tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-47809625473825759312024-03-14T06:30:07.232+11:00david eris loong handmade jewelleryI live in the Blue Mountains of NSW, Australia. My jewellery is inspired by anything and everything, with emphases on anime, Scandinavian history and mythology, science fiction, folk tales and physics. I tend to design things from time periods ranging from slightly before the Dawn of Time to the (almost) infinitely far-flung future, although these tend to loop around endlessly like a giant Space Taco circling a singularity.Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02202866303923879105noreply@blogger.comBlogger33125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4780962547382575931.post-85326476667668413932014-10-17T09:36:00.000+11:002014-10-17T09:36:21.041+11:00Welcome aboardWell, since I've proven I can't be trusted to post entries here in anything under a geological time span, here is a short run down on me, my work, and where you will be able to find me.<br />
I've been making jewellery since 1996. I studied metal working in an Adult Education programme with the wonderful Stephen Leuckel, now sadly deceased, on the far north coast of New South Wales, Australia, and continued to learn through hands-on experience in the years following. Just by chance Stephen suggested I incorporate brass into the first piece I ever designed and made, and that started my practice of combining different metals into my work. Generally I use a combination of sterling silver, brass and copper, but I also use yellow, rose and white gold upon request.<br />
Originally my designs were mainly influenced by my studies and very short career in archaeology, and by my long-time addiction to fantasy literature. These aspects still pervade my work, and have been added to by other interests such as astronomy, physics, anime, the ocean, geology, Nintendo video games, mythology, folk tales, science fiction, the beautiful World Heritage National Park that I live in and, as may be obvious to some, my cat. Each piece I make is uniquely designed and entirely hand made, although with the passage of years it is inevitable that certain obvious themes, such as a chicken talking to a donkey or a cat landing on the moon, will appear in various forms.<br />
I started doing markets in Sydney at the Balmain Markets in 1997, before moving to Glebe Markets where I had a stall for something like 12 years. A long time! After a bit of a break I started running a stall most months at the Old Bus Depot Market in Canberra. I like the market there a lot, but as it is a 700km round trip I don't get there every month. The dates when I will be at upcoming markets are updated when I arrange a stall and listed in the <a href="http://davidloong.blogspot.com.au/p/market-dates.html" target="_blank">Market Dates</a> section of this site.<br />
I also, after some stubborn and unfounded reluctance (from my Luddite side), opened an online shop on <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/davidloong" target="_blank">Etsy</a> in 2007. Etsy has a great community of artisans and collectors, and I have been lucky to have met some absolutely lovely people from all around the globe through it. There are links to my Etsy shop in the <a href="http://davidloong.blogspot.com.au/p/where-to-buy.html" target="_blank">Where to Buy</a> and <a href="http://davidloong.blogspot.com.au/p/samples.html" target="_blank">Samples</a> sections of this site, one showing <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/davidloong" target="_blank">work that is currently available on Etsy</a> and one showing <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/davidloong/sold?ref=shopinfo_sales_leftnav" target="_blank">pieces that have been sold on Etsy previously</a>. If all is going well there should be a panel to the right of this showing some of the current stock. Occasionally when I can't properly monitor the shop I put it on holiday mode, and then, unfortunately none of the links will show you anything other than the shop homepage informing visitors that I am on vacation. While this sounds like I am sunning myself on a tropical island this is, sadly, very unlikely to be the case; more likely I am off at a market somewhere.Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02202866303923879105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4780962547382575931.post-54242448957068889942013-09-16T09:18:00.000+10:002013-09-16T09:18:37.363+10:00Busy Bee<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The last few months have been pretty busy, and though I haven't been as productive as this fine fellow working away at our weeping cherry tree, it feels like lots has been going on. Our very, very mild winter has well and truly ended, with spring on show everywhere with fine displays of blossoms and new leaf growth. Of course, there are aberrations to the pattern, with today being cold and cloudy and promising rain, which our newly blooming garden desperately needs.<br />
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One of the most enjoyable things which happened recently for me was receiving a beautiful hand-woven jacket from my lovely friend Lurdes in Portugal. Lurdes has been developing her weaving skills on an old loom, and the amount of talent, dedication and work involved staggers me. She often writes of her projects on <a href="http://esquilohandmade.blogspot.com.au/">her blog</a>, which always gives a wonderful glimpse into her life and creative endeavours.<br />
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Here is a picture of the jacket, taken on a very windy winter day up at Sunset Rock at Wentworth Falls. I am going to make some buttons for it, hopefully very soon, though every time I plan to start something new crops up to delay me. Lurdes very kindly made the jacket green on my request, sourcing some fantastic old wool from around Lisbon, and I like to think of it as my Link jacket. The buttons I am planning are going to be triforces. I was very much looking forward to finding it in my Wind Waker postbox, but sadly the postie brought it up to my door instead.<br />
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Having just been at Canberra for a market recently, the next one for me isn't for another month or so, on Sunday October 20th.<br />
