Jan-Feb Big Love List: Stubborn Bitches Win Big. Red Lips, NP City & Ms Xoe Hall.

Kate Moss, photography by Ellen Von Unwerth (Vogue Italia, 1992); via Vfiles

A whole lotta love this January & February. Here is my list of goodness:

♥ Quality not quantity.

♥ My new MAC stash, especially my new lipstick in Russian Red; so matte, so good.

♥ Okay, this list of 25 Clever Ideas to Make Life Easier has some suggestions that made me go ohh. Like amplifying the sound of your mp3 player by placing it in a bowl, baby powder being an awesome post-beach sand remover and making a tray for half a dozen cupcakes by cutting crosses into the lid of a shoe box. Awesome!

♥ Gin cocktails & Reality TV. Me and my girl Maia know how to party.

♥ The Wellington Cup. I got dolled up and went along with my Mum, Dad, brother & his lady. It was a really fun day; my first ever time at Trentham and an excellent excuse to break out a pair of what I like to call my “sitting shoes” because they definitely are not made for much in the way of moving around. My folks are members so I got to hang out in the Member’s Lounge – wood-paneling and traditional airs contrasting wonderfully with the outré headwear and boisterous conversation – which is the perfect spot to hang out: mint seats and a private bar. Hell yeah. I also drank champagne out of a crystal winner’s cup; I don’t know who was more amused, me or the guys who’s celebratory shenanigans I tipsily jumped in on.

♥ Being far enough away from Central that the sirens give way to native birds singing; having a view of the horizon; a big wooden deck that warms in the sunshine. Home.

Ashley Smith, photography by Ellen Von Unworth; via Vfiles

♥ Eating at Pickle (posse time; shared an interesting menu with some of my favourite people, drank a delicious Jarjito*), Bin 44 (family time! First time at this place – the food was nothing to shimmy and shake about, but the service was rad) and Dragonfly (convoy time; fuck I love this restaurant – food, cocktails, service, atmosphere, everything; I feasted on eggplant and accidentally nailed myself to the wall with passionfruit caprioska slushies; superfun)

♥ The stubbornness that is holding my dreams together like superglue.

♥ Spending a week in New Plymouth with Cam at his folks’ place. So, so relaxing. The Taranaki coast is one of my favourite things about this country; it is beautiful in a different way to Wellington’s. Calmer. More powerful somehow. There is a restaurant called Arborio that rustled up an amazing vegan bruschetta with zero hassle and fucking impeccable service. See also: delicious guava daiquiri. If you are ever in the neighbourhood, pay them a visit, your belly will thank you.

♥ Lots more views on Kitchen Rebellion in the new year! Bring it; bring it BIG.

♥ http://blackandwtf.tumblr.com/ YES YES YES.

♥ Dinner at Hede last month, catching up with a couple of friends on holiday from Melbourne**, during which I had my first taste of sake. As far as drinking strong, warm liquor can go down smooth, it went down very smooth… ahem.

* Being a Mojito in a jar
** Part of the ongoing Great Wellington-Melbourne Exodus

Bridget Hall, photography by Ellen Von Unwerth (Vogue UK, 1995); via Vfiles

♥ There are some sweet tutorials in this big ass list of how-tos: The World’s Best Sewing Tutorials over at Alinas Adventures. I am a shameless lover of rad storage options. Shameless.

♥ Catching up with a friend I hadn’t seen in far too long, who introduced me to the beautiful secret that is Hashigo Zake; love her and love that bar. The craftiest of craft beer, good food, sweet & knowledgeable bogan bartenders.

♥ Humanoid Robot Plays Motorhead’s Ace of Spaces. Irresistable.

♥ Reading about Scientology. I can’t get enough of The Crazy right now; it is insane, brutal stuff. I need to get my hands on a copy of Going Clear, the expose published recently; it was written by Lawrence Wright, an investigative journalist who won the Pulitzer Prize in 2007.

♥ Xoe Hall! Xoe is one of my favourite local artists; her technicolour, pop-infused work can be seen around town lifting the game of businesses, gracing the walls of galleries, making the street sassier and, more recently, making the wardrobes of Wellington girls way more badass via Mortal Gods.

These are my five favourite pieces from her gallery:

Love Hurts, 2012

Cute Kill, 2012

The Geminis Battle for Sanity, 2012

Pyro Baby, 2012

Glitter docs for Mortal Gods

Check out Xoe’s site, and the Mortal Gods facebook page; there is lotsa crazy goodness to be had. You know you want in on the action! Right now I’m in the midst of arranging for a Mortal Gods Siouxsie Soux vest to be born. Cuz I need one. Hell yeah.

 

Here’s to an amazing March!

♥ ♥ ♥

 

My Favourite Artists from Juxtapoz Dark Arts

Juxtapoz is one of my favourite mags, and I also love their supermodern, happily leftfield series of art books.

I checked the Dark Arts volume out of Central library recently; two of my favourite artists, Polly Morgan and Liz McGrath are in there and I also discovered a bunch of awesome people whose work hadn’t crossed my path yet. It is a rad book – available here if you can’t resist!

Wendy Cogan Toyoda ♥

Visit her site here.

“I align symbols of the decorative with the cheap, gaudy and luxurious to create an atmosphere of discomfort… I want to raise the question of what it is to be feminine.”
– Wendy Cogan Toyoda, via Juxtapoz Dark Arts (USA, 2009)

 

James Jean ♥

Visit his site here.

