Melbourne Art Fair

I popped along to Art Melbourne (aka Melbourne's 'Affordable Art Fair') at the Exhibition Building where many galleries, as well as unrepresented artists, showcased their work. It was fantastic to see such a huge variety of styles in one place. It was complete sensory overload but I felt very inspired and excited by some of the things I saw. The highlights for me were:

Jackie Case - beautiful, fine, detailed pencil drawings.

James Bonnici - very impressive hyper-realist style.

Jessie Breakwell - dynamic, colourful, vibrant and fun work. She also has a very interesting background as the one-time nanny for the Osbourne family!

It was my first ever visit to the annual show after hearing about it for many years. I will definitely make the effort to go again next year. I think the coolest part about it was getting to talk to the actual artists who were right there at their stalls. Awesome.

Pinterest inspiration

Artist: Becca Stadtlander [source] pinned to my Pinterest mood board

People always talk about 'mood boards' don't they? I've never made one but always thought I'd like to try. I've got some future arty projects in mind and so I thought: hurrah, mood board time! And what better place to make one than on Pinterest? It's a work in progress but if you want to check out what I've been pinning for inspiration it's here.

What are you collecting on Pinterest at the moment?

A personal artwork

I had a fun time making this artwork. The prompt for it came from last week's Pikaland assignment in which we had to make a new artwork based on an element from a known one (or one in a gallery, but I was never going to make it to a gallery before the assignment due date!). I spent a few nights leafing through The Art Book, which was a wonderful experience in itself. I've never had any formal training in Fine Art or Art History and so it's really exciting to be exploring all of these great artworks (and I want to do more of this!).

Anyway, it took a while to narrow down which artwork I would draw inspiration from but I was really struck by the symbolic work of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Most of my work tends to be in a realistic style so I wanted to try my hand at making an artwork of symbols and also using a colour palatte I don't usually use. I was also thinking about the work of Flora Bowley and Belinda Kemp when I made this.

Jodi Wiley - Untitled (acrylic on canvas)

Some of the images are a little clunky (the elephant, the meerkat at the bottom) but on the whole, I kind of like it. And what makes it even more special is that every image here represents our personal story as a family. Here are a few of the symbols: the elephant is from a made-up bedtime story Kim tells Miss P every night. The meerkat represents JJ, our 8-month-old bub, because she likes to check out what's going on at all times in a very meerkat-like way. There's one of our chooks on the bottom right and a couple of images which represent the Japanese maple we planted as a family. The two little pinks dots in the top middle are our daughters' thumb prints. There's more, but I might be boring you with this...So while it might not hang in the National Gallery, I think we'll hold onto this one just for sentimental reasons.

Check out more creative spaces today!

Interview - Nancy Mungcal (aka 'pretty little thieves')

It only took one visit to the pretty little thieves website for me to be completely taken by the illustrated world of Nancy Mungcal. Nancy's work can be cute or quirky (or both) and often surprising and amusing. Her images are often full of pathos but sanguine at the same time. And beautiful. No matter what she is doing though, she executes it with skill and style. For me, it all started with this - an amazing print I just had to have. But I couldn't just leave it there - oh, no. I had to know more about her process. So I got in touch, of course. And as a result, I'd like to introduce you to Nancy Mungcal, the talent behind 'pretty little thieves'.

pretty little thieves 'plaid and glasses' print [source]

Tell us a bit about yourself, your work and achievements.

Thank you for having me here. I am so honored. My name is Nancy and my work site and shop are called pretty little thieves. My work consists of drawing, painting, cutting, pasting and making.  My work often favors girls and animals especially bears, wolves, rabbits and cats. Lately, I have been sketching plants and exploring lettering and abstracts. I have been fortunate to have my work exhibited in New York, Los Angeles, Canada, and Spain as well as at South Korea's Art Daegu. I've done editorial illustration work for magazines such as Frankie and Foam.

Did you always want to be an illustrator since childhood or did you come to it as an adult? What steps did you take to make it happen?

I have always been drawing. There wasn't a plan to become an illustrator.  A few years ago, I took a giant leap of faith and started sharing my work. Before that, it was only my family and friends who saw my work.

How did you decide on your blog and shop name 'Pretty Little Thieves'?

The name pretty little thieves just came to me one day. At the time, I didn't know what I would use it for.

Nancy: 'a pile of abstracts I've been working on.' (All photos courtesy of the artist)

Could you describe a typical day? How do you balance art and a day job? Or if you freelance full-time, how do you balance the creative side with the administration?

