Lulu Carter

'my birthday present'...or...'one dodgy giraffe'

In the old days of being 'me' I used to draw. Not painting, that wasnt my thing. But drawing I felt able and I loved it. Admittedly it was used in a design sense rather than a free and artistic way but I knew how it felt and how it was meant to work on the page.

Somewhere along the way I drew less and less until I realised that I didnt think I could anymore.

I am a firm believer that we are all born able to create art but school and society and parents with conventional mortgage dreams, drag it out of many of us. The lucky ones manage to hold onto it or recapture it.

My hands became used to doing other things. Mainly with fabrics. 

Then my husband bought me a Wacom tablet for my birthday. What you say? No jewels for turning forty??

No. But its ok. He didnt just buy me the basic model. He told me he saw down the track so he bought me the semi professional model. Heart. Failure. Mine.

To start with, the stylus and I had very very different ideas about how this was meant to happen. My eyes didnt know where to look-at the screen or at my hand with the "pencil" ?

I am slowly realising all the truly amazing things this tablet will allow me to do. Including painting which has never been for me. My Grampa was always the painter. The artist.

But I'm brave on the tablet. And my eyes and hand seem to be getting better aquainted again. Baby steps.

stickers and babies

Firstly the stickers.

Just after christmas we took a drive up to Brisbane and spent the day at the galleries. They are set along the river with the library in between and it is so beautifully laid out I instantly wanted to live there. Just so I could sit on the grass by the river and step inside a gallery. Priorities in tact I'd say.

We went up to look at the Matisse exhibition which was wonderful. The exhibition is of his drawings which was quite interesting to see with the boys. We were counting how many lines he could draw a face in at one point. When you come out, they have a drawing space set up with life models, violinists seranading everyone and people everywhere sketching. They also have drawing tablets which is a terrific idea for our digital age children. Everywhere you were you could draw a still life or a model and, for those who had not brought their own sketching equipment with them, they had clipboards, paper and pencils around the room. I have honestly never been to an exhibition so well thought out before. Even the cafe was set up for sketching, reading his books and sipping a coffee. Magnificent.

Afterwards we wondered into this room by Yayoi Kasuma. Every adult was instantly transformed back into a child as we grabbed sticker sheets and set about covering every surface we could find. Tall adults were happily popping stickers on te ceiling. We had to be checked at the exit though for stickers as you werent allowed to remove them from the space. Even if they were stuck to your bottom from the piano stool as Henry discovered.

The childrens book illustrators exhibition was on at the Library too so we had a full and inspiring day.

When we came back outside to the real world, we were greeted by this cloud mountain rising above the Art Gallery. We had never seen anything like it. It was thick and solid. Quite fantastic.

And now our baby who looks so much fuller than he did that week away. These photos were taken over the last few days. His last days as a nine week old I might add. Today he hit double digits. 

I honestly have not taken his ten week photo yet as when he's awake I spend that time pulling faces and singing and being a completely smitten mother. Its a miracle anything gets done around here with this little bug of ours.

And he would sleep anywhere. Yesterday he had an entire nap being held and passed around by my friends up at the park. Any cuddle is a good cuddle clearly. And he is getting squishy bits! He's over 5 kilos (about 11.7 pounds) now so it wont be long before he is literally twice the baby we brought home from hospital.

I'm knitting another Milo. The lovely grey one is a little bit like trying to put him in sausage casing now.

xxx

our afternoon so far

The boys are scootering up and down the street.

Husband is sitting on the front step keeping one eye on them and one on the paper.

Mum is sitting on the veranda reading a magazine.(She flies off the see little sister on Monday)

I'm tinkering with the leftover paints from the time before street scootering took over.

Im looking forward to tomorrow because a local community garden that is very fabulous is open to the public and I plan on getting some tips!

Hope your weekend is as relaxed and happy.

xxxx