wedding, urban new yorker style.

i am working on a wedding this week....  

got me thinking about weddings.

weddings that are romantic and whimsical,..without the fluff.

check this out.

i love it.

the venue,..  the clothing,... the style,..  the happiness on the faces.  

you can check out more fabulous weddings here. on a bicycle built for two.

jane xx

quilty + olley

i have blogged about mr. ben quilty before.

honestly, he is one of my favourite australian contemporary artists.

so, i was rather pleased to learn that he won the prestigious archibald portraiture prize for his work of fellow painter, and australian icon, margaret olley.

(oil on linen)

"When Ben Quilty first asked legendary painter Margaret Olley to sit for him she said no. ‘Her lack of ego is so appealing,’ says Quilty. ‘Margaret didn’t understand why anyone would want to see a portrait of her.’

Quilty met Olley when she was a guest judge for the 2002 Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship, which he won. ‘She’s been a friend and great supporter of my work ever since,’ he says.

Born in Lismore in 1923, Olley was awarded the Order of Australia in 1991 for service as an artist and to the promotion of art. In 1996, she was awarded the Companion of the Order of Australia.

‘She’s such an inspiration,’ says Quilty. ‘She was a feminist ahead of her time. She’s vigorously passionate about social and political issues, as well as art, and is enormously compassionate. Margaret has such an infectious attitude to both life and death. Recently, I was amazed at how many new works she had on the go. She said to me, “I’m like an old tree dying and setting forth flowers as fast as it can, while it still can.” I thought that was such a powerful metaphor.’

As for the bright palette: ‘You just need to walk into her home, which is also her studio, to see that you couldn’t use anything but striking colour. It’s full of translucent works-in-progress, beautiful drawings, sculptures and flowers, so I wanted the portrait to reflect that.’

Most of Quilty’s work to date has been about masculinity but he says, ‘Margaret has had such a powerful bearing on my career. She has asked me constantly for years to stop painting ugly skulls and paint something beautiful.’ Quilty has just finished a series of paintings of his wife."

(information via. art gallery of nsw)

if you are interested in reading more about margaret olley, her bio, 'far from a still life' is a fabulous read.

look at her lounge room!  fascinating!

and, just quietly,. all australian, male contemporary painters should look like ben quilty.

jane xx

peace.

goodness me.

what an incredibly odd twelve hours.  

shall we all begin again?

a blog is a very personal outpouring,..  an online diary of sorts,..  i started my blog quite simply to share beautiful / thought provoking / creative ideas and images with people who were interested enough to stop by and have a look.  

creativity and originality are important to my business model,...but don't need to be an overriding factor in the world of styling.  

the job of a stylist, is, quite simply,. to style.

sure,. some stylists are also designers,..thought leaders,...trail blazers,.  but not all the time.

my aim of this blog is not to push new and original ideas at every chance,..  but to show people what inspires me.  to showcase the things that i am loving at the moment,..  to promote the business ventures of my friends and colleagues,..and, quite simply, to share the world of styling with folk who are interested.

'interested' being the operative word.

such is the beauty of the internet.

if you don't like it,..you can close the page down,.. walk away,.. turn your laptop off. 

not necessarily leave rude and disrespectful comments at the bottom of posts.

this blog is not about that.

enjoy the rest of your weekend, friends.

jane xx