Grid Journaling

I did this latest spread in my Moleskine after I saw Milliande's Grid Journaling. I just wanted to give it a go as well and for mine I took details from Christchurch to fill the grids. So it ended up being somewhat of a healing excersize at the same time, saying an emotional goodbye to the city, my city for almost 17 years. It keeps forever the small details and skyline features that might not be anymore.

Playing Peek a Boo at the shipyard

A journal spread I did recently in my Coptic while tossing with some ideas and techniques - I intend to make a litte poem to go on the right page. I got inspired by all the shipping containers that are being brought to my area at the moment. We'll have about 400 all up, walls of them.

They are put there to protect our village suburb and our houses from the falling rocks from the hills and cliffs around. I understand that, but I really do not like them, getting through the village is becoming a sort of a peek a boo game and apparently they are here to stay for quite some time, because they just don't know what to do with these hills and everytime we have a half decent aftershock more comes falling down.

I ♥ hearts

just dreaming of good things, like heart shaped clouds and sunny days.....needing that a bit after Monday's events

dark mood

I don't do this often, because I am a firm believer in positive thinking, but today I am feeling dark and down and I need to moan a bit. I am posting this image of a chunkie I did in September last year. On that 4x4 is an image of a cracked church, it now no longer stands now because of 22/02/11
I drew an angry bat on the roof, maybe that was a hint or a sign ? who knows ? Life is not getting much easier here yet, daily aftershocks and now winter has started, the weather is grotty and wet and the roads are bumpy and full of potholes. Progress to rebuild is so slow, of course, it's an amazing task and nobody ever practises for something like this, I do understand. It just makes you weary and tired, so some days, like today, I find it harder to deal with. I think about the future for the kids and how to make a buck and all I saw today was just grey, dark grey, dark black, so I had to moan a bit. I hope you understand, who ever reads this, and I am sorry, I will have better days again, maybe we have to re-think what to do with our lives.

♥ Happy Easter to all ♥

Easter

Where I grew up this was a time of Daffodils
(and I love those so much)and Spring and all things bright and sunny.Here downunder it is the time of falling leaves and toadstools
(and I like those a lot too)it is Autumn / Fall, but lucky us.
there are a lot of nice and sunny Autumn days here.
Today for instance it got to over 20 degrees Celcius, wonderful !
So good hopes for a lovely Easter egg hunt for the kids :)
aren't these felt bunnies a great idea to make ?
they're easy to do and I made a pocket for some chocolate at the back as wellHere are some Easter sketches, crafts and inspirations
(click on the pics or linkwords for some cool links)
Happy Easter everybody !!!

Auction winner and my prize

The auction for Artists for Japan has finished and the winning bid on my Madame Butterfly was made by someone in
Calgary - Canada
so Madame will fly over to meet her new owner soon and I will be able to make the donation to the Red Cross for Japan
I know the Red Cross will be happy with every donation they'll get from my personal experience here with our own quake and everything the Red Cross does, they need a lot !

I also bid on and won (yay !) a wonderful sketch done by Peggy Allen Fergusonbeautiful huh ?
I feel very lucky, go check out her blog too
just follow the link I put on the photo and her name

Artists for Japan and Rise Up Christchurch !

I am not so much in a writing kind-a-mood, but wanted to let you know just a few things on this rainy Sunday morning.
There was a Memorial Service in our beautiful but ravaged city on Friday
They released video footage of our city's battered heart
They very unexpectedly recovered my car from the parking garage in the "No Go-zone" yesterday
and I joined the Artists for Japan and donated a one off hand-embellished print of my
Mixed Media painting "Madame Butterfly" for that cause.
Please follow the links to watch for more info and images on either of these

Kia Kaha ♥ Aroha
everybody

Felt Aid - donation

I have donated this set of two (2) folded cards with envelopes in mainly gray tones to Felt Aid. The insides are blank. FeltAid is an initiative by "Felt"- a place where New Zealand Indie designers sell online. They are trying to raise a bit more $$ for the rebuilding of our devastated city. The cards are printed wit archival inks on the highest quality Strathmore heavy canvas cards One of each taken from Mixed Media works by me, they are "Shattered" and "Pensive" Two paintings close to my heart and that embody the feelings stirring in me from the recent Earthquake

Beautiful buildings

It must have been a blessing in diguise,
the fact that we have not had power and thus TV etc. for a week.
I normally am a very visual person,
but I am glad that I have not had the chance of seeing too many images (except for the newspaper ones)
during the first week after the quake.This used to be our beautiful city centre and this is now:

and it's just one of the many beautiful buildings...
It will be very strange once we'll be allowed back into the CBD and...Who knows?...
I might get my car back from the parking garage ?!
-What bugged me so, was that I left a bag full of $ 100 art supplies that I just bought in that car !-

POWER !!!!

We got POWER !

YAY !

I am skipping an jumping and singing

♫♪♫ tjolla hop !

After a week of having dinner by candle light (very cosy and romantic of course)

and going to sleep and waking up with the chooks,

we just got power restored to our little valley suburb.

We still have no running water

and our area is still waiting on the coveted portaloo

(oh, let's hope we'll get one of the fancy ones that are on their way from the States...)

But to tell you all the truth, it's all not that important.

I was in the centre of the city when the quake struck

and I am just so happy to have made it home alive.

I left my car in the parking garage

(will it ever come out ? probably not, the CBD is a war zone)

I escaped the office building I was in when it started to shake like mad

and made my way into the street

and eventually out of the CBD on my way home.

Partly hitched a ride, partly walked and waded through the liquifaction and flooded areas. Walked the long stretch of coastal road where the cracks in the pavement were out of this world, I felt as if I was walking in a movie or a computer game or something, it didn't really feel real. A week on and it feels as if it happened yesterday and also it feels as if much longer time has passed, very strange still. Our house still stands and therefor I am so grateful and for the fact that my family and the friends and people that are close to me here are all accounted for and okay. But sad that this second time around Christchurch has not survived this earthquake without casualties. As I mentioned, I just got the power restored, so I will now hop to all the places and emails to leave a sign of life and to say I will be back with more news soon.

Take care and lots of love

♥ Aroha ! ♥ Love ♥