Christmas Decorations

After an end-of-the-year hiatus, I'm back and ready to take on 2010 with a new camera, the Canon Powershot S90. As professional as a point 'n' shoot digital can be, this baby is perfect for street photography ... slim and unobtrusive, yet capable of manual focus and shooting raw. I can't wait to take it to Scotland in June, where I'm visiting my sister Kirralee for a month.

In the meantime, I've got a backlog of images to get through from my other cameras, including these happy snaps of my Christmas decorations.

Top: The gorgeous Eddie Ross, who you may remember from the second season of Bravo's Top Design, inspired the bauble wreath. His blog is a gem for how to style on a budget and using vintage finds.

Centre: I snapped up half-price decorations at Ikea a couple of weeks before Christmas ... boxes of 40 cute baubles were under AU$5 and hand-blown glass hearts and spirals were under AU$1 each. I particularly liked the range of heart decorations ... so fresh, full of love and outside-the-square.

Below: I found this plain mug holder at my local Salvation Army Store, where I volunteer every Friday ... it made the perfect mini Christmas tree for the table next to my front door.

Artist Talk

From top to bottom: Poor Little Rich Girl; Junior Player; On the Shelf

It's official ... I promise these are the last mannequin photos I post for a very long time (the fact that I don't actually have any more helps). In fact, I've only shown you these because I'm giving an artist talk at Photoaccess at 2pm on Sunday. If you're anywhere near the corner of New South Wales Crescent and Manuka Circle, Manuka at that time, please feel free to drop in for a glass of champagne, a cupcake and a chat.

Otherwise, you're welcome to stay right where you are and read my catalogue or browse through the entire exhibition at Flickr.

The Butcher's Cow

I achieved an incredible feat when I recently visited printer Stephen Best in nearby Braidwood — I limited myself to packing a single camera. I also had just one hour on the day we left to take pictures, gallery hop and rummage through vintage shops. And this is what I came up with — I love the way colour links and balances what, at first glance, are two diverse subjects.

Printing in Braidwood

Stephen Best in his Braidwood studio

Who wouldn’t jump at the chance of a couple of days in a pretty country town, known for its art galleries and sumptuous bakery? When I decided Stephen Best of Macquarie Editions was the person to print Dumb-founded, my upcoming show, Justin and I packed the car in under five minutes and scooted the 100-kilometres to visit him in Braidwood.

Stephen has a gorgeous white-washed studio and an Epson Stylus Pro 7900, a large-format printer that prints up to 24-inches (on the shortest edge) and weighs more than me.

The experience was divine! Stephen’s approach blends excellent technical skills with close attention to what artists want. We printed on Canson Infinity Rag Photographique paper — a lovely fine art paper with the same quality as hot-pressed printing paper — using the latest UltraChrome HDR inks. The result is a series of prints that I can’t wait to hang on Tuesday.

To top off the experience, we had a pub dinner at the Royal Mail Hotel. I must confess that the barman-come-bouncer was rather menacing and the beer seemed a little watered down, but the meals were scrumptuous — at just $16, Justin’s t-bone steak was the size of an epic novel!

As you can see on the above invite, my show opens this Thursday at Photoaccess in Canberra, with drinks, canapés and cupcakes from 6pm. It runs until Sunday 10 May, concluding with an artist talk at 2pm. If you're in the area, please drop in; otherwise, stay tuned because I'll be creating an online gallery soon.

Reflections

"Orange Blossom Bride"

"Blinded by the Light"

Okay, so photographers aren’t meant to like reflections — we’re supposed to pop polarising filters on our cameras and obliterate all signs of glare from the sun or glass. But sometimes breaking the rules is fun (or necessary, especially when you’ve left your filter kit at home!).

These girls were in glass display cabinets, and I intentionally framed reflections of windows and fluorescent lights to distort their faces. I’m drawn to looking at the distortions, but, at the same time, am forced to take in the detail of the clothes.

A comment on femininity? Perhaps so. The top outfit is obviously a wedding dress (orange blossoms in the hair were a Victorian custom) and the bottom outfit looks like a mourning dress, with the curious addition of hot pink gloves.

Rodeo Kids

One of my favourite things about the Yass rodeo is all the kids who come out of the woodwork looking like miniature cowboys and cowgirls. The dress-up is intentional, but it's about more than show — the plaid shirts are crinkled, the jeans bear the odd hole, the hats are stained and boots are in need of a good shine. The costumes are so well-worn, but I never see the kids donning them any other time during the year!

Prize Ducks

The annual Yass Show and Rodeo was on this weekend and one of my favourite things about the event is the juxtaposition of sideshow alley with the agricultural exhibits. One is so loud and disposable — from pink fairyfloss to the gleeful screams of teenagers on rides. While the other is earthy and antiquated — the smell of manure blended with primped and preened animals.

