new years for the soul

(Perfect new years track or what, right?)

2013 has been big. Probably the biggest one yet. This is the year I worked harder than ever before, found myself dancing at a festival in country England, exploring London, meeting some incredible people. I moved out for the first time and learned how to take care of myself. I landed a little job at my dream employer. I danced harder than ever. And then it all came to a halt when I fell sick and was forced to actually learn how to take care of myself. I got injured, a little bit sick again, and then sad, and then hermit-like. 2013 has truly been a beast, with very high highs and very low lows, and there has been something to learn from every inch of it.

I'm so ready for 2014, whatever it will bring. I have plans and ideas and goals and questions and vagueness and mystery that I honestly can't wait to dive into. It's going to be even bigger, and even better.

Being on the mend still, I can't be having a wild end to the year (as much as I would love to be running around the city like a lunatic, champagne in one hand and gin in the other, dancing 'til the wee hours). Over the past few months I've really been struggling with having my energy and health, and thus my favourite activities, being taken away from me, to the point where I've let myself become wrapped up in a sort of self-imposed detachment from a lot of people I love. I'm only just starting to see it as a gift. I've been given time to sit, take it easy, think, meditate and most importantly, let my body heal. I'm a little ashamed of how miserable I've let myself become over not being able to dance, or drink, or stay up late, or run around wild with my friends. Those were the things that kept me sane, essentially. So I've had to re-evaluate the source and the methods of my sanity and well-being. (To put it lightly, ha.)

So 2014 is going to be all about the soul. I'm on the mend so it won't be too long before I'm back with my mates in the wee hours, playing hard, or back at work, dancing harder. But there'll be a slight difference. I'll be giving my body everything it needs to be strong and healthy, I'll be meditating, I'll be resting, I'll be talking, I'll be writing; I'll be looking after my soul. Sustainable sanity, you could say! Equipping myself to handle (and leap head-first into) whatever 2014 sends my way.

And I'm so excited. And I'm starting with tonight.

Here's to a 2013 that was filled with joy and sadness and adventure and a whole lot of learning. And here's to an even bigger and better 2014. Love and light and killer tunes to you all, have a joyous night!

xx

P.S. I'm thinking up some big new things for this ol' blog in 2014. Amongst general life nonsense, and sorting my brain ideas out - posts may continue to be scarce for a wee while. But good things are to come, I promise.

necromancy by josh tavener

Necromancy is the ever charming and captivating Josh Tavener's second solo exhibition (you may remember his first, China Doll, or his collaboration with label Tale of a Tall Fellow), and it is divine.

"Josh draws inspiration from a myriad of sophisticated models, current runway fashion and editorial photography. By combining line work and dripping paints, Necromancy delves into technical experimentation and colour exploration to create a mysterious aesthetic."

I'm a big big fan of Josh's work - his mix of colour, elegant lines and practice of finishing each image with the perfect layer of magic and intrigue totally gets me every time. I super recommend you check out this new series of work for yourself - the exhibition runs until the 13th and can be found upstairs at Common Ground. Check out the facebook event page for more details, and Josh's official page to keep up to date with his stuff. Sublime!

Lisa xx

perth gets special

Fast times ahead! There's a big bunch of fab events happening in Perth over the next few days and I couldn't help putting together a wee guide. Ready?

To start us off, here's a damn lovely way to spend a friday evening. Wander down to Flyrite tomorrow from 6 pm to enjoy some sweet wares and sick tunes. I'll be there with a few vintage and op shopped pieces to sell, along with a charming group of local bloggers. It's totally free and totally awesome. (And please come say hello!) Full details here.

Heading into the weekend, starting saturday is an incredible exhibition at the Western Australian museum - a 30 year retrospective of Aurelio Costarella, easily one of the state's most successful and influential designers. I'm heading over tomorrow for a sneaky gander before the exhibition opens so I'll be sure to let y'all know what's what - but I've a feeling all I'll be saying is 'amaaaaazing'.

Also filling up the weekend is a heap ton of art and zine goodness! Karys McEwen (you may remember me mentioning that name - she curated Bright Lights, Small City) is opening her first solo show saturday afternoon, that damn talented woman. Exploring love, sex, adolescence and friendship through collage, photographic and illustrative work, trust me, this is going to be good stuff. It's called Love and Other Indoor Sports (BEST - there's little I love more than a good Judy Bloom reference) and the arvo will also feature musical and spoken word entertainment. 2 pm at Common Ground's upstairs gallery.

