Sketchbook: Joan Didion, Gunners, Bowie

So my weekend consisted of two solid days of working on projects and just kind of trying to clear the decks. I've been saying for months that I'm going to take a break from commission work to focus on personal projects, but I just can't seem to shake all these commitments! 

Anyway, it's always a good challenge, and I'm going to really appreciate that blank canvas when I finally get to it...

Also, I took a little break from drawing yesterday evening and we all headed down to the pub to watch our housemate Ben perform a little Sunday-arvo gig... I could tell you all about his beautiful music, and melodies that are powerful enough to lull the Humble-beast out of her destructive frenzies, but you could also probably just go and listen for yourself -- there's a couple of his tracks online here.

Friday vibes

The vibes are good. 

I had an incredible conversation with a very talented lady last night -- which I will share here in the coming days -- it's nearly the weekend, and I have once again prioritised my batshit-crazy to-do list... I've got an eye on finishing some things so I can start some other things.

I plan on riding this weirdly-charged motivational high until I crash into the realisation that, once again, me and Humble have fallen asleep on couch watching CSI: Miami and wasted a whole day of potential project-finishing.

☼ ☾ No bad days ☽ ☼

Photographer: Derek Wood
Model: Lera Pentelute
Styling: Whitney Cox
Makeup/Hair: Deb Chung & Lauren Paez
Editing: Bryan Carr
Thanks to: Child of Wild + Stone Cold Fox + Vanessa Mooney + Raen Optics + Flynn Skye 


So I've been looking forward to sharing this lookbook from Mate Vintage for a whole bunch of reasons, probably starting with (a) the photos are sweet and summery and (b) the location is out-of-this-world and then (c) I contributed a couple of little bits-and-pieces to the t-shirt prints. 

Oh yeah, and there's always (d) cacti and light leaks. 

Also, the girls behind this label are so sweet, and do some great work through their Collabs with a Cause... as if you needed another reason to head over here and check out what they've got on offer... The shirts should be in soon, so keep an eye out!

Travelin' band

Vintage Creedence Clearwater Revival shirt and daisy-print maxi skirt; Topshop boots (similar here); Etsy boot chains; markets/eBay rings.

I fell asleep in the car last night, in a furry jacket and with my boots tucked up on the seat, clutching a tissue box full of sea urchin shells. Humble was stretched out and snoring on the back seat and Scotty was seeing us through the last few hundred kilometres home.

We were all tired and we didn’t want to arrive home, because home just meant work tomorrow and normal life and paying the tolls that we’d driven through to get out of the city in the first place.

And mostly because that afternoon, just a few hours before, we’d been sitting around a fire-pit in the backyard, cooking fish the boys had pulled out of the sea earlier in the day, drinking tins, watching the dogs roll in the grass and soaking up a bit of south-coast sunshine. 

It's always hard leaving Eden.

There’s an eternal war raging between my quiet, content, smalltown-self and my restless, seeking, city-self. Sometimes, I want to move back to the coast, raise goats, adopt dogs, listen to Creedence and swim in the creek; and other times I’m thankful that I’m never going to run out of new things to see in the city.

More than anything, I guess, I’m grateful that we get to do a bit of both.