Magic Jelly

Remember Me?

It's been a long time between drinks, as they say...about 5 months in fact. I've been cloistered away for so long, working on design projects, that I feel like I've dropped off the face of the earth as an artist & that Magic Jelly has faded into obscurity. Possibly, biannual blog posts aren't helping my cause!

I really miss doodling & daubing & goccoing & steel rulers & x-acto knives & bits of old paper & glue when I'm stuck at the computer all day! In my spare moments I've been working on some new stuff - the little collages you see above are among the new pieces I have on the Magic Jelly production line (hmm, why is TypePad making the thumbnails blurry - blah). These are about 85% complete. They're collaged on canvas (8x8x1-3/8") & I still have to design a pattern for the edges (similar to my Iris collages) & then print them, stain them with tea, glue them, & then give everything a couple of coats of matte acrylic varnish. Then, I can finally stick them in my Etsy shop, & hopefully by then, my brand spanking new online shop that I'm setting up too!

I have a couple of gocco print designs at the sketch stage, a couple of half-done paintings, and a new piece that's going to be part of a series that I hope I can get finished for the holiday season (the packaging for this series is very exciting!).

Argh...feeling overwhelmed... I guess I'd better roll up my sleeves & get back to work! Just wanted to pop in & say "Hi, how're you doing? I'm still here." I'll leave you today with a little treat for all the Film Noir lovers out there...this montage has been so skillfully put together, it's fab!

Sneak Peak

Here's a little preview of two new Gocco print designs I'm working on.  Both involve quite a bit of colour & detail, using four screens each, so I'm having lots of fun (make that headaches) working out the colour separations. One of them is going to be a 6.25x9.25" print made on the larger Arts Gocco & the other is a standard 4x6" design. Still a lot of work to do, but I thought you might like to take a li'l look at my progress!

Stay tuned...I'm putting together a Gocco photo tutorial when I make these prints, & will be posting it on my blog.

I've been lucky enough to appear in four Treasury lists on Etsy's front page recently. The latest was curated by the exceptionally talented Sonia Romero, who along with the equally amazing Marissa Lee has started an Etsy Street Team for printmakers called Printsy. So if you're an Etsy seller who makes original prints, or a printmaking appreciator, go take a look! It was so great to make it to the front page of Etsy in such good company - what beautiful prints.

In other news...I'm working on sprucing up my blog, so things will be looking a wee bit different around here quite soon. I'll also be announcing the May Giveaway in a few days. Don't forget, you need to subscribe to my mailing list to be eligible to win!

Oh! Almost forgot! Fellow Etsian & super-duper artist Andy Mathis let me know I've been included in decor8's list of favourite Australian blogs - how nice is that? I'm honoured! It's brought masses of traffic to my blog & lots of new subscribers!

And I'll leave you with quite possibly the greatest video ever to grace the pages of You Tube. It was brought to my attention by my best friend's partner Stevie who found it via Eartha Kitsch on Flickr. How have I ever lived without it? Enjoy! :)

Happy (Belated) Holidays

I really really wanted to make an extra special Christmas post on my blog, but alas, last minute wholesale orders & Etsy craziness meant I didn't have a minute to spare.

Sadly, I missed out on doing a December giveaway!

Never fear, I have a special New Year's giveaway planned with two prizes to make up for the non-existent Christmas one.

Stay tuned for the giveaway announcement in the first week of 2008!

Do you like my little wooden cowboy puppet? One of my grandmas died when I was three, & years later, my mum gave me a Christmas stocking my gran had bought for me, & this little guy was one of the toys in it. He's one of my favourite possessions & hangs near my desk so I see him everyday!

Not specifically Christmassy is this fabulous Little Audrey cartoon...but it reminds me of Christmas.

Just show me the hard-hearted curmudgeon who can resist dancing cupcakes!

PS. To be eligible for my monthly giveaways, you need to subscribe to my Mailing List!

Gocco Mania & Other Stuff

Etsy asked me to write a Gocco article for their blog, The Storque, & you can read it right here. Just a brief rundown of the plethora of Goccoed items available on Etsy, & some links to Gocco resources as well. Etsy also very kindly featured some of my picks (& one of my own Gocco prints) on the front page. I took a screenshot!

