Show Me The Treasure

Rhubarbative Moments in field work in New Jersey

In the worst rush of the rhubarb season Mr Farmhand sometimes teams up with his cousin, Frank Winkler. Their granny, Hetty Winkler The Third, knows why these boys have an uncanny likeness to each other, but she is not saying.

Frank W. has a penchant for Redhead Matches on which account he is seldom hired by folks who have barns full of straw or hayricks unattended. Mavis Eggwhistle says Frank is his own worst hindrance and he should never have toasted marshmallows on his plastic hoe, even if it did start out life with a wood-grain finish. Still, if there is a bumper crop of rhubarb flowers to hoe, such as Miss Ingrid Periz who, for insurance purposes, photographed them here at work in her New Jersey kitchen garden, you could do worse than the Farmhand cousins for hired help.

In the worst rush of the rhubarb season Mr Farmhand sometimes teams up with his cousin, Frank Winkler. Their granny, Hetty Winkler The Thir...

at 09:40

The Efficient Oval's Good Offices

In one of probabilities ploys the oval shells collected from Belongil Beach, where pebbles, rolled smooth by sand and waves are in greater frequency than shells, are balanced two left, two right, and so make something of a mirror in this composition. The oval, oblated, seems one of nature's more efficient shapes, but perhaps for both the shells, fated to be ground to grit, and the pebble, on its way to sand, they are just intermediate formalities?

In one of probabilities ploys the oval shells collected from Belongil Beach, where pebbles, rolled smooth by sand and waves are in greater f...

at 09:33

Broken light and pleated water

Walking east along Belongil Beach where it seeps into Byron's Main Beach, in the last direct light of afternoon, the tide out, the low flat beach leaves a landscape of pools, warm water basking in uncertain directions, the tide pulling at it from strange angles, the sunlight dimpled and etched along the curves of water, water purling in three directions. A tide of small dogs, old dogs, their lady owners lounging along with friends, the last of the swimmers.

Walking east along Belongil Beach where it seeps into Byron's Main Beach, in the last direct light of afternoon, the tide out, the low f...

at 22:13

Hitchcock Railway meets Petticoat Junction

Slip down Butler Street, on the wrong side of the railwy tracks at Byron Bay, , and you can't miss the gothic splendour of filigree rust and red brick that is the old railway tank. The baby blue gun-totting 'toon dude impastoed on the ground level makes a sweet offset to the deep blue morning glory which winds its tracks through the cyclone fence. If it's Thursday morning, you will be baffling for a park to get the local Farmers' Mart, which may just be an excuse for aspiring local thespians to arrive like Puck, flute and all, or show off their coat tails. These markets re-invent fresh, the greens very nearly wink at you.

Slip down Butler Street, on the wrong side of the railwy tracks at Byron Bay, , and you can't miss the gothic splendour of filigree rust...

at 10:15

Sense of Belongiling

Add caption

This scene might have come straight out of Newtown circa 1981, but it is the lounge area of Belongil Beach's Treehouse Cafe, 2011. As I don't travel with a scanner ( but I am now wondering about travel scan options) this is uploaded from an iphone photo, which might be a good thing, resolving all shades to a palette of second-hand cane furniture. It is definitely a study in brown here. Normally I would not sit in a lounge chair to eat, but wholly molly Mr Theo, true teen that he is, made a bee-line ( or should that be a teen-line?) for the squashy velour, laid back , sink in and reading-ness of it. This might be the diagnostic factor telling teens from adults, the former's ideal meal spot is the couch, the latter, the table. This may be why teens think Table Manners are redundant.

Oh, so much for the decor and erstaz anthropology, what of the food? The coffee was decent, though on matters of taste I must say the surfeit of tomato sauce on the bacon and egg roll, begs the question was it not a tomato sauce sanger with garnish of egg and bacon. My only other comment is this: chicken on a pizza.

