G’day; Being a sheep grazier in the Strzelecki Ranges, Victoria Australia, is an exercise in bloody-mindedness.  Many would say that we’re living the dream and I guess we are.  It is beautiful here, surrounded by rainforest, fresh air and acres of blue sky.
To relax I do stuff; everything from computer graphics, textile art, sculpting, etching, individualising reading spectacles, painting (watercolour and gouache), illustrating, portraits and caricatures of locals, wine making, curing meats, and anything else that takes my fancy.
A couple of months ago, needing an egg cup, I became frustrated at the lack of imaginative egg cups available.  Eventually it all became too much for me and I decided to make my own - gargoyle egg cups were born.
I am still busy with sheep, replanting ‘The Bush’, commissioned art and graphics work, learning Klingon (weird woman), learning free form rock climbing (some would say that farming here is the same thing), flying RC helicopters and exploring new and interesting things.
I word of warning; I have an irrepressible and sometimes wicked sense of humour.



Chocolate Yum! 130mm x 130mm (unframed). Ink and gouache on heavily textured rag paper.
This is one in a series of caricatures of me I did for a small exhibition.  They were happily accepted and displayed by the organising committee, however, after the exhibition had closed they reminded me that the theme had been small and nude.  In retrospect my oversight was probably due to a deep-seated lack of interest in exposing my privates in public -  I’ll blame my parents (chuckle). I am asked to do caricatures on a regular basis now which I put down to a lot of very good humoured people living in the bush who are happy in their own skins and enjoy a good laugh.


Baring Their Soles 900mm x 460mm (framed).  Hand quilted and dyed silk (sold)
Never having worked with textiles before this was a challenge.  The feet are those of my long suffering husband, mine, and those of two friends who  were not nimble enough to escape my grasp. I rather feel that feet are a neglected part of our anatomy. The challenge was not only to reproduce form but texture and movement. The silk fabric and quilting provided the texture of soles while the foot prints in the background portray the motion.  The piece was entered in an exhibition with a textile/nudity theme and to my surprise, was sold on the opening night.  I’ve not done a very good job of photographing it but I hope you get the general idea.

I've been collecting maps for almost as long as I've been making art with a computer, close to ten years now. When I initially had the idea of making collages of maps into fauna, I couldn't bring myself to cut up the objects I treasured so deeply. From the colorful lines to the assortment of fill types, the tattered papers had been preserved for too long for me to destroy them with scissors. Even if I were to create something new from their destruction, the world would be with one less artifact. It's at this point when I truly saw the beauty of using the computer, the benefit of the truest sense non-destructive editing. Incidentally this allowed me to overcome one of the largest hurdles I had faced while making digital art; the maps added texture and depth to a medium that I have often struggled to make appear less flat and lifeless.

I will be having my first solo exhibition, From Here to Over There, on July 9th at Chop Suey Books in Richmond, VA. This will be followed by another show, The Atlas is Painless, opening on July 15th at The Renaissance Center in Dickson, Tennessee.

Here is a peek at some of my work:



Yellow Eyed Junco

The first piece I made using this new digital technique. I tried to emulate aves in poses reminiscent to field guides or old Audubon illustrations. The first series I began working on contain a hodgepodge of maps. I was more concerned with connecting color and texture than location.

Cut paper is a medium deeply rooted in history and tradition.  In this way, I hope to modernize this cut paper medium. Light and shadow is also important in my work. The light transforms the two-dimensional paper by creating a shadow. The shadow indicates space, which allows the piece to become three-dimensional. These pieces are all cut from a single sheet of paper with an exacto blade.



1. This piece titled Rice Husband is one of three hand cut paper pieces about superstitions that my mother told me. I draw inspiration from my Korean background and upbringing and juxtapose these cultural symbols with more contemporary imagery. This particular one is about how my mother told me to finish every single grain of rice at every meal. If I didn't, each grain that I left behind will become a physical mark on my future husband's face.

I am an artist and professor of printmaking and drawing based in Nashville, TN. As a child with an overactive imagination, I often envisioned the world as nothing more than dolls and creatures acting out fantastic narratives. I had a difficult time keeping my head in reality, and I never knew when something I was staring at would become a magical door to another world. When I slept, I was constantly visited by fantastic nightmares. My dreams were inescapable and graphic, filling my mind with vivid images I wanted to relay upon waking.

