more red still life

This time I'm photographing my still life instead of painting it. Trying to understand how photographers work with the light, and I must admit, it's not as easy as it looks! It's all about controlling the light, something which I didn't achieve so well in these shots, but I learnt a lot!

purple love

So here are a few recent homemade bits and pieces. Top left: Priya in a floral print jersey smock-style top (made by me); top and bottom right: Priya's idea to reuse the ends of fat candles as jewellery holders; bottom left: Priya's patchwork cushion cover which fits on a 56cm square cushion for her room (her first ever sewing machine project); middle right: the back of the cushion, with 2 tiny purple flower buttons to secure it shut. Did you guess that her favourite colour is purple?

Hare + Klein

This week desire to inspire posted on Hare + Klein. They are an interior design firm based in Sydney and have been shortlisted for the Australian Interior Design Awards - I can see why! I was blown away by their portfolio. This is a rural house they have (interior) designed, somewhere in NSW no doubt. 

all images Hare + Klein

japan love

I was horrified by these images of Japan that a friend sent a link to: same angle satellite images of the devastated areas before and after the earthquake/tsunami. Today they revealed the exposed radiation levels are much higher than they wanted to admit. If any good can come of this disaster, let it be that we stop building nuclear power stations globally.
Yuriage in Natori in 2008, 
and in 2011 after tsunami.

Fujitsuka in Sendai in 2008, and in 2011 after tsunami.

Terashima in Iwanuma in 2003, and in 2011 after tsunami.


images from Los Angeles Times

Sharyn Cairns

I've had a cold all week and today no voice so am taking advantage of lying on the sofa all day with the laptop, looking up nice things on the internet to blog about. Lately I've become more interested in developing my photography skills and along with learning the more technical stuff, I love the fun side of it too - looking at others' work. A favourite Aussie photographer is Sharyn Cairns who I blogged about here. Her work is stunning, being mostly of food and interiors, mostly shot from an interesting angle... with very dramatic lighting. I can learn a lot from her! She usually works with 2 outstanding Australian stylists - Glen Proebstel and Megan Morton (but more on them later). I'm not much of a writer especially when it comes to art, so I'll let these images speak for themselves!

all images from Sharyn Cairns

modern provincial industrial

This house in West Hobart caught my eye as I was real estate browsing. Built in 1885, it's Victorian Italianate with masses of space. The owner has renovated and decorated in a sparse but stylish way, maximising on space and natural light, sticking to a black and white colour scheme throughout. Loving the b&w kitchen!
From domain.

grand designs australia

I was lucky enough to catch the first ever episode of Grand Designs Australia when I was there. Unfortunately i can't watch them from the UK, but I have been able to see snippets of most episodes on the website. The first episode was fantastic but the story was tragic - Chris had just finished building his dream house 2 weeks before it was completely destroyed in the Victorian bushfires of February 2009. This episode shows how he rebuilds his home, modifying it to withstand another bushfire (hopefully that won't happen in the same area again). This house is a perfect mix of modern style with abundant use of natural materials and sensitivity to the environment.

all images from Lifestyle Channel Australia

garden work

It's been a very busy month, hence not much time for blogging. I've been out in the garden trying to weed it ready for new planting this spring. At last the sun has moved higher in the sky - our garden is quite dark in winter as the sun barely reaches it! So with all the lovely bright sunshine we can start using our garden again! yay!

hard-pruned weigela to promote new growth this spring

our Cordyline Australis died with the heavy frosts of January - so sad!

new agapanthus bulb sprouting (can you spot it?)

hard pruned all shrubs before new growth