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<br />Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02202866303923879105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4780962547382575931.post-85184462354338596162013-03-09T12:32:00.000+11:002013-03-09T12:32:13.124+11:00Breaking newsI was scheduled to have my next stall at the Old Bus Depot Markets in Canberra tomorrow, 10th March, and I've been busily working away getting pieces made. However, due to a freak accident involving my car's windscreen, I don't have any means of travelling there. So my next market will be on the 14th April. In the interim I will be putting more pieces up on to my Etsy shop.<br />
In other breaking news, I've replaced part of the roof of our house, <b>finally</b> put a roof over our entryway, grown an apparently rare and desirable passionfruit that has turned out to be a noxious weed that is plaguing Hawaii and New Zealand, failed to complete Master rankings in Nintendoland in Zelda, Pikmin and Metroid (despite diligent effort) and after years of printing out and cutting my own business cards have actually had some professionally printed. For the last item, it's a bit disappointing, as this was to be my first market with them... Just for the sake of getting them out into the world, here is what they look like:<br />
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<br />Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02202866303923879105noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4780962547382575931.post-57007244924796602562012-12-26T18:17:00.003+11:002012-12-26T18:17:39.824+11:00Hybrid homepageAfter changing my internet service provider again I got tired of shifting my old website on to a new storage space, so I've combined most of the content of the old site with the poor, neglected blog for posting market dates to end up with this. It's a fair bit further into the 21st century than the old site, and I guess my archaic version of Dreamweaver which I used to create and maintain that can now finally rest in peace. All the coding and whatnot gets handled automatically, and though I lose a lot of control of what I can and can't do, it means everything works on modern browsers and mobile devices. Almost everything! For some reason the Mini Etsy widget thingy on the right of the page won't work on my PC, and none of the items in my Etsy shop appear. I'd blame Chrome for that, but the widget works using Chrome on a tablet, so who knows?<br />
Another feature of this new setup which isn't perfect is my own fault. For the purposes of providing samples of the work, I've simply put links to current and older pieces on my Etsy shop. The blogger format doesn't really suit having multiple single pages of samples, and the changing nature of the Etsy links makes things a little more interesting. It also saves me some work! However, whenever I put the Etsy shop on vacation (which happens when I have a market stall to avoid the risk of selling a piece both in person and online), the links only lead to an announcement that my shop is temporarily closed. It's a pretty minor issue, though, and I hope anyone kind enough to click through at such times won't be too inconvenienced.<br />
To mark the changeover to another new site, I've dug out a couple of images from the first website I set up for myself, many years ago. I seem to recall the site didn't work at all at first, since I hadn't uploaded any of the images to the server... and some kind person wrote to me telling me that nothing was visible. It also didn't cope well with different screen resolution sizes. But I enjoyed making it, and ended up knowing a reasonable amount about good old Dreamweaver 4. All fairly useless now of course, but there you go. One notable thing about the Home button image below: it was the very first piece of jewellery I ever made. Actually, the second when I think about it; the first was a plain silver ring, which was the task I had been given by my teacher to learn the basics of metalwork. But the dragon brooch was the first piece I designed and made under my own steam.<br />
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<br />Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02202866303923879105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4780962547382575931.post-89683074114499428192012-12-07T16:43:00.000+11:002012-12-07T16:43:28.068+11:00Still Life with ElephantsIt's finally December and the end of the year has been the usual hectic runaround of trying to make jewellery for the Christmas markets. It's been three weeks since the last market, and I've been busy busy busy making things to keep my market stall suitably stocked for the Saturday/Sunday double whammy which is coming up this weekend. It's getting into late afternoon on Friday, and I've only just finished polishing. Here's a look at what three weeks of my life can look like:<br />
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Looks like more in real life! Maybe just because I can feel the time it took for each one...<br />
The musical accompaniment for many of these came from <a href="http://lilyandking.com/" target="_blank">Lily and King</a>, a duo that I heard on the radio and subsequently purchased their album "Medication". I'm completely hooked!<br />
OK, so another two markets this weekend (Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th) and then a final one for the year on Sunday 23rd at the <a href="http://obdm.com.au/" target="_blank">Old Bus Depot Markets</a> in Canberra. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to one and all.Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02202866303923879105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4780962547382575931.post-77504314726882775822012-10-20T21:18:00.001+11:002012-10-20T21:18:34.721+11:00Bad habitsIt's becoming an unbreakable habit of mine to leave posting my market dates until the very last moment... so in that tradition I'm happy to say that my next stall at the <a href="http://www.obdm.com.au/" target="_blank">Old Bus Depot Market</a> in Canberra is tomorrow, Sunday 21st October. To try and make myself seem a little less disorganised, though, here are the dates for the rest of the markets at which I will have a stall for the remainder of 2012:<div>
