My August / September / October

Oops! I forgot to do my monthly update a couple of months in a row! To be honest, not much happened in August and September. Winter subsided a bit earlier than normal this year though, and my mood lifted enough for me to start looking forward to things again.

As soon as the sun started to appear again, I enjoyed as much time in the park as I could, walking, reading and viewing the Spring flowers.

Husband and I went out several times with our foodie friend, and we ate a lot!

Last weekend I went to PAX, the video game and tabletop game expo. I had quite a laidback time, spending a leisurely couple of hours playing games from the convention's library, and looking at the upcoming indie games showcase. It was so laidback that I didn't buy anything, and didn't even take any photos!

I refreshed my altar to reflect the new season. I wrote more about it on my spirituality blog here.

And recently I participated in my fourth art exhibition as I wrote about here.

I have another art project in the works, and if it comes through, I'll be sure to let you know!

Selections from Instagram

My Painting in "Stay Safe" Exhibition

I'd just like to let you know that my painting is part of the Stay Safe exhibition at NOIR Darkroom until the end of this week. Stay Safe invites a visual discourse from female-identifying and non-binary artists. I was lucky enough to be selected and made a painting especially for the exhibition. It's one of the most heartfelt I've made.

Find the details at NOIR Darkroom's website.

I actually turned up to the opening night this time, and here are some photos I took of the amazing work:

Please note: some of imagery below may be triggering.

Madfest Anime Festival 2018 and Haul

About a month ago, I went to the Madfest Anime Festival. I have attended every year since it began in 2016. In the previous two years, it was held in mid-November, but this year it was moved to mid-September. I think there are pluses and minuses to this timing. It's not too close to other festivals that happen in November, such as PAX and Supanova. On the other hand, the weather isn't as likely to be good. The day I went was dull, grey and rainy -- not very good conditions for cosplay photography! I did see a couple of people braving the rain to take photos, but I did feel a bit sorry for them.

The lineup featured all of the usual: community performances, celebrity appearances and signings, merch booths, creators' corner, and movie premieres (for an additional ticket price). Last year I wanted to build up my plushie collection, but this year I was mainly interested in stickers and crafty things. These things are found in the creators' corner and this year it was huge! All of the little yellow squares on the map below are creator stalls. I was determined to see them all, but I felt like I spent most of my time in that section! However, it was really great to see so many makers getting the opportunity to share their creations.

This year the festival was held in a smaller space -- and it made a big difference. The moment we walked in the door, we were hit with a wall of people and it was quite daunting. There was a much smaller space to sit and only a couple of food stations compared to the spacious area and large selection of food stalls last year. That was a little disappointing. The creators' corner area, too, was very crowded. It took a long time to squeeze through all the people to see each stall. There were some that I wanted to buy products from, but I gave up because of the wall of people in front of them.

I'm not good with crowds, and I needed to take regular breaks after every couple of aisles to reground myself. I'm familiar with the noisy and frenetic atmosphere of conventions, and I was prepared for it, but I still found it overwhelming. I started to get a feeling, too, that I was just there to buy stuff. However, I did enjoy looking at the cosplay costumes, the displays, and being with a group of people who have the same interest as me.

Having said all that, now for the haul! Links to the creators' Instagrams are included where possible (You don't need the Instagram app to view them, links are to a browser version of Instagram.)

https://www.instagram.com/kokoscope/
https://www.instagram.com/zombeevee/

https://www.instagram.com/artofkatieelle/

https://www.instagram.com/missaree/
https://www.instagram.com/asongofbeads/
https://www.instagram.com/milkymanastore/

https://www.instagram.com/trinketsbyblu/

https://www.instagram.com/chelsea_megs_tcc/

https://www.instagram.com/artofaliss/

Hello Spring!

After a colder than normal Winter here in Southern Australia, Spring is finally here!

Last year I wrote about looking forward to dressing in pastels (though let's face it, I do that all year round!) but this year I'm excited about my garden again! A earlier this month, I wrote about how my garden is a total mess, but I want to change that. I dredged up the plans I'd made a couple of years ago and I want to start putting them into action.

There must be something about seeing the fruit trees burst into bloom:

Oranges still warm from the slowly strengthening sun:

Daffodils peeking into life in the park:

Dashes of colour everywhere:

And the flowering trees, old friends that I pass every day on my walk to work:

There's also stowing away my woolly Winter cardigans and scarves, and of course, the fact that it's no longer dark when I get home from work. This year I've become very enthusiastic about my garden again, and I've already planted some new plant friends which I'll show in a future post soon!

Happy Spring! And enjoy Autumn if you're up there in the Northern Hemisphere!