2008-08-28T13:03:32Z Bea Pierce Copyright 2008, Bea Pierce SPHPBLOG


Our little house is light and airy - in stark contrast to the Alladin's Cave house we used to live in, we can actually see our stuff now - but a little smaller than we've been used to, which has been a great excuse to cull stuff. Three large tip-truck loads to the tip so far...

And the kids absolutely love it here! They were a bit apprehensive about leaving Newtown at first ("There's not enough concrete, Mummy!"), but can hardly remember it now, let alone pine for it. I asked them last weekend whether they preferred living here or in Newtown. The resounding answer was "here" because, "There's wildlife, trees to climb and space to run around." Who needs concrete, aye?



A few weeks ago, we found that a possum had taken up residence in the garden shed, right next to the chook food bin. Which explained why we were going through so much chook food so fast! Every evening at sunset, an enormous flock of very noisy cockatoos and assorted parrots descend on our street - and the kids go cocky chasing. They're always very disappointed that the birds fly away before they can pat them. And despite my assurances that this is a good thing, given the size of their beaks, they are quite determined.

They also spend a large part of their day hanging in the front yard and pouncing on any hapless dog walkers passing by, to obtain "puppy kisses". We've already had the "Can we have a dog?" question and the larger of the two small people, who has been completely reptile mad for some time now, has just twigged that people keep snakes as pets. So now, he's DETERMINED to have a snake too. Oh joy.

Sir K informed me last weekend that all he needs to live well is:
* A big kitchen
* A playstation
* 2 tellies
* A Wii
* A DS
* And a big backyard with trees to climb that attracts wildlife!

So he's about halfway to his ideal life then...

Miss M loves the chooks. Although perhaps not in the way you may expect. Every day she asks me, "Mummy, can we kill one of our chickens and eat it for dinner? Chickens are YUMMY!"

The other day, I asked her how we should go about this.

"Well, first we'd have to catch one, which could be tricky. And then we'd have to FREEZE it to DEATH so it would be all frozen. And then we put it into the oven to make it nice and warm, 'cause when it's nice and warm we can eat it and it's YUMMY! But first we'd have to very carefully SQUEEZE out all the eggs so we can have them for our breakfast and take off ALL the feathers, 'cause feathers are YUCKY!"

She's got this whole living in the "country" thing well sussed.

]]> http://www.20-20.org/blog/index.php?entry=entry080707-212534 2008-07-07T00:00:00Z 2008-07-07T00:00:00Z just outside Goulburn where they farm yurts. Yes, that's right. Yurts. Small round huts. They don't move very fast, are easy to grow and cheap to keep. This is where Kinma has it's annual school camp. And what a magical and wonderful place it is!

From the moment we arrived and saw the hand-carved log signs lining the driveway proclaiming messages such as "back to basics" and "culture shock", we knew we were in for something special. No electricity, no mod-cons, no mobile phone reception and no internet for 3 whole days! Bliss!

The yurt farm is such an inspiring and creative place. Everywhere you look there's interesting things; tree stump monsters hiding in the grass, fantastical junk metal sculptures in the grass paddocks, obstacle courses amongst the trees, ghost riddled shacks, tyre swings, flying foxes and of course brightly coloured yurts dotting the landscape.

The kids had a ball and not once did they ask if they could watch TV, play computer or playstation games or whine "I'm bored!". Instead, they paddled a canoe, ground some wheat and collected eggs to make pancakes, learned how to shear a sheep and handle a horse, went fishing for yabbies, made wooden toys, campfires and damper, rode on the back of a tractor and were generally kept so busy, there was no time to think about all the TV they were missing! Can't wait to go again...



Home sweet home!



Inside our yurt



Lady P has a bit of a whoopsy and is extremely unimpressed.



Sir K was very prolific in the workshop, making a plane, a submarine and several weapons, including a fabulous sword and shield.



Miss M does a spot of riding...



Early morning campfire... it was freezing cold!



Fishing for yabbies in the dam



Miss M discovers the joy of the tyre swing!



