Bower Bird Studio

What a lovely couple of weeks it's been!! We've worked hard (Bruce and I with some welcome help from friends, Tamara and Amanda), we've shifted boxes, plan drawers, drafting tables, suitcases etc etc.... I've spent hours of enjoyment sorting and storing lots of interesting bits and pieces, (and sometimes re discovering long lost fantastical 'things', like my crocodile teeth, puppet heads, marbles, seed pods, old bits of upholstery fabric and a couple of 'Brownie camera's), then many more hours deciding where to store these collections of oddments.......then we've enjoyed a lovely family Christmas break of a few days at home.......also it's been raining!!!! lovely!!!!!






Now finally I'm 'moved in' to the new studio.....the first artists to work in Bower Bird Studio were two young nieces and our two Grandchildren......with lots of chatter, laughter, cutting and gluing, they all created some beautiful 'postcard shrines'..........I also enjoyed a couple of hours there on my own yesterday!!

I plan to work on Tracey's "Journeys" book tomorrow! Tracey the book you have created is very beautiful! I am excited about the prospect of creating my pages within this special book.

I trust you have all enjoyed a peaceful and fun
Christmas with those who are close to you!
Peta

Real Girls Eat

I'm on a roll! Here's a partial photo of my spread in Shelley's Book. This was a departure from the usual for me and I thoroughly enjoyed creating it.

Tamara

Title Page

Found a photo of Shelley's Book sign in page.

Cheers Tamara

Title page

Some More Title Pages!!

Jen's - Paintbox Colours











Peta's - Cabinets of Curiosity - Closed front



Cabinets of Curiosity - inside












Cabinets of Curiosity - back

Determined

Hello All!
I think I have finally been successful posting a photo! Yeh to me...! This is part of my spread in Jen's Paintbox Colours. Just before posting I flipped through all the other marvously pages and giggled when I realised I'd been inspired by Shelley's page. Strange is the subconscious!!

Cheers Tamara

Sign In pages

Olley's - Who Am I? - I Am Who?
















Peta's - Home Is Where the HeART Is from altered book collaboration 2008













Helen's - Bris-Khamen Tomb














Jen's - Paintbox Colours

helens request got me moving

here is my pages for 'while you were sleeping" actually did itself as some are apt to... i am happy with the kooky result. love donna

Request to post title pages on the blog

Can I request if you have one of the altered books at your place at the moment, that you post some of the pics of the title page where the artists have signed in please. I am involved in another project where we are inviting a group to alter a book...and I think that our books have some cool title pages...
thanks

Drawing Breath opening

Had a fantastic night last Friday at Tweed River Art Gallery for the opening of the Drawing Breath exhibition which was conceived about 2 years ago! it is a collaboration involving 2 Brisbane artists (Jude Roberts and I)and 2 Northern Rivers artists Gabriela Soelkner and Michael Baartz. Was so good to see the work up on the walls. the work showed was about a 1/10th of the work we actually produced! We got lots of wonderful feedback and all in all it was a fabulous night all round!!

Finding and sorting ..........

Yesterday another artist friend, Amanda, helped Bruce and I to move the studio furniture into the new space, it was wonderful to have the extra pair of hands and muscles!! Thanks so much Amanda :-)
Today I've been sorting and storing, sorting and storing and also doing some culling, (not too much of this though!!) Tomorrow I'll keep sorting and storing and perhaps be able to get out the labelling machine, oh how I love that little machine......
The bench which runs the full length of the East wall is almost ready for sealing, Bruce has done a beautiful job on it!


I'll post up some more photos in a few days time!!

Moving In!!!!!

I'm on holidays and I'm moving on into my studio!! It's a very exciting time, as well as somewhat exhausting! I am calling my studio, "Bower Bird Studio", those of you who know me fairly well, will, I think agree that it is an apt name!
While I move in the large amounts of boxes, suitcases and crates, Bruce, my fantastic resident carpenter and husband, continues to fit cupboards, build benchtops and shelves, install sinks etc All this in temperatures in the mid 30's with the usual humidity that Central Queensland is famous for! Fortunately the studio is reasonably cool as we have insulated it all around and there is usually a cool sea breeze blowing through the louvre windows.

We are working to a deadline to have everything moved out of the former studio, which is really our two bedroom guest cottage, before this Thursday, this is when our daughter, Brooke and our two grandchildren arrive to spend a few weeks with us over the Christmas break! There's nothing like a deadline to keep one moving along!

What is everyone else doing?? Is anyone travelling over the Christmas break?
Don't forget that you are expected to have only one book for December and January, I'm pretty sure that you will all enjoy a small break from the collaboration, this will give you some extra time to attend all thoses social functions with family, friends and work mates! We stard round nine at the beginning of February! This means that you should be starting on your ninth book, tenth if you count your own!

Enjoy your Christmas, may it be happy, merry, creative and full of good times! Keep safe whether you are travelling or not! And may 2010 be all you wish it to be.

Peta
xxx

Where will it all go??!!! Stay tuned for more photos.

Helen's "Bris-Khamen" Book

This was fun! I really enjoyed coming up with another part of the 'story' for Helen's book...I find the books more and more interesting, as each one has more work in it as they come to us!

I used some black Xpandaprint paint around the borders here - it's a bit like puff paint, but matte, and once I had heated it to puff it up, I rubbed it with gilding wax to pick up the highlights in the texture. I really wouldn't have imagined that my collection of old "Cowboys & Indians" magazines would have been helpful for this book...but there were wonderful photos of turquoise beads and jewelry...just perfect for the Kings ear-rings!! Sorry about the shiny patches in the photos...nothing I did helped tone them down!

Who Am I? I Am Who? is waiting for my attention next - it is a very cool book with the most interesting self portraits...awesome!