Gold American Apparel Leggings sprawled on the floor.

A junction of mirrored cubes rising like an irregular stepping ladder.

An open window with the curtain posed in the middle of the floor.

It was at Sarah Scout Presents that I stopped in front of this display.
Claire Lambe is the artist. I am the viewer and I am asking, 
"Claire Lambe what are you trying to convey?"

Lambe’s sculptural display of inflated buttocks gripped in a shiny gold material showcases the erogenous zone with a touch of pop culture glamour. But, like last night’s now forgotten ‘treats’ Lambe shows the same indifference, discarding them in the corner on the floor.

“We are living in an age of overt sexualization,” Lambe seems to be saying, “Different parts of the women’s body become glamorized as the new ‘it’ zone all to be overlooked the next day…or when we become old…”

Flirting with sexually tinged themes and distortion, Claire Lambe stops the viewer.

 I stood in front of her layers of glass cubes. Gazing down, I realized the mirrors were arrayed in such a way that no matter how I turned my head, my reflection was always distorted.  

And, the curtain standing amidst it all, covers a woman’s breasts from the peering eyes beyond the window.

With themes of glamorized sex, physical distortion, and modesty, the artist plays with the viewer's psyche.  

Titled ‘Lazy Boy,’ Claire Lambe’s exhibit will be on view until April 28^th at Sarah Scout Presents. One of the featured artistic spaces in Van Haus, SSP is worth the walk up Crossley Street for a view of the featured international artists and a chat with the owners, Kate and Vikki. 

Fashion is that ever changing whimsical interpretation of our times. The sixties had their sexual revolution through the mini skirt. The eighties had the power and money in the shoulder pads and over sized baubles. And, the nineties had heroine chic and grunge in a  nod saying ''We don't care!" So, what are we saying in 2012?
I think that with all that is at our disposal and our ever growing online networking and celebrity obsessions we're saying globalization...

Contrasts of sensual stark photographs were featured alongside an industrious gown at ‘Fashion Capitals of the World’ . Plastic and metallic surfaces were integrated into prim tailored garments. It was an exhibit posing the contrasts of beauty and rebellion, history and the future. The year 2012 is certainly not the end of the world, but a year of reflection and moving forward…

‘Fashion Capitals of the World’ is an exhibit interlocking five international design schools and twelve internationally acclaimed fashion photographers for a visual delicacy of the industry’s finest and brightest talent.

Held at the AustralianAcademy of Design, the garments of the international design students were showcased for one night only on March 26th.

However, the photography will be display until April 5th.  So, until then expect to enjoy the rawness of Takeshi Miyamoto or wink at the cheekiness of Sarah Johanna Eick (Dogs in bow ties and blonde side do’s)…

Somewhere outside city lines in the hub of Elsternwick I came across this work of graffiti tucked away behind a cafe...

I would love to take one of those optical illusion tests where they would show me these pictures and ask ‘what do you see?’ Martian brains, ducks with cool glasses, and a wizard trapped in a volcano. Definitely maniacal, but charmingly fascinating, the colors and detailing popped out beautifully to me.  Applause to the artist. 

What’s brewing in fairy tale land? How about ArtBoy’s exhibit featuring roughly 25 different Melbourne artists painting, sketching, or digitally computing their interpretation of their favorite fairy tale? But, these aren’t the tales of the little damsels from my school days. Red Riding Hood’s clenched fists say ‘I can handle myself.’ Who’s afraid of the Big Bad Wolf now?

ArtBoy, that bold alabaster space on Greville Street in Prahran, is a retail and exhibition gallery for Melbourne's talent. Featuring only the most audacious and progressive artists in group shows, ArtBoy seamlessly blends the emerging and established in themed exhibitions…An animated thrill every time. And, I've been favoring ArtBoy for a year now.

Why do we love Fairy Tales so much? There’s Hansel & Gretel, the abandoned children who had to flee from an old lady trying to eat them, Snow White who had to flee from her Step Mother trying to kill her, and who can forget beautiful Rapunzel whose father bargained her for his life. Why do we read these stories to our children before bedtime? I’ll tell you why. Because, Hansel & Gretel cooked that old witch, Snow White lived happily ever after, and Rapunzel found her prince. Defeat and triumph over adversaries Hans Christian Anderson was trying to say…

ArtBoy’s Fairytales will only be on view until mid April before they move on to their new exhibit 'Going Nuts'. I highly advise taking a peek at Granny Red in her bustier or the Good Huntsman who’s credits boost not only a swelling eight pack, but I think the card underneath read he was a plastic surgeon as well. I always enjoy interesting spins on Classics…

“So, what inspires you?” He was a junior student stopping me on the street as he snapped a pic for his fashion thesis. He complimented my style. I awkwardly posed. I knew that what he really wanted was a snap of my studs…

“Right now, I’m inspired by art; in particular graffiti.”

