how would you answer this question?

How Do You Feel (About Art)? from svanes on Vimeo.

found here

Not as easy as you might think!

My three: transformed, transported, (sometimes) troubled!

Give it a go...right here...in the comments...if you're so inclined

It's not a test :)

top ten pictures from the week ~ 12 April 2011

Someone suggested last Tuesday that maybe I should post just one picture each week...to reduce the pressure on me...not because ten was too many (I think!)

I thought about it...

I really did.

Would it be more or less difficult to post just one, I wondered quietly to myself?

There are pros and cons of course...like there are for every decision...

But as I spend all my working life analysing just that...pros and cons, options and alternatives, strengths and weaknesses...and a mountain (at the moment) of other things...

I came to the conclusion that I couldn't spend the brain power required to decide just which ONE picture it should be...

So, I'm just going to continue to go with ten

...give or take :)

After all, nobody could ever accuse me of being a minimalist now could they!

Note: last pic disclaimer...Deb's dog. I'm not a dog person, but I couldn't resist...just because of the kennel makeover mind you, not because she's cute or anything!

images: bohemian shoebox; poppytalk; the decorista; beauty comma; solid frog; an indian summer; everything fabulous; little blue deer; her library adventures; lets go moerkabout

what I read in march 2011

Hanging my head in shame...I didn't read anywhere near as much as I would have liked!

...despite the fact that I spent many hours trapped in a tin can over the pacific ocean and north america!
Here's what I managed:

The Secret Lives of Dresses by Erin McKean - fiction

As Good as it Got by Isabel Sharpe - fiction

Hector and the Secrets of Love by Francois Lelord - fiction

...oh yes, a deep and meaningful reading month that was! I'll try to do better in April...after all there's an Easter break perfect for lounging about reading. 

I can't rave about any of these books although I suspect I might have been more inclined to do so about Hector etc if I hadn't had to read it on the iPad. No matter how hard I try I can't embrace this way of reading. But I'm going to have to...I've downloaded some real goodies and they MUST be read! I'll need to get over my aversion to snuggling up with a bit of technology as opposed to bits of paper.

While the reading was more than a bit light on...I did see six movies! What a pity I can only remember five! Again, courtesy of QANTAS...they were...

I really enjoyed Red. Who doesn't love Helen Mirren. I mean, really...

my creative space...a kitchenaid poster

Technically, this is [our] creative space...

...the 22 year old's and mine I mean.
I did the kitchenaid painting remember 

...and then I came up with the blatantly stolen Dirty Harry tag line. Cheesy I know. Especially seeing I don't bake.
...and he (Ben, not Clint) executed the photoshopping and honed the design. It's good having grown up and accomplished kids!
I'm impressed. We might sell some one day. That should go about a millionth of the way to paying me back for the "can I come back and live with you for a few weeks please mum...I'll pay you rent, I promise" scenario.  Let me think...when was that? Oh...almost 12 months ago now. Doesn't time fly :)
Creatives with and without 22 year olds over at Kootoyoo. Catch you there.

top ten pictures from the week ~ 5 April 11

Don't take this the wrong way now will you...

but it was a bit hard getting back in to the top ten groove...

Because honestly...

sometimes it can be a bit hard to find things...(not fond of that green armchair right there now that I think about it...I like the rest though)

I like to find things that make me go...oooh/aaaah

...or at the very least...gee I'd like to sit in that room for a bit just staring at the art...or lounge about with a book...

Which is the reaction I look for when I choose these pictures...

I do hope this doesn't mean I'm getting a bit bored with it all...heaven forbid!

'probly not...(I know that's not a real word...but it felt appropriate)

Maybe it's just that blogging exposes us to so many more images than before...or maybe it's as simple as me needing to get back into a routine.

...and catch up...you know what it's like right?

...sure you do :))

images found via (in order): re-nest; table tonic; princess anne county; chasing satellites; the diversion project (2); the painted hive; gingerella; small place style; the decorista; solid frog

some stuff I bought in new york...

Hands up if you want to see what I bought?

miniature rubber glove moulds from fishs eddy...they sit on the kitchen window sill...but the windows need cleaning...say no more

To be honest I didn't buy all that much...relatively speaking...these prints are from MoMA and need to be framed (obviously)...perhaps not my normal style but I seriously love them...

There's so little I really need...but a shiny red lacquer tray from Pearl Trading seemed to be one of those things...

I wanted to be sensible...of course a gaudy-smoke breathing-incense burning chinese dragon is sensible isn't it :)

as is this 1940s lucite handbag...from the Antiques Garage flea market...the most expensive thing I bought

engraved brass says Original Rialto NY

...it was my 'this represents NY to me' purchase...and I will definitely use it. It makes you wonder about the life it's had doesn't it?
...and then there's the kitsch of course...no t-shirts, but a snow globe? Couldn't not...

...perfect next to my John Denver autograph!
And a little something from Tiffany & Co...completely affordable votive, even if it was much heavier to lug home than a diamond ring...which was not completely affordable :)

Some things for the offspring...don't you love this 1930s brooch (that can also be a necklace) that I bought for the first born...hope you love it Jess...if not it can stay with me :)

and some printers blocks and the 'coolest USB ever' for the 22 year old...flea market and the MoMA design shop....great shopping combination

a bit of jewellery...nothing at all expensive...but very much me (which is not to say I'm cheap of course!)...bought at various gallery shops

...and who doesn't need new measuring cups...these from Anthropologie...

...and I always, but always try to find a buddha on my travels...bingo! And I'm happy with the spot it's found itself in...for the moment :)

So there you go...I think I'm going to get this photo that I took blown up and framed as well...could look quite cool and edgy...like me, now that I've been to New York...*guffaw*

And now, you wonderfully patient people...we say goodbye to the big apple...
The townhouse will resume normal blogging transmission, starting with tomorrow's top ten pics of the week...none of mine because there have been quite enough of those already :)
Oh, one last thing...those boots...?

...they walked!

new york...fabulous fleas and awesome art

 Warning: extreme art overload...

You must feel like you keep being invited over to my place for a slide night by now!

I have thought about whether I should post all these pics...after all, it's not the same as being there is it?

And I would hate you to think I'm gloating. I'm definitely not, because I do know how lucky I am to have had the opportunity to flit off to New York...

and I really do think of it as sharing my experience with you...

But...I'm human, and I want this record of a fabulous time to be on my blog. That, I guess is what it's here for! So feel free to skip right by if you're not interested in flea markets or art galleries...however fascinating I might find them!

The thing I loved about all the museums and galleries I saw...that was MoMA up there...I was early...it got a lot busier!...

...the great thing was that you were allowed to take photos in them..

...so photos I took...boy did I took :)

you can't do that here...take photos in galleries I mean...what's that about?

I feel like writing to the Director of the National Gallery of Australia and requesting a 'please explain'! Skip past the next pic if you don't share my love of all things Asian...

It's positively un-Australian...the not being allowed to take photos that is...and quite possibly not loving buddhas as well :)

I know most of you are hanging out to see what I bought...but you'll have to wait...the views and the places and the people first...

...it's a bit like making sure you open the card before you rip the paper off the present :))

Soon....soon. Promise.
images by me...image 1: Museum of Modern Art; 2-3: Hell's Kitchen Flea Market; 4-5: Antiques Garage Flea; 6-9: MoMA; 10-14: Metropolitan Museum of Art