The Last Anzac (Biscuit)

You have to be fast. Kate’s popular Anzac biscuits disappear quickly. The sweet, crunchy rolled oat Anzac, is an iconic biscuit in New Zealand and Australia.

To view the popular Anzac biscuits disappearing, double click on the smaller image below (an animated .GIF file).

According to folklore, these well-keeping biscuits were baked by the womenfolk at home, and sent to soldiers in the NZ and Australian Army Corps, known as “ANZACS”, serving overseas in World War One.

 

These biscuits have a strong historical military connection. Follow this link to a “Today in New Zealand History” recording from 1950, to hear about the spirit of ANZAC: http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/media/sound/today-in-nz-history-anzac-day

You can find a version of the traditional Anzac recipe on the NZ Woman’s Weekly website: http://www.nzwomansweekly.co.nz/food/recipes/anzac-biscuits/

Strummin’ Pumpkin

The image is an animated .GIF file. If Pumpkin, the 3 legged cat isn’t playing the ukulele, give the image a double click.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ukulele cat
In a party hat
Strummin’ the strings
Doin’ his thing

Enjoy The Day With Max

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The image is an animated .GIF file. If Max the dog isn’t playing, give the image a double click. The animation may play slowly until fully loaded.

Playing With The Colour Wheel

Illustration Friday topic: Wheel

The image is an animated GIF file. If the colour wheels aren’t spinning for you already, give the image a double click. The wheels may spin slowly until fully loaded.

Many subjects came to mind when I saw Illustration Friday’s topic “Wheel”, suggested by Susan Sorrell Hill. A bit of colour is always good. So, I’ve set the colour wheel spinning.

 

Sketchbooks, the retro creative database

THE APPEAL OF THE VISUAL DIARY AND UNFILTERED RAW EXPRESSION

There’s a charm to roughly composed beginnings. A fundamental appeal to raw expression. The sketches in an artist’s diary record creative evolution. Finished designs may be more refined but they are not necessarily better.

The sketchbook is where artists do a lot of their thinking. The appeal of a brand new empty journal is the contemplative space. Blank pages ready to free-associate, sort and store ideas and connect with the pure pleasure of drawing.

As an artist’s tool, these unfiltered roughs serve a variety of purposes. Essentially they are an inner conversation. The space is used to capture and jot down visual thinking, to loosely experiment with random thoughts, develop creative ideas, store clippings, reflect, make mistakes, daydream and hone technique. Initial drawings are often scanned, becoming a basis for a much larger project.

Comments from the visual journal site of artist Danny Gregory let us know that such works inspire others to connect with their own creativity, to notice and document the world around them in their own imaginative style.

Graphic designer, illustrator, and book artist, Roz, has a life-long practice of journal keeping. It is her goal that “more and more people keep visual journals….to get more people observing and sketching their lives…”. Take a look around her postings at http://www.rozwoundup.typepad.com/. Another interesting journal blog is the work of 28 artists and journalists at: http://artistsjournalworkshop.blogspot.co.nz/

The visual diary of an artist is an object of art on a human scale.

Red Sandals

Sketching again: My new red eccos. Stepping softly. Travelling far.

Make your own Mosaic

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A poster resembles a mosaic in the way it is pieced together bit by bit as the fragments fit. Sections of the artist’s own works make up the elements of this poster enticing creative hands to Jenny’s mosaic workshops.

The poster will be an evolving entity as the images can be varied for future workshops. Still a work in progress, contact details will be placed in the lower space.

Jenny is renowned in Marlborough for inspiring local youngsters to become creatively involved with protecting New Zealand’s unique native flora and fauna. Picton students have completed the first of a series of mosaic tiles portraying tuis, kiwi, bellbirds, fantails and kereru, destined to form a colourful Welcome Wall at the Kaipupu Sounds Wildlife Sanctuary near Picton in Queen Charlotte Sound.

Jenny’s own wild, colourful, creative garden is adorned with many of her imaginative mosaics.

Mosaic artists have created a strong presence in New Zealand’s artistic scene. Lochmara Lodge in the Marlborough Sounds boasts a magnificent mosaic couch along the outdoor gallery walk. Ceramic artist Judi Brennan has composed a collection of mosaics to make Taupo’s L’Art’e Cafe and Gallery a unique dining experience. Akaroa’s Giant’s House is an amazing visual spectacle of works by Josie Martin.

Medium: Jenny’s mosaics,  Adobe Photoshop  Collage