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

a new space

You guys, I gotta tell ya what's put me in the BEST mood for a monday (aside from having five minutes ago just eaten the most delicious turkish delight at my favourite cafe) - so I totally learned how to swing dance last night! I joined my housemate at Swing It's free sunday evening Swing 'n' Soul at the Belgian Beer Cafe and it. was. amazing. Walking in to a room full of smiling and snappily dressed people dancing like crazy and all clearly having just the best time doing so was too rad to be real. The atmosphere was so inviting and full of joy - exactly how dancing the night away should be. I think I was hooked within the first five minutes.

A kind chap showed me a few basic steps and I joined in as best I could (which was AWESOME), but I'm going to hop along to my first official class on wednesday and I am SO excited.

Have you swing danced? If not, please do, seriously. I can't even tell you how great it'll make you feel.

Anyway! I snapped a few photos this arvo - couldn't resist - of my new digs! I gotta say, one of my favourite things about moving house has been decorating a new room from scratch. SO fun. This new little space is now so ~me~ it's ridiculous. Oh boy, I can't wait to do the same thing to a whole house one day.

Lisa xx

grace + scarper: gold

How about it! Time again to share my love for all things Grace + Scarper. One of my favourite Perth labels, both to wear and to work with. I'm a big fan of the way designer Lisa Jefferson takes this feminine simplicity and gives it an edge, creating pieces that work equally as well by themselves or piled on top of each other. Since I've been gradually adding more gold to my life this year (gradually? Did I not have my body spray painted gold for a Goldfinger-themed routine at work a couple weeks ago? Can't really say something like that without a 'photo to come later'!) I've opted for a pair of shiny, warm-hued rings. Got my hands feeling ever so regal.

You can check out the online shop here (with some photos taken by yours truly) or a list of stockists here.

Lisa xx

Note: this is not a sponsored post.

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

costume designin': reckless

Remember not suuuuper long ago I posted Reckless by San Cisco, a music video I costume designed? Featuring some beautiful locations, a pack of good-looking actors and the chance to dress the hippest love triangle in the state (not a bad bit of work, let me tell you)? I thought I'd give you a closer look and share a few of my favourite photos from the shoot...

Full behind-the-scenes gallery can be seen here, and the video itself here.

Lisa xx

urban couture: eclectori

A runway by the harbour? Pretty damn divine! Wednesday night saw the eclectori runway along the Breakwater Jetty in Hillarys, featuring a number of fantastic WA designers (Jessica Martino, Wild.Horses, Kim Barton, Peppermint Milk, On A Whim and Lonely 8-Bit Heroes) previewing their Autumn/ Winter collections. If Winter is coming, I don't think we have anything to worry about here in Perth.

Here were my favourite bits...

Peppermint Milk

Peppermint Milk has taken a turn for the dark and I am so into it. The classic bodice and regal style is still there, now with some edgier cuts and more shadows lurking in the corners. And that black and gold print, oh MY. It's kinda Wednesday-Addams-goes-to-prom and damn if that isn't a vibe I want to get on board with so badly.

On A Whim

On A Whim doing what it does best - sweet lines, picnic-worthy dresses, a general air of equal parts cuteness, cheek and confidence. A perfect Autumnal palette, a charming amount of gingham and accessories to win any heart. AND CAPE. I need cape.

Lonely 8-Bit Heroes

Oh my LAWD. Slap me into this please, drop me into a video game circa 20 ish years ago and leave me there to fight crime and break hearts. I feel like there's very little that couldn't be done in this get up. 

All of these delicious items will soon be stocked online at eclectori. The site is brim-full with local Australian designers - so worth checking out if you haven't already. (And they've free shipping within Australia! Raddest.)

For photos of Peppermint Milk at last year's Perth Fashion Festival you can head here, or here for On A Whim.

Lisa xx

a neat treat

I don't often get all domestic, but when I do, I like to think good (and/ or delicious) things come out of it. Like chocolate freckle hearts. Uh huh, yep. Did you know you can make these at home? Like, super simply? I did not. But I know now how to create the sweetest treat with, let's be honest, about the most minimal effort possibly required when it comes to sweet-treat-creating. This is all I could ever want from dabbling in domesticity.

You need:

20 g of copha

250 g of your favourite chocolate

as many 100s and 1000s as you desire

heart-shaped tins or cutters (or whatever shape you fancy!)

Melt the copha and chocolate over boiling water on a low heat. While it's melting line the tins with baking paper.

Once it's completely melted, use a spoon to fill the tins.

Refrigerate for at least an hour, then delicately remove freckles from tins. Keep stored in fridge when waiting to be eaten.

Done! Eat until you feel delirious and sick, or share with a loved one until you both feel delirious and sick.

Recipe adapted from Frankie magazine's Sweet Treats (totally my new favourite book).

Enjoy!

Lisa xx

on the road to esperance

ROAD TRIP. It's like, a summer essential, right? Of course it is. Armed with some excellent company, a dog, our cameras, as much music as we could cram onto our ipods and as many colourful pairs of shorts as we could fit into our duffel bags, some friends and I embarked on the eight hour cruise south east to the cosy beachside town of Esperance. (Praying we wouldn't want to throttle each other in the process - it's always a bit of a gamble, isn't it?) Tell you what, through modest country towns and some amazing landscape, with ice cream and posing-with-giant-ram stops along the way, the drive was pretty damn pleasant. Totally something I want to do again, and soon.

Have you ever done the road trip thing? How'd it go? (And plenty of photos from Espo itself to come!)

Lisa xx

looking up and looking down

Photos taken at Araluen, last may.

I'm in my final week of being 21! And although it's not letting me go easy (oh boy, no) I am so happy with where I am right now and where I'm headed.

My head is in the clouds, my feet are on the ground.

Lisa xx

adventures in alice springs

Second last photo taken by Tess.

More photos here.

In June last year I was lucky enough to travel to Alice Springs with one of my oldest friends and one of the most talented people I know, Tessa McOnie, to take photos for her to work from to put together her next exhibition. I can't release those images just yet, but I wanted to share a few of the photos I took during the rest of our trip. It's an absolutely stunning part of the country that I'm so grateful I got to spend time in. And there are so many details and memories I'll hold onto for a long time. The colours, for example, were incredible - getting up before dawn and seeing the contrast of the vivid red ground and the crisp blue sky as the sun rose over the rocks - just beautiful. Only beaten by sitting back and watching the sun set over Uluru. That was breathtaking. Definitely recommended. And spending our final evening sitting in a dried-up gorge, drinking wine and eating chocolate as stars and bats appeared between the rocks above our heads. NT, you're pretty special.

Lisa xx

P.S. Hug Sized has been given a makeover! A much, much needed one. Hope ya dig.