Botanic Gardens

Hi guys,

Sorry I haven't written anything in two months but I was busy/procrastinating but I wanted to take the time to tell you about two great things going on at the Botanic Gardens in Sydney at the moment. Here's an extract from the website:

Cultivate: New Artisans

This exhibition celebrates emerging artisans, offering a rare opportunity to showcase their creativity and talent.  
When: 4th - 14th October, 10am - 4pm daily
Where: Palm House, Royal Botanic Garden
Cost: Free. All works are for sale

We went there today and they were both brilliant! So much stuff to see I'm sorry I'm only telling you last minute. There was so much to see in this little building and so many talented artists, sculptures, jewellers, and pottery makers and if you don't get to see them it will be such a shame but I should've said something earlier but I forgot to be honest. Anyway I'm kind of known for promoting my aunt, Mel, who is a lovely person and talented contemporary jeweller and her works were features in this exhibition too. So here are the pictures I took:

The beautiful Melinda Young with her works at Cultivate: Artisans

The next one was also beautiful and jam-packed with wonderful art, jewellery, pottery, sculpture from amazing artists.
Here's an extract from the website:

Artisans in the Gardens

This year’s exhibition showcases unique works by some of our best contemporary and traditional artisans. Including jewellery, ceramics, glass, textiles, and sculpture, the exhibition celebrates the beauty and complexity of nature.
When: 11th - 19th October, 10am - 4pm
Where: Lion Gate Lodge, Royal Botanic Garden
Cost: Free. All works are for sale

And here are the pictures I took:
(Sorry for the overload of pictures I'm not very good at choosing my favourites)

If you missed out, you should still head over to the Botanic Gardens because it's beautiful and it's right next to the Art Gallery of NSW so you can make two trips in one! Keep an eye out for upcoming exhibitions at both the Botanic Gardens and the Art Gallery and make a trip down there the next time you're in Sydney (if you don't already live there).

Jody

Melinda Young's Natural Material Jewellery Workshop

Hey guys,
I meant to post this last Saturday because last week I attended Mel's jewellery workshop with found natural materials at the Botanic Gardens. The reason I am only writing about it now is because I left my camera at my cousin's place and couldn't get it until this weekend which was a bit annoying.

Unfortunately the lighting was really bad in there so I didn't really get any photos. However you can see some of the fabulous jewellery made on the day on Mel's Instagram (@unnaturaljeweller). It was a wonderful day. I got a bit overwhelmed though as I always do. Even though we had the whole day to work, I still felt the pressure of what should I do? Should I try out some techniques? Use tools I'm not able to at home? What idea should I try out? What should I do first and will I be wasting time? Very stressful indeed but I did get like two pieces of jewellery out of it and started one. There's so much more I want to do though, I really want to make jewellery with chopped up pieces of wood. I realy want to make something like Mel's 'Aborescence' piece, with both natural and unnatural pieces. She has not made a blog post about the day as she has not really been blogging for a while. Bloggin is one of those things that you feel you should do but don't seem to have the time for it. Mel is quite busy and trying to keep in order blogs, Instagram, work and family can be quite tiring sometimes. I do try and encourage her to blog when I see her so maybe hopefully she will start blogging again sometime soon.

Although I didn't get any people pictures due to the poor lighting and me not asking to open the blinds (just one of those things you really regret not doing), I did still get some nature shots as we were in the beautiful Botanic Gardens which, if you don't know what I'm talking about, is in Sydney next to The Art Gallery of NSW.  My cousin and I walked around for a little bit but it's just so big that we only did a small loop because we wanted to get back to jewellery making and we couldn't really find any gum nut type trees if you know what I mean.

Anyway, it was a great day, the weather was nice and the jewellery making was fun. As always I wish I got more out of it. I was a little tired and so that made it hard to concentrate which made even more stressed out and gosh I am really stressed out. I don't think I can stand another week of school, I need a holiday, now.

Well I hope none of you are really anxious, conflicted, stressed or drained although you probably are feeling one or more of those things if you've been going to school or working. I must say Year 10 is harder than the previous years have been. I'm in all the top classes too which doesn't help because the teachers expect so much of us, move really fast in the topic and give us tonnes of extension work and homework. They're all trying to prepare you for senior years and what not. Anyway I should probably do some homework now I guess...

Jody

Strike Bowling

Hey guys,
Today my dad, my brother and I went to Strike Bowling in the Mandarin center. First we went to Grill'd to get burgers and they were yum! Before our session started we played some arcade games first which was kind of fun. Plus I think it was actually my first time playing arcade games :) Maybe not, maybe just my first time in a long time.

In the end my dad won (no surprise there) and I came last. Hamish beat me which was annoying but he had the barriers up so he had an advantage. Oh well. I got two strikes though (not in a row) so I was pretty happy about that.
How about you? Have you been bowling recently? Or laser tag? I hope none of you were beaten by your younger siblings as that never feels so great. Then again I can't stand the the grumpy mood when they don't win. Now I really have to get a move on on all of my assignments (even though I'm probably just going to procrastinate after this) so that's all for now.

Jody

Nature Photography

After three days of constant blogging and staring at my computer screen, I finally got out of the house today and walked for an hour :O (amazing I know). So I took my camera along with me and got some naturely shots. I've edited some of them (not very well though) and some I've put intense effects on.

 On pretty much every plant I saw of these, there were all green leaves and just one single orange leaf.

 Mangrove, after mangrove, after mangrove...

 Morning Glory... Such a pretty coloured flower for a destructive weed...

 Some black & white photos...

So yeah there you have it. If you have any tips on editing photos or photography in general, or if you can recommend any good programs or apps for editing photos, let me know in the comments.


Also I thought I'd just throw this in randomly as well,
After our walk we popped into Harris Farms and got these. The packet says Dried Mango but it's actually candied. So it's very sweet. You can either eat like that or you can chop it up into little pieces and make a trail mix with it. The bitterness of the nuts will offset the sweetness of the mango. So if you see these in your local grocery store or fresh food market, pick up a packet of Dried Mango Slices or maybe Dried Paw Paw Slices and mix them up with some sultanas and mixed nuts. Perfect for snaking on!

Jody

New Years Eve Fireworks

Hello Guys,

It's now January the 2nd and I'm finally going to put up some photos of the 9 o'clock fireworks.

This one makes me think of Disney....and magic.....

I love how they look like flowers

Sorry if the images take really long to load or if they're wasting your internet. There 23 photos there but they're not exactly professional. As you know I am still learning how to use a camera. I really should take a photography class or something. But anyway, there are the best photos I got, a lot of them a really blurry though. I think I forgot to turn it to MF.

Well it's going to be 33° C today so I think I'll go for a swim as the pool will be nice and warm.

Jody