Good Times

I was in the midst of sorting out old work when I found this old photo my friend Greg took of me. This was when I was still at art school, making all these crazy wacky sculptures. Such good times. I can't believe it's been 2 years already. Time flies! And yup, 2 years on, I still am obsessed with food! Hah!

30% Off All Art Prints!

Hello all! I'm offering a 30% sale on all art prints from my shop. Only till this Sunday. Enter HOORAY upon checkout to redeem. Thank you! Visit www.handmadelove.bigcartel.com to shop! Have a nice weekend ahead. XO, Dawn

A few more photos from my little tie-dye project. Unfortunately, the colours faded a little bit. It's now more of a faded, light purple, lavender scarf. Oh well. It's alright! I like it the way it is now anyway. I'm in the midst of looking for Indigo powder. I want to try my hand at the shibori method of dyeing fabrics! Just look at this here. Makes me feel all dreamy. Not sure where to get indigo dyes from though. Any advice, anyone?

Evening Tie-dye Session

I have been itching to do some dyeing for a while now. And all this happened an hour ago. I finally went down to Lindcraft and bought supplies. I am dreaming of making more! Especially some silky crepe ones. Some darker blue, fushia and indigo scarves. What do you think? I think it'll be fun!

Rainbow Connection

 

I woke up extra early this morning, after suffering an entire evening of migraine. I decided, well... It's a Saturday. Darren's fast asleep. I've got a million and one things to do. So what a perfect way to get down to working on some freelance painting. So that was exactly what I did. Unfortunately, within about 1/2 hour, I got distracted and jumped for joy when I found out one of my favourite Melbourne shops, Third Drawer Down, was doing a giveaway. Ooh! How exciting! Prize at stake was this AH-MAZING Mike Mills Rainbow Pillowcase set. Something which I've wanted ever since I first saw it online. So yes, my heart skipped 10 beats, I jumped around in my little room, going "Oh my! Oh my!" And then after calming myself down, I started reading. The problem was, in order to win, I had to be the first one down at the shop and wait for this... I had to sing out loud Kermit's Rainbow Song! HOW EMBARRASSING!

So, long story short, I pulled Darren out of bed and down we went. (Of course! It's a Limited Editioned Mike Wills Pillowcase we're talking about! I'm pretty sure I can put aside any shyness for that!) I shamelessly presented myself at the shop, 11am sharp. Thank goodness no one was there yet. So in my state of embarrassment and giddy excitement, I sang and jumbled up all my lyrics, but I still won. Hooray! I probably made up my own Rainbow lyrics, but whatever, hey! It's called Effort!

 So two things I take away from today:
1. Waking up early on weekends is always a good thing.
2. Whenever you're sick in bed and down with a massive headache of sorts, don't fret.
 A rainbow will come your way the very next day!

TRUE SELF

Thanks to my super awesome agency - Jacky Winter, I got the opportunity to work alongside one of my favourite artists, Caitlin Shearer! Melbourne’s GPO has joined forces with The Jacky Winter Group to present ‘True Self’, a charity exhibition that links fashion and art in the manner of a chain letter. Multiple artists are stepping up to collaborate with each other to create A3-sized artworks which will be on show on the first floor at MGPO in June.

With the theme of chain-mail at the heart of the concept, The Jacky Winter Group will send each artboard out to an artist who will in turn send it onto another. After each artist has left their mark, the artist board will be returned back to MGPO and then exhibited at ‘True Self’. The concept will see 52 of Australia’s finest creatives take part, and will showcase their skills in varying disciplines including fine art, illustration, photography and fashion design. The artworks will draw from themes such as self-image and transformation, and will be on display from June 1 to 24, 2012.

 The originals on display will be available for sale throughout the duration of the exhibition for AUD $200 each. All proceeds will go to the charity Fitted for Work – a not-for-profit initiative, providing clothing and training to help disadvantaged women find employment. To date they have transformed the lives of more than 6500 women. I am so glad I got to take part! Nothing beats making art and knowing it'll benefit someone else : ) For this exhibition, I've also collaborated with the very clever Karena Colquhoun. Have you seen Karena's work before? It's so cute, and so retro. I love it lots!

When I found out I was sending my piece to Karena, I immediately started painting lots of roses. Not sure why, but her work has inspired me to think about retro valentines day and the idea of love and happiness. I kept smiling while painting, it felt so good! Unfortunately, I forgot to take a proper picture. So for now, instagram ones will have to do. Can't wait to see what Karena and everyone else has done! Read more about True Self here!

Magic

I'm finding it really hard to keep up with things these days. For the first time ever in my life, I'm feel like I'm totally tested mentally and I can't keep up with life. Have you ever had moments like that? When all you can think of is to give up? I've been going through feeling like that for a while now. I find myself questioning everyday why am I doing what I'm doing now. I enjoy teaching, a whole lot. But it's a tough job. I've been teaching on and off for about 9 years now. I still love it, and dream of having my own art room and students one day. But this uni course is making it so tough, it's taking away the joy all together. I struggle to stay afloat and on top of everything. Honestly, my goal for this year is to just get through and finish my course. I'm not even after good grades. I'm just aiming for passes. I'm on the verge of quitting uni all together. But I know if I do quit, I won't ever get to become a proper classroom teacher. In order to become a fully qualified teacher, I need to first complete this degree, before I can get registered. Sigh.