Sunday 11 November</div>
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Sunday 18 November</div>
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Saturday 8 December</div>
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Sunday 9 December</div>
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Sunday 23 December</div>
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Busy times! And lots of driving...</div>
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Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02202866303923879105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4780962547382575931.post-45583741917628811512012-07-25T13:32:00.001+10:002012-07-25T13:32:34.792+10:00After the breakI've had a couple of months off from the markets, mainly to continue the endless work on our house. Things are moving along! ...but still have a long way to go. I haven't been completely lazy on the jewellery front, since I've had quite a few commissions to work on, and I've rather enjoyed the mix of different work.<br />
One other thing I've really enjoyed is a new anime that started recently, titled <i>Humanity Has Declined</i>. Crunchyroll has it available for viewing <a href="http://www.crunchyroll.com/humanity-has-declined" target="_blank">here</a>. I am enthralled by it. Its quirky, resigned and humorous attitude to the imminent extinction of humanity is simply wonderful. It's one of those things that I would love to have been a part of creating.<br />
Anyway, my next market at the <a href="http://www.obdm.com.au/" target="_blank">Old Bus Depot Markets</a> in Canberra is on Sunday 19th August. I'll be dedicating much of the remaining time until then creating more jewellery, and no doubt seeds of inspiration will be provided by <i>Humanity Has Declined</i>.Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02202866303923879105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4780962547382575931.post-76943082265133153032012-05-11T12:43:00.000+10:002012-05-11T12:43:07.250+10:00Last minute...Well, I've managed to forget this again until the last minute. I'll blame all of the excitement surrounding the Federal Budget hoopla. OK, maybe not. Probably less demeaning to just blame myself.<br />
My next market stall at the <a href="http://www.obdm.com.au/" target="_blank">Old Bus Depot Market</a> in Canberra is in two days, Sunday 13th May. Mother's Day! Happy Mother's Day to all and sundry.Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02202866303923879105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4780962547382575931.post-48897464486637251812012-04-12T12:43:00.000+10:002012-04-12T12:43:33.667+10:00Happy Sock Monkey DayI remember reading a Peanuts cartoon when I was younger, where one of the characters, Lucy I think, asks a pair of adult legs why there is a Mother's Day and a Father's Day but no Children's Day. Because, comes the response, every day is Children's Day. Which is absolute rubbish, as anyone who has actually been a child (which makes everyone) knows. Special days are full of breakfast in bed, presents, choice meals and general immunity from prosecution. Those might come around more than once a year for a child, but every day of the year?<br />
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Sadly, the same is true for Sock Monkeys. The United Nations recently, and quite scandalously, rejected a proposal to make every day Sock Monkey Day. They wouldn't even make 2012 The Year of the Sock Monkey. And while the Chinese Calendar does have the Year of the Monkey every 12 years, and as a subcategory the Year of the Sock Monkey every 12000 years, it really doesn't seem enough for this remarkable species. So I am declaring, even without a United Nations sanction, April 15th as Sock Monkey Day.<br />
To celebrate, I will be having my next stall at the <a href="http://www.obdm.com.au/" target="_blank">Old Bus Depot Markets</a> in Canberra. Not necessarily the celebration I would have chosen, but the days coincide, so I'm putting a positive spin on it. Anyone who brings their Sock Monkey to the stall will get a free imaginary banana and an enormous amount of goodwill.Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02202866303923879105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4780962547382575931.post-83950872152976774992012-02-26T21:38:00.000+11:002012-02-26T21:38:46.279+11:00Red letter(box) dayToday I finally completed a letterbox which I have been planning to make for several years now. Having worked as a postie in a past life, I've been thoroughly ashamed of the last few letterboxes which we've had: tinny, ugly little things with slots which were very mean in their dimensions, and incapable of containing anything larger than a standard envelope. A tree branch fell on our last one too (thanks to our electricity company pruning branches from their lines), and ever since then it hasn't been quite watertight.<br />
Anyway, I've always been wary of making a nice letterbox, given the tendency for delinquents to destroy or deface such things. I'm still wary! But I did it anyway. I love this design, which is the template for the letterboxes which appear throughout the islands of <a href="http://www.zelda.com/gcn/" target="_blank">The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker</a>, a game that I am ridiculously enamoured with. As my nephew has my copy of Wind Waker at the moment I have to thank <a href="http://nintendopapercraft.blogspot.com.au/" target="_blank">Nintendo Papercraft</a> for the <a href="http://www.nintendopapercraft.com/2008/03/there-are-just-few-zelda-windwaker.html" target="_blank">details of the design</a>. Just making it made me happy. Putting it out on the street made me nervous. Betting is now on to guess just how long it will survive.<br />
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I did alter the design a little... Plus Hyrule isn't really too plagued with junk mail, but I'm afraid our world is a little different.<br />
