and other great mistakes in menu translation....
See full selection at Inflatable Rampage
A good day's work for Liz and I where we try not to stop and question what the hell we're doing... another day, no dollar.
[current mood] Cocoa & The sound of Liz's hand clapping
Posted by nat at 3:39 PM | Comments (1)
It's not often that you receive a bag of shredded paper that you realise after several finger-dips is actually only full of shredded paper.
There was, however, a less shredded piece of paper with a note from my freedom & pizza buddy, Ilka. She wrote "These bits wanted to meet you and have their photo taken - They are aesthetic to boot and look good in a pile."
Once I dissolved my disappointment of finding no gift beyond the gift itself, I set about taking my new best bag of shredded paper with me to be photographed in the context of my daily life.
This is an ongoing stupidity, so you can look forward to further chapters in the life and times of Nat and her bag of shredded paper.
[current mood] Rhubarb Compote on Porridge & Billy Joel
Posted by nat at 11:23 AM | Comments (6)
Warning: Content may offend those with a stomach.
With my detective hat on this morning, I strolled into the expansive backyard of Stuart St whereupon I discovered a crime scene beyond anything I have witnessed before in my time as a forensics photographer.
This little fella was called Orange Ted.
Murdered and dumped in a shallow grave, Ted was of such a young age, it is a truly tragic crime.
On initial inspection I discovered blows to both the legs and arms. It also appears that he has been de-intenstined.
A cold blooded murder, it paints a vile picture of the criminal responsible.
The next victim I spotted was a man infamously known as Red 'Devil' Ted.
His blank stare capturing the shock he would have experienced upon meeting his attacker. I suspected a sudden strike to the face as there was a large gouge to his nose, literally splitting him open. Surprisingly, however, the strike left no spillage.
A clean attack, probably a murderer with a track record.
I had the wind taken out of me when I discovered Easter Tea Towel.
The poor thing hadn't even seen one dish in her short life. And here I found her at such a deep stage of decomposition.
I feel unable to describe the victim's body as it causes too much emotional distress.
Then there was the bloodiest crime of the lot,
Red cushion.
Admittedly Red Cushion led a life on the edge, constantly seen roaming around the backyard, some would say that it was only a matter of time.
And here I found him completely deflated with his innards spilling from him.
It didn't take much of a further investigation to discover his innards discarded with wild abandon all over the crime scene. An immense clean up will be in order. Speculation and suspicions run rampant.
I thought that I had reached the end of the line, until I came across Dino. A long time resident to the area, it was surprising to find his body as I believed him to be an immortal being with a skin of rubber. But not to this murderer.
And in a sick final taunt, the writing '$1.00" was discovered on Dino's foot. The insult on his worth intended as a scare tactic.
The day was almost done, having searched the entire yard for any further victims, but on my way out I found this anonymous body, so mutilated that it was beyond identification. So I'll just call him John Dumbo.
I took a swab of saliva from what appeared to be his nose. It's at the lab for DNA analysis.
Oscar Castelo Branco was caught fluff-handed, only minutes later - right near the scene of the crime, unable to help himself from returning to where his victims lay.
He has since been detained under the lemon tree until he expresses some remorse for his crimes.
Posted by nat at 2:17 PM | Comments (4)
In the Spice Bazaar in Istanbul.
[current mood] Radio Static & Hot Water and Lemon
Posted by nat at 10:46 PM | Comments (1)
I was told it was Pain au Chocolat.
[current mood] Farewell Tunes for Anne & Stale Red Wine Taste Saliva
Posted by nat at 12:19 PM | Comments (0)
peekaboo!
My alter (co-joined) ego, Inflatable Rampage Blow by Blow Travel is online now.
Flying in the face of the world at large, Inflatable Rampage is travel photojournalism deprived of its complimentary peanuts and forced into the brace position by two ladies who threw their rose-coloured lenses into the quarantine bin well before takeoff. Most pictures are worth a thousand words; ours are worth about fifty plus some hand gestures.
www.inflatablerampage.org
Tell your friends, tell your enemies, tell yourself to visit, to subscribe and help us to feel watched. We like to be watched.
I'll be blowing it up over there for the next few weeks and beyond, but will be back on this blog mid July.
[current mood] Turkish Coffee & Not this Banging Techno in the hostel
Posted by nat at 4:51 PM | Comments (0)
My new Melbourne dress by 'Little Potty Red Shoes' deserves some animation.
Posted by nat at 4:09 PM | Comments (2)
My lean is at such an acute angle that I've just fallen into the idea of buying a place in Melbourne.
My head hurts but I'm very excited now!
Thanks for all your encouragement.
As I'll have to make the decision from Perth, I have established a technique to enable me to know whether the house is in a nice street and what the surroundings are like.
