Let's go on a ride...

The first animals to ride in a hot air balloon were a rooster, a duck and a sheep.

I enjoy the symbolism of the hot air balloon. It's a symbol of escape and voyage, but in particular an escape into fantasy and the surreal, of the mind into daydream and the subconscious.

The movement of the balloon across the body is an exploration of the link between the physical body and the psyche. The placement on the foot worked well with that idea, as our feet are representative of our own personal journey.

Images: Rawinsonde weather balloon, Jules Verne, Odilon Redon, my own print and animation.

hug junk

i found some magical junk that you can hug...

Aaamaaaazingly awesome Fauna Goldifsh necklace by Paraphernalia. Amaaazingly good value, also.

Flying duck brooch by Michelle Vandermeer at Keith & Lottie.

This is a beautiful tattoo I saw while... searching for cool tats. Odd. I found it a while ago, so i'm not sure how active the site is- but she had made an awesomely cute red fox plushie that matched. Big Love.

This beautiful collage by the ever wonderful Beci Orpin over at Outré.
And-yay for Beci Orpin -these great pieces that are now availiable(yay again) as gift cards at Keith & Lottie.

and if i could have them all i would :)

xxxx

...Deer me.

Hinson & Company

Deer heads make me queesy- I mean, as awesome as a mounted deer head might look in the prefectly decked out vintage room, the fact stands that it would mean the death of one of my favourite animals. And then the stuffing of one of my favourite animals. As much as i love Rowdy from scrubs, it seems a little too morbid.

That's why when i found one of these sweet things, i was more than thrilled.

He now sits above our faux fireplace, occasionally making noises and casting these wicked symetrical shadows.

I love him so much - he's made me look into other forms of deer headressery- and there are some amazing interpretations of the real thing out there, whether that be in interior design, art or fashion.

I found these images particularly inspiring.

TamarMogenforff's beautiful hand sewn deer head, among her other gorgeous creations.

Beautifully papered, resin deer head by Rubyslounge at Etsy.

The use of the mounted deerhead trophy in contemporary art- as seen in Juztapoz.




Similiar to the plywood version that i own, i love the way this plastidermy piece by scienceandsons slots together to become 3d.

This photo of Natasha Khan from Bat for Lashes posing with antlers is very beautiful and inspirational.

Similiarly, I find this quirky design from Benjamin Cho very endearing in terms of the contrast between the models and the deer's head. Also, it reminds me of bjork, and she makes me happy.

Finally, this remarkable piece, Travelling Through the Dark(2006), by Sörine Anderson, which rendered me speechless.

All of these images make me want to research the symbology behind deer heads, in particular antlers, so that i can use the imagery in my own work.

I couldn't leave out this print, by probably my favourite artist, Kiki Smith.

Opshop hopping...

Joy.

My bf and i both had a day off on friday, and seeing as though we wouldnt be able to make it to the retro flea market today, we decided to spend the day opshopping.
We travelled out to Kelmscott and Armadale, with a list of about 6 shops, in the hopes of finding those mysterious magical opshops that hadn't been raided or become way overpriced like the ones in freo.

The first store we went into was a Salvos, my favourite, and straight away i found two pretty cool bags for $3 and $6.

Then i found an awesome Bambi picture book from 1973 in amazing condition (for 20c) that I hadn't seen before on ebay or in any opshops. I have a bit of a bambi obsession, btw. I collect bambi books, jewellery and kitsch bambi/deer s&p shakers and figurines.

Anyway, like i said, this one is i perfect nic, and has the sweetest illustrations...

However, we do seem to have this weird pattern of luck, where the first opshop we go to seems to bestow us with cheap awesome things, and the next 5 we might go to are less rewarding. It happened when we went to rockingham and got our awesome couches aswell.

So yes, it was kind of downhill from the first shop, and it was 42 degrees, but i still enjoyed myself. From now on I might just quit while i'm ahead!
xx

meme

oops. I was tagged for a meme in Ems blog, so now i have to post the fourth photo in the fourth folder in my pictures.