Hunting sheep



The Adam-powered flying fox!]]> http://www.20-20.org/blog/index.php?entry=entry080414-220807 2008-04-14T00:00:00Z 2008-04-14T00:00:00Z
The house is close to the kids' school, has a national park at the end of the street and comes with a huge backyard complete with permaculture veggie garden, fruit trees and 9 chooks. It's more of a tree-change than a sea-change, but boy what a change - from inner-city terrace to a quarter-acre block with chooks!

So we'll be off to shop for some new requirements, such as chook food and a lawn mower... hurrah!]]> http://www.20-20.org/blog/index.php?entry=entry080309-132609 2008-03-09T00:00:00Z 2008-03-09T00:00:00Z
Kai managed to score a head full of nits in his first week at school, then got 'attacked' by hairy caterpillars. And both Kai and Maia have come home from school literally covered in ticks several times. The first time this happened, we panicked! (No ticks in Newtown)

Kai came in one evening after his bath, complaining that he was itchy all over. He was covered in big red welts all over his back, stomach, shoulders and neck, in his hair, behind his ears and on his butt. At first, we couldn't work out what it was. Each welt had a tiny little black spot in the middle and we thought he'd been stung by a wasp or something. It was only after looking at them under a magnifying glass that we realised they were ticks.

They were so tiny, we couldn't get to them with tweezers, so we ended up at the medical centre - which was a disaster! The doctor didn't seem to have much of a clue either and started digging them out with a needle, much to Kai's disgust. After 10 minutes of squealing, she sent us home with a packet of needles and completely unwarranted antiobiotics!!

In the last three weeks, we've gone from "OMG ticks!" to being very blase. I've become quite the expert 'tick picker' and the kids now routinely strip on walking in the door, calmly point out all the tick spots and patiently wait for me to pluck them off.

And the little beggars get EVERYWHERE! Oh the joys.]]> http://www.20-20.org/blog/index.php?entry=entry080228-133614 2008-02-28T00:00:00Z 2008-02-28T00:00:00Z

HE PLAYS CHESS
(Colour expose – yellow, black and white)

Create your own shapes by cutting them out of patterned paper. To create a unique background, try weaving two pieces of patterned paper together. Create your own ‘metal’ accents with metallic paints. Ink a patterned paper to tone it down and make it more subtle.

MATERIALS… PAPER: Basic Grey DIGITAL PAPERS: Shabby Princess - free downloads from the internet ELEMENTS: Shabby Princess INKS: Versa OTHER: Ribbon, slide mount, Jo Sonya metallic paints, rules and chess icons from 'Chess for Beginners: a picture guide' by Al Horowitz, 1959.



9 SILLY FACES (*DIGITAL LAYOUT*)
(Try this – 8 or more images)

Use a large number or letter to add an interesting accent to your page. Arrange multiple images in a grid layout for consistency and visual symmetry.

MATERIALS… SOFTWARE: Photoshop CS2 ELEMENTS: Shabby Princess – free digital kits FONTS: Baskerville Old Face, 28 Days Later (free font)
]]> http://www.20-20.org/blog/index.php?entry=entry080209-134945 2008-02-09T00:00:00Z 2008-02-09T00:00:00Z Kinma. They were both up and dressed, with (brand new) school bags packed and waiting by the door at 7:30am!



At first, Kai was a bit shy, but he quickly settled in, made friends - and impressions. He was so boyed up with the idea of school, learning and getting into things, that at recess, he bailed up the school manager. Says Kai, very seriously, "I thought school was all about learning to read and write and do maths." She assured him that he was absolutely right. "So how come I'm not learning any of those things yet then?" demands he.

Maia too was a bit shy at first. But she also soon got into the swing of things, firstly by sorting the boys. She quickly made sure they all knew that only GIRLS were allowed to play with her! And she was chuffed to learn that there was a little girl called Mia at "her preschool", and they quickly buddied up. (We often call Maia "Mia (me-ah) Maya (may-ah) Maia (my-ah)" because no-one can ever remember which she is - she thinks it's a great joke!)