Add caption This scene might have come straight out of Newtown circa 1981, but it is the lounge area of Belongil Beach's Treehouse...

at 18:56

Vini, Vidi,Vici, - Glass House, Tropical Centre, Botanic Gardens Sydney

Leaving aside the first smallish corruption (veni to vini) ), the title here does not accept that the usual egocentric 'I' - ( you know ' I came, I saw, I conquered) . In this arrangment the vine came first, and it did seem to be winning the race to the top of the glass house, with some very decent competition by other cool high altitude rainforest plants. As to who it was that 'saw', leaving aside those serrated teeth along the edge of the 'pitcher' , it was obviously myself , as sketcher, who did the seeing.

Leaving aside the first smallish corruption (veni to vini) ), the title here does not accept that the usual egocentric 'I' - ( yo...

at 17:35

Crinum Lily and the Four Fishes

It might be just me but that title sounds like a late fifties Jazz fusion band, though it definitely is not. This particular lily had flowered, been photographed in situ, (aka as my garden,) been picked, collaged and here, folded up. The Four Fish maybe have mistaken Lily for a mic and are humming the back up line. Maybe not, hard to say what fish sing underwater. Some time later I draw the field photograph.All this attention which would have turned any Lily's head.

It might be just me but that title sounds like a late fifties Jazz fusion band, though it definitely is not. This particular lily had flower...

at 22:47

Cast Iron Case

This cast iron cover for a man hole - that inelegantly flawed term - is a model, very nearly, of symmetry and unwavering design chutzpah. Walking about Tokyo these gems are literally at ones' feet . Even the notches for the tool to lift the cover are neat. Tokyo might be capital of in-ground graphics.

This cast iron cover for a man hole - that inelegantly flawed term - is a model, very nearly, of symmetry and unwavering design chutzpah. ...

at 08:45

Bread and Fridges - Is this loafing about?

Why theorise that bread is the culinary substrate of reading when the facts speak for themselves? If you are curious as to the connection betwen bread and fridges you might visit Kris Hemensley's April 2011 Issue of the Merri Creek Ezine to read my short essay on bread and fridges -The Tassajarah Way or Fridge Number 5.

Why theorise that bread is the culinary substrate of reading when the facts speak for themselves? If you are curious as to the connection b...

at 12:45

Quincings and Eight Feet Pete, the Fruit Picker

Bart Brassica's quince harvest needs some extra hands, and as he hired Eight Feet Pete, he got extra legs as well. Pete is a veteran fruit picker and a natural at the three-legged race, where he often picks up first and second place, solo, with two feet to spare!

Bart Brassica's quince harvest needs some extra hands, and as he hired Eight Feet Pete, he got extra legs as well. Pete is a veteran ...

at 16:45

Sun Sun at Crows Nest

In the continuing pursuit of ramen we paid a second visit to Sun Sun at Crows Nest in the shopping centre on Willoughy Road which has Franklins upstairs and a kind of grubby food court downstairs. The unlit basement car park certainly has noir qualities. The people at Sun Sun are cheerful, the gyoza are good and the Tokyo Ramen is fine. Not Tampopo level but OK if your hungry for ramen and in the locale. The chopstick wrapper's graphics are excellent, and I wish I had sketched the drawing they had on the back wall. Ramen is a tricky customer to draw. Obviously more practice is needed.

In the continuing pursuit of ramen we paid a second visit to Sun Sun at Crows Nest in the shopping centre on Willoughy Road which has Frankl...

at 07:21

The Sky's The Thing

Rain clouds court Wagga.

at 21:51

The Virtue of Fresh Eggs - Mates Gulley

Many days, in February, in New Jersey, I lunched on poached eggs, fresh from the hen house and sauted greens. The snow outside, the simple, fresh comfort of the dish, the company, framed these as the paragon of lunches. So while I might have been predisposed by the recollection, a variation of this dish, and the flowers, made lunch at Mates Gulley so pleasant that I went there twice in three days. If you're in Wagga, head up Bayliss Street, just after the bridge the lagoon and that vivid 2WG sign.

