sugar mountain prize went to jess, carbon prize went to khairun, and not-from-melbourne print prize went to kat (of team kitten). numbers were picked by this random number generator. thanks to everyone who entered, i wish i could give you all a prize. promise there will be more giveaways soon.
have a great weekend!
CURTIN exhibition at seventh gallery:
this show has been curated by my handsome man-about-town brother-in-law johann rashid and his equally as handsome lady andie tham. when he is not studying film at RMIT, joh makes film clips, and occasionally hosts tv shows too. his latest project is free publication called “curtin” loosely based around artists involved in curtin house. the exhibition will show work from all those involved in the book, and there will be copies of the book available to take on the night too. the show opens tomorrow night at seventh gallery.
Curtin – curated by johann rashid and andie tham.
28th april – 14th may at seventh gallery – 155 gertrude st, fitzroy, www.seventhgallery.org. opening thurs 28th april 6pm-9pm
(flyer image from james eisen)
SUGAR MOUNTAIN FESTIVAL at the forum theatre
yes, there are about a billion festivals these days, but sugar mountain is something of a novelty, as it combines awesome bands and awesome art under the same roof. visual artist line-up is total greatness and features some of my favs – steven harrington, stefan marx and thomas campbell (who will be there in the flesh and doing live painting!!). i think this is going to be a pretty great event.
sugar mountain festival – saturday 30th may at the forum theatre. more details and tickets available on the sugar mountain website
CARBON FESTIVAL OF DESIGN AND CULTURE at fed square
carbon is a 3-day event featuring exhibitions, parties and forums. on sunday i am speaking at a forum titled “craftsmanship and imagination” along side graffiti legend futura as well as brett chan and anthony lister. considering this is a forum and public speaking is not my forte, i may not actually be saying anything (well i do have to do a 10 minute presentation. gulp), but listening to futura alone will be tres interesting.
carbon, april 29th – may 1st, federation square. more details on all events, speakers and tickets available on the carbon website.
**GIVEAWAY**
i have one ticket to the ‘craftsmanship and imagination’ forum on sunday and one ticket to sugar mountain festival on saturday to giveaway! plus, as i have just realised my blog recently turned 2 years old (!) and i am just past the 150th post mark, so with each ticket i am going to throw one of my limited editions giclee prints too (rainbow thought – below). and to make it fair for those of you not in melbourne – i will be giving away ANOTHER print for those of you not in my home town (twins print 1 – below). it’s pure giveaway MADNESS here!
to enter just leave a comment before 2pm (melbourne time) tomorrow, and winners will be randomly selected and announced tomorrow evening. thanks for reading!
place: royal botanical gardens cranbourne -
i am a big fan of any botanical gardens, and this one has always been on my to do list. on friday myself, my mum, the kids and some friends were at an annual easter egg hunt in the area, and much to the kids disgust we made an impromptu decision to leave early and pay a visit. i can’t believe i have waited so long to see this incredible place. it solidified my love for australian plants and confirmed my dream of having a natives-only garden one day. it’s kid-friendly and they loved it too – just the antidote we needed to soothe a chocolate-fuelled morning.
creative pursuit: embroidery -
on my return from seoul i was feeling allergic to my computer – i simply couldn’t go near it. but i was also feeling ridicoulsly inspired, and on a whim picked up an embroidery hoop and some thread and made these. even though i am back at my computer, my embroidery obsession continues (mostly at night in front of the tv with a glass of vino). as you can see i am pretty crap at it , but it doesn’t bother me – the parts i love the most are the messiness and mistakes which i generally dont allow to happen in my other work. it feels like drawing in slow motion.
illustrator: eirian chapman -
i discovered the beauty of eirian’s work a little while back. she has an amazing quality of line and great themes running through her work too, in fact pretty much everything she does is great. really great. in our limited email contact (i wrote her fanmail) she seems quite awesome and is based right here in my home-town too. you can see her work on her site, and she also has a great blog and has just opened an online print shop too.