And although it's traditional for Mum's to be a bit misty eyed on the first day, there were no tears from me - I was too excited for them! They're both just so ready for the next step and I'm thrilled they both took to their new roles so well. Hurrah!]]> http://www.20-20.org/blog/index.php?entry=entry080131-215640 2008-01-31T00:00:00Z 2008-01-31T00:00:00Z ]]> http://www.20-20.org/blog/index.php?entry=entry080125-223325 2008-01-25T00:00:00Z 2008-01-25T00:00:00Z


I took the kids down to Curl Curl beach today to see the huge seas pounding the coast - and it didn't disappoint! The sound of the boom alone as each wave hit the rocks was enough to freak the kids out. That followed by the wild eruption of white foam (and getting wet into the bargain) meant we had to endure hours of the kids excitedly chanting "BANG! CRASH! BANG!" to anyone who'd listen.]]> http://www.20-20.org/blog/index.php?entry=entry080106-092501 2008-01-05T00:00:00Z 2008-01-05T00:00:00Z free texture images available on my Flickr site and since, being me (that is somewhat obsessive compulsive), I've created a gazillion of the things, I've decided to put them up for sale on the micro-stock site FeaturePics.

So if you like the freebies and want more, head this way:
http://www.featurepics.com/Authors/Images12379.aspx



All images are US$1 - yep, just $1 per image.

I am sorting them into collections at the moment, and will shortly be offering collections for sale: 50 textures on CD for $25 (plus postage).

And more freebies coming soon, so watch this space! ]]> http://www.20-20.org/blog/index.php?entry=entry080103-151235 2008-01-03T00:00:00Z 2008-01-03T00:00:00Z
It's been another very busy and stressful year in our house with another 12 months of either open houses, cleaning houses, looking for houses, attending auctions for houses and otherwise being absorbed by this Australian obsession with wanting to have a house to call our own - somewhere near the beach.

After 18 months of trying to sell, it seems that the day we sold, the market suddenly decided to move. Upwards. Especially on the Northern Beaches. In the last three months, we've failed spectacularly in trying to purchase a new house. We've tried unsuccessfully to buy 8 properties now, but unfortunately, there's always someone else with a lot more money than we're willing to part with.

Hopefully the new year period will see all the rich people bugger off on holidays so we can finally buy a new home for us! But at least for now we have a comfortable temporary abode and a healthy bank balance - something that's definitely a first for us.

Sir K and Miss M are thoroughly enjoying living at Gran & Grandad's house. They love the pool, the swing set, the treehouse and having sleepovers with their cousins. Sir K has settled well into his new preschool at Kinma and can't wait to start 'big school' next year. He's very excited about learning to read and write - as are we all! Miss M is also excited about starting preschool. She loves Kinma and never wants to leave when we drop Sir K off. She is insanely jealous that he gets to stay but she doesn't, especially since she's 3 now and a 'big girl'.

Adam and I have also been busy with adult things this year, aside from buying houses! I returned to teaching multimedia design at Raffles (formerly KVB) Institute of Technology. Next year, I'll be teaching 3 days per week. I've just finished a 6-month 'design team' contract with For Keeps scrapbooking magazine, providing 2-3 layouts per month for publication and was very excited at being in three art exhibitions this year. Adam has been busy busy at work, and also has several interesting projects going on the side, which he hopes will at least return some money!

We are all off to Norfolk Island on Sunday for a well-earned 2-week holiday - and once again the kids are beside themselves with excitement! They can't wait to go on a plane ride, swim at the beach, snorkel on the reef and go beach combing for driftwood, which they have grand plans for in terms of 'craft' and Christmas decorations, so they tell me!

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!!]]> http://www.20-20.org/blog/index.php?entry=entry071213-120315 2007-12-13T00:00:00Z 2007-12-13T00:00:00Z

37TH BIRTHDAY
($15 budget birthday theme)

Use a self-portrait layered over a textured image to create a unique digital layout. Experiment with the Layers mode in Photoshop, using options such as Overlay, Soft Light and Multiply on multiple layers of the same image to create interesting blending techniques. Create your own digital elements by scanning hand-drawn or painted images and converting them to black and white in Photoshop. To create a white element from a black original, Invert the image. Overlay elements using the Layers mode (Screen for white, Multiply for black). Add interest to type by varying the baseline and angle different words or letters are set to.

