Earth Hour 2009

8:30 - 9:30 pm was Earth Hour in New Zealand - people are encouraged to turn their lights out for an hour to show commitment to fighting climate change and to living more sustainably.  Dunedin celebrated in the Octagon, (also the location of the Robbie Burns statue!) where restaurants turned out their lights and we were entertained by speeches, drums and fire pois. I went along to get a photograph for the blog of the paper boats which children were invited to make and float in the fountain. Pretty! 

39 - Austria - Sara Picchi

Hi,
I’m from Italy (Florence) but I live and work in Vienna. Here are three boats made with copy paper together with hand coloured chinese paper. I like your idea and your project and I wish you a lot of luck.

Sara is a member of www.iapma.info

You can see more of her work here.

Animated paper boats anyone?!

Your all getting quite adventurous with the paper boats..........so here's a challenge........

How about an animated paper boat??

I found this website which has free down-loads.

This download is free..........be careful where you click...others you have to pay for!

Sheep!! It's a start!!! (sheep in a boat perhaps?!)

http://www.flying-pig.co.uk/pagesv/freesheep.htm

I've never tried to make one!!

If you know of any other FREE download sites for animated paper art........get in touch and I'll add the link.

38 - UK Scotland - Liz O'Donnell

Catch of the day!Wash day on "The Mary-Ann".

37 - UK Scotland - Pauline Saul

Hello Joanne,
Since contacting you my boat has made ready to sail and will soon be skimming over the waves to your shore. The boat and its crew will be leaving Kirkcudbright, a fishing port in S.W. Scotland, on Monday. They will leave the port on the River Dee on an outgoing tide and slip into the Solway. With a favourable wind and a clear night sky to navigate by, they should be with you quite soon.

NOTE FROM THE HARBOUR MASTER:

The boat has now safely docked in my studio - arrival time logged at: 1047 hrs on Tuesday 17th March 2009. The crew are tired, and are slowly finding their land legs again before tucking into some food.

There are two crew; a guitar playing owl and a beautiful cat. They are looking for somewhere to set up home together. I do hope that you will be able to help in this matter. They have honey to eat on the journey and hope to catch a few red herrings to eke out supplies. They may be hungry when they arrive so I would suggest that you have some mince and sliced quince in the larder with which to feed them…..don’t worry they have money and a five pound note with which to pay you.

Their boat is made from the things I found in my studio and apart from the honey jar and the stick for a mast, is made from different types of paper. For the sail I photocopied the back of a Scottish £5 note, pasted it on to stronger paper for durability. The picture on the note is of Robert Burns who spent some time in Kirkcudbright during his time as an Excise Man. His image is being used in Dumfries and Galloway to promote the year of the homecoming, and it is an interesting fact that the first ship carrying emigrants to sail off for the New World actually sailed from Kirkcudbright.

The owl and the Pussycat are cut outs made from card, embellished with paint and paper, they have slits in them so that they can slot onto the side of the boat. The boat is made from thick green paper with gold metallic threads, the sea is of mulberry paper, painted and embossed with different powders, gold, silver, green and blue. I painted the pennant blue and decorated it with stars then I drew the fish on white paper and painted them red. There is a good reason for this as if you look carefully you will see that there are five round and about the boat (unless they have caught and eaten a couple!). The Studio behind my home in Kirkcudbright is the setting for ‘Five Red Herrings’ by Dorothy L Sayers. In her book the hero Lord Peter Whimsey stays at Bluegate studio, in reality Greengate Studio. My house is The Greengate, former home of Jessie M. King who was one of the Glasgow Girls; she was an artist and book illustrator and is well known and collected in Scotland.
I hope that the Owl and Pussy cat boat helps you in your endeavours to raise funds .

Regards
Pauline Saul

www.paulinesaul.co.uk

http://www.artandcraftstrail.co.uk/

Pigs Porpoise and Sunsets - on this day in 1879 on the Westland.......

Now this may inspire a paper boat maker .................

On this day in 1879, diarist and passenger, Jonathan Moscrop writes of fun and games that night on the Westland.

One of his fellow passengers was rather drunk and let one of the pigs out chasing it into the single men's sleeping area! Jonathan was awake most of the night!

This was in contrast to earlier in the day when Jonathan is lost for words at the beautiful sunset and shoal of porpoise which swam next to the Westland for quite a while.

