There are increasing numbers of artisan workshops and galleries down in the port area, and next week, when we have some Aus visitors with us, for whom lunch at the port is a given must-do, we’ll have on our walking shoes and check all the new stuff out, it’s been a while since we gallery hopped and really explored what’s new down there, as opposed to lingering over lunch, crowd and people watch, and enjoy the passing parade of colour and sounds, qwhich we enjoy any time.

These pics show what I found when we went to investigate the rug hanging on the wall outside (see below)

Carlos demostrating the piecing on what looks to me like an industrial serger…
The one horizontal needle can be seen here, single thread only

Piecing the stars then setting them into the background, just as a quiltmaker would do.

Drving along near the port yesterday, the sun shining on something large, and richly coloured hanging against a wall, caught my eye, and DH wound back through the one way street maze to get us back to where we could go and investigate.

A marvellous rich combination of colour and texture was created with red-brown suede in between the sheepskin stars of this one, which we bought. DH had been thinking about moving the one inside the front entrance up into one of the upstairs bedrooms, since it is showing a little wear, so what more justification was required?

The most common way people cook meat here is over the open fire in some form or other, next common comes baking in the oven, then egg and breadcrumbed before frying (milanesa) probably, and things like stewing and casseroles, the economic gentle way to treat the less tender cuts, don’t figure much at all. Most people either have some kind of woodfired bbq equipment out on their deck, in a metal half drum or some metal arrangment on legs, combining firebox and meat rack, but in houses certainly and even many apartments this is standard and built into the external brickwork. Those with only an internal fireplace can find a variety of racks and metal plates/dishes on legs that allow them cook meat over a fire inside the house. Our setup is built into the exterior brickwork, and is a rack that holds the burning wood, and a mesh rack that can be raised and lowered in relation to the coals which are raked and spread out beneath this rack. And is usual in most places we’ve ever been, men understand all the various little nuances of procedure and ritual involved, and women happily let them go with that.

At the annual rural expo in Montevideo last week, sort of like a royal show without sideshow alley and showbags, along with the prize animals (llamas, sheep, goats, cows, poultry and bunny rabbits of all sizes and colours), the latest and greatest ag. equipment and machinery and new fangled this and thats, we came across the perfect equipment for those who entertain big crowds at their bbq’s – This rotating spit or rack had only three lambs on it when we saw it, but would take about 8, or several larger animals, like several hindquarters of beef, etc. A small electric motor out of sight on the LHS just kept it quietly moving at a gentle steady pace – it was outside a restaurant tent, but we couldn’t wait long enough to be there for dinner and try the lamb, this meat still had at least a couple of hours to go.

Today I am working on, and hope to finish MOL, a small piece I committed to make available at a participants’ exhibition at Fibreswest in Bunbury, Western Australia beginning october 1st. Since I am currently on the other side of the world, that clearly means I will be packing my bags shortly for a brief trip back to Aus.

This is Kimberley 4, one of several works exploring that iconic landform of ours up in the Kimberley, the Bungle Bungles. Focusing on shapes and patterns of marks, similar to those in map making, or is that “traditional crafts” ? It doesn’t matter, because wherever it takes the viewer mentally, I hope this piece will further explore the mystery and the vast age of this region and the multifaceted importance it has for all Australians. Most of all, it is an expression of my hope to ‘sometime’ visit the national park.