SOFTWARE: Photoshop CS2, Illustrator CS2 ELEMENTS: Paper texture thanks to Terri Lyn from the Textures for Layers Flickr group – free download from the internet FONTS: Selfish, Artistamp and Typical Writer – all free downloads from the internet OTHER: Ink splatters and scribbles created manually and scanned. Dotted lines created in Illustrator.

TOTAL COST: $0



MY STYLE - MEET THE DESIGN TEAM

I am an artist, photographer, designer and multimedia lecturer. I’m happiest at home, playing and singing with my two beautiful kids and pfaffing about being creative.

I love art, writing and storytelling, books, collecting obscure things and anything antiquarian. I write a lot of lists, am a little obsessive compulsive and very susceptible to creative influence. I frequently suffer from bouts of “Oh! I just need to go and get this really great idea down.”

I love the freestyle scrapbook movement and my pages tend to be an eclectic mix of scrapbooking, fine art, design and collage. I enjoy experimenting and creating my own papers, elements and ways of doing things and I like to do something different each time I create a page. Style-wise, I am inspired by fine artists such as Jean Michelle Basquiat and Japanese graphic designers.

I usually like to have a concept behind my work and love to incorporate a good story. As an artist, I often explore parallels between interactivity design in online and traditional art forms and this occasionally comes through in my scrapbook pages.

I love teaching and sharing, and am very excited by the opportunity to be part of the For Keeps Design Team.

MATERIALS… PAPER: Cartridge drawing paper FONTS: Folio Light, Carbonated Gothic (free download), Prissy Fat Boy (free download), Four Decibels and Falling (free download), News Gothic Demi, Goudy Old Style, Copperplate Gothic STAMPS: KaiserStamp small spiral daisy, KaiserStamp fleur knot, Stamp-It bumble bee OTHER: slide mount, black ink pad, Jo Sonya acrylic paints, white gesso]]> http://www.20-20.org/blog/index.php?entry=entry071210-141801 2007-12-10T00:00:00Z 2007-12-10T00:00:00Z

Fish out of water
$15 budget page

Cut shapes from patterned paper to mirror the theme of your page. When using multiple images on one layout, try varying the sizes of the photos to create extra interest to your page.

MATERIALS… PAPER: My Minds Eye Bohemia ‘Barefoot Play’, Chatterbox Scrapbook Walls ‘Sky Polka Dots’, Karen Foster Designs LETTERS: Arctic Frog Alphabet Avenue, American Crafts Simply Chic OTHER: fish stamp, Epson photo papers, sandpaper



I am called Beast
Fractured fairytale theme

For something different, create a panoramic montage in Photoshop of several images taken of the same subject, to illustrate a story. Create tags from scraps of the patterned paper used in your layout. Try printing computer type onto transparency film and painting onto the back to highlight areas and separate them from the background.

MATERIALS… PAPER: My Mind’s Eye Signature Suite, Chatterbox Denim Guest Floral FONTS: Castellar, Edda, Baskerville Old Face. OTHER: Li’l Kate wooden accents, rose stamp, bling, transparency film, lace, eyelets, cotton twine, sandpaper.]]> http://www.20-20.org/blog/index.php?entry=entry071122-214027 2007-11-22T00:00:00Z 2007-11-22T00:00:00Z
“We don’t want to eat the chickeny blood bits ‘cause if we eat blood we won’t be good anymore – we’ll go all bad and grow wings and fly up into the sky and hurt people and do bad stuff. And we don’t want to go all bad ‘cause that would be bad.” – Miss M

“What happens if a vampire bites superman? Does superman become a super vampire? Or does the vampire become a vampire superhero? Or is Superman so tough that the vampire would break his teeth?”
– Hubby

]]> http://www.20-20.org/blog/index.php?entry=entry071107-215810 2007-11-07T00:00:00Z 2007-11-07T00:00:00Z

This piece is currently being exhibited as part of the group show, "A Book For No Good Reason", an exhibition of Artist's responses to 'the Book', curated by Pickafight Books.

