Fern Smith

wattle sap

2011-07-25T20:38:00.001+10:00

Late last week I went for a walk with my sister in-law Jill (break from Uni) and one of her children Elliot. We romped over hills mainly bare except for conservation areas, we were checking on the conservancy.

I noticed a wattle tree was bleeding and mentioned to Jill about acacia gum being used in paint and glues. Jill then mentioned that wattle trees are acacia plants - then off we sped collecting the sap. It was very gooey and sticky - by the time we were trekking back as the sun was setting the gum was setting too, on the outside.

A day later quarter of it was cooked in a pot with water to liquify and to strain the impurities out. The mixture was gently boiled down to conform to the binder /glue recipes 2:1 ratio, with a dash of honey and clove oil.

Now the mixture is ready to use and have as an example for students. There was enough sap left over for a gouache making class.

trying out wordpress

2011-07-20T17:01:00.000+10:00

just started today we will see how it goes - i need to find a way to manage all the little sites floating around in the ethers - oh well next week may be

Winter Art Class Special

2011-06-16T15:58:00.000+10:00

STUDIO ART CLASS SPECIALS
Print or tell me whats on my news page http://www.fernartz.com/regulars/News.htm and receive the winter art class special, offer closes 30 July 2011.
Specials include:

1 to one for one hour art class in medium of your choice i.e. water colour, dry media, oil, PhotoShop Elements, design essentials from normally $50 now $40
5 One to one for one hour art lessons normally $250 now $200
10 one to one art lessons normally $400 now $300

NEW

Learn the art of making your own watercolour & gauche with a full take home your own paint kit $105
Art Party - make a gift enjoy time with your friends creating - a choice of - a booklet, a kingfisher mobile print a T-shirt tag or if you come up with a creative idea that I can facilitate

Materials supplied

Call or 040 8979 747 between normal business hours 9am and 5pm

Australian Election 2010

2010-07-22T10:12:00.004+10:00

The Australian elections are on, its is strange as its all about money not people. We pay our elected members to consider our lives and yes they do that to the best of their limited ablity, however it appears to be a race to the bottom on civil liberties and enviroment. The Australian Electoral Commission broke down and people updating their contact details or trying to vote were, in alot of cases, unable to do so. Why cant it be brought up to the 21st century technology?

Here are some non partisan links to follow the elections and some of its activities

http://www.abc.net.au/elections/federal/2010/
http://www.wel.org.au/
http://www.getup.org.au/

off to visit the women's library

2009-09-29T03:39:00.001+10:00

have a peek at updated website

2009-08-12T15:55:00.000+10:00

have a peek

2009-08-12T15:51:00.001+10:00

Just uploaded news update and the index page of my FernArtz website . What do you think?

Who is at the table for decisions?

2009-08-12T08:33:00.003+10:00

Quote:"If governance reforms do not address the social relations that undermine women’s capacity to participate in public decisions, they run the risk of reproducing gender biases and patterns of exclusion in the management of public affairs." UNIFEM

This is a warning to keep vigilant - think climate change who is at the table the biggest world reform affecting all of us -

What do you think are there enough women at the table?

Vandana Shiva

2009-07-22T13:32:00.001+10:00

For the past few years my ears have becoming attuned to Vandana Shiva, Director of Navdanya and the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Natural Resource Policy. Shiva advocates for change in our practice in agriculture and our way of life practical solutions from bottom up. Not only advocated but put theory to practice - http://www.navdanya.org/index.htm

Find out more about:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vandana_Shiva
http://www.inmotionmagazine.com/global/vshiva4_int.html
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Vandana_Shiva/Vandana_Shiva_page.html
http://www.ecobooks.com/authors/shiva.htm
http://organic.com.au/people/VandanaShiva/
http://www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/162/27674.html
http://en.wordpress.com/tag/vandana-shiva/

News Feed

2009-07-06T11:10:00.000+10:00

Imagine you have the capacity to change the state of the environment what would you change? News Feed

Do you think eco-feminism is going to be the fourth wave of feminism?

2009-07-02T09:14:00.000+10:00

We have all started in our own ways through our art, demonstrations, work and private lives to try stem the tide of our impact on the planet.

I would like to know peoples opinions of

if you think eco-feminism is going to be the fourth wave of feminism?

I have produced artworks about the environment over time not as one huge project I am seriously considering this as my next body of work and

Your views, links ideas and stories would be valuable.

I will use this blog site as my exploration of my next art project.

I am going to start following online links to start with here is one: http://www.1millionwomen.com.au

1 Million Women - A campaign of daughters, mothers, sisters and grandmothers - Committed to protecting our climate, our communities and our future, leading change for the better.

Fern

Hi I am new to blogging and will find out as I go

2009-06-26T12:43:00.000+10:00

Please if any one out there knows about blogs let me know so I can learn.