Heads and steps

People walking up and down the stairs.
Everyone has a unique way of doing that.

Green turtle boy!

So here he is!! He's finally ready and varnished :)

His body was originally a wooden box which I was close to throwing away, but something told me not to! His legs and hands are made out of old wooden rulers, purchased from a second hand bazaar (together with some other stuff :P).

Monday..

Unlike the "Monday complaints" I usually make, today I cannot complain :} The day started off with a meeting involving a wedding photoshoot... after an hour of exchanging ideas with the client, the meeting ended up with the great news of having custom souvenirs for the wedding. And I will be working on them!!! I was so happy =D News like that make feel like I'm going to explode with ideas and I was highly motivated for the rest of the day! Most probably the souvenirs will consist of tiny canvases, all hand painted with different colours. We still need to narrow down our ideas until we have the perfect one! Plenty of time left anyway!

And speaking of little canvases. I painted this little one today. I'm really liking these canvases.. I need to purchase more of them and work on a whole set of plenty of canvases.


Here's another thing I started working on today. It's not ready yet! This little googley eyed dude will shortly have a pair of hands and legs soon :}


And here are some pics from my short stay in France. The bands in the below pictures are:
I'm from Barcelona, Bloc Party, Emily Loizeau, and E-bony Bones (seen at EuropaVox!)

New painting and sketches

I've finished a painting this evening. I am quite surprised that I actually managed to paint in this unbearable heat! The painting's title is "Cohesion".

Also, I finally found the time to scan a few sketches from my sketch book.

Raindrop Head

New painting on canvas :}

Photos: Market + The making of...

So I've decided to share with you some photos of the preparations and set ups used for taking the photos which where exhibited last weekend at Earth Garden. These photos involved four months of preparation and research.

Make up: Justine Fava
Model: Analise

Wrapping the model with construction tape!

As you can see the bus stop sign is a real onel, as many thought it is photo-shopped! This was the toughest shoot - the waves didn't help at all! But it was definitely a fun one.

Us hanging the clothes, making sure the colour scheme is right. That washing machine was actually found dumped over there.

Dressing up our tree... with paper! This took us around an hour to do. Cutting those tree shaped papers was so much fun and they actually reminded me of childhood crafty activities :)

Black make up used for the "Air Pollution" photo

And this is the dress used for the same shoot. It's made out of two garbage bags and big white buttons sewn with nylon thread.

And finally, some pictures from the market experience :) It was so rewarding to see how much people liked the magnets!



One last thing - the talented Lisa Falzon interviewed me this week. The interview can be viewed on her blog just here!

Going abroad tomorrow - I'll be heading towards France for a European festival called EuropaVox. So I will be away for a few days!

Exhibited Photos @ Earth Garden

As promised, here are the photos which were exhibited this weekend at Earth Garden. I can finally publish them online :) Each photo represents a current environment issue and is presented with a relevant quote.

Click on the images for large preview...

The conversion of a natural area to an urban are means the
destruction of whatever was there previously (Simon Bacchus, 2001)


Marine pollution has become widespread due to the disperse
and diluteattitude of most countries. For many years, many
argued that the oceans andseas were so large and
deep that all the pollution dumped would be rendered
harmless by dilution with water. (David Vella, 2001)


Due to human activities such as the combustion of fossils fuels, deforestation,
and vehicle exhaust, concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide has
increased by about35% since the start of the Industrial
revolution. (Peter West, 2005)


For at least the last 100 years, sea level has been rising at an average
rate of about 1.8 mm per year. Scientists project rising sea levels to continue
through the 21st century, with levels increasing between
7 and 22 inches by 2100. (Alley, Richard et al, 2007)


The population of Europe generates about four billion tons of solid

waste each year – about 5 tons per person. (Laurie Collier Hillstrom, 2003)



What we must realize is that the paper products we use daily could
have been a part of a forest which functioned to enrich and hold soil,
absorb carbon dioxide, collect and recycle water, release oxygen,
and regulate climate. (Stock, Jocelyn and Rochen, Andy, 1998)

Each photo was printed on laminated foam boards of size 24x16". Here is how the photos were displayed at the event:

The next posts will include pics of the market as well the making of the above photos :)

Preparation...

Two days to go for Earth Garden! I have been busy preparing and making lists :} I've created a total of 44 clay magnets, and 8 pendants. I will also be selling original paintings and merchandised items at the market. Really looking forward to this weekend!
I will post some pictures of the event next week, as well as the 6 images exhibited in the exhibition.

Bag make over

So I bought a set of three bags for cheap a year ago. They have been lying around in my room for months. I always waited for an idea of what to make out of them to pop in my head. And yesterday evening my head popped :P I grabbed the yellow bag and created this relatively evil looking monster. His red mouth is made out of felt and his eyes are black buttons.

The other two bags are red and green and they're still in the "make-over queue" :) I'll wait for other ideas to pop into my head. Here are some pictures of the yellow one...


On my way of taking some photos today I noticed this small theatre (Orpheum Theatre) with beautiful details. I've passed from the same road a million times but I never actually looked up to observe it!


I came across an image of the interior on Flickr. Photo was taken by Ian Grundy. The style and colours are amazing!

three little canvases

Acrylics and ink

Some pictures

A few weeks to go for Earth Garden, and the exhibition!

