Whimsical Watercolours

I am loving watercolours. They are so calming and beautiful to look at. Etsy has some fabulous prints on sale, and originals too. Here are some favs:

The artists?

Cate Parr

Leather Cords

Water in my Paint

Christy Dekoning

They are all so talented!

Sculptures by the Sea 2013

This is a belated post, as Sculptures by the Sea was held in March this year. I absolutely love this yearly event which is held at Cottesloe beach in Perth. It is such a lovely day out, especially when combined with brunch at one of Cott's great beachfront cafes.

Here are my favourite offerings from 2013:

Look This Way by Ken Unsworth. Sydneysiders might recognise this guy from the Sculptures in the Sea held at Bondi in 2011, where it won the Children's Choice Award.

Ghost Net Crocodile 2011 by GhostNets Australia. It is made out of 'ghost nets', abandoned fishing nets which pose a risk to sealife. GhostNets Australia is an alliance of over 22 indigenous communities from coastal northern Australia across the three states of Western Australia, Northern Territory and Queensland.  Since its inception, the programme has supported Indigenous Rangers to remove over 7,500 ghost nets of varying sizes.

Menang (memory) by Cave Urban. Cave Urban is a design collective of architects and musicians with a focus on sustainable living systems. Modelled on bird-scaring devices in Balinese rice paddies, each pole was carefully tuned to the chord D-minor sustained, and made an eerie but beautiful sound as the wind passed through. It won the People's Choice Prize in Perth this year.

Hard Rain Landscape 1 by Hugh McLachlan. According to the artist, "The steel frames focus the viewer and landscape, while the structure itself reflects aspects of landscape through form, texture and light."

The Optimist by Stephen Marr. I can imagine this guy as public art, he would make a wonderful addition to any communal space. About this sculpture, the artist states "It is in direct response to the political, economic, social pessimism that seems to be currently dominating world culture. For the brief time that I hold a persons attention with this work I wanted to make them see what a wonderful place (state of mind) this is."

Happy Floating Dream Cloud by Kathy Allam. A mobile made of hundreds of bright plastic kids toys! It's no wonder that it won the Kids' Choice Prize in Perth. I heard one little boy pointing at it and screaming "Look, we have that toy at daycare!"

Pot Luck by Lewis Horne. Mr Horne is an artist from Nannup in WA, and his sculpture is a tribute to the western rock lobster and the dwindling art of pot-making (I'm not entirely sure what 'pot-making' actually is).

A view over the beach with some statues (including a red chilli) in sight.

This is What Happens When You Give Thousands of Stickers to Thousands of Kids

I am thankful that Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama created this display at the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art, which makes me feel all warm and happy inside.

She painted the inside of a "house" and all of its furniture white, and over the period of 2 weeks, young visitors to the gallery were allowed to stick coloured dot stickers where ever they wanted.

The result was that it went from this:

Source: theChive

to this:

What I love the most about this piece of art is that it represents the innocence and joy of children, the beauty of simplicity, and the importance of enjoying the creation of art. This process can be just as important as the final product.

Yayoi Kusama seems to be a pretty cool person, she'd make a great dinner party guest:

Source: Qagoma

If you'd like to see more of the art in her 'Look No Further' collection at the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art, there is a dedicated website here.

Art vs "Art"

I am definitely a fan of modern art, and I love looking at it and wondering what on earth the artist was thinking when they made it (or what they weren't thinking, and whether they randomly stuck together some junk that they picked up from a verge collection, in which case we're all idiots to be paying money to see it in a gallery):

It often makes me laugh, and it gives me satisfaction that I too (or anyone else for that matter) could make it. Take that, year ten art teacher who failed me at still life drawing - I could be an artist of a different type if I wanted to!

The above two photos are of art at a modern art gallery in Belgium (I think it was in Brussels, or nearby...) It had fabulous light and sound displays too. I agree with their philosophy of providing limited or no explanation of the pieces of art, so that you can draw your own conclusions about the meaning (or lack of meaning) of the art.

I like modern art more than the next person, so I was excited to visit the Political Porcelain exhibition which is part of Canberra's Enlighten festival this year. The bio was "Artist Penny Byrne takes familiar objects from our mantelpieces, china cabinets and toy boxes and transforms them into powerful works of political commentary."

I was super disappointed. I didn't find the majority of pieces to be interesting, intriguing or creative. I found them to be mundane and uninspiring. For example, this piece depicting Julia and Kevin and the leadership change:

Seriously? There is no underlying meaning (apart from the obvious), no space for creative interpretation and I can't help but feel completely uninspired by it.

Here is another piece:

No prizes for guessing that it's an anti-whaling statement, despite the little Japanese people actually standing on what looks like a dolphin.

