Christmas Dress

Mmmmmm, what to wear on Christmas Day? This looks wonderful I think.... by Banx of course!

Bright Star

My favourite film director of all time is Jane Campion, and combined with my love of poetry, I was completely blown away by her new film Bright Star about the poet John Keats (played by Ben Whishaw) and his intense relationship with neighbour Fanny Brawne (played by the brilliant and talented Abbie Cornish). As the Guardian newspaper in the UK so aptly states: 'it is a subtle yet measured film'. Campion's strength is her ability to allow femininity and sensitivity permeate the film without sentimentality - not unlike her film The Piano in that respect, in my opinion.

The film is truly about romantic love, on so many different levels entwined in the restrictions of that era when one of our greatest Romantic Poets of all time dies at age 25 thinking he is a failure, unable to marry his One True Love, due to lack of income, ill health and other insurmountable challenges. One of my favourite scenes in the film is the trapped butterflies scene.

Campion has a fantastic website of production notes and photographs (including those I have added to this Blog today) www.brightstarthemovie.com
I especially love Ben Whishaw's notes (pictured above) from the film set.

How beautiful is this poem after which the film is named:

BRIGHT STAR


Bright star, would I were stedfast as thou art--
Not in lone splendour hung aloft the night
And watching, with eternal lids apart,
Like nature's patient, sleepless Eremite,
The moving waters at their priestlike task
Of pure ablution round earth's human shores,
Or gazing on the new soft-fallen mask
Of snow upon the mountains and the moors--
No--yet still stedfast, still unchangeable,
Pillow'd upon my fair love's ripening breast,
To feel for ever its soft fall and swell,
Awake for ever in a sweet unrest,
Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath,
And so live ever--or else swoon to death.

John Keats

...and apparently Fanny Brawne was known to wander Hampstead Heath for years after Keats' death hours at a time well into the night and she never took off his engagement ring. True unfulfilled romantic love...tragic and beautiful.

Friendship

For some reason Christmastime makes me stop, pause and reflect with gratitude the people who help to make my Life so fortunate, so diverse, so unpredictable, spontaneous, creative and wonderful. I am so lucky to have such inspirational, beautiful and varied friendships. The other night on the tele they showed different species of animals that have formed inexplicably close bonds that even over-ride instinct - the crow and the kitten in the US; the lioness and the baby gazelle, the elephant and the dog - maybe we can all learn from them about overcoming judgements and prejudices?

I was so inspired to read recently that a woman recently decided not to celebrate her birthday in the usual way - instead she spent the day in gratitude and rang or wrote or spoke directly to everyone that she believed had made a difference to, or touched her life in some special way..

I love this poem by Ron Carnell:

Treasures

It's so hard to find the perfect breeze,
One blowing none too hard nor soft,
Carrying a scent of wild flowers,
And moving clouds about aloft.

It's so hard to find the perfect sky,
One blue and deep and bright,
Carrying a sense of openness
With geese and wrens in flight.

It's so hard to find the perfect night,
One warm, quiet and unflawed,
Carrying a mood of solitude,
And a closeness to our God.

Yet no perfection's so hard to find
As that which you extend
And none I'll ever treasure more,
Than to simply be your friend.

Two Loves

I definitely have Two Great Loves... I wonder if that means I have a split personality? I LOVE Paris and all that European culture has to offer but I also LOVE Coolum Beach on the Sunshine Coast of Queensland... could you get more polar opposites? In October we were walking ten hours every day in the City of Lights and last weekend we were swimming in the Pacific Ocean, feeling sand between our toes (and everywhere else!)and wanting to live at the beach forever! Mmmm, now there's a thought.. 6 months France... 6 months Coolum... I will work on that one!

