Kittys Drawings

Hi everyone!!

I’m currently in the process of drawing another pinup – It’s all going rather successfully right now – I started it yesterday and knocked out a full 2.5 or so hours of work. More on that as I finish…because today….I did not do any drawing….

Instead I picked up my latest eBay purchase:

The seller bought it in 1965, this is a Singer model 338 Only had one owner and it cost me $60! It needs a bit of a service as the motor tends to run away from me and go a bit too fast – hard to regulate the speed.
It’s not unusable though – I’ve already mended a couple of dresses. I would have done more but I ran out of white thread!

Came with all the original bits and pieces like a nifty little toolbox and the manual.

Isn’t the colour just amazing!? Its the prettiest aqua shade and its nice and solid and so well made.

Look how awesome and retro the instruction manual is:

Cute drawings!

“Fashion discs” – for creating more fancy stitching. You push them in the space under where the thread goes on the top of the machine.

And can even sew buttons – though these look a bit tricky. Might be less troublesome initially to do these by hand!

It also came with some extra feet for putting in zippers and sewing buttonholes or something. Haven’t quite tried to figure those out yet!
I’m so stoked I have a sewing machine now! And that it looks great AND it’s ‘vintage’….well as vintage as my dresses

So now, if I’m not in the mood for drawing, I can sew instead. Yay!!

We’ll be back to regular scheduled programming in my next post. Til then – byeeee!!

‘Sup!
Another filler post sorry guys.
Been so BUSY this week and had very little time for drawing. Really do hope to get my latest pinup finished in the next few days.  The weekend was full of craziness – 4WDriving and Volkswagens (no we didn’t go 4wD’ing in a VW lol). Erm…Lots of coffee, vintage fairs and dress fixing.
ANYWAYS.

Just pics today. This is my latest lot of goodies delivered to me from Meg’s Makeup. Only paid $15 for shipping all these to me. How awesome is that! I really needed a new mascara too (the Urban Decay tube). Also got a lot of lip stuffs – which I should wear more often now I have it all. Annnnd a blush. Yay!

Cos you need moar angles

Woo!

Oh and just because…here’s a pic of some of my dresses. I bought a new hanging wardrobe thingo from Ikea. Yay for colour ordered dresses.

K. Promise it will be a drawing next time. Enough procrastinating and get on with drawing!
Ciao!

Esz

Hiii!

Since I’m stuffing around with a drawing at the moment – and it’s been about a week since I last posted….I thought I’d show you my most recent working space. Much better than my last one. I have my precious beastie Erebus – no more squinting at a laptop screen. I’ve also cleared the majority of crap away so it’s kind of calming to work here now.

This is the left hand side – Those brown boxes are where I hide all sorts of crap that I need on hand but its all so small that they should be hidden away. One day I will find a nice little set of drawers that can go on the floor under my desk and free up that space for other knick-knacks.
Also – an assortment of random books, sketchbooks and diaries. That rainbow Moleskine was/is my 2010 diary but ended up being pretty sucky cos I couldn’t be bothered changing it every month. I think I’ll just stick to my iPhone from now on even though I love paper.  The Syd Mead DVD is something I’ve been meaning to give back to Dwardo for ages now – I haven’t stolen it I promise!
The book titled Rage is written by Julie Mac – who works in the department next to mine – she wrote about her teen years as a Sharpie – a subculture I knew nothing about til she wrote the book. Very cool read
Perfume box is there cos it’s pretty. And the little mug is something my grandma gave to me when I was last in Europe – apparently that was mine as a baby. Only found it the other day so I thought I’d put it out.
Aaaand – that’s my Wacom pen (the big silver pen thingy in the stand) and a sketchbook buried under the boxes. Neglected these days since I’ve been working straight from the computer…it does get scrawled on occasionally but I usually have a bit of a hissy-fit about what I’ve drawn and it’s full of crud. Heh.