I've also got the date for my next stall at the <a href="http://www.obdm.com.au/" target="_blank">Old Bus Depot Markets</a> in Canberra: Sunday March 11th.Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02202866303923879105noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4780962547382575931.post-75964180944051393042012-01-17T22:24:00.001+11:002012-01-17T22:24:48.861+11:00What to do with moolaHaving bid farewell to 2011, it is now time to say adieu to the Rabbit for another 12 years and to welcome in the mighty Dragon. Yes, Chinese New Year is on us again, and it is once again time to overindulge on food and drink and to hope that someone will hand over a little red envelope with some moola inside. The hard currency sort of moola, not, as I have just learned through the power of Wikipedia,<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moola" target="_blank"> the vegetable sort of moola</a> which as it happens will not, in our house, be stuffed in red envelopes but grated, boiled, mixed with rice flour, tapioca starch, soy beans, shitake mushrooms and shallots, steamed and then fried and served as luo bo gao. Who would have thought a daikon radish could taste so good? And who would have thought it was called <i>moola</i> in Bangladesh?<br />
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OK, so another year on both the Gregorian and Lunar calendars means a return to work, and as I was out cycling today, thinking I was happily removed temporarily from civilization, I received a phone call from the <a href="http://www.obdm.com.au/" target="_blank">Old Bus Depot Market</a> asking if I was going to be attending the January market. I guess it was my fault for smuggling such a piece of technology with me out into the bush. In any case it was a reminder that it was time to get back into things, and having provided an affirmative response to the enquiry I had to turn around and get back to my studio. So another stall looms, this one on Sunday 29th January, the Year of the Dragon. As is traditional for me, I won't be at any market in February, so the following market should be in March, and when I dig out the date for it I'll post it somewhere close to here.Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02202866303923879105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4780962547382575931.post-16982782540565808392011-10-28T13:15:00.003+11:002011-10-28T13:15:56.251+11:00Mount (not so) SolitaryThings are picking up speed now as the end of the year approaches, and as my jewellery workload increased and a new project began on the house I saw it as the perfect time to... go on a bushwalk. My excuse is that heading out into the bush is very healthy for my creative energy, and that I haven't been on a camping trip since my accident last year left me incapacitated for quite a while, so it was time to get back into things. Plus the weather was finally beautiful: blue, clear skies, warm sunny days with crisp cool nights and new Spring growth everywhere.<br />
Yeah, ok, it was really just to get away from work for a couple of days.<br />
The plan was to go on a two day walk from Kanangra Walls to Cathedral Rocks and back, a little west of home in the Kanangra-Boyd National Park. Having consulted the topographic contours on the relevant map, though, and recalling a previous excursion out that way some time ago, we reconsidered and shifted plans to an easier walk: from Wentworth Falls, across Mount Solitary and then up to Katoomba. It's a kind of classic walk up here, and for one reason or another I have never managed to walk across Mount Solitary. We thought it would be pretty easy going, and set off happily, navigating a very steep descent down Lion Head Ridge to Kedumba Creek. It was a bit of an eye-opener, really, experiencing how miserable the muscles in my legs have become. I was pitifully slow on the downhills on the whole trip, and as there were a few fairly exciting descents I got to exhibit my snail impersonation quite a bit. Uphills were a little easier, except then my stamina showed its inadequacies, and by the time we reached the top of Mount Solitary I was pretty exhausted. The funny thing is, I always thought of Mount Solitary as a big flat plateau, and as it sits smack bang in the middle of the Kanimbla Valley, easily observable to anyone and everyone who has ever been to Katoomba, it's weird that I never really took much notice of how undulating the top of it actually is. After the huge climb up I was looking forward to ambling around looking for a campsite, but was faced with hiking up and down, up and down until we reached a nice spot in the mid-afternoon. Another funny thing: with a name like Mount Solitary, you might expect to be kind of alone out there. In fact, we saw more people on that one walk than on pretty much any other walk we've done, even though it was mid-week and out of holiday season.<br />
Ah well, it was lovely anyway, and it actually felt like a great boost to my creativity. There were wildflowers everywhere, it was kind of insane; first great expanses of pink boronias and then several stands of waratahs towards the end, with all manner of native irises, flowering leptospermums and others I didn't recognise in between. I neglected to bring a camera, which is why this post is rather lacking in visual support.<br />
So now I'm back into work, and just to bring the mood back to earth the weather has gone all wintery again, cold and wet and unappealling. Hopefully it won't last like this too long, because I was looking forward to a warmer stall at the next market! As it nears Christmas the frequency of stalls available to me picks up, and I have double my usual quota, with two in November and also two in December. As always the venue is the <a href="http://www.obdm.com.au/">Old Bus Depot Markets</a> in Kingston, Canberra, and the dates are:<br />
Sunday November 13th ("The Jewel of Canberra")<br />
Sunday November 20th<br />
Saturday December 10th<br />
Sunday December 11th<br />
And then, hopefully, I'll be off on another bushwalk.Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02202866303923879105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4780962547382575931.post-17304353868163926272011-10-11T19:41:00.000+11:002011-10-11T19:41:48.036+11:00Rome wasn't built in a dayOr so they say. I can believe it! I've been putting in a circular terrace wall in the backyard and, small as it is, it's taken me more than a day so far. Somehow it reminds of a Roman construction, some kind of water storage or catacomb or some such thing.<br />
