Oliver Jeffers at the Writers and Readers Festival 12th May 2012

First page of my freshly signed copy of The Heart and the Bottle by Oliver Jeffers

Oliver Jeffers did a fantastic job of tailoring his presentation to suit the audience, which was full of adorable, wide-eyed children. He was very entertaining and spoke with refreshing candor about his work and about making picture books. From the drawing demonstrations to the making of paper planes, every minute was engaging.
I'm looking forward to his next book, This Moose Belongs to Me, which he laughingly described as "a thinly veiled platform for my political rantings." Love it.

Afterwards at the Book Signing
Em and I stood patiently in line debating which books we should get signed... we had all of them with us but it seemed rude to present him with a pile! I decided on The Heart and the Bottle (above) and The Great Paper Caper.

Oliver Jeffers: Can I make these out to someone?
Me (star-struck): Hi. Um. Nah, that's okay, thanks.
Oliver Jeffers: Will probably be worth a bit more on eBay that way, aye?
Me (in my head): Doh, oh no! That wasn't what I meant! Ah!
Me (out loud): No, they absolutely won't be going anywhere! I promise.

It's hard meeting your heroes. He was so cool. And I was so not.
Writers and Readers Festival

Brooch Appreciation

I do like a good brooch.

Appreciating our small collection

Left to Right, Top to Bottom:

1. Felt, silk and thread in oval silver ring - by Karen Michaud.
   This one pretty-much guarantees me an admiring comment from a stranger.
2. Anatomical Heart - by Mamas Little Babies bought at The Vault, Wellington.
3. Runaway Girl Medal - by Karen Walker Jewellery
4. Moth - by Lisa West
5. Brooch found in an antique store in Napier.
    It has an odd little house with a fence. The perspective of the engraved image is very disconcerting.
    If anyone knows anything about this kind of brooch, I'm eager to know more.
    Admirers always find this one odd and confusing.
6. By me. Painted plywood. Have not worn this yet.
7. Tiny red butterfly - (not sure of maker) from ArtsPost, Hamilton.
8. Green Caravan - by Lindsay Park. Most popular comment = "cute!"
9. Printed leaf brooch - by Emily.
10. Speechless - by Genevieve Packer
     (the bubble should be empty to show the fabric of the garment it is pinned to... Emily made sweet little printed inserts to go with it).
     We saw Genevieve speak at a Design Symposium a few years back and we've loved her work ever since.
     Loads of great products on her website!
11. Matchstick - by David Mcleod, bought at the Quadrant Gallery, Dunedin.
12. Queerbird - by John Z. Robinson, work available at Quoil, Wellington.
     Em loves to wear this one.


The Broach of the Month Club in association with Masterworks Gallery is an excellent idea.
This project brings together 12 brooch-makers with 12 brooch-wearers.
Wearing an unusual brooch undoubtedly invites people to comment. Broach of the Month Club latches onto this phenomenon, getting wearers to document, and share, their wearing experiences.
The main reason I think this project is so cool, is that it records a life of the artwork, providing valuable feedback for the artists.
We artists are intimately engaged with the things we create, then we let our creations go with a high likely hood that we'll never see, or hear, of them again.
As a curatorial device, this idea adds a level of interactivity and story telling that makes the exhibition more interesting and the individual brooches more desirable. Winning formula!
Oh, and I like the play on words brooch/broach.

I want I WANT MY HAT BACK print

Just wandering around on the internet, I found www.gallerynucleus.com where you can buy prints from I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen (and many more from other artists)
This is my pick:

WANT IT

That is all.