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In a culture where negative self talk is actively encouraged most of us have days when we feel like we don’t measure up. This practice of comparing ourselves and our bodies with others rarely produces good outcomes. It’s such a damaging culture that even those with high self esteem aren’t immune. Even those who are activists, advocating for fat acceptance, aren’t safe.

When I find myself in these moments where I compare myself to others and despair at the ways I am lacking, I try to remember this. Some people are surprised that I can fight for size diversity, human rights and self-love so fiercely yet still be afflicted with bouts of crippling low confidence – but I’ve got to tell you right now, this is proof of our self-hating culture.

Margaret Cho, someone more eloquent (and hilarious) than I, says it really well.

Copy and paste this in a txt file, or make it your desktop. Read it all the time and remember it.

I came across The Colour thanks to Mishy, and spent a good 45 minutes browsing through the collection of fantastic Australian creative talent. I thought I’d do an art/ illustration/ design curation of fance based on talent I found through The Colour.

Laura La Rayna, a performer particularly noted for her aerial ring prowess. Laura worked with Brisbane institution the Vulcana Women’s Circus and now lives in Melbourne.

I have known Lilly Piri as an online friend for a few years now, which is funny considering she used to live just a little bit away from me! She’s now in Heidelberg with her husband and fellow awesome illustrator Heiko.

Sarah Hickey’s work is new to me, but I was instantly drawn to the bright colours and the clashing textures in her work. This piece in particular is very Mucha-esque but a lot of her work is inspired by Catholic iconography.

Matt Huynh is a Sydney-based illustrator who self publishes comics. I really liked this piece in particular because it evokes a sense of panic and loss of control within me. Not a particularly fancy theme, I know, but it’s illustrated beautifully.

Ahh Kat Macleod, I will forever envy your loose yet elegant style! Kat is one of the luminaries of the Australian illustration scene in recent years, and has done an incredible amount of really fabulous and consistent work.

Go check out The Colour – you can collect your favourite images and even contribute Australian creative talent yourself. I think it could be an amazing local ffffound-like resource!

Hello, many apologies for the late desktop but it is here now! This month’s desktop is the result of many hours of mindless doodling, and inspired by a billion things going on in my life. When I’ve got heavy things on the mind I have my own version of meditating – obsessively tiny doodling. I’ve been so flat out I hadn’t really planned anything for this month’s desktop so I though using my doodlings would fairly accurately reflect where I’m at right now

Pick a resolution, any resolution:
1920×1200
1680×1050
1600×1200
1280×1024
Wallpaper for iPhone (320×480)
Wallpaper for other phones (240×320)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.
You may not upload this desktop to other websites, nor may you use it for any other purpose than to wallpaper your desktop. This also means it’s uncool to alter it and reupload it somewhere as your own work.

The other week Cristina asked me if she could include some of my artwork in her interior design 3D Studio Max class work and she has posted the result on her blog today. Such fantastic renders! I used to work for an architectural firm and found 3D rendering intriguing. I loved seeing how she incorporated my work into the styling of the room.

See the rest of her renders at her blog.

I was asked to take part in Tribal Theatre’s opening night exhibition on March 11 at the old Dendy theatre and jumped at the chance to show my work alongside a number of rad Brisbane artists including: Ellen Stapleton, Clarissa Bones, Bel Johnstone and S.J O’Connor. There will also be short films shown throughout the evening.

If you want to come along, make sure you send an email to Sam and claim a ticket as they’re very, very limited.

I haven’t really had time to work on any personal art in the last few months and I worry sometimes that if I don’t take time out for myself that I’ll forget about all the things I want to say and draw. Yesterday I took a day off to recover from some busy weeks (and yep, the holiday!) and thought I’d take my pen to the latest issue of frankie which has ample space for doodling facetious little things.

I read popular culture a lot more deeply these days, and while I avoid most of it, some things are still palatable – frankie being one of those things. It’s not without its problems, in particular I find it to be quite homogenous in the sort of people it represents (white and young and left-leaning and fairly financially comfortable). When I do my little snarky doodles I’m not mocking the models themselves, rather I’m asking questions of the branding and positioning of the magazine itself (and any other magazine I doodle on!) So I submit these doodles without comment for you to think about and perhaps discuss in the comments between yourselves

Today is my Dad’s birthday! I’m not sure I’ve posted photos from when I was a little girl, but today is probably the best day to do this because my Dad’s moustache was hilarious and there’s no better day to make fun of your father than his birthday!

The day I was born. Look at that mo!

Dawwww. And taken with a proper Polaroid camera, none of this Poladroid business!

A photo from more recent years to show his fashion sense (and facial hair) situation has improved! That’s my Mum behind him, I guess I get a lot of my ~~unique~~ personality from them.

Happy birthday Boonge!

The lovely Rebecca Murphy has organised This Little Piggy, an exhibition of 25 artists and 25 little piggy banks, and it’s opening on February 12th at China Heights. Indeed, I shall be one of those 25 artists and have vandalised a little piggy in the most loving way.

Let me tell you about this particular little pig. I received him in the mail courtesy of the brutish hands of Australia Post, and he was in pieces. I figured I’d incorporate a little of his turbulent history when creating the piece so instead of carefully gluing him back together and glossing over his many battle wounds I drew different patterns on his many portions and created Advice Pig. If you go to the show, you will see an example of his sage wisdom on the other side…!

Here’s an artist list to prove how fabulous it will be: Ben Allen, Burntfeather, Caitlin Shearer, Chrissy Lau, Dreams of Grandeur, Emma Kidd, Gloz, James Carey, Jessica Klingelfuss, Kaitlin Beckett, Little Gonzales, Luke Burcher, Megan Dell, Mz. Kat-ii, Natalie Perkins, Nicole Tattersall, Qwux, Rebecca Murphy, Renee Anne, Robbie Karmel, Tiger, Tony Curran, Yewot, Yolanda Stapleton, Yuki Nakano.

If you’re in Sydney town do go check out This Little Piggy
Opening night: Friday February 12th
China Heights
Level 3, 16-28 Foster St, Surry Hills.

The facebook event page is over yonder!

Trilogy was listed as one of i love typography’s favourite fonts of 2009, and with 103 variants it has incredible flexibility. This sample demonstrates some of that fancy flexibility!

Shannon Fricke is one of my favourite stylists. I love the way she uses colour and pattern!

This cute cardboard bedroom suite was posted on Tumblr, but with no attribution I can’t find the creator of this and move into their house

I think what I really like about this photo is the brogues. I really want to buy some but I can’t find any in a wide fitting! The lovely photo is by nicole ☆ lynn.

Because Yoko is the best. Even Nick, a massive Beatles fan, admitted that he likes her more and more.

Aurora Robson’s studio is full of these magical air born clumps of recycled bottles. Totally inspiring! More photos at C-MONSTER.net.

Today I spent the afternoon with some friends at the Asia Pacific Triennial at GoMA. It’s one of the most fun and engaging exhibitions but it only happens every three years, so it’s always a must do. Entry is free, making it a lovely and value-packed few hours too! You can come back and find new things to explore and think about too, as it’s on for three months.

The lighting cast beautiful shadows, I always admire the delicate lighting at the Queensland Art Gallery and GoMA.

See more pictures of APT6, what I wore and our dinner at Vapiano!
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