Rome was kind of on my mind anyway, as Anna suggested it as a theme for some new pieces of jewellery for this month. I've made a few, but it was harder than I thought to come up with nice designs that I was happy with. I guess Rome wasn't designed in a day either.<br />
The next market is coming up; I will have my little stall at the <a href="http://www.obdm.com.au/">Old Bus Depot Markets</a> in Canberra on Sunday October 16th, 10am to 4pm. Hopefully it will be continuing to warm up after the recent unwelcome return to cold, wet weather.Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02202866303923879105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4780962547382575931.post-13077018252019486442011-09-13T21:32:00.001+10:002011-09-13T21:32:17.508+10:00Time shiftWhoosh! Seems like I just got spat out of another time vortex! Time for another market already... I got a bit carried away with the unfinished project that distracted me last month too, and have been slightly taken by surprise by the rapid passage of time. Oh hang on, time vortex and all that, so it wasn't my fault after all.<br />
OK, so I'll be in Canberra again on the 18th of September for the <a href="http://www.obdm.com.au/">Old Bus Depot Market</a>. Last month I discovered some rather heavenly macaroons for sale at the market, which I have a strong suspicion will feature in this weekend's market experience for me, in combination with a cup of coffee.Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02202866303923879105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4780962547382575931.post-29535088095970262762011-08-15T22:20:00.000+10:002011-08-15T22:20:04.876+10:00Back to workSo, the short holiday is finally over. Well, my brief hiatus from making jewellery ended a few weeks ago, but now that the next market is coming up I actually feel like this is the real end to the holiday. I managed to get quite a lot done in the month I had off, but not everything I was hoping for. We have a new room though! Just not quite finished...<br />
One of the good things about having a break is that it's always refreshing to head back to my little workspace. I've been a bit pressed for time (having not only had a holiday but also having had to take on some paid work - yes, paid! just for novelty!), but I've managed to get a fair amount of new pieces nearly completed so far, and hopefully all shiny and polished by this coming Sunday. Yes, another market at the <a href="http://www.obdm.com.au/">Old Bus Depot Markets</a> in Canberra, on Sunday 21st August.<br />
Finally, here's a recommendation for anyone in Australia who has access to the <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/iview/?WT.mc_id=ABCTV_iview_TVau">ABC iView service</a> (and anyone who can find the show elsewhere): I stumbled across a show last night called "Making it Handmade". For those who enjoy creating things, or are generally interested in the weird world of handmade craft, this programme should have some appeal. I found it quite engaging, and it was fun to hear people talking about their passion for making things, and the motivations that drive them. It's not a show for everyone (definitely not for the prudish!), but I was glad I was flicking through channels at the right moment. For those who are prudish, but want a recommendation anyway, there's also "The Invention of Dr NakaMats" on iView, another show about the satisfaction of creation. Well, I think one could argue that's one element of the show. Actually, if you're really prudish, you might have to look away when the topic turns to Dr NakaMats' Love Jet invention.Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02202866303923879105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4780962547382575931.post-35351122964650933782011-06-03T21:57:00.000+10:002011-06-03T21:57:58.940+10:00(A lack of) personal developmentWinter has finally officially arrived, but it feels like it's been cold for quite a while already. It's kind of nice, getting to wear coats, cook hearty soup, appreciate cosy kitties who aren't catching lizards and feel kind of adventurous just stepping outside, but then again, I seem to get over it faster and faster each year. Even though I now have quite a nice little studio setup, it's still pretty cold sitting out there for hours on end.<br />
I've been pretty busy nonetheless, managing to get quite a few new pieces made for the next market in Canberra on Sunday June 12th. There has been a bunch of other stuff going on around here too which has been splitting up my time and attention, but I have been a little more diligent than usual in focusing on jewellery making. I'd like to say that this was a sign of personal development, but in reality it's probably because I made a decision to take July off from jewellery to tackle some work on the house which I have been procrastinating over for months, and which I can't avoid any longer. In a way it's a little disappointing not to go to the July market, which will mark one year since our first <a href="http://www.obdm.com.au/">Old Bus Depot Market</a> stall, but as I say, I can't put off this other business any longer. For one thing, Anna might attack me with a hatchet if I don't start it soon.<br />
So, the next market after June 12 will be in August, though I am planning on being better with <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/davidloong">my Etsy shop</a>, which has been rather shamefully neglected of late, so new pieces should be posted there in the interim between markets. More personal development required I guess.Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02202866303923879105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4780962547382575931.post-29189062803073062502011-05-01T08:41:00.000+10:002011-05-01T08:41:02.570+10:00Not quite an authentic hobbitYesterday I finally went and walked about Mount York, at the western end of the Blue Mountains, where the original European route went down into the western plains. I walked up Lockyer's Track and then back down Cox's Road, the latter being the path that coaches used to descend on their way to Bathurst, with logs tethered at the back to slow them down on the steep slope. I'd read accounts of early travellers before, one of which can be found <a href="http://www.megalongcc.com.au/Ambermere/elizabeth_hawkins__crossing_the.htm">here</a>, and was keen to experience the terrible descent described in them, and while it must have indeed been quite terrifying in a coach it was fairly easy going for a walker.<br />
