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

anya brock studio show

It's wednesday night. It's cold, raining and there a general air of misery - outside, that is.

Inside, tucked away in the heart of Fremantle's Pakenham Street Art Space, local artist Anya Brock is warming the world up one canvas at a time. I've been a fan for a while - her distinct style, use of colour and beautiful subjects are what I'd one day like slathered on the walls of my future house. So I obviously could not miss a studio show. Check out some of her uber delightful work below...

My favourite piece was the chick smack bang in the middle up there, because I too like to live my life as though I'm looking through palm tree-coloured sunglasses.

For prints, visit Anya's online shop and to stay up to date with her work and shows, check out her facebook. The hip lady's also on tumblr and instagram (anyapaintface).

Lisa xx

home is where my heart is

Listen up, y'all, this is pretty special. I'm so excited to be volunteering for Home Is Where My Heart Is this year - a terrifically inspiring project. It's no secret how powerful art can be as a means of communication, and how creating can be a therapeutic process as well. A talented group of youngsters have worked hard and are featured in the exhibition telling their difficult and very personal stories of homelessness through photography.

Opening night is this thursday, 6 pm and everyone is welcome. If you're a Perth lass or lad I totally encourage you to head down on thursday or sometime over the next couple weeks to check out what will be undoubtedly moving work.

For more info or to follow along, have a gander on facebook.

Lisa xx

midnight snack

Holy smokes, I'm surrounded by some talented folk here in Perth. Delicious local artist Bonnie Boogaard has just opened her second solo exhibition, Midnight Snack, at Tú's Stairwell Gallery. Inspired by her love of food she explores the personalities, idiosyncrasies and dark habits of your favourite edible treats - in particular what they get up to while you're resting your head. Whimsy and wit abounds - plus the most charming collection of food related wordplay you ever did see ('swallow the leader', 'blood orange', 'banana split personality') - I'd love to see what it's like inside Bonnie's head for a day.

'Home sick' (above) is my favourite. That poor lil' slice of cheese.

Midnight Snack is running at Stairwell Gallery, nestled between Tú and Tea for Tú (have you checked that sweet little cafe out yet? So damn pleasant) until the 8th of April. Hop to it!

Lisa xx

urban couture: aperture and lace

The City of Joondalup's Urban Couture is now in full swing! I had my first taste of it at the preview of Aperture and Lace, a wonderful mixed media exhibition combining fashion, photography and wearable art, featuring some damn bright local talents. (I even ran into one of my favourite pieces from last year's Perth Fashion Festival - very top left - designed by Charissa Schlink!) I also very happily ran into blogger babes Sharon of Sass and Spice (above left) and Heidy of Love Thy Muse (above right), both looking stunning, no surprises there.

Aperture and Lace can now be checked out at The Blend(er) Gallery in Joondalup. Urban Couture runs until the 27th of March and there are heaps of rad (and free!) events, all the deets here.

Lisa xx

china doll

A very talented pal of mine has just put together his first solo exhibition, China Doll, at Tu's rather charming Stairwell Gallery. Driven by his love of fashion photography, Joshua Tavener has taken images from editorials and transformed them into some pretty stunning watercolour portraits. I stopped by the launch on wednesday evening and snapped a few photos...

China Doll runs until the 8th of february at Stairwell Gallery (located at the back of Tu, William St.) Be sure to check out the whole thing if you're in the area - it's more than a bit delightful.

Lisa xx

unveiled

Last night I had the absolute pleasure of checking out Unveiled, the Western Australian Museum's latest exhibition. AND IT WAS MAGICAL. 200 years of sartorial wedding history from the UK's Victoria and Albert Museum (plus a few special WA pieces) all in one spot. Magnificent. Incredibly detailed gowns, suits, footwear and accessories in stunning condition telling all sorts of stories. I'm hardly a wedding fiend, and I was going absolutely nuts over it all!

Have a sneak peak...

Pieces from the WA portion of the exhibition

Top: lower (left) and upper (right) class gowns from the early 1800s

Middle: Details of a late 19th century bodice

Bottom: Traditional mid 19th century lace veil (left) and early 20th century socialite Margaret Whigham's gown (right)

Top: Details of a gown made from upholstery during WWII

Middle: Quintessential 1960s (left) and 70s (right) styles

Bottom: Vivienne Westwood's creation for Dita Von Teese (left) and a 90s Christian Lacroix gown

A big big thank you to the WA Museum and all its wonderful staff for putting on a fantastic night and for inviting me to peruse the exhibition and take these photos - it was a total honour. Unveiled is running at the museum (located in the cultural centre) until the 24th of march. These photos only give away a snippet of the magic - be sure to head down and check out the real thing!

Lisa xx