Today dad and I are driving frantically around marking pretty streets (pink) and ugly streets (blue) so that we can know whether it's just a nice house on a crap street.*
Dad has suggested that we spraypaint the streets themselves and view via Google Map, but I thought we might offend people who realise what blue means...
* This map above is a representation only and does not necessarily reflect streets defined as ugly or pretty by me. Any similarities with these streets' aesthetics is merely coincidental.
[current mood] Blowing Gales & 2-3 Coffees a Day
Posted by nat at 9:07 AM | Comments (2)
I try to only buy items of clothing when necessary because I am all too aware of the fleeting enjoyment experienced from a new top, once it goes through that first wash it loses not only it's elasticity, texture and size, but its desirability.
But sometimes a girl has to trick herself...
So what ya do is, turn up to work in something so unattractive that you feel too embarrassed to even step outside the building to get lunch.
So you sneak up the back alley and straight into a clothing shop and explain that you HAVE to replace the top you are wearing, in order to eat.
It's completely a necessary purchase.
Here is today's basic need top from Ruck Rover which is owned by self proclaimed noggin head - Isabelle. Although I think she has a lovely sized head.
[current mood] Nuts & The Ramones
Posted by nat at 3:24 PM | Comments (1)
Catherine is one of my best best friends.
She is also very good at procrastinating.
I showed her Mac's Photobooth and this gave her plenty of distraction when we both came into the office to 'work' on Saturday.
Posted by nat at 2:40 PM | Comments (0)
Where few have ventured unless armed with tins of spray or taking a puppy for a pee.
A gap between buildings, a colourful explosion.
A temporary space before development takes over.
Time is on our side due to council delays in construction.
Go!
[current mood] Egg Sandwich & RTR FM's Out to Lunch
Posted by nat at 12:05 PM | Comments (3)
Click for the close up:
I was going to do red, but found myself drawn to yellow, so ran with that. It was an overcast morning, just after rain, so the yellows stood out like a glimpse of sunshine.
[current mood] Tic Tacs & Kings of Leon
Posted by nat at 5:29 PM | Comments (0)
It comes flat in a DL holder or envelope and then you make it into a little house for your desk. It's reiterating the message of providing a service for those at risk of homelessness. The ink drawings came from a workshop I ran with Mirrabooka Senior High kids.
Jason kindly let me do whatever I wanted for his CD 'Chasing Ghosts'. We shot images around my house and my friend Liz's. And then proceeded to collage it all up in a wintery yet warm interplay of nature and home. Not one ghost to be seen. It's all in the metaphors...
As a graphic designer, you finish a job and send it away for printing. Bon Voyage!
There is a time then of waiting and anticipation as your final work is dependant on the printer.
Will it look as good as I imagine? Will the printing enhance my work, giving it life? Or will it disappoint me (and the client)?
There is a little risk, things can always go wrong.... mistakes become bleeding obvious, printers chop things crooked or colours come out weak. Doesn't seem to matter how long I do this for, it doesn't get any more relaxed.
Today I had the pleasure of finding no mistakes on these two jobs.
And so I sigh that another job has come and gone and I have these images to share.
[current mood] Vegetarian Thali & Avenue D
Posted by nat at 8:41 PM | Comments (0)
The trick to making a boring day a little better
is to ask your questions a little more creatively.
"Which cable does the projector need for my workshop in Alice Springs?"
I'll be in touch with views of NT next!
[current mood] Last Minute Panic & Hey that's a good name for a band...
Posted by nat at 10:47 PM | Comments (1)
Click for closer look.
Why deny that I am self obsessed?!
So I dedicated myself to the task -
every day, same wall in the office, a photo of me.
I thought it might tell me something.
Like how much my appearance can change from day to day.
Or do I go through colour phases? according to the weather or the moon.
All I get out of this is slightly freaked - seeing myself repeated - over time yet all at once.
If I could set up my proper camera on a tripod under decent lighting and could do this for a year, then I think it might be more informative about patterns....
But I gave up after17 days. A bit like yoga.
[current mood] So Frenchy So Chic & Chocolate covered Licorice
Posted by nat at 2:32 PM | Comments (7)
I made myself into an elf
for a quick xmas message to friends.
Dave Cutbush wrote back and said he had already received it 3 times and expected more originality from me.
So I combined him with a turd.
Ken, next to me, then made a caricature of Dave as another reply.
Dave is sufficiently pleased.
[current mood] Fruit Cake & Code Chesnutt
Posted by nat at 11:29 AM | Comments (0)
I was down at the old British cafe, in Highgate (soon to be a new eco conscious cafe Source Foods, sorry to the sausage with baked beans lovers). I was meeting with the new peeps who were discarding old bits, they offered me a giant box of straws which I declined, but I did take them up on the spare blackboard.
It's hard to say no to something you can write on.
So I got chatting with Ken (Non-Drowsy) and we came up with these design-house specialities.