Many days, in February, in New Jersey, I lunched on poached eggs, fresh from the hen house and sauted greens. The snow outside, the simple...

at 21:11

Lulaba - Best Street, Wagga

Sit under the verandah at Lulaba and study their tropical cake and the house across the road, both are classic takes. There is whimsey and substance in each. Most times if you asked me I'd say No Thanks to a cake with pineapple in it, but in thise case, and place, thinking off it like that splash of yellow on the facade of this Federation belle across the street, I happily said yes. Sometimes odd angles are the best, eg the pruning of the tree & the glace ginger in the cake.

Sit under the verandah at Lulaba and study their tropical cake and the house across the road, both are classic takes. There is whimsey and...

at 20:56

Riversdale - the endless possibilities of river fog.

Once I stayed in Riversdale, mornings the fog rolled in, bright white. Is this reduction or refinement? The cross, floating in, top right, warns skiers, rowers,boaters of the shoals. At night the place might be mad with lightning. The Boyd gift is perfect for making things you did not think about at the time.

Once I stayed in Riversdale, mornings the fog rolled in, bright white. Is this reduction or refinement? The cross, floating in, top right...

at 18:16

King Fern Unsprung - Episodes Two to Five

Two to Five seems to imply the odds for the favourite on a day at the races, those minutes of clock-watching for the job you weren't in tune with. But here it's none of these, just the next four episodes of the King Fern's unfurling. For a moment in Episode Three ( 2nd down) the fronds had taken on the look of a slinky, with its capacity for hopeless entanglement ( was this toy really a metaphor for matters of the heart?), but then those frondlets (yes, I am saying frondlets) straighten up, smooth as waxed fruit.

Two to Five seems to imply the odds for the favourite on a day at the races, those minutes of clock-watching for the job you weren't in...

at 13:02

Doublification and Country Towns - Why Wagga is OK

Monday morning early found me on a footpath table, at the Cache Cafe in Wagga. It was damp out there, and a degree or five south of comfortable but the streetscape took in the elegant edifice of the Council Chambers. Perspective and I have not managed so much as an acquaintenanceship to date, and here I've sketched in more than I could chew. That roof here is badly skew, the upper balustrades partly missing, mostly mangled, neither is so in real life. The Cache coffee too is something of a lottery. Wagga Wagga, in the great Australian set of double names, is one of the few that sounds like it doesn't need its twin.

Monday morning early found me on a footpath table, at the Cache Cafe in Wagga. It was damp out there, and a degree or five south of comfort...

at 23:49

Express Draw MacGraw

In idle moments waiting in queues at the airport or loitering in the cinema foyer the Express draw app on my iphone is right kind of idle folly for me. There seems to be an element of luck - a louchedemonstration of how clumsy runs into the luck of the draw. These characters are all imaginery, though the top fellow makes some allusion to Rimbaud.

In idle moments waiting in queues at the airport or loitering in the cinema foyer the Express draw app on my iphone is right kind of idle f...

at 09:45

What the fashionable Psychidae wears this Autumn

The Bagworm's cocoon, here, in silk and sticks and sand, might be mocking possum fur. These cocoons, neat houses of the pupae, are always exciting, though slightly squeamish finds. Is it the prospect of the transformation inside that makes these cocoons fascinating, or the deft archictecture of insects?

The Bagworm's cocoon, here, in silk and sticks and sand, might be mocking possum fur. These cocoons, neat houses of the pupae, are alway...

at 08:22

Bart Brassica and the Mary Jane

One of the more unusual crops on Farmer Bart Brassca's holdings are ladies pumps, or if he's lucky, the shoe plant might throw out a sport like this giant Mary Jane. While some farmers will be entering oversized marrows in the Amherst County Fair, Bart is buttoning his hopes to gain a blue ribbon with this well-heeled kid-lined beauty. There is a rumour that he's hoping for a pair, but that's only what Mavis Eggwhistle says.

One of the more unusual crops on Farmer Bart Brassca's holdings are ladies pumps, or if he's lucky, the shoe plant might throw ou...

at 17:16

Sketchabout,, Botanic Gardens at the Lotus Pond

I missed the morning sketching class as I was on the School tennis run where naturally, as you will see, I took notes. While I was sketching this, five ibises stalked past, two dusky moor hens walked by me, a neat-footed boy came right up and checked this out before I noticed him. Two Indian ladies, one with a pink headscarf , a crocheted triangle in shell stitch, posed nearby me for a photograph. Funny how a few weeks back I was drawing lotus flowers in a vase.

