroll...window shopping and and exploring the mega retro stuff avalilable in parts of Auckland. Lately I have become aware, on the occassions, that as I browse the shops in Auckland... I am 30 or so years older than the rest of the browsers. This worries me.  Have you ever heard the saying "mutton dressed as lamb?". The lime green jacket has been a favourite winter wear for about 15 years. LOVE the polka dot lining.
Photos by Charlotte-10 years and Ella 12 years

Day 10 -100 days project

Ninety days to go! Day Ten's 'number' is a purple dress with gold buttons. I found this lurking at the back of the wardrobe. It has been long at some point and a previous owner has cut down the length. It is a little short for my comfort but I did wear it out and about today...on a wet, wild and windy Taranaki day. I have since (last night) taken the gold buttons off and attached a frill from another damaged outfit...so this dress may now appear again later in it's 'upcycled' state! I have had the patchwork vinyl bag for about twenty years. It is loud primary colours. I love it so much that it hangs on the bedroom wall and mostly I don't use it in case I damage it! 

Photos by Ella -who is 12

Day 9- 100 days project

This very brown smock dress from the 1960's suits the misty autumn day we had today! Leaves dropping all over the show and low mist and drizzle all day in the hills. Makes me feel like Kathy from 'Wuthering heights'. This smock has been 'home made' with very tidy hand stitching. I wonder about the woman who made it...not massed produced but fabric selected that she liked and then sewn to fit her shape. Who was she? These 'finds' always make me ponder questions about previous wearers. Who will wear them after me?
Photo by Ella.

Day 7 -100 days project

Todays little number is a very purple and blue coat that is 'upcycled' from retro fabric. I love to wear it with yellow sandals. I have had the beads about twenty years now. I am still having to use a borrowed camera due to mine being drowned in the water bottle. A sad and sordid story that I need to let go. Hope the images aren't too grainy. Photos by Ruby and Ella.

Playing with fire!

Last week I got the pottery 'support crew' (Suzanne and Cecily) here to help me through the first firing of my 'new' gas kiln. It is LPG gas and I find it a little scary. It is interesting how many potters get excited by flame and fire...but not me.  Any way we got her started and could almost hear her breathe a sigh of relief at being fired after so long.  She has been idle at our place for over a year and I think that prior to that she was idle for quite a while. Some of her firing records are from the 1980's. However she is an 'oldie' but a 'goodie'. She ramped up quietly and was easy to control till about 280 degrees. Then we discovered a gas leak. So sadly, we had to reluctantly shut her down with the work unbisqued. We are waiting for the gas fitter to come back sometime this week and fix the leak in the pipe. Then we will try again! For the record we took these photos of the work all loaded just before we lit her for the first time. Do I look 'beside myself' with fear? Because I was!

Day6-100 day project

I have had this dress about ten years. I love the high waist that drops from the bust (empire style?), the square neckline and large pockets. It is a delight to wear. So free and flowing. Recently I saw some knee high, white lace up Doc Marten style boots in Cuba Mall. I have spent the last two weeks regreting that I did not buy those boots. Would soooooo go with this dress!

Photos by Ruby and Ella.

Day Five-100 days project

A quick post as it is really late. I started yoga tonight for the first time. I enjoyed it way more than I thought I would... but did spend most of the two hours in a 'bemused' and confused state. Today's dress is a favourite. I love wearing this dress with red roman sandals and red hibiscus flowers from the garden. It is an easy throw on in the morning. I really like the bow that ties at the back.

Day Four-100 days project

Day Four and a bit of a set back! Went for a run and got back to find the camera awash in water from my drink bottle in my bag. It is now not working. Having to use a back up till I can sort it. I LOVED that camera. So the images today are a bit out of focus. This top has lovely little pockets on the hips. Great to wear with skirts and trousers. I use it as a quick 'fix' back up on mornings that getting dressed is all too much of a rush!

Auckland art gallery

Recently I was in Auckland to visit my daughter at Elam Art School. I had a chance to go to the 'remade' Auckland art gallery. Soooooo cool. Words escape me. It has been done so well. I love the giant flowers opening and closing in the foyer and the red blossom flowers in the water feature at the door. I used to live in Auckland and spent lots of time at the gallery in my teens and twenties...that makes it 20 years ago....jeeze where does the time go? It is just such a delight to see the gallery developed like this...and how they have opened it out visually to Albert Park. Nice.

Day three-100 days project

Hmm. I loathe photos of me. This 100 days project is starting to do my head in... (and it is only day 3!) It is pushing all my 'aging' buttons.  Today my 12 year old daughter took the photo.  The combination of colors in this dress has always been a favorite... BUT it was once very loose on me. (10 years ago)... I am trying not to be too precious about it. I think the dress was late 1960's but it has had a frill at the hem and bow added. It is a thick material and prickly fabric...possibly curtain fabric and not that comfy to wear.
Photo by Ella.

Day two-100 Days project

I am hating the new blogger interface. It is making this a nightmare to do. Guess it is a learning curve and I will get better. Today I am wearing a top that was a dress. The dress was sooooo bright and flowing that I had to reluctantly cut it down to a top... to even have a chance of wearing it out in public. The label says it was made in Hawaii. I like to wear it with hibiscus flowers in my hair to work. It is made of beautiful soft cottony fabric and has such lovely detailing in design around the neck.
Photo by Clyde.

