Category Archives: General fun pursuits

Visiting Cape Solander

Posted on July 15, 2023 by Claire B

Over recent weeks I’ve been whale watching on the cliffs of Cape Solander. It’s a windswept, fairly barren, area with walks high up along the coastline. No, that’s not me in the image above. It’s someone a little more daring … Continue reading →

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Blowing at the beach

Posted on April 9, 2023 by Claire B

2.6 metre swell warnings were posted at the entrance to the beach today. The dogs didn’t care about the blustery conditions and ran playing together, finding new friends and having a terrific time, but they were savvy enough to stay … Continue reading →

Posted in General fun pursuits | 5 Comments

Print group concertina swap

Posted on December 17, 2022 by Claire B

Every December our print group cut up either failed or excess prints produced during the year and swap with each other to create small concertina books. Our group is full of very experienced printmakers, most of whom specialize in specific … Continue reading →

Posted in Design Play, General fun pursuits, My Creative Pieces, My prints | Tagged | 5 Comments

Print swap

Posted on January 3, 2022 by Claire B

At the end of the year our printmaking group always do a swap and make books using a print from each member. It’s a great way to share and have a record of everyone, as some don’t continue the following … Continue reading →

Posted in General fun pursuits, My prints | 1 Comment

Making Boxes from my stash

Posted on July 28, 2021 by Claire B

Over the last couple of years I’ve enjoyed a lot of monoprinting using stencils, masks and pattern-creation with textured items. I’ve amassed quite a stash of prints. A few of us decided to cut up our prints and create small … Continue reading →

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More painterly mark-making trials

Posted on December 19, 2019 by Claire B

A friend and I got together to continue the mark-making experimentation.  I’m building up a good resource of coloured papers for future projects.  Some may end up as book-covers, some as inner pages, some will probably be over-printed and some … Continue reading →

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Mark making & Gelli Plate printing

Posted on December 17, 2019 by Claire B

Having attended a recent paste-papers workshop and had such a good two days I was reminded of the fun of just ‘having a go’ and letting colours appear on paper with a little less planning than I usually do.  So … Continue reading →

Posted in General fun pursuits, My books & journals, My Creative Pieces, My painting | Tagged | 3 Comments

Natural Dyeing with Annette

Posted on April 4, 2019 by Claire B

Annette and I experimented with two different plant dye pots, mainly focusing on paper dyeing but I added some small pieces of silk noil into one pot. A large amount of rosemary leaves were stripped and added to around 10 … Continue reading →

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Still drawing – just differently ……….

Posted on March 14, 2018 by Claire B

I’ve just attended my first Adobe Illustrator course (seriously need this skill for work).  Wow, masses to learn.  After 7 hours tuition I reckon I’ve almost scratched the surface. Daunted?  Hell, yes! Excited?  Definitely! Know what I’m doing?  Not even … Continue reading →

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The glory of oranges

Posted on October 26, 2017 by Claire B

I love my orange tree.  It’s the pride of my garden, closely followed by my mandarin and banana trees.  I’m not a great gardener but this tree rewards me every year, and I’ve just harvested kilos and kilos of gorgeous … Continue reading →

Posted in General Arts, General fun pursuits, My Creative Pieces, My paper | Tagged | 3 Comments

Just a few rows each evening

Posted on October 19, 2017 by Claire B

I made a commitment some time ago to make a blanket for someone less fortunate than myself.  My friend, Rita, who is a superb knitter and crocheter, got me started.  I required multiple balls of left-over 8 ply yarn – … Continue reading →

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Gabriella Hegyes: Printing from the Land (C)

Posted on May 7, 2017 by Claire B

Part 3: Collagraphs: The first thing I love about collagraphs is that there is so much you can do to create an image.  I’ve done several workshops and experimented with a variety of media to create texture and patterning, but … Continue reading →

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Gabriella Hegyes: Printing from the Land (B)

Posted on May 6, 2017 by Claire B

Part 2: Gabriella certainly worked us hard and shared a ton of information and samples with us. Trapping Plant Material: This was interesting.  I had some very dry, flattened, plant material which was suitable to be trapped between gauze layers.  … Continue reading →

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Gabriella Hegyes: Printing from the Land (A)

Posted on April 19, 2017 by Claire B

Part 1: This two-day workshop in the Blue Mountains was an opportunity for me to print in completely different ways to what I have experienced so far. Clay Printing: Starting with a block of potters clay each we rolled it … Continue reading →

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Teaching: Felting for students

Posted on April 3, 2017 by Claire B

I had a HUGE day yesterday.  I was engaged to teach 41 year 9, 10 and 11 girls how to felt.  I’ve done it twice before and know how enthusiastic (and boisterous) the girls are.  I love doing it because … Continue reading →

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A week of drawing

Posted on January 11, 2017 by Claire B

My involvement in Sturt Summer School last week provided me with the time and focus to try a variety of drawing media and learn some new techniques to apply ideas to paper. Drawing negative space. Charcoal: In this exercise I … Continue reading →

Posted in General Arts, General fun pursuits, My Creative Pieces | Tagged | 8 Comments

Workshop: Hand-embossing paper

Posted on June 1, 2016 by Claire B

An interesting one day workshop, not something I see myself doing a lot of but another skill I’m exploring. This technique requires the use of a lightbox and, whilst I have my own purchased model, the tutor brought along a … Continue reading →

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One & Twenty: getting started

Posted on May 23, 2016 by Claire B

My friend Judy and I have started a new weekly challenge.  We gave it the name One & Twenty.  The idea is to select an area/place, for example: the kitchen, back garden, view from the window, etc. then give ourselves … Continue reading →

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Random painting day

Posted on April 25, 2016 by Claire B

Yesterday Judy and I got together for a ‘freeing’ random painting exercise.  As if I’ve ever managed to swing my arm around totally randomly whilst holding a paintbrush or other painting media!  The intention was generally to have a bit … Continue reading →

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Drumming: Hits Like A Girl ensemble

Posted on February 6, 2016 by Claire B

Hazelhurst Gallery & Arts Centre put a call out for all girls and ladies aged 16 and over to come together to form a drumming ensemble.  The group was to rehearse en masse, using a range of drums, and learn … Continue reading →

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