New Yallourn House print & a bit of history

OK, so I *may* have an addiction to drawing houses. Often pastel coloured, wonky houses. Some are houses I go past all the time and some are houses I used to live near but the latest fits neither of those categories - not only have I never seen this house, I can't see it because it doesn't exist anymore*. In fact, the town it's from doesn't exist anymore either.

So what is this place and why did I draw it? It's from a town called Yallourn, which was built by Victoria's State Electricity Commission to house the workers of Victoria's open-cut brown coal mines in East Gippsland. It's also the town that my dad grew up in and it looked to be a wonderland of green spaces with a vibrant, engaged community. But it's a town I never got to see because it was all but gone by the early 1980s. You see as the mine expanded, it swallowed up the whole area, and all of Yallourn. You can read a bit more about it here on the new house print's shop listing page here.

So that's the story with the latest house drawing. And even without knowing the background story, I still think it's just a very cute little house and I do hope you like it. 

X Susan

* When I say the house doesn't exist anymore that may not actually be the case. A lot of the houses from Yallourn were simple constructions - a timber frame with weatherboard cladding - and were removed and relocated to towns nearby and also far away. So if you're ever in the Latrobe Valley region keep a look out and you might just see this house, or one like it. How cool is that?

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New things

Just a quick post to share some new things I've been working on! The brand new tea towel, Fishes, is my first proper two-colour screen printed design and I'm so happy with it (and not just because I'm a Piscean). It's based on drawings I did earlier this year and certainly has a Scandi vibe and printed on 100% pure white European line. A limited number are now available in my shop and the Etsy shop.

Also new is an art print called Fish, which features more hand drawn...fish! It's printed onto the most lovely textured paper and fits A4/8x10" frames. It's in both this shop and Etsy too.

There will be shop updates each day this week, so keep an eye out for more new things. These one-off plates will be online tomorrow!

Oh, and in non-Spin Spin news, I've started *another* Instagram account, this time in my own name. So if you want to see what else I take photos of (mainly houses that are falling apart, sausage dogs, old buildings, old signage and plants) go forth and follow.

New papergoods

It's nearly September...what?! To celebrate entering the ninth month of the year, all September orders will receive a little Hei Hey Hallo Hi! screen printed postcard. Cute! I'm also working on a little card idea using some multi-coloured designs I've created lately.

Also coming soon - some more art prints, on the best textured paper ever. It's taken me years to find a stock that I like and this is it (below). Hope you like too. Watch this space.

X Susan