A story.

#27 of Keri Smith's 100 Ideas:Read a story out loud to a friend.
Most of my friends will kill themselves laughing if I attempt to read them a story out loud, the others I suspect will consider me having finally gone totally barmy. But when I do a project (such as 100 Ideas) I get a bit obsessive. I have to do each task, there is no skipping or passing things over or putting them off or thinking that I will do it one day in the distant future, perhaps when I have a grandchild...
So I decided to record the story and put it on the web, where friends and enemies alike may listen to it (or not). It is one of the first books I got as a 6-year old, and I still have it. Called Tafelberg se Wit Karos, it is the story of where Table Mountain's silver trees come from, and how the mountain got the white blanket of clouds that we sometimes see rolling over with a South Easter. It is a lovely book, published in 1964, written by Pieter W. Grobbelaar, with gorgeous illustrations by J.J. Bredenkamp.
Listen to it here.

Oops. I forgot to add that I am reading in Afrikaans, so most of you will not understand it. Also, it is quite long - about 15 minutes. But I have added some pictures, so let's test that old adage of a picture being worth a thousand words ...

  

(All illustrations by J.J. Bredenkamp.)

Shy Girls ...

In my postbox today, these beautiful ladies! I love the feel of the wooden block in my hand. I love the  expressions on their gentle faces. I think they will be good company - I have a feeling that they have stories to tell. I hear that they are good listeners too ... they can keep secrets ... (although I do imagine that they might perhaps whisper amongst themselves and discuss the latest follies and foibles of Anairam).

From the lovely artist Aris at Peekadoo. I can't wait for her to open a shop!

Prints!

The prints that I ordered from Valentina arrived this Friday - aren't they beautiful? I can't wait to get them framed!

See her shop here for more lovely art!

Nightmare.

Do you sometimes have nightmares?
(Collage with magazine/book cutouts, polaroid, paint and found object. Polaroid  by Sarah Wallis.)

Travelling ...

This started out as an art journal page about wanting to travel, not necessarily literally and not necessarily to a geographic location ...

Through a series of coincidences, it ended up being about Mary Kingsley, a British woman from the 19th century, one of the few women to travel independently to exotic locations, in her case, West Africa. I did not know about MK before. I was merely looking for a picture of a female traveller, not necessarily from that period, to use in my collage. Via some hops, skips and jumps I landed up with this picture. The face intrigued me. I read (online) part of the book she wrote,  Travels in West Africa.  (I incorporated the first few sentences on the collaged map). Then I decided to find out more about her. Here is the interesting thing.  Mary Kingsley, aged 38, died in Simon's Town, about 2 km from where I live now. She died in 1900, from typhoid fever, while working as a volunteer nurse, treating Boer prisoners during the Anglo-Boer war.
A bold woman ...

Bold.

I decided to choose a word for this year ... bold.
No ... bold.
No ... BOLD.

Because I am quite a bit taller than average, people think I am bold, fearless, someone to be reckoned with. Also, I have a strong nose, inherited from my father. And an embedded frown, which I suspect people think is bad attitude or sullenness. Actually, it is because I am fair-skinned and blue-eyed and from a very young age I can remember the sun hurting my eyes. So the frown is really a squint against light. Someone I worked with once told me that I inspired awe, marching down the corridor, coat-tails flapping, frowning fiercely...
But truth be told, I am as timid as a mouse. 
Squeak, squeak.
I don't speak up. I don't really stand up for myself. I avoid confrontation when I can. I am always afraid of offending people. I am sometimes too aware of What People Might Think. I am embarrassed to show people the things I create.
Instead, I hide. I belittle my own efforts, making a joke of it. I compromise. I bend over backwards so far that you can tip me over with a tap of the forefinger. A pushover ...
Blogging changed some of that. I am not afraid of showing like-minded people my journal pages and doodles and drawings anymore.
Also, reaching this milestone helped. I started not caring as much what people think of me - my opinions, the things I do and make and wear and think.
A start.
This year, I hope to live more boldly.
I hope you do too.

My New Year's Wishes for You.

I have redone my mood board especially for the New Year. And so, dear friends, I wish for you ... (click pic to make bigger)

1. A happy and creative home (photo by Asiya of l'Atelier)
2. A comfy chair to rest in when you are weary (Humphrey Ocean)
3. The love of a good person (magazine advert, photographer unknown)
4. The courage to do what needs to be done (sculpture by Angus Taylor)
5. The means to travel - also beyond your comfort zone (Sally Chance)
6. A creative, stylish sartorial year (female festive jacket, British Museum)
7. A job that you love (Edward Hopper)
8. A view (David Bloomer)
9. A friend to grow old with (birthday card, photographer unknown)
10. Books, books, lovely books - and the time to read them (Tom Cullberg)
11. A pot of tea, a bunch of flowers & the love of a dog when you most need it (artist unknown)
12. Good food (Carol Mangiagalli)
13. A healthy body (Claudia Donaldson-Selby)
14. The ability to see beyond the obvious and below the surface of things (Brett Shuman)
15. More good hair days than bad ones (Lucy Pooler)
16. Peace. Everywhere. (schoolchildren from Cape Town and Devon)