[current mood] Milk Chocolate with Cool Wet Strawberries & Phoenix
Posted by nat at 5:26 PM | Comments (0)
How to get these 10 hyperactive teenage boys to "to engage in artistic exercises that will produce designs and language which will best describe the Newly Arrived Youth Support Services program in a youth friendly way."
Combine this with attempts to bash down the door from other Mirrabooka highschool kids, pizza and soccer balls... and soon enough that passion for teaching youth becomes a questionable dream!
But behind all the goofery was a set of sweet hearts.
Once you get their heart beats down a few notches you can certainly see through to their innocence.
(Scary that some kids I've met make it very hard to think they're not sinister beings.)
The results of image-making around the theme of family was a lovely juxtaposition to their boyish antics. Love hearts and nature! I can't get enough of young people's drawings of things - before they've taken the bland-pill... creating the "proper perspective" and "sensible" approach!
If only it weren't child-labour for me to start a range of designed items based on their art. hmm. will look up the law on that... maybe without the factory it would be okay.
Here are some outcomes of imagery I will utilise to create the final brochure:
And of course - a moment of quiet....
[current mood] Savoury Muffins & Gotan Project
Posted by nat at 1:41 PM | Comments (0)
Long time no blog Nat! Yeah, well I have been living out of boxes alright, I lost my card reader, can't even find my underwear, so blog dropped off priority list whilst I transferred contents of apartment to nice new house...
but I'm back yay! I found my card reader in the boot of the car at the bottom of a bag.
Perdita Phillips is doing a residency at PICA at the moment. She is doing walks in all sorts of places. I decided to come along when she was looking at a small area of Northbridge around Money St that once was 'Lake Thomson'. That was around 1829.
It's just one of many swamps that filled the area and can you imagine the wilderness that was right in the heart of the city.
I did this walk to the theme of water. Observations, things that I spotted that linked to the theme in some way. I found virtually no signs of fauna - once again us city dwellers like to believe we are not animal, vegetable or mineral, instead that somehow we exist in some other dimension!
And nature just continues to fade away all around us. My current question is whether to fight for it, or run away to the hills and simply enjoy it.
[current mood] Jazzy Beats & Help with Moving House
Posted by nat at 2:38 PM | Comments (2)
1080 AM radio caused me analyse the content of the song 'Girls just wanna have Fun' today. Do girls want to have fun more so than boys? Is it in our nature to actually want to play more? Liz and I are taking fun by the balls right now. It's ensuring a flourishing of creativity and productivity. We've left all talk and planning at the coffee table, and are spending weekdays wetting our pants with laughter in Kings Park.
I must assure my clients that it is in turn benefiting their work. You have to live in order to design well!
[current mood} Red Wine for it's anti-oxymoron qualities & crusty AM radio
Posted by nat at 10:05 PM | Comments (2)
The best design jobs are those that:
Get the nickname 'Wooly Mammoth'.
Have you bond with new people who become new friends.
Give you budgets that allow you to create design beyond neccessity like extra parts that weave through the cover.
Finish with celebratory drinks for all involved.
[current mood] Smudgy Eyeliner & Watermelon
Posted by nat at 10:52 AM | Comments (0)
Liz realised as she walked out the door today that she in fact looked very similar to a pirate.
I decided it was necessary to catch this accident on camera.
I think the clinching point was the parrot pinata head she ripped out of a small child's birthday party and accessorised with.
[current mood] Vanilla Coke & Chocolate Covered Coffee Beans
Posted by nat at 3:48 PM | Comments (0)
Moving from one language translation to another to discover a truth... like poetry spoken back to me.
You can trial it by just using Babelfish translation.
Raw English
Let us flee the city together and walk like our dreams for the rest of our lives.
French
Sauvons-nous ensemble la ville et marchons comme nos rêves pour le reste de nos vies.
Spanish
Salvan juntos la ciudad y van como nuestros sueños para el resto de nuestras vidas.
English
They save together the city and they go like our dreams for the rest of our lives.
Good.
Let's try something a little more challenging now...
Raw English
Tomorrow will be the first day of the rest of my story book life. From then on it will all make sense and I will discover the secret of happiness.
Dutch
Morgen zal de eerste dag van de rest van mijn leven van het verhaalboek zijn. Van dan op het allen steek houden en ik zal het geheim van geluk ontdekken.
French
Le premier jour du reste de ma vie du livre de récit sera demain. De lui ils cessent alors l'élancement et je le découvrirai secret de chance.
Portuguese
O primeiro dia do resto da minha vida do livro considerar será amanhã. _ eles cessar então élancement e eu descobrir segredo possibilidade.
English
The first day of the remaining portion of my life of the book to consider will be tomorrow _ they to cease then twinge and I to discover secret possibility.
mmm... okay, now for the real test!
Raw English
The world will realise how stupid they are being regarding climate change. They will wake up to themselves and change their lifestyles immediately to ensure the end of the world does not occur too soon.