Allow me to juxtapose the above with modern art that is also political commentary, but that I find beautiful and inspiring:

Source: This is Colossal

The piece is called 'Suspended Together', and it's by Saudi Arabian artist Manal Al Dowayan. In the artist's words:

"“Suspended Together” is an installation that gives the impression of movement and freedom. However, a closer look at the 200 doves allows the viewer to realize that the doves are actually frozen and suspended with no hope of flight. An even closer look shows that each dove carries on its body a permission document that allows a Saudi woman to travel. Notwithstanding their circumstances, all Saudi women are required to have this document, issued by their appointed male guardian.

“Suspended Together” carries the documents of award-winning scientists, educators, journalists, engineers, artists and leaders with groundbreaking achievements that gave back to their society. The youngest contributor is six months old and the oldest is 60 years old. Regardless of age and achievement, when it comes to travel, all these women are treated like a flock of suspended doves."

What do you think of modern art? Am I being too harsh a critic, or missing something in Penny Byrne's work?

Political Brawls and the Best Cartoons of 2011

They're simultaneously idiotic and intelligent, painful and entertaining. Their behaviour in Question Time is an international embarrassment, but at least the Aussie politicians don't punch, bite and throw rubbish bins at each other (the same cannot be said of the Taiwanese):

Source: Guardian.co.uk

 

Source: Dailymail.co.uk

This year I managed to get to the Museum of Democracy in Canberra at Old Parliament House to see the award winning political cartoons of 2011. I laughed out loud several times as I viewed the exhibition, and would strongly recommend a visit if this traveling exhibition ends up where you live.

Here are my favourites:

David Pope in Canberra Times on 19 Jul 2011, Source: Behind the Lines

I absolutely love the depiction of Abbott as a crazy hyperactive kid in this cartoon inspired by the cult kids/adult book Go the F*ck to Sleep. I blogged about it here.

Mark Knight in Herald Sun on 15 Mar 2011, Source: Behind the Lines

 

Fiona Katauskas in New Matilda on 2 Feb 2011, Source: Behind the Lines

Dean Alston in West Australian on 1 Sep 2011, Source: Behind the Lines

 

Summer colour POP: flowers and artwork

Following on from this post, here are more lovely photos of flowers and gardens snapped at the Pialligo Plant Farm. I have thrown in some weird and wacky art pieces from the onsite gallery too, which might give a few laughs.

 I want these in my garden one day! Vintage furniture = art in my books!

 Check out the veins on this flower, and I love the water droplets too!

Art for sale - yes seriously! Any takers!?

These crazy pooches are way cooler - I'd buy one of these ;-) Does anyone know who the artist is? I didn't check and in hindsight, I'd love to find out more about the inspiration behind these.

The Doodle Wall

I am a chronic doodler. I constantly shock and surprise those around me with the extent of my doodling. If I could doodle in formal business meetings (without looking like a twat), I would. I doodle during seminars, I doodle during training, I doodle during meetings with colleagues who know me, I doodle during teleconferences. I fill pages and pages of my notebook with doodles.

This doodle obsession of mine is quite strange. I have never met another doodler as compelled as I. It is not a new thing either – as far back as I can remember, I doodled or drew whenever I was listening in class. In high school, I was the girl with the amazing decorated school diary. Sometimes I would be told off for doodling, but most of the time my teachers ignored it.

This is my doodle wall:

Yes, my entire cubicle is plastered with doodles. There’s nothing else to do with them really, and I already give a lot away. I know that it’s unprofessional and distinctly UNCORPORATE, and the law firms that I have worked at would never tolerate such behaviour (or office decoration). Until I’m in a senior enough position, or have aspirations to get there, or I leave Government (who are so tolerant!), I plan to take advantage of the joy that doodling gives me.

It’s not all bad, and this is what I try to tell people who look down on me and my doodling:

At a famous world economic forum, then-Prime Minister Tony Blair appeared on a panel with Bill Gates, Bill Clinton and the rock star Bono. After the panel, a journalist wandering the stage came across some papers scattered near Blair's seat. The papers were covered in doodles: circles and triangles, boxes and arrows. Blair was widely criticised in the media for his doodling, which supposedly signified he was “struggling to maintain control” and “not a natural leader” but more of a spiritual person, “like a vicar” (Oh yes, love the UK tabloids).

A couple days later, No. 10 Downing Street finally weighed in. It had done a full and thorough investigation and had an important announcement to make: The doodles were not made by Blair; they were made by Bill Gates. Gates had left them in the next seat over. If Bill Gates did it, surely I can too?

According to NPR.org, and various neurological experts, doodling is the brain’s way of staying ‘awake’ when it is under stimulated. When the brain lacks sufficient stimulation, it essentially goes on the prowl and scavenges for something to think about. Typically what happens in this situation is that the brain ends up manufacturing its own material. This means daydreams and drifting thoughts.

The function of doodling, according to Andrade, who recently published a study on doodling in Applied Cognitive Psychology, is to provide just enough cognitive stimulation during an otherwise boring task to prevent the mind from taking the more radical step of totally opting out of the situation and running off into a fantasy world.

