crazy-busy days

Ari posed for some pics for my life drawing portfolio, inspired

by Pablo Picasso's 'Harlequins' and the 1960s 'Big Eye' prints

smiley cookie from a city cafe. studying in town= good coffee :)

rough sketch for a new series of drawings that I'm working on

Crazy days. Busy days. Crazy-busy days.

Sorry for the absence of late. I've been taking a bit of an

unplanned hiatus from blogging whilst adjusting to my new 

schedule of study. I hope to be back with more regular

posts soon and some peeks at what I've been working 

on. When I'm not here, you can find me on Pinterest.

And on occasion over here.  I just posted there about

a little project I finished today... in Haute Couture. Take a peek.

Hope your days have been busy and creative too.

Not too crazy-busy though. xox

the christmas play

I orchestrated a lot of the costumes for Ari's school play again.

Little elves, christmas rockers, a marvellous toy and Ari's PJs.

Yes, all those years of costume making and millinery training

definitely come in handy at times. It was exhausting, but fun! 

Ari helped me choose this lovely fabric for his polka dot pyjamas

and looked mighty swell as he recited 'A Night Before Christmas'.

I made his slippers and nightcap too and managed to snap a quick 

picture or two before we raced out the door to oversee the dressing 

and make-up pre-concert. I think a rather fun night was had by all!

the new look

Here's a peek at Ari's new do thanks to Captains of Industry.

Sam the Barber definitely worked some magic on those

tired old locks. I was prepared for tears. But Ari loved getting

 it cut and he loves his new look. And so do I.  It reminds me of the 

children in those old 1930s, 40s and 50s readers, that I'm so fond 

of referencing in my art and illustrations.  So gorgeous!

field journal

Entry Four:  Succulents in our garden

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Life has been rather hectic! Ari collected these a while ago 

and arranged them for me to photograph. I only just got

around to uploading them yesterday. Aren't they beautiful? 

You can view other journal entries here and, as always,

feel free to create your own and link it in the comments.

The Summer break is coming up... only one more week of school!

We'll try to be a bit more regular with these posts over the holidays

and see if we can't collect a few specimens a bit father afield... all of

these  beauties were found in the potted garden by our back door.

xoxox

sweetheart

Ari lost his locks on the weekend.  A first haircut.  At age 7.

Incredible, no?  He'd been so reluctant to cut it, so we just let 

it grow. I saw no reason to force it. And then one day he said

"I want a haircut". So we visited the barber. Snip, snip and all 

those tiny little curls fell away. Sigh. His new cut is super cute 

(I'll load a pic here soon) but I do miss those curly locks.... xo

little ghost

The little ghost and I

Ari's school puts on the best Halloween Disco

for the kids.  Friday night was an absolute blast!

Last week, I was at the school working on the end of year 

school play, again, and we were discussing costumes...

Ari's teacher  "Wow Ari!  You're so lucky to have a Mum who's 

a costume maker.  So, what are you going to come as on Friday?"

Ari  "A ghost.  We can make my costume out of paper! 

Or maybe I'll just wear a sheet!!!"

Me and Ari's teacher  "Really?!"

Ari  "Yep!  Ghosts are great!!!"

Me, later on  "Or, what about Edward Scissorhands? 

I saw a great costume online!" (I showed him this great costume)

Ari  "Edward Scissorhands isn't very Halloween, Anna. 

Nope.  I'm wearing a sheet.  Ghosts are great.  They can't die"

The little ghost and I plan to go trick or treating

with some of our favourite little spooks tonight.

Happy Halloween Everyone!

We hope you all have a wonderfully ghoulish night...

 *instuctions for Edward Scissorhands costume here

field journal

Entry Two:  Edibles in our garden

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Ari and I have started keeping a weekly field journal.

A photographic record of all the wonderful natural things we 

find in our garden and on trips around the countryside, into

town, to the seaside, the woodlands, the mountains and so on.