This is the right side (drawing preview in there).
Check it out! The drawing Audrey did for me on my napkin is framed – woo! A Thank You card from my friend Sal….the scanner – A cactus I bought for Jonny in the background.
I hate cables. This is as tidy as they get – I shoved the long Wacom cable down behind my desk for the photo but I can’t leave it there for long because Boofy (my enormous, fluffy cat) has a penchant for gnawing on them. He’s already taken  a few chomps at the Wacom cable. Also chewed right through the battery cord for Jonny’s laptop. Anyone would think he’s a rabbit! Naughty Boof!
I think, thankfully, my actual computer cables are too thick and not “tender” enough for good chomping material so he hasn’t had a go at those.
Does anyone else have pets with expensive habits??

And this is what I see sittin’ at my chair. Sneaky preview of what’s coming up If you haven’t already seen on Facebook. Sal’s painting is in the background. It’s not hung higher cos there’s an air conditioner up there hehe
Think I need more cute, quirky things. And more cacti. Or a bonsai. Want to get rid of those boxes cos they really don’t “fit”.
Otherwise, it’s a comfortable place to work. My chair is comfy and my shiny LED screen is shiny. Shiny shine shine!  And big.  Yay!
When I ordered my Mac, I specifically asked for a full sized keyboard. No number pad shits me.

And now I can attempt to finish that drawing on screen. Considering whether I can be bothered doing any today, or go read my book instead.
I always feel a bit “meh” about starting something…but once I pick up the pen and start it’s hard to stop. It’s just that starting thing that’s tough. Like exercise haha! Does anyone else get that?

Seeyas!

Hii!!

Omg omg prepare for some serious fan-girl gushing…

Now when it comes to celebrities and famous people in general, I’m not really the gushy type…However – with artists I admire it’s quite the opposite. So it is with some trepidation and much elation that I look forward to the coming exhibition at Outre Gallery – the one and only Audrey Kawasaki showing her latest work, a collection called Tangled – starting Friday Oct. 22nd (next week!)

So this post is my attempt at scoring a dinner with the artist and the awesome Outre crew
I’m not gonna lie – I want stuff. Not like this blog is filled with ads and sponsored posts anyway So I hope everyone’s okay with me yabbering on about ART for a bit.

I shall begin with giving props to everyone at Outre – Jonny’s been taking photos for them for a little while now – and they’ve always been our first port of call when choosing something to hang on our walls.  All the staff are super friendly and it’s hard to leave the place without wanting to buy almost everything in-store! Not to mention they have the BEST artists. Angelique Houtkamp and Tara McPherson being two other favourites whose opening nights/signings we went to…Jonny took photos – I stood around completely stars-struck and speechless. Pathetic really

So – about Audrey ….Well I can’t remember when I first discovered her work. It must have been either through Outre or via the web somewhere. I became an immediate fan – Everything about her art is perfect to my eyes. Her linework especially is so immaculate and clean – everything flows so neatly and the shapes just sit right. It’s kind of a hard thing to put into words – but the lines capture form and weight so effortlessly. And the hair – oh gosh! If I could draw hair half as well!
I particularly like how in some of her more recent stuff she seems to be loosening up a degree – most noted in the backgrounds which are more textural and abstract. They remind me of the visual static at the edges of dreams – kind of like that hazy soft memory after you’ve woken and can’t quite remember all the details.

See

So delicate and intricate. I love how she renders eyes – sultry and languid and kind of cunning. Awesome.

The other thing we are to write about for this competition, is what we’d suggest Audrey would enjoy in Melbourne. Where do I begin? Melbourne is a fantastic city – I’ve been here 7 years now and there’s always something new to discover. When I first arrived here on a short visit in 2003, it was the first time I’d truly felt at home. And this came to me on the drive into Richmond from the airport! Entirely unusual for someone who’s lived in two countries and both sides of Australia, to come to a foreign city and immediately feel more comfortable than any place before it.
Anyway – Melbs is a haven for the artist – we have more things to entertain the creative mind than you can poke a pencil at. It goes without saying, you can lose yourself for hours in the city’s lane-ways. Almost every seemingly scummy, bin-lined alley has a restaurant, cafe or boutique tucked away if you just look.  Some of my favourite hangouts when in the CBD would be around Degraves St of course. It’s the domain of the posing Hipster but it’s a good spot to have a coffee (Degraves Espresso is your best bet in this area) and just people-watch.  There’s a whole bunch of cute shops around there selling everything from cupcakes to (tasteful) lingerie. I love Kinki Gerlinki and there’s a fabulous jewelry store (Gazelle) just inside Centre Place right next to Shag
Shag gets touted for it’s vintage goodies but it’s laden with too much 80′s for my tastes….If you’re after pretties, there’s a new shop just on the corner of Swanston St & Flinders Lane in that building called Harry Wagg (I think!) which sells “new” clothes made from vintage fabrics. Very pretty! Oh and you MUST stop at Zomp for their gorgeous shoes…..If you’re into Australian designers, Green With Envy have a stunning selection of dresses which is just opposite Zomp.
From Flinders Lane to Collins/Little Collins St – More laneways – The Block Arcade for chocolate, cafes and shoes. Royal Arcade has one of the best chocolate shops in Melbourne – Koko Black – delicious!

