Etsy Shop Update: New Prints etc

This is me attempting to sound organised, as if I do regular shop updates at precisely 10.58pm every Thursday evening...ha, ha, ha...oh dear!  But it SOUNDS lovely and organised and businesslike, doesn't it?!  But I'm not really kidding any of you, am I?!

Anyway...well yes, I have listed a bunch of new things in my Etsy shop, and there are several that have never even appeared here on my blog, so I'll be interested to see what people think of them.  Here are some of the new ones.

Shell 2, from the 'Journal Collection' (there are 4 in the set, and are now all available as A4 prints)

The Elements.  It's 'Fire' that started everything off actually, you can thank her for my deciding to give the 'professional artist' gig a go.

Babel-On.  Witterings and wafflings on the inadequacy of language...and a girl with a castle for a hat!

La Belle Dame Sans Merci.  Because I've loved John Keats' poem since I first read it as a teenager.

If you haven't yet checked out the Magic4Terri auctions, pop over there now, as it all ends in about 10 hours and there are wonderful things to be found.  I've got two offerings there, and the set of 4 A4 prints of your choice (with lots more to choose from now) is still sitting at the bargain price of $40.  The A3 print of 'Beauty Remembers' has shot up to $65, so I'll be adding in lots of extra goodies to that one.

And given that I've once again failed to be organised enough to have lots of Christmas goodies in my Etsy shop actually in time for Christmas, I'm considering getting in early and having a Pre-Post-Christmas sale.  What do you reckon!!?

Of course, that would mean getting it done before Christmas.............

Ooops!!  I forgot to mention that I've also listed these tea bag and vintage book paintings in my shop as well!  All are mounted with plain white mount, as the 2nd and 3rd photos show.

The Talesingr: The Tale of the Wolf Bride

The Tale of the wolf bride

In the time of ice when hunger bit deep, a hunter was tracking game along the sleeping white river. But the river yawned in its sleep and the hunter fell into its mouth. A wolf saw him fall and went to the edge and looked down. The wolf looked at the man and thought, “This man will make a fine meal, for my bones are rubbing my skin it is so long since I last ate.” And the man looked at the wolf and thought, “That wolfskin will make a fine coat, for my bones ache and I cannot remember what it is to be warm.” But the wolf could not get to the man, and the man could not get to the wolf. So both decided to bargain. The wolf said, “If you will give me meat, I will pull you out.” And the man said, “If you will pull me out, I will give you meat.” But the man was foolish and thought, “I will trick the wolf and when he pulls me close I will take my knife and I will have that skin.” So the man threw his rope up to the wolf, and the wolf caught it in his teeth. And the man held the end as the wolf pulled. When he was safely out, the man took his knife and stabbed, but he was clumsy and the knife did not kill. The wounded wolf could not fight the man, so he turned and ran, leaving a trail of blood and anguish at such betrayal. The man was cold and hungry and went home to find food and fire to warm himself.

When the man arrived at his tribe’s camp, he was welcomed for they had feared him lost or dead. And the hunter told them the story of his rescue, and laughed at how well he had tricked the wolf. And his son and eldest daughter laughed and told their father how clever his trick had been.

But the youngest daughter was silent, and she saw the look the Dreamspinnr gave her father, hooded and dark. And she thought, “My father has broken an oath, and no good will come of this.” So she went to her hut and packed her medicine bag, took her knife and bow, and in the dawn before the tribe stirred, she crept away. She found the river of ice, and followed the blood in the snow to the wolf’s den. And she found the wolf, cold and close to death. She wrapped it in her new reindeer skin coat, and dressed the wound with herbs and bark, and took her bow and went to hunt. She found a snow hare and brought it back to the den.  There, she cut the meat into small pieces and fed the wolf from her own hand.

In the days that followed, the wolf grew stronger. His eyes grew brighter, and the ribs that pressed against his skin were covered with flesh as the girl hunted for him. She made fire to keep them warm, and at night she lay beside the wounded wolf and wrapped them both in her coat. In this way, the wolf grew well, and grew to love the girl who saved him. In return, he taught her wolf ways and wolf lore. How to track, to sniff the wind and find game that men could not, to hunt like a wolf and how to sing the moon song when the curved moon grew fat.

