Today I had to go to Balook for work and I took the camera with me.  The air is choked with smoke and it has been like this (on and off) for days.  Sunday was the worst.  It got to 42degC (107F) and the smoke was low and heavy all day.  The colours are weird too, every thing has a yellow hue, especially in the morning and evening.

We have a lot of air traffic happening at the moment, one aircraft, only an hour or two ago, was so loud overhead I felt that it was going to land on our roof for sure.  Riscy went outside and saw it was a big fire fighting helicopter.  We live about 5km from the airfield, so I guess it was heading there to refuel or something.

The fires are enormous and I can't imagine what it is like to try and fight such a thing or to be out defending your home and animals.

Unfortunately the people of Scamander in North East Tasmania lost many homes earlier on in the week. 

It seems weird to have such major bushfires so early in the year.  Summer has barely started.

Smoke shrouded hills

 

 

Above is a little prototype quilt which was a bit dull, so I cut it up and stitched it back together.  I might stitch it some more then call it done. 

I'm all dressed up ready to go to Riscy's staff Christmas party.  His company doesn't hold back, it is a huge event, a enormous seafood buffet affair, all you can drink alcohol and a cover band.

Today was the big deadline at work.   A cumination of a year of work.  Everything was squared away by lunchtime so I took the afternoon off and went shopping.  I spent a fortune on two outfits, shoes and jewelery and I'm refusing to let the guilt in.  I've been recycling my party outfits for years, so I suppose it was time to update.

Tommorow, we have my staff social club christmas party.  A much more modest affair, but it should be fun.

The plan is that I will resist overindulging in alcohol.  ahem.

For those wondering.  The bushfire issues here are very serious.  I don't think the Latrobe Valley is in threat, but a huge area of East Gippsland and North East Victoria is affected.  It now all depends on the weather and the wind.  Thankfully the smoke has not come our way for the last couple of days.

Unhappy with just the little prototype I put together, I cut it up and stitched it back together

I wish I had something better to show you:

 

Unfortunately, not.  This is a computer collage of some rather crappy painting I have done recently.  Although I do like the bottom right hand side with the greens and the white and the scribbles. I've had a lingering obsession with John Wolseley ever since I saw his work at the State Library of Victoria a year ago.  I like the way he uses the white of his paper and his scratchy lines... although his lines say something... unlike my scribbles.  I am not as fond of his more realistic and detailed bird stuff, but as soon as it starts getting abstract it rings my bells.

I had thought the cure for my creative doledrums was to get in and start quilting the pieces I have piled up... but I think it is more than that.  I've stopped feeding my creativity.  Stopped sketching, stopped photographing and observing, for some reason it all seems too hard.  It could be related work pressures, I try not to let work affect my private life, but sometimes it is unavoidable and lately moreso.  I don't think I'm too far gone, but I have to be watchful as no job is worth loosing my will to create and observe.  No way.

I have ten straight days at home over Christmas.  I'm thinking of devising a series of excursions for photographing and drawing and generally working on my stuff.  If I don't plan, I know that I'll spend all the break knitting and watching cricket on the telly... a pretty good way to spend a break and relax, but where would it get me?

A collage of crappy paintings from my journal