Italian
La volontà del mondo si rende conto quanto stupido stanno essendo per quanto riguarda il cambiamento di clima. Sveglieranno a se stesso e cambiare immediatamente i loro lifestyles per accertare l'estremità del mondo non accadrà troppo presto.
French
La volonté du monde se rend compte combien de stupide sont en ce qui concerne le changement de climat. Ils réveilleront si même et à changer immédiatement à leurs lifestyles pour vérifier l'extrémité du monde n'arrivera pas trop vite.
German
Der Wille der Welt ist sich bewußt, wieviel dumm es sind, was die Klimaänderung betrifft. Sie werden so sogar wecken, und sofort an ihren lifestyles zu wechseln, um das Ende der Welt zu prüfen nicht schnell zu ankommen wird.
English
The will of the world is conscious itself, how much there is stupid, which concerns the climatic change. They will so even wake, and to their lifestyles to change immediately, around the end of the world to examine will not arrive fast.
Yay!
[current mood] Lost In Translation... again!
Posted by nat at 1:19 AM | Comments (1)
Tonight was my last night before the BLINK project and we all had dinner together.
Beloved family.
Natalija Creates is now on hiatus until October!
To stay in tune with daily updates of my Meekatharra photography residency.. visit meeka.com.au
I'll be coming LIVE from there!
Love Nat x
[current mood] Toothpaste & PJs
Posted by nat at 11:28 PM | Comments (1)
Mount Franklin have just released this Breast Cancer Research range of water bottles funnily enough called 'Bosom Buddies' and as I entered the office, with one under each armpit, my friend looked over in confusion and I saw the intention of their subtle marketing ploy...
He suggested I put milk in them for this photo!
[current mood] Puff Pastry & Bloc Party
Posted by nat at 12:33 PM | Comments (2)
I may have put it on crooked,
I may have dozens of bubbles in it,
I may have the colour a little wrong...
but it's MY vinyl signage! yay! Finally I have my mark on my new office space.
You may spot it in the heart of Mount Lawley....
[current mood] Crystals that rotate voluntarily & Subscribing to RTR FM
Posted by nat at 3:35 PM | Comments (4)
Here are some peeks at the workshop I ran with the multicultural men's group at ASETTS (Association for Services to Torture and Trauma Survivors).
Day One
First we took photographs of each other, around asetts and then around the Town of Vincent. I asked them to take photos of things they liked, whatever caught their eye. But they kept cheekily taking photos of me! haha.
The biggest challenge was communicating concepts to them when words weren't understood. I drew pictures on the white board of texture and pattern and named the colours I saw around us. Getting them to see these elements in their environment.
The photographs fantastically captured this understanding, totally awesome.
Day Two
We made a collage with these photographs. Reza from Afganistan, a previously very quiet man, took over as the gluing boss with great humour. And used the metal panels to play wobble board. (Great sound comes from 2mm colourbond).
I then handed over windows cut out of paper and the men framed up sections that they wanted to paint.
I photographed these and projected them on to the panels for tracing.
Day Three & Four
I taught the men about paint mixing and was delighted to watch them work out how to make pink! And their confusion over where the orange came from really made me realise how challenging this painting was going to be.
In groups of two they painted the 6 panels over 2 days.
These will be drilled on to the corrogated fence at ASETTS.
Of the photos above - my favourite is Tesfay's interpretation of clouds. My initial response was 'oh, ahh, let me help you make these look like clouds'.. but then I just laughed and thought this was far more magical and let it be.
[current mood] If I could marry a Concept - I'd marry The Chaser
Posted by nat at 9:40 AM | Comments (1)
Dear Proust Lover,
May you please send me a location - like the third branch of a tree on a suburban street
or behind a pipe in an alleyway, or simply a post office box... so that I may respond to you.
I don't want to use my blog for our play.
Isn't the best stuff the stuff that happens when no one else is watching?
x
[current mood] Afternoons that turn into Evenings
Posted by nat at 5:35 PM | Comments (0)
Fresh off the press - The UnVeiled product catalogue for FORM.
I designed it to be hangable. Put your favourite product card to the front and let it be framed by the self-hanging package. The package and product cards inside literally unveil themselves.
The white, partial covering slice on the cards further conveys the sense of revealing.
And if you aren't into concepts, just play with the textured 'o's.
lu lu luscious fun to design.
[current mood] Ipod walking in rain with songs about rain
Posted by nat at 12:07 PM | Comments (1)
The new MacBook Pro comes with a built in webcam.
One of the options is 'mirror' effect.
I wanted to see how ugly I could make myself look.
Hours of fun here. I like that as a photographer I can still get excited by daggy special effects - even at my own expense.
My friends and I are known to take photos down each others throats, or pulling the ugliest possible expressions. I'm always reminded of 'When The Wind Changed' by Ruth Park. (Never understood why pulling ugly faces was such a childhood issue??)
