Thursday, October 29, 2009

Is This The New Newcastle?

I had goose bumps the first time I saw prints from this shoot. Jacqui Clancy, our photographer had brought the first raw images up to Blue Lotus Salon - we were preparing for a show and Lisa Lambert-Smith the stylist who also developed the hair styles for this shoot was there, along with Vanessa Swilks, our shoot stylist. We all felt as if we'd created something special. We were so excited because on the day of the shoot we didn't have much time to prepare and had just managed to organise the location - on the roof top of The Grand Mercure here in Newcastle, scrambled up a step ladder onto this concrete slab that juts out over Hunter Street and the light started to go! Jacqui shot a selection of amazing images in about twenty minutes. It seemed to be over before it had begun and we just didn't have any other time to do the shoot. So it had to happen at that point or it just wasn't going to happen. We wanted to tell a story about the changing skyline of Newcastle - the New Newcastle. I think we created an image that reflects an inevitable change that may just be taking hold in this city now - in the people, the landscape and culture.

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Look Hear Sheena Murray!

I'm really happy to be involved with this project! It's a 'progressive' art and design conference situated at the View Factory in Newcastle East. Happening for the last time this Wednesday, it's on between 5 and 7 pm, free and you're invited! For details, go to http://www.lookhear.org.au/
Blue Lotus Hair & Make-up are working their magic on the hair/make-up for the night - and I can't wait to see what they come up with! Their work is amaaaaazing. I love sharing a creative buzz with artists who are prepared to push themselves and their art.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Look Hear is a fortnightly event being held at the View Factory in Newcastle from August through to September.

Every second Wednesday from 5pm, a selection of architects and designers will discuss their work, process and inspiration.

Entry is free and you're invited. You can book in at http://www.lookhear.org.au/ or just roll in...

I love this concept - a forum for idea's and creativity to be bandied about and re-configured into interesting new concepts and contexts.

The first of these conferences saw presentations by Emergency Architects, Caroline Pidcock and Upcycle - all Newcastle based architects and artists, discussing their current projects and aspirations. Look Hear is a fabulous concept that supports the emergence of creative industries as the driving force behind the "re-vegetation" of Newcastle proper and just causes us to think. There's a groundswell of change happening here, best reflected in the Renew Newcastle Project - check it out at http://www.renewnewcastle.org/

I'm looking forward to hear Marcus Westbury, the founder of Renew Newcastle, discuss urban renewal and creative industries later this week. I think Newcastle's at a point now where it's self-consciously emerging from it's status as a big country town, a bit like Bris-Vegas ten years ago.

Miss World Australia 2009

Newcastle's Ann Marie Bowdler takes the stage in Sheena Murray Prive' at the Miss World Australia Pageant in July this year.

I was given the opportunity to work with Ann Marie after meeting competition organiser John Waterhouse, at the Temple Gold Carpet Fashion Show in May this year....

Ann Marie was an absolute darling to work with and just so incredibly gorgeous in the gown I designed for her, of symmetrically panelled ivory silk satin. It's called: 'Evening Star' - a celebration of contemporary Australian beauty.

It turns out that our darling is also a fabulous RnB performer. She won the Best Performer category on the night, which catapulted her into the final eight, following a smoking rendition of her own song You'll See.

You can see images from her performances at http://www.missworldaustralia.com/

What can I say? She's a little sister doing if for herself.... I admire that willingness to stand up for what you believe in....







Friday, August 7, 2009

Across the universe tonight.




I've been working up to this moment for some time, trying to figure out how to start, what to say.
Everybody has to start somewhere, even if it's in the middle, so here it is, my first blog. A bit of a mish mash to begin with.

I am a clothing designer based in Newcastle, Australia and this blog is a way for me to bring people along for the ride as I'm driven along the design path. In my experience so far, I've come to believe that art owns me. I could justifiably admit that sometimes I don't enjoy it, but as an addict, I just can't let go. It's in me.

So, I plan to diarise things past, present and future, without the constraint of order, as I'm affected by them enough to want to share them.....But, I think it would be a good idea to provide some context here... that is to say I am a self taught designer: I started to learn how to apply my design ideas when I was 30, and ten years on I am just beginning to realise some success. What can I say? Well, there's only one thing I can say and that is, I did it my way.

I recently won my first design award here in Newcastle, via the Frock On! Design Competition. Actually I won two in the one go - firstly the category for Red Carpet and secondly the Designer of the Year Award. After ten years of development as a designer, I was so amazed that I'd won this prize that I actually didn't believe I had truly won for about a week. Success in fashion is hard won, but once achieved, especially for something that fundamentally owns you, is incredibly satisfying.

I won the competition with a gown that I named 'Nightflight to Venus', a futuristic art-deco
gown made of a sheer pink silk-metal fabric. This gown is about audacity bound up in the elegance of geometric patterning. The sheer beauty of each of the thirty or so perfectly matched panels of this design is a tribute to every artist or thinker who has reached, their way. Realising the concept for this gown, it was important to me to be true to the original vision, no matter how difficult.

Tonight, I see a golden spaceship. It's nearly ready to take off across the universe - it's the night flight to Venus. Inside this space ship, there's a party happening. Everybody is dressed up to the nines in their best party clothes. There's dancing and laughing and Boney M is there on the flight deck singing"Nightflight to Venus, Our new favourite place"! We should have lift off pretty soon.

Hello World