(just) being

a monkey on my back

It's been hard to get into the studio of late – job applications, assignments, weird shifts, illness and the ever present COLD have all affected my ability to make stuff. However, I feel that it is important to have away time from creative practice in order to cultivate ideas and desires. I am getting pretty itchy to get back into it! I have had plenty of time to stew my thoughts and hopefully in the next week or so, things will settle down in time for them to amp right up.

The next 6 months are pretty packed with projects and I am looking forward to sharing them with you!

In the meantime, here is a little somethin' somethin' from my brain to keep you going.

xx
L.

when the universe needs to kick you in the teeth

Don't be fooled by the picture. The universe has not literally kicked me in the teeth. However it has taken me down a peg or two. After attempting to juggle a million things at once, I watched this Ted talk – and then went down like a ton of bricks. Pharyngitis!? I am wholly convinced that this talk on vulnerability is the reason I got sick. I'm not moaning about being sick (tedious as it was and is continuing to be) – I know that I needed something to physically inhibit me from trying to do it all, and I think that is often the case with many people. While I do get panicky about 'holy shit I have so many deadlines and I've been sleeping for nearly a weeeeeeek!!!' I also realise that some of those deadlines now need to be pushed back. Stiff shit, right?

Anyway – after spending 6 days in bed, I have had plenty of time for my brain to catch up with my body. I've written a list. I now need to get started on my sublists and get to work. I'm back in the studio, I'm wearing actual clothes (as opposed to jammies), and things are happening – including a lot of procrastination (see image above).

I think I have learned a valuable lesson here. Slow the fuck down and get over yourself.

Happy Tuesday every one! May your winter be bountiful with roast potatoes.

xxx
L.

you are the gardens

Lately I have been experimenting with ways of marrying my collage and watercolour work in a way that stays true to both styles. Despite my love for both mediums, and how different they are, I do get frustrated that I haven't been able to connect them in a more harmonious way. At the moment I am developing work for an upcoming show, you are the gardens, which will open later on this year.

Without wanting to give too much away, I thought I'd share some preliminary experiments with the internet universe!

More to come.

xx
L.

I am not Greedy Hen and Greedy Hen is not me.

(But this doesn't mean I am not a greedy hen.)

Some of you may be wondering what the hell I am talking about. However, after many instances of having work attributed to me that I have not created, I feel the need, on behalf of the duo that consists of Greedy Hen, Katherine Brickman and Kate Mitchell, to clarify that this image, belongs to them:

Greedy Hen for Washington's 'How To Tame Lions'

I am honoured that people keep thinking I created this - but I didn't! This is the work of these talented ladies who work in a whole range of mediums and a lot of collage to make some pretty gorgeous artwork, album covers, film clips and more. I am a fan of their work, and we obviously have some similarities in our aesthetic, but our work is our own. If your ever not sure - check our websites (Greedy Hen have some beautiful work up on theirs, well worth a look).


For those of you who have no idea what I'm referring to, then doubly fantastic, I hope I have introduced you to an interesting collaborative team.

Most of all though, happy sunshiney Saturday to all - art is good.

xx
L.

the anna and lucy show

Hey there!

Just in case you had forgotten about the Anna and Lucy show, I thought I better do a little gem-droplet – just a tease of course, to remind you all that goodies are IN the making. My gem watercolours have now been printed on steel, ready for cutting and sampling ...

Image courtesy of Anna Davern – oooh-wee!

xx
L.

The Bookery Cook – now available!

Huzzah! At long last, The Bookery Cook: Art to Eat is now available to buy online and in bookstores. I just received my own copy in the post the other day, and I have to say, it looks stunning. Well done guys, it was fantastic to be involved. Sydney-siders, stay tuned - whispers of a exhibition/launch are afoot.

xx
L.

The Bookery Cook - Art to Eat

Hello all!

