With the lockdown here in Melbourne extended for a WHILE LONGER, I need something to keep my mind off things, and what better way to do this than a new colouring in sheet (or 30!) My illustration is part of a project from the fab Together Gallery (ie: Claire Ritchie and Luke John Matthew Arnold) and this time they’re tackling the whole alphabet. I was lucky enough to illustrate the letter F and after much deliberation, decided the most important F at the moment is flowers, one of the few things getting me through this crazy time. Get your pencils and textas out and don’t forget to share your work on social media #togethergallery.
New Yallourn House print & a bit of history
OK, so I *may* have an addiction to drawing houses. Often pastel coloured, wonky houses. Some are houses I go past all the time and some are houses I used to live near but the latest fits neither of those categories - not only have I never seen this house, I can't see it because it doesn't exist anymore*. In fact, the town it's from doesn't exist anymore either.
So what is this place and why did I draw it? It's from a town called Yallourn, which was built by Victoria's State Electricity Commission to house the workers of Victoria's open-cut brown coal mines in East Gippsland. It's also the town that my dad grew up in and it looked to be a wonderland of green spaces with a vibrant, engaged community. But it's a town I never got to see because it was all but gone by the early 1980s. You see as the mine expanded, it swallowed up the whole area, and all of Yallourn. You can read a bit more about it here on the new house print's shop listing page here.
So that's the story with the latest house drawing. And even without knowing the background story, I still think it's just a very cute little house and I do hope you like it.
X Susan
* When I say the house doesn't exist anymore that may not actually be the case. A lot of the houses from Yallourn were simple constructions - a timber frame with weatherboard cladding - and were removed and relocated to towns nearby and also far away. So if you're ever in the Latrobe Valley region keep a look out and you might just see this house, or one like it. How cool is that?
Hello 2018
Yep, it's most definitely 2018 now but it took a while for the year to kick in here, due to a bit of an unexpected and crap end to last year. My advice: don't get food poisoning on Christmas Day, then faint with a glass of water in your hand and end up in hospital, needing plastic surgery on Boxing Day. Yes, that really happened to me. But there's nothing like being incapacitated to reevaluate your life and the point of your existence (and what you'll do with yourself if you can't take photos/draw/paint/use a mouse etc etc.)
Stitches!
And more stitches, just before they came out.
I'm glad to say that my hands are nearly all better, which I am sooo grateful for, and now I cannot wait to see what cool stuff awaits in 2018. At the moment I'm dedicating a bit of time each day to drawing (mainly because I'm so happy that I can draw) and have just listed a brand new drawing called North Carlton Houses, I've just sent off my first textile design to be digitally printed as fabric yardage (I really want to make myself some outfits from my own textile designs), I have a new batch of earrings waiting to be fired in the kiln and I am trying to finalise the design of a new multi-coloured screen print. Oh, and I can not stop taking photos and more photos. Hope your 2018 is going great.
Digitally printed textiles! This is a sample I designed and had printed last year.
This brand new print, North Carlton Houses, has just been listed in the store
Dots and flowers
The making of new continues! So some more new things have been posted in the shop, including Dots Mugs (to go with the dotty milk jugs) and a new print called Slow Down, which is A4/8x10" and is printed on textured canvas paper. Happy Friday to you.
Tegan Iversen in her Fitzroy studio. Photo © Susan Fitzgerald 2017.
Studio Space: Tegan Iversen
STUDIO SPACE: TEGAN IVERSEN
It's been a while but Studio Space is back, this time featuring the super cute workspace of Tegan Iversen, a Melbourne-based artist and illustrator. Tegan shares her light filled studio with another creative, Lara from label Eat Me Do. There are contrasting white and pink walls, with the space above Tegan's desk featuring her own colourful hand-drawn illustrations of rainbows, lips, hearts and lightning bolts. There's also a feature wall hand painted by textile designer Abbey Rich. The east-facing window looks over Brunswick St, Fitzroy, where you can do lots of people watching (and also see Adam Bandt of The Greens' office).
Tegan studied fine arts (drawing) at the Victorian College of the Arts and since graduating in 2014 has been super prolific, exhibiting her work in a number of solo and group shows and co-running F*EMS Zine. She's also done lots of freelance work, for clients including AHD Paper & Co, Voiceworks Magazine, Filmme Fatales and The Big Issue.
