Ubelievable

Today I saved the owner of the factory's bacon.

I've managed to overprint over 70 shirts which had been printed in the wrong colour.  The owner had approved a colour which was simply wrong.

Over printing is bloody difficult.  I'd done 62 of 300 in the right colour and today over printed 70 of the 238 which were in the wrong colour.

The client wants 150 shirts early next week.  So I've now managed to get 139 in the state in which they should be.

I told the owner that the number was now 139 in the right colour.  He grunted at me.  Nothing like a 'thanks' coming from that direction.

Thoroughly appalling person.

The good news is that I have an interview for a job in a cultural institution on Monday.

And here's the requisite image:

Thank goodness for the company of the cats.

Sensible decisions

When faced with a really tough financial situation - low income and big bills - what should the responsible person do?

I know!  Buy a ridiculously expensive Tassie Oak bookcase for the studio.  Here it is:

A couple of weeks ago I decided to re-arrange a couple of rooms.  These were the studio and the spare room.  The object of the exercise was to move as much stuff as possible into the spare room while still allowing room for the inflatable bed when visitors visit.  Anyway, I ended up with two disaster area rooms.  Sent me into a bit of a tizz.

Funny how this type of situation will give you an idea of how to solve the problem and this idea must be followed through.  I decided I needed a book case for the studio.  Went trolling around furniture shops in Devonport for something appropriate.  Thought I'd pick up something cheap, but it turns out that in order to have adjustable shelves in a book case, one must spend top dollar.  All the cheap stuff had really tiny shelves and I needed space for arty books, which are very often very large.

So there we have it.  I now have a new Tassie Oak book case which both smells and looks gorgeous.  It's locally made out of local products so I can pat myself on the back about supporting the local industry.  Just hope the materials didn't come from high conservation value forests.  (Bugger.  Didn't think of that earlier.)

Oh Dear

The challenge of doing a blue collar job with the resultant wage is making life quite difficult.

Once again, I have been seriously contemplating moving back to my home town of Darwin.

I could live there without paying rent and at a really nice place.

So I went outside to have a fag and a cogitate, and this is what I saw:

Wow.

Wow. I think I'm going to be here for a bit longer.

Feral Rabbotts

Just found myself shrieking 'You Liar!' at the the TV as I saw Tony Abbott talking about government advertising.  This is not something I do on a regular basis.  In fact this behaviour is extremely rare.  He was suggesting that the current Australian government spends too much on advertising and that it would probably start a campaign relating to the carbon tax.  I was so shocked that I didn't even swear!

This got my goat because the Howard government, where Abbott was a minister, spent more than any other government on advertising its policies.  Anyone remember 'Unchain my heart'.   And then there was 'Work Choices'.

Fucking Hypocrite.

Bowel cancer

It's been interesting to learn that one of the owners of the factory has bowel cancer.  She's the grumpiest and rudest one and she went under the knife today.  The owners told me about this and I'm not sure whether anyone else in the factory knows.  I'm sure we've all been told and have also been told not to tell anyone. Funny situation.

My response was to be very sympathetic to her parents.  They are peculiar people, but I'm sure they are worried sick about their daughter.

The three people I've known who've had this disease have all died in short order.  One was my uncle.  I'd had nothing to do with him for a long time and so regretted his death for my parents.  One was a woman who I looked up to.  We'd parted on difficult terms.  I'd written her a long e-mail thanking her for her support and admiring her abilities.  Unfortunately, my connection was stuffed at the time and it dropped off the face of the planet.  I never got to say thanks.  The third was a really good friend.  He died last year.  When I heard he was sick, I phoned and had a really good chat with him.  I think we both knew it was a goodbye chat.  I really miss him.

So I suppose that I don't expect anything good from a diagnosis of bowel cancer.

Fingers crossed for her.

New things

I've just finished my first Tasmanian commission.  Here it is:

It's a banner for a stall at an upcoming market - hanging on the washing line to dry the paint.

I was a bit naughty about this.  The client originally came in to work asking for this to be done as a screen print.  Unfortunately, the technology at the factory doesn't go beyond A4, which was obviously not going to do the trick.  I muttered, under my breath and with my back towards the owners, that I could hand paint it for her.

It's funny doing this sort of stuff.  I'm never entirely happy with the results.  I'd like to take it back and be a bit more creative and accurate with the artwork.  The context isn't important.  I'm a mega sceptic, so it's funny to be doing a banner for this type of thing.  But the client was lovely and it's nice to deal with good people.

Long story short, it's great to get back to doing this sort of thing.  It's about fifteen years since I took on commissions. I used to print hundreds of banners for festivals, and also helped to construct and paint massive (15 x 20 metres) banners for some Sydney Olympic events.  I also made bespoke wedding dresses.  In the interim, I've had a proper and well paid job and haven't needed to get out there and do this sort of thing.

Love the way life changes and moves.  I wonder what will come next.