And sunday! Aunty Mabel's Zine Distro is putting together a hell of a zine fair, Let Them Eat Zines. Featuring stalls from local and international artists, it'll be one big happy celebration of zine-making and DIY publishing. Plus there'll be lovely music. Plus there will be me, taking photos! 12 pm at the Perth town hall undercroft, all ages, free entry.

And finally, to celebrate Halloween the very best way you can in this town, head along to Devilles Pad this saturday night. If you're not familiar with a Devilles Halloween, basically - it's big. It's very big. And it's loud, and it's fun, and it's full of the best monsters you could spend a night with. I'll be there leading the screams with my fellow Sataniques, amongst all sorts of wicked entertainment. Tie that ripped up school tie, splatter on ya (fake) blood and head down early - did I mention it'll be big? Full details.

The next few days are going to be glorious, I can feel it! Happy (almost) weekend!

Lisa xx

give me your tee shirt

This ought to give your monday a nice kick! Not long ago I did a wee bit of music video production design for local cool kids Axe Girl's new single, Give Me Your Tee Shirt. A job that primarily consisted of boobs-sourcing (a surprisingly difficult task). It's a wicked song, and the video result is super fun and super cheeky, and I hope you super enjoy it.

directed by Luna Laure / produced by Liam Murray / cinematography and post production by Antony Webb / full credits on youtube

Lisa xx

charlotte olympia: the cat's meow

I've had a dark, teensy-bit-scary realisation, you guys: I don't own nearly enough feline-embellished clothing. I know. Bad situation. Sooo, if anyone's feeling particularly generous - a dashing tycoon or a bored mogul, perhaps, looking for something to do with their wednesday evening - these Charlotte Olympia beauties are my favourite things in the world right now. Ta?

Boots available here and flats here

What's catching your eye and refusing to let go at the moment?

Lisa xx

love for we love perth

Oh boyyy. I have truly been embracing the hermit life like never before over the past couple weeks. And not by choice! I was struck down with a hella nasty virus and was forced to take a slight vacation from reality (worst holiday ever). And though I've caught up with basically every episode of every tv show produced in the past year and a half - it sucked. I missed out on work, friends' birthdays, speaking on a photography panel, art exhibition openings... bad timing or what, right? Being sick blows. But I'm no longer in pain, I can slowly feel my energy coming back to me and I am ready to jump straight back (gradually, while pacing myself - doctor's orders) into Life. So pumped.

Sooo to baby step back into the blogging portion of said life I just gotta share this profile delightful local site We Love Perth did on me the other week! They called me things like 'creative' and 'young lass' and the attention made me blush a whole lot. I talked about the sort of work I do, my involvement with Bright Lights, Small City and the things I adore about Perth. Oh shucks! Big big thank you to We Love Perth for, basically, considering me an interesting subject!

You can read the full interview here. And if you're not familiar with We Love Perth be sure to check out the rest of the site! It's updated constantly with events, places and people and is bursting with love for this sweet little town.

And P.S, Bright Lights, Small City runs for just a couple more days so if you're yet to check out that divine collection of talent, do so post haste! (Pretty please.)

Lisa xx

while you have light

Something funny about working in film... the editing process takes such a long long while that by the point it really starts to come together, stills start to appear and you (finally!) get to watch the finished thing, so much time has passed that it's pretty much like re-living the magic all over again! (Unless of course you're part of the post production team... in which case you've spent a long time in a small room with people you've developed strong and equal feelings of love and hate for, and are really just hoping to have held onto your sanity.) Lucky for me, costume gal, I'm currently sitting and enjoying the snippets of a short film I worked on at the end of last year, While You Have Light, start to take shape! I hear a viewing is not far off (SO excited) but for now shall we just enjoy some stills?

I had the most fun working on this film. It's a charming little devil - paper cranes come to life, lives are taken over by paper (literally), adventures are had and relationships are explored, developed and mended. Whimsy and heart to the max. Is that all you need in a pleasurable viewing experience or what?

And I got to rip up clothes and splatter them with (fake) blood! I gotta tell ya, that's a therapeutic activity right there.