Feel free to create your own and link to it in the comments. 

You can view all our entries here.

one for the boys

check out the wingtips and button-down braces... swoon!

SO DAPPER!

Bira Biro Kids... natural fabrics, sustainable designs, 

and they make threads for girls and women too!

nature play

love these illustrated playing cards by Hanna Krajni,

wasn't able to find much information on this artist

Sabine Timm via virginhoney on flickr

more illustrated playing cards by Hanna Krajni

nature patterns via botanicals and curios on Pinterest

walnut boats via art and children on Pinterest

 Mortéza Esmaîli Sohi via Atelier Pour Enfants

A few of my favourite nature craft inspirations.

Some kooky 70s nature craft ideas in this book.

nature studies

the eucalyptus is always greener

birds in flight 

field journal 

all via wild goose chase on flickr

The beautiful work of artist Fiona Watson.

I have been thinking about keeping a nature diary with Ari.

Documenting the seasons and the bits and bobs we collect

on our many trips around the countryside, beach and city.

Fiona's photographs are a beautiful source of inspiration 

for such a project. It would be fun to create such 

works with children, don't you think?

perfect pancakes

In most of Australia, the Spring school holidays begin today. Yay!

And what a beautiful Spring day it is... the sun is shining, the birds

are singing and we are busily spring cleaning the house and studio.

We started our first day of holidays with a pancake breakfast.

This recipe makes delicious, fluffy, golden pancakes.

And it never fails me...

The best pancake recipe ever!

1 cup plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

3 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

3 tbsp butter

1 cup milk

2 eggs, beaten

Place the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a bowl.

Mix well. Melt the butter in the frypan you're going to use.

Pour melted butter over other ingredients, add milk and eggs.

Using a whisk, beat well. Add a little more butter to frypan

and place on medium heat. Wait until the frypan is warm then

using a small ladle, ladle 2 spoons of mixture into the middle

of the pan and tip to spread the mixture into a bigger a circle.

Cook over medium heat till bubbles form on the surface of the 

pancake and then, using a spatula, flip the pancake and cook 

until underside is golden brown. Serve with lemon and sugar.

And ENJOY xoxox

lullaby

Over In Killarney,

Many years ago,

My Mother sang a song to me

In tones so sweet and low;

Just a simple little ditty,

In her good old Irish way,

And I'd give the world to hear her sing

That song of hers today.

Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, Too-ra-loo-ra-li,

Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, Hush now don't you cry!

Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, Too-ra-loo-ra-li,

Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, That's an Irish lul-la-by

Oft, in dreams I wander

To that cot again.

I feel her arms a-hugging me

As when she held me then.

And I hear her voice a humming

To me as in days of yore,

When she used to rock me fast asleep

Outside the cabin door.

I'm a strong believer in the power of a beautiful lullaby 

when it comes to sending our little ones off to sleep.

Ari was somewhat of a difficult sleeper to begin with.

He had a few health issues which caused him discomfort 

and made it very difficult for him to settle. Until he was five, 

I sang to Ari almost every night, and often at nap times too.

I still sing to him on occasion, when he asks me to. 

Usually 'Too Ra Loo Ra Loo Ral'... ah, those Irish roots!

My grandmother sang it to my mother, she sang it to me,

and now I take pleasure in singing it to my own child.

I guess, that's the way it often is with lullabies.

Lately, I've been singing this sometimes... perhaps 

you remember me posting about Arrietty before? 

I bought Ari the DVD for his birthday. He loves this song.

 I looked it up on youtube and lately he's been listening to 

it as he drifts off to sleep. I must say, it works like magic!

Collage LOVE

While selecting artwork to include in my portfolio, I sifted through a 

vast collection of artworks, sketchbooks and inspiration, that I've held 

onto.  Some of it dated back to my own childhood.  It was so lovely to 

be able to look back and see how my art has developed over my life. 

