Good morning

Woke up early today and did about 3000 hula hoop turns, followed by a nice long shower and a hearty breakfast. I like mornings like these. Now it's off to my studio for the rest of the day.

Weekend bits

The weekend that just passed, involved queuing and waiting for a table at St Ali's for breakfast ( food was pretty alright, nothing spectacular and not really worth the wait. But the pancetta was amazing, melts in my mouth! ), walking in the park, getting my favourite moccasins ( birthday present last year from Darren ) wet, stomping on dry crispy leaves, looking at some art while befriending lots of sausage dogs. Oh and we made a midnight snack of potato latkes with salsa on soy and linseed toast too! And of course, the usual grocery shopping and eating out. Haha.

I hope you all had a nice weekend too.

Cooking up a little storm in my studio

As mentioned before in an earlier post, I'm in the midst of sewing some soft food sculptures. It's been really quite fun so far. Though a little challenging, I must admit! I'd love to be one of those amazing crafty ladies who know how to sew everything and anything, especially dresses! But unfortunately, I'm really really bad at sewing. Anyway, these soft sculptures are made in a rough sort of way, to resemble my loose watercolour drawings. So that allows some room for mistakes. Hopefully after making a whole bunch of yummy packaged food sculptures, I will get better at sewing.

Have a great weekend everyone! x

Little Miss Red

Vintage Etsy blouse ( Only $12! )
Gap jeans
Gorman Funkis sandal clogs
Baggu backpack
Green Claire Fontaine notebook ( So good! )

Not so sure why I'm so matchy, red today. Just so you know, I'm not usually dressy-matchy. I'm just your usual t-shirt, jeans, flip flops and oversized jumper sort of girl. I think it's good to dress up though. I've been trying to dress up more this year. And so far I think it's been good. The other day, I wore jeans, my oversized jumper and sneakers to school and my friend asked " Why are you wearing such a huge jumper today? " Haha. That goes to show I've been dressing up a bit more, and putting aside my ugly black jumper which is like 2 sizes too big for me.

And yes! I bought new red sandals. My 4 year old birkenstocks were dying. The strap was breaking any moment, so I had to throw it out. So sad though. I spent half my paycheck on it 4 years ago! But yes, thanks to all of you who bought things from my etsy shop, I saved up enough and bought myself those funky red clogs/sandals that I've been eyeing for weeks. It was a total splurge for me, but I'm sure these will last me for a while. So let's just view it as an investment shall we? Haha

PS: I don't really like showing my face on my blog that much. So I'm covering my cheesy grin with my green notebook.

A little something

Did a little shoot over the weekend. It's really tough to photograph my work. I just can't seem to capture the tiny details. So I decided to make it more fun and less rigid instead. Oh and I've decided to stop the entire food project at 8 weeks/ 56 days. It was a really really tough decision to make, considering I had all these big ideas in my head. But after speaking to a few artists and lecturers about my work, I decided, 8 weeks is a good number to stop at. Having to weigh and draw 56 days x 3 meals = 168 meals ( Excluding snacks/suppers! ) It really wasn't easy and my body was getting so worn out. My hands started cramping, I got sick almost every week because I wasn't resting enough.

So yes, 8's a good number. Stopping at 8 doesn't mean this project's entirely over though. To be honest, I still have a lot more drawings to fill in. On days I got sick, tired, crampy hands taking effect, the entire drawing process got so slow, so I now have a lot of blank meal spaces, yet to be painted in. So yes, I'm still working on the project in a way. Oh and I'm also working on some large scale soft food sculptures. Will show some pictures after my sewing gets a bit more decent!

Things in my bag

Say hi to my new Baggu Nutmeg coloured backpack! I love it! It's so affordable and it's beautiful! These were the things that were in my bag yesterday:

1. My green notebook

2. A black ball-point pen

3. Thumbdrive

4. Peppermint Leg balm, which I use as a hand balm

5. My wallet

6. Kelly green circle scarf, from Etsy

7. Box of antibiotics for my silly throat

8. Bunch of keys

9. Lunchbox - Homemade chicken schnitzel with rice and mixed vegetable!

10. Waterbottle

11. My iphone

A funny fact about my backpack: Because it's new, it somehow smells like a darkroom. Not just any darkroom, but the darkroom I used to always be in, when developing my photos, back when I was doing my diploma course in Visual communications. Weird smell, but it brings back such good memories of those fun nights when my friends and I stayed up till 10pm and sang silly songs and rapped to Black Eyed Peas. Oh gosh, can't believe I just told all of you that! Haha.

