Surrealism: The Poetry of Dreams Exhibition at GoMA

September 30, 2011

I’ve been meaning to go and see the Surrealism exhibition at GoMA but it wasn’t until my friend mentioned catching up that we decided to spend a day checking it out since it’s in its last week. Please excuse the low res photos, I only had my phone with me ^^;.

I will admit going into this that I knew little about the history, artists and philosophy of Surrealism. What I discovered was that the movement came about in response to Dadaism which focused on intentional irrationality and the rejection of the standards of art. Surrealism took a different direction, focusing more on the creativity that spurred from the unconscious mind. The movement originally started off as a literary one before spreading to painting, sculpture and film.

Father’s Day and Anniversary Cards!

September 14, 2011

Father's Day and Anniversary Card Designs — New Cards!

I’ve been busy making cards again! This time I had two special occasions within a week of each other – Father’s Day and my anniversary with the boyfriend. Both of these dates totally crept up on me so I didn’t have a lot of time to make them ^^;. I think they both came out alright though!

Inspiration Collection: August 2011

September 7, 2011

August is gone and Spring is here and with it is a new inspiration collection! So lets get into the images I’ve collected over the past month ^_^.

You can look at all the images pictured above in the August archive of my Tumblr blog. I should note that some posts have more than one image which aren’t shown in the archive view. I’ll make a note on the captions if there are more images available.

To Me? To You! A Very Happy Unbirthday Gift Tag

August 24, 2011

The other weekend I attended a very unique type of party – an Unbirthday party! Conceived in the wonderful imagination of my friend, everyone bought some of their favourite cake and a small gift to be given out randomly during the night. And when it comes to gifts, it’s time for me to make a card, or in this case a gift tag.

Because I didn’t know who would be receiving my gift, I wanted to create something that reflected the theme of the night. I went with a teapot based off those seen in the Disney Alice in Wonderland movie.

I also wanted to try something with typography, keeping it simple due the small space I had to work with.

Favourite Artists: Justin Cherry (Nivbed)

August 14, 2011

Going through my laptop folders I suddenly came across a long lost favourite artist of mine: Justin Cherry (better known as Nivbed). I feel a little bad that I forgot about him in my planned favourite artist posts and now that I think about it there’s probably a few I’ve missed ^^;;. I first discovered Nivbed’s work by chance through another artist’s site back when I was in high school. Since then I’ve always admired his skill and have followed his work for a while.

Semi-Permanent – Brisbane 2011

August 10, 2011

Semi-permanent 2011 - Brisbane — Semi-permanent 2011 – Brisbane

Last Friday I attended the Brisbane Semi-permanent Creative Conference – an annual event with speakers from all fields of the Creative Industries. This is the third time I’ve had the chance to go and I always look forward to listening to the artist’s and designer’s stories and presentations. I come away feeling inspired and ready to take on any design challenge ^o^. Getting the SP Pack is always a nice touch too (beautiful art book and freebies!) but more on that below.

This year we had a jam-packed day with eight speakers, ranging from designers to artists and photographers. I think all of them showed that obsession, passion and persistence are key qualities to bettering your craft and getting you places in the industry.

Inspiration Collection: July 2011

August 7, 2011

It’s August already?!?! Time sure does fly.

I’m changing the layout of the inspiration collection posts so they’re not just boring bullet point lists. I will now be posting the actual images and they will link (unless unavailable) to their original source. I won’t be featuring everything but you can check out all the images in my Tumblr Archives. So without further adieu, lets look at last month’s collection!

Favourite Artists: Mary Blair & Eyvind Earle

July 28, 2011

This is the last of my planned favourite artist posts until I find/remember someone else to feature. It’s a double whammy with 2 artists I discovered while in Melbourne at the Disney Exhibition. Both worked on some of the studio’s most classic films including Alice in Wonderland, Sleeping Beauty, Peter Pan and The Lady and the Tramp. So let’s get into looking at some of the fantastic work by these 2 artists.

Favourite Artists: Vermeer

July 13, 2011

Vermeer - Girl With The Pearl Earring — Vermeer – Girl With The Pearl Earring

Most people will recognise the above picture as one of Vermeer’s most famous works: Girl with the Pearl Earring. To be honest, my love of his paintings started when I saw the movie based off this work (Who wants to see Scarlett Johansson with no eyebrows?). I found myself captivated by the idea of the story behind the picture and as I looked more into Vermeer’s work I discovered that each one has a tale to tell.

For those wanting a bit of history, Johannes Vermeer was a Dutch painter who lived in Delft between 1632 and 1675. He had a mostly well off life with his wife and 11 children who he supported by selling paintings and art dealing.

Inspiration Collection: June 2011

July 11, 2011

June Inspiration Collection — click to view

Half the year is gone and it’s time for another roundup of last month’s inspiration collection! I was a bit slack in the past few weeks because I’d been busy making things, going out to events and implementing new routines for myself. It could also be that nothing has really caught my fancy or maybe I’m just becoming too picky ^^;;. So lets look what what we have here…

Topical Musings

Incoherent ramblings of an Australian digital designer