Photo Therapy

    I am struggling with one of photography course assignments [it is on light metering and using gray cards - Ack! I never want to see another gray card again]. So I took a break from the homework and just had fun with my camera. I took some photos of my favourite people. Photo therapy is great for me - it is a lot more fulfilling and a whole lot less expensive than shop therapy.

Photography by Melissa Gaggiano.

Photography by Melissa Gaggiano.

Photography by Melissa Gaggiano.

Photography by Melissa Gaggiano.

A Trip to the Kazoo

    My eldest has a different word for zoo. It is kazoo. So... last year the family visited the kazoo. And it was the first kazoo outing for both of the girls.
    I went back through some of my photo archives of that time and found these wonderful shots...

Photography by Melissa Gaggiano.

Photography by Melissa Gaggiano.

Photography by Melissa Gaggiano.

Photography by Melissa Gaggiano.

Knackered

Illustrations by Melissa Gaggiano.
Inspiration Jem, flowers, dolls.

    End of the week arrives and not a moment too soon. But perhaps a couple of days late for those who are feeling burnt out already. There have been early mornings and evenings with very little rest. Busy doing a little bit of this and not so much of that. My sewing machine bit the dust just as I was on the verge of trying new creative ideas combining drawing and sewing [swear, swear, profanity]. I knuckled down and read module 3 of my photography course at 5 in the morning [and it actually made sense]. I practiced taking photos and discovered that with enough light ISO 1600 can look good in monochrome, but this setting must be used discriminantly. I read about a Melbournian photographer - Athol Shmith. I tried reading Out of Africa, but have only gotten as far as page one. Did I mention my sewing machine is out of action - yeah! that really sucks.
On the upside I've got saturday night pizza to look forward to. Yum-yum!

Photography by Melissa Gaggiano.



Channelling Chrissie Amphlett

    I was taking photos of my eldest using high ISO settings in black and white. I wanted to see how it look with a strong grain. I'm not usually a fan of grain, but I thought it might be effective in monochromatic mode. Anyway here are a couple of my favourite shots of my eldest - I think she was channelling Chrissie Amphlett...


Photography by Melissa Gaggiano.

Photography by Melissa Gaggiano.

Photography by Melissa Gaggiano.

Up your nose with a... uh... pencil.
Photography by Melissa Gaggiano.

We're having pizza on Saturday night. OMG!
Photography by Melissa Gaggiano.

Photography by Melissa Gaggiano.

Darn It

Photography by Melissa Gaggiano.

    Well, darn it! My sewing machine just bit the dust. And I was right in the middle of learning a different stitch. Will have to turn my creative outpourings in another direction this week. Luckily I still have my photography and drawing.

Feelin' Crafty

    Feelin' crafty the past few days. I have actually been on something of a roll and have done some craft sewing, as can be seen...
    I made a felty sandwich as a present for an upcoming birthday. This pattern came from Myrtle and Eunice and if you visit their blog you will find a link to this sandwich tutorial.

Photography by Melissa Gaggiano.

    And after that I made a spoon doll for my eldest. This project came out of a Wee Wonderfuls book which I borrowed from a library [I will have to buy this book, because I borrow this all the time]. I didn't follow the pattern exactly. A few modifications were required. I had a different sized spoon and my eldest wanted the doll to look more like Alice [in Wonderland] so I altered the hair. Anyway the doll was finished in just under two days, between other things and she was christened Meike Alice.

Photography by Melissa Gaggiano.

    Now, what will I do next?.. I am wanting to try something on my sewing machine - free motion sewing. So I'll do that next.

A Walk in the Park

    It's not always a walk in the park, but sometimes there are going to be wonderful moments when being a parent is.

Photography by Melissa Gaggiano.

Books and Coffee

Illustration by Melissa Gaggiano.

Some people are addicted to books.

Some are addicted to coffee.

Some are addicted to books about coffee.

Some are addicted to books covered in coffee.

And some just love to drink their coffee and read a good book.

Stir Fry Inspiration

    Last night I had a bit of spice and flavour in my meal. It was a satay stir-fry with a side of rice and snow peas. If you'd like to give it a try, I have included the recipes below.

Illustration by Melissa Gaggiano.

Stir Fried Snow Peas

Ingredients

•       250 g snow peas
•       1 tbs sesame seed oil
•       1 tbs finely chopped garlic
•        ¼ tsp salt

Steps

1. Heat oil in a preheated wok [or fry pan], on medium high.

2. Add garlic and stir fry until scented.

3. Throw in snow peas and salt. Stir-fry for no more than 2 minutes.

Chicken Satay Stir Fry

Ingredients

•       Peanut oil
•       4 chopped chillies
•       6 garlic cloves crushed
•       1-2 tbs dark roasted curry powder
•       Light and dark soy sauce
•       ½ lemon [grate the skin for zest and squeeze the juice]
•       2 chicken fillets diced
•       5 large tbs peanut butter
•       Optional: Add a garnish of chopped coriander and spring onions. Yum!

Steps

    1.    Heat oil in wok 3-5 minutes, on high.
    2.    Stir-fry chilli, garlic and onion. Do this until the onion is golden brown.
    3.    Stir in chicken until sealed.
    4.    Add big splashes of soy sauce.
    5.   Add peanut butter, lemon zest, lemon juice and curry powder. Stir everything together until it is a nice consistency.

Note: Serve with a side of your favourite rice. At the moment I am partial to basmati rice.

Where It's At

    I have a couple of artistic projects and things on the go. I am sewing a birthday present for a relative [while watching Enterprise]. Taking photos and working through module 3 of my photography course [through The Photography Institute]. Plus I have the ever growing list of potential art/craft projects on the backburner [which means I am giving it a lot of thought when I am wide awake at 3 in the morning and that's as far as it goes sometimes. Oh so many ideas so little time.]

There are many, many artist who inspire me and I admire with a passion. And the following are at the top of my inspiration/admiration list:

• Carla Coulson
• Marguerite Sauvage
• Alexia Sinclair
• Josh Agle
• Sophie Griotto
• Catalina Estrada
• Annie Tao
• Danny Gregory
• Izak Zenou
• Melissa Haslam
• Bernadette Pascua

Photography by Melissa Gaggiano.

Photography by Melissa Gaggiano.

Photography by Melissa Gaggiano.

Photography by Melissa Gaggiano.