art
Sep
Well last week, I was meant to be in Christchurch for a work conference. Thankfully (for me and my workmates, not for Christchurch), the earthquake happened before we arrived. Around a week before we arrived, actually. And like the ace project managers that we are, my colleague and I put aside everything and re-organised what had taken me more than a month in just a few days. Yes, HIRE ME, I’M ACE. AND I had a nauseating virus that kept me bedridden for the entire week before our departure. Nauseating. Virus.
So off we went. To Auckland. Yes, still New Zealand, but there’s much airspace and some water that separates the two locations. Lookit:
To be honest, the best part of the new arrangements was that we ended up flying Emirate instead of Jetstar and I was able to down a bottle of Moet. Yeeha!
Besides all of the conferency knowledge that filled my brain (like, how to sleep with my eyes wide open, how to make 2 hours feel like 7, sweet is better than savoury at morning tea, etc), I did some walking around the fair city of Auckland and found the Texan Arts School - yes, you heard me - the Texan Arts School. In New Zealand. Specialising in New Zealand artists. Like Lester Hall. Here’s something he prepared earlier.
"Miss Kiwiana Stamp" by Lester Hall
They also had this in Texas, which is now sitting pretty above my pop-art kitchen doorway.
Ironically, JJ and I don’t wear watches and I have a rather aggressive dislike of THE TIME. But it’s not a clock really, is it? It’s a cultural icon (which means nothing to JJ, given that he was born into 24-hour cable TV, hence his less-than-underwhelming reaction – “Oh. Huh. Right.”).
Certainly brings back memories of bedtime, doesn’t it.
Nighty night.
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Jul
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Posted by
Betty | Category:
art
Sometimes, things move me to the point of tears. Come on, I know you’ve been there - an old European man limps down your street and your heart skips a beat, or your puppy yelps dejectedly from the other room because she can’t jump up onto the bed. A few years ago, I saw a wonderful documentary about Mark Rothko that made me feel that same sadness with the grandness and scale of his work, the moodiness… And then I saw the real thing at the MOMA and all I could do was sit and stare and feel as though I was watching an old European man as he limped down the street.
Lonely.
Wintry.
Empty.
My heart skips a beat.
And then this week JJ and I attended the opening of Julia DeVille’s new exhibition (alongside William Griffiths) at the Sophie Gannon Gallery in Richmond – “Night’s Plutonian Shore”. Inspired by Poe’s “The Raven” it’s a voyage into the artist’s inspirational world of life and death.
Disturbing? Sometimes.
But also poignant, whimsical and, surprisingly, optimistic.
We can only HOPE that we, too, will end our days here with jewels in our eyes.
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Jul
A little while ago, I wrote about my new toy. See the results here: http://www.yoyolovespeaches.blogspot.com/
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May
So for weeks now, JJ has been teasing me about how he’s got me the best birthday present ever and how he’s completely outdone himself. Now, I happen to find that hard to believe because, well, here’s a very short list of the birthday presents I’ve received from him over the years:
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Shopping trip to Penang. I know. It’s pretty freaking extravagant , but seriously, it’s just that we have no kids. And anyway, I saved us SO much money buying fashion in Asia.
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Red and black cord coat from Dizingof
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A necklace from William Griffiths not too dissimilar to this one (except mine has a heart instead of a gun!)
So he’s pretty good, right?
Well, I have to say that all that stuff is pretty ordinary compared to this year’s pressie on a number of fronts. I mean, he ACTUALLY managed to keep it a secret, and even managed to get Momo and Tim to keep it secret.
When Momo was in town recently after her superstar jaunt to the Australian Fashion Festival, I yelled at her thus:
“Tell me what he freaking got me for my birthday.”
To which she replied:
“No”
I don’t care for surprises, just like I don’t like to know what I’m having for dinner. There have been many disapproving conversations with JJ that have gone something like this:
JJ: What do you want for dinner?
Me: Oh I dunno, can’t you just decide?
JJ: How about macadamia chicken?
Me: Really? Can it get any more caloric?
JJ: Asian noodle soup with silverbeet?
Me: Silverbeet, hey? Hmm, sounds boring.
JJ: [Big annoyed sigh] Steak and salad.
Me: Hmmm…
JJ: Forget it. I’m just going to make something and you’ll love it.
It’s true. I mostly do love it.
I prefer a surprise when I don’t know I’m getting one. By all means, surprise me, just don’t let me know about it because it’ll drive me crazy!
But it was all worth it this year because BEHOLD!
JJ COMISSIONED A PIECE OF ART BY ONE OF MY FAVOURITE ARTISTS, CHRISTINA GORDON. You may have noticed a link to her artwork on this site. She’s glorious and talented and I love her and I love this! Its called “Yoyo and Peaches perform“. How clever of her to know that Peaches would be the one jumping through the hoop while Yoyo cowers… THANK YOU JJ AND THANK YOU CHRISTINA.
Oh yeah, my birthday’s in a few weeks… He couldn’t keep it a secret that long.
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May
It’s true, it does take me a while to cotton on to things. So, I only just joined Facebook (and subsequently left it) a few months ago. I may recently have said something like:
Me: Hey, are you on Facebook? It’s really cool, huh?
The rest of the world: Um, yeah, right.
So anyway, here’s my new toy. Isn’t she beautiful! Her name is Helga, the Holga.
I’ve already crossed to the wrong side of the railway tracks and photographed the silos, as well as Momo’s beautiful kidneys – not on the wrong side of the tracks.
Yeeha! I am going to take some spectacular shots of neighbourhood.
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