My prints, drawings, and animations draw from my influences of fantastic, imaginative worlds and lucid dreams. I draw my subject matter from questions, emotional reactions, and fascinations. I use my art to explore the human condition, revealing my personal view of the world, in the hope that others will compare and relate this exploration to their own. It is my belief that the sharing of stories and emotions helps humankind to understand themselves better by peering into the thoughts of others.

Plate 1

In this series about the my unconscious thought process, I print out an original rorschach inkblot used in psychoanalysis in light grey. I then draw directly over the shape in pencil with my first impulse of what I see in the abstract forms.

What could be cuter? Penguins at Everland Park in South Korea aren't used to snow, so their keepers outfitted them with suits to wear the first time they used their new snow run. Link (embedded video) -via Metafilter

Lexicographer Grant Barrett assembled a list of the Buzzwords of 2008 for The New York Times. The biggest part of the words came from the US presidential race, and a big chunk were inspired by the economic meltdown. A couple were born from the Beijing Olympics. But the biggest is a verb turned into a noun for use on the internet. Link -via the Presurfer

Jill Bell of Urbana, Maryland repaired a scratch on her car with a dab of nail polish, and liked the look so much that she painted her entire car with it!

Over the next 13 months, from September 2007 to this past October, she completely covered her car in a quilt-like pattern – as a quilter, she found the multi-pattern paint job fitting, she said.

Bell said she collected between 100 to 250 bottles of nail polish, but did not have an exact idea as she simply used bottles from anyone she could get it from.

"Lots of ladies in my church donated nail polish, and lots of ladies at Weight Watchers, too," she said. She said it would be nearly impossible for her to estimate the dollar value of all the bottles, as each brand cost a different amount – anywhere from under a dollar to $5.

Link -Thanks, Geekazoid!

(image credit: Bill Ryan/The Gazette)

It's a collision of three internet memes! This creation is called Nabii's Royal Naboo Air Force 1, and it's the winner of the Steam Wars contest from FBTB Forums. (If you check the forum, you'll find that there was originally a tie for first place.) Steampunk Lego Star Wars is one of the Top 20 Reasons to Love Lego Star Wars from GalacticBinder.com. Link -Thanks, Pete Svab!

Watch a super-cute video of a gang of dogs decorating a Christmas tree. The site is in Hungarian, but don't let that stop you from enjoying the fun! Link -Thanks, Johnny Cat!

What to do with all the snow that piles up in a city? Some folks in Toronto made snow bricks and covered a TTC shelter (a streetcar stop) to make it into an igloo! See more pictures at BlogTo. Link -Thanks, Jerrold!

This watch reminds me of something -I just can't put my finger exactly on what it is... Available from the Museum Of Modern Art (MOMA). Link -Thanks, Cary Groneveldt!

Face detection technology is a popular feature in digital cameras. Nikon's latest ad campaign focuses on the feature, bragging that the Nikon S60 can detect up to 12 faces. The ad are both funny and creepy! The other two at LA Weekly are even creepier than this one. Link -Thanks, Erin Broadley!

Can you name all nine of Santa's reindeer? Can you do it (and spell them correctly) in two minutes or less? That's the challenge today in the mental_floss Lunchtime Quiz! Yes, I know one of them has a controversial spelling, but you can find the one that works. I got them in 30 seconds, and I would've done better if I could type. http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/21168

PS: Of course, we know Santa really has a whole herd of reindeer.

A car stolen from Lapua, Finland was examined for evidence that might lead to the identity of the thief. A mosquito found inside was send to the lab and the human blood inside the insect had DNA that matched a man whose DNA was on file!

Finnish police said it was rare for them to use insects to solve crimes, although they are interested in everything found at a crime scene.

"It is not usual to use mosquitoes. In training we were not told to keep an eye on mosquitoes at crime scenes," Palomaeki said, laughing.

"It is not easy to find a small mosquito in a car, this just shows how thorough the crime scene investigation was," he added.

The suspect has been questioned and insists that he rode in the car when he was picked up hitchhiking, but did not steal the car. Link -Thanks, Geekazoid!

(Live Leak link)

December 15, 2008, South Waterfront neighborhood, Portland, Oregon. Looking from our condo we can see cars attempting, and most failing, to climb up a hill to get out of the neighborhood. I decided to put together a montage of sliding cars. Portland had a recent snowfall and we are expecting more tomorrow.

Might I add kudos for the excellent choice of theme music. -via Bits and Pieces