Now you couldn’t come to Melbourne without a trip out to Fitzroy. Gertrude St and Brunswick St have too many treasures to mention. The new Seven Seeds cafe De Clieu at 187 Gertrude opened today! - You can always count on these guys to serve up some of the best coffee in town (I don’t say THE best because we have that many really excellent coffee spots). And Circa Vintage for real vintage.
Industria is on Gertrude as well – Full of industrial (der) goodies for your home – think bowls made from butane gas tanks, those big hospital theater lighting rigs, antique dentists cabinets and much scientific paraphernalia like beakers and test tubes. Awesome! I could spend hours in that shop.
Up Brunswick St you can have a beer at the Little Creatures Dining Hall – and there are so many jewelry stores and independent fashion boutiques. Oh! And the best choc in town (better than Koko Black) – Shocolate. Sumptuous desserts and chocolate yum!

(some pics for distraction)

I could go on – Writing up a huge guide on Melbourne…St Kilda is great too but a little too touristy – There’s an art market there on Sundays along the Esplanade. And numerous cake shops – which I think look better than they taste. It’s fun just to ogle at the cakes. If you want sweets, better head to Il Fornaio where it’s said they do fantastic desserts. I’ve only had breakfast there – which was ace. Also there are fab pastries to be had at Baker D Chirico.

I really hope Audrey enjoys her trip – I’m not sure if I like exactly the same things she likes – I can only go by how I like to spend my time. We’re in the city and inner suburbs every weekend – It’s a beautiful place just to wander in, the architecture being so diverse…from the ultra modern Fed Square to the stunning Manchester Unity Building – or the Gothic bank on Queen/Collins St.

OH! And I mustn’t forget the graffiti – there’s some fantastic street art EVERYWHERE. Hosier Lane is excellent and there’s quite a few spots in Fitzroy too.

Blabber blabber blabber. I love Melbourne! Should wind this up huh. If you’re still reading – please come along to the exhibition at Outre – It runs til the 10th of November. If you’re in Sydney – dates are the 29th Oct to 15th Nov. Don’t miss it! I honestly think Audrey is one of the most talented and accomplished artists alive today. Without a doubt, my favourite (that’s a big call I know – but I’ve thought about this okay ).

Umm…see – gushy.

Shuddup Esz.

Signing off….

*crosses fingers*

(all images belong to Audrey of course)

Hiiiiii!
We’re back!
Well – been back for a week. But it’s taken me this long to get my shit sorted. Got a lot coming up on this little blog in the next few days actually. I’ll tell you more on that later. Lets get into the rundown of the Great RoadTrip. Those of my readers who are also on my Facebook would no doubt have seen most of these pics anyway. But this time I took the effort (that Jonny didn’t take ) into adjusting the levels in Photoshop so they’re a little clearer. Credit goes to the Mr of course for actually taking most of the shots. He’s the one with the fancy-pants camera Most of my pics turned out to be of food – or of Jonny taking photos. Ha!

I’ll spare you the majority of the star-jumps we did. Too many ridiculous facial expressions – but if you’re interested in seeing just how stupid I can look, just click the pics and it will take you to Flickr for the rest of the album.

Okay so the challenges – we had about 10 and completed 8ish. If you count “Getting Air” as the star-jumps In all fairness, the helicopter place near the Apostles was closed when we passed at 7am in the morning
We spent about three days driving West via and only took 12 hours getting back!

