25.8.10

New prints in the shop + waiting for Spring


Just posted 4 new prints up in the shop! Huzzah!
It has been so rainy and dreary here in Melbourne, that I've been finding it really hard to photograph these new prints. It's always too dark!
Well, last Saturday afternoon, the sun decided it would pop out from behind the clouds for 30 second intervals, during which I would quickly run to the living room, falling all over myself, and try to take a photo while some shred of sunlight shone through the windows.
There - the graceful mystique is shattered.

Can we please just skip the rest of this Winter business and go straight to Spring?

24.8.10

Bernhard Schnitzel - Attorney of Law


If I had to face court, I would have no-one but Bernhard Schnitzel representing me.

6.8.10

Lucille - finally online!



A few years back, I left my job and went to study animation full-time at the Victorian College of the Arts here in Melbourne.

It was an intensive year. When they said the course was full-time, they really meant it!
Working on our films, many of us pretty much lived in “the cave”, the VCA animation studio, animating in a caffeinated haze from 9 in the morning to 10:30 at night, at which point we’d get pushed out the door by the surly security guard.

I spent a few months working on a script for my final film, tweaking, developing and editing. Then at the last minute, just before I had to start production, a visit to a guitar shop inspired me to change plans and bang out a brand new script for what became ‘Lucille’. Readers of this blog may recall a few posts about the process of creating this film.

I’ve played in a couple of bands, and visiting guitar shops was always an excruciating experience. But it’s hard not to look at the funny side of them too. Those shops are full of odd little details, and characters who relish in living up to their own clichés.
A guitar shop is a concentrated mix of pent-up musical frustration, raging egos, trepidation and hope, and this is what I’ve tried to convey with this film.

Now that ‘Lucille’ has finished it’s festival travels, I can finally release it into the wilderness of the internet.
Hope you enjoy it!

Music is by Matt Lewin

3.8.10

Spacecadet Lullabies

Hey - you know that guy I live with? Matt? My... husband?
He's rather nice. And quite funny. And also - he's a musician.
We've collaborated on a lot of creative projects, and in fact, he wrote and performed the music for all of my short films.

He's got a solo project called Spacecadet Lullabies, where he creates ambient electronica using real instruments, vocals and sounds recorded around the house. This coming September he's releasing his second album, 'Ghost Songs'.

Last weekend, our buddies from Kick Kick Punch directed a music video for one of his new tracks "Tali Meets Mr Ricketts", which I did some vocals on.
Matt and I found ourselves awkwardly in front of the camera, with a dozen glowing, floating jellyfish made of wire, fabric, crochet tentacles and LED lights.


Photos by Ryan Humphries

A number of ladies spent countless hours crocheting and constructing these wonderous jellies, what an achievement! They looked amazing.


Photos by Chloe Gordon

Check out more photos on the Kick Kick Punch blog

The clip is coming soon, but in the meantime, you can hear some tracks on Matt's myspace, or check out his blog!

27.7.10

Double


Here's my submission for this week's Illustration Friday theme.
I've always found twins interesting. My grandmother had twins twice (!!)
That makes double the double.

Pikaland


My etsy shop got a little mention on the Pikaland illustration blog last week. Thanks lovely Pikaland!

21.7.10

Breakfast


Breakfast - If only it wasn't so early in the morning...

10.7.10

Featured on Etsy Front page!


Wow! While I was out, braving the crazy wind on this Saturday afternoon, my little bunny print made it to the front page of etsy! What a nice surprise! :)
Now, I'm not moving away from my heater for the rest of the day for sure. brrrrr...

1.7.10

Smile

It's the 1st of July today - the very middle of the year. How fast the year is flying.
Here's a little smile from the depths of winter to celebrate that at least it's not December just yet!

30.6.10

Shop!

I've been a bit of a secret squirrel this month, but now I have some exciting news!
Behind the scenes here at Milk and Cookies headquarters, I've been hatching a plan, and that plan was to open a little shop selling my artwork.

Today, after much fiddling, sketching, photographing and befuddlement, I can finally say I'm open for business on etsy. Yee haw!

I currently have 9 prints for sale in different sizes. Some that would be perfect for little kids, and some that would be perfect for slightly larger grown-ups.

They’re all professionally printed with archival inks on beautiful, heavy-weight, textured paper, which means they will last a lifetime.
Please head over to my Milk and Cookies etsy shop, and have a look. I'd love to know what you think! Any feedback or suggestions would be much appreciated.


28.6.10

Something Left, Something Taken



This is quite possibly THE sweetest animation I've seen in forever!
It was created by Tiny Inventions, a husband-and-wife team based in Brooklyn.

There's such a great mix of animation styles in this short, all with a cosy hand-made feel.

And if you want to know more about their process, the duo have written a giant behind-the-scenes post about the film on their blog. Inspiring stuff!

via Drawn!

23.5.10

The Red Eyes CD Launched!

I recently designed the album cover for Melbourne dub reggae giants, The Red Eyes.
They launched their album on Friday night at the Corner Hotel, and it was great seeing their fans walking around clutching the CD. (Yes, there are people that still buy CDs!)

Most of my design work has been web based, so every time I see my design on a real physical object out there in the "real world" it's still so exciting.

If you haven't heard it, the album is awesome. Big ups to King Charlie on the amazing mix and sweet delay dubby goodness.

12.5.10

bear aware

My entry for this week's illustration friday - fearless.

I find the concept of "bear aware" really funny, coming from a country that is unfortunately devoid of bears.

Despite carefully studying the "bear aware" guide in our hotel room in Yosemite National Park, my newly acquired knowledge disappeared when faced with a real live bear.
Yes - a bear. Looking right at me. And only about 3 metres away. (!!!)

What did I do? I turned around and said "Hey Matt, come here! There's a bear!"

9.4.10

Dip


Dip - for Illustration Friday.
Monsieur biscuit is having a relaxing dip in his earl grey tub...

11.2.10

Friends of the Federation Party

Australian Design blog, Design Federation is hosting its inaugural event tomorrow night in Sydney.
There are lots of talented local artists exhibiting work, and some of my animation works will be screening so get your butts down there if you're Sydney based, and are into design, animation, or just boozing it up! :)

Some local faves of mine that will be exhibiting work:
Matt Hyunh

Kareena Zerefos

8.2.10

Portugese Custard Tarts


My first attempt at making portugese custard tarts. Luckily they didn't explode all over the oven, but inside people's mouths instead. yum!
Here's the recipe.

4.2.10

Focus

Focus - for Illustration Friday.
That moment when all you're focusing on is music. Isn't that a great feeling?

2.1.10

Happy 2010

New years day = purple lightning storms and blueberry cake (recipe from smitten kitchen).
Resolutions yet to be finalised! However, cake-related resolutions will NOT be on the list.
Happy new year!