Part of my project this semester involves spinning yarn and knitting it into lace circles based on Elizabeth Zimmermann’s pi shawl pattern. To put it in the vaguest terms possible, it’s a scienc-y, mathematical meditation-y mandala thing — a reflection on creation and the clash of scepticism and belief. I’ll be printing on each piece of knitting repeatedly to build up colour, and will also try printing with them on my paper works. Next semester they’ll be ripped out and made into something new, playing into my destruction/creation theme.

I started with a bag of wool that I already had, but it hadn’t been carded and was just too lumpy and uneven for what I wanted. I could have hand-carded it, but the thought of processing 500g of fibre that way made me want to cry real tears. Instead, I paid a visit to the Yarn Barn in Coburg to see what they had, and came out with 700g of processed superwash merino that had already been pre-drafted and wound onto a cone. Freaking score!

It still took me a few skeins to get my tension right for the project I have in mind next semester, but I’m still using the first efforts this time around, and will use them for a different piece later.

Here’s what the singles needed to look like…

And here they are plied.

And posing with Neil Gaiman’s signature in my sketchbook (yep, definitely fangirl.)

I’m really quite disgustingly proud of my spinning job. It took at least two full days to spin the singles, and another half day of plying just for two skeins. The knitting feels like flying in comparison.

Went to the Convention Centre very early in the morning yesterday to see Neil Gaiman speak. Mr C teased me all the way there about being a total fangirl because he saw the present I had to give to Neil at the book signing. For the record, I gave him a little handmade blank book, and one of these. And yes, I am a total fangirl, but I also just thought it would be a nice thing to do.

Today I’m blowing off my theory tutorial taking one of my uni friends along to the State Library to see Neil talk again — one of the benefits of going to school in the centre of the city. I’m sure my lecturer will understand.

The last couple of weeks have been a combination of too much time spent at school, painfully slow capped internet at home, very little time spent at my workplace and broken wireless at uni. The broken wireless has been fixed, thanks to the lovely Kay House Computer Man. The internet at home is still horrid, which has been making it difficult to search for a new job, considering I have a grand total of twelve hours this week and seven hours next week. I’m ineligible for any Centrelink benefits because I’ve studied before, and the one scholarship I could possibly apply for at school had its requirements changed this year so that only second year students could apply. I need more than seven frakking hours work if I plan on surviving. Right now I can work Saturdays, Sundays and Tuesdays, if you’d like to employ me… I promise I’m generally less bitter than this. I’m quite nice really!

And now I have to head home so the Mister doesn’t get sad at me for spending so much time away…

Back at the beginning of the semester, I was formulating a proposal for work that explores themes of creation, both in the realm of “creation” of the universe, and creation as an artist. I am interested in making art that reflects my world view — that human life is a chance occurrence in this incredible amazing universe. That certain elements, or building blocks, exist as the base of this universe, and it’s their chance interaction that causes change and growth through the process of evolution.

I’m not just interested in the science, though. I’m interested in why people believe what they do, and the stories and myths that we create in order to explain and give meaning to our lives.

This is the start of my project. I’ve been constantly amused and slightly annoyed when people see my paper and ask what images I’m going to print on it. To me, art is not necessarily about creating an image to represent something. It’s not about the end result so much as the journey. I didn’t make paper so that I could make a picture; I made paper (from offcut ragpaper and my old lithographs) because it’s one of the ways to represent evolution in my work. Creation from destruction. Renewal.

The paper has been printed on now. Both sides (because there are two sides to every story). I took 224 photographs of books on evolution, science, cosmology, myth, religion and fairytales, then used solvent transfer to get those images onto my paper. A photograph implies truth, and as a result it’s one of the best mediums to use in order to manipulate your audience. We also assume that books classified as non-fiction will tell us the truth, yet many different arguments on the same topic can be found on one shelf. Now they can be found on the same wall.

As you can see, there is some information missing.

There’s a whole side of the work that you can’t see in this setup. And one of my pages is currently missing — very annoying, especially when I would have filled the whole wall up perfectly otherwise!

The work isn’t going to stay like this though, it’s just another stage in the process. Here is how I set it up for my critique on Thursday.

I was really pleased with the outcome, and while it’s not finished at this stage in terms of my proposal, it is something that I’m interested in recreating down the track (although it could be logistically very difficult in terms of setting up anywhere outside of university for an extended period of time…)

From here, I’m going to glue several pages together and print on them with some of the etching/lino/woodblock plates I made last year, and I’m also going to carve some new lino for printing.

From there, I plan to shred the lot, weave it all back together and print over the top one last time. It may not work out how I expect it to, but really, that’s half the fun.

So, in honour of Alex (and with thanks to Michelle for the link) — houses of Teh Awesum.

Here he is pre-trip. He was very excited to go to the vet. As soon as we got remotely close, he figured it out and started pulling ahead. He loves the vet.

I must say, I think there may have been a little construction going on outside the vet. It got a little dusty for me and Stella on the way home. Okay, it got a little dusty for me. Stella didn’t seem to notice, being so low to the ground and all.

All went well. His lumps are gone and they were benign. Hooray! Henry celebrated big time, as you can see here:

The sad panda face was nothing that some cuddles, treats and a day spent with his sister couldn’t fix, though. This was the face that greeted me when I arrived home:

And just for fun, astronaut Henry shows off his piebald tummy!

So m1k3y made me a picture.

Okay, he doesn’t drink tea, but young Henry does have two lumps. A new little one on his chest and a big older one on his side. Mr C took him to the vet today, and I’m skipping uni on Wednesday to take him in for surgery. I iz worried, but hopefully it’ll all go okay and there won’t be any sign of the big C.

I’m also rather worried about how we’re going to pay for said surgery, which costs somewhere in the hundreds of dollars, but it has to be done. If you’ve ever, ever wanted to buy anything from my shop, now would be a good time (or if my stuff isn’t your cup of tea, there’s a handy dandy Paypal donate button to the top left of this blog page)…