But of course - it wouldn't have been half the excellent experience if it weren't for the wicked people doing their thing behind and in front of the camera - it's all about who you work with, am I right?

directed by Jenny Crabb / produced by Lauren Cleary / cinematography by Corydon Anderson / written by Chris Ardley / production design by Danae Blennerhassett / hair and make up by Kate Anderson

featuring Kiran Wilson / Meagan Taylor / Clem Littleton

stills by Matthew Casey

Yay movies!

Lisa xx

polyester galaxy

Yikes! It's been a heckers couple of weeks! Perth Fashion Festival is all wrapped up for another year (how quick did that time fly, right? When you're having fun!) the Bright Lights, Small City opening last thursday evening had a hell of a turnout and was generally smashing, people are making and launching clothes and art all over the place, the grand final's fast approaching, it's all go!

And amongst all that beautiful madness my good pal Michael Trown snuck me in front of the camera for a wee bit of modelling for his label, Polyester Galaxy. And let me tell ya, a good time is one hundred per cent guaranteed when clad in his wears. All the 90s kawaii ravewear a kid could dream of. And that's what all our dreams are made of, right?

Everything pictured is handmade with love and skill, and totally for sale on etsy! And to keep up to date with all things Polyester Galaxy, check out facebook.

Lisa xx

bright lights, small city

Well, this here is VERY exciting. Some photos of mine are in a real live exhibition! It's called Bright Lights, Small City and it's going to be wonderful. A great big group exhibition featuring photography, paintings, sculptures, mixed media and just about anything else you can think of by an eclectic mix of emerging Perth-bred artists. Curated by Karys McEwen, who is a real delight (and who I have actually collaborated with before, a very long time ago!) She's doing an excellent job, showcasing some real talent and celebrating all that is young and ambitious in this fine town of ours.

Taking over Buratti Fine Art Gallery and with every piece for sale, it's an incredible opportunity for local emerging artists and I'm super excited and thankful to be a part of it.

Perth I, one of two images I have in the exhibition

Opening night is tomorrow evening from 6 pm, with the exhibition running until the 12th of October.

There will also be a couple of artist talks - one focusing on artist-run initiatives and another talking about life as a photographer in such an isolated city (which I'll be speaking at!)

Full details of the exhibition on facebook.

High fives all around for local art love!

Lisa xx

Tale of a Tall Fellow "The Hunted" Launch

Here's an up and coming Perth label you don't want to be skipping past! Tale of a Tall Fellow crafts some delightfully fine button up shirts for men, made ethically with love and wit. Last week saw the launch of the label's latest collection, The Hunted.

Local creative gal about town Di Nguyen, the brains behind the clothes, has teamed up with visual artist Josh Tavener (you might remember him from his beautiful China Doll exhibition I featured earlier in the year) to create some charming designs full of animals traditionally hunted for sport. Foxes, rabbits, you name it - and all original prints.

The dapper lads behind Seed & Sprout quenched the crowd's thirst for the evening. I loved their old school beer fridge, and I've a feeling it won't be long before you're seeing it all over town. The boys have a pozible running for their sick craft beer - show them some love!

Find out more about Tale of a Tall Fellow, including where to get yourself some sweet wears, right here.

Lisa xx

perth fashion festival: desert designs

Really, look nowhere else for your next tropical holiday/ resort visit/ lazy summer day get up. Desert Designs brings ideal clothing for lounging around, minus the laziness. I'm totally digging those daring but playful prints, featuring artwork by late indigenous artist Jimmy Pike. Just gorgeous.

A big thank you to PFF for having me! You can check out the program here. There's heaps still to come in the next couple days, including a ton of free events. I'm getting pretty excited for Restyle on the Runway tomorrow!

Lisa xx

perth fashion festival: gorman

This collection is so up my street it's ridiculous. 90s nostalgia is clearly going nowhere (this makes me happy) with dress cuts that take me right back to my childhood (those waistlines! Pinafores!) Each piece rocked more than a hint of playfulness, but nothing lacked that typical Gorman class. Sharp knits, charming denim and those socks + heels combinations! So good.

Lisa xx

perth fashion festival: we are handsome

Last night I got to check out Perth Fashion Festival's National Showcase, featuring three wicked collections from We Are Handsome, Gorman and Desert Designs. Check out the first of the three below...

I don't know about you, but the idea of walking around with a great flamin' animal roaring on my chest is, well, totally awesome. We Are Handsome brought some damn perfect summer swimwear to the runway last night, showing us that fiery spirit the brand is known for. These bold prints demand attention, and so does anyone wearing them.

Lisa xx