SKETCHBOOK: WONDERFILLED AND AWESTRUCK



An accidental super-autumnal colour palette is beaming through lately -- it could be the depths of the Melbourne winter weighing too heavily on me, or just a new interest in native Australian flora. 
Anyway, this is my sketchbook/s lately -- I feel like I've spent a few huge weekends working on secret things I can't share yet, so it's nice to be able to share all these accumulated bits-and-pieces. 
Here's to more fires and a bit less rain, longer days and more exploring, and the best thing about winter, of course, jonquils and leucadendrons. 


MAKIN' MAGIC


Things keep being added to the to-do list; until, for some of the things, they’re too late to do. Good ideas are stacking up and being stored away; we’re thinking about major plans and minor goals – at 3am in the morning, on the drive to work, when we’re out running, or grocery shopping.

We’re thinking about planting vegetables that will survive the winter, about planning trips overseas, about brand management and business plans, about university applications, about moving house, about packing up, about something – anything – new. We’re scrabbling for a path that will free us up a little, searching for the salve that soothes young restlessness.

I know we’re all kinda like this.


But another thing I know, as I reschedule another plan, or put off chasing another idea, that as long as I can cross one thing off the list each day, I’m making progress. Slow progress, no doubt, but inevitable, indelible progress. 

VIBRANT VIBES


1. Balancing Weenie // Trust the path unseen print and Gypsy Warrior jewels.
2. Blue gel ink madness, collections, proteas.
3. I went home to the farm and held some baby goats // Autumnal optimism.
4. Ceremony print // Sketchbook musings.
5. Northern prep // Flash sheets.
6. More Northern…
7. Wayward one, available here … but I’ve taken quite a shine to it and might take it down and just keep it for myself // She’s Friday evenings, loud Ted Nugent and straight, warm whiskey – Nugent print available here.
8. Waratah rising // Flynn Skye dress-ups in the cactus garden.
9. Fisherking // Vibrant vibes.
10. Gum blossoms // Hydrangeas.
11. VB flower arrangements // Volcom love and proteas.
12. Rogues volts of euphoria (reading Tom Wolfe forever) // Overjoyed with commonplace beauty.

13. Weenie dawg // ELO. 

BLUE JEAN BABY


Volcom beanie and jeans; Pony Gold Wayward One hand-painted denim jacket; Gypsy Warrior rings; Vanessa Mooney necklace; all other necklaces, rings and glasses are vintage/market finds.

So the blog has been on a bit of an extended hiatus … with the last crazy weeks of the Northern exhibition at Southset Gallery, catching up with commission work and undergoing the rapid-morph into a winter hermit, I haven't been able to find much time to shoot photos and post them here. 

But hopefully that will change soon … I've got lots of big plans and ideas, as well as some crazy exciting adventures just a short way down the track.

… Stay tuned. 

LET'S DRAW

I made a little stop-motion video to celebrate the fact that next weekend I'm hosting an illustration workshop at Southset warehouse in Moorabbin, Melbourne. More info here. 
It's pretty laid-back affair, looking at materials, techniques, pursuing creative ideas, and a few little tips and tricks that I wish someone had told me when I was starting out! 
If you're in Melbourne, come hang out!
x

SKETCHBOOK: REMAINED UNTAMED


The sneaky southern hemisphere winter snuck up on me while I was working too hard and not taking care of myself properly; so now I have a super-dodgy flu and have been lying around watching movies and snuggling the Weenie Mutt for what feels like forever, but is only two days. 
Luckily I was hyper productive in the weeks before, so I can share all these sketchbook out-takes and musings with you, not to mention a whole wall of artwork on display over at Southset Gallery in Moorabbin. 
Get down there if you're in Melbourne -- the show is up until the end of May... plus we're running a kind of laid-back artist workshop, where I'll take you through some creative processes and techniques, different materials, ideas and how to develop them, as well as a few little tricks and tips I wish people had told me early on.
If you're interested, sign up here.  
 After that, I'm turning back into a little art hermit and keeping everything between the pages of my sketchbooks for a while. Oh, and if you can't make it down to Southset, some of the artworks are available for purchase online here.

NORTHERN X SOUTHSET



For those of you who couldn't/can't make it, here's a little sneak peak inside Southset gallery, where my artwork is hanging for the rest of May as part of my solo show, Northern. 
Thank you to everyone who helped out, and who came along to say hi. 
Also thanks to the lovely girls at String of Events who shot some pictures of the show too (check them out here).
If you're in Melbourne, you can check out the show by visiting Southset at 5 Levanswell Road, Moorabbin, open Fridays 2-6pm and Saturdays 10am-3pm. 
Also, I've put a couple of limited edition prints that were featured in the show up for sale  here, and my older prints (not including posters) are 20 per cent off, using the code: NORTHERN. 

STRANGE NATURE



Keilor, 2014. Rachel Urquhart.


