Shagadelic weekend!

Me with Shag (A.K.A. Josh Agle)!!!

Minotaur — Shag (2008)

On Saturday I met my favourite (living) artist, Shag (short for JoSH AGle) again. It was at a book signing for a new exhibition at Outré Gallery in perth! I met him a few years ago at Outré Gallery, also a book signing. I'm always surprised that he keeps visiting Perth, seeing as how it's so out-of-the-way. But I'm extremely glad he does!

Anyway, when I met him this time, I got his newest book signed. But that's not all! I bought a print, 'Minotaur', and got that signed the back too. And because I felt like pushing my luck just a little further, I asked to take a photo with him as well! I was quite pleased with myself this time, I didn't turn into too much of a gibbering fan-girl. But I was smiling like a total jack-ass... (^_^)

IT WAS SUPER-AWESOME!!!

If you want to see more of his TOTALLY AWESOME work, check out his website!!!

Shin-Hanga: The softer side of Japan

Cherry and Castle — Yoshida Hiroshi (1939)

Through pinterest, I went on a little tangent and discovered something rather amazing! Someone pinned this cool Japanese print and I went foraging after it. So here goes:

After the decline of the Edo/Meiji period of Ukiyo-e woodblock prints, there came the inevitable revival in the early 20th century. This became the known as the Shin-Hanga (new print) period which flourished from 1915-1942, resuming briefly after WWII. They were designed to appeal to Western tastes giving a nostalgic, romanticised view of japan. And so, they were primarily exported overseas, never finding much fame at home. However, Shin-Hanga became immensely popular in America, so much so that there were two major exhibitions in the 30s. 

What I like most about them is the warmer colour palates and how they're just less stuffy than Edo period prints. Not to say that Hokusai and Hiroshige prints aren't absolutely beautiful or that I don't love classic Japanese prints, but there's just something about Shin-Hanga that's just softer and hard to describe ― as lame as that sounds.

For more on Shin-Hanga visit: Wikipedia, Jacquesc, and artelino.

Misty Evening At Shinobazu Pond, Tokyo — Kasamatsu Shiro (1932)

Sunset At Tomonotsu, Inland Sea — Tsuchiya Koitsu (1940)

Ueno Shinobazu Pond — Tsuchiya Koitsu (1939)

Heirinji Temple Bell — Yoshida Toshi (1951)

 Tengu Rock At Shiobara —Kawase Hasui (1950)

Red Temple — Asano Takeji (1931)

Evening Moon On Yodo River — Asano Takeji (1934)

Heirinji Temple — Kasamatsu Shiro (1962)

Summer Moon At Miyajima — Tsuchiya Koitsu (1936)

Moonlit Night At Miyajima — Kawase Hasui (1947)

Campbell's launches Andy Warhol soup cans!

Cans with label art from Andy Warhols "32 Campbell's Soup Cans"

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Andy Warhol's "32 Campbell's Soup Cans", Campbell's Soup Company have released a limited-edition run of tomato soup cans with Warhol's original label art! They went on sale for 75¢ each. I just want to know why didn't they do this sooner and why can't it be a permanent change.

The only thing I'm not so pleased about is — after a bit of digging around — it looks as though they aren't available in Australia! But they're already on eBay...

Via The Cool Hunter, Grocery Headquarters, and Gizmodo.

Bernini at 25

Pluto and Proserpina — Bernini (1622)

Today, I made a rather unsettling discovery...

Italian master-sculptor, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, created Pluto and Proserpina at the age of 25! I can't even imagine how anyone in their 20s could have turned a giant lump of marble into something that brilliant. Apparently, when it was unveiled, they had to take precautions to protect it because people wouldn't stop touching the figure's skin. There are veins in Pluto's hands and indentations in Proserpina's thigh. The second image looks like a black and white photo. In fact, every sculpture that Bernini ever made is amazing!* 

So why is this unsettling? I'm turning 25 next month! Puts things into perspective, doesn't it.

*In my opinion.

Gustav says...

Gustav Klimt at his studio on Josefstaedter Strasse (Vienna, 1912). Picture: Moriz Naehr

I've finally returned from my 8-week Serbian/European holiday. It was amazing and I didn't want to go home!!! On the way back to Perth, we stopped over in Vienna for two days. I managed to visit Gustav Klimt: Up Close and Personal at the Leopold Museum. It was forbidden to take photos but I found this interesting quote. I really like the way Klimt summed himself up.

The Golden Knight — Gustav Klimt (1903)

“I can paint and I can draw. I believe this myself, and others say they believe this as well. But I am not sure it is true. Only two things are certain: 1. There is no self-portrait of me. I'm not interested in myself as a ‘subject for a painting’ but rather in others others, above all in females, and even more in other phenomena. I am convinced that as a person I am not particularly interesting. There is very little to see in me. I am a painter who paints every day from morning until night. Figures and landscapes, less often portraits. 2. I am not fluent in the spoken or written language, particularly if I have to express myself on my work. Even if I have to write a simple letter, I'm scared stiff — as if I were faced with seasickness. So there is no use waiting for an artistic self-portrait of myself. But this is no great loss. Anyone who wants to know anything about me as an artist — and this is the only thing that matters — should look attentively at my pictures and try to discern from them who I am and what I want.” 

