Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Hunter Carpenter

"Hunter Carpenter is the Indie Folk/ Rock project of singer/songwriter Callum Bint".(triplejunearthed)  These musicians from Perth have launched their debut EP which is available for download (even a free download) through bandcamp.com.  Have a listen and hopefully, download, you won't be disappointed! From Facebook , check out Hunter Carpenter's page. We love the music!
Cal's friend, Arron did some awesome watercolours for the album cover and while in Jakarta, Callum and Leah visited one of my favourite shops, "Asmat Frame", to have this artwork and CD framed.
Asmat, is a tiny little studio on a tiny street just off one of the main drags in Kemang.


It may not look like much, but great things happen inside!


You enter this tiny shop and are greeted by a wall of framing samples and the delightful business owners, Ibu Heni and Ibu Ati. Remarkably, when I returned to Jakarta after an eight year absence from this city, Heni and Ati still remembered me, knew my name and the name of my friend Linda - we were 2 pals joined at the hip in those days - and welcomed me with smiles and hugs and enthusiasm.


On this particular visit, Leah and Cal only had opportunity to meet Ibu Heni, as Ati was caught out on the roads in the flood and rain and wasn't able to make it in to work. Callum set to work, choosing options. Heni is an expert at her work and her eye for colour and design is very keen. She knows also that I don't usually choose the typical so she always lets me have a good play in her studio, and today was no exception...



I think that Mr Kelem and Leah, with Heni's guidance, came up with an amazing plan for showcasing Hunter Carpenter's EP. These artworks are going to look amazing!

Looking Well Pleased...


The art is sent off sight to a workshop where the timber is painted, distressed, painted again in whatever technique and colours required to achieve the exact look of the frame chosen in the studio shop. As well, the matting is cut, all is assembled, and a couple of weeks later, a phone call is received from the lovely ladies and this is the result....VERY nice indeed!


While braving the rains and floods to get to Asmat, we had a few other things with us for framing as well. This coffee crisp advertisement is for Robert and is an original magazine cutting from The Star Weekly, April of 1960. (Well sourced Leah!). Coffee Crisp is Rob's FAVOURITE chocolate bar, and authentically Canadian! I can picture this in our Perth kitchen, or Rob's office, but wherever it ends up, it is going to look sweet in its new frame home!

It's always fun to trek to Asmat - always a little creative adventure, always a pleasure to see the girls, always the anticipation of picking up the artwork, always the reliable service and the excellent product. In Cal's case, there was a a hiccup along the way, and the finished artwork required a do-over. (CDs back to front and layout not a mirror image.) That was unfortunate, but in the end we got there, and the 'finished' finished product looks very impressive as the picture above attests!

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Mr. Kelem and the Good Sport Girl!

Buckets of rain, a dull grey sky all week,

and flood waters threatening the city and surrounds of Jakarta,

but our week was brightened and cheered by the arrival of Leah and Callum!

The gloomy weather did not dampen their enthusiasm for checking out the city even though getting to and fro was more complicated than usual. We spent a great deal of time in transit, and Leah used the opportunity to get some shots of the floods as we waded through the soggy streets.

We were always grateful to be in the safety of a warm, dry car and very much aware of our fortunate circumstances. So many people in Jakarta must persevere with desperate conditions!

It was an adventure for us (but a terrible catastrophe for the nearly 100,000 homes affected, the 40,000+ people who had to evacuate their homes and the 4 people who drowned this past week).

Thank you God for travelling mercies, for safety, and for the opportunity to spend this past week with our Leah-she is such a bright spark and a good sport, and her Mr. Kelem, also a treasure! Come back soon!!!

Monday, January 21, 2013

Charlotte's Quilt

Kaffe Fassett fabrics. Some of my favourites. When I began working on something special for my dear friend Charlotte's birthday, I knew that I wanted to use my Kaffe collection-delicious looking colours and prints, loaded with 'wow factor'!

When I worked at The patchwork shop, it was quite common to hear, especially from a well meaning husband, "why would you cut up perfectly good fabric only to sew it back together again?" Silly silly question! What fun would it be if we couldn't bust into beauty fabric stacks like this one, sort through and pick favourites, organise colour schemes, decide on the perfect pattern and finally, begin to cut it all up? All the while knowing we are in the process of creating a one-of-a-kind quilt, beautiful and practical, for someone we love?
Charlotte's quilt is for her tv room. It will grace one of her comfie black leather sofas, and I wanted it to suit her contemporary home and be something that even her all-grown-up boys and hubby could use and enjoy. Anna Maria Horner's new feather bed pattern offered the look I was after and the sewing and design challenge that keeps me interested and sparks my creativity.
And doesn't it seem fitting that a quilt made by Mary Bird would be covered in feathers?
To my eye, these feathers just look so pretty all laid out and stacked up!
Now begins the job of sewing the feathers into their backgrounds so they can be set out as blocks.
Six background colours were chosen, quite purposefully, to match Charlotte's wall paint and her room's decor.

Of course, the feathers cannot all point upwards, no, no. Nor can they all be laid out vertically! Mix it up and change it out.

And now another kind of magic happens. Donna Lawrence, of Calico Quilters (click on WA) takes my quilt top and my wadding and backing, pins them onto the long rollers of her industrial quilt machine (keep scrolling down), and quilts the layers in a beautiful pattern. We chose a modern chevron design which turned out to be a perfect compliment for the pieced feathers.

Thank you kids for helping with the photograph and for the delicious coffee!

The Gammill Statler Stitcher and Donna with Charlie.

One final photograph of Charlotte's feather quilt nesting nicely in the bush. We were driving home from Denmark and I persuaded Rob to pull over so that I could take some pictures of a couple of quilts I had in the car. There was a perfect blue sky and really, any part of the route provided a beautiful backdrop.

Just before I left again for Indonesia, I presented Charlotte with her (belated) birthday quilt. I believe it will be going to a good home where it will be well loved.
So there you have it-patchworkers love to cut up perfectly good fabric and sew it back together again. We love the creative process. We enjoy the fellowship of other like-minded women as we work together. We thrive on the success of the 'practice makes perfect' aspect of our art form. We feel a sense of accomplishment as our labour takes shape-busy hands making something to mark and celebrate a milestone, like a treasured friend with a significant birthday. Happy Birthday Charlotte! I wish you health and longevity to wear it out!

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Face Time=Good Medicine

Today, via email, via iPhone, via iPad, via FaceTime, I was able to see and visit with my precious Anna who is on a mission trip in Cambodia! Isn't technology wonderful! I am here in Indonesia, she is in Phnom Penh, and yet we are together. I toured Anna's room, saw her Market shopping purchases, heard her voice, saw her sunburnt nose...it was like a dose of good medicine-perfect for today as I am home in bed with the flu. ("A joyful heart is good medicine", Proverbs 17:22)

What I Meant Was...

Last post, too long ago now, I mentioned being patient during long taxi rides, using the idle time for reading etc. The very next day after writing that post, I snapped this photo of my taxi driver reading at a stoplight! What I meant was, the passenger could read, not the driver!!!