Self Potrait

Photo Styling

Couple of months ago all I could do was take a "Good" pic using my mobile camera. Well that's not the case any more.
Thanks to my NCAT  teacher Niel I have progressed a lot and I do photo styling today we did a piece on Portrait and we had fun.
Next will be photographing my jewellery pieces.

Here are some of those pics I took before and after. As you can see we had funnnnnnnnnn

Grunge

 What is Grunge? Its (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is a sub-genre of alternative rock that emerged as a fusion of punk, alternative, and heavy metal^[1][2][3][4] during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, metal, and indie rock, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song dynamics, and apathetic or angst-filled lyrics. The grunge aesthetic is stripped-down compared to other forms of rock music, and many grunge musicians were noted for their unkempt appearances and rejection of theatrics.
The early grunge movement coalesced around Seattle independent record label Sub Pop in the late 1980s. Grunge became commercially successful in the first half of the 1990s, due mainly to the release of Nirvana's Nevermind and Pearl Jam's Ten. The success of these bands boosted the popularity of alternative rock and made grunge the most popular form of hard rock music at the time.^[5] However, many grunge bands were uncomfortable with this popularity. Although most grunge bands had disbanded or faded from view by the late 1990s, their influence continues to affect modern rock music.

I am particularly interested in Grunge as I was lucky enough to live through the 80's and early 90's. As a teenager I loved Grunge fashion hair do's and jewellery but I did not know it was called Grunge.

When our teacher Ian presented us with a brief about Grunge I couldn't help but think of Adam Lambert as a contemporary Grunge. And straight away the idea of Grunge jewellery which is both contemporary and grungy came to mind. Also another brilliant idea poped into my head but I wont talk much all I am going to do is include a teaser and next week I will show what it is.

Lose Control

I went for an interesting drive one weekend ago. I just got out of the house and went to no where. I did not plan my destination! why? Well I am such a control freak as a banker but as an artist I need to learn to let go. Since I did not have much time on my hand to get lost for the whole day I kept the GPS in my dash board in case I needed it. So "calculated risk".
Any way I am glad I did, I felt good and did not panic as usual like the Rabbit in Alice and Wonder land screaming all the time "I am late I am late">
Where did I go I am not telling lol its my secret :) but sure I need to go there again.
I met some ladies and made friends with them wawoo total strangers I actually got jam as well.
Its funny how can a simple hello with a smile start things.

Here are some pics I took with my humble IPHONE I hope you like them.

PS: everyone was shocked I left without telling them where and how long I will be out for.
 My mom had a million dollar look on her face when I said "I don't know Where I am going or When will I come back"

Sustainable Australian Design

My motto as an artist is to create wearable art that is Sustainable Australian Wearable Art.
Oh and its going to be a hard journey cause as usual I have challanged myself, both aspects are broad and will I ever be saticfied  or a 100% true to my motto? 
The answer is No not 100% its going to take a long time for all of us to be 100% Sustainable. But the first steps pave the road to our next genrations I guess. I am happy to hit 80% of it before I leave this world.

Since my 2 aspects Sustainable and Australian are broad and complex I will introduce them one at a time.

Today I will talk about sustainable and hope this introduction will prompt you to take it further.
 
Sustainable design (also called environmental design, environmentally sustainable design, environmentally conscious design, etc.) is the philosophy of designing physical objects, the built environment, and services to comply with the principles of economic, social, and ecological sustainability.

What does that mean to me a Visual Artist and a Jewellery designer? Before I answer this question let me first introduce you to the Bill of Rights to the Planet.

 We all know the Charter of Human Rights or at least what it involves but do we ever think Planet Rights? We recycle because we want to or because we have to? Some of us are really concerned about the Planet but lets be realistic some of us simply don,t care. The Bill of Rights for the Planet was introduced by William McDonough Architects during Expo 2000 in Hannover Germany.

The Bill of Rights:

1. Insist on the right of humanity and nature to co-exist in a healthy, supportive, diverse, and sustainable condition.
2. Recognize Interdependence. The elements of human design interact with and depend on the natural world, with broad and diverse implications at every scale. Expand design considerations to recognizing even distant effects.
3. Respect relationships between spirit and matter. Consider all aspects of human settlement including community, dwelling, industry, and trade in terms of existing and evolving connections between spiritual and material consciousness.
4. Accept responsibility for the consequences of design decisions upon human well-being, the viability of natural systems, and their right to co-exist.
5. Create safe objects of long-term value. Do not burden future generations with requirements for maintenance or vigilant administration of potential danger due to the careless creations of products, processes, or standards.
6. Eliminate the concept of waste. Evaluate and optimize the full life-cycle of products and processes, to approach the state of natural systems in which there is no waste.
7. Rely on natural energy flows. Human designs should, like the living world, derive their creative forces from perpetual solar income. Incorporate this energy efficiently and safely for responsible use.
8. Understand the limitations of design. No human creation lasts forever and design does not solve all problems. Those who create and plan should practice humility in the face of nature. Treat nature as a model and mentor, not an inconvenience to be evaded or controlled.
9. Seek constant improvement by the sharing of knowledge. Encourage direct and open communication between colleagues, patrons, manufacturers and users to link long term sustainable considerations with ethical responsibility, and re-establish the integral relationship between natural processes and human activity.

For a Visual Artist it could simply mean UP CYCLING. Oh another expression to explore.
Up-cycling is the process of converting waste materials or useless products into new materials or products of better quality or a higher environmental value.

Simply for me  it is to use beads from an old necklace in an OP Shop or the back pin of a broken piece of jewellery to make a new one. Or using wool from old jumpers.
My studio is set outdoors to save on energy. The possibilities are endless.

In conclusion nature has much to offer us and we have a duty towards our Planet, so if you think this is hard well let me as you this, if the ancient Egyptians and Natives Indians could create such amazing pieces of wearable art why can't you? 

The Art of Candy Jernigan

I found this inetersting book and I conceted to Candy stright away maybe because she died at the age of 39 or maybe because she suffered most of her life, maybe because she died out of cancer or simply maybe beacuse of the artist she was.

Damn I wish I had seen this wonderful woman in action and I am trying to buy the book for my self and if you find it then go ahead and enjoy it.

New day new idea

Visual Literacy finally done