“Where did you get your shoes?”

“Bleecker St.”

“Thanks. Nice meeting you.” He walked away. I felt used for my shoes. But, more than that I felt inspired, so much so I snapped my own pic of my studs against a back drop of graffiti, the ideal setting for a pair of shoes elevated on the plateau of cool.

Graffiti is beautiful and rebelliously cool like Warhol and his soup can days. At first, both were ‘accursed taboos’ by the artistic elite. Then they both sparked their own particular cultural scene before they were copied and commercialized and later idolized.

So, what does a girl with a hobby like that do when she’s in Melbourne for a year? Capture as many cartoons and sketches, tags and engravings of graffiti as she can.

Graffiti is beautiful and rebelliously cool like Warhol and his soup can days. At first, both were ‘accursed taboos’ by the artistic elite. Then they both sparked their own particular cultural scene before they were copied and commercialized and later idolized in museums and galleries.

The studs I wore today were rebelliously cool. They gave my pearl collared blouse a dash of street creed that prompted a fashion student to photograph me and me to photograph the studs and a few cool pictures of graffiti. Inspirations work that way…

So, here are a few graffiti pieces I saw and loved today. I’m sure there will be more to come. And, I’m sure I’ll find myself working towards getting a snapshot of every graffiti work in Melbourne…

Bespoke men’s footwear is their game. Roberts&Hassett is their name.

Tucked away up winding stairs on Somerset Place is Captains of Industry. A floor devoted exclusively to men’s services. The Melbourne Gentleman can enjoy a coffee, a custom suit, a traditional shave and of course bespoke leather goods.

While enjoying an herbal tea, I snapped the duo working. Roberts & Hassett spend an average of 1-2 weeks on one pair. Each shoe is hand stitched, hand dyed, and made to order. These gents are in demand too with a six month waiting list for a custom pair of Roberts&Hassetts. Impressive for a studio a few months shy of celebrating their 3^rd Birthday.

Satchels, belts, wallets, and briefcases are other leather goods the duo specializes in. And, women can be included as well. They may be known for men’s shoes, but Roberts&Hassett can customize a pair of shoes or boots for the Melbourne Lady…only no high heels!

Unamed Soundsculpture from Daniel Franke on Vimeo

A KINETIC EXPERIENCE OF MUSIC, AND DANCE THAT PLAYS WITH THE DEPTHS OF LIGHT AND DARK. FILMED FROM THREE DIFFERENT CAMERAS, A WOMAN’S DANCE IS DOCUMENTED IN AN EXTRAORDINARY TRIBUTE TO OUR SENSES, AND TECHNOLOGY…

EVERY NOW AND THEN SOMETHING NEW COMES ALONG THAT JUST ABSORBS YOU...

Life kindly graces some with all the enduring qualities that make mothers proud and all those around her love her. With an honest smile, unending kindness and a beautifully melodic voice, Cilla Jane is the girl Life has smiled upon. She shares that smile through her music.

“Music is a universal language…expressing the inexpressible and getting in touch with emotions.” ~Cilla Jane

It is a language Cilla has been expressing since the tender age of seven. Her floating vocals enchant with tales of wise owls and her body made of glass. She nudges your heart with her honest sensitivity, but in other songs you laugh with her and share her jubilant joy of life and freedom.

“Hold your breath, jump over the edge. Close your eyes. Hold on for the ride…Won’t you sail with me just to be carefree.” ~ Cilla Jane ‘One Deep Breath’

Sailing off to Paris in April, Cilla played a goodbye matinee at the Northcote Social Club this past Sunday. “Je veux de la bière." I lounged on the carpeted floor in front of the stage and stared up at one of Melbourne’s gifted singer songwriters.

“Come Back To Me” was a love song she sang with sweet hopeful o’s and a happy longing for what is yet to come. Ironic, though for such a song to be linked to her telling the audience it would be her last performance in Melbourne for awhile…

‘Goodbye’ was my best love song of the Sunday afternoon. Her voice bellowed with a strength that tore away from the typical sweetness played in her other sets. She sang of the difficulty of saying goodbye, of someone who would miss her, but how she had to go...

