IS IT RUBBISH? IS IT ART?

Yesterday, Blogger must have been feeling hunger pangs because it ate some of my post. It also monkeyed with the font.I tried to go back and edit it, but…

So…there is some interesting debate on a couple of other blogs about the detrimental effect “big box” stores are having on local enterprise. In many places. Follow the comment thread here and you’ll see that dissatisfaction is widespread.

I try to support local producers where possible, grow as much of my own food as possible (sadly, in suburbia that is rather less than formerly, where I had several acres to play with!) and my old habit of re-using things has stood me in good stead.

Sure! I toss lots of things in the bin because I know that I will NOT get around to doing something with them. But I am not one of those must-have shoppers. (Didn’t I post about my genetic modification last year!)

I used to make most of my own clothes, too and hope to do so again once the “wrecking crew” have grown up some!And for me, making does not always mean from scratch. Sometimes, I might find something basic at a bargain price which I can alter to my taste. Growing up in a small, remote area just after WWII do-it-yourself was a way of life!Not many people had cars and, sometimes, the cars weren’t up to the 80+ miles trip to the city!

It’s just that, today, so much of what we generate is useless rubbish.Convenient, but not necessary. Poisonous rubbish, in most cases! Take those bloody annoying plastic bags the bakers put our bread in. Horrid things, that make the bread sweat so chemical stuff is added to retard mould growth. Well, whoop-de-do! Our loaf lasts til we get it home to the table. Then what? The bag goes to landfill, right?

NO! Well, not if you have learned to make baskets with my friend, artist, Denise Vanderlugt.

Concerned at the enormous volume of plastic going into landfill, Denise devised a method of utilising bread bags as the core for coiled basketry, a technique she learned originally from native women in Canada.

But Denise’s talent does not stop at baskets. Oh no! This lady is a quilter par excellence and she can turn out some lovely lino prints, often printed on hand-made paper. She also makes buttery, fluffy muffins and did I mention that she and her artist husband, Adriaan, maintain several acres of natural palm forest and a house garden that supports myriad wildlife?

One of Adriaan’s “scrap metal” sculptures in their garden.

In 2005, Denise had an exhibition at a local gallery of hand-pieced and embroidered work which told of the colours’ sadness when they were not together as a rainbow and of how they came to live in special baskets. Several of the “rainbow baskets” were shown alongside the quilted work.

like this one…

And this charming story floated in Denise’s mind, nudging her to put it into print…

Denise, with the book.

The children’s book , “Where Rainbows Live”(copyright Denise Vanderlugt) is available from several galleries and small book stores in the Whitsunday area. Now, this might make purchase ( a snip at $35.00 Australian!) a tad difficult for folk living elsewhere, but if you’d like to buy a copy you can contact Denise at :

PO Box 282
Proserpine
Qld 4800

Australia.

Hopefully, “Rainbows” will be more widely available later this year.

Sample baskets at one of the workshops.

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At the beginning of this post I said things about Blogger which may have been a little undeserved. I’ve just noticed that when Sporran and Geiger curl up on the desk for a snooze they sometimes touch the keys. Hmmm…?

“:”:”:”:”:”:”:”:”:”

We are not sure who their father is, but this chap, Milo, was seen with the kittens’ mother.

Milo lives next door, when he’s not off Tom-catting! He looks a real hard-bitten bruiser and probably can give a good account of himself when challenged. But he’s a marshmallow at heart and used to sit in the garden quite happily with Josh, once the rules had been established. I rather hope his genes have passed to these new boys…

More of dinahmow’s photos