happiness is...

I've been really enjoying catching up on some of the Creative Mornings Melbourne video series, so I thought I'd mention another recent one that provided me with quite a bit of food for thought. Designer/Illustrator and 'multi-disciplinary' maestro, Beci Orpin, spoke about happiness and creativity in this lovely video.

Beci speaks with lots of examples from her life about what keeps her happy, and links this all very closely to her ability to maintain a work life driven by design. She mentions the following happiness points important to her:

+ her sketchbooks
+ making mistakes
+ riding her bike
+ breaking the rules
+ having her cats around
+ diversity
+ finding inspiration
+ community
+ running your own race

Two things I found quite wonderful to hear her speak about were 1. making mistakes, and 2. running your own race. Beci shares a very honest tale of what she feels was probably a business 'mistake' earlier on in her designer career. I found it refreshing to hear how she viewed this and the learning she drew from it. It would be easy to write something like this off as a failure and dwell on it unproductively for ages. Instead, she used the experience to figure out what she is better at and used this to propel her forward into other design adventures.

The second point, about running your own race, was communicated simply, but holds a powerful message. Beci talks about not getting caught up in what your creative peers are doing and measuring your progress against this. Feeling envious, jaded or ripped off 'is a really big waste of energy', she says. Which is so true when you think about it. And turning your thinking around to see it like this totally changes your perspective from being a negative one to being positive. So run your own race is her main message here.

What brings you happiness in your creative world? Enjoy the video!

documenting the lives of creatives

Studio of Aysen Bayram. Photos by Paul Barbera from Whey They Create.

Something else that jumped out of me from Lucy's talk on image making and the new image economy (see previous post) is the beautiful documenting of creative work spaces that some are undertaking. One such person is Paul Barbera who produces Where They Create, a gorgeous image folio of people in their creative work environments from all over the world. Swoon!

Another production of a similar ilk is that of fvf who collect stories and images of creative folk in their work spaces from different parts of the globe in their series, workplaces. Ooo la la! Through their beautiful photography and text we can see the creative environments of people like artist, Jeongmoon Choi in Berlin or graphic designer, Etienne "Akroe" Bardelli in Paris. This particular collection tends to produce quite a bit from Europe giving those of us far, far away some insight into the creative working environments generated in that part of the world. I love this series and have been following it for a while. I also like the fvf series, interviews, which includes one of my favourites with 100 year old publisher and artist, Gisele d'Ailly van Waterschoot van der Gracht (an impressive name, non?) in Amsterdam.

What amazing and important projects! This documenting of artists, designers and makers in their work spaces and homes, along with interviews about their creative lives is a goldmine of inspiration and insight. Mine that gold, absorb it and share it around, I say.

the new image economy

Recently I watched this fascinating and inspiring talk by the very talented Lucy Feagins from The Design Files as part of the Creative Mornings Melbourne series.

What I loved is the way Lucy talks about something she calls 'the new image economy'. She does in the context of the publishing industry having been thrown on its head of late and talks about what this means for image makers, and how they might make this topsy-turvy space work for them, rather than against them. As well as describing the way the image making industry works in publishing (both print and online) she argues how the new image economy enables image makers to 'be in the driver's seat' and wrest control, despite appearances to the contrary with the proliferation of images on the internet.

The main take-home message raises quite a few questions regarding traditional ideas about intellectual property, something image makers have had a hard time hanging onto over the last 5-10 years, particularly on the internet. Lucy speaks about this issue in relation to her super-popular blog, The Design Files. I was intrigued by the different phases she says she has traveled through to reach a space where she says she has become 'quite zen' about it all, understanding as she does that the image economy has a way of paying back, even when her images are pinned on say, Pinterest, or re-blogged. It's an interesting notion, one with much value and enormous dollops of generosity. And one I think I like very much.

See what you think. Go watch the whole talk now.

Thanks to Erin Wilson's blog for helping me find the video in the first place. 

flora in triptych 2

Flora in Triptych 2 is now finally listed.

