Alot to catch up on

Hi I'm Le, Michael (B's) partner. I'm writing on behalf of B as he is busy grinding some Silva Organic Sidamo coffee for his sunday morning brew.

Yes, there is soooooooo much to catch up on. Children, work, sunny days, home maintenance, renovating printing press have all taken priority. So now we are going to attempt to update you all on Open Studios, yes I know that was in September but now that our daughter is sleeping much better in the wee hours, we feel a bit more, um normal, present, awake!!!!!

I'll start with some photos.............


WOODBLOCK PRINTS OF MT DONNA BUANG- this 12 piece set was B's first attempt at woodblock printing. It is absolutely stunning with beautiful flowing lines and intricate detail.  We were incredibly excited as it's the first time we have framed any of his work and we were thrilled with the results. And the frame is HUGE! Created by Kane Hammond from www.qualityhardwoodfurniture.com.au especially for this piece it measures 1.4m x 1.6m! We were just putting the frame up as the first guests arrived and now it rests in our dining room. We really love sitting under it every day at meal times and our children love identifying the animals in each piece.



Unlike the first weekend which was wet and cold, the weather on the second weekend was absolutely stunning . B set up an outdoor gallery and we enjoyed copious amounts of sunshine as our guests also enjoyed wandering around the garden, checking out the chooks and admiring the art.



This is a close up of the woodblocks B painstakingly carved to create the Mt Donna Buang set. They in themselves are a stunning piece of work and worth noting. They received alot of positive comments, oohhs and aahhhs during the event. Someone even offered to buy them (sorry, not for sale)!!!



B chatting to some of our first guests in his studio. It has a beautiful view of garden and is splashed in natural light which is very lucky in Warburton!!

Well fair to say we were exhausted. Running the event over 2 weekends was a huge commitment, especially with 2 small people in our lives. We greeted approximately 150 people over the 4 days. Our daughter had her first birthday on the 2nd weekend and we managed to squeeze in birthday cake, grandparents and friends visiting and a playful romp on the grass under the parachute (pictured below).

It really was a thrill and I'd fill with pride and happiness everytime I saw Michael talking to our guests. He is so sincere and genuine with a complete love for his art. One day he will be able to commit to it full time and (selfishly) I can have him home all the time!

A really big THANK YOU to everyone who wound their way through the maze of streets and came to show such enthusiasm for B's art. And we are incredibly grateful to those who purchased prints.



Now Open Studios is finished this is Michael's new project. Restoring THAT press! He has since hit a stumbling block. The centre pin that holds the big wheely thingy (hmmm) in place is proving difficult to manouvre. It needs to be removed and has now way of coming out so he's a bit stuck on that one. If there's anyone out there who knows about this kind of printing press, please contact us, we (he), (I), need to move on!!!

Movement

Hello to anyone who cares to read this post on what is my blog.
I have just started to restore a ye olde letterpress that was
salvaged from out in rural Victoria.
The thing weighs approximately 480kgs! and was a bit of a bugger to move.
The mecanisims were seized and last night i managed to free-up the movement.
Still a long way to go!
I am giving myself 1 year to get it fully restored.
Here Goes! 
Last night i took some photos, put them together and hopefully made an animation that

 you can see here. Ta  MB  ("

Post Yarra Valley Open Studios ''Post"

Another Yarra Valley Open Studios under the belt.
The highs and lows,   Ah, so many memories.
Putting My back out, headbutting a friends cage trailer, (accidentally) with an emphasis on the "dent".
Lots of great visitors to my studio. Looking up from a demo and realising that there were at least fifteen
people looking at what I was doing. That was a bit of an Argh! moment and yet I kept my composure.

Thanks again  to everyone that popped in.
And super thanks to those that bought some of my work, not only do you get a small piece of my soul,
but your purchase enables me to continue in my work for another year. Ta ("
Here are a few photos that a few people requested. Lots o love B

Woodblock prints of Mount Donna Buang 2009
Each piece is on A3, and twelve A3's go together to make up this image.

 This one is titled,"Platypus council"                         and "A flying visit"

This image was taken before the completion of this years print "Moon Platypus Yarra".

Still to receive the final layer of sky and moon detail.

So Long!

Yarra Valley Open Studios

Hi !  Its mid Yarra Valley open studios and the first week was great. Thank
You to everyone that came and said , "hello" .
Apart from putting my back out and almost knocking myself out cold on the back of a friends
 cage trailer, the weekend went fine.
This weekend i will be getting into some demo printing and more great conversation with some more
funky people.
pictures, pictures, pictures! where are all the pictures?
lets see what i can do.

 This picture is of the carving required for the 2nd layer of sky on this years print.

hopefully wht the letterpress will look like when i get into the restoration.

Hope that You  are well, Michael/B ("

Whoa Nelly!

So in the middle of the most complex print that i have done to date. I receive a call from my brother
saying that he has found an old printing press that will be thrown onto a scrap heap, Would i like him to save it for me?   YES! woo-hoo!

Am i crazy enough to try and restore it?  YES! 
Have a look at this link to see what a restored, operational one of these looks like.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rfo3YfYUnoA

I will keep my blog "posted" (no pun intended).  B ("

Lots of work= fun.

Question, How many hours can You work on a single project without losing Your mind?

Answer, I'll tell You later this week.
Still working on the latest print.
Photos out of the camera and into computer land asap.

Lots of kind regards Michael /B

.25-.5!

I am becoming friends with a few imperfections within my work.
.25 0f 1mm and even one case of my measurements being as far as .5 of 1mm out!
The old me would turn in his grave.  ("

In the thick of it..

Yo! hows it going? 
I am at the first of the tricky bits in regs to the set out of this
image. As kind of a note to myself i will post these pictures
to use as a ref later on. Anyone that cares to take a look, please
enjoy. lots of kind thoughts. B Michael.

These are some of the details of the blocks that i have been carving, that will be used
to create a print that will be titled "Moon Platypus Yarra".

Inks of varying colour will be applied to each block to make the overall image.

All that a printer ever really wishes to make is a good impression.

Ready,Set, Go....................

Hello, How are You?
I hope you are well.

With Yarra Valley Open Studios only weeks away, well 4 weeks and 3 days away, it's time to carve, carve, carve. The beautiful bamboo/cotton paper I'm using is  waiting for the layers of ink to soak into it's fibres and I'm eager to see how it takes them.

My lovely is busy being the secretary with the mostess organising my blog, printing invitations for the event, organising my business cards and stamps, planing a working bee for the house and garden and maintaining life at home.

It's mad but it's all coming together nicely.

It would be great if you could set aside some time in September to visit my studio and see what I've been up to in the wee hours.

Yarra Valley Open Studios
Sept 10-11 and 17-18
Open 10am -5pm
see link for more details
http://www.yvopenstudios.net.au/

On some of the days there'll be espresso coffee from Silva Coffee (http://www.silvacoffee.com.au/), locally roasted right here in Warburton (lucky us) and hopefully some sunshine for a lovely spring lookie-see at the garden to see what's growing.

Hope to see you then
B

This is my Dicksonia antarctica wood block carving from last year's Yarra Valley Open Studios. 'Where's this years?' All will be revealed......................