I know it's been a long time since my last post, but hopefully this exciting packet of news will make up for it. Many moons ago I was approached by the sassy lasses from The Bookery Cook to contribute an artwork for their inaugural cook book. Naturally, when they sent me the list of recipes to choose from, I picked the dessert platter to work with, filled with fruity-nutty-chocolatey treats. I think it may be the sauciness of my subject's legs, but good fortune has landed my work on the cover - I think it sums up the essence of the book, and its authors: Sassy, fruity, nutty chicks who love cooking and art.

This book has been in the making for well over a year, with the book due for release in Australia and NZ on April 24, available online and in stores (UK release in June).  I believe that there will be an exhibition in Sydney to coincide with the release of the book, sometime later in the year (details to come!). So please support these clever ladies and all the (66 in total) artist's that gave up their time and artwork to be involved with this gorgeous project - I have tried some of the recipes (the earl grey teacake is amazing!!), these chicks know their stuff.

Aside from the book, there are loads more recipes and illustrations on their blog – art and food for one and all!

xx
L.

pom-pommery

I like pom-poms. I'm pretty sure most people like pom-poms - they are round, soft, comforting, comical and fun. Most people I speak to learnt how to make pom-poms when they were children. Of late, I have become bloody sick of them. I can't turn the pages of an interiors magazine, scroll the design files or pass some trendy shop without seeing a cacophony of pom-pom madness. It has made me not want to love pom-poms.

However, I recently made this pom-pom for my Dad, to replace a one he had made himself when he was a little boy, that unfortunately was taken from him. His father was packing up the house to move back to England and wouldn't let my then 5-year-old Dad take the pom-pom with him. He remembers shouting "I want my pom-pom, I want my pom-pom!" and receiving a bit of a smack in return, from what I can imagine was my very stressed, product of the 1950s Grandfather, who was probably more concerned with culling the amount of luggage that was to go on the ship.

It may seem such a small thing, and I would hate for my Grandfather to be painted as a tyrant (anything but, he was pretty ace really). But that lack of interest, or importance placed on the act of creating something yourself, is what my dad (and no doubt many other boys and girls) missed out on. That's not anybody's fault, that's just how it was, particularly in that generation. But it has been a sharp reminder of how lucky I have been to receive the flip side of those attitudes.

All my life, my parents, but, particularly my father, have encouraged, if not pushed me to make things.  They are stern with me if I get lazy, they praise me if I work hard. Every single exhibition, they have attended. While I was studying, I never wanted for any kind of art material - so long as it helped me better my education, develop skills or aid in research, they would do their best to help me get access to it. I believe some of the sacrifices Dad made (like getting a 'good', 'proper', 'solid' job) were to make way for me and my equally lucky sisters to make the choices we wanted to make, rather than what we felt we should have made.

So, I am taking the pom-pom back. Fancy magazines and interiors can continue to decorate with abandon, but for me, the act of pom-pommery (as I have decided to coin it) it represents being allowed to make, and what I worry that my own father missed out on. What every child should have access to. You don't need to be creative, or particularly skilled, just the have desire to make something yourself.

I know it's not the same as the 'magnificent multi-coloured' number my Dad made over 50 years ago, but I hope that it comforts and delights him like they do for me now - mainly because I was given the opportunity to make (and keep) such things. If you're feeling a bit flat, as many of us do at this time of year, go and make something for yourself. Don't concern yourself with how good it is, just enjoy the process, and whatever the result, own it.

Happy Saturday!

xx
L.


p.s. Pretty good pun, my dad being actually being a Pom and all.

think less, do more

My new motto. After running some of these workshops lately, I have had many students who were too worried to glue down their precious cuttings that they had laboured (some for weeks!) over. I am right there with them - I have cuttings in drawers with little labels that I have been stashing for YEARS (how crazy cat lady is that?!) that have been so overly stored, that they don't actually look so good anymore (a bit crumpled and pathetic looking - there are only so many times you can pick up a cut-out of a tiny pick axe before it starts to whither).

