From byron to melbourne...

and it seems that all manner of artists are coming out of their little hidey holes these days!

I have to admit that i was feeling alittle out of sorts yesterday and couldn't get to grips with any writing, making, doing! ... as I was thrown a curve ball in the morning with a shocking phone call from a friend who has just experienced a true sadness in her life... and of course... me being the sensitive one... I was haunted by her story for the rest of the day. That, and the fact that everything felt like it was standing still in the intense + misty heat of the day!

Springdale VI by emma walker@ Tim Olsen Gallery

So I walked, and thought, and had a coffee and jotted down a few ideas in my diary... and then I came back home and found some lovely interviews from artists that had graciously opened up their homes and studios for us magpies to savour!

This all tied in nicely with an experience I had on Monday where a very good friend and amazing artist opened up her home and studio for me to play in!! Oh it was so so much fun and I made some odds and sods! ... I cant say too much more as the photos will be part of a new blog project of mine that Im starting soon on this tiny space... so stay tuned!

However its time to

Rewind...

back to the beginning...

The Bryon of which I speak is the Bryon studio of Emma Walker, an artist who I met years ago while working at King on Burton Gallery... She was a Sydney lass but decided to have a sea change and move her young family and studio up to Bryon to settle...and in all this change she also decided to change her gallery representation! She is now with Tim Olsen and you can check out some of her work on their website here....

The article of Emma entitled the Art of Happiness was in this months issue of Country Style...a mag that I dont usually buy but check out from time to time for the styling and features on some great local artists and designers.... And this month the magazine paired Emma Walker with stylist Shannon Fricke who formerly worked with Inside Out.... which seems to be the younger sister of Country Style these days..

Its a lovely little piece and goes to show that your art practice can indeed prosper from a country change...and if there was going to be an artists' paradise I would always have my money on Byron!!

But for mural/graff artists there can be no other paradise than the laneways of Melbourne...and this is where the next artist interview takes us to....

with the work of mark maker/illustrator Miso.

Miso is the partner of Ghost patrol for whom I rabbit on about from time to time! Actually there is great doco on the pair from the ABC on you tube that is worth checking out if you're interested in knowing more....They are brilliant artists and another brilliant example of Australias mural art but with a street stylie flava...

Her work is beautiful and is so natural and free flowing that I would love to get a closer look at her diary sketches... The interview also poses some great Melbourne life insights from Lucy at Design files that is proving to be one of my favourite blogs at the moment...

But have a great weekend... if you're at CoFA'S Spring Fair, or at Re threads at Carriageworks, or at a gallery exhibition, or in the studio...or just relaxing at a cafe over coffee and a paper...

Enjoy...!!!