One day the girl said, “Now you are well, I have righted my father’s wrong doing, and I must return to my people.” The wolf was sad to see her go, but she had saved him and he could not make her stay. And the girl returned to her people, who were overjoyed to see her but unsure why she had chosen to leave. She said nothing, but the Dreamspinnr knew and smiled, for the girl had averted the fate that might have befallen the tribe with the breaking of an oath.

But the girl could not settle, she no longer felt she belonged to the human tribe, she saw them through different eyes. She hunted strangely and they began to fear her success, for it seemed like sorcery. She could smell and hear things they could not. And she would sing the moon song when it rose full and fat, and it frightened them. She longed for the company of the wolf, for the smell and touch of his fur, his bright eyes that saw the wind, his loyalty and lack of human guile. And once again, she packed her belongings, and in the dawn before the tribe stirred, she crept away. The Dreamspinnr saw her go, and nodded. The girl followed her own tracks back to the den, and found the wolf waiting for her, for he sensed her coming. And she knew this was her home now.

And it is said by hunters who pass that way, that they have seen a wolf and a woman dressed in white fur running beside each other, swift as the wind. And their feet never touch the ground.

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All text and images © Christina Cairns 2011

‘The Talesingr’s Children’ is a story invented by Christina Cairns, and all accompanying ‘anthropological information’ was found hidden in an old wooden box with aged brass handles, in the attic in a corner of my mind that doesn’t get dusted very often. Or perhaps it’s all true...............................

I must share this, I love it!

This gorgeous illustration is by Lecte on Etsy!  It's called 'A Net for the Birds'.  Hmmm, does it ring any bells?!  How many birds are there?!  Lecte added me to her circle and so I popped over to her Etsy shop to have a look around, liked what I saw and something about the thumbnail for this piece jumped out at me and I clicked to have a closer look.  I looked at the picture, then noticed the title, it was all looking very familiar and I thought 'Oh my goodness, I must have read the 'Tale of the Seven Bird Spirits' somewhere and completely forgotten, I obviously didn't make it up at all!!!' (Well, aside from the fact that it's intentionally based on a fairytale that I hope people recognise, because if you believe my controversial...and fictional...Professor Woodford-Harding, the Talesingr's Tales could be the ancient prototypes upon which famous fairytales are based!)

So I quickly read through Lecte's description.  And NO, I haven't...it's actually an illustration of MY story!  How cool is that?  Someone all the way across the other side of the world was inspired to illustrate my little Talesingr's story.  And how cool is that drawing?  I love the dynamism in it, I love the strength in the Dreamspinnr's arms, I love that she is tattooed just as I imagined she would be.  It's just stunning, isn't it!

And I love the way the world wide web makes this kind of thing possible...it really is a kind of magic!

Another Etsy Treasury inclusion! Yay!

Got back from a few days away down south (relaxing with the other half sans munchkins, and window shopping for blocks of land!) and found my little Autumn Hanger included in this lovely treasury of all things Autumnal, by Robyn at Cardstamps http://www.etsy.com/shop/cardsstamps.

"The Green Jack" featured in this lovely treasury!

My 'Green Jack' has popped up in a lovely Etsy treasury Have You Seen the Green Man? along with some other beautiful items.  The treasury was created by Dante at Suntribe Designs, who makes the most gorgeous jewellery...the sort of thing I can just imagine Boudicca, or perhaps Helen of Troy wearing.  I've got my eye on some earrings in there!

The Talesingr: The Tale of the Mountain Spirit and the Fire Bird

The Tale of the mountain spirit and the fire bird

Various, fragmented versions of this story survive. It appears to be a creation myth, though specifics differ between tribes, particularly in the geographical details, as one might expect from people so closely linked, and reliant upon, the landscape surrounding them. In some versions of the story, the fire bird comes from an island far out to sea and flies to the dark mountains. Clearly such geographical details are dependent on the location of the tribe, and what lies to the east and west of the land over which they journey. The mountain spirit is male in some versions, and female in others, and sometimes not considered to be either, or perhaps both. 

