As all but the most deplorably inattentive followers of this blog will
notice, it has had a major facelift. For the information of first-time
visitors, it formerly comprised a black background overlaid with white and red
text. Although I must confess to some nostalgia for the more immediate visual impact
of the previous design, I was increasingly concerned that it was overpowering
the general content, making information harder to locate and absorb.
Since its inception in 2008, the blog has been more than
just somewhere to post information about exhibitions and other related events.
It has increasingly become an extension of my practice, a place to collect my
thoughts, share some of my interests and road-test new work and ideas. As the amount of information on the
blog accumulated, I felt it needed to be made easier to read and navigate. It’s
still being tweaked (I’m a terminal tweaker) but think it’s nearly there, and
hope you do too.
If the blog partly serves as a virtual studio, my actual
Melbourne studio has also been undergoing changes and is similarly in the
process of being fine-tuned. After relinquishing my workspace in central
Melbourne in 2011 (see blog post April 7, 2011) I set up in an idiosyncratic,
but somewhat cave-like area of our warehouse apartment in Abbotsford. It soon
proved to be way too small and dark. After a considerable amount of strategic
planning and rearrangement, I’m now established upstairs in a lighter, airier,
more private and infinitely more practicable space. Open-plan buildings have
their benefits, flexibility being one of them. But they can present real
challenges, especially when it comes to establishing boundaries between
domestic and work areas. As an added bonus, our whole apartment feels more
spacious, liveable and functional than it’s been since we moved here in 1998 -
although it too is a constant work in progress.
Above, from top:
Partition wall of studio
Studio view. The ceramic statuette on the cupboard, top left is by David Pearson. On the far wall is a reproduction of Melody (Musica) c. 1890-1902 by Kate Elizabeth Bunce. To its right is my prized collection of (mostly) vintage combs and hairpins.