I printed this small edition of etchings in April before I went to NY and love the deep richness of those dirty reds. It's a tiny edition of 5 only as with all the messing around involved in inking up and laying three 10x10cm plates exactly on the printing bed, not to mention getting a good print (which means me not bumping that paper before I run it through the press) I would need to be printing for an aeon to have any more. I have a few others from this run that are quite quirky (plates positioned differently) and may list those separately at some point.

What have you been printing?

new york vignettes

New York was amazing. I was there for a mighty 4.5 weeks and got back about 2 weeks ago. How do I begin to capture it all? I can't. But a few images here will give you an idea and then the rest is on Instagram (well, a fair few anyway).

I was in New York for 3 main reasons: to write a significant chunk of my PhD thesis, to see a lot of art, and to visit friends. This was my little apartment in the Lower East Side rented through airbnb. It was perfect in every sense. I spent every morning in that room on the right working on my thesis. It was bathed in eastern light and had a fabulous view of the Williamsburg Bridge. A perfect place for writing.

Most mornings I went for either a run or a walk. Early on, the Williamsburg Bridge became a favourite to run over. Such amazing views! Later in my trip I ran in the East Village around Tompkins Square Park and along the East River park. Runners' heaven that! I also cycled my heart out as my apartment came with a bike. Cycling in Manhattan is wild and crazy and totally recommended! NYC launched its new bike share program while I was there. So now there are funky blue rental bikes everywhere.

For me NY is about so much, the architecture especially. 

And the art, of course!

NY Frieze was on. So much fun to catch a ferry down the East River to Randall's Island. And so much art!

Chelsea never disappoints on the art front. More gorgeous work! All art work seen here is attributed properly on my Instagram photos. Go there if you want to know more about these works.

 The world of bridges. DUMBO is one of the best places to hang out in Brooklyn.

The first heat wave of summer hit while I was there. We spent nights walking the streets waiting for the cool change to come. Not a bad thing to do given what there is to see in Manhattan.

The High Line captured my heart. Last time I was in NY in 2008 it wasn't yet open so it was so much fun to walk from 34th St all the way down to the 12th on this beautiful elevated public park. The landscaping is superb and the architecture is non-stop amazing the whole way.

I haven't mentioned the cocktails and the endless food and hanging out with friends. And ice cream on hot nights at the amazing Il Laboratorio on Ludlow in the Lower East Side. But you get the idea...

triptychs and the like

Flora in Triptych - drypoint etching

Flora - close up

Flora - close up

Succulent blossom in dirty blue - drypoint etching

Fragments - drypoint etching

I've been printing! These are recent drypoint etchings I picked up from the studio this morning. They've been there drying under the boards for about 2 weeks. The first one, the triptych, took a lot of painstaking registration work to get those 3 panels inked up and sitting just right. But something in me really enjoyed the challenge. So much so that I have another flora based triptych in the planning stages and if all goes well I'll be printing later this week. Stay tuned!

sculptural forms

Aviary # 1 by Sheridan Jones

A friend is in town from Brisbane and so we drove all over the Mt Macedon, Trentham, Daylesford, Kyneton area yesterday giving her a small taste of country Victoria. Last stop was The Stockroom in Kyneton, my favourite contemporary art/design space to visit in that area. They support local artists and designers and showcase their work in a huge old ex butter factory. I was transfixed by works on paper by Sheridan Jones in a group show called Chicks with Knives. Sheridan makes sculptural forms of animals using her etchings and stained paper. The pic above is one I took of her work while in the gallery yesterday. From a few metres back I initially mistook her work for taxidermy. Intrigued I stepped close and became silent in awe of her paper based work. Such extraordinary detail.

Digging around this morning I found this recent interview with Sheridan on Golden Artnet about her work and a show she did at the Castlemaine Contemporary Art Space. It's a great read. Check out her owl in the beautiful old glass jar.

If you go to The Stockroom make sure to also visit Lauriston Press Gallery on the same street (Piper St). Owner and printmaker Sarah Gabriel stocks some beautiful work there including those of Daylesford based artist and bird print maestro, Bridget Farmer.

Foodies will love that there is a new place in town: St Beans Provedore right next to Annie Smithers' Bistro.