“I left it all far behind. And I’m moving so fast you couldn’t even catch me if you tried… All these places I have yet to see. All theses doors open. Open up for me.” ~Cilla Jane ‘On My Bike’

Melancholia shadows us. Allow it to touch your mood for only a day and you might wander as I have into a space painted with leaded eyes and bored hunched forms in “The Space Between Us.”

A woman stands against the back drop of an urban setting. Her lost expression and aimless posture is the tattle tale sign of a heaviness that makes even opening your eyes in the morning feel like a burden.A man swallows his eyes in his hands, his fingers resting on the stress points of his temples. There is nothing around him.

They are alone in their surroundings. They move and do in the daily repetitions, but smiles and joy never come their way.


 I felt alone the day I saw the paintings. In a city bustling with smiles, and movement, hugs, and LIFE, my hands were cold, my sighs many, and a psychologist may have written me off as acutely depressed.

Walking into Blind Side I felt that the exhibit mimicked my emotions mockingly. And, I began to wonder ‘why do I feel this way?’ These weren’t the faces of people attacked by disease or a tragedy. My melancholia wasn’t linked to anything…

“I felt it was important for work depicting an emotional state to create a response or memory of the same emotional state in the observer…”~Chris Bennett, Artist.

Eerily gifted at painting an emotional state, Bennett’s “The Space Between Us” also harnesses the viewer to question the cause of the emotion.

“This… work explores the dehumanising quality of the city in Western culture…the way in which individuals become alienated from their environment… and each other, resulting in…apathy. The works aimed to create a sense of mono no aware…it is a sorrow of the loss of touch.” ~ Chris Bennett

Later that evening, I rushed into the arms of my loved one. Could his touch be enough to lift off the shadows of Melancholia? I pressed harder into his embrace. 

My nose nuzzled into the softness of his sweater and my ear rested against his heart beat. A heavy sigh left my body. In a city with an endless array of entertainment, somehow a simple moment embraced in a hug was what I needed to lift away my melancholia. Perhaps, Bennett was right in his observations. There is a 'space between us." There is a disconnect. And, for a lucky few a warm embrace is all we need to come back to life.

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""What fuels me is dressing up...putting on a beautiful dress and feeling gorgeous. Wear a ball skirt to the supermarket if you feel like." ~ Lady Petrova

I want to wear a ball skirt, a violet one speckled with bits of glitter that the designer herself stepped from behind her counter wearing.

"Hello Beautiful." Lady Petrova welcomed me into her Flinders Lane shop with cute smiles, candy colours, and bits of princess lace trimmed on delightful dresses. Butterflies fluttered inside me...I feel like a girl again.

Petrova's 'prom dresses' have garnered a following of starry eyed girls for years. Proudly, I raise my hand as one of them. A lace dress gives the allusion of being spray painted, but is soft to the touch. A hand-painted skirt is overladen with sheer tulle. And, a yellow jacket dazzled with black stones, appears shocking, but is lovely on.

Her little shop holds all a girl needs to feel gorgeous. There are glitter shoes from Mel, jackets from House of Holland, pieces from the cult label Sretsis, flower printed tights, and of course a girl must not forget her jewelry.

"I have amazing new crysta l jewelry that I'm quite obsessed about," she gushes about the large amethysts crystals strung on a rope and chunks of the crystal on onyx knuckle dusters. It's the jewellery for a fairy tale princess who can take care of herself.

And, do you remember the Valentine's Day Candy shaped like hearts? Words like 'Wow' and 'Love Bug' were written in pink (until you nibbled them off). Well, Lady Petrova has a range of rings shaped exactly like that. I almost did a double take myself, asking for a bite of one of the treats.

So, how does a girl go about fashioning a career of making girls feel beautiful? It began when Petrova left university for the job hunt and was told she was 'too creative'. A fabric sale on Chapel Street sparked her 'too creative side' to spend all of her money on vintage lace. The bold move became her label Lady. She opened up her first shop and then it was off toProject Runway. After being a finalist, she renamed her label Lady Petrova.

Now, I'm not going to tell you what my favorite pieces are, least you wander in and pluck them up yourself. But, I will invite you to her shop yourself to pick out your (and hopefully not mine :) favourite pieces yourself. Her new Winter 2012 Collection will debut in May, but I say visit her shop before then for a lovely hello.

Lady Petrova is a treat and I'm not only referring to her designs. She herself is a fun sweetheart, and I still have stars in my eyes from her calling me 'Beautiful'.

One of the lovely things you notice in her shop is Evelyn Tarunadjaja’s drawings. The hand drawen nyphm girls grace the walls of the shop with long hair and little critters.