Post Hols Photo Heap

…started a few things on holiday…

…a pile of these…(actually one of series of piles)….

…and couple of those…

…got a bit obsessed with “faces” on my palette….

…(they’re looking at me, I swear)….

…Dee came up mid-week and made a poster for her upcoming gig….

…(the one on the left is the one that will be used)…

…(see you there)…

…saw a goat….

…saw it again at night…

…Dee phoned in the sighting….

…(cell phone coverage exists at the water tank)….

…some of the above images are elongated because I may have had the camera switched to vid’ for a day or so after filming this…

,,,bit of a grey day on Friday….

…so we went on our traditional Central Otago charity shop run….

…did rather well…

…as is explained in this short documentary….

….spent the fine days removing bumblebees from the house…

…(…sign says “bug”…but battery died before second shot and didn’t want the wee fellow to be under glass too long)…

….and savoured the fine evenings enjoying the fragrance of the apple blossom…(or is it plum?)….

…all in all a bloody good holiday….

…(did I mention my Pitcairn Island carved flying fish?)…

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Pre-loading Projects Pre-Holiday

…it all starts in that damn sketch book…

…just one obsessive scrawl in the corner of a page….casually re-imagining that skull and crossbones design thing you’ve been chasing around…(and around….and around)….

…and then….you add another idea involving bits of scrap ply you still haven’t re-cycled since closing the record shop…..(just below ANOTHER octopus)….

….head back to the flies to flesh them out and make them more patterny….

….realise that they could be a good “venue” for those marvellous acrylic metallic, paints they sell in handy test pots at a local paint shop (…er…national chain of paint shops…big ups the Resenes folk)…

…get said acrylic metallic paints…

…get serious with the acrylic metallic paints….and the afore mentioned skull and crossbones design thing….

…suddenly wish you hadn’t done that in your sketch book instead of maybe committing it to some form of less pagey media….

….console self by going out and collecting a-lot of metallic test pots to further experiment with colour combo’s…..

…film the whole damn matter so as to get the glitter affect through to the slightly confused….(“what is he going on about these acrylic metallic paints for, looks like flat colours to me”)….

….prepare for “relaxing” holiday in Kokonga….painting metallic flys on all manner of things, 24hrs a day or until made to stop….

…see you all in a week or so with (hopefully) some results….

…(some areas of sketchbook pages blurred to protect other ideas and aid concentration on the idea at hand)….

…(thank you…you’re welcome)….

: P

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Process

…receive test pressing of lp in post….

….listen to lp…..

…listen to lp with band….

…say “yes please” to record manufacturer people….

…receive large box of lps….(thank you Holiday Records on so many levels….you guys rock)…..

….open all the boxes…

…mmmm…records….

….make the covers….(we already printed them but “somebody” hadn’t glued ’em up yet)…..

….find booklet you DID prepare earlier…(it’s probably in THAT box)….

…all hand folded and stapled neatly….(sorry no vid’)….

…put them all together….

…oops!…don’t forget to hand stamp the labels (first identifying which side is which)….

…small printing blocks (cheers Tracer) taped together with masking tape may come in handy at this stage…

..place lps in in inners then inners in covers….add booklet…place in outer sleeve…

…and there you have it …

…all ready for the lp release on the 28th September at The Crown Hotel….

…see you there.

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Let There Be Light Fittings

…I first “met” this particularly wonderful example of 70s plastic and “gold” plated light fitting when I had the record shop at Chicks Hotel in Port Chalmers…

…I needed to own them…

…but they were attached to the pub…

…I’d drive by and ogle the only other example I knew of when ever I could….it’s a commercial double sized version that hangs in a glassed in stairwell on the side of a warehouse in the South Dunedin industrial area…just down from my favourite DIY materials haunt….

….then…

…having driven past a second hand shop sign outside Ranfurly on numerous occasions and thought “how sad that it had ceased operations on the main street”, I drove thru Ranfurly in the other direction only to discover that I’d been completely missing the other sign that indicated that said shop had moved to the outskirts town….(duh)…..

…The Curiosity Shoppe is now located in a delightfully spacious tin shed next to a converted railways workshop, where the proprietor resides….having met a kindred spirit in said proprietor and during the ensuing tour of the premises, right at the back of said railways workshop, we came upon two large cardboard boxes containing….oh be still my beating heart….not one, not two, but five of the coveted light fittings all separated in to halves and covered in dust….

….bargaining….

…bargaining between second dealer-collectors….

….I bought two….

…and promised photos when I’d got them installed…

…that was months ago, sorry Ali’, but now they’re up….

…in the living room….

…and the library….

….thank you Ali’….

…my life is near as damn complete….

…almost….

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Bees

This summer “just” gone….on a long ramble down the Taieri River we…myself and intrepid, inflatable boat enthusiast, Dee…. discovered bees, hundreds of them, poking about on a sand bar at the waters edge….

… coming and going to a couple of spots…like someone had performed a waggle dance back at the hive and reported that the river was running with honey….