Art and Abart

My posts for the past year seem to have gyrated between the sublime and the mundane : from art and music to house renovations and back. I gu...

The little bar fridge that I got from Aldi was almost big enough for me but I missed having a freezer so I sold it on eBay and looked for ...

Today is Australia Day and as I pour my glass of red the smell of frying sausages wafts over the fence. Good news is that actor Geoffrey Rus...

Patonga Creek runs up the valley behind the small fishing village of Patonga at the mouth of the Hawkesbury River.  Last weekend I sketched...

Yesterday evening I took out a pumpkin plant that was all leaves and no pumpkins and planted some parsley plants in its place. As I was push...

The Woman in White  was gripping but I read it reaaaaally slowly to savour the text. Eventually, however, I finished the book and had to fac...

The plumber came today and transformed my bathroom. The old vanity, bathroom taps, shower taps were replaced and I got a dual flush cistern....

The new curtains are having to wait. A book has consumed my whole attention .... and when I emerge from it I find it hard to believe that I ...

I have had bedroom curtains waiting to be hung since arriving here and finally I am getting around to doing something about them. I bought s...

I have been feeling a bit dislocated and I decided that now I have discovered a cafe with good light I should go and paint there more often....

Today I went over the hill to the Pearl Beach cafe, then sat on a bench under a tree to watch the seaside frolickers and paint. As I took ou...

Finally the ugly old BBQ that blocked the garden entrance has been moved and now when you look out the window you can see right up the garde...

The sound of a chainsaw has been echoing over my back fence for the last two days.  Yesterday a man hung from the huge and magnificent gum i...

I saw the New Year in with a particularly good view of the Sydney fireworks which little digital cameras are unable to capture. Sydney F...

Boxing Day. The day to wake up late, snooze on the sofa, recover from the rigors of the day before, dream about the days to come.

Seasons Greetings! A bit of whimsy make you smile in this, our turbulent 2011/12.

My big old English Oak (no longer available according to the repairman) table was damaged on the way across the Tasman and was so wonky I wa...

Today I saw Philip Glass's opera Satyagraha about Gandi's life in South Africa, the latest of the New York Metropolitan Opera produc...

I saw the moon eclipse last night. The moon was reddish as predicted and very eerie. It was unearthly in a strange way and I am glad I woke ...

There is something charming about ceramics that is hard to put your finger on. Is it because we know they are made from clay, or is it the c...