hiatus

I'm calling it. This blog is officially on hiatus. For all my good intentions, I'm just not feeling it these days so am putting this thing on hold.

I'm not sure when or if I'll come back to blogging, but for now want to say THANK YOU for reading little adelaide kate! I've really enjoyed blogging over the years, it's been a great way to track how my life has changed, but now it's time to live that life!

Have a wonderful 2015!!

Kate xxx

interview: tangerine meg on art, design & life

This interview is part of Tangerine Meg's Bold Interviews with a whole bunch of creatives. Check out her blog for more interviews, including her Q & A with me! 

You’re a graphic designer and artist. How do the two support and oppose one another?

Support: I find art and graphic design are both flavours of visual communication. The theories of colour and composition are employed in both to convey a message clearly. For art it's a personal story being communicated, whereas Graphic Design conveys a brand 'look' and business values and information. And in each it's a good idea to set off rich, fascinating visual areas with plenty of white breathing space!

Oppose: I think they cross pollinate each other. The clarity of communication necessary when doing graphics can be employed with a succinctity of expression when approaching personal artwork. Lately I've been combining cool quotes with my watercolour and lino print images. Circling us back to: art and graphic design lend richness to one other!

How does your life impact your art and your art impact your life? 

Life impacts art completely! 

When I see a pile of juicy mandarins at the Farmers Market, a cat sitting by a lovely curtain or a surprisingly purple flower it beckons me, with its colour, texture or shape. Its essence tugs at mine. We dance. I'm called to make an image – be it phone photo, painting or a quick scrawl to remind myself of the colours later.

Art impacts life: 

1. Making art? The feeling of flow has me in the present, engaged yet calm. Even if just a little painting happens I know I've done what I needed to that day. More than a little art makes a very good day :)
2. Seeing others' art? Seeing others' unique makings brings out curiosity and wonder and leads to a richer, fuller day. The recognition of a human truth in another's artwork, or seeing someone respond to my artwork – personal yet universal - is so heartwarming.

What is your creative process like?  

My creative process can appear sporadic for any given project - I may jump from one task to another when a fresh outlook is needed - but the process throughout the day is of ongoing gathering and weaving. I often start a picture or graphics project with an unstructured muse and scribble session, then take a break for percolation – haha, ironic as I don't drink coffee. Next I'll develop the idea and allow another percolation break. Thirdly, the idea is brought into shape, and finally I draw all the threads together and check for cleanness and completeness. Is this different when it’s something personal compared to something commissioned by a client? The stages might be squeezed closer together if the artwork is  for someone else – I need to be aware of the client or cat owner's time frame and goals. If I'm doing graphic design for myself (like my calendars) or a client one has to wrap up the process by ensuring all the formatting, colours and fonts have been checked and that there are no typos!

What are you most proud of in art and life? 

Art: I'm proud that I'm (still) doing it! I started making paintings years ago (and lessons at age 7). I'm so excited to be working on making art a bigger part of my livelihood. I feel lucky, making pictures is an activity that by its nature requires presence and intuition, a most enjoyable state to touch base with!

Life: (It's a cliché, but...)  My kids. They are awesome adults now. I don't feel I was very intuitive at parenting; and I wasn't sure until the second hit 20 (last year) that I had done a good enough job. Who would have thought that after all that nagging (me) and confusion (also me) they would grow into healthy, creative and lovely young men. (What a relief!) 

Tell us 5 key lessons of adulthood that you’ve come to live by. 

1. Attend to your quality of life. Eat healthy local foods, move your body, make your actions align with your values. If you take care of yourself you'll be able to contribute better, too.
2. You can do a crazy huge project, little by little, in repeated little tasks and sessions. A long bush walk doesn't have to be walked with every step at the same time – in fact it's impossible! The path can only be walked one step at a time.
3. Yoga And Sleep are Magic.
4. Make things – art, knitted items, paper mache, gardens. Read. 
5. Choose the colourful, patterned one!