It's not so much a meme as a lulu.

My friend Louisa has amazing tattoos, this is one I photographed to make animations for art school. When i actually get around to doing that, i might post it. So, come back in a year or so. Pff.

Ohhh and i can't post it without posting one of her partner Ross's tattoo.

i guess i'll tag someone when there is someone to tag :P hmm bloggin feels pathetic when noones listening!

x

Inspiration: Angelique Houtkamp

Angelique Houtkamp is an amazing artist whose work I became familiar with on my trip to melbourne last year. She's one of many brilliant artists who show through the gallery Outré -along with other people of general awesomeness such as Beci Orpin, Kozyndan, Audrey Kawasaki, Mark Ryden and sooo many more (check out the Outré artists' page).

She epitomises a trend that seems to be taking over the world: vintage tattoos are oh so hot right now. That's not to say she has jumped on board- tattooing was her life long before garish Ed Hardy designs were spread across teenyboppers and waycool yuppies bodies everywhere. Rather than replocating old tatto designs, she reinvents them and integrates them into her own beautiful work. Her work represents a romantic view of vintage tattoo art, as well as crazy awesome modern tattoo flash that... is just the most brilliant form of art.

Buy her book, Tattoo Darling(available at Outré), and breathe in the beautiful glossy pictures, and you'll probably be wondering when and what you'll get for your first tattoo. Or, if you're already tattooed in some form, you'll be left wondering how to raise the money to fly to amsterdam and pay her €250 to perform her magic on you.

(All images (c) Angelique Houtkamp)

Paper Aeroplanes

This is an animation I made for my Art studio project at Curtin. I was working with notions of impermenance and permenance, as well as the significance of placing text or images on the body.

This is my tattoo that i had done to contrast with the faded movement of the animation.

A lot of people don't like tattoos for their permenancy or their (dissappearing) social stigma. I can understand that to a degree. I don't really like tattoos that people don't think about in terms of aesthetics and concepts- you know, the kind that you get when you walk in to a parlour and choose a genetic design off the wall and decide to just put it on your back so you can hide it if you want to. Although sometimes these can be genius, all my friends or idols who have tattoos that i enjoy are the ones who seriously thought about the meaning behind them, or atleast the aesthetic.

My favourite tattoos are my grandads old sailor tattoos, which he ironically had done spur of the moment :P however they do make reference to his family back home, and generally encapsulate his time in the navy and his travels around the world, as a lot of old tattoos did.

I love tattoos and the stigma behind them. A lot of my favourite artists use tattoos in their work as symbols of different things- to give a marine feel, add a vintage aesthetic or in a more conceptual way- manipulating the stigma to create presumptions by the viewer.

I'm looking forward to getting my next tattoo!

sssh

xx

Oh, kitsch.

Have i mentioned that i love ebay? I love ebay. LOVE.

I love it and its many kitsch gifts it offers.

Latest purchase: adorably sickening vintage swap card.

Oh the joy $2 can bring to simple folk.

I originally discovered these babies in Frankie (http://www.frankie.com.au/) and instantly adored them for their kitsch value.
They go super cheap on ebay, but i'm yet to find them in any opshops near me.
I dream of finding the perfect hidden stash.
I'm mental.
xx

the awesomeness begins

Hi there little lady fellows. I'm jen.
I'm a 19 year old art student with a big shaggy black dog and a penchant for all thing vintage. I'm obsessed with writing lists, art, deers, the word vagina and... junk. Hopefully i'll be sharing a few more of these things :)
Things that i'm bound to write about:
-cool websites i stumble across
-art and artists
-tattoos
-ebay and opshop findings
-vintageness
-kitsch

I get bored of blogs that post a million photos of the blogger, without any kind of filler or... interest! They can be pretty to look at, but also sometimes a taaad self absorbed.
I hope that my blog doesn't come off this way... i just want to share things that interest me with other people who share similiar interests. I want to kill time and give myself an outlet BESIDEs ebay, because i'm spending far too much money on there.
thats alllllll.
x