In the beginning times, the world was cold, dark and still. There was no light to wake the spirits, so they slumbered. Only the mountain spirit was awake, silent and watchful, for he was the oldest spirit. But the mountain spirit was lonely and wished for company. So he began to sing. And as he sang, the fired that burned deep inside his belly began to rise, and as it rose, its red glow could be seen, becoming brighter and brighter. And the slumbering spirits began to awaken to this new song and this new light. And still the mountain spirit sang the fire up, until at last it flew out of his mouth in the shape of a fiery bird, sweeping on great flaming wings towards the water-without-end. And all the spirits awoke and the world grew bright and beautiful and the spirits moved over its face and they began to join the song, singing all the peoples of the earth into being, the fur and feathered people, the human and scaled people, the green growing people, the small and large. And when the flames of the fire bird had faded and the world grew dark again, it crawled back into the mountain spirit’s mouth, to sleep and grow strong again. And the mountain spirit was so pleased with the beauty and brightness of this new world, that he has sung the fiery bird out of his mouth each day from that time to this.

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All text and images © Christina Cairns 2011

‘The Talesingr’s Children’ is a story invented by Christina Cairns, and all accompanying ‘anthropological information’ was found hidden in an old wooden box with aged brass handles, in the attic in a corner of my mind that doesn’t get dusted very often. Or perhaps it’s all true...............................

The Talesingr: The Tale of the Seven Bird Spirits

The Tale of the Seven Bird Spirits

There were once seven bird spirits full of self-importance. All believed that he or she was the most powerful, and they argued day and night driving away the peace of the forest. To decide once and for all who was the greatest among them, they proposed a contest. Because the bird spirits had power over the seven winds, they would each harness the strength of one and for a whole month would blow as hard and as fierce as wind has ever blown since the beginning times. At the end of seven months they would hold a council and each spirit would cast their vote.

First, the wind of the summer morning blew, bringing the smell of first greening, of fruit budding and herds returning. Then the wind of winter morning blew, bringing the smell of hardship and hunger, and the earth froze and the herds did not come. Then came the wind of summer afternoon, bringing the scent of the sea-of-sand and no-water, and melted the frozen earth and all was turned to mud and slush. And the wind of winter evenings, endless and cruel, froze the mud like rock and the trees were bare. Then the scorching wind from the home of the sun burnt all before it, and the trees burst into flame, till the blackened stumps were frozen by the wind of the tomb of the sun, bringing darkness and death. For six months the people of the forest, human and animal and growing thing, endured the contest of the winds. And the people knew if the seventh wind, the wind of the spirit place, was unleashed, all the spirits of the ancestors, good and bad, would be hurled into the world of the living. All was chaos, and the people feared starvation...or worse.

So a great council was called, and the chiefs and Dreamspinnrs of all the tribes, human and animal and growing thing, met in circle to say what must be done. And the oldest and wisest sat among them and listened and said nothing, as they shouted and argued for a whole journey of the sun. But in the end they fell silent, for none knew the answer. Then the oldest and wisest opened her eyes and touched two fingers to the geisan on her chin, and spoke. “I will dream.” She went to her hut and lay on the reindeer hides, and slept. And in her dream she wove seven nets, made of hair from all the people of the tribes, to make it strong as the tribes. And into the nets she wove the thorns of the Martuk tree. She spoke no word but the spell of net weaving. She did not eat, nor drink, nor could she lift her eyes from the work. And when she had finished, she bound a strip of cured fish skin across her mouth, for to speak one word would cause the nets to break. She tracked the bird spirits to their meeting place, and waited for them to sleep. And when the curved moon rose and the fire sank low, she threw the nets over the bird spirits. They woke and struggled to free themselves, but the harder they fought, the deeper the Martuk thorns bit into their skin and tore away their feathers. They begged and pleaded to be released but the oldest and wisest said nothing. When all the feathers had fallen away from their skin and with them the power over the winds, all that remained were strange creatures like wizened human children, and they crawled away into the caves of the snow mountains and were not seen again.

This was the dream of the oldest and wisest, this was done, and order was restored.