Next Art Gallery, Lismore
October 9th to 26th 2007

Chrissie Cotter Gallery, Camperdown
October 29th to November 11th 2007

Medium: Photography, wood blocks
Dimensions: Each block: 120mm w x 70mm h x 42mm d
Total piece: (depending on the way it's assembled) 400mm x 400mm

If you're in Sydney, come along to the opening night
on Friday 2nd November from 6-9pm.



Are we products of our environment or is our environment a product of us?

My art centres around several recurring themes concerning sociology, linguistics, human behaviour, the media and consciousness. I am interested in exploring the links between language, environment, influence and the way these things shape who we are. I am also interested in the way people react to and respond to these external forces.

This project is an experimental, three-dimensional book that explores and deconstructs traditional book concepts, such as interactivity, linearity and story telling.

This particular book, "Building Blocks"ť is an exploration of the way words and language are used to create our world - physically, virtually and metaphorically.

Through images of graffiti, message fragments, street posters, political messages and typography, it is designed to illustrate the way we don't necessarily take away the message intended, but rather zero in on fragments that catch our attention. Each brick tells a story; the bricks as a whole tell whatever story the viewer/constructor creates.

As an interactive piece, the audience is invited to break down the wall and rebuild it in whichever way they wish, creating urban poetry and a new message in the process.

You can see the photos used in this project here]]> http://www.20-20.org/blog/index.php?entry=entry071025-142311 2007-10-25T00:00:00Z 2007-10-25T00:00:00Z For Keeps design team! Hurray!

So for the next 6 issues (#58 - #63), keep an eye out for layouts from yours truly. Here are the layouts published in issue 58:



What it takes to be happy

An easy way to get multiple images onto a layout is to group them in PS and print them as one image. Create a large shape from cardstock to use as a photo mat. Stamp onto the cardstock to create texture and edge with frayed fabric.

MATERIALS: Bazzil Basics, Cosmo Cricket, Sassafras Lass, Chatterbox, ChitChat, BasicGrey, My Mind's Eye, Stamp-It, Brilliance inks, brads, L'il Davis wooden shapes, gauze bandages



Fairy queen

Using a large silhouette focuses attention on the subject and helps eliminate unwanted, distracting, messy backgrounds. I added dimension to the wings with foam core board. Antenna created with copper wire.

MATERIALS: My Mind's Eye, K&Company, mulberry paper, Heidi Swapp, L'il Davis wooden shapes, glitter glue, buttons, star glitter, metallic accents



Slugs and snails and puppy dog's tails

Budget doesn't have to mean boring! Use your own texture photographs to create background papers for layouts or try printing words onto cardstock and hand-cutting them for unique and cost saving effects. Total page cost: $4

MATERIALS: Bazzil Basics, Adorn It, BasicGrey, Shabby Princess]]> http://www.20-20.org/blog/index.php?entry=entry071009-095943 2007-10-08T00:00:00Z 2007-10-08T00:00:00Z 300 comment spams in 1 hour when a spammer got around my anti-spam filter - again, last week. It crashed our server and overloaded our internet account for the month, causing us to have all sorts of issues with our ISP. Not good.

Spammers are just so annoying. And until I figure out a way to solve this issue (in my copious spare time - not), I'm going to keep comments disabled.

But please feel free to email me instead if you'd like to pass on comments or feedback :)]]> http://www.20-20.org/blog/index.php?entry=entry071007-095543 2007-10-06T00:00:00Z 2007-10-06T00:00:00Z
Auctions are nerve-wracking, stressful experiences I would NOT recommend if one wishes for a leisurely Saturday morning's entertainment! We got $20K less than we wanted - but at least it's sold and we are now free to move to the beach. Bring on the fresh air and sunshine! No more trucks rumbling by the front door! No more token emergency vehicles of the hour! No more shop alarms going off at 3am!! Hurrah!

As we all know, it ain't cheap to buy a house near the beach in Sydney, so I suspect we may be about to turn vegetarian for quite some time to come. And I'll need to get a job. Damn! Just when we'd be in the perfect spot for all day beach-bumming as well...