It was rather cool and drizzly for most of the walk, with the occasional glimpse of rolling hills below appearing as the cloud and fog parted momentarily. As often happens, I felt very much like I was a hobbit walking through the Shire in <i>Three is Company</i> and <i>A Shortcut to Mushrooms</i> from <i>The Lord of the Rings </i>(and maybe a little portion from around the Withywindle for good measure). As a dutiful disciple of Sam Gamgee I had, as usual, "an apple for walking", a stick for the climbs and a pack filled with vittles. The track rose out of the farmland into pleasant woodland up to a rocky ridge, with a great multitude of mushroom varieties springing up everywhere, from extremely slimy but beautiful purple ones to huge, plate sized monsters to delicate pink coral types. If I was a true hobbit, of course, I would have been in seventh heaven, but the Australian tradition is to suspect most wild mushrooms as either deadly or at least rather naughty, and I left them to decorate the landscape instead of using them to fill a basket for my lunch.<br />
Anyway, with the natural beauty, the solitude and the Tolkien nostalgia I feel very refreshed for another week of jewellery making before the next Canberra market. I can feel a mushroom pendant coming on for sure, and maybe one with trees and rolling hills. Our next stall is on Sunday 8th May.Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02202866303923879105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4780962547382575931.post-74301973854680013252011-04-05T18:26:00.000+10:002011-04-05T18:26:14.267+10:00Old timesIt's almost time for another market, and I feel like I've only just done one. It feels almost the old days of weekly markets. Actually, it doesn't really feel that bad, but nonetheless the three week gap between the last market and the upcoming one seems very brief.<br />
So, I kind of forgot that I should put up the next market day until now, which is pretty late notice I guess. Anyway, the next stall is on the 10th of April, as usual at the Jewellery Day at the <a href="http://www.obdm.com.au/">Old Bus Depot Markets</a>. Although I've spent much of the three weeks finishing off our laundry, I have been making jewellery when I could, and have a reasonable number of new pieces for the market. Once again there are some new rabbits, keeping with the Year of the Rabbit vibe, with a skiing rabbit and a skateboarding rabbit pretty much finished. Plus a bunch of other stuff too, some sillier and some less so, as seems to be the usual pattern.Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02202866303923879105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4780962547382575931.post-39111874547120964672011-02-21T18:19:00.000+11:002011-02-21T18:19:36.225+11:00Return of the Rabbit<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AyhQkQ0pWHk/TWIQPlqG6kI/AAAAAAAAADg/8ZAii-HuF4A/s1600/rabbit+of+the+year.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AyhQkQ0pWHk/TWIQPlqG6kI/AAAAAAAAADg/8ZAii-HuF4A/s320/rabbit+of+the+year.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Rabbit (of the year)</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Well, another year rolls around, marking the Return of the Rabbit and the anniversaries of both my sourdough starter and this oft untended blog. </div><div class="MsoNormal">In honour of the warm weather and the generally slower pace of life, we celebrated the season again with another trip to the South Coast of NSW. This time we were really at the northern end of the <st1:placename w:st="on">South</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Coast</st1:placetype>, not being so keen on so much travelling in the car, and went to Currarong at the northern end of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Jervis</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Bay</st1:placetype></st1:place>. The week preceding our trip was unbearably hot, and we were extremely ready for some time in what was promoted as “the largest rockpool on the south coast of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Australia</st1:place></st1:country-region>” (or something like that anyway). There was indeed a very capacious rockpool very close to the town (and our accommodation) which we accidentally left until the last morning of our stay to swim in, actually in an attempt to avoid bluebottles, which had invaded our part of the coast the day before. It turned out to be full of the most interesting varieties of fish, and we regretted not having indulged in some snorkelling there earlier. Some other snorkelling highlights of the trip, however, included Lobster Bay, where many fish were admired but no lobsters, and Hare Bay, where we hoped to observe green sea turtles grazing and baby squid nestling in the extensive sea grass meadows (but didn’t) and where Anna was almost nibbled by a small Port Jackson shark.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_q3Sb5k8Rik/TWIQdzRUZvI/AAAAAAAAADk/qrWN4CAR1Fk/s1600/lobster+bay.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_q3Sb5k8Rik/TWIQdzRUZvI/AAAAAAAAADk/qrWN4CAR1Fk/s320/lobster+bay.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lobster Bay: full of life, bereft of lobsters</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_UjIiprXYIQ/TWIQ0wUCwZI/AAAAAAAAADo/h5kICemgFdA/s1600/hare+bay.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_UjIiprXYIQ/TWIQ0wUCwZI/AAAAAAAAADo/h5kICemgFdA/s320/hare+bay.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hare Bay: one of the most extensive areas of sea grass meadows in NSW, perfect for camouflaging the infamous gummy shark.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal">For those out there who are interested (and I know there are many from all of the eager correspondents who have written on the subject) I have also managed to finally complete the Step which was the subject of an earlier posting. It now has a timber edging and is tiled with charcoal and marble tiles (in colour terms only; the material is actually glazed ceramic), which continues also through the adjoining laundry/toilet. So, another small but significant step, metaphoric and literal at the same time.