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All text and images © Christina Cairns 2011

‘The Talesingr’s Children’ 

is a story invented by Christina Cairns, and all accompanying ‘anthropological information’ was found hidden in an old wooden box with aged brass handles, in the attic in a corner of my mind that doesn’t get dusted very often. Or perhaps it’s all true...............................

For a stunningly beautiful illustration of 'The Tale of the Seven Bird Spirits', please visit Lecte's Etsy Store.

Psst...a Talesingr and a few Wandering Souls have made it to my Etsy shop...

...Songs for Wandering Souls being the name I decided to give my other little hangers, as the Talesingr's Children were getting all the attention and glory!  More will be uploaded to Etsy later this week, but I want to post the Talesingr stories onto my blog first.  Stay tuned....

Yippee, yahooey...Shaun Tan is the 2011 ALMA recipient!

OK, I'm a little overly excited!  This was going to be a simple post to let you all know that I've reopened my Etsy shop...I've pared it down a bit, but I'll be adding more in the next week or so.  After experimenting for a few months with prices that barely broke even and not getting much response, I've decided to put the prices back up to normal, and I'll no longer be offering A5 prints, it's just not worth it.  I'll see what happens.

But the really exciting news is that LOCAL PERTH BOY (oh, I just had to say that...even though I think he's moved to Melbourne now!) Shaun Tan has, hard on the heels of winning an Oscar for Best Animated Short film, just been announced as the winner of the 2011 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, probably the most important children's literature award in the world.  If you haven't discovered Shaun's amazing work, go go go right now and check it out.  I've been a fan of Shaun's for years, and years ago I used to work with a friend of his (I think he gave Shaun his first illustration job, on a local Sci Fi magazine!) so I've seen his rise to fame and seen his work just blossom so incredibly.  I was also lucky enough back in 2006 to have a sneak preview of 'The Arrival' before it was published...now that is a truly amazing book.  So congratulations to Shaun, he richly deserves it, he really is a master!

From the marvelous 'The Lost Thing', the short film of which won the Oscar.

Eric the exchange student, from 'Tales of Outer Suburbia'.  He's one of my favourite Shaun Tan characters.

The water buffalo from 'Tales of Outer Suburbia'.  Probably one of the reasons I like this book so much is that, despite it's weirdness, the suburbs of Perth are still recognisable in it...makes me think maybe there really could be magic and marvels down the end of my street!

Plight of the Bumble-fingered artist.....baby faeries and bedroom make-overs...

Oh, I couldn't resist, I will blame it on my mum, who loves puns!

 My two baby faeries are FINALLY in my Etsy shop.  Yes, I AM the Queen of Faffing About, I admit it.  I considered adding beads or glass leaves to these, but in the end I decided I liked the ribbons the best.  Which is just as well, as I have discovered one of the liabilities of being a guitar player (well, a learner at least) is that I CANNOT PICK ANYTHING UP WITH MY LEFT HAND!  Once upon a time, I had soft, sensitive finger pads that could pick up small beads, pieces of paper, needles, thread......now, I have these rock hard and completely numb finger tips that can barely FEEL a needle lying on a table, let alone pick it up!  I can't hold anything small in them and manipulate it...I spent this afternoon dropping beads and accidently snapping the tops off crystal drops...how frustrating, and how unexpected.  I didn't realise learning a new skill could compromise my old ones!

I ummed and ahhhed about what to charge for the faeries too, and settled on $40.  According to this article on Etsy, I'm not charging enough, but I don't think it's a very realistic formula.  Speaking of Etsy, there are all sorts of changes afoot and not a lot of people are happy about it.  If you haven't checked your Etsy profile lately, I suggest you go and have a look at what they've done to it and judge for yourself.

You can find these two here and here.

Now....drum roll please.  How many of you remember the Super-Bedroom-Makeover?  Well, if you don't or have joined up to read my ramblings since the last SBM post, you can always click on the 'bedroom makeover' label at the top of this post and get the whole story.  But to cut a VERY LONG story short, it is finished.  Actually, it has been for a few weeks, but as I have already admitted to being the Q of FA (now, don't be rude, I didn't mean THAT!) I've only now gotten around to posting about it. We haven't moved all the furniture back in that needs to go in, but it won't be much more anyway, and about all it needs beyond that is a nice rug on the floor.  So what do you think?  He's a clever chap isn't he, that other half of mine!