Purple Pepper Antiques

On Saturday morning my sister and I visited my very good friend Karen's new antiques business Purple Pepper Antiques inside the Woolloongabba Antique Centre on Wellington Road, the Gabba. What a wonderful place this is - a treasure trove of history, glam, vintage wares, you name it. Karen has just started her wonderful business with drive, determination and most of all passion for all things with a 'story'. To quote Karen:
"Time travel is a reality at Purple Pepper Antiques and Art, a Victorian gold bangle, a silver soup ladle, an etched glass bowl from 1910, an art deco print of a Parisian girl, a Crown Devon bowl and a Royal Doulton plate are willing to tell their story and transport you to another time. Who used to own them? Where have they been? What changes have they seen? How did they survive one or even two world wars?"
Armed with imagination and curiousity, I thoroughly recommend a visit to Purple Pepper Antiques, Shop 52 at the Woolloongabba Antique Centre, which is not your usual dusty, musty, smelly old bric-a-brac centre - far far far from it - it is owned and run by two really funky young sisters and their fresh youthful energy and exuberance permeates the aisles.. plus the retro cafe serves great coffee and friandes!!

Judy's Garden

....and speaking of gardens, one of the most magnificent gardens we saw on our recent travels overseas was Judy's garden (Banx's Mum) in picturesque Jersey in the Channel Islands, about half way between UK and France. They have lived there for many years and Judy has created from scratch the most gorgeous rambling creative wonderful garden. Some days I would just sit and stare at her creation. So many of the flowering plants and shrubs are ones we cannot grow in Australia due to climate or soil, so that made it extra special. Many different birds come to nest in her garden each year along with certain types of bees, you name it. Judy is extremely environmentally conscious and "green" long before her time and nothing is wasted.. water is carried in buckets from grey water used the night before in the household; and the household scraps are saved for Judy's compost - but most of all what goes in to her garden is her love and passion - it shows with the variety of colours and smells as I wound my way down the winding little inlets and paths each morning for my beach front walk. Judy's creativity was something we could all share that holiday.

Grandad's Garden

Local Yeronga best selling author Brian Andrew has written a wonderful children's picture book that artist "Banx", has beautifully illustrated. You can order the book on line. It is a beautiful book and is about inner values and learning these by taking a walk with Grandad through his very tropical Queensland garden. Eg the Think and Thank seat for values of gratitude, the Let Go Log for forgiveness and the Dream Table for generosity. Here is the website link to have a stickybeak. Price is good value at $19.95 (especially as a Christmas gift idea) and aimed at 3-8 year olds, even a bit older, maybe we can all benefit about learning values of selflessness in today’s world: www.grandadsgarden.com.au

A Match Made in Heaven!

Vintage Vintage Everywhere!! Vintage is taking over the world! All over Paris vintage was the 'new black'... we stumbled across vintage clothing and furniture markets constantly - check out the gorgeous divine and very cooool vintage soft "foot stools" (pictured at Canal St Martin vintage markets, Paris)! And now it's come to Brissie too! On Sunday afternoon 15th November, one of my sister's friends "Carmel" is staging a vintage fashion parade at Brisbane City Hall like Brisbane has never experienced before! Amaaaaazing vintage fashions from French fashion houses, Australian fashion houses, some never worn (due to a 70s wharfies strike at the time), all of gallery and museum quality! Carmel is donating proceeds to an extremely worthy cause, the Children's Cancer Council, for all details please see www.a match made in heaven.com.au and tickets can be booked through QTIX I can't wait!!!!!

French Chic, French Chicks

We absolutely LOVED observing the French women's innate style on the streets of Paris. Street fashion is as fascinating as that displayed in the exclusive shop windows of the boulevards. The way these chic young women just "throw" something together and it SO works! By the way, yes, this gorgeous young woman COULD actually walk in these shoes, we waited to see!

Rendezvous with Rodin

One of the highlights (one of many!) for us in Paris recently was visiting Rodin's sculpture gardens. Stunning gardens, magnificent sculptures by one of the world's most talented masters. One of the facts that remained with me when we tore ourselves away from this beautiful environment was that Rodin married his life-long companion, Rose Beuret, in the last year of both of their lives... how interesting is that.

A Date with Paris!

