{Mirka}

The Mirka exhibition at 

HEIDE 

finishes tomorrow.

Mirka Mora and the circle of artists she belonged to,

have been of such inspiration to me and my work.

Books on her art, and that of the rest of the Heide Circle ,

have been at my fingertips ever since I can remember...

the exhibition catalogue

is available here online

her use of symbolism... flowers, birds, angels, dolls, animals;

'primativ style; mythical, fairytale themes and vast portfolio

metamorphosising as painting, sculpture, mosaic and more,

has captured my vivid imagination ever since I was a child.

Mirka Mora with her soft sculptures

My grandmother Clare, learnt doll-making from Mirka at 

the CAE in the 1970s and produced many beautiful mythical

creatures and dolls in this house where I am now living.

She and my grandfather ran a kind of folk art gallery up here

with a regular weekend market selling local arts and crafts,

and had glass cases built in which Clare exhibited her dolls.

doll by Clare K. Woods (my grandmother)

I spent endless hours as a little girl watching my

'Nana' create all manner of beautiful art objects.

Strangely enough, where we were living in the city for 3 years,

was directly across from Mirka's old studio at 8 Rankins Lane.

my 'Heidi' doll

I would stare at it every day from my own tiny workroom...

How nice it would have been to have popped into Mirka's on

my breaks for a cup of coffee and a chat about doll making.

Ari outside the doorway to Mirka's old studio

The Museum of Modern Art at Heide 

is one of my favourite places to visit around Melbourne

the old farm house at Heide

I love the history of the place, and I love so much the work

of the artists that it (and John and Sunday Reed) supported.

Girl by Joy Hester 1957

The gardens are so beautiful, especially th kitchen garden,

and the modernist building is a really incredible space to visit...

Heide II

But it's such a pleasure to me, being able to walk through

the old house since it's restoration, and imagine what it would

     have been like...

as a sanctuary for artists through the 1930s to the 1950s

John Reed cutting Joy Hester's hair 

while Sunday Reed Watched

Welcome to the Dollhaus

There is so much beautiful 

vintage, handcraft and artwork

pouring out of every corner of

my studio at the moment.

I've been playing around with some ideas for photo shoots

...outfits, poses, settings, lighting, props

...there's quite a lot to consider

my grandmother made the stained glass window in the 1970s 

Welcome to the Dollhaus 

will be opening very soon...

the Dala (swedish horse) toy is by me, the collage and box are by Mister Jonathan

Once Upon A Time

'greetings from the wonderful world'

my collage works on vintage card circa 2008

Well, we finally went to see the Disney exhibition at 

ACMI last Friday... and it was really truly wonderful!

I know a lot of people have issues with the world of Disney... being a corporation... past political alliances... the faceless no. of artists creating each piece that the Disney name is then put to... but the work itself, especially when one is given the 'oh so rare' opportunity to view it up close and personal, is simply incredible.

Walt Disney was definitely a visionary, I'll say that about him!

ONCE UPON A TIME: WALT DISNEY
THE SOURCES OF INSPIRATION FOR THE DISNEY STUDIOS

I purchased this fabulous book a few years back.
It's available here online and is well worth a read.

When you think about it The Walt Disney Studios have had
just as much influence on art and artists (if not more) as they
themselves have been influenced by the work of others...

The Saddest Place on Earth: 
The Art of Camille Rose Garcia 

Mister Rabbit

more rabbity rabbits here 

FROHE OSTERN

I love this guy so much... I just had to post him again,
I hope you all have enjoyed a beautiful Easter.   xox

{miss polly jean}

I've been listening to this a lot lately 

whilst driving to and fro along the freeway- 

of this most incredible songstress,
I am a most adoring fan, I must say,
yet it's the same with every album...

it always takes time for the love to grow,
like a flower slowly coming into bloom.

The longer I listen,
the deeper I fall into the richness
& the poetics of each new work.

And that, is something which I very much
enjoy about the music of Polly Jean Harvey.

Her work is so skillfully & thoughtfully crafted.

part of a collaborative series
I created with Jonathan 2009


Over the years, her songs have provided so much
inspiration for my own creative endeavours, that I feel,

from 'The Devil's Playground' 
a series which I am currently working on


 although we are complete strangers to one another,
we are also kindred spirits journeying side by side.

splendor in the afternoon

heading home along the freeway...

the beauty of nature

All these lovely fairytale themed posts

reminded me of these little works of art...

which I created for an exhibition back in 2003 at 
Linden: Centre for Contemporary Arts 

It was a collaborative effort between myself

and the very talented Motoko Kikkawa.

papercut by Motoko Kikawa

The exhibition was entitled:

Flower Bird Wind Moon

which is the literal translation of the characters 

forming the japanese term Kachofugetsu.

Together these characters translate as

'The Beauty Of Nature'.

In the tradition of japanese art,

any one or all of these symbols will

 be included in any work depicting 

the beauty of the natural world.

This concept formed the basis for 

our explorations in this exhibition

and the inspiration for our artwork.

sehr schön

just like something out of a dream

knowing that places like this really exist, 

makes me love this world, 

all the more...

found via little lost love: also beautiful 

Disney Exhibition: ACMI

here

... only one more week. Don't miss out!

the broken

Allegory of The Four Elements
by Mark Ryden


Hair Hat
styled by Nagi Noda

The below images are from the Broken Label

-a brief collaboration between

American lowbrow artist Mark Ryden

and Japanese pop artist Nagi Noda

The fabrics in themselves were an incredible thing.

Nagi Noda died in Sept 2008, so sad.. she was only 35.

The Broken Label became a single range of women's wear

that was only available in Paris and Tokyo for a short while after 

her death, and is now incredibly sought after the world wide....

a fairytale world

image found via this dreamy Etsy store

Sasha who owns Astral Boutique has one
of the loveliest profiles that I have ever read.

The life she has created sounds simply beautiful,
and her home seems like the kind of earthy,
art-filled place that we hoped to create too,
when we left the big smoke behind last year.

If I lived anywhere near Grass Valley,
I should very much like to pop into Sasha's
for a cup of tea, some lovely music,
and a wander through the woodlands.

I love 'the bush', it has it's own mythical beauty,
 but a part of my spirit (perhaps the german part),
forever longs for faraway fairytale forests.

 Visit Sasha's store here for pretty bohemian vintage,
or to just take a peek into the world in which she lives.

Nathalie Lété

Anthropologie 

also have a lovely selection of 

Nathalie Lété 's work available here 

...how I wish they shipped internationally...

Anthropologie

found here 

The Blue Wall

I painted a wall in our house this beautiful blue.

Above are the artworks which now reside there,

in-between two archways.  They are as follows...

                       1. the goblin mask

                           made and worn by a friend to my 23rd birthday

                       2. 'Madam' from The Living Doll

                           (a series which I am currently working on)

                       3. The Moon by Ariel Gray (then three years old)

one of the archways is rectangular and the other is rounded;

one was carved by my grandfather and the other  by my father.

The wall itself is really a work of art,

and I would include a photo of it here

if our house weren't so messy,

ah, but mess is such a part of life for artists (and kids)...

perhaps our very world was born out of such chaos, 

perhaps

kirei

via Lylybye (via Vogue Japan May 2011)

Kate Moss 
photographed by 
Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott 

The Sky Last Night

It's been years since I lived in a house where I could see the sky.

Now we live on the side of a hill and gaze out over the valley.

At dusk we watch the sun descend over the hills and 

can see the sky, as she dances her way into night, 

from every room in the house.

of course living on a hill makes it difficult to clean the windows...