Lower Garden – Lotus Pond

Watching the lotus leaves, crowded, flippant,

in a lake subsumed by jostling, a party of flirts

who smile and stare, then blow the other way.

None are perfect, most blowsy

with torn edges, fading patches

and yellow margins, some younger leaves

pruned savagely by insects.

The pond heaves and shivers,

courts the wind, unlikely picnickers

they fill the field, while I try to push

a green puddle into shape.

Then a dusky moor hen steps past, [more timid

than a Coot, tamer than a swamp hen]

red and black feet latent with possibilities.

I missed the morning sketching class as I was on the School tennis run where naturally, as you will see, I took notes. While I was sketch...

at 12:20

Agave - a right spiralling phenomena - Sydney Botanic Gardens

Though unlabelled I am guessing this succulent is a member of the family that gave us tequila, the Agaves. Here the tight, prickly right-handed spiral of leaves, still wearing the the impression of their own serrated edges, spin out low to the ground, not unlike the after-effects of tequila itself might have an over-imbiber.

Though unlabelled I am guessing this succulent is a member of the family that gave us tequila, the Agaves. Here the tight, prickly right-han...

at 10:12

Scrambling Habits of the Heart

Somethings insist on being drawn, this vine, making its way over the top garden bed in the Cunningham Courtyard of the Sydney Botanic Gardens being case in point. It was that exurbant dangling clause- the poddy flower, that got me in. If this flower were a phrase, it would be bigger than the sentence that contained it. Quite impossible? The seed case proves the opposite.

Oh, yes, the vine's, like most, a scrambler,
wearing it's heart-shaped leaves on trailing lines.

Somethings insist on being drawn, this vine, making its way over the top garden bed in the Cunningham Courtyard of the Sydney Botanic Garde...

at 14:41

King Fern Unfolds in Precise Spirals of Green

The King Fern in my garden, which I think might be Angiopteris evecta, unfurls like a slow motion ballet, consisting mostly, at this stage, of pirouettes. This drawing is the first in what I plan to be a watching brief.

The King Fern in my garden, which I think might be Angiopteris evecta, unfurls like a slow motion ballet, consisting mostly, at this st...

at 10:08

The Well Dressed Pole - Newtown Square

The Street Knitters, whoever they are, have hit the spot here with their cosy subversion of street graffitti's materials. Just off the cuff, that integrated pink/yellow, blue/sequence is particularly splendid. Long may your needles click .

The Street Knitters, whoever they are, have hit the spot here with their cosy subversion of street graffitti's materials. Just off the ...

at 14:30

Purple Carrots: Beeta beeta carotena

Last week my great letter writing friend John Watson sent me an article from the New Yorker on The Hidden Allures of Root Vegetables by Jane Kramer. Among the root vegetables she discursed on was the deep-purple carrot, the ancestor of our orange carrots, which people in the old days eschewed. Kramer, who speculates their lack of popularity might be because they bleed in soups etcetera, obviously has not cooked them. They don't bleed, or at least these modern purple ones I found in Coles Big Bear Supermarket last week didn't. That people regarded them with suspicion was demostrated clearly when someone in my house of tender years pointed at them and cried, "Witch Carrots!!" Really, I bought them to draw as they colour was a bit hypnotic. Here the drawing is superimposed over the scan, so it can see the shadow if its former self.

Last week my great letter writing friend John Watson sent me an article from the New Yorker on The Hidden Allures of Root Vegetables by Jan...

at 07:39

How to measure Goosebumps ?