Andrade tested her theory by playing a lengthy and boring tape of a telephone message to a collection of people, only half of whom had been given a doodling task. After the tape ended she quizzed them on what they had retained and found that the doodlers remembered much more than the nondoodlers.

In other words, doodling doesn't detract from concentration; it can help by diminishing the need to resort to daydreams.

It explains a lot about my childhood and how I was always in trouble at school. I was always doodling or chatting or doing other things while the teacher was talking. My grade one teacher told my parents to get me tested for ADHD- they did, but apparently I could concentrate for long periods when I was interested in something, so I didn’t fit the profile. There’s another dimension too: sensory stimulation in itself helps us to engage and maintain focus. Maybe this explains why I have so much difficulty not sucking on my finger or pen while concentrating, and how I am still liable to revert to the habit of nail biting occasionally.

Are you a doodler, or do you disapprove of us creatures?

Burnt / Burned Coffee Taste – What They’re Doing Wrong

This morning, I got my usual coffee made by my favourite barista, and it tasted disgusting and burnt. This is a rarity, her coffees are usually consistently good. It got me thinking about where this burnt taste comes from. I have heard conflicting reasons, and even the google research was not straight forward. This post attempts to explain why your coffee tastes burnt or like ****.

I am a coffee snob. I like my coffee, and I like it bitter. I don’t add sugar, and I choose a cappuccino over a latte because if made properly, it will taste stronger. Although a lot (or even most) coffee shops don’t know this, a cappuccino should be equal parts espresso and milk (and the rest is filled with foam)... whereas a latte should have twice as much milk as espresso.

The first thing to note is that the taste does not come from burnt beans; it’s all in the making. A dark roast can be bitter with “charcoal” characteristics, but a coffee snob will be able to tell whether it’s a bitter roast or whether the coffee has been badly made. Where coffee using the same roast (ie at the same cafe) tastes different depending on the maker or day, that’s a good indication that it’s not the bean type that you have an aversion to.

Source: 123rf.com

Let’s get technical for a moment. Coffee making is actually more science than art. “Extraction” refers to the percentage (by weight) of the soluble coffee grounds that are dissolved in the water. Another issue is which solubles are dissolved – this depends on solubility of different substances at different temperatures, changes over the course of extraction, and is primarily affected by temperature.

Ideal extraction yield is widely agreed to be 18%–22%. The numbers themselves don’t matter; what matters is that there is a range in which coffee is considered to be well extracted. Coffee that tastes burnt has been over-extracted, as bitter components continue to be extracted after acids and sugars have largely completed extraction (and the process should have stopped).

Water temperature is also crucial as it affects the proportions in which solubles are extracted – you want to extract the desired flavors as much as possible, and the undesirable flavors as little as possible. The recommended brewing temperature of coffee is 93 °C. If the water is too hot, some undesirable, bitter, elements will be extracted, adversely affecting the taste.

Don't try to understand this graph unless you like graphs (I didn't...)- it's here to show how seriously some people take coffee making, and how maths and science comes into it. Source: Coffee Cuppers 

But what does all this mean? What is the barista (or under trained 18 year old making your coffee) doing wrong? 

Let’s apply this to the commercial coffee machine. Firstly we need to understand how it works. It works by forcing almost boiling water through packed coffee grounds.There are different types of machines, but most of the ones you see in cafes in Australia are steam driven. They use steam to force the water through the grounds.

Things that will cause over-extraction (and the yucky burned taste):

- When the steam/water is not forced through the beans fast enough. Depending on the grind type, there is an ideal brew time. Over brew and you over extract. This almost always happens because the tamp (that's the pressing of the ground beans into the holder) is too firm - so the barista has either put too much coffee into the holder, or has put the right amount but has stamped it down way too hard. This then means that the water can't get through the coffee as quickly as it should.  Ideally, a shot needs to be timed and the barista needs to measure how heavy the tamp is compared to how fine the beans are grinding at that moment.

- Another issue is that the group head (the coffee holder goes in here) gets very hot, and if the grinds are left in there too long it will adversely affect temperature.

- Dirty, unmaintained machines can contribute to **** tasting coffee – when the machine isn’t working properly, the barista has little hope of getting the pressure right.

In short, it’s the coffee being over-extracted that results in the burnt taste – not burnt milk as some would suggest. Burnt milk is a whole other story, and will also adversely affect the taste of coffee (but doesn’t cause the burnt bitter taste). Burnt milk tastes sweeter than normal milk, is thinner and less creamy and has the aroma of “burnt milk” (overheat milk in the microwave and you’ll see what I mean if you don't already).

Got through all that science? You can call yourself a real coffee snob now! Congrats..

Of course, coffee making IS also an art... some coffee works of art (latte art): 

More here....