Cape, King For a Day, Igby and so on...

Now I will be the first to admit, I've been talking about making a cape for MANY months. And I believe there are several people that wish I'd just shut up about it. Well I finally made one. Hoorah, you say! The cape I constructed was navy blue with a strawberry print lining. Very warm, with hood, perfect for committing petty crimes.

Backwoods Gallery - King For A Day


Last Friday I was invited to the exhibition opening for 'King for a Day' by Meggs. I read the little blurb for the exhibition and it all seemed quite interesting. Basically about the cult of celebrity and how anyone can be famous with the help of facebook and twitter. I found it was a little similar to what Banksy was trying to say with 'Exit Through the Giftshop'. The night had been promoted with the allure of FREE ALCOHOL. I was unaware as to what this would mean but soon found out. When an exhibition provides free alcohol, the people it attracts may not necessarily be there for the art... The entire art space was full of people with their backs to the artwork, just drinking and checking each other out. Not being able to find my friends, I decided I'd had enough and left. On my return home I visited the gallery website to view the art at my leisure, perhaps not the same but much more comfortable.

Igby Goes Down - Possibly one of my favourite films.

I'm a big fan of films that have multiple quirky, messed up characters. Igby Goes Down and The Royal Tenenbaums both fit into this classification. I could describe why I like this film, but perhaps it would be best expressed with some of my favourite quotes:

- 'It's just you and me old man.'

- 'Igby is not my fault.'

- 'I believe certain people are meant to fall by the wayside. To serve as warnings to the rest of us, sign posts along the way.' 'To where?' 'Success!'

- 'Really? You sound older than eleven. Probably all the cigarettes.'

- 'Families should be run like companies.'

- 'Why do you think I'm dressed like a figure skater?'

- ' Embrace your moral hypocrisy DH. Go for it!'

- 'Your joints are like salad joints.'

- 'Instead of saying something or someone is funny, wy don't you just laugh?'

- 'Guess you have to pay rent this month.'

- 'She's a dancer who doesn't dance and her friend is a painter who doesn't paint.'

- 'I feel this great, great pressure coming down on me. It's just constantly coming down on me, crushing me.'

Work in progress = perfume bottles. Here is my first one with the aim to create some sort of collage of various perfume bottles and silhouettes.

Crystal Castles Cousin - Oh my, last weekend my friend and I were lucky enough to run into somewhat of a celebrity. Yes, that's right, girl from Crystal Castles cousin! aaarrrhh! OMG! No not really, the cousin was a bit annoying, but apparently girl from Crystal Castles is really shy and down to earth, but aren't we all!

Empathy by Crystal Castles = love!

Couples, Love, Chloe and Smoking - For no particular reason.


I have this web visual diary where I collect images that appeal to me and 'try' to file them away with reference to the site I found them, I'm getting better at this (I know it's for my own good). So I was looking through my collection and noticed all these images of cute couples from Style Scout. Style Scout loves taking pictures in places like Brick Lane, Shoreditch, Hackney and I think these images shout East London, which is a good thing.




Studio Canoe - If you don't know about Studio Canoe you are totally missing out. He is this amazingly talented young Brit who draws, writes, makes short films, takes pictures and has an audio blog, the first I've seen (or heard). Studio Canoe inspired me to create this blog because I was so overwhelmed at how much he had achieved I thought I need to be less half-hearted about what I do and just immerse myself in everything that I love. So I did. But I still have a long way to go. The following is a story by Studio Canoe about love. It speaks for itself... enjoy.







Mr Nice - Rhys Ifans stars as Mr Nice, with Chloe Sevigny! Rhys plays a charismatic Welsh drug smuggler and it looks amazing. It'll be out soon I guess, I gave up looking for a release date but I'm sure we'll all know when the time approaches.

Smoking - I know smoking isn't cool, but why do some people look so cool when they're smoking. Yeah, they are killing themselves slowly but something about it. No, I'm not having smokers envy. I am the most awesome non-smoker I know.

Image: Pet Fan Club

Image: Facehunter

More to come... But first dinner!

Tea and a bit of illustration

I was out in the general Melbourne city area and desperately needed a cup of tea. The suggestion of honey was made by a very friendly and knowledgeable coffee maker to which I accepted and wow o wow, was it good. On a cold day walking around on the cold streets, a cup of tea with honey is amazingly, well amazing!

