Australian national Maritime museum volunteers xmas party 2010

Summer berries with vanilla mascarpone

Have you ever been to a function and the food is attractive and appetising, you feel that you would rather look at it than eat it? I did! I went to the Australian National Maritime museum volunteers christmas party 2010 at the Bayside gallery, Darling Harbour. The view was absolutely stunning, the people I sat with, Mr & Mrs Flavin, were charming and interesting, (who also happened to win one of the door prizes, courtesy of Captain Cook cruises), and that memorably and finally, the food was divine. I think that when it comes to the aesthetics of food presentation, it is the plating in regards to colour and plate that appeals to the eye and the nose is the key. It certainly was not disappointing to the tongue as well.

ECOLOGIC- about freshwater

I have always been conscious of how we, art and design educators (especifically practical and material based disciplines like ceramics, textiles, wet photography, jewellery, glass design and the fine arts of painting and sculpture that consume a lot of fresh water. It seems to be a huge concern for all of us that we must be ethical in managing and disposing of finishing chemicals and solvents because it makes sense financially and ecologically. You might find this teachers resource useful.
(FRESH WATER (Image provided by treehugger.com all copyrights reserved))

Freshwater is not only the most valuable resource in the future but also right here and now. Australians today buy expensive and wasteful bottled water arguably more than any country in the world.
Find out more and see the Powerhouse museum exhibition or click on the above teacher's resource link.
You only have to visit any convenience stores springing up all over Sydney and see how many brands there are on offer but that's not my point. It stands to reason why green business should try to manage our fresh water supply while it is the rainy season (the wettest year since 1959). Find out more.

Thanks to Australian National Maritime Museum

This is to thank the Chief conservator and the textile conservators for the tickets. I thank your generosity and for the valuable training you have given me while I gladly volunteered my time to be with you all. I might actually come back again because you have made me feel so welcome.

The elegance of a hedgehog, by Muriel Barberry (book review)

I have rarely read such a deeply moving, thought-provoking and 'prone to put one into a philosophising state mind' book without being pretentious about it since Sophie's world.

The prose flows like melted ice cream. You simply want to hold on to it, your hand so keen that its warmth melted its chilly sharpness and, one gobbled it up all at once but at the same time I also wanted to prolong the reading of it somehow but despite myself, I had to finish it in such a few delightful hours. Even now my tears hardly dried up from the tragedy of the ending (I won't spoil it for you and I won't tell you).

If one has an excuse to mention obsure words like onomatopeia, this book has it all. Surprisingly, it did not have the usual line-up of suspect such as murder, sex and money in it (at least for the main protagonist).

If you are Nipponophile, you would simply relish (double-entendre included) this book, as though it was an array of delectable sushi on the carousel. For me it was a feast for both my inner culture snob as the author who is clearly passionate about art, music and literature.

I would dearly love to meet my own Kakuro (not in a salacious way) but in a detached communion with a soul with such refinement. I doubt that such a character does exist, which is to me somewhat reassuring.

I humbly urge you to read this book even if only for curiousity's sake because it is not a bestseller for nothing. This review could not do justice to its uncompromising explosion of hypocrisy and pretension but if you tend to be the latter yourself and a bit of a prejudiced either leaning to the right or left person, steer well clear off it, you will be depressed and unhappy after reading it. Be warned!

Link to Sell & Exchange forum

New Shop

I have opened my new shop for a new range of earrings. Check it out http://www.etsy.com/your_shop.php

Flora by Jo Gibbs-

These earrings are available from $24.95 at Drews Pharmacy, North Sydney Australia.
http://drewspharmacy.wikispaces.com/Flora+by+Jo+Gibbs
or here at Etsy http://www.etsy.com/your_shop.php