Sunday morning, coming down

I'm reading a biography about Jimi Hendrix at the moment. So I very much feel like the world ought to be upholstered in velvet, tasseled suede, gold embroidery, beads -- it should be over-saturated with far-out-acid-sparkles of colour, light and tiny mirrors -- we should be out under an expansive, three-quarters-drunk sky, building all kinds of mystical Spanish castles or golden winged ships, weaving flowers or creating something. 

And then also (to draw on a quite opposite cultural reference), like George Costanza, I would drape myself in velvet -- all day, every day -- if it were socially acceptable.

So, with both George and Jimi in mind, there's a strong argument for why I love Tunnelvision's new lookbook Sunday morning, coming down -- velvet, embroidery and embellishments, tassels and rich, deep colours. Maybe the aftermath of some late-night-early-morning debauchery, drinking and jamming with the ghosts of Jimi, Janis and Jim...

And also, the two ladies who run the show at Tunnelvision -- Madeline and Brit -- seem like the kind of chicks who it would be fun to spin some tales over a bottle of whiskey with, and who also use their online voices to push for something a bit more meaningful than directing readers toward the next thing to consume.

Strange lands

This dress is probably the best thing I've ever purchased from an op-shop. 

I'm still deciding how I feel about that wallpaper though.

Thanks for being rad

Thanks for being rad.
Supportive. For stopping by, and checking out what I do. For digging it.
It's really encouraging, especially when I spend a lot of my time by myself, looking at things and thinking:
"What the hell? This sucks. I'm quitting directly."
Anyway, I appreciate all the support and kind words incredibly, even though I'm mostly a bit reply-challenged when it comes to social media.
Thanks,
Dig xx

Home from home

Wow. The last four days just flashed by, but I wish they could have dragged on.

And yet, here I am -- back at my desk on an overcast Melbourne Monday morning, daydreaming about the farm: swimming, fishing, beer-drinking and canoeing in the cool, freshwater river (which I didn't even get the chance to swim in this time), dusk-time drinks in the back garden with my family, fairy lights and pups, standing on the cool verandahs and looking out at the midday heat, sandwiches with fresh-cut ham and homemade pickles for lunch, rainwater that tastes like water should, even though it's stained a little with eucalypt leaves... Ah well, next time.

Anyway, the reason I was at the farm was that my sister had the most beautiful wedding. Hopefully I'll be able to share some photos of it on here soon. It was so perfectly put together (not to mention photogenic) and truly represented her and her husband... but it was all over too quickly!

So for now, it's back on the mousewheel...

Somedays...

Just a quick little piece of type/cactus bloom...
Loosely based on that Hunter S Thompson quote: "On some days you get what you want, and on others, you get what you need."

One in five

Bits and pieces from the last few weeks via Instagram (@raychponygold)... I'm about to go into illustration-worker mode and make good on some promises, so I might just disappear for a while.

Also, my sister's wedding is on the horizon (a week-and-a-half!), so I'm looking forward to going home and seeing my family. 

Mum called the other night to tell me she's put an antechinus skeleton in a bird cage so the bugs can clean it off without other animals taking it away... unique behaviour there.

Mother totem

God. It took me two days to finish this (that includes a lot of procrastinating, namely lying in the sun reading a Jimi Hendrix autobiography and drinking tea).

Every time I start out drawing a waratah, I'm reminded why I never draw them. They're excruciating. And this is only the third time I've tried to draw one. 

But, this is for my mum, and she digs waratahs and regent bowerbirds, so. 

I'm not sure how she's going to feel about the wallaby skull (she's not big on "dark" themes)... but it is a nod to our ongoing argument about who gets to keep the animal bones my dad is always finding.

So here it is. Mother totem.

Strange totems II

More strange totems... Finished and in the works.