This week.

Here is another acrylic on wood panel from Meet Sidney Nolan (out in October).  As a young man, Nolan worked for Fayrefield Hats in Abbotsford, Melbourne.  From my not-particularly-extensive research, he seems to have worked on the sorts of things that a young graphic or industrial designer might tackle today, for example, branding and retail concepts.  During this not-particularly-extensive research (i.e. Googling) I discovered a Fayrefield Hats retail display which was actually designed by Nolan, so I got to include it in the illustration, above.  If you live in Melbourne, you might inadvertently have been to the site of Fayrefield Hats.  The stately Victorian red brick building is still there on Nicholson Street, but is now a series of apartments with a fantastic cafe, Three Bags Full.

  

-- That's a rather Melbourne ending to a story.

Please note that my Etsy shop will be closed until August 19 while I take a little break. 

Working on a few things lately that I probably shouldn't be showing you, but I can't help myself.  The Lady above is a tiny part of a huge and fun illustration project for a most unlikely customer.  I can't wait to reveal it in its entirety when it's done!  

They say it's not what you know it's who you know -- I am very lucky that my dear friend Jason works as a graphic designer in the television industry (immersed in the daily grind he will argue otherwise).  That's how I got to work on Winners and Losers, and that's how I got to paint this very strange and funny prop that I am showing you a little part of here.  (But it's not for W&L....!)

I would love to finish this scarf, which I meant to complete exactly a year ago for my Craft window.  Boohoo sore back poor me etc etc blah blah......

The painting above, which was originally commissioned by Frankie magazine, will be part of a VERY SPECIAL fundraising exhibition organised by the wonderful Lucy Feagins of The Design Files.  LUCY FOR PM!!!!!!!
I am very proud to be part of a show that will donate 100% of sales to the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre in Melbourne.  What a great reason to indulge in some guilt-free art collecting.  Do tempt yourself and have a look at the rest of the show here.

And to end this post, another acrylic on wood panel from Meet Sidney Nolan: a soiree at Heide, the home of patrons John and Sunday Reed.  I am especially proud of this one, as I wasn't sure that I would be able to pull it off.  I worked as a designer of individual motifs for a long time, and lost confidence in my ability to compose a busy illustration with a sense of pictorial depth.  But I am happy with how this turned out.  Again, the wonderful thing about working on this book was the possibility of immersing myself in the subject.  Finding helpful photos in the State Library of Victoria online archive was a cinch.  Even better, I was able to take a trip to Heide and spend time in the very room that this scene might have occurred in.  Sigh.  What a privilege.

I think that the ghosts of the partygoers above helped me with this one.

Frankie Spaces, Volume 3

Very, very proud to have my work included in Frankie magazine's Spaces book, volume 3.  I am a big fan of the Spaces series -- I think I have nabbed all three within a week of them being released.  Like the majority of people, I love to snoop around other people's houses, learning all I can about them through their stuff..... 

The first commissioned portraits that I ever painted were (rather bravely) commissioned by Andrea Shaw of Stampel.   (See more about them here.)  To have them appreciated and displayed in her beautiful home is wonderful, but to have them appear inside a real live book is seriously amazing.  (That's her home on the cover, too.)

Spaces 3 is highly recommended.  Refreshingly non Melbourne/ Sydney-centric, it's a great read, too.