This month we'll be attempting to get the offspring to cooperate long enough to get to Utopian Slumps to see the new group show Grow Wild. Not just because it has some of our absolute faves in there - the woody Dell Stewart, the squiggly Nathan Gray, the illustrative Neils Oetjen and the Queen of Craft Penelope Durston - but because we are intrigued by the statement "It's easy to forget the pleasure of the wild and the primal, especially given the place in the distant future we sometimes seem to have arrived at. The truly metamorphosing moments in life where we're confronted with wonder and sadness and need and desire are the times when the wild reappears in all its elemental glory". Top job peoples, we're already planning our uber hip opening outfits, just forgive us if they aint 'posset' free on the night.
Opens December 5 @
It's pieces like this Bruce Lee "one inch punch" figurine and the ghetto fabulous number from the Pimps Hoes and Johns collection above that so endear him to us - that and the fact that he is a self described tinkerer.
He created the Do-It-Yourself wooden figure for the brilliant NeighborWOOD show (held in Portland USA 2006), in which he crafted 50 figures and sent them out to a select group of artists worldwide to custom finish. A superbly simple idea which beautifully crafted results. Beck drooled wistfully over it for moths, wishing that the bloody thing would some day be available here in Australia for everyday peeps with itchy fingers, model paints and triple zero brushes to have a crack at. However, as she is want to do, she'd forgot all about it until Ramona started up her Christmas inspired wood craftin' frenzy. And so the longing began anew, but this time she was a little more pro-active - and after a wee bit of google research discovered that Bigshot Toyworks have managed to get it up as a retail product. 
oh yes people its a hip hip hooray kind of day because another Amazon delivery has arrived in the backyard in no less than a US postal service mailbag, which is so amazingly cool and Newmanesque we'll have find some king of crafty use for it in the not too distant future.
However, in the meantime it's all about silver threads and golden needles for finally we have a copy of the ever fabulous 
We know how insanely busy it is at the moment, and we know we've already foisted a market on you as a MUST SEE but we just couldn't let this one pass you by. We love a collaboration, and a kick-ass creative partnership even more so, as you can imagine we were very pleased to hear that one of our favourite duo's (and fellow bloggers) are currently in town showcasing some of their work at one of our favourite shop/gallerys in Melbourne: 
They say of their latest show..."Hunt & Gather is a series of works drawn from a mishmash of experiences at flea markets. To us, the flea is a festive event, one filled with both delightful curiosities and people. There is something tantalizing about arriving at a market with the hope that you might uncover some hidden gem amongst the endless rows of objects from the past. It is this fascination of a time far gone and the thrill of the hunt that draws us (and undoubtedly others) to continually return." Well we could hardly argue with that!
Hunt & Gather will be on show at 
a little greaseproof paper and hot iron, and away she went.
Five minutes later Voila! the finished product - which worked out an absolute treat, in fact so perfect they look 'just like a bought one', only these two are customised and waaaaay cooler, just like the twins. 