If your inspired to read the rest of Jonathan Moscrops diaries from the maiden voyage of the Westland in 1879........they are all available on-line.

You'll find links to them all on the right hand side of

http://www.joannebkaar-mary-anns-cottage.blogspot.com/

36 - Holland - Adrienne Van Hovell

Adrienne's letter is just as fun!!

Hello Joanne
These three boats come all the way from Holland for your exhibition!
Theye are made from papers I printed and decorated (paste paper as well), plain papers and recycled envelopes. The fish are printed woodblocks (mango) from Bangaldesh, the dresses are shibori rice-papers I dyed. The mast is a bamboo sate stick and thread . Chinese newpaper as extra fastening and decoration!

I have been an arts and crafts teacher and artist for many years now….no website yet!!
Finally I would like to congratulate you with this wonderful initiative! I wish you success and will keep good track of the progression. Warm greetings from Holland!

There are labels underneath each boat, here's a close up of one.

Click on the images to see them in more detail.

35 - UK Scotland - Jane Donn

Hi, I have been following your boat blog and have decided to send you a boat all the way from Castletown (this is the other side of Dunnet Bay!) Since I like baking I thought I would print off some recipes that Mary-Ann may have used in her cottage and make my boat out of that.
Good luck with the project and I hope you get many more boats.

Jane

I unfolded the boat to find 4 recipes:

1. Crowdie

20 fl oz whole milk which has just turned sour.

Method

Pour the milk into a pan and heat slowly and carefully over a very low heat. Watch it constantly until it curdles. When the curd has set allow it to cool before draining the whey.

Line a colander with clean muslin and pour the curds into it. Leave in the colander until most of the whey has drained and then squeeze out the last of the whey by hand. Mix the crowdie with a little salt until it has attained a smoothe texture. Put in a dish and store in the fridge.

2. Beremeal Bannocks

4oz beremeal

4oz plain flour

6fl oz milk (sour or buttermilk)

1tsp cream of tarter

1tsp baking powder

Method

Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl and make a well in the centre. Add milk and mix until dough is elastic in texture. Roll tightly into bannocks half and inch thick. Place on a hot gridle for 4 minutes and then turn over until cooked. Place on a wire rack to cool covering with a dry cloth.

3. Dropped scones (pancakes)

12 oz S.R flour

2 oz sugar (caster)

pinch of salt

half level tsp cream of tarter

half to three quarters pint of milk

half level tsp baking soda

1 large egg

Method

Sieve the flour and mix in dry ingredients. Make a well in centre and add egg. Mix well and add the milk slowly beating the mixture to a creamy batter. Leave for 10 minutes to rise. Grease a hot gridle and drop sponfuls of the mixture, well spaced out, onto it. When the mixture bubbles turn them over and brown the other side.

4. Oatcakes

4 oz fine oatmeal

quarter tsp salt

quarter tsp baking soda

2 oz fat (lard)

boiling water

Method

Melt fat and stir into dry ingredients. Add enough boiling water to make a stiff paste. Turn out onto oatmeal covered surface and knead well. Roll out to quarter inch thick. Cut into rounds or triangles. Grease hot gridle and bake on either side. Dry off slowly under grill or in oven.

If you have a favourite traditional recipe from your country, available on-line, e-mail me the link and I'll add it to this blog entry - or print it out and make a boat!

34 - New Zealand - Jane Armour

Hi, here is a paper boat to add to your fundraising appeal.

I have sewn a map of Otago harbour as it was in the 1870’s onto a cotton paper (similar to paper available at the time of the Westland voyage).

I am a bookbinder and artist, living in Dunedin, of Scottish ancestory. I felt a connection with your work on the Westland, and I really had a lot of fun making a boat. Here’s hoping your fundraising is successful.

Jane

33 - USA Jackie Kirner

Hello!
Here are my paper boats for your Mary-Ann’s cottage fundraiser. I found your paper boat appeal via a blog-link. (Don’t ask me which – I follow too many!!)
I love collaborative art projects – yours has an instant appeal. So I’ve used some paper copies of my drawings from a design class. There are a few made from vintage navigation maps found in my Dad’s waterman’s cottage in Oxford, Maryland. (However, I think vintage in the USA means something quite different than in the UK?)

All the best wishes on your project fundraiser……..Jackie
Jackie Kirner
Boca Raton, Florida

www.blissfullyimperfect.blogspot.com