But now as an adult, I swear I pull them constantly - giving away all thought.
Never had this problem as a kid.
Cyclops Head
Praising Head
Chipmunk Head
Regular Me - really!
[current mood] Loud Music in my New Studio
Posted by nat at 5:44 PM | Comments (6)
The Town of Vincent really is a pastel place.
These snippets are a temporary collage I made from others' photographs of the town.
They were taken by the Multicultural Men's Group at ASeTTS (Association for Services to
Torture and Trauma Survivors). I took them out for a photo-trip and got them shooting colour, texture and pattern - and each other. It is always a great challenge with this group because most of the men speak only basic english. My miming skills come in real handy.
From which direction to point the camera, to describing what texture is. I love it!
When I watched, from across the road, Thergum standing on a wall to photograph a grey concrete building with shadow on it, I knew my message had got through. Twas truly brilliant.
I'll get the developments of the project on here shortly too.
[current mood] Poached Eggs & Silence
Posted by nat at 10:10 AM | Comments (2)
Another wacky moment in the world of my studio...
This is Friday afternoon image development for Tetrafide Percussion's upcoming tour of 'Stick It!'.
C'mon... appropriate isn't it?
Working alone can be challenging when there is no one to ask "is this a good idea??" to. Am I going nuts? Or am I onto something great??
And so without anyone beside me here, how do I know if I'm creating good design anymore?
The client becomes the only person who can say yay or nay. They tend to say yay too - but does that actually mean it is good design or am I just fufilling one brief, or perhaps just satisfying one person?
If they are happy - is it not therefore good design? Or should I be pleasing designers - aiming to get published in 'good design' books?
I think it is somewhere in between. The designer does plays a great (often overlooked) role in society through design's mere existence everywhere we look (!!) so the designer has to consider the effect they have on the whole community - aesthetically and through the messages... but it is pretty hard to argue with a paying client right? But more importantly, the designer should not creating art just for their own ego and portfolio - they do need to meet the objectives of the client which may not be the most attractive or fashionable solution, but will ultimately be good design for the problem to be solved.
Anyhoo, Thank goodness my designer friend came around on Friday just as I was trying to shoot this image. He arrived just in time to help hold the paper and painted paintbrushes angled in a stylistic way through the punched hole. I know we were meant to be having a meeting, but it just isn't possible for me to do this without help - although I do try!
He commented how fun it was, which made me think how unfortunate his other jobs must be, if poking sticks through paper is fun.. but hey, maybe I do get more fun than the average designer?
I so often get the 'go for it' green light, i seem to get away with most of my ideas... perhaps I should be pushing the boundaries much more.. go have even more fun!
I'm also lucky to have the camera on hand which allows me to get any image I desire for the creation of my work, do not need to rely on stock images and graphics alone.
So the design world is my oyster.. gotta remember that.
[current mood] Camille & Coopers Green
Posted by nat at 11:40 PM | Comments (6)
What do you think of my art?
I love its texture and pastel subdued shades.
It is the scraps from my yesterday's lunch.
Red onion, mushroom stalk ends and salami wrapper.
Step away from the specifics and see the beautiful whole...
[current mood] Jacknife Lee & Nashi Pear
Posted by nat at 10:46 PM | Comments (2)
Try this one yourself...
Half a white onion fried up with Safflower oil
Throw in a big handful of chopped sweet potato
fry with marjoram and thyme
add a tablespoon of chopping ginger
fry some more
add some chopped zuchinni and sweet beans
fry some more
add a tablespoon of honey
Sea salt and black pepper
fry some more
Serve on a bed of couscous fluffed with nuttelex
with chopped organic tomato and avocado
and grated Havarti Cheese
Serves yourself today, and tomorrow.
Posted by nat at 11:47 AM | Comments (0)
I like to be seditious - I'm more seditious than you! (Badge idea care of Rebecca Giggs). And I'm discovering that I do it daily in a variety of ways.
The Art of Sedition is something I'm mastering. I find it to be blood red, involve snipping and nervous laughter, dark corners and unmarked envelopes. This time my sedition is played out through red ribbon, canvasy paper and a few careful stitches.
These papers are going out to a select group of powerful figures who will ideally be intrigued and inspired by the project written on the pages. From here they may make or break our fireball dream, so next week will be either a delight or a drop.
I can't tell you much about this project - at this stage. It's a shout to our government, an awareness raising hell and an artists' inspiration plan. So soon soon soon I hope to give it public displays of affection.
[current mood] Dried Fruit & Running Water
Posted by nat at 6:36 PM | Comments (0)
This is the scene from yesterday after painting non stop from 9am - 6.30pm. Frans and I were absolutely heat-stroked and delirious. This was the second of two bus shelters on Brisbane St - North Perth. We two were there til the bitter(sweet) end.
