The week has sped away.

FOOD, CREATIVITY AND COMPASSION (feeding goodwill)

My obsession with good food turned to ideas of food that is cheap and nutritious and sustainable. I’d like to develop some recipes that are really healthy and low cost. I’m also trying to be more creative in the kitchen, but failure doesn’t sit well with me or my stomach—pearl barley, bean and chorizo salad was a bit of a flop but we ate it anyway. I haven’t eaten pearl barley since I can’t remember when—so chewy and a bit pop-corn-ish—worth trying again!

Image by Darya Pino (Summer Tomato)

I listened to a segment on radio about Foodbank, a not-for-profit organisation providing food for those who can’t afford it in Australia. They are a conduit between food suppliers and charity organisations. Unfortunately, 2.2 million Australians live in poverty and 60,000 people who seek food assistance from charities each month are turned away. And yet our government is trying to take more money from those who can least afford it. I’m looking forward to further supporting this organisation and writing to relevant politicians.

THE CONCEPT OF ONE-OFF (feeding philosophical thinking)

I’m opening a second ETSY store soon. It will be called TooManyPies. The branding and philosophy are not fully forged yet; basically I need an outlet for all the ‘pie’ experiments.

There will be charity knits (I will donate all proceeds to charities), cheap and cheerful knits (proceeds support the pie addiction to new), greeting cards and other sundry items—maybe some jewellery, maybe some household items, maybe some original pdf patterns.

I think the TooManyPies brand relates most strongly to the concept of ONE-OFF items. Unique things that serve the purpose of facilitating me to learn, experiment, explore and resolve; and then I can move on to the next thing. I’m not interested in repeating or mass-producing, not interested in creating anything the same twice.

STORM CHASING (feeding cloud fixation, feeding soul)

Storms over Sydney this week have been fairly devastating for some. We were spared any damage, thankfully.

We didn’t quite manage to get the best pics this time—it came so quickly. But there were enough interesting images to spur me on to paint some large-scale clouds. I’m also going to have a go at creating some charts for original knitting patterns based on cloud and water motifs.

Apart from some projects nearing completion (may be able to share next week), and a plan to de-clutter and reorganise studio and study spaces, that’s the round-up for this week!