I’m not one for talking or hearing bumper sticker, but it seems I love post-it notes left to their fate in public places. Shaheen linked me to this ace blog Things We Forget by this anonymous Singaporean blogger and street artist and I’ve spent a good part of the last hour wisening up. ‘JJ’ draws and leaves this notes all over the tiny island and elsewhere for fortuitous people to find. So wonderful.
Thought I’d blog about my new cards because they are the business! The other day I found these boxes of blank cards made from handmade paper in a store and I had to make them mine. I’d already decided that printed, glossy cards were just not going to cut the mustard.
I love me some of that handmade aesthetic but I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted. I still have the handwriting of a seven year old so that was out, cutouts were ridiculous and tedious, I suck at Photoshop (unless you want to hire me in which case its like I was born-to-edit), letterpress was favoured but my family’s printshop has been reduced to rubble and then I had it – my grandfather’s beast of a typewriter!
So yes, each card is individually typed out, which leaves lots of room for imperfections and I am okay with that. I chose the tan for the paper because with age and the crinkles and creases, it starts to look like well worn suede. It does take a little while longer than handing off cards to a printer but who am I kidding? I have lots of spare time. I had enough spare time to make a card tower. Also punching those keys makes the most satisfying sounds.
Only card party I’m throwing. Happy Diwali. I’m off to Calcutta tomorrow.
Spotted some of the work of French street artist Invader on my trip. I wonder at his work, (mostly) mosaic tiles arranged like the pixelated Space Invaders of the classic video game and pasted up in various locations all over the world. Read more about him by him here. His new work RubikCubism is also rather genius.
London
Paris
The last one is disguised as a leaf on the tree, hopefully you can spot it. Also, I just saw the marvelous Banksy film Exit from the Giftshop, where the protagonist (I think?) is the cousin of Space Invader. Great film, go watch.
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Art faggotry, Artists, Handmade, Photography, Sheena, Street
I learnt to knit from my grandmother when I was about 7 years old and I’ve never really gotten much better at it, but it has generally been tradition for me to knit when the seasons change. I’ve knitted some pretty neat stuff like purses, beer cosies and scarves before to entirely futile shit like journal covers and umm, even a bum bag (In my defense, it was inspired by Carrie Bradshaw’s Gucci fanny pack in season 4, thanks). I’ve never attempted anything too fancy, although this owl mittens pattern has me smitten and willing to try. I knitted this awkward scarf a while ago and because I used three skeins of wool and created such a stiff stitch, was able to turn it into a really warm neckpiece today.
Two days ago, I DIYed a bangle necklace, read the Sunday supplements from the paper (best!), caught a train to Footscray and went to the open day and fundraiser at the MMoP. It smelled of my childhood. My grandparents owned and ran the oldest letterpress printers in Pune, my hometown. Maybe that explains my love of typography. The metallic blocks, the sticky inks and the wooden cabinetry all brought back memories I didn’t know I had. I remembered playing with the the cast metal pieces and the movable type, amazed at how many drawers and compartments there were in this one space, my half Scottish grandmother Reggie or Aai, as everybody called her, behind the main desk ignoring arthritic fingers and knitting little sweaters as if on auto-pilot. I remember all the workers drank hot tea in tiny glass tumblers, they bound all the blank pages left over in my school notebooks into fat scrapbooks at the end of each year. I remember dipping my hands in vats of adhesive and pulling it off like a loose layer of dead skin with only our dogs to share my disgust and awe with.
But I digress, The MMoP is a truly marvellous place. Here are photos.
The No Vacancy gallery space at Melbourne’s QV always has great stuff on like killer art exhibitions or that kooky PR driven Indoor Drive-In. I was the supermarket buying soy milk and apple crumble (unemployment cuisine) and stumbled upon the No Vacancy Art Market totally by chance and it is quite wonderful. It’s been on for a while but I caught the late boat. It’s running for only another couple of days till May 17th, and the spiel from the website explains it best. ‘Twenty stalls presenting emerging and established local talent in the Gallery’s inner-city space over four weeks. Illustrators, artists, jewellers, designers, animators, rare booksellers and an eclectic mix of hand-picked others come together to showcase their wares and offer a rare opportunity to collect original work.” I took some pictures. I loved the Artist’s Puzzle Book, a compilation of puzzles hand drawn by Melbourne artists. And Zoe Churchill’s stoneware and Curious Moth’s illustrations.
For their recently released Vintage Issue, I got to be Dujour Magazine’s Etsy writer. My job was to find all that is covetable on Etsy, source photos and write about the lovely handmade goods and the designers behind them. I wrote a feature on Norwegian Wood and shared two spreads with another writer. Here are a peek at my pages below the cover.
The cutest daily weather forecasts you’ve ever seen, a project by Steffi Gloor and Kurt Riedi. Love the handmade aspect, adorable. The city I live in is on it, maybe yours is too.
I hurried to Gorker Gallery in Fitzroy today because I thought it was the last day of the Wooden Toy ‘Hand Made Edtn.’ exhibition but good news for everybody, they’ve decided to extend it for another week. The exhibition marks the launch of the 6th edition of Wooden Toy Quarterly and I loved it and loved what they’ve done with the contemporary space for it. I’m only sharing a single picture from the collection, Dave Collinson’s piece, one of my favourites because I’d like people in Melbourne to go see the exhibition. It made my day. You can also purchase the original artworks on display from the wonderful Wooden Toy Shop, buy copies of the magazine for $28 or buy prints at $80.
Pieces by artists Acorn • Bec Winnel • Biddy Maroney • Big Gav • Cat Rabbit • Clemens Habicht • Craig Spark • Dave Collinson • Ghost Patrol • Jae Copp • James Looker • Justin Lee Williams • Karl Kwasny • Kelly Thompson (NZ) • Lilly Piri • Michael Perry (USA) • Nate Holmes Trapnell • Nawlz • Nior • Rik Lee • Rohan Hutchinson • Santha King • Sean Morris • The Contextual Villains • Timba • Tristan Jalleh • Twoone
There’s a single copy of Wooden Toy Handmade Edition personally signed by many of the artists and released with the rest for retail, so it could pop up in store anywhere. One of the gallery’s directors Luke who I met today, informed me that they’re offering the lucky person who finds it and gets in touch, a Wooden Toy t-shirt. (Just quietly, I hope it’s me. Or you.)
Gorker Gallery, Corner of Gore St and Kerr St (geddit?), Fitzroy, VIC 3065
Exhibition now on till Sunday, 26th April, 2009. Timings: 3pm – 7pm Wed-Fri, 11am – 7pm Sat-Sun.
Happy Easter! Excuse me, I have fallen into a food coma, there’s a Lindt dark chocolate bunny sitting across the table judging me and my finger tips are almost too fat to type, but I thought I’d share with you the prettiest critters and one of the most inspirational blogs I have ever seen.
Essimar Papel is an Etsy store where Chicago based artist Esther Ramirez sells her paper collages and notecards. She has quite a way with colour and patterns and she works with paper and a range of techniques from dotting, die cutting, silkscreening and layering to create these remarkable little artworks.
And her blog is where she documents her eye for beauty and her creativity and it is wonderful to see.
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Artists, Colour, Fuck Your Recession, Handmade, Inspiration