</div><div class="MsoNormal">The next <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Canberra</st1:place></st1:city> market is still a month away, since I was unable to attend this month. I believe the date for my next stall is Sunday 20th March, and although I haven’t actually booked in at this stage, it can be assumed, if I have not posted anything to the contrary in the interim, that I will be there with a collection of new pieces which will hopefully be of interest to anyone who visits.</div>Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02202866303923879105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4780962547382575931.post-86534023672848823852011-01-06T11:23:00.000+11:002011-01-06T11:23:42.659+11:00Vacuum in CyberspaceAlthough I forgot in December to book in to the January market at the <a href="http://www.obdm.com.au/">Old Bus Depot Market</a> in Canberra, I've just done so over the phone, and so my next market there will be on Sunday January 16th. The usual Christmas lethargy having been (mostly) overcome, I've been making some pieces already this year, and should have a reasonable amount of stock on display. Some of the new pieces have already been put up on <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/davidloong">my Etsy page</a>.<br />
I've also decided to see how changing the currency settings on Etsy will work out for me. It used to be the case that all prices were set in US dollars, which made account keeping and completing tax returns kind of laborious as the fluctuating fortunes of the Australian dollar changed the actual amount that made it to me when something was purchased. Now Etsy allows sellers to set various currencies, so mine is now set in Australian dollars. Hopefully it won't actually effect anyone adversely; from what I can see, the main difference is that the price for each piece might look a little odd if viewed in a different currency, and that price might change a little from day to day as the mysterious world of the money market does whatever it does to the value of various types of monies. There is an explanation of how the whole thing is supposed to work for customers on Etsy <a href="http://help.etsy.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/30/kw/currency">here</a>.<br />
Anyway, there you go, possibly the most boring thing ever submitted to cyberspace.Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02202866303923879105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4780962547382575931.post-31467206539240303792010-12-26T13:30:00.000+11:002010-12-26T13:30:59.878+11:00Cats for ChristmasWell, another Christmas down, and almost another year. Many thanks to the very generous patrons of the <a href="http://www.obdm.com.au/">Old Bus Depot Market</a> in Canberra who made it a very busy and enjoyable end to 2010!<br />
In my efforts to produce a lot of jewellery in a short time frame, I frequently found myself staring at the walls trying to come up with designs. Doodling ideas is my usual method of coming up with something, but in most instances I have a kernel of a concept to get me going, even if it's something as basic as the shape being circular or square or whatever. Much of the time during this period of production, the kernel started with the idea that it would be a piece with an animal in it, and as the animal closest to my heart is my little cat, it frequently turned out that the theme would be centred on a cat. Fishing cats, flying cats, swimming cats, cats in space - you get the idea. I think I counted that about 20% of all the new pieces had a cat somewhere in them. So when I struck on the idea of a "Cat Fight", it seemed incredible to me that I had never used that common expression as a basis for a pendant before. In the instant that the phrase came into my mind, the layout and metal composition of the piece was clear to me, and although the little rapiers turned out to be reasonably tricky to create, I was very happy with the result. I sold the piece on the last market of the year to a very nice woman buying it as a gift for a friend, and as I no longer have it to post on <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/davidloong">Etsy</a>, I figured I'd give it a moment in the Sun (well, in this dark, remote corner of the cosmos anyway).<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_U26kxWi_JNE/TRamS3qKwqI/AAAAAAAAADQ/cFTKt1zSmRU/s1600/cat+fight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="257" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_U26kxWi_JNE/TRamS3qKwqI/AAAAAAAAADQ/cFTKt1zSmRU/s320/cat+fight.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>I'll restrain myself from uploading any more cat themed pieces (at least at the moment), or photos of the cat which inspired them, but I have to indulge myself in adding a photo of a cake which Anthea, Anna's mother, gave to us for Christmas. Although it was a beautiful, sunny, hot day here, the little decorative scene atop the cake of our cat playing in the snow on a white Christmas seemed strangely appropriate. I guess even though every Christmas I've ever lived through has been in summer, I've still been conditioned to think of it as a winter event. Personally I blame the Miser Brothers, and all those Rankin/Bass animated Christmas specials that I grew up with and still have a strange affection for.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_U26kxWi_JNE/TRan1JFZ3_I/AAAAAAAAADU/twkndk0eFGM/s1600/white+christmas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="177" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_U26kxWi_JNE/TRan1JFZ3_I/AAAAAAAAADU/twkndk0eFGM/s320/white+christmas.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>So, a new year approaches, and I am planning on another market at the Old Bus Depot on January 16th.Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02202866303923879105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4780962547382575931.post-12847072200524170192010-11-23T21:31:00.000+11:002010-11-23T21:31:23.553+11:00Productive pluralityLast week (or thereabouts) we had another stall at the Jewel of Canberra Day at the <a href="http://obdm.com.au/">Old Bus Depot Markets</a>, where I had the largest amount of stock I think I've ever been able to display at a market. It may not look like that big a deal, but after all the hours of my life that went into making them I had to take a photo of the collection.