Friday, March 12, 2010

Oh lordy

I wish I was ...

I wish I was ... Natasha Khan,
one of my long time musical and artistic infatuations,
more commonly known as British singer/song writer,
multi-instrumentalist and visual artist,

Freak life



Master of black and white photography, Mary Ellen Mark seeks out the lonely, the strange, the bemused and the bizarre. On American soil she has photographed the seedy underbelly of U.S society capturing a real life 'Gummo' that seems to exist in the wastelands that stretch out beyond the fringes of big cities. Sometimes humorous and often sad beyond words, she has looked into lives from all corners of American society. Travelling overseas she has taken a particular interest in the circus culture of India, Mexico and Vietnam. Considered freak entertainment to the people of their own country, and a delightful novelty to tourist spectators, Mary Ellen Mark captures dwarf twins, child acrobats and transvestite show girls with dignity and respect they deserve, but very rarely see.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Senior citizens

Grandma and her partner Frank


Older people always fascinated me. I love their crinkly skin and lavender smelling clothes. The wistful looks and talking of days gone by keep me entertained for hours. As a child I always seemed to get along better with the senior citizens and at age seven my BFF was my next door neighbour Mrs Shaw. Every day, after school, I would run to her house and play chinese checkers, noughts and crosses and stare at the giant Moroccan carpet on her wall. There were things about her I adored like the barrette she wore in her hair, the lilac tint she asked for at the hairdressers and the way she only took baths, not showers. She was from an older school of thinking but had a heart so kind it would be universally recognised. A sepia photo of her husband playing the piano sat on her mantle piece. She was still hopelessly in love with him even though he passed away many years earlier. Despite her cheeriness I sensed the loneliness was palpable.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Mix Tape


Colourless colour La Roux
Magic
Ladyhawke
Sleepyhead
Passion Pit
My girls
Animal Collective
I can talk
Two Door Cinema Club
Skeleton boy
Friendly Fires
Campus
Vampire Weekend
Drink to moving on
Grand National

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Type envy


Combining two of my favorite things; typography & illustration
... I wish I was Rik Lee.

Equally good




"Most of the time I don't have much fun. The rest of the time I don't have any fun at all."

Gee, I love Woody Allan. There was immense glee when I found this illustration of him. Ricardo Fumanal uses only ink, marker and pencil to create images of the famous, obscure and everyday. His illustrations are something of an oxymoron looking simultaneously clean and simple/accurate and finely detailed.


David Benjamin Sherry is not so simple. His work reminds me of waking up after a confusing technicolour psychedelic dream wonderland, wishing intensely there was a way to record it. I admire anyone who can hold onto a fantastical imagination, but the ability to turn this into art is another thing all together.

Monday, March 8, 2010

A summer wasting




It was a glorious summer. For whatever reason there is always more fun to be had in the sun. Mine consisted of drunken lawn bowls, losing mini golf repeatedly, a new romance, backyards and BBQ's, icecreams that melted too fast and made my hands sticky, swimming in ice cold water, sailing, sea sickness and even catching a fish.