I love these Bali ducks. The pom-pom crest is a natural feature of the breed, but they look like they've spent an afternoon having their hair done at a salon!

Chandelier Girl

At this time in exactly five weeks, I'll be arranging canapes on platters, trembling as I straighten frames on walls and wishing I could sneak a glass of champagne before everyone arrives at the opening of my exhibition, Dumb-founded, at Photoaccess.

Everything is coming together smoothly so far, but that doesn't help the mix of nerves and anticipation. I'm trying to remain calm, which isn't helped by the possum that's been scuttling in the roof above my studio all day!

Top of the Class

The theory in visual merchandising is that mannequins are "silent salespeople", reflecting the aspirations of customers and, thus, enticing them to buy.

Um ... as non-profit organisations, charity shops obviously have a different perspective, as least that's what the above picture suggests. You certainly don't need a degree to work out that a mortar board and naked model equals something a tad kinky!

This naked girl has been living next to the change rooms at the Salvation Army in Fyshwick for years, appearing in a different incarnation of disarray every time I drop in. As a volunteer in my local store, I can tell you that Salvo's staff definitely have a very keen sense of humour!

She Was a Fighter Pilot

Perhaps I’m easily amused, but the “make-do” use of mannequins in rural museums never ceases to make me giggle. Take, for instance, this violet-eyed and pouty-lipped girl — am I really to believe she was a World War II fighter pilot? The folks at the Moruya Museum would have me think so!

Nonetheless, I take my helmet and goggles off to them for their fascinating, if not creative, displays of Australian history.

The Haunted Bride

Here's another gem from the Moruya Museum, dressed in antique wedding lace. Marital bliss looks like the last thing on her mind! There is a real sense that she's trapped in time behind that reflective glass.

Barbie's Fashion Parade

Barbie had never been to my house before Wednesday.

I got a replica doll one Christmas in the 1970s and desperately tried to like her, mainly because my Nana was the giver. I also had a baby doll, the kind that closed her eyes when I made her lie down. My sister poked those long-lashed peepers in with a swift two-fingered move, just like in a gangster movie! To be honest I wasn’t overly fussed — I just wasn’t into dolls.

So it’s surprising that I’ve been making Barbie clothes this week, for that same sister’s daughter, in fact. I hear my niece Gemma has a “very Barbie” Christmas coming up in general.

Designing and making clothes for this ever-popular doll is amazingly easy — I used nothing more than a few scraps of fabric and yarn, not even a pattern. What’s more, that giant bust, tiny waist and absolutely flat stomach make for clothes that need very little tailoring.

If only real bodies were that simple!

I must say, I did have some help. Thank you to Rachel, my 10-year-old friend, who lent me two Barbie dolls and a box of clothes for inspiration.

Chomp

Today, I’m letting my inner punk out.

Who would have thought a stroll down the back streets of my little ole country town would reveal a clean-picked graffiti skull and a fence designed to impale would-be intruders?

On second thoughts, I’m not surprised. After all, Emo style has brought punk attitude back and into the mainstream, making the skull the fashion icon of the moment.

I played with negative images and background textures — I love the rusted, archaic result.

Convergence

Woah … two posts in one day!

This is another image from my meander down both the main and back streets of downtown Yass in search of textures and patterns. I’m overwhelmed by the detail and depth in seemingly simple features — included here are steps, tiles, a footpath, a brick wall and a door. The patina of age is also so mesmerising.

Curiously, this picture reminds me of an architectural licorice allsort, most likely the Mediterranean kind. Is it a co-incidence that I’ve been craving the sugary variety lately (and have, indeed, gobbled two packets)? They’re obviously unconsciously informing my art!

Truckin' Tiles

This week has been sticky and stormy, the kind weather that makes most people’s moods plummet. But such turbulence brings out the Romantic in me, the person who would love to dash across the windswept moors with Heathcliff and Cathy, or leap off the rocks in Caspar David Friedrich’s “Wanderer above a Sea of Fog”.

Instead, and clearly with more sense, I’ve been strolling through the alleys behind Comur Street, the main drag of Yass, searching for close-ups and textures. In this image, we have the door of a storage shed, the tiles on the Westpac Bank veranda and a rusted sheet of corrugated iron. The black, hand-painted borders are inspired by Karen Michel, whose altered photographs are tastier than a wedge of rich, dark chocolate cake.

Spicy Gingerbread Men

Christmas is coming ... and the goose isn’t the only thing getting fat!

I’ve had a hankering lately for gingerbread men, so I whipped these little boys up on Monday using a recipe from Taste.com.au. The result was very pretty and definitely delicious, especially as I multiplied the amount of dried ginger by about six and also added grated fresh ginger — I like my gingerbread spicy!