A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to join my friend for afternoon tea at The Hopetoun Tearooms, just off Collins St in the Block Arcade. Just look at all those little scones ready to become Devonshire Teas. Too many levels of good in one window.

Following a similar theme, I was also struck by this chocolate display and eventually got a clear shot when the group of little old ladies were tempted away with a free sample. Haigh's is also in the Block Arcade, the place was practically heaving around Easter. But chocolate is like gold in there, well pretty much the same price. I know, I know, you get what you paid for and all that but Aldi dark chocolate is a quiet acheiver, in my mind anyway.

Dappled Cities - I have been waiting to see Dappled Cities for almost a lifetime. Well since January when I was introduced to them at St Jerome's Laneway Festival, which seems like a very long time ago. Anyway, there were a few support bands and the first I have literally spent 10 minutes looking for their name on the interweb. So here it is Otouto, a couple of girls and a guy from Melbourne. Pretty cool, cute, different and a nice surprise. Next was John Steel Singers who I'd heard of, they had a massive hit with Masochist which was one of my favourite aus songs in Nov/Dec. They played well with loads of energy. So yeah, Dappled Cities, lasers galore, smoke machines and everything, combined with some very energetic dancing by Tim Derricourt, he's like an energiser bunny! 'Wooden Ships' was possibly my favourite although they sung a little lower than they do on the recorded version, a little disappointed about, but not much! Oh and one small, irrelevant piece of information that brought a smile to my face, before the bands came on, they played the entire Crowded House Best Of album. Whose ever idea that was, I believe they are my hero!

I've always been meaning to do some graphic illustrations of digital watches so here's my first one. Based on a G-Shock digital watch.

Inspired by these girls in blazers (Neet Magazine), I blazed up for my family lunch this Sunday.

I've always loved Andy Warhol and as Bob Dylan and Andy cross paths a few times I became a little caught up in Bob. That's sort of a lie, who could not know about Bob Dylan? Nobody!

So I was watching 'No Direction Home' and was very impressed with Bob's hair when he let it get so long his face was surrounded with messy curls. Thinking of this I did a quick illustration, paying particular attention to the hair.
Don't Think Twice, It's Alright...

Market Day - Why aren't you wearing waterproof shoes?

Camberwell Market, never been, until now. Why is it raining? I'm not prepared.

They charge you 'one gold coin' to enter this magical place. To me this seems absurd, cause that one gold coin could buy you 1/3 of a dress! The market thrives on the impulse buy. If I had a gold coin for everytime I heard someone say 'But it's only .....', I would have been able to pay for everyone's entry. Sure, things are cheap, but do you really need it? Most likely, the answer is no, but it's so cheap!

Don't get me wrong, I liked the market, I liked my hot jam donut and maybe next time I'll upgrade to a toasted cheese sandwich. I just took in the sights for my first time and there were some pretty cool people around and some classic crazys that you just come to expect.

Coogi - Amongst a range of cute colourful knitwear, we found a real COOGI cardigan. Oh my, what a find. It was a sight to behold. I felt so very humble. How do they get so many colours into one item of clothing?

After leaving the market I noticed this empty store on the way to the station. Check out top right, I do believe that's Robert Pattinson - hello my dear vampire friend.

Top Arts - VCE 2009 - I've been meaning to see this exhibition for while. Let me just say, these kids are amazing!! Aside from the ones that had based their artwork on cliche topics, I was suitably impressed. As I read the students descriptions of what they were hoping to achieve with their artwork, I was a little disheartened by the way they had been brainwashed into using all the buzz words that their teachers had flooded them with throughout their education. But I guess they are appealing to the client, who is the teacher or who ever marks these things. These talented young individuals are not to blame.

Tobias 2008
synthetic polymer paint on canvas
60.0 x 44.5 cm
by Amy Lawrence

William 2008
ink on vinyl
329.0 x 252.0 cm (unstretched)
by Tait Sengstock

The Light At Winter - Doesn't look so great during the day but click on the link to see what it's supposed to look like at night. There's loads of talk at the moment about how great it is, hhmmm, it's alright.