I found this family of geese in Melbourne, Caulfield Cup day last year.
It was pouring down, much drowned crin and drooping dyed chicken feathers.
Each of these though, has the other's
measure

I found this family of geese in Melbourne, Caulfield Cup day last year. It was pouring down, much drowned crin and drooping dyed chicken...

at 21:11

Enough to make your ears Keirle - the footy set at Monday training

In my half hour sketch time, the first group to hit the training grounds are the charming younger folk and their diligent and enthusiastic trainers and Dads. As I am packing up the next lot arrive. What has happened that these older boys, saying 'men' would vastly overrate their stage of development, are prone to ugliness? At my previous visit to Keirle Park , one decided that his bladder was the controlling force of his intellect and micutarated on a tree next to the car park. This was a precedent his team mate could not resist, and he too decided his willy needed an airing. This week I hear, broadcast loudly, the conversation from the lad who was very shabby apre Saturday' game and cannot remember much (read black out) after the point when he tipped back six sambucca shots, this being after he has accidentally knocked over a young woman, an event he struggles to recall the details of. The small boys gleefully running after the ball deserve better examples.

In my half hour sketch time, the first group to hit the training grounds are the charming younger folk and their diligent and enthusiastic t...

at 10:47

Dumpling King, Newtown

Can one say 'we have dumpled'? Newtown is awash with eateries, so it seems, leaving aside the favourite places, easy to try somewhere new. And the idea of a Dumpling King, some soft bodied royal personage, regaled in pleated dough, presiding over stacks of steamer baskets, bowls of noodley broth and sizzling saute pans was persuasive. There was only one type of dumpling, northern Chinese, a wheat skin with a filling of pork and chives. We had a bamboo stearmer jammed with ten of these, dumpling noodle soup and hand rolled sichuan noodles and a pot of tea. The dumplings were going down fast when I thought perhaps they could benefit from of the prickly spicy heat of the the sichuan meat topping . Delicious. Sichuan can be an out of body experience but this was spicy, prickl , with enought of that slightly numb edge to give you motivation to chase the slippery diamond chunks of fresh cucumber around the plate without the intensity which might make your taste buds walk out on you. You will not need to avail of the pawnbrokers across the road to go dumpling, as all of this was ridiculously cheap. Next time I am having exactly the same.

Can one say 'we have dumpled'? Newtown is awash with eateries, so it seems, leaving aside the favourite places, easy to try somewhe...

at 17:46

Cunningham Courtyard, Botanic Gardens, Sketching Class

The pathway to the Cunningham Courtyard, tucked away behind the Boabab Tree in the south east corner of the Gardens might be a stage setting for a fashion shoot. The Sabal palm, with its tricky leaves that split to fan in three dimensions does its best to dominate the scene with basket weave geometry, the grass tree swooshing exurburantly in the wind gives it a run for its money and then there is that woman. Let's call her Miss Cunningham. The cyathea, asplenium and (yes under the grass tree these are) dendrobiums are minor players. I've appropriated the plant sign - which reads, if magnified:

Miss Cunningham

Courting cold she stares,

wardrobe missing? cupboard bare?

A case, again, of nothing to wear.

The pathway to the Cunningham Courtyard, tucked away behind the Boabab Tree in the south east corner of the Gardens might be a stage setti...

at 08:48

Ryo' s Ramen Bar , Crows Nest - The Q-Effect?

The job of the simple ramen shop is not as simple as it may first appear. Unless you're a truck driver, and the ramen shop is enroute, then it should be your local, an easy breeze in, konichi wa kind of place. There is no doubt that Ryo's is busy. We spent more time in the queue and then loitering inside than we did at the table. Outside, waiting on the pavement in the gritty rush-past of Falcon Street, standing under the "125 B, Beware of Vehicles" sign, a fine industrial relic of the adjacent property, we estimated it would take us 30 minutes to get a table. In the end we spend 45 minutes waiting and 20 minutes at our table eating, a ratio which is not optimal, even for a noodle bar. Why the queue? My theory is that people see the queue and think they are onto something worth queuing for, so the queue becomes a self-replicating phenomena. The ramen, nice big bowls like all the other ramen places I've ever been, is OK. I had Tokyo ramen, and gyoza, which were hot with those nice scorch marks on them, if a little haphazard, rustic one might say. The pork is tender, and fresh, but somehow the soup feels a little flat - perhaps it's the build-up? The decor inside is basically yellow, like you've woken up in an egg yolk. Time has made the paper menu items on the walls less than fresh. I think I probably expect too much from a ramen bar. Blame it on Tampopo.