Our first day was Wednesday and we left Melbourne around 2pm. We got as far as Torquay before our tummies were growling for food. Fish and chips it was and hit the road again. Then it was Apollo Bay for dinner at a cool little Tapas place called Chill Bar. We’d scoffed down the meat share plate before any photos were taken. And the paella we had after wasn’t exactly photogenic. Tasty though. We kept driving and pulled up on the side of the road somewhere to sleep. That wasn’t far from Warrnambool where had breakfast. Nothin special. What’s with country towns and things not being open at 8am on a weekday? PFfffft

We did HEAPS of driving! Stopping in all sorts of little places along the way like Port Fairy and Portland. We took the long way from Portland to Mt Gambier. Doh! Finally hit the SA border sometime around 2pm on the Thursday. I think. I’m really terrible with the timeline – and this is with photos to job my memory. Does anyone else completely lose track of the days when on holiday?

While we passed the border, we hopped back into Victoria to check out the Queen Margaret Rose caves. The people there were really lovely and saw us pull in just as a tour was about to start so they waited for us so we didn’t have to stick around for another hour before the next tour. The cave was pretty awesome – it used to be an underground part of the Gleneg River or something. Caves are fun! There’s all kinds of cool geological stuffs around that area.

After checking out the cave we headed to Mt Gambier. Where nothing was open. No food to be had until we finally tracked down a cafe/restaurant that was in one of the brochures I’d nabbed somewhere. I concluded the place was a hole. Then discovered it actually WAS a hole – with a dirty great big sinkhole right in the middle of town.
Cool! Jonny’s in there for scale

Once we’d filled our bellehs we raced to Mt Schank before the light fell to much. I struggled up the big hill. So unfit. Mt Schank used to be a volcano that erupted last around 4500 years ago according to the guide at the cave. Volcanoes are cool too! Cool Cool Cool. Get the thesaurus out Esz

Then it was drive drive drive again. Slept just out of Robe. Popped in there in the morning. Really need to spend more time in Robe – it’s a very cute town. Surrounded on three sides by sea. Looked at an obelisk thing that was closed off due to the rocks eroding around it. Bit of a railing FAIL due to the fact that there was nothing to stop you actually tumbling off the cliff into the crashing waves below. Watch your step peeps!

Kingston S.E. for breakfast (does anyone know what the S.E stands for? I guessed South East…but WHY?)….Only a tiny BP was open to get some petrol. Dubiously bought some of the bakery goods they had there. Jonny wins. He got the BEST SCROLL EVA! Omg. I nommed a bit of it – LOADED with sugar, cinnamon and sultanas. Pleasant surprise there

Took the loooong way to Adelaide via the Coorong. *yawn* not much to see that way. Stopped at Hahndorf for a look-see and a bit of food first. I scored some Beerenberg strawberry dessert sauce and some interesting looking rose petal jelly. Can confirm the rose petal jelly is mega-yum. Haven’t cracked the other one yet. Had lunch at a little place called Bistro 25 serving local produce. I had some awesome scallops with winter veg mash and fennel salad. Jonny had smoked mackerel with German style potato (pahtahtah – lol) salad. Washed down with a glass of vino of course
Hahndorf is the cutest town in SA easily. Lots of cute cottages and tree lined streets. Secret’s out though – LOTS of tourists swarming around the place. Not that we were any better but still – Is it wrong to moan about tourists when you’re one yourself??

Finally made it to Adelaide. I demanded we go check out Red Ruby Vintage (thanks goes to Andi for making me aware of the place)….but not after Jonny took us to Henley Beach. I scored the first and only decent coffee of the trip and it was finally warm enough not to be bundled up under layers of micro-fleece….Then to Red Ruby….I wasn’t intending to actually be all selfish and BUY STUFFS but woooow that shop is awesome! I could have carried off half the store! The lady in there is SO NICE too I scored an amazing 40′s dress in a sage green colour – best thing – it still had tags on and completely unworn! OMG.
It does need a tiny bit of taking in though, a couple of darts at the bust (curse my small boobies!)- so if anyone knows a tailor in Melbourne that can be trusted with precious vintage dresses I’d like to know who they are
And I never intended to, but I also bought the same pair of 40′s pedal-pushers Andi was talking about on her blog. They shall be good for summer when I do actually ride my bike.
(here’s the dress – pics were taken when we got home)