Busy Bits

Our little herb garden got repotted 2 nights ago. Just thought I'd share some photos so you can guess what's been growing. I think it's good to grow your own produce. You can't see it in the picture, but I'm trying to grow some beans, radishes and basil too.

Anyway, it's official! The end of semester is somewhat not too far away, so as of right now, I'm totally swamped with essay writing and more work - making! Just yesterday, I went camping in my pajamas. And nope, I didn't go camping in the forest, nor did I camp by the sea. Instead, I was camping right in front of my lap top, furiously typing away as I tried to make sense out of some really boring books. ( Sigmund Freud, Jean Baudrillard, Jaques Lacan and so on ) All in all, I sat at my desk for a good 15 hours ( including the occasional toilet and dinner break ), working on that darn paper till the word 'texts' looked funny to me. I had to stop.

But yes, I'm almost done with that dreaded paper now. I'm left with another essay to go. So that's good. I wonder how many of you guys actually are going through right now, the much -dreaded essay writing and end of semester busy-ness. Well, if you are, you're welcome to join me on my 'camping' trip. You can bring a bag of marshmallows along and we can toast them over our warmed up chairs. Haha.

Oh and on to more exciting news...

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ETSY SHOP SALE TIME!

I kind of need some new things like paper and dresses, so if you'd like to help em out by purchasing stuff from my shop, that would be great! And because you guys are all nice people, I've listed quite a few items on sale and guess what, apart from all that, to celebrate my 50th sale, the next 10 customers will be receiving bits of free goodies ( perhaps a print of my choice ) along with their orders. So say yay to handmade and start shopping!

By the sea

Spent my Saturday at Sorrento with Darren, just walking around, doing my favourite thing - exploring. But it was a little boring with nothing much to explore, so we ended up fishing instead. We caught two little fishes but we let them go.

I spent today in a nice little studio at acmi, helping out 3 Next Wave artists who were working on putting together dioramas and a whole miniature world for this. They were such a nice bunch who sang along to fun songs like this one which I've come to enjoy. We spent the entire day building miniature train tracks, planting tiny trees, hanging fairy lights, painting tiny roads and making a whole lot of mini little stuff. It was lots of fun and I'm really excited to watch the end product on Wednesday ( Opening night ).

I reckon if you're in Melbourne and you're free, you should come along. It's good stuff I tell you!

Next Wave!

Last night, Darren and I were lucky enough to be able to attend Next Wave's Invite only-opening. (Being a Next Wave volunteer does have it's perks!) In case you don't know what Next Wave is all about, it's basically this huge emerging arts festival! Dance, theatre, visual art, sculpture, multi-art, screen art, new media projects, and it's all happening throughout the month of May, all over Melbourne. You can check out their programe/website here.

Anyway, back to the opening, there were so many people around, it was crazy! To think we went just half an hour before it closed! The opening coincided with the opening of the festival's keynote project - Structural Integrity. You guys should all go check it out. I think it's ace! My favourite work was this cardboard crystal sculpture. The entire construction just amazes me. I could stand there all night just admiring it!

You have to just see it for yourself. My picture does the work no justice at all!

All that hype aside, Darren and I managed to meet and have a chat with one of the international artist who came from Manila. And he took this little photo for us. Thank you!

After the opening, we popped by the after-party, which was located at 1000 £ Bend-The official festival club.


Did you know, as a volunteer, I helped the designers set up the entire place? See those white flag-like backdrop? I painted some of the icons in! And I did the Next Wave logo too. It was lots of fun, minus the freezing temperatures in the heater-less warehouse! Haha. I'm looking forward to going for more Next Wave events, especially these two! And come Monday, I'll be helping to set up stuff for this event. Wow, Lots of good fun art stuff happening in Melbourne this May! And as an artist, I can only be happier.

