Devonshire Tea (jam'n'cream)
textured acrylic on board
© 2010 original art by Kel
She found favour
This weekend I suddenly felt compelled to create a string of beads. With no prior planning or thought, I went to the studio, sat at the bead mat and started working. What you see above and below is the outcome.
beads and charm on wire, created by Kel, © 2010
While shaping wire, selecting beads and threading them on, the notion arose that they were giving form to a prayer. The circle of round beads at the top are reminiscent of a standard prayer bead set up, while the cylindrical beads along the length of wire, rotate like miniature prayer wheels. The silver vessel at the base is for holding the unspoken prayers of our heart.
Prayer beads, prayer wheels, prayer vessel . . .what shall I call this thing?
I settled on "the prayer stick".
This morning Mr X went over to the studio for something and came back exclaiming. "Wow, that's amazing." I told him it was the prayer stick. "No," he said, "It's your sceptre."
Hmm, perhaps my unspoken prayer is being answered after all.
Playing a word association game with 'sceptre', my mind rapidly delivers this;
found favour with . . .
symbol offering protection and power . . .
authority . . . to bless
prayer stick, sceptre, blessing stick
so much to sit with here
T42 - a wedding gift
T42
textured acrylic on canvas
original art by Kel © 2010
I created this piece as part of a wedding gift for a friend who recently got married. She likes a cup of tea, with a particular fondness for Earl Grey, if memory serves me correctly.
Originally I planned to create a bottle art piece, featuring the label of the toasting drink from their wedding reception. As there was a wide variety of beverages to toast the bride and groom, the idea didn't really translate well. So instead I came up with the theme of Tea for Two or T42 and included a literal teacup set for two in a separate box, along with the painting.
When creating this piece I looked at the wedding invitation for inspiration on colours. The invite was duck egg blue and cream. Those colours didn't feel right for the artwork, so while thinking about the bride-to-be, I selected the colours and completed the artwork. A little something to add a unique individual touch to their kitchen decor.
Imagine my surprise when the bridesmaids walked down the aisle, wearing cobalt blue dresses. A lovely synchronicity - couldn't have planned it better if I tried.
our fat screen TV
sticking to my belief that retro is the new black
we have remained owners of a fat screen TV
did you notice the "L" was missing?
no flat screen here
just a fat screen
so it was interesting to see
someone else owning up to not having a plasma
I wonder, are there any other remaining specimens
of an almost extinct species out there
owners and viewers of
the fat screen
???
Blessing 4:3
for the space between
sunrise and sunset
are moments of time
hours, minutes, seconds
© 2010 xfacta Kel
how quickly life can change
in sixty ticks of the minute hand
striking a blow at 12
© 2010 xfacta Kel
putting you in between
© 2010 xfacta Kel
as we sit here
by your bed
and see you
© 2010 xfacta Kel
inhale and exhale
© 2010 xfacta Kel
we wonder where you are
in this between space
not really here
nor there
© 2010 xfacta Kel
between
birth and death
there is a space
© 2010 xfacta Kel
where life is lived
© 2010 xfacta Kel
you have filled that space
with living life to the full
achieving success at work
and loving us at home
supportive and loyal
husband, father, friend
the world has been stamped
with the specialness of you
© 2010 xfacta Kel
may you know
that we have been blessed
to have you in our life
© 2010 xfacta Kel
you have been a blessing
© 2010 xfacta Kel
in ways that words
cannot express
in ways our hearts can only hold
as snippets of memories
© 2010 xfacta Kel
floating images
of shared experiences
tears and laughter
troughs and peaks
© 2010 xfacta Kel
as you traverse
the space between
know that you being here
has made a difference
we pray for you
a peaceful journey
from here to there
© 2010 xfacta Kel
to the shore we cannot see
© 2010 xfacta Kel
may your homecomingbe everything your heart
dared to believe in
and hope for
~Kel
© 2010
Has beans, Wanna beans and Bean there!
Recently I bought Mr X a copy of the "2010 Melb Coffee Review" book, featuring their list of Melb’s top 100 cafes. He plans to visit as many of them as possible, sample the wares and get signatures from the baristas. We decided it was just so geeky a thing to do, that in caffeine land it’s probably uber cool . . .
Over Easter we had some time in the city. A perfect opportunity to crack open the book and get wired on caffeine! For what it's worth, all the baristas got to feel like rock-stars when Mr X asked for their autograph in the book. Judging by their reactions, it made their day . . . and as a bonus we scored a few referrals to hot spots opened since the book was published.
Here's a few snippets from our Easter cafe crawl:
Upon learning that a certain establishment listed in the book was a historical institution in the cafe life of Melbourne, we trekked to the top of town for a latte. Standing room only as the Sat night crowd scoffed big bowls of pasta at the counters. But we were only there for one thing. Brown brew. Man, it was a bitter disappointment and the first time ever that Mr X has bought a coffee, taken one sip, put the cup down and walked out. They seem to get rave reviews for their pasta . . . but sorry Pellegrinni's, for the coffee we scored you a 'has bean.'
A decent coffee in the Crown complex was promised in the book. So to make it an extra special treat we ordered a slice of black forest cake (BFC) to share. Reminds us of the glory days of dating - back in the dark ages when BFC was as trendy as cupcakes are now. Alas, the coffee tasted like it was made from half a teaspoon of cereal beverage (pretend coffee) in 250 mls of hot milky water. Blech! We score Calatrava Cafe a 'wanna bean.'
A favourite for us was a nth melb cafe. Not only was the coffee excellent, the bashed avocado with grilled tomato on sourdough had us fighting for who got the last bite. Ricotta pancakes were fluffy to the max and the venue atmosphere great for a laid-back weekend outing.We scored Auction Rooms top marks and say "Bean there!"
We checked out the Brunswick East Project on an earlier visit to Melbourne. You might recall we became fans of their Padre Coffee. So it was exciting to discover over Easter, when hunting down a cafe listed as Sweet Agora at the Sth Melb markets, that it has now changed hands and is a Padre Coffee outlet. Definitely "Bean there!" and will be back.
Other places we say "Bean there!" to include:
St Ali's [Sth Melb]
'twas here that Mr X sampled his first Syphon coffee and I sampled the best banana bread in the country
Brother Baba Budan [CBD]
standing room only inside and a line out the door onto the street told us we'd found the right spot here
So you've read this far and still wondering what the word on the street is about the latest hot spot for coffee in Melbourne? Well, after we heard the same name several times from baristas signing autographs, we decided it was worth hunting down, Proud Mary [Collingwood]. We did. It was.
The X's beverage of choice: piccolo = more caffeine / less milk
embrace life
.
Did I ever tell you about the time I got pulled over by the police -twice in two minutes- for not wearing my seatbelt? It was on our honeymoon. We got stopped the first time, I sheepishly acknowledged my error, told them we were on our honeymoon and they let me off without a fine. As Mr X drove off again,I did not even have a chance to pull my seatbelt on, we turned the corner and there was another police car and they pulled us over. It could have been a very expensive blow to our honeymoon budget . . . which as you may recall was 50 cents short of an icecream cone . . . but as this brilliant video demonstrates, not wearing a seatbelt can have a higher cost than we might think:
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