Gustav Klimt, undated typescript. Wienbibliothek im Rathaus

            ————————————— IN OTHER NEWS —————————————
I currently have NO INTERNET at home!!! So I won't be able to upload that many pictures or do any new posts any time soon. I'll figure something out as soon as possible. Before I go NUTS!!!

Tales from Inner Perth

OMG OMG OMG ^_^

Quite recently, you may have heard of an Australian Illustrator/Author/Film Maker named Shaun Tan, who won an Oscar for "Best Animated Short Film", beating seasoned veterans Pixar. 

Last night, I had the amazing privilege of attending a talk by Shaun Tan on his career and creative process. I've been an admirer of his work since I read "The Rabbits" in Primary School, so to listen to him speak about how he grew up, how his career began and then see his childhood drawings and early sketches from his books and what inspired them was an incredible once-in-a-lifetime experience! I'M NOT KIDDING!!! 

He did a book signing afterwards and I bought "Eric" and "The Bird King and Other Sketches". It only took ten minutes of waiting in line for me to be reduced to a gibbering fan-girl who couldn't string two sentences together... I started yammering about how I great I thought "The Rabbits" was and that it was really amazing to hear about how another creative person works and that I found his book really inspirational as kid. He then asked me what field I was in, and I told him I'm a graphic designer... It went downhill from there... 

I asked if I could take a photo with him. This was my equivalent of meeting a sporting hero/famous actor. I know it was a little too crazy-fan-girl, but he'll probably forget anyway... That's the face I made when I thought to myself "OMG, WHAT THE HELL AM I DOING", but it was too late to be normal again and bail out! So what if I got a little carried away and made a huge ass of myself in front of one of my idols, big deal. I GOT A WICKED PHOTO OUT OF IT!!! 

I wish I was more photogenic... Or maybe I should stop grinning like a JACKASS?

Now to the INTERESTING part of this post... This is what Shaun Tan talked about. I'll have to finish it off in another post. There's too much for just one!!! 

The last time I wrote this much was for essays in highschool, so please bear with me, I'll try my best to be coherent!

*** EARLY LIFE ***

Shaun Tan was born in WA and grew up in a really suburban part of Hillarys and drew a lot of inspiration from the scenery there. It's quite prevalent in works like "The Lost Thing" and "Tales From Outer Suburbia". He started off by showing slides of his childhood drawings and admitted that he wasn't one of those prodigies that didn't need to study in Uni. Also, when he was younger he didn't really want to be an Illustrator when he grew up either. As the pictures progressed, it showed his steady improvement and how he revisited themes he drew as a child in later drawings without even realising. When he was young, his friends in school really encouraged him to draw more and said he was really good and it was always cool to be good at drawing in Primary School. His dad, who was an architect, always gave him scrap drafting paper to draw on as well. Plus he got praise and encouragement from his parents and teachers too. 

He then went on to describe how he works from day-to-day with a cute little series of illustration. As much as he'd like to sit around drawing and painting all day, he also has to deal with the business side too. Which equates to spending a lot of time writing countless emails.

***AIMS*** 

What he strives to do is find the "beauty in the banal" and would go on walks around the neighbourhood painting the most ordinary looking streets and houses. He then realised that ordinary things become extraordinary if you look at them long enough. To him, art is about seeing and re-seeing the world around you. 

E. Phillips Fox — The Landing of James Cook in Botany Bay

Shaun Tan — They came by water

***The Rabbits***

The part I found most fascinating was when he showed the sketches and described the process behind my favourite illustrated book ever "The Rabbits"! The picture above is from the cover.

So, for those of you who may not know, "The Rabbits" is a children's book that deals with the issues of the colonisation of Australia. It was written by John Marsden, the copy was then given to Shaun Tan to illustrate with almost no creative input from John at all. This was Shaun's first major project, he was 22 at the time and had around a year to work on it. Having such an open brief was daunting and exciting at the same time. At first, he thought it would be quite difficult to do a story about rabbits, then he realised that he didn't have to be so literal and that they could be creatures that vaguely resembled rabbits...

He then went on to explain how "They came by water" — one of my favourite illustrations — came to be. 

He used a painting of Captain Cooks landing by E. Phillps Fox as a reference for the composition. He once heard a story about how a man who saw one of those ships for the first time could not comprehend how a single ship could carry all of those people, their animals and all of their things as well! In the final illustration he emphasised the boat and made it the focal point. 

He tried to present the story as a children's book for adults. And I think in the end, it's nïeve and simply told and really powerful at the same time. It left such a lasting impression on me and I was only 11 when I read it! Also, it's not every day that one of your idols talks about one of your favourite works! I feel so lucky to have heard it!!! 

I'll do another post with more from the Shaun Tan talk. That is, of course, if anyone actually read this EXTRA-LONG post to the end! Also, I should point out, nothing here is word-for-word accurate! I just felt the need to mention that.