I have never walked so much in my entire life as we have done so in Paris in the last week! 7 hours yesterday! Naturally there are frequent coffee stops to boost the meanderings. We left the apartment and took a route down the most incredible cobbled streets of amazing cheese shops, next to gorgeous patisseries.. You name it, I could have eaten it! One of my favourites was a stunning florist called 'Happy'! I had researched the ancient passageway arcades before leaving Oz so we headed through new fab neighbourhoods to explore those, they are a wow! Tiny exquisite shops specialising in all sorts of goodies from contemporary Art to ancient maps, the specialty shops we just loved in these arcades included a wooden cane walking stick shop, a shop selling gramophones, a cotton reel shop, and a shop selling everything you need for dolls houses, all beneath these amazing arcaded ceilings. We stopped in the passageway specialising in food, of course, for lunch (rabbit) and glass of rose wine, more sustenance before culture over load set in ha! Very funny moment at 1 point, we asked a suited gentleman to confirm a street and he replied 'I dunno luv I'm from the Gold Coast here on a conference!' We all roared laughing! When we emerged from these amazing arcades we were suddenly in the trendiest area ever! My fave shop in that neighbourhood was a stylised black shop selling only white orchids and also a baby clothes shop called 'Not so Big' . The hairdressers in these groovy parts all look like 21st century night clubs. No matter where you go in Paris every bar, cafe, brasserie, restaurant is constantly buzzing! Our body clocks have completely re-set themselves too - we ate at 1030pm after seeing the divine Paris Opera ballet 'Giselle' and had to wait for table. Needless to say that the Paris Opera House left me breathless, especially Chagall's painted ceilings! A completely full house at the ballet too - with even pull-down aisle seats. I would hate to imagine if someone called out fire! And wow are Parisians in to their ballet or what! Such an enthusiastic crowd with men in dinner suits calling out bravo after each pirouette, fantastic! Home to our gorgeous rented flat in the Anvers district (9th arrondissement) after dinner and guess what, from the lounge we can see the very top tip of the Eiffel tower! The night markets set up tomorrow night outside our apartment, more food temptations to come! Saturday night we are heading to the famous Buddha Bar and Sun is lunch in St Germain at Coco and Co with my dear Parisian girlfriend. Apparently Coco and Co is set up like a farm as they specialise in eggs! Mind you brunch is at 3pm! Rodin's sculpture gardens today as we ran out of time yesterday, oh boy when am I going to shop??! panic! This trip is all about discovering new neighbourhoods moment by moment... ah!

Art Swap!

Wahoo! The Racecourse Road Ascot street festival last Sunday was a screaming success and so much fun! Eccentric creative street performers with birds nests for heads; alternative bands, yummy food and of course amazing art stalls!! Thank you if you popped in to say Hi and buy, we really appreciated it. It was a scorcher of a day with a nice cool breeze by the afternoon. Brisbane sure knows how to put on a good street party in "Spring". My artistic sis Anne and I decided to swap a piece of each other's artwork at the end of the day, a great idea among artists and friends. I immediately knew which was my fave piece of hers: a piece entitled What's It All About (you'll see why when you see the pic), inspired by her urban overseas travels to New York and London in the past... and funnily enough she knew she wanted my PARIS painting (also pictured here). We both now get to enjoy each other's creativity every day. And of course soon we'll be in Paree, can't wait for more creative inspiration from the City of Lights and Love!!

Street Party!

Come along and say Hi to my arty sis Annie and I at our art market stall at this year's Racecourse Road (Ascot) street festival as part of the Brisbane Festival - it runs from 10am until 5pm on Sunday 20th September and it's a blast! Street performers, fab food, amazing music not to mention great art (!) - fun for the whole family! Hope to see you there!

Vive Le France!

I am very excited, I start my one-on-one hourly French lessons this Sunday at Cafe Bouquiniste, in preparation for our upcoming visit to Paree! I'm definitely still a beginner despite 5 years of one-on-one lessons in London when we lived there, and having our gorgeous little house in the Languedoc-Rousillon village of Villerouge-Termenes for 7 years! Not to mention all of those French films I record on SBS ha! Unless you were born in France or a French-speaking region of the world, maybe you're always a beginner? Even then, as with any language, it must still be difficult to pick up on those little nuances, sayings, figures of speech, and connotations that only a local would know, but that's what makes it so much fun over there!