Day One-100 days of design-Cataloguing the collection

Waa hoo! Tonight is the first night of the 100 project. Cataloguing the 'collection' starts. But tonight, of all nights, Blogger has changed stuff about how it works and I am struggling to work out how to load and work with new posts! Oh well, it may be a 'simple' post this first time. Got this dress for $5 a couple of weeks back on K'Road in Auckland. I am picking it is 1960's or early 70's?I used to live just off K'Road 20 years ago doing a Political Studies degree...a long way from where I am now, living on a farmlet on the side of Mount Taranaki and teaching 5 year olds. I love the zip front of this dress and the big functional pockets.  I hate pink, so wearing the dress is a problem for me...but it is functional and as a Capricorn I like that. I wore it today and Clyde took the photo. Each day for 100 days  a new retro outfit from the collection will be posted and a new person will be asked to take a photo of the detail they like.
Photo by Clyde

100 days project

The 100 days project is an online 'live' project that evolves over 100 days.  100 designers over 100 days and 100 projects. This year I am doing a project starting on 20 April.  For 100 days you must repeat a design operation of your choosing. The operation must be repeated in some form every day and it must be recorded for eventual presentation. The medium is open.  
More about the 100 days project and the 100 projects can be found at this link.
100daysproject.co.nz
My project is called 'Dress ups'. For 100 days I will 'catalogue' my retro clothes collection by dressing up in a different outfit. I will wear it to work and photograph it at some point during the day...sometimes the whole outfit..sometimes the detail...and record it on my blog. Recently the collection has got out of control. I have been thinking a photo of each outfit on the wardrobe door would make life alot easier trying to get ready for work each morning. I see dress as an expression of my creativity and have always been attracted to those photos of Tokyo youth dressing up in unusual ways. There is a name for it but I cannot remember what it is.  Also I like the Blyde dolls idea...dress ups and photos.
An interesting 'off-shoot' will be that I can't take my own photo so will have to hand the camera over to work mates to record the outfit.

Signs.

Dad was a sign writer and I think this is where I got the love of writing labels and categorizing stuff. I have just finished these signs for the swimming pool changing sheds at Woodleigh School. I would have liked to make the figures in 'quirky' togs but it didn't seem right for a primary school !

Broody bantam chooks.

They really are a law unto themselves! Moody and aggressive.  They go 'broody' for no apparent reason, even if there are no eggs! Both these girls sat on eggs. Out of 15 eggs we got ONE live off-spring. The girl at the back 'lost the plot' after 20 or so days on the nest. The hens kept arguing over the eggs and rolling them back and forth to try and be the 'queen' chook with all the eggs. It goes without saying that quite a few didn't survive that level of fussing about. Then the chook at the back kept thinking her hatched babies were eggs. She ended up smothering them to death. The front girl turned out to be a great mother BUT she didn't know the eggs we put under her were Orpington eggs from another hen! Orpington hens are massive...so at 6 weeks this 'chicken' is now bigger than 'mummy' bantam and is bullying the mother.I will have to separate them soon. Oh what tangled webs we weave when at first we try to deceive!

The busy little men!

When we were in Raglan over summer I discovered the most amazing place. The community recycling center. Now, you would think that being into recycling/'upcycling' that I would have discovered this sometime before now, in my 20 or so years of going to Raglan for summer....well no.  I happened upon the place when passing on my way to Summer school at Susan Flight's place on Mount Karori. It is AMAZING.  All community rubbish is collected and sorted and labelled. (My family can tell you how much I am into labels on stuff.) The shop had an amazing collection of useful stuff! My car was already filled to the max with camping paraphernalia. But I managed to squeeze other treasures in. Like a World War 2, canvas camp stretcher. Man, I bet that could tell some stories. That sort of sums up why I collect stuff. I love speculating about the stories that objects carry. Anyway I got two garden gnomes..they had no paint on anymore and looked completely worn out and 'over' being garden gnomes! It has been fun to repaint them and bring them back to their 'glory' days.  Now on the doorstep, I look at them and they bring me joy.

Trays

Not a lot to say about these. The pictures say it all. I have been having a bit of fun with old trays from the hospice shop. The top tray has a collage of enlarged photocopies of old stamps. The bottom tray has a collage of circles cut out of Retro wall papers I found down in the studio.   

 

A cute picture I found

Found this when researching oxides and clay. Posted for no reason other than I really like the image and the mask!

Stalking dogs!

You know you are in a bad way when you start 'stalking' dogs you see on the streets and in cars to get photos of them to make them in clay later! This one spotted in a car outside four square in Raglan. Millie got grumpy when I took the photo as she thought it was an invasion of the dogs privacy! This did lead to an interesting discussion about the rights of the photographer and the subject in our new digital world.

Nasty fairy

We are back in Raglan taking Millie up to Elam art school. It is with mixed emotions. She has been very sick over the last month. We have had all manner of tests and scans. She got sick coming home from camping in Raglan. I am sad my first born is leaving the nest BUT so relieved we will get there. It was touch and go if she would be well enough.  She is still very sick but wants to give it a go. As I sit here in the camp kitchen I decided it is time to post a few things I have been making. Over the summer I went to a clay art summer school in Raglan. I found it to be an extreme challenge! We had a live model who posed undressed....but that was not the challenge! The difficulty was making an anatomically correct form based on the model and then 'dressing' her using texture. My sculpture turned out to be a guardian fairy for my kiln. (If she lasts the first firing!) I will keep her in the kiln room during firings and she can help the whole thing along.  Oddly enough I have also found that I have started talking to her when I am working in the studio. I look forward to firing her and then being able to add decoration with oxides and glazes. She is also one of the largest things I have made.

I don't like fairies unless they are the wicked kind like Tinkerbell. But, by golly, she better not make too much mischief!