oldyarns. tells the bowerbird stories

story 300. full stop. new chapter...

there has been an absence here

over the last months or so.

spent in consideration,

renewal,

refinement.

*

a journey started here

in tentative steps,

300 stories ago

while working as a

corporate lawyer.

offered permission to follow

a creative whim;

risking vulnerability.

finding breath again,

opportunities enjoyed.

elation & disappointment known,

in roughly equal parts.

*

now a new lilla bird

in the nest

brightens the senses,

& clarifies direction.

*

this will be the last story here

at oldyarns.

a new space will be found,

a companion as I find my voice

as a writer,

a wordsmith:

to gather & keep our collective stories.

a craft not that far removed

from where I started after all.

closer still to my grandfather

who was a bookbinder -

there is symmetry

in this for me.

*

makings will still be made from time to time,

small collections

of expression, 

as they bubble up.

*

for now you can find me on facebook here

& the Postale Society.

'til soon then,

bye.

 

{the photos above are a kind of visual journal

of this blog journey, indeed you may recognise some.

a very personal record of where we've come from;

just where will we go now?}      

story 297. secret gardens.

“If you look the right way,

you can see that the whole world

is a garden.”

~ Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden.

yesterday we took a walk

to the post office & found our way home

via new streets;

wandering,

looking into the secret gardens.

its a favoured pastime -

spying through fences,

into backyards,

verandahs & porches, with shoes left at the door.

things often missed

when moving too fast:

a rusty table & chairs set under an enormous fig tree;

toys abandoned where they fell

when dinner was called;

the postman paused to gossip

with the old man on his front steps,

probably a daily event.

a magical rundown cubby house

perched up high

(like the one dad always promised us.)

clues to the lives

lived there.

 

{flowers & bits foraged by the footpath along the way,

like seashells from the sea shore.}

 

story 293. bloomed.

my perennial favourite,

bloomed.

velvet petals,

wilful scent.

borrowed from a garden

along the footpath.

dos gardenia.

now sitting quietly

on the kitchen window sill.

story 292. noticed.

evam eva

linen drop pocket pullover

kinfolk

a guide to small gatherings

manifesto: "Kinfolk is a growing community of artists with a shared interest in small gatherings. We recognize that there is something about a table shared by friends, not just a wedding or once-a-year holiday extravaganza, that anchors our relationships and energizes us. We have come together to create Kinfolk as our collaborative way of advocating the natural approach to entertaining that we love. Every element of Kinfolk – the features, photography, and general aesthetics – are consistent with the way we feel entertaining should be: simple, uncomplicated, and less contrived. Kinfolk is the marriage of our appreciation for art and design and our love for spending time with family and friends."

magazine & journal

an apple a day

*

found here in these places

some uncommon beauty

to match the rainy grey outside today.

inside, more quiet acts of preparation,

a shifting & resettling.

now the sun peaks through.

story 289. mood board.

collecting reference images

for a mood board of kinds.

inspirations & fancies,

to inform the very first

oldyarns. photo shoot.

*

{image credits: 1. the horse,

2 & 3. kinfolk,

4. dan mithchell style,

5. dangar island home as featured in Inside Out,

6. maya marzolf as featured in Inside Out,

7. lyndie dourthe,

8. sibella court as featured in Inside Out.}

 

story 253. assembled.

 

 

bits & pieces

assembled & arranged.

 

a collage

of textures & objects,

a palette of colours.

characters chosen

 to tell a story.

a new story.

 

*

details coming very soon.

 

 

 

story 252. carry-on sized treasure.

one of the best things about

visiting other cities

is plundering their markets.

when in Melbourne

one should not miss the

Camberwell Markets.

a few photos of our recent trip there,

the only regret having to get all

the loot home by plane.

(a small lorry would be much better.)

*

{note Miss Mini-Gary Pepper Vintage

playing dress ups. so sweet.}

 

story 245. sew blue.

flower tea.

snip.

sew.

blues.

 

story 242. in the garden.

over the weekend I got around

to putting up this set of

photographs.

a charming series of three

of a couple

adopting various serious

poses in their garden.

the glass conservatories are beautiful

& I imagine the time they spent there

together.

there are no dates

 I can see

(and it would destroy the fragile backing to

remove them from their frames.)

the only clues are their clothes, the style of garden

& the building, putting it somewhere

I suppose in England in the early 1900s.

or possibly Melbourne or Sydney?

(I'm pretty certain its not

here in Brissie.)

 

story 239. violets & MoMA.

flowering violets

planted in a damaged vintage ceramic mixing bowl.

 

pretty against this

classic poster,

'Drowning Girl'

by Roy Lichtenstein,

picked up at MoMA

in NY, May 2010.