Before I embarked on this mission of art and culture, I did my research. I looked up this exhibition at the Centre for Contemporary Photography. It looked interesting so I went a bit out of my way to find it. Turns out, it wasn't so great, or I just didn't get it. I'm not that in to space and a lot of it was to do with space. There was one installation that looked pretty cool but it's too hard to explain and the picture they have on their site doesn't do it justice. So maybe a good one to miss. But if not for this exhibition, I would not have run into a little pet pig, who sort of made my day. I didn't take a photo cause I could imagine he's probably sick of all the attention he gets and just wants to live his little piggy life in peace, I respect that.

Rose St Artists Market - I went here a month or so ago and little has changed which is good and bad. My favourite stall was this card stall. And I really do heart these cards! The first one in particular.


Finally, on my way home, when I walk past this book store on Lygon St. Sure I've seen this technique done before, but it still looks really striking. I had to take a photo but didn't have time to really line it up cause these two junkies were standing behind me making comments. I walked away quickly and took a look at what I had captured and was pleasantly surprised. The reflection of the sky in the window, I like very much.

Check Your Checks At the Door
Last night it was off to the Workers Club. A nice little place for gigs, parties, food and chats with friends, they also have exhibition space which I forgot to check out... next time. We were there to see a few bands for the Familia Moja Fundaraiser, it's a nice feeling when you can see bands and know that you're also supporting charity, there should be more of this.

However, upon entry it became abrasively apparent that checked shirts are like the Workers Club uniform. It doesn't matter if you're working behind the bar or there for a drink, checks are in abundance. I rarely ever wear checks but just happened to put my favourite checked shirt on cause it's comfy and warm. I really like the whole idea of checks and it's a good example of casual chic. The key is to make it look as if you don't care, when in fact... you sort of do. I don't think I'll be wearing checks to the Workers Club anytime soon, but I will go back.

1. Vice Magazine (Aus), 2. Vice Magazine (Aus), 3. Facehunter

The first artist on stage... well we missed the first, so the first we saw was Owl and Moth which is basically Oliver Hunter, a very curious young gentleman indeed. To create his unique sound, Oliver incorporates his own vocals, baritone ukulele and other percussive and environmental sound sources to produce electric folk. As well as being extremely talented musically, Oliver is a snappy dresser. I loved his trousers and could not help dreaming of owning such a pair myself. They were black, high-waisted and tapered at the ankles. He was wearing braces with them which just makes me admire him more. Oliver really is in his own little world which is a good place to be.

The other bands were alright, but at some point I had a craving for mint chocolate. So we were off in search of some sort of store to purchase chocolate. We were thinking the almighty 7-eleven but stumbled across an independent 'milkbar'. After making our selections and checking the expiry dates (you never can be too careful), we paid and left. On our return to the venue we were harassed by a homeless person who suggested we were living a spectacular life while he was suffering. He them became a bit aggressive and followed us for quite some time. When we were safely back in the warm I opened my chocolate bar only to realise I had selected Cadbury's mint Bubbly! This is a poor substitute for Aero and really should never have been introduced to the market. I ate it anyway... but I felt like I had betrayed the Aero.

Shops| Tea | Film
I really want a cape. I saw this one at American Apparel but it's super expensive and I think I could possibly make one myself for less. That's the dream.

On my travels I ran into Cameron who works in a shop called 'Meet Me At Mikes'. Cameron introduced me to the philosophy that if something troubles you, just say 'It doesn't matter'. I think this is a good philosophy. I then went to a cafe and bought a cup of tea and a lucky horseshoe shortbread.

Cameron's shop is super cute with all sorts of crafty things; pretty necklaces, cardigans, colourful stationary and even bikes! Here's Cameron and his favourite thing in the shop, a massive lamp!

Exit Through the Gift Shop - It was the opening night at ACMI and the place was a buzz. Reviews suggested there was some sort of trick Banksy was playing on his audience so I was on my guard throughout the film. I don't think there was a trick at all. It's just another piece of art by Banksy in the form of film where Banksy makes a comment on popular culture in today's society. No trick, but very clever, amusing and not a bore at all.

I was looking for some Banksy art but couldn't find a favourite so here's a couple. The Tesco bag was just up the street from where I used to live on Essex Rd N1.



Melbourne Transport - It's a love hate relationship. I don't know what I'd do without it but sometimes I wish it wasn't so grotty. I like this picture though.

Oh I forgot to say... I went to a photography exhibition at the National Gallery that wasn't so great. But I must admit I only went there for the clean toilets, toasty warm heating and pretty gift shop. And I don't really feel bad about it. I'd do it again!