I must say, though, that this recipe was a bit doughy for my tastes — I prefer crispy biscuits (or cookies, whichever term you prefer). At first, I thought this might have been because I used gluten-free flour and dairy-free margarine, but then I saw other cooks had left similar comments on the website.

Notice I use the word “was” throughout this post? Well, that’s because I’ve only got one cookie left.

Is it naughty to eat gingerbread men for breakfast?

The Nurse's Mug Shots

This is my 99th post. It's appropriate right now to be on such a cusp because I have some exciting news — I've been invited to have a solo exhibition next year!

Called Dumb-founded, my show will explore the fate of clothing mannequins after they've expired their fashion used-by dates. What happens when ideals of beauty change and yesterday's plastic people are kicked off the sales floor? Well, they're snapped up by museums and junk shops, which use them in the most quirky ways.

For example, the mannequin in the above shot is part of a medical display at the Boorowa Museum. You just know she's embroiled in a malpractice suit from these eerie mugshots. That's a long way from the catwalk, baby!

The idea for Dumb-founded has been in the works for quite a while — in fact, my first post on this blog was of four manneqins. And there'll be plenty more as I prepare for my show, which will run from 23 April to 10 May 2009 at Photoaccess.

Mary's Blue Eyes

As I worked on this image today, I pondered Mary’s blue eyes. As a Jew in ancient Palestine, surely the eyes of the mother of Jesus would have brown? So I did a little web surfing and discovered this part of the world was the gateway into Africa for migrants and traders, which means Arab, black African, Roman, Greek, Indian and Persian faces were seen everyday.

Having said this, in 2002, forensic artist Richard Neave created a picture of Christ using two starting points — a real Israeli skull from ancient Palestine and the assumption that Jesus looked like a typical peasant of the day. The result is olive skin, black curly hair and a big nose. What’s more, Neave says Jesus was probably only 5”1’. This hardly fits with the movie star looks and muscle-man proportions most of us expect from the saviour of the world!

Richard Neave's vision of Jesus Christ

If we believe Neave’s rather convincing reconstruction, the law of genetics tells us that Mary really could not have possessed the gorgeous baby blue peepers she has in western mythology.

So where do they come from?

Ah, how I love Google. Mary’s eyes, and indeed her mantle, are traditionally the colour of lapiz lazuli, a deeply-saturated blue stone that has been revered since ancient Egypt when Cleopatra ground it into eyeshadow and the dead were buried with a chunk carved into the shape of an eye to ensure great power in the afterlife. Later, people believed the stone could heal boils and ulcers, or encourage friendship and truth. How fitting that artists should use this colour to associate the mother of the son of God with beauty, royalty, heavenly glory, healing and truth.

However, lapis lazuli does more than symbolise Mary’s attributes — it also literally portrays her. The Reverend Johann Roten, SM, Director of the Marian Library-International Marian Research Institute at the University of Dayton says Mary’s dark blue mantle, and presumably equally blue eyes, first appeared in the Byzantine era, around 500 AD. This is also the time artists discovered they could turn ground lapis lazuli into blue paint, notably the colour we now know as ultramarine.

This picture started as a snap of an icon of Mary in St Patrick’s Catholic Church, Boorowa. In Photoshop, I converted it to monochrome and then re-added snatches of colour, along with a sun-faded glow. The aged texture is inspired by Linda Plaisted and Tracy Wallace. A special “thank you” to Tracy, who emailed me a texture sample, which I used as a springboard to create my own using acrylic paint on foam core and a more than healthy dose of sand-papering.

Orange-Eyed Doll

An elderly gentleman at my church recently gave me a small lightbox he'd hand-made for his late wife. His attention to detail, such as painting it a beautiful Shabby Chic green, made the gift so touching — he'd clearly treasured his wife.

As you can see from this image, the way I've used the lightbox so far hasn't matched its beautiful history! I pulled it out on World Toy Camera Day 2008 (Saturday 18 October) and played with a couple of vintage doll parts that Joan, my friend and fellow garage-sale addict, gave me.

The porcelain skin is so luminous! And I love the eerie light pouring from her eyes ... it reminds me of the video clip of Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart".

For those of you who like technical details, I converted the image to black-and-white, toned the skin blue and painted in the original eye and lip colour.

Golden-Haired Girl

I was hoping this little blondie at the Moruya Museum would look ghoulish and evil, like something out of The Exorcist — that's certainly the vibe she gave when I photographed her. Instead, she looks so super "Goldie Locks" sweet I want to feed her milk and cookies!

Today's post comes with a two-word tip: Neat Image. My friend Ross got me onto this program, which is hailed as the "best noise reduction for digital cameras and scanners". I simply adore the smooth and creamy Horst P Horst look it creates. Even better, you can download a free trial version.