I received the most beautiful pics via email today from my Irish friend Ian, who was our neighbour in Villerouge-Termenes - he truly is a Masterchef (he still makes the BEST cassoulet I have ever tasted!!) and superb host, and the house he is renovating in the village is looking superb (he got married there last year too). Anyway this is a photograph of a corner of one of the rooms in his beautiful house, isn't it just SO French, the simplicity made me just take a deep breath and remember all of those absolutely wonderful memories we shared there in that beautiful little village in France... aaaaaaaaah! Ian is an amazing talented muralist and extremely talented trompe l'oieil artist in London and has worked for the likes of Saudi Princes, Hollywood actors, you name it - you HAVE to check out his incredible work on his website www.ianharper.com (pics courtest of Ian Harper). Bonjour Villerouge-Termenes, I will be back one day!

Molly

Very full on week with hangings (!) and Banx's art exhibition in the City. One of the newspapers featured his very large Banjo Paterson 10 dollar bill. What blew me away with Banx's research was finding out about Mary Reiby (aka Molly) who features on the front of our 20 dollar note. What an amazing inspirational woman she was and I am ashamed to say I had never heard of her let alone realised why she is on the face of our twenty dollar bill! She was sent to the colonies as a convict for having stolen a horse and it was the best thing that ever happened to her! She married well, but when her husband pre-deceased her, she went on to raise seven children and continue his shipping and property interests in Australia, becoming one of our Nation's wealthiest and most successful business women who devoted much of her time in later life to major charities. GO GIRL!

Angelic Weekend!

HOw lucky am I ! I 'partnered' my best girl friend to a "famil" at the Hyatt Regency Sanctuary Cove on Friday and Saturday - pure luxury and indulgence and a stunning Hotel with second to none customer service (we were treated like royalty!) and elegant understated opulence. And the if that wasn't enough of a treat, my girlfriend then had two tickets to see the opening night of the musical CATS and tix to the after show party to meet the cast! What talented young dancers and entertainers, and we got home after midnight - a rare occurrence these days ha! And then to top off a perfect weekend, I was invited by my sis to an Angel Party, it was an afternoon of fun laughter creativity eccentricity dancing chocolate cake on Royal Doulton chinaware and pure unadulterated feminine pleasure! Ah! Don't we all deserve weekends like this more often! Banx had his own fun left to his own devices which involved Rugny, curry and Boys movies. So everyone was happy. It's all systems go now for the opening of his solo art exhibition in the city on Wednesday.

Kids & Creativity!

Who was that famous person who once said "Never work with kids or animals" ha! Well we did both two days running this week - we dog-sat my niece's GORGEOUS and mischievous black labrador ROCKY and then yesterday, had a Kids Art Day in the backyard - we have never had so much fun in two days! wow kids and animals are so spontaneous and naturally creative! Sir Ken Robinson is one of my fave mentors on kids and creativity (check out his website)and yesterday I have never seen 3 such focussed creative kids In The Zone, aged 7, 9 and 13 - famous artists in the making and masterpieces produced yesterday, but most of all we had fun in the sunshine!

Off the Wall Banx Art Exhibition

We are gearing up for artist Banx's forthcoming contemporary Art Exhibition "Off the Wall" in the Foyer of Central Plaza One, 345 Queen Street, Brisbane city, 22-31 July...all systems go at the mo!

Mad Men, Mad Women and Vintage Fashions

Mad Men, Mad Women and Vintage Fashion
It never takes long once you start to watch an American TV drama series to become hooked… and we have.. on the award-winning Mad Men on SBS Thursday nights. I must admit though I am as fascinated by the props, set design, and most of all the vintage sixties fashions as I am by the storyline and changing social mores of the main characters. Set in Madison Avenue, Manhattan at the fictional chain-smoking sexist advertising agency Sterling Cooper, the show revolves around Don Draper the creative director and everyone that passes in and out of his life.
I adore the dresses the female actors wear throughout the series. I have always loved vintage fashions..(and of course now wish my Mum had kept all of her clothes!). Tonight I am off with a girlfriend who collects antiques to a Vintage Fashion Fair at Davies Park, West End, always fun to fossick amongst the frivolity of the fifties!

Hanging Around

It's been a busy cuppla weeks of non-stop hangings, both Corporate and private individuals adding to their eclectic collections. Meanwhile artist Banx has been interviewed on the radio about his upcoming art exhibition in the City (345 Queen St) 22-31 July, and getting on with all of the illustrations for our client's new children's book, expected to be out by Christmas. It's a beautiful story - so watch this space!!

