Hello December!

December is upon us and this is my month! Not only looking forward to celebrating Christmas and New Years with fam and friends, but birthday celebrations as well! Us December babies have waited all year for this! Time for the beach, sun, good reads, knitting, excercise and love. 

Multitasking:)

Polka dot bikinis!

I never do!

Rosehurst!

I really do love this little oasis nestled in the heart of Maritzburg! I have been working at Rosehurst since 2008 and just adore everything about it! The food, the people, the garden..everything! Every year before the manic festive season starts, a Christmas party/get together is organised- it really is a great event to attend! There is always plenty of wine, eats, goodies to buy and people to mingle and chat with, and last nights 'do' was no exception! The garden is really beautiful at night, especially with a tent and fairy lights..reminds me of a 1920's garden party, all that is missing is the Flapper dresses and dancing!

Here are a few pics of little old Rosehurst, so if you ever happen to find yourself in Pmb... pop in!:)

- Rosehurst, 239 Boom Street, PMB.



A view of the Cafe from the beautiful garden.




A view from the verandah into the garden.




Mona Lisa and her goodies!




 Inside what used to be the lounge of the red brick house- all the original Victorian wallpaper is still on the walls!




Some antique collectables.




The famous Rosehurst cappuccino in the red cup!




The Grilled Scone with mascorphone, pumpkin seeds and drizzled honey- my favourite!



An auction and exhibiton this weekend!



The Friends of the Tatham Art Gallery (FOTAG) present their annual major fundraising event - The 2011 Fabulous Picture Show.  With limited funds available for purchase of new works for the permanent collection at the Tatham Art Gallery, this unique and exciting project offers local emerging, development and established artists an opportunity to be featured in a professionally presented exhibition at the Gallery whilst raising funds from the sale of their donated artworks.  The original art works, required to fit into a standardized A5 framing format, have been donated by the artists and are open to the public for viewing and bidding over a week long period.  The Fabulous Picture Show is an exciting community-based project that offers the local community an opportunity to support the Tatham Art Gallery and a rare opportunity to snap up highly collectable artworks, some of which are from the studios of major artists, often at very reasonable prices. All proceeds go to the Gallery’s acquisition fund.

The Final AUCTION will take place on Friday 25 November. Refreshments will be served from 18h00. Auction begins at 18h30 sharp.  The work is paid for and you take it home. We guarantee you will have fun.

So come along and support!

A friend of mine, Sharon Weaving, is having her MAFA Ceramics exhibition opening this weekend- so looking forward to going!

habitat
OPENING:
26 November 5:00pm

LOCATION:
THE KILN GALLERY
Karkloof Farmers Market
( 2km out of Howick on the
Karkloof / Rietvlei road, turn
right onto dirt road, and imme-diately right again in front of residential housing).



Moustaches on sticks!

So..all of a sudden I have this fascination with moustaches and all things related, prehaps it could do with Movember, or it could in fact be pure coincidence!I helped organise a farewell on Friday evening, where my sister and I made felt moustaches and lips on sticks for everyone to play around with..they were stashes (get it!?) of fun!

Here are some lovely pics for you all to have a good old squiz at!

WOW!!!

Cute idea!

Time to silk-screen some socks for Christmas pressies!

Ah yes, there always has to be a 'lil cross-stitch squeezed in somewhere!

So clever!

I would love these nails, but as a Printmaker one has to sadly sacrifice good looking nails!

Nom nom:)

What I have always wanted!

<3

Him and hers!

Me and my stash!

My beautiful sister and her dashing stash!

'It really makes me think that paint is just so pointless...' - Louise Riley



London based embroidery artist, Louise Riley caught my attention last year while paging through the Cross Stitcher mag, enjoying my morning cuppa. Her work is ingenious- she stitches threaded images onto mattresses! As i myself, am always looking for different mediums or surfaces to sew into, her use of thread and the mattress surface creates such an intimate and unique setting for her subject matter. This initmacy is what i love about her work, she uses thread as she would oil paint, creating this complex web of tactility.

Louise- 'I use the mattress as a backgroundless background that holds weight of experience conceptually, spiritually and physically. Blood, sweat and tears like tree rings in its core. Its presence in our rights of passage, our sleep, rest, thoughts, dreams, the theatre of life spilled out onto it. How could I work on anything else! It is a ready-made canvas, it allows my ideas to penetrate it and collaborate with it to unearth a supposed breath-taking, yet ordinary, history or herstory.'

Here are some of my favourite works by this stitcher! 




Joined at the hip and bent over backwards (2008).

The balance of joy and pain and struggle and everything in between. the force that draws us together and the force that keeps us individual, the push and pull.



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Dewlyweds (2010).

The inspiration for Dewlyweds came when searching for something that resembled marriage in the animal kingdom, since the design of marriage had been a societal one and may not have necessarily been what nature intended. When snails mate they shoot calcium spears into each others flesh to disable each other, so that fertilisation takes place without the possibility of any other 'suitors' getting involved. This seemed a good comparison.



  Film Still (2008)

 



The magic of Wilhelm Staehle...

- his witty tongue-in-cheek comments and hand-cut Victorian silhouttes, make me oh so happy. This eccentric character and vintage illustrator is definitely one to look out for! Below are a few of my favourites from his series entitled, Silhoutte Masterpiece Theatre...

This one makes me smile every time!

Ahh, so clever!

I've always wondered how people who use these machines keep their hands- it gives me the heebie jeebies!

'I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America,
and to the republic for which it stands;
one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.' Great memories!

Love this!

My all time favourite!