The painting day was the culmination of months of back n forth with The Town of Vincent, my computer and workshops with the multicultural mens group at ASETTS. So I had the great challenge of co-ordinating the painting of two murals on one day with ten helpers. Thank goodness I had Sohan and Frans to guide my frantic stress levels into production and paint mixing. And in the end we got there!
As I suspected, all the pain is forgotten when you drive past the next day and smile at the happy happy art that will stay in your heart and your community for a long time.
[current mood] Pau D'arco Tea & Compilations from lovers and friends
Posted by nat at 12:13 PM | Comments (0)
[current mood] Lindt 75% Cocoa Chocolate & Happy Tea!
Posted by nat at 3:15 PM | Comments (3)
He fell off his chair when he saw my previous post.
She sends me my card sitting on her newspaper in London.
This is the way I talk!
[current mood] Greyboy & Pumpkin and Pinenuts
Posted by nat at 1:50 PM | Comments (1)
My little cards are ready for the world. Only took a couple of months after one day of inspiration. Such is design!
Concealed in their paper folds are seeds. I will not tell you what kind of seeds, you must follow the instructions and let them grow.
If you would like a card sent to you - just email me your postal address... (Australia Only).
[current mood] no mood
Posted by nat at 11:31 PM | Comments (2)
Would you read into leaf play? Or should I?
Is it an organic version of peeling the label off your beer?
Is it shyness? Is it tension? Is it just playing and desiring to touch?
Perhaps it is best to leave leaf playing unanalysed?
Sometimes I do take it further than a roll or a rip, I stick sticks and I pull stalks, I use my nails to cut neat little shapes. I sometimes create little cities of twigs and leaves. Temporary cities probably never to be found. Slowly blown down or run over by dogs. But I make them for the chance than a girl sits down and loses herself in the discovery.
Enjoying leaf play with a stranger or a friend - which builds the greatest art? Is the leaf play accompanied with friendship and laughter different to that which is traced in awkwardness?
Is the subconscious working stronger when you are distracted by discussions of meaning and history? And therefore the creations derived from a more magical place. Indeed they are… much better that way.
There is a little Goldsworthy in all of us - a book I picked up once that took my play into a field of gold! I love that some people make a life out of what others consider ‘play’.
[current mood] Cherries & Ballroom
Posted by nat at 10:35 PM | Comments (2)
What kind of things does a designer have to worry about?
Well, firstly - does metallic ink on smooth ivory board look more impressive than on standard gloss stock? The printers think it looks far better on gloss - they point out how sheeny-shiny the metallic appears, asking if I really want such a subtle dull metallic? Well, I say, I’ve been thinking that gloss is associated with cheap mailbox dropped flyers, and something more uncoated will - despite looking less ‘wow’, be more likely to stay in hand. But theories go out the window when two printers are looking at you as though you’re mad.
I’m going to start a section on my Seedpod website (when that gets up) which features images like this, and is titled ‘just off the press’. I love the look of offcuts and uncuts. I collected a few from the printer today that I might try to use as comps slips. These offcuts are sheets of paper that have been printed over and over again, covered in fascinating levels of design and unplanned beauty. It’s also truly recycling to be using these.
What else do we designers let clog up our otherwise creatively free mind?
Will people think an ink-stamped logo is infact cooler than a printed one?
Should I strive higher even if the client is satisfied with the first concept?
Am I falling into a safe style of silouetted shapes and gradients?
How come I can’t be creative and tidy at the same time?
sigh…
I just changed my picture up right to reflect something more real for me right now. Gone is the blonde and the hats and the beaming smile… but instead it is replaced by a calmer contentness and a smirk. I’m really getting into this space, content with my raw self. It brings out something truer. Getting truer all the time. And this moody weather is playing with me too… I love that we ultimately fall victim to nature’s greater power - or we embrace it - we choose.
Oh, and I created two new expressions, if you wouldn’t mind spreading them around. The first is ‘That lacks’ or ‘It totally lacks’. It is used when something is really lacking in essential quality. It can be applied to an event, a situation, a place… It is a bit of a replacement for ‘sucks’.
And my second one is ‘delush’. It is a combination of delicious and luscious. Often applied to things that exceed both statements, such as Muscato Wine or an amazing creme caramel. I admit that one came about through accident and alcohol…
[current mood] Ambient Brian Eno & homebaked vegetable pie
Posted by nat at 4:53 PM | Comments (9)
Meet Blue Eyes. He was roaming an African safari one boiling hot day and decided he’d had enough, so he stowed himself away in some Australian’s luggage and ended up landing in Perth, albeit a little crumpled and stuffed.
As you can see from the expression on his face, he’s been having one heck of a great time over here ever since. Y’know he hears people call it ‘dullsville’ - he even saw the play (that was his only regretable choice) but his experience has been nothing of the sort. This dude has seen adventure! Yes, right here in little isolated Perth, Western Australia.