Composite picture (I do love Photoshop) from the doorway

The bedspread I bought years ago because I fell in love with it even though it didn't go with any of the colours we had at the time.

This WAS going to be Beloved's special TV chair in the lounge room...but it looks awfully nice here.

"Waves" is in a new Etsy Treasury!

This little painting is getting around!  It's just been featured by WillyNillyKnitter in a treasury that is all things HAIR!  I'm loving those long red plaits!

I have been creating LISTS in a (more than likely futile) attempt to become ORGANISED!  We shall see what happens.  I did spend today cleaning and sorting out my laundry because it was ON THE LIST...but how long I'll be able to keep it up I don't know...I know myself too well, and my dreamy, disorganised, procrastinatory inner (and outer) child will pretty soon be whispering "oh, it can wait...what's a few dishes...you KNOW you want to go and paint something...anything!"

Green trees and pendants...

So many lovely comments about my little Olive wood hanger/pendants, thank you all!  As several people have enquired, yes, I'm intending to put them into my Etsy shop, I just haven't got to it yet.  But I must tell you that the Green Tree with the gold background and glass leaves (above) has been sold, and is already on its way to its new owner.  But I have more on my work table (which is currently the dining room table as there's not enough room in my overcrowded studio at the moment), and I think green things are calling me, so there will be more curly trees and leaves to come, similar but not the same of course.  This one sold for $50AUD, which is about $45USD at the moment I think.  They may not necessarily all be that price, it really depends on how fiddly and detailed they are.  I'm using acrylic paints on them, but am experimenting with finishes.  This pendant has a hard-wearing acrylic resin finish, but the little nasturtium leaf and my pyrographic 'doodle' featured a few days ago are finished with a natural furniture polish.  I will post new ones here as I finish them, so if you do see one you want, let me know rather than waiting for me to put it on Etsy.  I'm a bit scatterbrained at the moment, and it might be a while before I get around to it.  I can always create a 'reserved' Etsy listing for you to make payment etc easier, or use PayPal direct.

I have been thinking that I need to draw away from 'art as a business' for a while.  Not to give up, but rather to regroup.  It's been a very slow and rather disappointing year in that respect (for a lot of people I suspect), and I feel I've lost a little of my creative 'mojo'.  And at the moment there's so much work to be done at home, the garden is crying out for attention, there are walls to be painted and window frames to be oiled, and we have set ourselves the goal of having it all ready to put on the market in a year's time, in anticipation of a new adventure in our lives, a move to the country.  So I think art might go back to being a hobby for a while, to make some small and beautiful things for the sheer joy of it.  And, of course, to go on blogging about them!

There are other things too needing my energy.  A decision to be made.  A hard one.  Something that over the years has caused me worry as I've stood on the sidelines knowing I can't do anything, and I finally realised is never going to change.  But if I step away and let it go, I will lose something very precious.  I need some space to think about it.  Some time.

I'm a bit chuffed...my first Etsy Treasury inclusion!

This little original pen and ink piece has been included among some beautiful drawings chosen by Milatropolis.  You can have a look here!

A wee JUNE SALE over at my Etsy Attic!

I'm having a SALE at my Etsy shop, as it's End of Financial Year time here, and I really need to declutter so some original paintings need to go (not to mention needing a bit of cash with small people birthdays coming up and the like)!  I've also added a couple new prints, and there will be more added in the next few days, as well as more original works.  Prints are 25% off, and some of the paintings are up to 50% off, so please pop over and have a look!

These two are my 'Solar Angel' and 'Lunar Angel', available as A4 prints for $15USD each, or $27.50USD for the 2 together.  I'll be adding the originals to the shop later this week at a reduced price ($125USD each), and again, will be reduced further if sold as a set ($225USD).  They are on 20cm x 20cm x 3.5cm gallery wrapped canvas, painted right round the edges.

Anyway, I REALLY must get off to bed, as it's after 1am and it's FREEZING out here in the studio!!!