Prudence Murphy

My longtime friend Prue Murphy has finally launched her website - hooray! Lovely to see her work all in one place. Over the early years I assisted with her work often and performed with her in The Love Nest. And my French father (above) also makes an appearance, along with her own father, in her Male Grooming series - bless them.

I am loving her recent work for all those closet and not-so-closet (like me) LEGO fans!
Bravo girl, good to see your work up and about.

Upon A Fold

My very dear Sydney friend Cherine's sister Justine Fahd has just launched her online Paper boutique Upon A Fold. Her collection of papergoods from around the world is so beautifully selected and brimming with treasure. I am so excited for her and wish her well with this new, long-awaited venture.

http://uponafold.com.au/blog

last stops Sydney feature

Although I am back in Berlin, I wanted to finish my little Aussie special focus from my trip with a couple of other Sydney gems in Surry Hills...

For music and dvds TITLE deals with Music, Film and Books, and these people know their stuff. If you're looking for cult or obscure stuff, test them out!

For deliciously chosen bric-a-brac and antique industrial tidbits, David Met Nicole is a Sydney institution with stylists and people who love pre-loved pieces... My dear friend Edwina and I missed our pilgrimage by half an hour, but I have to mention it.

Next posts will be back to the international variety...

Object Gallery

This may well be my last stop on this tour of my birth city Sydney, before I fly back to Berlin and bury myself in the snow to create my own brand of treasure.

Another must-see on my Sydney list is always Object Gallery, home of all things design and craft in a beautiful, light, round gallery in trendy Surry Hills. It is always beautifully curated and the little shop Collect on street level as you enter sells a great selection of handmade treasure by internationally respected Aussie craftspeople and designers.

417 Bourke Street
Surry Hills NSW 2010

Opening hours
Tuesday to Sunday (closed Monday)
11am - 6pm

Carriageworks and other antipodean treasure

This post is essentially about one of my favourite contemporary arts venues in Sydney called Carriageworks - a sensitive conversion of the old 19th century Eveleigh Rail Yards in Sydney's inner suburb of Redfern/Darlington (a little bit Berlin in feeling...) I simply love this spunky place of creative cultural exchange across all forms, and have seen some really wonderful performances here since it opened in 2007.

Last night Thomas and I were lucky enough to see the wonderfully creative, whimsical production by New Zealand's Red Leap Theatre company, based on The Arrival, a much-loved illustrated book by Shaun Tan about migration (appropriately for me who is about to return to my chosen home of Berlin). It was part of the Sydney Festival - an always highly anticipated part of summer living in Sydney for arts lovers.

Uchi Lounge

I'm still in Sydney for one more week and the other night I took my partner and our host to Uchi Lounge, one of my favourite little tucked away treasures here - a Japanese restaurant/bar that's been hidden in a backstreet of Darlinghurst/Surry Hills for over 12 years... Their food is Japanese/Australian and delivers an exotic mix of organic, seasonal flavours, always striving for simple but delicately balanced taste combinations, in a delightfully unpretentious setting.

We actually went just for delicious desserts and some Sake - check out their selection, such as Lychee or Pink Pepper infused Sake - Impressive!

Deus Ex Machina

Created in 2006 by a group of motorbike enthusiasts, including Dare Jennings of Mambo fame, the Deus Ex Machina motorcycle company is heaven... for motorcycle enthusiasts, cyclists, foodies and fashionistas... Comprising a showroom for their sexy custom designed motorbikes, a boutique selection of cycles and fashion basics with spot on graphics and textile designs in one half, and a laidback café serving Italian fare in the other, it really satisfies all the senses! The converted Camperdown warehouse also houses the workshop and design studio.

98-104 Parramatta Rd, Camperdown Sydney NSW 2050
phone +61 (2) 8594 2800

Peter Solness photography

Shortly after arriving I saw a couple of free photography exhibitions within Customs House down at Circular Quay, one by Peter Solness that I liked very much - Nocturnal, on until 31st January 2010. In this series, Solness draws at night with a light source such as a torch, while his camera lens is open for a long exposure, creating beautiful luminous line drawings in bush landscapes around Australia. In this case, technology and nature fit together peacefully.

Australian treasure

Happy New Year! I hope it brings many blessings and much treasure to all.

I'm in Australia at the moment with my German partner, for a Christmas visit to family, and I've been reminded of some Aussie treasure that I have to share, firstly from nature!

As I write there are magnificent Blue Fairy Wrens trilling and hopping around outside. When I'm at home in Berlin I miss the birds the most. In the weeks since we arrived we've seen so many of my favourites - here are only some of them: from top Cockatoo, Brown Falcon, Rainbow Lorikeet, Galah, Blue Fairy Wren (pictures mine except - Falcon by Ian Michael Thomas; Galah by my aunty Rosie)...

Street Pianos

This morning I was listening to some beautiful Rachmaninov Piano etudes as I sewed a piece of clothing for a friend, so it seems appropriate to continue the piano vibe now with the art project of British artist Luke Jerram titled "Play Me I'm Yours" in which he puts numerous pianos in cities around the world, to be played at the will and desire of anyone in the public! What a lovely idea to bring interactive art and music together and put the onus on all pianists out there to contribute to the success of the work and brighten up those passing's day.