We’re talking about enlightening conversations with pelicans and old men, nightclubbing with the cream of Perth’s elite, being mistaken for a toy (bad move little girl) and misadventure through unknown suburban streets! Ol Blue eyes reckons there is so much going on in Perth that he’s starting his own magazine. Self titled of course! He’s hoping you’ll learn to see things through his eyes!
I’m assisting him to get it happening, make sure he doesn’t growl at potential advertisers, and manages to get some sleep, (he’s a bit bugged out in this photograph).
I’ll be sure to let you know when his ode to Perth’s individuality hits the streets.
Posted by nat at 9:51 PM | Comments (0)
Here is a link to the progression of images from the launch of Concrete Dialogues.
[current mood] Rhubarb & Wicked Beat Sound System
Posted by nat at 11:06 PM | Comments (0)
Last night was such a buzz!! We created this thing!!
[current mood] Poached Eggs & Berocca
Posted by nat at 4:57 PM | Comments (2)
Concrete Dialogues has been launched. It’s a collaborative writing project, 2 years in the making!
Three wide eyed bushy tailed people were taken on a journey of unknown proportions… inspiration with a shite-load of reality thrown in. And now the cake is ready for eating… and we’ve got wrinkles.
We have: the mapping data working through a google map of Perth, the zine full of great pieces of writing, a spunky design aesthetic, collector cards being handed out in bookshops, contributors contributing, an industry launch party next week… this project is finally seeing it’s day!
What is this project about? The rant I’m going with as I hand out zines and cards:
It’s a journey through Perth with stories. It’s electronic songlines. It’s creating community. It’s redefining Perth. Anyone can write a piece connected to a location on the map and add to the identity of Perth. If you’re more of an observer - you can just wander about and read.
If you’re from Perth or know any writers… send them over to the site to contribute and build our fair city.
[current mood] Devendra Banhart & 2 Caffé Lattes
Posted by nat at 2:33 PM | Comments (0)
I just aquired my first, true dinky di piece of art!!
Billy Atkins from Jigalong is his name. He’s an old bloke who’s won the Telstra Art Award and recently had his art bought by the National Gallery.
When I saw this painting via a crappy snap via a friend’s sister’s friend up in Newman… I wasn’t moved as such but saw it as a good investment. However, when my neighbour brought the painting to my door last night in its huge cardboard box, my excitement was displayed through song and dance.
Then when I gently peeled away the bubble wrap, and as each little paint drop appeared before me, I truly welled up. I just sat on the carpet and smiled at this gorgeous sense of life that had landed in my apartment.
I was thinking about a man far far away spending his time creating this image and then setting it sail to a strangers place. I find it such a special gift to have. I wish I could shake his hand, so I might try to meet him sometime soon.
Posted by nat at 4:38 PM | Comments (1)
See! I can do corporate, it’s just that I don’t work with those kind of clients very often.
It’s quite problematic when I show mainstream clients my portfolio and they think I’m “too creative” and that I wouldn’t know how to appeal to their mining clients - for example. I’m not quite sure how to tell them that corporate is easy - I can do it in my sleep! And please don’t think that my creative ability is limited to the clients I have. They don’t define me. I’m just lucky I get to scribble and explore more often than draw up geometric cornflower blue circles.
ohh, but give me the work….
Posted by nat at 10:20 PM | Comments (1)
The mystical, the magical Andrew Horabin has written this book over three years. And here is my cover design. The view you get lying in the back seat of the family car looking up at the clouds, as telgraph poles and trees swim by, and you dream of the world and all its possibilities. Andrew’s book is available from his website! Sam by Andrew Horabin.
Posted by nat at 9:53 AM | Comments (0)
This is the cover design for the ethical shopping guide I’m working on. I haven’t had a project like this in ages, one that I can really sink my teeth into, find endless ways to make it big, get it known, try to print as many copies as possible!
It is also fantastic doing this with a friend. (The sweet Anita Lumbus). We are sharing something we both care about and like ying and yang, we are pulling it together.
When it comes to ethical shopping it just isn’t black and white, and you an get into all sorts of debates about whether organic is better than local is better than well packaged, fair trade or GE free.. and it is rare to get them all in the one product. This seems to be a big hurdle for people working in ethics - causing much “you eat vegetarian but you wear leather” kind of discussions and confusion about how to present information and what side to stand on…
So, the guide just lists which categories the products rate in and then YOU as shopper can make up your own mind according to your personal ethical beliefs. Perfect.
Posted by nat at 7:03 PM | Comments (0)
I can’t afford my own debt collector, so I thought it could be effective to create a virtual debt collector for certain unpaying clients? I just made this up and sent it to one client to test the waters. This could become a fruitful idea…. I’ll let you know how he goes.