 Anyway, deflation aside, I've been really blessed by wonderful friends sending me nice little magic parcels. See the two necklaces above? They were sent to me by the very talented Bonnie Jean (What a cute name!) Previously from Melbourne, Bonnie's been in Auckland for almost a year, working as textile/print designer for Karen Walker. Bonnie painted these necklaces by hand and sent them both to me a while ago. I've been wearing it so much, it goes with so many different dresses of mine. For some reason, I always feel a little bit braver when wearing the purple. Haha! And I love how glittery the second one is. Feels like magic! Thank you so super much Bonnie for being so nice!

 If you're ever interested in getting yourself a necklace, do drop Bonnie an email. You can reach her at bonniejeanmooney@hotmail.com. Oh and Bonnie's also on Instagram too! Her username's bonniejeanm. Go follow her. She always has such cute DIY nail pictures along with yummy colourful bits and pieces!

Teaching Boys

The reason why I've slowed down so much with blogging is mainly because I've been extremely busy the past couple of weeks. As part of my graduate teaching degree, I've been placed at an all boys school to teach. It has been such a learning journey and my goodness. Teaching boys! Hah! All I can say is, I was really terrified at first. I've never ever taught all boys before so I went in to the school all mentally prepared thinking: "I can do this... I can do this..Oh please, let me survive!" And phew! I have done it! And I am still alive! Teaching in this school where I'm at, has officially changed my opinions on teaching in an all boys school. All the boys have been nothing but sweet to me.

Over the past 5 weeks, I've been slowly building relationships with the boys. Now, they can't stop talking when they see me. They belt out songs with my name in it. They run after me and give me surprise hugs even though I say no hugging. They pop in to the art room every recess and lunch break to chat. They ask me all sorts of questions about Darren. They use lame pick up lines and awwww at everything I say. And they LOVE IT TO BITS when I take photos with them. I get showered everyday with "I love yous.. You're the best!... You're such a star.. we like you...You're so nice... can you stay..... PLEASSSEEEEE" The list is endless. The year 9s in particular, exhausted all their pick up lines today. Haha. " Oh Dawn! Is your instagram username Dawnstar? Cause you're such a superstar? " HAHA. Lame! But cute! They have like the worst pick up lines I tell you. It's hilarious! One boy told me today he treated a girl to water at Macdonalds and it worked! Oh boys. They're funny and they amuse me to no end. Thank goodness they are such multi-taskers though. They can actually paint and chat at the same time! Amazing.

This week is officially my last week at the school. I'm returning next week for 2 days but will not be teaching them. I am going to miss them oh so much!

I apologise for the quality of these photos. Didn't want to use my good camera! Especially when I know it'll be touched by lots of grubby fingers!

Shop Update

Surprise! I will be updating my online shop with my new berry silk scarves tomorrow evening, at about 6pm Melbourne time. There will be only 3 scarves available. They're super exclusive!

Photos taken by my good friend Lydia Teh. Lydia takes beautiful photos, if you're ever in need of a photographer, you might want to consider contacting her!

Coming soon!

Impromptu shot taken by Darren, post-breakfast at South Melbourne Market. I've been wearing my berry silk crepe scarf the entire weekend. It was my birthday on Saturday and I felt so special wearing it. I turned 25 and never in my life did I ever think I would be one day wearing a silk scarf filled with my own work. I know it sounds silly, but it all just felt really special. I'm also wearing my favourite Country Road dress, Odette arrow bangle and Dieppa Restrepo shoes.

Succulents

I've been painting a tiny bit these days. I'm planning a new series of planty paintings come July/August. Imagine succulents, native plants, leaves... And of course, I'm planning to do more foodie scarves too. I'm so so so excited to get down and start painting again. Just thinking of it makes my heart skip a beat. Come June, when I'm on Uni semester break, I'll be able to do just that! Spend all day long painting and instagrammin' all my paintings in progress. So much fun! Can't wait!

South Side Fruit and Vegetable Watercolour Class!

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of teaching a bunch of really delightful adults. The class was held at South Melbourne Market's SO:ME Space. Because the class was set in a market, everyone had the opportunity to go shop for baskets of fresh produce. There were so many yummy veggies on the drawing table. Mushrooms, pumpkins, garlic, rock melon, lemons, pears, grapes, broccoli, and the list goes on! I ended up with so much vegetables at the end of the class, I took home everything and invited a friend over for a dinner of roast veggies! This is why I love painting food. You get to eat it afterwards! Haha.