clothing: PAM painted leggings
i am a little obsessed by pretty much everything in the new PAM collection. these leggings (with a print by nathan gray) have amazing colours. and so many of them that they seem to go with everything in my wardrobe (and make it 100 x cooler). next on my list, the macarooned tank and ankh top . all available online at someday store
object: new chair
i have long lusted after a plywood chair and spotted this one in my favourite vintage store few weeks ago. i have had it on old-fashioned lay-by since and picked it up yesterday. it’s now happily in my lounge room and i fall more in love with it everytime i walk past. raph is yet to find out about this purchase (he is away with the trucks at boogie festival), and i am pretty sure i am going to get in trouble for buying yet another vintage chair. but it’s so worth it.
there is so much happening next week it’s making my head spin. i have new work in 2 group shows and am also speaking at this forum. i even have a giveaway planned. more on that tomorrow (or knowing me, possibly the next day).
hope you are enjoying this most epic of long weekends, and if you are in melbourne getting to lap up the amazing autumn weather too.
it’s been just over a week since i got back. it feels like a life-time ago.
staying with em was a dream – despite being 28 floors up in the middle of a huge city, i felt like i was on a resort. after a few days away i easily slipped back into a pattern of pre-child life with just the occasional feeling of guilt. i read books, drank martinis, slept-in, shopped, meandered and took my time doing everything (one day i spent a whole hour just getting dressed! such indulgence!). i even did things in my sketchbook – not because i had too, but because i was too inspired not too.
as per usual i forgot all about taking photos of sights, and everything i took is colour and pattern. not sure if it shows a true representation of seoul of not, but it shows the bits i like. this included:
* craft shopping at namdemun markets – once you navigate through the usual bootleg touritsy fare (still fun) – it’s serouisly mind-blowing. like tokyu hands but across a whole district. i’m talking multi-level shops full of every type of paper and paper product imaginable. multi-level department-store-size buildings full of every type of jewelry making supply imaginable. stores in laneways with layers and layers of cotton quilts in the best colours ever. little corner stores selling just super cute kids shoes. there is even a fresh flower market on a 3rd floor in the middle of it all. (tricky to find – but there are always tourist info helpers around you can ask). it was hard to digest. luckly it was opposite were my sister lived so i was able to visit everyday.
* exploring hongdae – reminded me of harajuku, with its cute winding streets and small boutiques and nice cafes. my favourite shop was “i think so”. best stationary selection EVER.
* eating korean BBQ in myeong-dong, and tasting the gigantic array of kimchi in the basement of fancy shinsegae department store
* mental toy museum we happened across in insa-dong. worth every cent of the $1 entry fee – strange arrangments of worn out dolls, plastic figures, vintage packaging and hand-drawn art.
* visiting the MMMG store and cafe in anguk-dong. so cute – these guys really do excel in everything they do.
* hanging out with elfi and ferdi (my sisters exceptionally cute daschunds)
i thought seoul could be my second toyko, but it was actually very different. more conservative but also more chaotic (i like a bit of chaos). i loved the aesthetic i found in their design too – quite understated but very considered, and so beautiful.
now, i am well and truly back to reality. over the next 4 weeks i have to complete work for three big briefs (thanks JW!), give two talks, make artwork for two group shows, make new products for our may markit stall and participate in one (very public) forum. and there is even more to come after that. big and exciting things too. more on all of that soon!
happy weekend! x
i’m back. i had a great time. really, really great. going to different countries is always inspiring and exciting, but hanging out with my sister 24/7 was the best part of the whole deal. i don’t think it’s something we have done properly (ie no child/parent/friend distractions) since we lived at our parent’s house(s) a million years ago. i’d forgotten how fun and relaxing time with her can be.
our first stop was hong kong, where i met em and stayed for 2 nights. i hadn’t been to hong kong for a while, and i loved it all over again – i felt like it had lots of new energy and great things going on everywhere i looked. highlights were:
- lusting over the beautiful selection at lane crawford homewares store at pacific place
- shopping at IT (in particular the tsumori chisato concept store in the harbour city branch. heaven)
- fancy lunch at l’ateleir de joel robuchon
- not so fancy (but equally delicious) dinner at local dumpling house
- bargain spotting a various markets
- drinking cocktails in the hotel lounge at any given opportunity (such a luxury for me).
see more of our hong kong adventures on my sister’s blog (who co-incidentally put up a very similar post while i was writing this one).
next up, pics of seoul taken with my new camera (goodbye crappy iphone pics, hello a-little-bit-less crappy proper camera pics).