The universe is no narrow thing and the order within it is not constrained by any latitude in its conception to repeat what exists in one part in any other part. Even in this world more things exist without our knowledge than with it and the order in creation which you see is that which you have put there, like a string in a maze, so that you shall not lose your way. For existence has its own order and that no man's mind can compass, that mind itself being but a fact among others.

IT'S TIME ...


Hey Melbourne friends -- and any friends inclined to travel -- come check out my work this Friday, May 2, at Southset Gallery in Moorabbin (5 Levanswell Road at 6pm). 
This is my first solo show, so it's super exciting and stressful and fun and probably responsible for the minor instances of problem drinking that are increasingly occurring as I approach deadline. But on that note, come down and have a beer and look at this weird stuff I made. I think some of it is pretty alright. 

SUNDAY // STOP MOTION




A couple of little videos I made recently for Instagram purposes (@raychponygold), both featuring the music of my talented housemate Ben Whiting. He's heading off on tour soon, so if you're anywhere on the great Australian continent, you should look him up and see if he's playing near you.

ARIZONA



Mister Zimi Arizona lookbook


Everyone knows there’s nothing I like better than printed maxi dresses and crazy cactus gardens (exhibit A), and the creative wonders behind Mister Zimi have pinned that love down perfectly in their Arizona lookbook. In fact, they pin a lot of things down perfectly – namely colour palettes and prints, as well as the perfect vintage textiles on white-washed board floors. Oh, and the at-home cactus collections in their stores are pretty cute too. 

The designs, prints and imagery produced at Mister Zimi have also been a driving force behind my desire to push myself into using more colour in my artwork – it’s kinda weird where inspiration and ideas can travel from. But, with hues that beautiful, I sure won’t question it… 
Here’s to more whitewashing, cacti, and colour.

CEREMONIAL COLLECTION II

Bona Drag is my favourite online boutique to browse through, and make mental lists of all the things I'm going to buy when a sudden magical windfall comes my way. I feel like I might shop there exclusively when I'm a successful thirty-something. For now, I'm a barely-surviving twenty-something, so I just look, most of the time.
But what I do get really, really excited about is Bona Drag's lookbooks, especially their ceremonial collections. Last time Bona Drag released a ceremonial collection, I posted about it here. My sentiments remain exactly the same -- this, to me, is how wedding attire should look.
Also, the campaign was shot by Alexandra Valenti who, in my mind and eyes, can do no wrong with an image. And finally, that Pamela rose gold Serpentine necklace... I'm already cataloguing all the drawings and sketchbooks and vintage pieces I can sell off to make payment on that baby.

RAMBLE ON


A sneaky glimpse at things I'm working on for 'Northern', which opens at the Southset gallery and boutique on May 2.
Exciting times // Ramble on

INFINITE WONDER ...


Things I love lately...

1. Collections // Words
2. More collections // More exhibition planning
3. Dreaming about Eden // ... and in illustrative form
4. More words // Finally working on a big, detailed illustration -- it's been ages
5. Street flowers, new rings, drawings // Rad work with Mate Vintage and a painted jacket
6. New prints (here and here) // Collections and gifts
7. Working alone (print available here) // Working with my dad (and his fox-skull gift)
8. Going big and colourful for 'Northern' on May 2
9. Things // Thank yous
10. Collecting, drawing, making // Creating
11. Whiskey visions  (available here) // More of the same

HIGH ROTATION




Harley Davidson boots (eBay); Dr Denim jeans; Three Arrows Leather bag; vintage Harley Davidson shirt; Cormac McCarthy – All the pretty horses; Cotton on bra; Howlin’ Wolf necklace; Sportgirl sunglasses; Spell necklace and ring; Rejoice the hands ring; Buffalo Girl leather ring; Tree of life eagle earrings; Posca and Unipin pens; Vintage Zeiss Ikon camera; Pony Gold Wildness art print; All others are vintage/market finds/gifts.


Sometimes it’s a hangover, or a lack of sleep, or I’m just plain discouraged about facing the day, but there are definitely times when I have to hit autopilot in the mornings and gravitate toward my favourite go-to things – boots, jeans, shirt, jewellery – to get me through. 
The comfort of slipping into well-worn boots and jeans is not to be underestimated – especially when you can be sure that said boots are not going to betray you with blisters halfway through a trek across the city. And as for go-to jewellery, I think the secret is buying well-made pieces with quality metals and stones. They’re maybe a little more expensive, but I’ve been carting some parts of my jewellery box around for more than 10 years – so it pays for itself, I like to think.    
So these are the things I have on high-rotation; things that I’m going to wear to death and then despair about replacing for a few months … Also, there's a few favourite books and artworks and plants for good measure. What I didn't realise, though, was that so much of it is black.

But… res ipsa loquitur, I guess. 

NUGENT


Fridays are for Ted Nugent. 
Fridays are also for long weekends this week in Victoria, so hopefully by the end of it I have lots of new things to show you!