The job of the simple ramen shop is not as simple as it may first appear. Unless you're a truck driver, and the ramen shop is enroute, t...

at 13:39

Rose's Italian Bakery, Flemington, New Jersey

Why does the exception have more gravitational oomph than the ordinary? Most days I was in New Jersey I went to have coffee and something, like the sfogliatelle, featured in a previous blog in the company of Mr Farmhand and my friend, at Rose's cafe and found it to be a model of neighbourhood bon hommie. Quite often I was introduced to the folk at the next table, and people generally caught up with who was doing. The fellow at the next table here was the exception not happy, dolorous one might say. To be morose in the company of pastries and coffee seems a special talent.

Why does the exception have more gravitational oomph than the ordinary? Most days I was in New Jersey I went to have coffee and someth...

at 13:11

Both Feet on the Ground - Single Hakea

At one time I had two sets of Stretch Body Parts, from Professor Plums toy shop ( of the science type).
Naturally I wrote a poem about them but I also used them in a number of collage, like in this collage, where they give the painted hakea uplift.

Stretch Body Parts

I have bought a packet of

stretch body parts, four pieces.

(Professor Plums $2.95)

One unexpected windfall

is they stick.

The pink ear now has

its own wall to listen to.

The nose gives

sudden expression to three

roughs patches of concrete.

The wall looks

like it has just understood

that the last remark was not

at all kind.

The foot is basically not right

too yellow, toes too small

the ankle bulging but the hand

is so real and flexible,

I have opposed all the digits

against the thumb, compared

our chiromantic chances

and noted her thumb nail

needs filing. Mine too.

At one time I had two sets of Stretch Body Parts, from Professor Plums toy shop ( of the science type). Naturally I wrote a poem about the...

at 12:36

Trace Vegetables

This pumpkin, long since eaten, seems to have disappeared leaving only this digital trace. Posted off on B5 card to join the Macau Elsewhere Project, other inclinations intervened and it lost itself, or was diverted, in the post. Still most vegetables leave no trace at all, so it has at least this virtual life. But where do these lost trace vegetables go? Is there a virtual soup somewhere, or a virtual roast pumpkin salad, with golden slices nestled among fresh rocket leaves, colluding with soft crumbles of fetta, dressed with pomegranite seeds and vin cotto as was the destiny of the role model pumpkin?

This pumpkin, long since eaten, seems to have disappeared leaving only this digital trace. Posted off on B5 card to join the Macau Elsewhere...

at 22:07

Sunday Night at Billy Swings, Spit Road, Mosman , Duck Two Ways

Since Dan Dan in Neutral Bay closed its doors I have been on the prowl for a regular, eat here once a week kind of place. Will Billy Swings do it? The prospect is good, the warm sourdough rolls, the ice-bucket to chill the wine snaffled from the bottle-o three doors down, the amenably delicious menu. I might well quote Eddie Lear and say 'We dined on ..pieces of quince ..' . and for two of us, a lovely slice of pork, a puddle of parsnip, this aside from a certain person who had the home-made gnocchi . Now all I have to do is get my drawing sorted, and next time remember to sit on the wall side so I can spy the rest of the joint. And plan for some room for the Duck Two Ways and the chocolate tart.

Instructions for Duck Two Ways

1. Quickly, left, right, pull your head in.
2. One hand on the table, squat,check out the space, (remove the hand ), duck under the table.

PS Their phone number for bookings, which seems to be mysterious to some, is (02) 8068 8338.

Since Dan Dan in Neutral Bay closed its doors I have been on the prowl for a regular, eat here once a week kind of place. Will Billy Swings ...

at 21:04

It's Monday so it Must be Keirle Park, Manly Lagoon.

The salient feature of Keirle Park oval today was squelch. The puddle was, now and then, pinged with rain drops. But rain drops of no consequence, tennis went on, and a squad of bouncy footie kids flowed out to kick and punt the ball. One skinny kid with a Borstal hairdo, walked past my car, elbow and knees, acute. The line of his skull set off by the bristle of exclamatory pale hair. Things are so hard to catch on paper, or in the air.