Check his website for news and details of where to find a piano to play... http://www.streetpianos.com/

Christopher Hanlon cosmetics

I was introduced to Christopher Hanlon's divine all natural, organic, incredible smelling cosmetics, established in 1994, through a wonderful healing friend of mine Paie. I honestly cannot live without my beloved face cream from Christopher, and so now that I've moved to the other side of the world, I rely on good old Australia Post or friends visiting to bring me supplies... My Australian skin feels very happy when smeared with this fresh, smooth, skin-nourishing potion that is Visage Silké. I can highly recommend his hand cream and body lotions, and the men's cosmetics are amongst the largest range available!

Contact Christopher through his site for orders and enquiries - he's more than willing to help!

Cheryl Orsini

Another dear friend from my University days is the marvellously talented illustrator/designer Cheryl Orsini. With a cheeky sense of humour, a wicked grin and whimsy in the mix, she and her work make me smile and giggle and very happy! Oh, and make me want to be a kid again, or just have my own so I can read them her books!!

Cheryl's cute as a button blog: http://cherylorsiniillustration.blogspot.com/

Maria Fernanda Cardoso

My dear friend Brandy sent me the exhibition leaflet for this wonderful Columbian born artist Maria Fernanda Cardoso, who lives and works in Sydney. Her latest exhibition at Grant Pirrie Gallery Emu Wear features elaborate wearable pieces made from Emu feathers! They are exquisite and seem to cross boundaries between shamanistic tribal coats, cloaks of Maori elders or Native Americans and the world of western Haute Couture...

Bassike

I love these t-shirts, designed in the northern beaches suburb of Avalon, Sydney Australia, my home town. The Bassike girls, Deborah Sams and Mary Lou Ryan, create a basic wardrobe for men and women, and they use the highest quality organic cotton jersey available. The shapes and colours are always spot-on!

http://www.mycatwalk.com.au/c/fashion/bassike.html

Cherine Fahd & Todd Robinson

Cherine Fahd and Todd Robinson and their delightful young daughter Rei make up my favourite trio (after my sister and her little family!!). They are very dearest friends back home whom I miss!

Cherine is an award-winning photographic artist, represented here in Berlin by Gitte Weise Gallery. She and I lived in an apartment in sunny Bronte, Sydney, for a couple of years and there we shared a very artistically productive period, culminating in a joint exhibition called Musing in 2002 at Gallery 4A in Sydney. My work from that show The Missing Muse is featured on my website (link at right). I modelled in a many of Cherine's photos of that early period, such as Soft Sculpture, and the photo used in the bus shelter where Cherine sits, pictured above.

Todd, whose portrait I took above, had a successful, also award-winning, self-titled menswear label, when I met him during my fashion school days, (pictures above I took of his work that were published in Oyster Magazine), and then went on to become a wonderful artist. He also teaches design studies and fashion at University of Technology Sydney.

Harry Alexopoulos

My dearest friend from fashion school many years ago, Australian born Harry Alexopoulos works as a magazine art director, stylist and writer. He has lived in London for many years since we studied in Sydney in the late 1990s.

http://www.millndoll.com/artists/styling/harry-alexopoulos

Edwina White

One of my nearest and dearest from Sydney is the fabulous illustrator extraordinaire Edwina White. Everyone who has the pleasure of knowing Ed finds her a true treasure among those on earth. Her work delights with whimsy, cheek, wit, grace, fun, beauty, style and a whole lot more! Edwina is based in New York and exhibits frequently there and in Australia and elsewhere. You can also dry your dishes with her work (I do) with the Musical Chairs tea-towel, available through Third Drawer Down in Melbourne.

Paul Clark & Tim Kliendienst - Alphabet Studio

One of my closest friends back home in Australia is the very talented Paul Clark, a graphic designer/illustrator, who works in a partnership with equally talented graphic designer/photographer Tim Kliendienst under the name Alphabet Studio. Their work is often seen about town in bus shelters and illuminated street ad boards, advertising theatre and dance in Sydney, particularly for Belvoir Street Theatre Company, Bell Shakespeare, The Sydney Opera House and Bangarra Dance Company, among many clients in the arts & entertainment industries...

Check out their beautiful, distinctive work on the link above.

Congratulations Lionel

I found out a couple of days ago that my sculptor friend Lionel Bawden back in Sydney, who makes miraculous things out of coloured pencils, recently won the prestigious Wynne prize, announced at the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney. BRAVO Lionel!!

http://misociety.com.au/?p=4933 (this link has the winning work in it)
http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/whats_on?eventid=2904

All Handmade Gallery

This beautiful little gallery for ceramics, textiles and painting/prints is located in my home town Sydney, up the road from where I worked for many years in Bronte, one of Sydney's gorgeous innercity beach suburbs!

I particularly love the ceramics available there, and used to love popping up the road on my lunchbreak to check out the latest exhibition... The wonderfully happy thing to me is that it's still there, going strong after many years.

http://www.allhandmadegallery.com/