Cat Cat

I love it when the unexpected happens. I was going to have an early night after The Fighting League, but ended up hanging around for Cat Cat. Turns out a guy who I'd met up with after my exhibition '30 days of give and take' was in the band, so I was interested to hear them play.

Cat Cat reminded me off all the best bits from some of my favourite bands. The walls of guitar like Sonic Youth, though with a more quiet distortion, bits of Joy Division in the underlying desperation...a fantastic bass line and subtle vocals. Layers of sound that reminded me of something, but then seem unexpected. I tried to upload one of their songs so you could see what I mean, but technical difficulties in blog land mean that you will have to go out a buy a copy yourself.

The EP Dig Mountains is fantastic, plus the folded screenprinted cover is beautiful. Well worth $5.

The Fighting League and Cat Cat

Waiting outside Bar 32 with Taffy and Charlie Faithful, two girls walked past and saw the billboard which had 'Cat Cat - supported by The Fighting League'. I overheard one say to the other: 

'The Fighting League...hey that's the band where the singer always takes his shirt off.'

The other girl said 'hot' and they kept on walking. It's funny because it is true.

The shirt did come off during the second song, and the Fighting League had pockets of great sound, but the venue was so small that the crowd kind of overtook the stage. The place was packed, because the kids of Canberra love The Fighting League, and the crowd was a mix of duffle coats, checked shirts, sequined dresses, '40's style, post punk/faux punk, skinny jeans, ripped shirts, hoodies and peroxide hair. The faux punk girls were a mass of flailing hair up the front while the pretty dressed up girls stayed a few steps back, more refined. Taffy, Charlie Faithful and myself were somewhere in between them.

More on Cat Cat later....

Anyone missing a Nissan Skyline

I found one in the park behind my house....

Stadt und Haus - New Architecture from Berlin

I didn't know that a Gallery of Australian Design had opened in Canberra - but it has, at Commonwealth Place, Canberra. The Gallery of Australian Design is a partnership between the University of Canberra, the National Museum of Australia, the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects and the Australian Institute of Architects. So there you go.

The reason I found out about this new gallery is there is an interesting exhibition I'm going to see this weekend called Stadt und Haus - New Architecture from Berlin. The exhibition notes describe the idea behind the show:

'Berlin has managed to transform its cityscapes und architecture dramatically during the last decades. This special exhibition concentrates on a selection of more than 40 different architecture projects in Berlin – hotels, apartments, shopping centres, interior design and urban planning in the 21st century. 

When one looks back upon the past years of Berlin’s urban development, the individual buildings may seem not so glamorous at times. This may result from the overly hasty development and the resultant planning pressure demanded by the reunification of the city. The discipline of urban architecture, often equated with urban buildings – which indeed comes very close to the concept of urban architecture – is what determines Berlin’s new urban face. Whereas Paris and London rely on the medial effect of solitary buildings, Berlin shines with everyday buildings.'

I first visited Berlin in '98 and then again around 9 years later. The city had changed beyond belief in that short space of time. I love Berlin for it's buildings both old and new, the character of the people, and that incredible history. It is a city of hidden beauty, where anything goes and nothing matters. I can see myself living in that city one day...

Bird

Yesterday, as I was driving, I saw a bird on side of the road.

In the middle of the road was another bird who had recently been hit by a passing car.

I felt sad for that dead bird, but sadder for it's friend who was standing, watching and waiting.

I looked in my rear vision mirror as I drove further along, only to see the watching bird hop into the middle of the road (once the cars had passed) and start eating its little friend.

Sadness over.

Jeremyville 2nd Avenue

This print was meant for me.

I don't know how, but I managed to stumble across some of Jeremyville's sketches on facebook. It was a sketch of New York and St Marks. At the time I made the comment 'I love this one too. I'm sitting here in Canberra, Australia remembering St Marks and the bar with the cat...this picture is making me home sick for a place that isn't my home!'

I thought about this drawing for months and then one day sent Jeremy an email asking about it. The timing was right, because he had just completed a screenprint of the work and was about to upload the image onto his website. I had to have it - the print is so beautiful and happy, but to me it also represented the bittersweet time of that trip. 

Six weeks of fun and adventure starting in New York, in that very place. Wandering around the village by day, eating brunch at Freemans, and drinks at Schillers Bar in the New York night. Holding hands down Bleecker Street, looking at all the christmas trees with fairy lights, and wearing gloves and scarves to beat the winter chill.

While that print reminds me of those last days, I can't help but also think of the Jeremyville connection from all those years ago....his work takes me back to summer in Sydney when we were younger, walking up Oxford Street with that very same boy, checking out the tshirts in Jeremyville's shop. 

It's funny how one coincidence can lead to one connection and then to another. In the end while things have changed, this print is a reminder to me that sometimes things aren't what they seem, and I guess just aren't meant to be. The fact that this print makes me happy, even when it should make me sad, is all down to the talent and the heart of the artist.

For one of my gypsies

I love snowdomes, and I love painting them too. 

I once went away for nearly a year and I made snowdomes all the way. I showed them in the Mosman Art Prize in Sydney, all of them in rows. They documented the trip like a visual travel diary.

The same snowdomes then went to another show in Balmain called 'Globe', where they lined the walls of the old heritage listed cell. If I can dig up some photos I'll share them with you one day.

I still make snowdomes, sometimes I make them for people to buy and sometimes I make them for friends. This one is to wish Lucy a very happy birthday while she is far away.

Lucy this snowdome is waiting for you in the yellow house in the U, for when you find your way home.