Lilac Falls

Lilac is the colour of March, which works for both spring and autumn, depending on which hemisphere you hail from. Supposedly it’s autumn here in Melbourne, but you wouldn’t know it from the temperature! It feels like high summer still. Lilac, however, does suit me, a fact I did not discover until the last few years. I always held purple in abhorrence because my mother foisted a little too much of it (her favourite colour) on me when I was a child.

I am enjoying this chic calendar this year. I particularly enjoy the fashion illustrations of this era, the 1930s–50s – the insouciant brushwork is just so elegant. Watercolour was a favourite medium, and is not the easiest to master; the illustrators of this period show an admirable command of it. You can practically feel the weight in the drapery in these gowns.

These gowns are from the Nuit Quisante and Nuit Romantique collections, from the House of Worth, 1950–51.

Have a fabulous month!

A Fashionable Year

Arcadia and Annapurna collections, 1950–51

How fast is this year speeding by? Two months have nearly passed already. It’s frightening.

One of my sisters gave me a calendar for my birthday this year. I was a little anxious because I am very particular about my choice of calendar: printing quality and stock (paper) are as important to me as the images. I couldn’t go a whole year with some rubbishy 120gsm satin stock!

Fortunately my sister chose well: a calendar of the designer Charles Worth’s fashion illustrations from the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum. (The print quality is excellent.) The descriptive text says:

The House of Worth, established in Paris in 1858 by Charles Frederick Worth (1826–95), was the original and founding couture house. A large collection of Worth designs was donated to the V&A by the fashion house in 1956. This wall calendar brings together just a small selection of the 20,000 original designs and sketches, chiefly from the 1950s, now held in the Prints and Drawing department.

Cyclades collection, 1950–51

In fact, the House of Worth was taken over by the House of Paquin in 1950, and the Worth family influence ended with the retirement of Charles Worth’s great-grandson Jean-Charles in 1952. In 1956, the House shut down its couture operations. [Wikipedia]

The 1950s are my second least-favourite fashion periods (many of the fashions seem so restrictive and buttoned-up to me after the freedoms of the 1920s to 1940s). However, the fashion illustrations in themselves are quite beautiful and elegant: graceful with sweeping lines. The Grecian-inspired gowns on the January page are probably my favourite in the whole calendar.

I hope you have all been having an excellent start to 2016. Time, however, is marching on—don’t waste it!

On Fermentation

19 March, 2013 :: 12.53pmSometimes ideas, like love and wine, must ferment for a while.

Snowed Under or Down Under?

How bizarre is this: the month of December gets its name from the Latin word for ten, as it was originally the tenth month in the Roman calendar, which began in March with the beginning of the season for farming (and warfare—but of course). The winter days following December were not included in any month! It was only later that January and February were created out of this period. I guess no one minded if the number of days in this period fluctuated because you don’t go anywhere when you’re snowed in?

Well, we don’t get snowed under in Down Under, but as usual the weather has been rather crazy in Melbourne – hot one day, chilly the next. And here we are again, mere weeks away from Christmas, and the end of another year. There’s one more month to make good on any leftover resolutions!

I have enjoyed this inspiring calendar from the Rifle Paper Company this year. The illustrations have been a cheerful, brightly coloured highlight of their little nook in my tiny apartment. I’ve been informed by my sister that I should not purchase a calendar for next year; I’m looking forward to finding out what I’ll be hanging on my wall come January. (She promises I will like it.) You’ll see it in the New Year!

Until then, enjoy your December. I hope it’s a fun-filled month for you all.

Hanging Poems

Getting ready to hangLast Thursday night I hung my exhibition at Brunswick Street Gallery. This is only my second group exhibition, and the first time I hung my own work. The method is pretty easy, and it was very satisfying to complete the task. Seeing how many pieces I had (I had originally intended to hang them all in two rows, and was prepared to pull some if it was too crowded) the curator generously allowed me to take up more space than originally allocated, which was fantastic.

Prints pinned

The works were printed by Karl at Lantern Printing, on cotton rag archival paper using archival pigment inks. They came up beautifully, and the crumpled antique papers look so realistic and three-dimensional. Two originals were float-mounted in oak frames, by Leigh at Auguste Clown Gallery.

Works on exhibit include prints of hard copy originals, and prints of entirely digital artworks Opening night was on Friday, and unfortunately I was far too busy talking to guests to remember to take any photos – tsk! It was a fun evening, despite a few nerves at the start. I was hoping to overhear viewers’ responses, but alas, again, too busy talking to eavesdrop!

Frames hung (not without errors prior to success!)At the conclusion of the show (two weeks from now), I will create an online gallery here for viewing. Most of the pieces on show are prints of traditional (hard copy) collages, but you can check out my digital pieces in the Random Poetry galleries.

The works are printed on cotton rag archival paper