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_U26kxWi_JNE/TOuUq1bF2SI/AAAAAAAAADM/zgdKyl7vk3M/s1600/obdm+stall+nov+2010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_U26kxWi_JNE/TOuUq1bF2SI/AAAAAAAAADM/zgdKyl7vk3M/s320/obdm+stall+nov+2010.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We had a great day, and the stall was much emptier by the end of it. Now I have the challenge of getting more stock made in a few short weeks to be ready for the next market.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Actually, it's really the plural, markets, because the dates for December are Saturday 11th, Sunday 12th and then again Saturday 18th. Gosh! Not much time for making between drinks! But I'm busy, busy, busy at the moment anyway, and have already made a bunch of new pieces in the last week, with more to come (hopefully) before December 11th slaps me in the face.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Apart from the market stuff, I'm finally off my crutches! Hooray! Now I'm walking about free as a bird, even if I do look pretty weird, probably like someone who really should be on crutches.</div>Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02202866303923879105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4780962547382575931.post-52634945352579336792010-10-15T09:48:00.000+11:002010-10-15T09:48:34.479+11:00"Change is as good as a holiday"That was a saying Anna and I used to say while we worked stuffing envelopes for a medical institute, trying to earn some pennies while we were at university. Ah, happy times! It was mind-numbing work, and to spice up the hours we would change the order we picked pamphlets up in, or shift things around on the table to make a slight difference to the tedium. Our quote amused us enormously, showing how truly damaged our minds had become through the work, and even today one of us will say it for whatever reason, and a giggle of suppressed mania will bubble to the surface.<br />
Anyway, the change for today is that I won't be at the <a href="http://www%2Cobdm.com.au/">Old Bus Depot Markets</a> on Sunday 21st November, as mentioned last time. I will now be there on Sunday 14th November instead, when the market has a special event called "The Jewel of Canberra", showcasing jewellers from the region. Even though I am technically not really from Canberra (not even in any way actually), when viewed from a galactic perspective I am a certified local.Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02202866303923879105noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4780962547382575931.post-91901260552043208322010-10-02T18:53:00.000+10:002010-10-02T18:53:16.213+10:00Relativity in actionAs I understand it, the variation in the speed of time as proposed in the Special Theory of Relativity has been verified with the use of supersonic jets and clocks in space and so on. However, a similar and yet vastly cheaper piece of evidence is the fact that it is now October. Yes, October, meaning supermarkets everywhere are already lining the shelves with products full of Christmas cheer and all that hoopla.<br />
I know for a fact that as a young child (and even not so young young adult) the year took some time to elapse. There were the summer holidays, the endless tedium of school, time spent riding around and down to the beach, more holidays, books to read, birthdays to look forward to, and the eternally distant glimmer of another Christmas waiting somewhere in an excruciatingly unreachable future. All of which took time, and lots of it.<br />
Now, one Christmas rolls into another with the blink of an eye. I guess as age sets in one moves more slowly, and thus time moves more quickly. Something like that anyway.<br />
So I now, shockingly, have a list of dates for stalls I will be having at the <a href="http://www.obdm.com.au/">Old Bus Depot Markets</a> in Canberra in the rapidly shrinking period of time before 2011 slaps us in the face.<br />
<br />
Sunday 10th October<br />
Sunday 21st November<br />
Saturday 11th December<br />
Sunday 12th December<br />
Saturday 18th December<br />
<br />
I'm tired just thinking about it. On the more enjoyable side of sped-up-time, it is now Spring here, meaning longer days, warmer temperatures, and a wonderful array of flowers blossoming. Here is a photo of the view from my workbench at the moment, full of flowering crabapple trees, native mint, azaleas, camellias, weeping cherries and a host of bulbs and other assorted flowers.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_U26kxWi_JNE/TKbySTc5BdI/AAAAAAAAADI/4MpxGCcBOLI/s1600/spring+garden.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_U26kxWi_JNE/TKbySTc5BdI/AAAAAAAAADI/4MpxGCcBOLI/s320/spring+garden.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02202866303923879105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4780962547382575931.post-32323604192108100952010-09-12T21:41:00.000+10:002010-09-12T21:41:47.236+10:00Back on the horseSo, having missed the last market opportunity at the <a href="http://www.obdm.com.au/">Old Bus Depot Markets</a> in Canberra on account of injury, the next one looms ahead on Sunday 19th September. Having had plenty of time on my hands, I've been pretty busy occupying myself with making jewellery, and I'm hoping to have a reasonable selection of new pieces on the day. As always, I had hoped to make more, but it just didn't happen. I still have a few more days though, and have a few more pieces in production.<br />
I've also received the dates for the markets coming up for the end of this year, and for next year, and have put an application in to attend a whole bunch of them. The allocation process goes on for a while yet though, as I understand it, so I don't actually know which ones, if any, I will be able to attend. More to come on this exciting news later.<br />
I would like to be able to write something, anything, interesting that has happened recently, but apart from a bunch of medical stuff, not much has been going on.Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02202866303923879105noreply@blogger.com0