Blue and White

My 70's kitchen has royal blue benchtops and white cupboards, so things have gone a bit blue and white in there over the years. It's such a fresh, timeless combo that I never get sick of.

Pictured above are some ceramic pieces I painted years ago. And the newest addition to the family, an old plywood tissue box which was looking very sad until I gessoed it and added my own blue and white patterns.

Almost finished!

I spent a few days in the Blue Mountains last week, having some well-earned time out after a frantic year. The Blue Mountains are west of Sydney, an easy 1 1/2 hour drive. Here is a photo I took at night, of the "Three Sisters", a rock formation and popular tourist lookout.

While there, I sewed together my latest Bouquet Scarf, in summer colours of royal purple, ultramarine, cobalt, sky blue, jacaranda. The fuzzy bits are mohair, for some textural variation. Mohair is very warm and very light. It doesn't drape like merino wool does, though, it tends to "float", so I usually use it with wool, to give it some extra body and weight. I only use fine quality mohair because the poorer quality can "itch".
So no, all I need to do is finish the ends of the scarf, press it and it's ready for my etsy shop.

Hmmm. Everything is "blue" at the moment, even the Mountains!

Hydrangeas

Despite the drought, I have an abundant crop of hydrangeas this summer. Along with the vibrant blues of agapanthus (there's one just starting to open up, left), and purple tibouchina and jacarandas, the whole of Sydney is awash with blues and purples.


There are some of the colours I am using in my summer bouquet scarf.



Here's a pic of the bits I've made so far. I never try to reproduce the likeness of the actual blooms, but I create "fantasy" flowers that don't actually exist in nature. Well, that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it...



While I'm at it, I need to introduce one of my assistants. This is Frankie, who is 15 1/2 years old, whose keen eye for detail and constant flow of creative ideas, are indispensable!