I found myself saying to these students "think less and do more" (or, "stop talking and start doing!"). What's the worst thing that could happen? That it could look crap? Ok. Sure. Try again. You could waste a Very Important One Of A Kind picture? Yeah, you could wreck it. And?

It is something I could probably afford to apply to my own practice. I have been in the studio since 7.15 this morning. Yep. I have spent about ... 7 hours on the thinking bit, and am only just begun to actually make some visible progress in my 'doing' section. There have been a reasonable amount of distractions: emails, cups of tea, Very Important Facebooking, but also a lot of dithering around, messing up my hair and whining about the lack of progress. It is a very important part of the process.

But at some stage you need to suck it up and get to work.

So, see ya - I have some Very Important Dhalias to deal with - I might wreck them, but if I do, I could always try and paint them again.

xx
L.

happy mondays

Good morning all!

As the weather has finally turned, my intake of camomile tea and chocolate biscuits has spiked dramatically. It is the perfect time of the season to get stuck in the studio and get ready for the next endeavour. But before I get into that, better cap off my latest summer project!

As part of some of the school workshops I've run over the last few weeks, I will also be sharing a selection of my work over the past few years at the school's gallery space. Tomorrow night I launch the mini-exhibition (it's only on for a few days people!) a light goes on and a door opens at Gallery Ranfurlie in Glen Iris. Some work you may have already seen, though it has been beautifully curated into a shiny new collection by Natasha Bienik, Michael Miller and Robyn Price.

One of the 15 works on display at Gallery Ranfurlie

It was an absolute pleasure to work with these lovely people, and talented artists in their own right. I feel completely indulged to have my work hung for me, and I look forward to kicking back tomorrow night with the staff, students, and hopefully some of you! (Almost) all the works are available for sale (ahem, except the one pictured) and I heartily encourage you to go along and have a look.

The opening runs from 6–8 on Tuesday 19 March, and can be viewed from Wednesday 20 – Friday 22 March from 1–4 pm. 

Gallery Ranfurlie can be found at: 

Korowa Anglican Girl's School 

Ranfurlie Crescent

Glen Iris, Victoria

Thanks again to the lovely gang at the school for all of their hard work.

xx
L.

Chicks With Knives!!! Opening Night

Thank you to all who came along and supported Chicks With Knives!!! last Saturday. The night was a roaring success (I think the foodtruck, bar and band had much to do with that), with a fantastic crowd.

There are some truly fabulous pieces (by truly fabulous artists) in the show - which are getting snapped up pretty quickly - I recommend getting along and securing a piece of amazing artwork, quick-sticks!

Here are a couple of my works from the show, for those of you who won't get the chance to make the trek.

Vigorous Standing Pose

Fluttering Seated Pose

 Do you think I might have been influenced by my recent jaunts as the Substitute Florist and the Yoga Teacher In Training? What's the saying - you live oxen, you breathe oxen? Or perhaps it's the other way around ...

Anyway! Happy Public Holiday everyone! I hope you're all at the pool drinking Negronis.

xxx
Lj

YEN Young Australian Art Award

This year I have submitted an entry into the YEN Young Australian Art Award - because why not? Another thing I am quickly learning as an artist is the amount of time needed to work on grant applications, proposals and prize submissions. If you follow this link, you can see my submission, and why, what's this? People's Choice Award? Please, feel free!

The work is titled breathe and is collage on paper (you may have seen the painted version here).

You've gotta be in it to win it right?

Fingers crossed! Now though - back to work!

xx
L.

Workshop

This week I spent the morning at a Melbourne Girls' School, sharing my own experiences of school, uni and life after study, as well as demonstrating methods in my own art practice. The girls were simply gorgeous to work with, and all had fantastic ideas - I was astounded by how hard they worked in the limited time they had! I thought I'd share some images (courtesy Michael Miller and Robyn Price). Fingers crossed that the girls had as much fun as I did, and weren't too confused my my waffling anecdotes!