Bath Time

Why does a very early morning bath filled with bubbles, scented oils and one glowing fragrant candle feel soooo decadent and sooooo luxuriously good?! Not sure, but that is exactly what I indulged in early this morning. It's amazing what creative thoughts I seem to have at that hour; what world problems I seem to solve; and what inventions I seem to come up with at that hour, that seem a tad ridiculous in the cold hard light of day hours later ha! It was chilly in Brissie this morning and the steam from the hot bath combined with the wafting candle scents was a heady combination. A dear girlfriend of mine the other asked me what my favourite saying/ piece of wisdom is (as she is collecting them in one of those old fashioned autograph books we all had as kids)and I immediately thought of: 'To Thine Own Self, Be True'... and that was what my bath was all about this morning, being true to the inner girlie inside me and enjoying every solitary moment. I think that is why I love Degas' series of 'bathing' paintings - he somehow captured the intimacy and sheer enjoyment of bathing. I just had to include this pic of one of the funkiest baths I have ever seen - UK clothing designer Selina Blow's bathroom in her UK house, how fab! And the gorgeous painting is by artist Banx, see his blog sometime too, www.artbanx.blogspot.com or his website www.banx.com.au....Mmmmm must almost be time for another soothing bath. There are so many different types of baths: relaxing after a day's work; soothing after a run/exercise; to get clean, romantic with another, or like mine - for pure selfish decadence when no one's awake!

Tapping into Creativity

If only there was a tap we could turn on for creativity when we really needed it! Well this morning I tried a different way of tapping into the right-side of my brain… a NIA Class. It was so much fun. NIA is a holistic fitness practice that allows you to discover new, creative ways of moving. As an ex-ballet dancer and teacher of fourteen years, I have been searching over the years for something that isn’t aerobics or pilates. NIA combines free dance, with yoga and a bit of martial arts movement and healing philosophy thrown in for good measure. What was most fun was the laughter, the sense of community and self-expression in a totally non-threatening environment – all to really groovy uplifting world music. I could just let myself go! It literally is the ‘joy of movement’..you know, the kind of dancing you do in your own lounge room while you’re vacuuming. Julia Cameron in her book about creativity The Sound of Paper believes we should do morning pages/journal; morning walks and takes ourselves out on dates – I’d like to add dancing with ourselves to that list!! Remember how unrestrained we felt as kids, well that’s how I felt for an hour this morning.
(Photo courtesy of NIA Australia website).

Tree Change

On Saturday we headed off to the Scenic Rim, a stunning day for our ‘tree change’ weekend. We drove all the ‘back roads’, the roads less travelled, and stopped at historical Harrisville, home to pioneer female filmmakers at the turn of last century. The thing that strikes me immediately as we leave the city behind is being able to ‘breathe’ again – yes, literally breathe! The air is crisp, fresh and so unpolluted, and we could tell the birds loved it too as they chirp louder! Whip birds, bell birds, hard to imagine that 20 million years ago this was the centre of a volcano. We arrived at Boonah and had a sensational dinner at Vue Restaurant in front of the fire: huge king prawns and barramundi by a very talented chef. Today after an early morning dramatic thunderstorm, we headed off to Queen Mary Falls via Spring Creek café. Sometimes two days away in the country feels like two weeks holiday.