This is when the jellyfishmonsters become magnets

The messy desk

My dad's old suitcases came in handy when finding a place where to store the newest magnets!

white lady

photo of the day

A little update

So I decided to dedicate this post to update you about what I've been up to lately. Apart from work and usual routines, I have been working on a photography project, related to the environment and related issues. Each year, an event called Earth Garden is held at a local national park. It's an event full of art, food, markets and environment related events and stands so as to create public awareness. The project I have been working on will be exhibited during this event - it will consist of 6 photographs, each photo representing an environmental issue. The photos are also aimed at underlying the important reciprocal relationship between us and the world in which we live in. The event will take place in a few weeks time (23-24th May) and I'm really looking forward to it. I'd love to share some of the photos I have taken so far, but I have decided to post them after the event!

Apart from having the photos displayed during the event, I will be selling some of my jellyfish monster magnets at the market! So lately, I have also been creating some new cute magnets! I've taken some photos of what I have done so far. I have loads more waiting to be painted and varnished.. and they're also waiting to have their dangling feet attached too! :)

And this a music addict monster who can't live without his I-pod Nano ^_^

And here are some of my latest purchases:

How to Make Books: Fold, Cut & Stitch Your Way to an One-of-a-Kind Book

by Esther K. Smith
(beautifully illustrated!)

Little People in the City: The Street Art of Slinkachu

(Original and impressive photos of "little people" taken around in London - check out his blog here)

And this pair of yellow shoes I bought today! (I'm having a thing for mustard and yellow lately)

This arrived yesterday - A cute spider t-shirt by ZoeChen. A cute shop with good quality clothing!

Species Bookworm

A little blue bird who enjoys reading books about bird species, particularly owls.

--

Acrylics, indian ink, pens
A4

Urban Dyptichs

A couple of urban/moody diptychs.
Photos were selected from various photos I have taken over the past years. I've realised that I have A LOT of photos on my external hard disk! It's great to re-discover some old works.

Sometimes, two is better than one.

The cat lady and green clouds

Woopsie..

Structural colonies

A few structures and shapes that struck my eye in the last few weeks.

CG Shoot

Another shoot! This time it's Claire Galea, a jazzy singer with a magical voice.
Below are some of the photos from the shoot. You can spot the bird cage mentioned in my previous post :)

Chirping Music

I have created this little concept for a photoshoot I had today. Will post photos soon!

New Order and some doodles

I woke up one Monday singing songs by New Order. Saw the video of True Faith on youtube. I love the blue robotic and funny looking dudes in the beginning of the video. Watch it here.

Who said rainy days are boring?

Such days are perfect for capturing a unique gloomy mood in photographs. I was out today checking out some spots for upcoming photoshoots.

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To anyone from Sydney visiting Life inStyle fare - My bags will be on sale at a stand titled Lumbi. Really wish I could be there!! It's on from tomorrow (Thursday) till Monday! More information can be found here.

little windmills

Sometime ago I noticed these little handmade windmills outside a pretty mysterious house. I finally got to take photos of them. They look so easy to make - they were probably made from magazine pages (I noticed a Dove advert on one them :D), stuck onto some cross shaped wood. I spotted three of them spinning round along the wind - the effect was great!

A reason to be late for work

"I got caught in a web, Boss!"

New month, New googley eyed magnets

Peter Squares

Phillipa Pimples

Bob Bubbles

Polly Polka

Jellyfishmonster magnet with hair! The coolest of them all... Mister Wigz!

More here!

Skimmed the band! - new shoot

I had a new shoot of the band called Skimmed a few days ago. The band will be recording shortly but here's their myspace.
And here are some photos from the shoot!

The spoonhead dragon

A new painting - 20x8"
Acrylics and paper on canvas


Details

Eye catching

On the way to getting some photography assignments done today, I seemed to notice various eye catching surfaces, shapes and scenes. Somehow they made my day better.. so I thought I'd shared them here. So.. here they are.

{I saw the nails with my own eyes - 10 hammered nails. There's a possibility of them

having a pointless purpose though if you notice the little white bag lying on

the ground. This caught my eye straight away - made me smile too.}

{The cross actually belongs to a pharmacy. I loved the mood of this scene.}

{Some old furniture lying outdoors}


{Random patterned tiles stuck onto a wall of a boat house}



{The colour combination looks good to my eye!}



{This boathouse/garage looks so unique. Loved the yellow windows - on the sides too}


{Played around with the yellow windows and the green greeeeen grass}


{It rained all day! Clearly, rain can create a distinct effect.}


{The shapes and the colours - a balcony worth adopting!}

The Brainy child

New work... :)
I made use of the press-on letters I mentioned here. Doesn't he look like a bright little chap?

Mustardness... and more.

Here is some recent work from my sketch book. Seems like I am going through a "mustard/yellowish" phase :)My collage called "My imaginary friend" was featured on the brilliant ffffound.com

Also, a poetry organization which are involved in a poetry e-zine called Press 1, featured a selection of my works in the second volume. Some of the illustrations are relatively old, but still special to me. Have a look here.

Sadly, the rainbow ward project had to go on a short pause. This could actually mean i'll have more time to create and paint more stuff. But I do miss working on those walls!

Thanks to an unexpected discovery of an old stationary shop in Valletta, I bought myself these sheets of press-on letters. The selection was so vast - I bought 2 sheets of Dattilo letters and 2 others of Forma letters. I'll definitely pass by again and browse through more sheets!

Aaand finally, here's a self portrait taken in my little home.. my room that is. And those are some of my paintings hung on the wall. Oh yes, the wall is mustard! :)