Now...aren't you all dying to know the answers to my 80s Pop Star Quiz? Yes? No? Maybe? Well here they are...

1. Adam Ant
2. Sara Dallin (Bananarama)
3. Clare Grogan (Altered Images)
4. Thomas Dolby
5. Limahl (Kajagoogoo)
6. Phil Oakey (Human League)
7. Simon le Bon (Duran Duran)
8. Steve Strange (Visage)
9. Plastic Bertrand
10. Gary Numan
11. Susan Sulley (Human League)
12. Tony Hadley (Spandau Ballet)
13. Morrissey (The Smiths)
14. Paddy McAloon (Prefab Sprout)
15. Howard Jones
16. Stuart Adamson (Big Country)
17. Kate Bush
18. Toyah Wilcox
19. Nick Kershaw
20. Nick Heyward (Haircut 100)

Wasn't that easy peasy? Most people complained that it was too difficult, but the winner got a very respectable 12 out of 20. Extra nice is the fact that she is from Adelaide (like me) & is a super-duper terrific artist. Her name's Violet Cooper, & it was very nice to get acquainted with a fellow Adelaidean & artist...you should really go check out her stuff, her work rocks (as the kids say these days). Anyway, I sent her little prize of a coaster...may she use it to protect her coffee table from rings for many years to come in the knowledge that she truly is a Cheesy Eighties Music Mastermind.

In other news, I just want to draw your attention to the lovely Pamela Buckley who has a blog called Ophelia Golly. She bought one of my prints a few weeks ago & has just written the most generous & lovely blog entry about my work. I thought it was so great because she's written about how she makes up stories to go along with my photomontages & how she prefers to think they're real rather than a bit of digital sleight of hand.

I hope she doesn't mind me quoting her; this is what she has to say about my print Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep:

The story I put with it (almost within seconds of deciding it was real!) was that it was probably a photograph of a magician's children, and he insisted on the dove being part of the photograph as a silent signature of his profession. I am not making this up (well, I am making it up but it is something that I am not lying about believing when I saw it!) and I know that the imaginative talent of the artist was what was behind my suspended belief otherwise I never would have wondered over it at all. (I can also say that having just recently seen the Prestige might have fostered this idea just a little bit too...) But obviously the art is the magic!

I just thought that was so sweet! Thank you Pamela! Ironically, I sold my last 5x7" version of Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep today. I'm happy (& grateful) that the entire edition has sold, but a little sad to wave goodbye to the last one. There are still a few left in the 8x10" edition though.

Whew...this has turned into a marathon post. But I can't leave you without posting this fantastic clip from the Jerry Lewis film The Ladies Man...

And the Winner Is...

Whoops, sorry...I haven't been around much lately & forgot to announce the November giveaway winner. The lucky winner was Orange Flower who I informed last week, & her parcel's on its way to her door. If you'd like to be eligible for the December giveaway - which will be an extra special Christmas one - don't forget to subscribe to my mailing list.

And for all the people whose names I didn't pull out of the hat, here's a little Haircut 100 to cheer you up. If this doesn't get you high-kickin' around the living room like a Top of the Pops dancer, nothing will...

Jumping on the Holiday Bandwagon

We don't really do Halloween here in Australia, although I wish we did. I love ghost stories, folklore, costume parties & lollies (that's candy to you Americans) so it sounds like the perfect holiday to me!

Here's wishing you all an extra spooky Halloween!  WoooOOOooo!

A Walrus Ghost with Fancy Moves

Now where are you ever going to see a spectacle like this other than in a bizarre Max Fleischer cartoon? In the lead up to Halloween, here's one of my very favourite cartoons from the 1930s. Betty Boop runs away to a haunted cave to the soundtrack of Minnie the Moocher by Cab Calloway sung by the ghost of a walrus - truly surreal! Check out Cab's moves at the beginning.

You can download it from the Internet Archive where you'll find a wealth of amazing stuff - I practically live there!