The Alleyway

'Rosemary' by Peter Hardie

We live in the inner city of Brisbane, in a very creatively vibrant, urban eclectic ‘Hood’. Our funny cottage which also houses our gallery is a very ‘old lady’ indeed, one of the original houses built in the 1930s by Italian immigrants who first settled in this area of Brisbane. We call the house a crooked old lady as our back lounge-room floor is literally at a slant! But ‘she’ has character that’s for sure! Underneath serves as Banx’s studio and on one of the concrete stumps under the house are the height measurements of every growing child who has once lived in the house, measurements from the 60s and 70s. The house backs onto an old alleyway. In days gone by, the outside loo man would bring his truck down the alleyway and change the sawdust etc (!) in all of the outside ‘dunnies’. Today when I stand on our back landing overlooking the alleyway I have witnessed the most extraordinary sights over the past four years we have lived here… you name it, we’ve seen it happening in that alleyway. It’s like a parallel universe that alleyway! This morning was no exception… bizarre but hilarious.. yes, three large garden gnomes, strategically placed overnight on the side garden beds on the alleyway. I LOVE the mysterious underground movement that is ‘Gnomes’! I loved them in the film Amelie… and several years ago, when my niece and her partner went to live in London, they snuck my Mother’s (her Grandmother’s) gnome off her front steps into their suitcases without her knowing and took him overseas with them. He sent ‘Nana’ postcards and pics from all over the world of his travels.. he even had his own email address! I just know when we wake up tomorrow those gnomes won’t be there anymore…. Mystery, and magic and the eccentric bizarre – the world needs more of it! This gorgeous photo of a Gnome is by my fab photographer brother Peter Hardie, check out his website sometime!

Tour of Duty

Today we toured a massive building site that is about one to two months away from completion. Once the project is completed, in various stages, artworks, installations, glass art, you name it, will be required inside the building. We were invited to take a tour for photos and measurements in order to put our proposal together, what I hadn’t bet on was having to change into a hard hat (that kept slipping off my head!); huge work boots, about four sizes too big (I resembled a cross between an eccentric bag lady and Minnie Mouse!) and a very (!) fashionable fluro vest.. wow did I look a sight. Banx took these sneaky pics when I wasn’t looking! To say I am not accustomed to noisy dirty dusty building sites would be an understatement! If someone had given me a dustpan and broom at that point I would have started sweeping up that dusty mess straight away and that’s really saying something as I’m not a Domestic Goddess by any stretch of the imagination… so stay tuned for the “after” pics in a few month’s time….

A Good Cause

Last night Banx and a lot of other Qld artists participated in the Cerebral Palsy yearly art auction. It is an extremely worthwhile cause for such a debilitating disease. The target this year was $45,000 – which is the money needed to support one child with cerebral palsy for one year. Artists are invited to donate and exhibit an artwork. The fund raisers at Cerebral Palsy work tirelessly all year making sure the evening is a success; the auctioneer donates his time and expertise; everyone pulls together behind the scenes.

The theme was ‘Colours of Queensland’ and there were stunning works all available for sale. Deputy Lord Mayor David Hinchliffe’s; Elisabeth Lawrence’s; and Cooper Wilson’s originals were just a few of my favourites. Previous year’s creative themes have included ‘The Doors’ (artists painted on old doors)… “Window of Opportunity” (old windows installed and painted on – see pic above); and “River City”, the fond nickname for Brissie The money raised helps go towards much needed equipment for sufferers. It is always difficult choosing which charities to support, there are so many deserving ones desperately needing funds or efforts.

When Banx and I visited Sri Lanka in 2003, where he was born and raised, I particularly wanted to visit Nuwara Eliya SOS Children’s Village. We went there and I met “Durga”, just a little bub standing up in her cot at the time. She and her two sisters had been left abandoned in a community hall by the parents who couldn’t afford to feed or look after them anymore, and now they live in the wonderful SOS Children’s Village, attend school and are growing up with a beautiful house mother. Each year I receive a photograph, it’s lovely watching her grow up.

Art is Good for Your Health!

Yesterday we hung art at a very long-standing client’s premises… a hospital! They have been renting contemporary abstract art from us for a few years now and every three months, we change it over for them, for a whole fresh new look. It’s always fun for those in the medical suites choosing the new art as everyone has a different viewpoint, a real conversation starter and distraction from their everyday working lives, but it made me realise just how good looking at great art is for your health. There are lots of studies on the internet backing this up. Apparently looking at art lowers your blood pressure and stress levels, and one particular study in the UK found that participants’ saliva cortisol levels (the best indicator of stress) reduced by 32% after they spent their lunch hour viewing art. Cortisol is a very important hormone in our bodies but excess amounts can be very detrimental. And let’s face it, everyone these days seems to suffer from some form of stress in their working lives. We actually live in our gallery, surrounded by many, many pieces of amazing gorgeous constantly changing artworks, all originals, painted by around thirty extremely talented creative individuals, so we really have no excuse for high stress levels in our household!!