A typical day consists of drinking lots of tea, listening to music and staying up too late. I try to balance art making with the administrative side of things and am not always successful at it. I tend to collect small piles of paper work and have a giant to do list. I work on different things daily from painting for shows to drawing for editorial clients. I also initiate self projects as much as I can.

You live in Southern California. Could you give us a little insight into the town or city where live? What are the creative or inspiring places you like to visit?

I live in a small quiet city by the mountains.

I love going on road trips, seeing my favorite bands, hanging out at bookstores, and wandering the flea markets.

Nancy: 'some work on my desk.'

Where do you like to sketch and come up with new ideas (at your desk, in a cafe, in a busy place etc)?

I  carry a sketchbook with me pretty much everywhere I go.  I'm most often sketching at my desk with music on.

Nancy: 'I have a niece and nephew who make lots of art for me. There's always a pile of it on my desk and is a constant source of inspiration for me.'

What are your favourite tools/materials for creating?

Micron pens, tiny paint brushes, watercolor and acrylic paints, india ink, markers, graphite pencils, scraps of paper, watercolor paper...

Nancy: 'a sketch on scrap paper'

Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions, Nancy! It was a pleasure to have you here today.

Please do check out more of Nancy's amazing work at the following links:

pretty little thieves website
shop
blog
And lastly, Nancy has just opened a brand new vintage shop field and ramble!

Picture book vs iPad App: The Monster at the End of This Book - Review

The Monster at the End of This Book is a classic Little Golden Book first published in 1971. It was one of Kim's very favourite books as a kid so a few years ago we tracked down a second-hand copy for our kids. It's a clever little book about Gover's fears of a monster lurking at the end. Throughout the story Grover pleads with the reader not to turn the page, using every trick he can think of: tying knots across the page, nailing planks to the page and building a brick wall to prevent the reader from going on. Grover needn't have worried though, because when he gets to the end the monster turns out to be (spoiler alert, haha!)...himself!

[image source]

It's a fun book full of humour and suspense and so when we got an iPad a while back it was one of the first apps I bought for Missy P. And let me tell you, it was a hit. Because the story is in the first person already - Grover's point of view - it's read out in Grover's own infectious and endearing voice. The words are also subtly highlighted as they're read out, which is great for the pre-reader or child just learning to read.

But the most appealing thing about this app is that it's animated in a really dynamic way - it's not just the book being read aloud. It's full of great interactive elements like tapping the knots to untie them, tapping the nails to break down the planks Grover has constructed and tapping the bricks to knock holes in the wall to the point where it collapses in a satisfying cloud of dust.

 

There are also times when you can tickle Grover and he'll laugh. (This feature is often indulged ad nauseum by amused toddler.)

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say something a bit controversial. Okay, here goes. I think the app version of this book is better than the classic book version. It’s interactive, it’s engaging, it’s fun and it’s more-ish. However, in the absence of the app version, the book is also all of these things. It’s a great book. You couldn’t make a great app out of a terrible book (or maybe you could, what do I know?). But the app just adds so many fun and clever elements that it enhances the original for sure.

I’m not saying that every app version of a picture book is going to be better than the book itself though. We bought an app of a very famous, classic, much-loved book and the app was terrible - boring, repetitive and with nothing new to add. We never use it. A big disappointment.

But this app in particular is a great example of what's amazing about new media - the way it can be so interactive and intuitive and just plain fun. Don't get me wrong, I'm not about to swap reading real books to my kids for their electronic versions. But anything that makes reading fun is okay by me - although it's no substitute for curling up together at bedtime to read an old-fashioned paper book. That's the real fun.

I'm still looking for children's picture book apps as good as this one though. I've had a few fails. If anyone has any recommendations, they'd be most welcome!

The Monster at the end of This Book...starring Grover is available from the iTunes App Store.

Everyday beauty

Sometimes I forget that I don't have to go anywhere special to see beautiful and amazing things. As Winter draws nearer the days are getting shorter and colder but there's still the occasional blue-skied Autumn day. A few days ago me and Miss P spent an afternoon in the backyard while JJ was having her afternoon nap. The air was a little crisp, but we had the sun to warm our faces. We looked at all the beautiful things. There were so many. The patterns, textures, colours...all in our very own backyard. It made me happy.

A fun Things-to-Make-and-Do book find!

It's been a while between Flea Market Finds but I'm back today with this retro beauty! In great condition and with some fun little projects in it.

And, of course, very cool endpapers!

Maybe I'll try my luck next week too after this successful find!