© Mama and Ari ;)

I've been archiving Ari's artwork too. He's an avid artist, so there's a lot!

Ari and I made this collage back in 2009 and it's one of my favourites.

He really loves that we have kept his works and enjoys looking at them.

And he knows, that we think they are too precious to throw away... xox

Little Ari

This photo was taken in 2009, in the lane way outside 

'Our Little-Big House' in the city (as Ari used to call it).

A Little-r Ari in his winter woolies. So cute and

how cute are those bunny mitts?!  Too small now :'(

I drew this picture in 2008 of Ari and his best friend Henri,

(who was one of my earliest toy creation).  I recently uploaded it

to my online portfolio of Art and Illustration... take a peek↓

Another World Recordings

paper planes & memories

There is a giveaway for a rather cute book on Fine Little Day.

also available from Amazon

To enter you just need to leave a comment
about a favourite paper plane memory.

So, I asked Ari what we should say and he said 

"Well, all my paper plane memories are in the drawer!"

And indeed they are. Ari likes to keep all the projects we make

and probably spends just as much time playing with our paper and 

cardboard toy creations, as he does with the store bought ones.

So we pulled them out and took some photos of

'Ari's paper plane memories'.

He was so happy to see his creations up here,
on my blog, that it got me thinking perhaps... 

he should have a blog of his own?

It's something I've mulled over before but he always seemed
too little to understand the concept of having a web page. 

This year he turns seven though! Such a big boy ;)

Perhaps we'll build Ariel Gray an art blog for his birthday!

High Five

Sneaky is more like a tiger cub than a house cat. 

And she thinks Ari is a tiger cub too, I think. 

The two of them spend hours playing together.

Ari's double bed is a beautiful old deco piece I picked up for a 

song, many years ago. My first bed when I moved out of home.

His sheets are from Ikea. The print is a graphic version of Ikat.

'Orange Pussycats' is an old work of mine from art school days.

somewhere in dreamland

Ari looked so beautiful sleeping tonight that 

I just had to take a picture of him...

...and just as I snapped it, he smiled in his sleep!

This camera doesn't take the best photos in really low light

but I didn't want to turn on the overhead and risk waking him up.

I think images are often beautiful simply for what they evoke.

Speaking of imaging, I've been spending WAY too much time 

pinning beautiful things here the past few days... take a peek. x

Arrietty

Yesterday morning we went to see Arrietty at Cinema Nova.
(How comfy are those cinema armchairs?!  Wonderful.)

It's based on Mary Norton's fantastical book 'The Borrowers'.

It was so... enchanting.... sad but... beautiful.  How I'd love to slip
into that secret world with it's towering flowers and tiny teacups...

Oh, I do so adore the beautiful animation work of  Studio Ghibli.

Afterwards we enjoyed italian hot chocolates and macarons at Brunetti's

(a Melbourne institution when it comes to cakes) and Ari found another

Robert Crowther Pop-Up Book at the plaza bookstore for $10. Bargain.

I spent the better part of today helping at Ari's school and am just about

to pick him up and head to Swimming lessons. Happy Monday everyone! 

xoxox

chocolate chaos

in the chaos of life 

it's easy and understandable 

our yearning for neatness & perfection 

Artwork by Jonathan Gray Stock (or Daddy)

...give me the beauty of imperfection...

  

i want to live 

& hear the laughter in my soul 

at the sight of 

a cross-eyed cookie-crumbled 

chocolate-smeared snot-covered 

child

words by

♥ flobberdewotsky ♥

maker's of playful children's wear

-------------------------------------------

sweet chocolate fudge sauce

1 can sweetened condensed milk

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp water

3 tbsp dutch cocoa powder

3 tbsp brown sugar

1. Place ingredients in a small saucepan.

2. Heat over low heat until combined.

3. Serve over rich vanilla bean ice-cream.

4. Hear the laughter in your soul.

and ENJOY xox