I just thought it would be funny to draw an elaborate birthday wishlist like I might have when I was a kid. I turn 26 two months from today. I really liked being 25, I'll be sad to see it go.
A couple of months ago I splurged and bought myself an A5 sized red covered Moleskine sketchbook. The pages are beautiful to draw and paint on and the perfect GSM not to show most mediums through. I don't play around in it as often as I'd like to, but it always feels like a worthwhile use of time when I do. Sometimes I work on a page and it ends up looking crappy and I'll collage over the top of it. I was worried that having spent a pretty penny for a fancy sketchbook would cause me to be precious about it and not want to use it or play around in it, but I haven't found that the case at all. I can't wait until I've filled up all of the pages in this one and I can start another.
While I'm here I thought I'd share a few more hand-lettered zine order envelopes I sent out this week. If you'd like to buy a copy click here.
My friend Jaine and I made this little 8-page pink feminist themed zine recently and took a handful of copies along to a local gig called SPACE JAM to sell and raise funds for FURY - a local organisation that helps to facilitate and encourage women playing in bands in Tasmania.
Jaine and I are in the process of starting a little band together. A few months ago we paid a visit to the FURY jam space and Jaine picked up a bass for the first time. I was a bit later getting there and by the time I arrived she was already playing along with the other ladies. We've been meaning to revisit for another jam then we might look into finding ourselves other femmes to play with.
The zine includes lots of little drawings, some of our favourite feminist quotes, a list of 'Things That Don't Make You A Bad Feminist', a feminist vocabulary glossary and a recipe for 'Slut Brownies' amongst other bits and pieces.
It is printed on pink paper and each cover has a hand drawn pink pattern. If you'd like a copy, they're AU$3 and you can get one here. All of the proceeds go to FURY.
Here are some of the envelopes I sent off the first batch of zine orders in. I hand lettered them in gouache, Posca paint pen and gel pen all over the past three days while watching Orange Is The New Black and Making A Murderer on Netflix. My eyes may never be the same.
Stardust helped/hindered.
This semester I took my final university unit for my degree. I had expected to graduate at the end of last year, but realised at the last minute that I had one extra introductory elective unit to complete. I'd never done ceramics during my degree so I thought it was probably my last opportunity to give it a go and it was quite fun (with a healthy amount of frustration and failures). I thought I'd share some photos of work I completed. Most of my work is hand built or slip cast (there was no potters wheel instruction in this unit unfortunately). I really enjoyed the glazing process and played with mixing underglazes and stoneware glazes and my friend Holly and bought an underglaze pencil off eBay which gave a really fun naive hand-drawn effect on the ceramic.
Hand formed ceramic beads.
Slip cast Lucky Buddha beer bottles. Unfortunately the plaster mould I made wasn't great so I didn't get to cast a whole bottle - just the fronts.
I filled all of my little planter vessels with succulents I collected from along my street (I didn't steal them from people's gardens - just where they were growing in abundance alongside the road) and topped them with colourful aquarium stones.
My collection of 'failure' vessels. I don't hate them, but they just didn't turn out the way they were supposed to.
I made lots of faceted gem stone brooches. I'm thinking of giving some of them away as Christmas gifts.
I made a cheeky pair of penis shaped vases for my friend Jaine. I had to get my lovely gay male classmate to help me to form them because the first few I made looked demented.
Little nesting cat bowls.
I had a lot of fun in this subject and I do hope I get to play with clay again sometime.