Number 8 Wire

What have Number 8 wire and Open Source Software got in common? Find out from New Zealand's eloquent Minister for Information Technology.

Flash glasses

My project paintings are finally finished, or at least I think so. I have painted a series of self portraits. I put my specs on in this painting, bought in Sydney in June.

I am enjoying the freedom of acrylics ... so much easier than watercolour. But watercolour has its own charm.

Modaks portraits

Painting people while sipping a long coffee is a pastime I particularly enjoy. I have been painting at Modaks this past year and today I hung the portraits. They look great along their long wall and people are having fun identifying themselves and their friends.

Dunedin goes international

Air New Zealand has announced they are going to fly international flights to Dunedin under their own flag from March 2008 instead of under the FreedomAir banner, an airline not sold through travel agents. So Dunedin will be on the international radar.

Muppet sings Yellow

I don't know ... I just like it...

Signs and symbols

Rita Angus held a cigarette as a sign of her independence in 1936. I wasn't sure what my image should hold. Things that signify women's independence? Ummm. Birth control devices? In 1923 Gerda Overbeck drew a woman buying a contraceptive douche over the shop counter. She called it 'Prostitute'. A pretty amazing picture when you think of it. When I suggested holding condoms Greta was amused and suggested something more personal.

I had almost finished my painting and still I couldn't decide. Then I told the story of the greenstone Koru to Alison and she said 'well you could use the Koru in your painting'.
The Koru. Perfect, just what I was after. Thank you ladies.

Long evenings

Daylight saving began last Sunday so we now have long evenings. I have been painting inside all day so I went for a walk this evening up the hill. It was clear and calm, the birds were singing and every now and again the sweet fragrance from one of the many flowering plants wafted by. The sun set as I was coming back down the hill at 7:45.

Rita and her cigarette

I am reading about New Zealand artists and have decided to paint a self portrait with a nod to the Self Portrait painted by Rita Angus in 1936-37 when she was 28. (Copy below - official copy can be found on Auckland Gallery website)

The painting is hanging in the Dunedin Art Gallery at the moment. I find it both compelling and repelling. The cigarette is said to be a symbol of women's independence. I have not quite decided what symbol might be appropriate for my painting.