Most of Tegan's work starts out as a pencil sketch on paper, which is then drawn over with pen, scanned and digitally coloured. She's also working on a project where she's replicating music and film tickets, hand painting the lettering directly onto small blocks of wood using a super fine brush. Interestingly, Tegan doesn't have a computer in her studio, which means she can devote her work time to painting and drawing without too many distractions. She then does all the scanning and computer-based work in batches, when she gets home. What a great idea!
TEGAN IVERSEN: Q&A
How long have you been in your current workspace and where did you work from previously? I've only been in the space for a couple of weeks! I have a desk in my bedroom at home that I used to work from, as well as drawing in the lounge room on the couch sometimes.
Yours is a shared space. How many other people work in the space? Do you prefer working alone or with/near others? I share a space with Lara from Eat Me Do. It's really great as we both love colour and making quirky & cute work. It's fun sharing a space as you can get feedback whilst working & can bounce ideas and thoughts off one another & we also get time in the studio by ourselves which is nice too. Sometimes I'll work there late by myself. I find I'm most creative towards the end of a day.
How many hours a week do you spend there? Probably around 20 hours or so. I have two full days to spend in the studio every week and other times, mornings & nights, when I can just pop in. I have other work commitments at the moment on top of my art stuff, otherwise I would spend more time in there.
What's your favourite thing about the space? Having a place solely for art making is super awesome & I love that I'm able to decorate the space to make it feel like me. One of my favourite aesthetic things about the studio is actually the floor - I've always wanted checkerboard flooring, omg I love it!
How, if at all, has a workspace (this or previous) influenced the way you work? Having a place to make art outside of my home has definitely encouraged me to experiment a lot more with my art making - to take more risks, try different techniques & make larger scale work. It's given me the time to try painting, which I've always wanted to do.
What does your dream space look like? Probably very similar to what this space looks like, but just more physical space, which of course I would then fill with lots more stuff!
What inspires your work? Definitely colour, patterns, movies I see, things I do, places I go. Also my friends, family & all the amazing artists I follow on Insta, as well as visiting galleries & reading cute zines.
Do you have any tips for great things to do in your work hood? Omg there are so many great things around here, I am forever tempted to go buy tasty food & go shopping & go out for dranks every time I'm in the studio! There is the very delicious Vegie Bar & Attaboy Roy who has an amazing halloumi burger, Naked for Satan for drinks, Brunswick Street Gallery is just down the road & not too far away on Smith St is In.cube8r & Junior Space that both have beaut art & lots of sweet handmade things!
Finally, music or no music when you're working. Or podcasts? I love listening to something while I work. If Lara is in we'll listen to music otherwise if I'm in there solo I usually listen to podcasts. At the moment I've been enjoying listening to podcasts about art whilst I make art, such as Starving Artist and Wowee! podcast.
TEGAN IVERSEN: LINKS
Website www.teganiversen.com
Instagram hwww.instagram.com/teganiversen @teganiversen
Tumblr www.teganiversen.tumblr.com
Email emailteganiversen@gmail.com
Thanks, Tegan! And don't forget to follow Studio Space on Instagram: @studiospace_ #hellostudiospace
Words and photos © Susan Fitzgerald.
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Dawn Tan Workshop
I've been a fan of Melbourne-based illustrator and all-round creative Dawn Tan for such a long time and first remember hearing about her work back when she was a student, making human sized mashmallow and Ritz packets. Now Dawn's work regularly appears all over the place, including Frankie magazine, and she sells art prints, cards, does custom drawings and makes gorgeous soap. She's also a teacher and last year my 6-year-old niece attended a regular after-school art class with Dawn, where she produced amazing work. My sister was very impressed, so I decided to give her a Dawn Tan workshop voucher for Christmas - that way we could do a class together and get back to our crafty roots.
The class we booked is a newie - a wonton drawing and cooking workshop - and it was on Saturday. I learnt heaps - from how paint is made to how to clean and store your brushes, as well as different watercolour techniques such as layering and outlining. And we also learnt how to make an amazing wonton soup, which we then got to eat! I highly recommend attending one of Dawn's workshops and now can't wait to hear more about her latest adventure, Little Art Yurt. In the meantime, here are some pictures from the class.
Drawing and painting the ingredients that were to become our lunch.
Our classmates brought along fresh berries they'd picked from their yard!
Dawn's art is in the frame and our work dried underneath.
The wonton soup we made for lunch! So good.