A massive thanks to Robyn for facilitating, and organising the worlds most fabulous materials supply! You request a snack, and get a banquet. Never have I seen so much glue and second hand books in one room. As I always find in these experiences, you tend learn as much as you teach - one of my most exciting discoveries was the GLUE PEN! Something I'd never heard of before, so it was a joy to experiment with it with the students.

It was a truly lovely experience to meet the students, who were so generous in allowing me into their space. A super switched-on bunch too! 

xx

L.

a day in the life

Yesterday I was lucky enough to run a workshop with some very awesome year 11s from a Melbourne Girls' School (wrap-up and photos are on the way!) and at the end, one of the students asked me what a regular day was for me. As I was on my way out, I think I blustered something like "ye ghads, it's different every day!" Which is true. However, it is a very valid question, particularly if you are thinking that the path of art and design is one for you.

I thought I'd share some scenarios that can happen in any one day for me, and I know for many other practitioners too. Having said that - some of my colleagues have very different set ups! It is all dependent on your living situation, who you live with, if you have children, if you have another job etc etc etc. In my situation, I live an hour out of Melbourne with my Artist-Husband-of-Joy. When we work in Melbourne, we try and arrange to travel together (it's more economic and means we can spend more time together - yay!).

Pin-board in my studio: ideas, inspiration, reminders, random stuff

The standard Monday to Friday 9-5 week has never applied to me. I'm not sure if I could do it. I work every day, Monday to Sunday. I don't always work all day, sometimes a few hours and other days I will work till 11 at night. Sometimes I will have a random day off. I find these difficult, because I feel that there is something constructive that I could be doing. I tend to mooch on these days, reading books, avoiding housework and taking nanna-naps. I love having days off mid-week, and having empty cafés all to myself.

Being an artist can mean:

• Some days I am a shop girl in  Windsor. I and sell clothes and jewellery.
• Some days I am a waitress in Kyneton. (I have only done this once in my life - on Monday. I may do it again. I haven't definitely decided.)
• Some days I am an editorial assistant in South Yarra. I check, read, number, compare and mark up manuscript pages and occasionally do the coffee run.
• Some days I am a proofreader in South Yarra, Kyneton, Berlin (it depends where I am living). I read documents and check them for grammatical and content errors.
• Some days I am a Yoga teacher trainee in Prahran. This is my current standard Thursday. I go to lectures and learn heaps of cool stuff about how to be a Yoga teacher.
• Some days I am Studio Girl. I could fill a page with what this can involve (maybe tomorrow). This is where I stay at my home studio in Kyneton and work on my art practice, which can be making, thinking, and admining (blogging, invoicing, phone-calling, proposal-writing, grant-writing, book-keeping - you name it). I work in the studio on most days, often before/after I am doing my non-art jobs.
• Some days I am Workshop Girl - I go and meet a group of interesting people and share my practice with them, and (hopefully) help them develop their own ideas and skills, which fills me with much happiness and excitement! 

And some days I procrastinate.

Most of these activities are interwoven with daily coffee with my Husband (mandatory), meetings about exhibitions, cooking a week's worth of dinners, yoga classes, and a little bit of thrashing around, moaning "why oh WHY am I an artist!? I'll STAAAAAARVE!!!" and then going and having an overpriced latte around the corner.

I am fortunate to live with someone who is in the same position as me - crazy hours, weird pay and a billion different 'other' jobs (Kent is completing his PhD, tutoring 1st years at Monash Uni, teaching an adult education class in Castlemaine, a communications advisor for a vintage furniture business in Kyneton, an arts writer, curator and working on his own art practice - phew!) so we get to share the woes and wonders of our chosen lives. However, many of my friends and colleagues have partners or family who hold steady 9-5 jobs and can support them in other ways too. Some of my friends have to factor children in the mix, and are therefore more structured. All of them have had shit-kicker jobs at some point.

It's a pretty good life. If you love doing it - you won't be able to help yourself, it will just come.

xxx
L.