blue frustrations

My roofless dream cottage next to the sea in Peng Chau, for a forthcoming book

When most people move to the bottom half of the world, their litany of concerns goes something like this: how will we get the furniture there, what car shall we buy, what x-rays/shots will I need, where will the kids go to school, etc. Mine center on how to work in a new environment.

How strong is the sunlight? (Sydney has strong UV and lots of sunshine - one reason I was interested in moving here)

What's there to shoot or sketch?

How important are the arts in its residents' priorities?

But a crucial question for many alt-process artists like me is: where's a printshop to make negatives? (see picture below - none of this happens without large-scale negatives)


Hand-tinted blueprint demo from the book

It's a rare print shop that's willing to risk its overheated machines and run my plastic transparencies through them. So far I've spoken with a dozen places in my neighborhood and in central Sydney, but haven't found anywhere that can make a successful print; the rare printers willing to try just shake their heads as my acetates jam their machines.

So with some deadlines looming this week, I've crossed my fingers and printed dozens of images from paper negatives, as architects used to do with their drawings. I've printed these images over and over, for different exposure times, at different chemical concentrations, onto various surfaces. Tracked blue footprints down our newly-carpeted hallway. Spattered the bathroom with cyan rinsewater. I'd hoped that with some tweaking I could get something beautifully blue.

Nope. Not a single image was serviceable, let alone satisfying. The paper simply blocked too much sun, so the prints had very little contrast. Instead, I've had to focus on other endeavors before I leave for Asia.

Still these attempts have gotten me out of my new neighborhood comfort zone: I've shot a new series and will print it - somehow - when I'm back later this year.

There's always a reason for whatever we're doing, sometimes we've just got to make it up as we go along.

You can take the girl out of Hong Kong....

but you can't take the HK out of the girl.

In a few short weeks I'll be back in SE Asia, on a mission to make some papers with masters in Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam. And stumbling through plenty of mulberry trees while figuring out how to beat the pith (inner bark) into the perfect papery pulp.

Hopefully I'll make a stop in HK on the way back, to take care of some loose ends, and stuff myself w/yum cha.

Until then the only substitute for Cantonese skyscrapers is our set of G.O.D. sheets.




...and here's the real thing

Travel Artist Profile: Mary-Anne Bartlett

Artist on safari

As the founder of Art Safari, Mary-Anne Bartlett seamlessly combines artwork with travel, for destinations from Antarctica to Zambia. A woman of many talents, she has also co-written a guidebook on Malawi.

Here she's written an excellent article packed with advice on how to travel. She categorizes sketching travellers into three types: the 'painting traveller', the 'artist on holiday' and the 'travel artist'.

Which one are you?

Flickr Photos & Videos tagged "Obama"

from my Flickr friends around the world


Indonesian Obama by Keith Kelly


A pair of videos & photo from the Inauguration concert in Washington DC, January 18th, by Sixinterr


Obama's car


Snipers setting up for the Inauguration concert



Officials get to climb fences

Election night celebrations, Chicago - by Dave2Quam





Obama in Cambodia - by Jinja





Election day antics at FCC Phnom Penh, by Keith








Dungeons & Dragons for Obama in Washington, DC - by Nguyet

Waiting.....

Workspace: 50s telephone table, laptop, and G.O.D. pillow


Travelling artists can take some tools with them, but others are just too big to bring on the road. I sent my cumbersome studio materials - large rolls of paper and transparencies, plexiglass, etc - in our big shipment from HK. The thing is, they're taking weeks to clear Sydney's notorious customs officials.

This is my current "studio space", with no art supplies - all the work I'm doing these days is on the computer, when I'm not shooting pictures or researching papermaking at Sydney's university libraries. A minimalist space, with few distractions.

I can't wait to start printing & photographing again, my hands blue with the dirty work of blueprinting. There are some tight deadlines coming up...

Words & Pictures

The art market is directly linked to the rest of our markets worldwide.


Charcoal drawing from installation by Dan Perjovschi via "We Make $ not Art.


Options...by Hugh

Travel Artist: Fritz Lang

Many years before Fritz Lang made the iconic film Metropolis, from 1911-13 "he travelled the world, visiting North Africa, Turkey, Asia Minor, and Bali. At the time he worked as a travel artist, painting postcards, travel scenes, and advertisements," according to this site.



These travels gave Lang first-hand experiences of life on the other side of the world. He would have tasted spices & exotic intoxicants of all sorts - including women, of course - and this influenced his later work. These new forms of urban architecture gave him a new perspective on western European cities.

Keep an eye out for the nearly full-length version coming out later this year.

Road Trip part 2: from Melbourne to Sydney

Continued from here

As I looked over the route that morning, I pointed at a little spot where the highway dipped towards the sea. "Hmm...Lakes Entrance, wonder what that could be? Let's go!" You can tell Australia's still a young country in its official language - names in English have far to go before capturing the spirit of a place in an original way.


Posing like I'm hosting a Lakes Entrance boat party


Posing like he owns the entire fleet

Still, some place-names go beyond originality - as one resident said of Eden, Australia: "This is one spot that lives up to its name."


When we arrived at the hastily-booked Crown & Anchor
after a long day's drive, the porch was inviting to tired eyes


then we walked down the hallway, and opened the door to our room....


to discover a huge bathtub in the middle of it!


this retro radio and radiator worked, thanks to modern wiring



and plugged into old fixtures with new electrics


this kind of craftsmanship seems fussy to some, but makes for a good shot



With the room came a bottle of champagne, so we wasted no time



it was much tastier than the Tasmanian stuff we'd tried on New Years Eve



An appetizing view over breakfast

But there was one thing R. had been looking for the whole trip and hadn't yet found....



R. pointing at the quarry. True to what we'd been told, they love golf courses: we saw at least fifty on this one



The next night we stayed at a hazelnut farm nearby. Here's a flowering hazelnut branch



R wouldn't look out of place in the Boundary Waters, a favorite holiday spot for many people in Minnesota, where my family lives


On our way back to Sydney, we stopped by this beach along the Sapphire Coast.


This week's been our first footsteps in this huge country we've begun to call home. Where are your favorite spots in Australia?

Road Trip part 1: from Sydney to Melbourne

We've just come back from a weeklong roadtrip along a small slice of Australia's southern coast. On the way to Melbourne, we stopped off at Canberra so R. could train with some of his Hong Kong sifu's other students, and stayed at Danilo's lovely house nearby.

The next day we drove to the seaside town of Aspendale, near Melbourne. When we saw this beachfront cottage, we had to take it.


R checks out a takeaway menu, casting a long afternoon shadow


This country-style kitchen is big enough for ten


Steps outside the kitchen


Enjoying a glass of wine from a vineyard we'd visited along the way



R. took this photo from our covered balcony: sunset over the sea, leading from Australia to Tasmania then south to Antarctica


The next day, R. had work to do, and the broadband wasn't strong enough for me to finish mine


so I took a stroll on the beach outside our door



and was surprised by colorful boat sheds


that broke up the blue, grey & brown of sea, sand and sky

We spent part of New Year's Eve in Melbourne, but I forgot to take pictures as we wandered around the Yarra river and through the side streets surrounding Victoria University.

The year ended with a glass of Tasmanian champagne, and '09 began with a coastal drive to Eden...