The salient feature of Keirle Park oval today was squelch. The puddle was, now and then, pinged with rain drops. But rain drops of no conse...

at 20:55

Sketching Class in the Botanical Gardens - 1st drawing

at 11:57

Waiting at Beauty Point

Yesterday I parked looking out from Beauty Point, in the clear late-ish afternoon, the Thursday drum lesson wait. Coming home with this sketch I recollected a very different winter's evening waiting in the same spot, which I wrote about in a poem 'Windscreen' - published in Poetry Mosman, an anthology of Mosman poems published by River Road Press in 2008.

Windscreen

The view is winter, late evening -

busy with the traffic’s northern peristalsis,

Seaforth and the Spit Bridge’s

lights are sliding

slow blurred, down my rain swerved

windscreen, spilling lines of light

over its curb, the bent edge of drops

gregarious in thick bundles of hard water

& water knocking on my car’s tin roof

so all the distortions of glass, of angle,

sluice to remake a flattened world

of melting, molten light and rain.

Yesterday I parked looking out from Beauty Point, in the clear late-ish afternoon, the Thursday drum lesson wait. Coming home with this sk...

at 10:56

Wild Horse in the Barrio Alto, Lisbon

The placement of the horse near this gap in the wall creates a tense question,
Will he jump? Will he make it? While this is on a wall, which looks very much like a footpath in its texture and colour, the illusion is that stencil horse is vertical and the gap horizontal - and rapido! we have 3-D.

The placement of the horse near this gap in the wall creates a tense question, Will he jump? Will he make it? While this is on a wall, whi...

at 12:29

Farmer Bart Brassica's floral fiat

While Farmer Bart B.'s favourite crop is brussel sprouts, which he always says are the highlight of European Epicurean Culture, from time to time he gets a little dizzy and plants what he calls 'fancy daisies". There is some talk around the neighbourhood that this surfeit of chyrsanthemums is really a romantic ploy on Bart's part, others say its because he gets $2 a bunch for them in his roadside stall. Bart will not tell a soul the secret of his giant blooms, not even Mavis Eggwhistle the local florist, who has asked twice.

While Farmer Bart B.'s favourite crop is brussel sprouts, which he always says are the highlight of European Epicurean Culture, from ...

at 21:04

Keirle Park. March 2011, Paper Bark Writer

There are days when one wants to look on the wider world
and days when one needs to bring a small piece of it back
and attend to its minutae. March in Sydney and the paper barks
put forth, a frosshle of white stamen and the scent, to me at least,
of sweet boiled potatoes. This might be irrational but
I find the association persuasive.

On the obligatory walk from Keirle Park to Manly I found this sweet fruiting body of a tree ( woody shrub) I am ashamed to say I have not identified. I've sketched it twice here, and included a sprig of it. The Paper Bark is from Keirle Park. It seems I might need to document all Keirle Park flora! 14 March 2011.

There are days when one wants to look on the wider world and days when one needs to bring a small piece of it back and attend to its minu...

at 21:48

Swimming in the Gold Fish Bowl - Arche Roughful

For some time I've been incubating a 'too-good- to-use' cache of Arche paper. The textured surface is gripping to say the least, but allows that saturated layering which reminds me of antique fairy tales and ancient colour printing. This image is a magnified detail as I am in love with that gold fish . The drawing/collage- whole picture's below- takes as a point of departure a Japanese woodblock print.

For some time I've been incubating a 'too-good- to-use' cache of Arche paper. The textured surface is gripping to say the l...

at 14:11

Pick Me Pick me says the White Agapanthus -

Any agapanthus that weren't picked are going to seed now, sending off their invasive emissaries to colonize places that don't need them. Plant invaders, such as agapanthus and coreopsis, growing wild along the old Pacific Highway, beaming in clumps alongside the railway line might as well be picked. This picking wild weeds may be the last resort of the itinerant flower picking flanuer.

Any agapanthus that weren't picked are going to seed now, sending off their invasive emissaries to colonize places that don't need t...

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