Oh and one more thing before I go off to enjoy the weekend, I'm part of this group show in Canada that opens tomorrow/Saturday! Do drop by if you live around the area, and take lots of photos for me! Wish I could be there!

Perfect Banana Smoothie Recipe

I drink smoothies almost everyday. I love how I can just blend whatever fruits I like and just drink it on the go. It keeps me full, it's healthy, refreshing and yummy. So just thought I'd share with you my little recipe of fruity goodness!

1 Banana
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup vanilla yoghurt
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons honey ( Or more if you like )

Blend all except honey, in a blender.
Top with honey and stir it in till honey is all dissolved.
And there you go! Yummy sweet banana smoothie,
best enjoyed chilled!

PS: Makes enough for 2 or even 3!

Totally getting the whole Smeggings thing

I bought smeggings yesterday. Skirt + leggings = Smeggings. I know, the name sounds so funny. I can't stop laughing at the sound of it. But yes, that's what they are called. Well, as shown on the package. Haha. I must say, they are really soft, comfortable and much more flattering than black denim skirts paired with tights. I got mine from Myers. I've been wearing my ankle leggings almost everyday. I bought them for $15 at Supre on my second day in Melbourne. And it's been 2 and a half years now, they are still so comfortable, and are in ace quality. So if you are in need of some black ankle tights, you know where to go to!

Oh and I got lucky and won a Frankie Magazine giveaway! I now have this new Pocket Carnival pencil case. It's so cute, and the inner plaid fabric lining makes me smile whenever I reach out for my pencils.

Thank you Frankie!
Oh and Myers too, for selling nice smeggings!

PS: Do any of you Melbournians wear smeggings too? And where do you get yours from?

Three things

1. Soy and linseed bread with butter kind of makes me happy, since I kind of love butter.

2. My studio neighbour/Georgina's broad beans are growing so beautifully, and fast too! Hi Georgie, if you're reading this!

3. The view from my studio window today made me smile. Lots of sunlight and blue skies. PS: You can see my home too! I live in one of those blocks at the end of the street.

Now if you like, you can choose to tell me 3 random things too! I'd love to hear them all!

Practically Perfect

If you live in Melbourne, you would probably agree with me. Wasn't the weather today totally beautiful? It was practically perfect in it's own way! Bright day with lots of sunlight, clear blue skies, nice breezes. Darren and I spent our day outside, trying to catch as much sun as we can, in hope of getting my silly headaches and tonsillitis out of my way. We drove to Yarraville and spent a good part of our morning walking around the area. We got ourselves nice breakfasts, explored the little village shopping strip, somehow ended up at a house auction viewing, poked around in an antique shop, of which I found some awesome BabySitters Club books! Those books brought back such great memories. I used to love them to bits when I was twelve! I collected lots of them and even ran my own little 'Dawn's library' and allowed my friends to borrow 3 babysitters club books at a time. I was a bit 'hardcore' at running my own library, I even made library membership cards. Of which I drew love hearts all over. Haha. Oh well, I was twelve/eleven!

Anyway, we popped by this cute little shop/one of my Melbourne stockist too, and I saw my Sea Otter print hanging out with some other cool stuff, in the shop front's window! It made me smile like a big kid!

After our little walkabout in Yarraville, we drove to Williamstown and had a late fish and chips lunch on the grass. Smart thinking for storing our picnic mat in our car. It was really lovely to sit and lie under a tree, laughing at silly jokes, making animal shadows while enjoying cheap fish and potato cakes. Totally worth the $6!

I'm looking forward to tomorrow. Going to a little picnic party at the Yarra Bend Park. We might even go boating! I'm crossing my fingers and hoping today's perfect weather repeats itself again tomorrow!

By the way, I know I kind of overloaded on all the talking and pictures today. But I'm just in a really jolly-good mood. I feel like a kid who's really excited about some stuff, and goes on and on about it. Haha. I tend to talk a lot more when I'm in a really good mood. Haha. Oh and just to let you know, I just restocked my Etsy shop with a few previously sold-out prints and zines. So do check it out! It includes the popular Stag and Owl prints too!

Alright, time for a shower. Hope you had a great Saturday too! I would love to hear what you did : )