Anyways, enough fashion talk. We wandered around the CBD for a while and decided we wanted to sleep in a proper bed for at least one night. And I wanted a shower!!! Raar! Found a place in North Adelaide – small rooms but new and comfortable. Had dinner in a little Japanese place down the street. They got a bit fussy when I was taking photos. Said that people steal their ideas? Hmm? I won’t name the place then. Wasn’t anything groundbreaking so a bit of a strange claim to make. If anyone has a prob with the pics being up then let me know.
Since it was to be the Mr’s birthday the next day, he wanted to be doing something extraordinary. We were lucky and got the last two spots for a kayaking with dolphins tour the next day! Woo! So after dinner we rushed into town to get him some appropriate shoes for kayaking and some surf shorts.

The next day, it was up bright and early to go kayaking. Drove to Garden Island near Port Adelaide and got in those kayaks. Saw a few dolphins, kayaked up a little mangrove river. That was cool. Lots of fun. The weather was gorgeous. Much better than watching the grand final! Pfffft

And the meal we had before we headed home:

Since it was Saturday and we had to return the camper in Melbourne by 2pm that Sunday, we hit the road again straight after. Drive drive drive along the inland route this time. Quick stop in Bordertown to suss the place out. Pretty dead and boring. *yawn*. By the time we got to Horsham at 11pm we had decided we’d just keep going. Had a few powernaps along the way and made it back home to be in bed by 2am. What a trip! We don’t tend to ‘relax’ when we’re on holiday – always so many things to see and do! Need a holiday from the holiday. Needless to say, it was only this weekend I managed to catch up on sleep.

So….I think that’s it for the holiday story. I’ve got to get back into drawing now. And do a special post on the Audrey Kawasaki exhibition coming up at Outre Gallery….I’ll explain in the post – but I’m very excited to hear of a comp that actually has some relevance to my blog. I’m not one to usually take part in advertising or unnecessary endorsements for products/events that aren’t related to things I’m interested in. ANYWAYS. More on that later. Blah blah blah.
Catcha round!

Just a quick post today to tell you all I’ll be away for the rest of this week.

It’s the boyfriend’s big Three Oh and we’re headin out West in a camper. Who knows where we’ll end up – I’m leavin the drivin’ and the decisions to him and enjoying the ride. He also instructed me to ditch the vintage in favour of cargo pants and tshirts…Ah well, who can say no to the birthday boy? It will be more practical anyway so I’m actually looking forward to not having to put on makeup every day and stressing too much about which dress to wear. There’s a certain freedom in such restrictions eh

A quirky feature of the trip is we have a list of challenges to complete. We haven’t finalised them as yet but all our good friends helped with suggestions via Facebook (thanks guys!!). I’ll do a post of everything when we get back, and best to show the intended list and completed list after the fact, no? In truth, I’m too lazy to write it all out now heheh.

So no drawings til then I’m afraid!! I should take the sketchbook huh? Or maybe the camera will be enough. Let’s see if the break releases some new creative thoughts.

And cos I always want to leave you with something – here’s the bf himself helping out with the reflector (on a cloudy day!) – this was the other week where I dressed up in my friend Sal’s Mum’s wedding dress and they all took photos of me. Yay (such a narcissist)! Thanks to Dave for the photo (hope you don’t mind me using it!!). Dumb faces all round

Ciao!

Okay so I’ve been gone a while…and still don’t have much content for you….

But my big news from the other day was that I was going to take part in Melbourne Spring Fashion Week as a model for Super Kawaii Mama’s Vintage Glamour presentations. Woo, what a mouthful! But WOW was it fun! Not too many photos as yet so I’ll wait to post the big write-up when we all get the professional pics through.

More info (and a much better & more timely post than this) over at Super Kawaii Mama

Should be able to FINALLY finish the drawing I’m working on tomorrow so YES, I will have some art up here eventually. Raaar I SUCK!!