 Anyway, I know it's probably a little too soon to say this, but as part of Craft Victoria's annual super awesome Craft Cube event, I will be hosting another watercolour class at SO:ME space in August. Yay! I know a lot of you South-siders really wanted to join in yesterday's veggie class but didn't have the chance to book in, in time. So hopefully you'll be able to make it to this one! The coming class will be different and this time round, I'll be teaching everyone how to paint succulents! There will also be a mini pop-up, where I'll sell new succulent, planty art prints. Yup! It's going to be full of plants! More details coming in May/June.

 Thank you so super much to SO:ME Space, for providing me with this wonderful opportunity. And of course, thank you so much to Belinda, for making it all even happen! If you don't already know, Belinda makes the most amazing faceted maple necklaces. You need to check it out! Alrightyo! Dinner time and my tummy's calling!

Filming time!

I had such an epic Saturday yesterday. Reason being, I got filmed for tv! Yes! I was all nerves of course and was freaking out a little in the morning to find myself looking super tired, with dark eye circles and red eyes. I tried my hand at using make up for the very first time, but of course, i failed horribly. I didn't have a proper brush for eye shadow and ended up using my watercolour brushes. And if you think it's just like painting, no it's not. I ended up looking like I had a black eye! HAHA. After several attempts, I gave up and thought, well, let's just go with a cheek stain and lipstick and that's it. Whatever. I'd rather look pale than look like I have a black eye!

 Anyway, makeup adventure aside, I worked with a bunch of super awesome kiddos and together, we created some giant yummy pizzas! Can't get enough of giant foods as you can tell. I've worked with all these kids before so it was quite stress-free for me in terms of getting them to be bubbly and chatty. They were all already friends with each other, so easy peasy. In fact, thanks to all their wonderful mummies and daddies, these kids were so good even with cameras, lights and microphones literally in their faces! I for one was all wired up with a microphone and was totally nervous about it all. These kids, they totally rocked it and even interacted with the host. Amazing! And of course, thank you so much to Martine for opening up her beautiful home. Seriously, dream home I tell you! Lucy, you reading this? Martine's home is sooo cool, You gotta go check it out! Haha. Thank you so much kiddos, camera crew and parents. All of you made it so easy and relaxing, what a dream team!

 At some point of time during the filming, the kids all started getting excited about playing with neon furry pipe cleaners. Along with my straws, they started creating funny alien-like antennas, and pretty much 5 minutes later, they coined the term Alien Austrawlians. Yes, you heard me, not Australians, but Austrawlians! They said they were friendly Austrawlian pizza-loving aliens. They like pizzas with lots of salami, stringy cheese, lollies and macaroni. They were pretty funny, I tell you! Anyway, everything's gonna be edited and aired sometime maybe a month from now on on The Circle, Channel 10. It's going to be so nerve-wrecking seeing myself on tv! I was interviewed post-art class and by then, I was all sweaty and tired and brain-dead. Haha. I hope I didn't end up sounding like a mumbling long-winded lady! More pictures coming up soon! x

Coming Soon

Guess what? The silk for my berry scarves have finally arrived! I took some quick photos the other day before sending them out again to have the hems nicely rolled. Can't wait for them to be all done! At this point, I feel a kid, eagerly awaiting Christmas Day! As you can tell, I made the berries super tiny so they'll look almost like flowers. I quite like the colours and how it goes really well with white or denim coloured clothing.

I'm definitely keeping one for myself. I'm already imagining myself wearing it all through Autumn! It's a pretty soft and 'buttery' scarf. 100% Silk crepe De Chine. And each one measures approximately 19x90 inches! I will only have three of these scarves available. They will be sold on my online shop for $145AUD each. They are super exclusive, so if you really want one, it would be best to drop me an email so I can let you know the moment I put it up for sale.

Colour of scarf is most accurate in the last picture. Yes, the one with me in it. In my just woke up/yet to shower morning lion hair, all in it's full glory!

School Holiday Art Fun!

Was it just me, or did the school holidays just fly by so quickly?! Over the past 3 days, I've had my hands FULL with teaching both little kidlets, teens and adults. It was so much fun! Even though I must admit, teaching for 8 1/2 hours straight (kind of) took it's toll on my throat. Lots and lots and lots of talking! Little kids, they LOVE stories, so yes, many stories were told too. Haha. I love teaching so much, even though it makes me so tired sometimes and when the kids pass their little tiny but dangerous flu germs to you. Ah. Yes. Teachers, you all know what I mean...But all in all, it warms my heart every time a child goes home all happy and smiley, eager to show off his or her new artwork. Thank you little kiddies, my 'school holiday' was somewhat short-lived (thanks to essay deadlines, and so much school work) but yes, you little ones sure highlighted my week with lots of fancy neon paints and cute jokes! Thanks also, to both Madeleine of Do Re Me and Natalie for having me over to do these classes!

PS: And to all the adults who came through for my classes, thank you too! For inspiring me with your stories of family, good food and exciting adventures!