hairy is beautiful

I've had a brilliant day... I discovered the macro option on my little Canon point and shoot. Oh my!!! How excited am I... happy days indeed. I would dearly love the real thing on a brand new DSLR, but this will certainly do for the moment. It all started while I was sitting on the nature strip (such an odd name for the bit of grass between the footpath and the road - it's like society's token gesture) while my partner changed a flat tyre. Good lad. It's been super windy, so there's a lot of foliage on the ground and flying through the air. I picked up a seed pod next to me, and was amazed, I mean truly AMAZED at how hairy it was... infact it looked like a tiny animal pelt! I picked up a few more and took them inside to place them next to the beautiful bunch of native Australian flowers I bought for the birthday boy. I thought I'd take a few happy snaps, which is something I don't do much. Then... then... there it was... the macro setting. Why had I not spied this before?! I wish I had discovered it when I was staying at the lighthouse on the Shetland Islands (yes... it was incredible) because I wanted to document this really fabulous plant growing amongst the rocks that looked like little strawberry tops. So I had a play, and it was when I zoomed in on the flowers that I realised that they were really hairy too! I just couldn't resist posting this little suite of hairiness.

hanging rock

On Saturday I took my partner to Hanging Rock in Victoria for a birthday picnic. This unique volcanic area is chocoblock full of extraordinary history, and is geographically stunning - it was the first time we had headed out there, which is kinda crazy since it's only about an hour from our place. We climbed almost all the way to the summit (not rock climbing, well formed paths guided our way, but I was certainly a bit out of breath at the end!) and found a fantastic little precarious rocky spot to lay out my bag of goodies - an assortment of yummy food and wine. We just sat there for ages, watching: a mob of kangaroos play in a paddock far below and then move across the racecourse (neither of us had seen so many kangaroos at once) - a flock of sheep being herded into another paddock, their bleeting remarkably clear - and delighting in a sole hawk that hovered and soared and dived throughout our stay. All in all, a very perfect day. Here are a few little studies from one area, not sure how I feel about them.

alasdair mcluckie

I was recently in Sydney for a few days, and managed for the first time to see Primavera, an annual curated exhibition at the MCA (Museum for Contemporary Art), for artists in the early stages of their careers. Since it was launched about 18 years ago, I've had a couple of friends and known quite a few artists included in the line-up - which was a sensational experience for them - but overall I'm somewhat critical of this type of showcase. I can be a grumpy ol soul sometimes! All that said, I was intrigued to see who curator Katie Dyer had chosen to highlight. So off I went, and as I entered the first room I was immediately struck by Alasdair McLuckie's work 'The Highest Mountain Peaks Right Before Dawn'. This mural style drawing made up of individual panels that effortlessly interrelated, occupied most of the wall - the photo really doesn't do justice. I initially thought that he had burnt the images and text into the wood, but on closer inspection discovered that he had drawn directly onto the plywood with black biro pen. Crazy! The graphic style and apocalyptic narrative (I do find myself kinda partial to artists who explore a darker theme!) carried throughout is really amazing, making it a brilliantly considered epic piece. He says in his artist talk that making this body of work literally exhausted him (& kinda sent him a bit insane!), so he turned to working with craft techniques (beading) throughout the following year! Listen to his artist talk by clicking here and find his name on the right hand side. Hopefully this link will remain as it is! Emma White's meticulously handmade polymer clay models of everyday objects (mainly office stationery and art supplies) installed on the next level were also pretty special.

> Alasdair McLuckie's website, MCA Sydney

bee-mused

I know... I know. The title's kinda tacky, but bemused I was indeed when I noticed this poor wayward bee (almost a poem!) firmly attached to our very own window sill friend. I know Queen bees are larger in size, but one would surmise that maybe, just maybe, he had some sort of size distortion fixation? Then lo and behold, I swung around and there was another bee clinging to dear life from the candle wax overflow. Now I'm not sure what would be more precarious in this instance... pseudo ice climber adventurer aiming for dizzy heights, or escaping indiana jones-style from a formidable elephant holding a damn long sword (a beautiful label on a pot of Indian chutney that hasn't quite made it back to the fridge). Ah... spring has arrived.

lovely laura

I've been very lucky to have made several trips to the post office this week because of my recent online, well... lets just say... 'activity'!! Amongst the beautiful items that have graced my desk, I'm very excited that my wonderful, wonderful painting from the 'new england' series arrived from the stunning Laura Ferrara. The front of the box itself made we almost squeal (and I'm not a squealer by nature) aloud in delight, because she included this sensational quirky fella - a little thought bubble stemming from his crown with my address details enclosed. Oh my!!



The painting was wrapped with blue gridded paper and a set of her tender little drawings greeted me, begging to be framed immediately. I have to find a spot for the painting, but at the moment it's on the bedroom table (yep, next to the phrenology head and a worn copy of 'What Bird Is That').



