Tonic of Wildness

“We need the tonic of wildness…At the same time that we are earnest to explore and learn all things, we require that all things be mysterious and unexplorable, that land and sea be indefinitely wild, unsurveyed and unfathomed by us because unfathomable. We can never have enough of nature.”
~ Henry David Thoreau, Walden: Or, Life in the Woods

I love that Sugarhigh + Lovestoned have accompanied their latest shoot with such a beautiful quote and notion... It's the kind of thought that feeds into my artwork, and that I've been thinking about a lot lately.

And, when you top it off with some beautiful images, I just want to go back to the farm and think about it for a while.

Sugarhigh and Lovestoned

Model: Sequoia Annamarie Nelson
Photograhper: J.R. Furbush
Make up: Lauren Reed
Styling: Tovah Olmo of Spring Fever Vintage + Sequoia

via Sugarhigh + Lovestoned

Summons

Girl of the Golden West

I love the feeling of discovering something -- a new artist, a fresh set of photos, a heart-sinkingly rad piece of clothing -- and just thinking, there is so much remarkable, creative action going on out there, and we live in fortunate, crazy times; to be able to see it, as it's breaking and happening, even if it is halfway across the globe.

And damn, did I get that feeling when I saw this collab piece between Spanish Moss and Oracle Fox, for American Gold's SS13 -- Girl of the Golden West. Of course, the photography, editing and the clothing itself are beautiful too, but I'm just head over heels with that first image.
And now, of course, I want daisy-print everything.

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."