Posted by nat at 5:45 PM | Comments (0)
Came to work the other day and someone had done a visual interpretation of Papercut (my studio). I thought it was very creative and decided it was worthy of being documented so that the art could be eternal.
Posted by nat at 9:19 AM | Comments (0)
I really struggle to draw from my imagination. Put something in front of me, no problems.
So when asked to paint a landscape from my imagination… all I could come up with was the Hills of Austria. Should I look into my forgotten heritage??
Posted by nat at 11:29 AM | Comments (1)
This is the concept that has headed us all in the right direction. It feels more like Nyoongar land and the beginning. The felt cut outs remind you of creating things from scratch, as a child.. In the Nytting Time the world was a child, growing and developing…
and now in 2005 she is senile, polluted by her smoking and considering cloning herself using genetically modified, nuclear powered, african babies… stoopid bi-atch!
Posted by nat at 9:43 AM | Comments (0)
I love this little concept I did for a Nyoongar Theatre performace. It is about when the land was flat and how animals formed. It is the dreamtime stories of creation. The client didn’t dig it, so I have to start afresh, go far more earthy/indigenous. This was probably in reflection, a little Dahl.
Strangley, afterwards, I went to the bookstore, to kill some time and picked up Roald Dahl’s - The Enormous Crocodile, and each picture threw me back 20 years and brought with it the same excitement that I felt at that age. I wasn’t seeing it with adults eyes, but remembering how I saw it with wide blue eyes. It was like taking a time machine ride! Try it with an old picture book you used to love. It will spin you out. Dot & The Kangeroo? The Magic Pudding? Meg & Mog? Possum Magic?
Posted by nat at 9:35 AM | Comments (1)
A google-image-art experiment.
I put in 3 things that are on my mind, chose #22 in all of them to get a visual interpretation of my grey matter.
Posted by nat at 7:39 AM | Comments (0)
Monday afternoon non-work activity. When the street was flooded, we made use of the canal!
Ingredients:
One takeaway (recycled plastic) coffee holder
One chopstick (previously used to stir paint)
A flyer cut into a flag shape
2 staples.
Instructions:
Join, and sail!
Forced credit: Photographs by Mik Efford of Mik World
Posted by nat at 10:24 AM | Comments (3)
Ex-pat social activities are a new experience for me. This was the fruity flavoured twister that we made for my housewarming party in PNG. I invited lots of nationals but due to shyness, babies and lack of transport, none of them came. So the ex-pats need each other to play with.
Posted by nat at 7:21 AM | Comments (0)
This needs a title. Any suggestions?
It’s the design I had printed on the canvas of a deckchair - for Deckchair Theatre’s auction. I was so thrilled to be asked to put a piece in. But funny how I then left the deckchair against my wall for weeks, avoiding doing the artwork. This is often the case, that I want some opportunity and when I receive it I leave it on the backburner for fear of failure! Do you find this?
But as always, eventually I sat myself down and let my mind float to an idea that I could execute with ease. Accepting I’m not a painter, I turned to my old art of photography and selected an image I loved. However I did push this idea a little too far to a point where I was stressing out on the phone trying to find industrial thread, industrial machinists and framers who could finish my art within 24 hours!
It’s being photographed now, so I’ll get the finished image of it up here soon.
Posted by nat at 8:58 PM | Comments (4)
The cover photograph for Khin Myint’s new CD - Beautiful Catastrophe. The artwork is made up of all of my latest favourite photographs - pink bulbs on flowers, growing out of cracks, leaves crammed in the corners of roofs and bark shaped like a finch lying next to a paddle pop stick on sand. mmm. all beautiful catastrophes to me.
Khin’s music is raw, personal, a little like Red House Painters, it’s a city dreaming and a boy alone.
I’ll pop up more pics of the final artwork soon.
Posted by nat at 10:23 PM | Comments (0)
Coming ever so soon, novelbadges.com - a place for us to get our wednesday-itis out n about on the www. A merging of concrete minds have created these delicious puns. And there are so many many more to come.
There is something about creating these badges that has sent my creative mind on a pathway filled with adrenalin. I am energised with all the possibilities for this site. I believe its going to work! It's strange that such a small thing can have such a great impact on the rest of my creativity - but it's proven a little thing to me, great ideas can come from simple beginnings and being around other creative people can make these things real.
Posted by nat at 1:27 PM | Comments (0)
I created a set of ‘love bugs’, as I called them at the time. Creatures that when scuttling across your floor are deemed the most revolting vision on the face of the earth, but what if we made them pink and yellow and cute and lovey? Does it fuk with you?
Posted by nat at 11:43 AM | Comments (1)
Day to day I dream and work at Papercut Media. There, I art direct with two fine fellows by my side. I embark on missions for my clients to create amazing designs that will give them great financial rewards. I do so in extremely tight timelines and for an average amount of money. I am currently investigating my options.
Posted by nat at 10:13 PM | Comments (0)