Ta ta Newtown! It's been fun and we'll miss ya. Perhaps we'll send a postcard from the beach. :)


Photo by Sir K, age 5]]> http://www.20-20.org/blog/index.php?entry=entry070902-103508 2007-09-02T00:00:00Z 2007-09-02T00:00:00Z
The very first version of the site had all the classic mistakes graphic designers new to web make: pop-up windows, mystery meat navigation, appalling legibility and contrast and was very graphic intensive, pushing the limits of bandwidth and graphical ability of browsers to the extreme. I purported it to be experimental and cutting edge, which it was to a degree. But it was also shocking in terms of usability - a term rarely heard at that time.

But before you judge too harshly, remember that in 1996, nobody knew very much about web design; it was brand spanking new. There was no Dreamweaver, no CSS, no Flash, no blog, gallery or CMS software. HTML was hand-coded and everything had to be created for Netscape 2.0 - 216 colors (which meant dithered photos) at 640 x 480. To create any sort of layout, tables had to be hacked. In fact, I was still hacking tables until about 2 years ago; CSS is still pretty new.

Here are some of the different home page designs 20-20 has sported over the years:


c.1996


c.1998


c.1999


c.2000


c.2001


c.2003


c.2005

The site has grown monstrously large over the last 11 years, with about a gazillion pages to date. It became far too difficult to manage via manual coding, so I switched to using blog and gallery software in 2006, while I learnt CSS and CMS.

The focus of the website has changed over the years to reflect my life and interests at the time, but the three-fold core - to showcase my design/artwork, writing and photography - has remained.

In the traditions of why this website was first created, and in preparation for my inevitable return to work in the next two years, I am again planning an overhaul and redesign to hone my newly learnt skills. Lots of old stuff will be stripped out and new stuff will appear in the new sections.

So watch this space!]]> http://www.20-20.org/blog/index.php?entry=entry070821-140436 2007-08-21T00:00:00Z 2007-08-21T00:00:00Z
I've been a big fan ever since the first book was launched and am now a self-confessed Potter junkie, so after reading the very last word and turning the page only to discover that that was it – no more – I felt a both great sense of satisfaction (it does end with the word "well"!) and great sense of grief; there will be no future forays into the adventures of Harry Potter, Hogwarts or the world of magic.

I know there are plenty of people out there who sneer at the notion of adults reading books for children as though they were literature, but to them I'd say, read it before you judge. Sure, it's not high literature. Sure it's not to the level of Tolkien. It's not trying to be; it IS for teenagers after all. Yet it is not childish or beneath adults either.

It is simply masterful storytelling. And that is the key to both its success and its popularity.

I can only hope, now that the curtain between the muggle world and the magical world is thinner than it's ever been before, that more and more wizards and witches will continue to reveal themselves, as J.K. Rowling has done.

It's been a great journey and I'm very pleased to have been of an age to be able to follow and appreciate it from start to finish. Thanks JK!]]> http://www.20-20.org/blog/index.php?entry=entry070727-102153 2007-07-27T00:00:00Z 2007-07-27T00:00:00Z Kinma, an independent, community school in Terrey Hills, offering us a place for Kai for kindergarten next year! Something we had not expected it at all. And there is also a place for Maia at the preschool!

We only looked into Kinma a month or so ago, after being 'rejected' from Kamaroi. They were not at all sure they would have places for next year, so we didn’t get our hopes up. We were preparing to stay in Newtown, send the kids to the local public school and make the best of it.

Getting into Kinma is a fantastic surprise!

It's not Steiner, but it's not mainstream either; it's somewhere in the middle, and it seems like a good option for us. And who knows? It may even turn out to be the best option in the long run.

And it means that moving is back on the agenda - we just need to decide whether to sell/buy or rent/rent.

I have to say that it's very nice to finally have something concrete and certain to work towards after such a long period of uncertainty and limbo-ness. I'm very excited and looking forward to living near the beach by summer. Bring it on!]]> http://www.20-20.org/blog/index.php?entry=entry070723-102854 2007-07-23T00:00:00Z 2007-07-23T00:00:00Z