Hi! I'm Tangerine Meg, delighted to meet you! I'd love you to join me on this curious soulful journey as Bold Life and Art unfold. The best way is to sign up for Tangerine Juice, my monthly-ish eNewsletter. You're heaps welcome to visit my website and download free stuff - there are bright bookmarks and a Reading Girl Bookplate image available this very moment, guaranteed to brighten up any personal library! You can also find me on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram. Let's play!

kate goes to europe: brussels

Kym and I recently travelled to Europe. After we visited Amsterdam and The Hague, we stopped off for a couple of nights in Brussels, which is what I'm sharing about today.

We went to Brussels as it's a European Union hot spot, and as established in my previous post, we're a household of political nerds.

We only had one full day in Brussels, because we went specifically to check out the EU. We spent the morning walking through the Parliamentarium. From one nerd to another (I assume you are one if you're still reading this post) I can totally vouch for this place. It was super interactive and gave us a much better idea of the history behind the EU and the role it plays in the region.

EU Parliament wasn't sitting when we were there, but we did wonder into the foyer and 'ooh' and 'aah' at the fancy carpet. What can I say? It's just how we roll.

We spent the afternoon wandering around the city, eating and napping. Lazy, right? You'll be happy to know we spent a whole chunk of time hunting for the very best waffles in Brussels. Here's my conclusion: All the waffles are doughy gold. We bought one to share, and that wasn't enough, so bought another one. It still wasn't enough. The next morning we had one each for breakfast. Even then, I kinda wish I'd bought a back-up for the train ride to our next stop, Munich.

Let's just say that people in Brussels seem to have no spacial or situational awareness. People were constantly cutting us off when we were trying to cross the street, cut in lines at shops, talked loudly in the quietest of rooms... And I really hate to say this, but the women in Brussels kinda gave me the shits. In addition to all the behaviour I just mentioned, they also walked insanely slow, with this dainty air, as if to prove their femininity. It just made them look slow in the head as well as the feet. Something about Brussels women comes across as ditzy and needy. I really think they could change this if they just wore sneakers instead of heels.

Ok, rant is over, I promise.

My Brussels recommendations:

• EU Parliamentarium
• Waffles
• Waffles
• Waffles
• Hot chocolate (get it from one of the chocolatiers so you know it's made with real chocolate goodness)

housiversary

Saturday was our six year housiversary. I can't believe we've lived here for so long! Kym and I always celebrate our housiversary by getting Indian and eating takeout in our lounge room. We feel like we're really giving the house a treat.

This is what the patio looked like when we first visited the house and the previous owners were still there. It's one of the big reasons we fell in love with it, which is why it's hard to admit that it has never looked this tidy since!

Do you celebrate a housiversary?

kate goes to europe: the hague

Our second stop on our recent Europe trip was The Hague (Den Haag), approx an hour south of Amsterdam. Kym and I went there to check out some UN goodness like the Peace Palace and the International Criminal Court but we also did a tour of the national parliament (which works super similar to Australian parliament system).

Meanwhile, I just realised what a nerdy sentence that was.... 

For those who have never considered going to The Hague, know this: it is essentially a Netherlands version of Canberra. It’s insanely green, everyone walks around in suits, there are cyclists and runners all over the place, the food is pretty average and it’s cold. See? Canberra.

We had one major disappointment- we planned to visit the International Criminal Court (ICC) and I checked the website the night before to make sure there was a court hearing for us to go watch. When we arrived, it turned out there was no court hearing and therefore nothing for us to do. We were told to leave and check the website… I was SO bummed and also really annoyed seeing as I had checked it and it clearly needed updating! Kym was also bummed as he had skipped watching the Parliament sit to come to the ICC with me. Did I mention what nerds we are?

Our biggest highlight was visiting the Peace Palace, which gave us a huge insight into the role the Netherlands has played in Diplomacy for centuries. This was followed closely by a stamp exhibition at the Museum Voor Communicatie, which I instigated. I really can't blame Kym for that one. In my defence, I went to check out the design... 

Here are a few things you should check out if you find yourself in The Hague:

• Crunch Cafe for a good brekkie 
• Museum voor Communicatie (we went to a nerdy as stamp exhibition, which we both LOVED)
• Binnenhof (Parliament) tour
• Peace Palace 

If you haven't already seen it, check out my post on our first stop, Amsterdam.