> previous post about Laura's drawings, Larabee and Liza blog, Etsy shop: emerson's bookcase

... a not so secret obsession!

small blessings | annamaria potamiti

I'm very excited to have received this beautiful, beautiful little water colour from Annamaria's Small Blessings series. I love the fact that I was able to buy the original from her Etsy shop, where there are many, many more works to tempt and delight - it's her confident approach to composition, abstraction and colour that I'm especially attracted to. I originally stumbled across her daily 'visual thoughts' project on her blog, where she used different papers (though predominantly graph paper) to create a body of drawings that display such a wonderful complexity in their simplicity - I hope that makes sense! But she also paints figuratively, and more recently returned to oil painting with a more realistic interpretation of her surroundings. And although they are very different to the bulk of her other work, I love their integrity and the fact that she continues to play, explore and challenge herself - as difficult as that can be sometimes!



The painting (along with two others), was included in the publication From Orchards, Fields, and Gardens, which looks pretty damn fabulous. It features writing from 11 authors, and photos and illustrations from 21 artists - and it just so happens that quite a few of the works are by some of my favourite artists - I think that means I have quite good taste!! I haven't had a chance to buy it yet, but it's definitely on my wish list, and I think it would make an excellent Chrissy present.



Links: Annamarie's blog, Etsy shop, From Orchards, Fields & Gardens book

please... take a seat

according to birds | linde faas

There's a wow factor to Linde's exquisite animation 'Volgens de Vogels' (According to Birds), which screened in Melbourne at MIAF in 2009 & won best student film at the Holland Animation and Film Festival in the same year. As a beautiful hand drawn observation of birds in their habitat, it effortlessly charms with sublime movement and the purr of wind, water, bird calls & insects. You can watch it on her website (if it plays a little slow, click on the You Tube link to watch it there). It's just gorgeous.

Links: Linde's website

iris schwarz

There are many elegant, sensuous ladies in Iris Schwarz’s life …confident ladies gowned & poised …ladies with light hearted skipping intentions …ladies riding horseback with honour …ladies with pleated shoulders, crowned & corseted …ladies with a frida sensibility …and those holding just a little more mystery than the average gal.

The fluid simplicity in much of Iris’s work, can in no way be understated – it’s not at all easy to do this well! And the antiquity achieved with line and ink and vintage images makes so much sense once you read her Etsy profile - where she says she sometimes thinks she was born in the wrong century… I know a couple of people who feel this way.

‘Paulette Edition’ was established three years ago, and is the umbrella for her prints, illustration, small editions and pieces of original fine art. And it’s SEVEN, the weekly editions that appear on Sundays that are for me the most captivating. Every seven days, seven prints are released. What a brilliant idea! Love it. Her most recent one (the top image), completely caught my attention, and I galloped enthusiastically to her Etsy shop to buy one. She is just gorgeous, and can’t wait to have her framed and on show.

Links: Iris's blog 'Paulette Edition', Etsy shop, 2008 interview with pikaland, interview on the lovely golly bard blog, 'Book By Its Cover' sketchbook profile

flying backwards | oohhh aahhh wwohhh oooooh

Such an old image, but oh so appropriate at the moment! (It's actually made me feel heaps better just finding it!!)

daniela tieni

When looking at Italian artist Daniela Tieni's work, I feel like I'm being guided through a continuous fable, where the characters are revealed in solitary contemplation, sharing awkward and tender moments, or parade in a kind of perverse, burlesque festivity. There's an emotional & physical intensity that I think many of us can relate to, which dances with ease between a bright, bold colour palette and detailed monotones. Once again, there are so many wonderful images to highlight, so I strongly recommend you explore her sites.

Links: Daniela's blog, flickr site, ultra book page

circadian rhythm

I'm afraid my circadian rhythm is all out of whack. Getting to sleep at 5am-ish is all good and fine at the moment, but I'll have to return to paid work very soon, so that means it's time to somehow regulate "normal" slumber patterns.

kelie bowman hanky

I've been feeling awful this week. The dreaded lergy (a nasty cold) took hold, and it's taking a very very long time to leave. Most unwelcome! So on this mildish, wet spring day, I headed out to buy some filing trays, and found myself detouring past Luft, a lovely shop of fine goodies in North Fitzroy. And I just couldn't help it... really... I HAD to buy this gorgeous handkerchief by Third Drawer Down with one of Kelie Bowman's works from a few years ago. And no... I'm not going to use it to deal with my snuffly nose, I'm going to find a way to hang/peg it on my wall, because the stitching and printing is wonderful. Does anyone actually still use hankies anymore??!! They were certainly used when I was growing up, I remember my brother and father in particular, stuffing their man size hankies back in their pocket after use - eew.



Third Drawer Down sells seriously funky stuff. Their limited edition teatowels printed with the work of contemporary artists such as Camilla Engman (image above, and her work was highlighted here on the 1 Aug), Betsy Walton (I bought this one for my mum last Xmas), Luke Best & Allyson Mellberg, are now known far & wide - and in many ways, kicked off the trend of artists printing their own teatowels that is now so popular (and rightly so!). Director Abi Crompton has grown the business into a 'storefront museum', online retailer & consultancy/agency that works with international art and design museums on the production of art souvenirs. But despite the growth of their products, it's their textile range that continues to hit the spot for me.

Links: Kelie Bowman, Third Drawer Down, nice little interview with Abi Crompton

sketchbook

Sometimes the oddest things make it onto the sketchbook page...