“I think the best paintings of mine are born from the deepest recesses of the mind, from dark and surprising places.”
– James Jean, via this interview with Theresa Ryan

 

Elizabeth McGrath ♥

I have so much love for this lady! Visit her site here.

““My parents had been instructed to burn everything I owned, including my photos and entire record collection…”
– Elizabeth McGrath, via this interview with Bizarre Magazine

 

Miss Van ♥

Visit her site here.

“The idea of provocativeness has also a part in my conception of my work. I have always liked painting a sexy doll in an inappropriate place. I want to provoke strong reactions.”
– Miss Van, via EureakArt

 

Polly Morgan ♥

Visit her site here.

“I find it difficult to say what inspires me. A lot of influences are caught subliminally. The most abstract things can become inspiration.”
– Polly Morgan, via this interview at IdeasTap

 

Jonathan Viner ♥

Visit his site and shop here.

“I’m really good at making enemys, well not really. I guess what I’m trying to say is to make sure that you watch my back, OK.”
– Jonathan Viner, via this interview at Fecal Face

 

Greg Simkins ♥

Visit his site & shop here.

“The best piece of advice I have ever gotten was to discover my own voice in my art.”
– Greg Simkins, via this interview at Empty Kingdom

 

Wellington Library rules, I actually don’t know what I would do without it: cookbooks, fashion design, graphic design, illustration, Bitch, Bust, Frankie, craft, cross stitch, costume. All for free (aside from the fines!).

Other Juxtapoz volumes include Tattoo, Illustration, Handmade and Poster Art. Cosmic has sold all of these at one time or another, so had the chance to check them out well when I was working there. Dark Arts is definitely my favourite – there is something about this flavour of art that I am drawn to more than any other; I guess it what feels the most beautiful to me.

 

Thursday Night Love List: Lady Rebels, Fresh Air & Our Pirate Future

David Bowie & Elizabeth Taylor, Beverly Hills 1975; via ExShoesMe

Bring on spring, I say! I want more crisp mornings and cool sunshine; walking in town today was so invigorating. The atmosphere in Wellington on a wind-free, sunny day is something that never gets old, no matter how cynical I might get about this lil town sometimes.

I think the thing about me-and-Wellington is we need space every now and then; it has been time to start planning a holiday for a while and this week wheels started turning. The plan has evolved into a 3 week holiday split between Melbourne, the Gold Coast and Sydney. Fuck. Yes. I am so excited! I’ve started with the to-do lists already!

Holiday-planning aside, right now I am lovin’…

♥ Femke Hiemstra‘s art.

♥ A friend of mine describing herself as a “house cat” ♥ I am so right there with her; home is where it’s at. My life basically revolves around cooking delicious food and hanging out on the couch with Cam.

♥ The Pussy Riot phenomenon. These ladies are awesome. For good measure, here is an interview they did with Vice magazine a few days before their arrest.

♥ Queuing an epic playlist; so satisfying. Currently grooving on Amon Tobin; I always find his music so wildly immersive. You kinda forget that it’s coming in from the outside and hear it in your pores. When an album comes to an end, the emptiness of the silence is always a jolt. You don’t realise how filled up with music the space had become – it just kinda slides in a fits right. Sexy, smoothly erratic. Right this minute, I’m swimming in The Bridge; it’s a kinda jazzy, slippery, film noir summer atmosphere album. Perfect.

♥ I really love Camille Rose Garcia’s work; somehow her Alice In Wonderland illustrations had escaped my attention until recently.

♥ Downloading a bunch of new episodes and movies. TV exists through torrents in my house. The networks and their fiendish advertising can dig their claws in elsewhere.

♥ ONLY THE YOUNG DIE YOUNG. Hat tip for the avalanche of punk rock eye candy and a playlist is made of gold!

♥ It’s not certain yet, but it looks like NZ is finally going to make same sex marriage legal! Last night the Marriage Equality Bill got voted through to the select committee stage. Something like 80% of NZers (and 100% of awesome people) support the Bill; fingers crossed that enough of our MPs finally feel the same way to get it passed into law.

♥ Being back at work this week, after a month of ruptured blood vessel-induced bed rest (ffs!). It feels sooo good to be back doin my thing at Cosmic.

♥ The Little Bird Unbakery. Aucklanders, I am insanely jealous that you live in the same town as this joint. Little Bird chocolate raw organic macaroons are the stuff that dreams are made of. My mouth is watering right now just thinking about them; seriously one of the most delicious things I have ever eaten.

Via Ffffound

♥ Crying out some bad news, putting it in perspective then sitting on the deck in the sunshine, looking at the sea. Life is good.

♥ John Locke has been installing these phone booth public libraries around New York City as part of a project called the Department of Urban Betterment. This is such a cool idea.

♥ Have you heard of Network 21? It was a pirate TV channel that broadcast from midnight on Fridays for a few months in mid-80s London. Alexis Petridis talks a little about it here in an article about pirate television. As he points out, the whole exciting affair has made it’s way on to YouTube and includes, among other weird and wonderful clips, live Einsteurzende Neubauten footage, William Burroughs reciting poetry, Genesis P-Orridge & dream machines, excerpts from Andy Warhol’s Trash, and the Rolling Stones in drag.

♥ Teenage Death Cult, Justin Blyth’s collection for Blood Is The New Black; amazing.

♥ Dark hair and a heavy fringe

Yayoi Kusama, via Ffffound

♥ ♥ ♥