Lebenskuenstler

Lebenskuenstler on the Move...

i am in the process

of moving my blog.

click here

to get to the

new blog site.

Paintings in Progress...

Beach Days...

'Midnight Seeds' - from Start to Finish

i have just finished my second painting

'midnight seeds'

and thought i'd share 

how it evolved...

Indigo Dyeing in Bali - Part II

after the intial lesson

in indigo dyeing

i spent lots more time

over the following 2 weeks

dyeing 1kg of merino wool tops 

and a couple more silk scraps...

and ended up with lovely 

blue hands ;)

more to come soon

as i still need to fix the colour

and rinse the wool ...

Indigo Dyeing in Bali - Part I

there's a little shop on ubud main road

owned by a javanese couple

that sells beautiful hand-spun and -woven plant-dyed textiles.

i've bought a few of their fabrics over the years.

this is a top i had made from one of the indigo-dyed batik fabrics...

 

so this time while in bali

i asked the owner of the shop 

if he would teach me indigo dyeing.

he ordered 1/2 kg of indigo powder from java

plus a couple of other ingredients

and off we went...

the indigo powder is collected from the fermented leaf solution (see here). 

we also had another dried leaf which intensifies the colour

and some natural soap to fix the colour.

all three were mixed into a bucket...

then we added some wool tops 

and some silk scraps that i had tied up...

and here are some of the results...

more to come soon...

Traditional Balinese House at the Subak Musem in Tabanan...

i took these pictures

on an excurtion to west bali.

we had a look at the subak museum

and this traditional balinese compound

complete with seperate pavillions for

kitchen, rice-storage, rice-pounding and ceremonies.

also had lots of fun today editing the pictures with my new lomo app :)

Lotus Flowers Everywhere...

at the moment it seems that where ever i go

there are lotus flowers blooming.

most of my balinese friends grow them

in big terracotta pots in their gardens.

and then there's the big lotuspond

around the corner from where we're staying...

i LOVE lotus flowers!

isn't it amazing and inspiring

how something so beautiful

can arise out of the muddy depth of a lotus pond?

Back in Bali :)

back in bali

relaxing

eating yummy food

visiting friends

doing a bit of research & planning for the

creativity retreat in july 2013

Hand Decorations...

i had a mehndi pattern drawn on my hand by a beautiful young indian woman in singapore on the morning before we left...

it goes really well with the bit of bling that i bought on haji lane ;)

but the most amazing thing was visiting the butterfly garden at changi airport and having the butterflies landing on my hand nibbeling at the fresh henna...

Hippest Shopping in Singapore...

after seeing all the big designer stores

on orchard road and around marina bay,

haji lane in kampung glam district

with it's quirky little designer shops

was so refreshing...

 from really beautiful organic bamboo clothing

to japanese bicycles

fancy leather bags and purses

retro clothing and homewares

cool sunglasses and funky footware...

it was all there in one compact lane :)

Singapore Orchids...

i took all of these pictures

(and many more...)

at the cloud forest .

wish i could grow orchids like these

but western australia is just not tropical enough...

Contrasts

i love staying in little india

it's so colourful

teeming with people

little shops and restaurants everywhere

the fragrance of flowers, incense and spices

so what a contrast when we went 

and visited family who are staying

at the amazing 'marina bay sands'

the view from the sky terrace

is just amazing...

and being there at night was unreal

but somehow the place feels a bit dead

and artificial compared to the

livelyness  of little india

Welcome to the Future...

after overcoming my fear of hights

and inching my way slowly to the railing 

i took some pictures of the futuristic gardens below...

the dome on the left is a flower garden

and the one on a right houses a cloud forest 

complete with waterfalls and tree ferns and orchids - amazing!

but first a look back at the incredible marina bay sands...

and through the 'supertree grove'...

and on to the 'cloud forest'...

the whole complex is totally sustainable as far as water and electicity and cooling goes.

they even produce there own natural fertiliser for the plants.

i'll post some more pictures tomorrow...

Little India

i just love all the little lanes

and colourful old houses

especially when seen through the lomo lense ;)

this one is my favourite: 'guru's marketing'...

Fresh Orchids On Christmas Trees...

we arrived in singapore airport yesterday

and were greeted by this amazing christmas tree display:

all decorated with fresh orchids!

can you spot me in the silver ball?

Chai Spice Fridge Magnets

little gifts 

fridge magnets (IKEA)

filled with chai spices:

cinnamon, cardamom, coriander seeds, cloves, star anise and black pepper

Reindeer-Bird Gift Tags

 

i found this cute idea on pinterest and had a fun time making these

from recycled watercolour paintings and fabric scraps...

and i really like them teamed up with the pom-poms...

so nice to find a little time to be creative :)

New Hobby: Making Tiny Pom-Poms :)

spent some fun time this morning 

making tiny pom-poms

for gift decorations

From Flower To Seed Pod...

 

 

i finally found some time to paint

and i didn't like the flower anymore

so i added more colour and then the shape of the lotus seed pod.

paul thinks it looks alien...

 

 

so let's see where this painting will go from here...