The Week In Pictures is back, as you would have noticed I skipped a week or so as I’ve been recovering from my recent surgery. Slowly but surely getting back on track. When you get really sick it makes you stop and think about the things that are really important in life: loved ones, your health, having wonderful experiences rather than accumulating stuff, contributing positive things to the world rather than negative, being thankful for simply being alive. A big thank you to all my beautiful friends that have sent well wishes, new music to listen to, handwritten cards and letters, super fun packages that really brightened my day and kept me from feeling gloomy—I love you all so much! You make my world so much brighter!

(Pictured above) Drum roll please… da da da dum! My Golden Stapler Awards! They’re so sparkly! It was so lovely to be recognized for what I do. Unfortunately I couldn’t attend the awards at the This Is Not Art/National Young Writers’ Festival as I was too tender and sore to travel but they did ring me live from the event which was neat. They rang twice, first to tell me I’d one Best Zine Produced in Australia (as a series) for 2011 and a second time to let me know I’d won the Australian Zine Maker of the Year Award! Super thanks to Simon Gray and Format Collective for such a rad event, thanks to my Paper Cuts Collective co-founder Staples for bringing them home for me and to all that voted!

This Week: Golden Stapler Awards!; appreciating being alive in such a beautiful world; discovering amazing new music that I just know people will be soon buzzing about; meeting new truly inspiring, incredible creative people; surprise packages in the mail; and working on my health! 

My magic Interview Questions Notebook. I take this with me everywhere I go – the artwork was handpainted on by an artist from Mexico, I picked it up at a market stall a friend does called Rock City Zombie – it contains interview questions which I’ve used and which I’ve thought up throughout my years of interviewing. It’s one of my favourite things! I write everything down… maybe one day I’ll write a book ;)…you can see my skirt in the background, it’s tribal print – a favourite – I got it at an op shop; my ring is a Goddess Ring from Lotus Mendes; & my nails are done with Rimmel Green with Envy + Kit Cosmetics Move Up metallic tips! I love painting my nails.

Inspiration notebook. While I’ve been resting up I’ve had time to catch up on pasting all my favourite finds from magazines into my Inspiration notebook. I’ve had piles of clippings for months and months that I just never get around to organising. It’s so nice to have a handy reference when needing inspiration. I tend to group things in colours and shades a lot of the time. I’ve been loving black, blues and grey – which is unusual for me because it’s usually the louder and vibrant the better!

‘Unleashing my goddess’ with my Goddess Ring. I just adore this jewel! Its designer Victoria Cheatham sent it to me, she said she loved my ‘vision and passion’ for all that I do. It was such a beautiful gesture… every day when I wear it reminds me of all the positive work I’m doing here at ConversationsWithBianca.com and it reminds me of all the wonderful inspiring creative people that cross my path and come into my world every single day and that help make my site all that it is. Stay tuned for an upcoming interview with Victoria about Lotus Mendes and life as a jewelry designer soon! (FYI: in case you were wondering… I only ever write about, feature and support things I truly love… I always have and always will… I think that’s pretty evident though in how I have conducted myself throughout my 17-year-career doing what I do… just sayin’).

Another JR piece that brightens up the house. This one started life a little differently, he recently made a few changes. To see the transition check out his art blog: All Birds Must Die. I really love this pastel piece and this sketchpad piece too. Artparty all day every day!

Love = his + hers Deathset tees hanging on the line side by side! Love the palm trees in the background too, I LOVE living on the Gold Coast!

Homegrown food is the best! Look how amazing these tomatoes in my garden are! Can’t wait to make a spaghetti sauce with them… nom nom nom! Both Shawn Stern from Youth Brigade and Punk Planet magazine’s Dan Sinker have talked about the joys of homegrown tomatoes in interviews I’ve done with them.

A rose is a rose is a rose is a rose. I love nothing more than stopping to smell the roses in my garden. If the wind is blowing just right I get a rose scent throughout the house. It’s little things like this that make me so incredibly happy… no matter if I’m feeling a little blue, frustrated etc nature always makes me remember the beauty in this world.

 What’s making you happy this week?

Gratitude,

Since childhood I have been obsessed with magazines. I enjoy the content, look, feel, and smell of the paper—I care about gsm & typography! (lol) I justify a $20+ magazine purchase as ‘research’ and I make special trips into the city just to browse Borders’ international magazine imports and day dream of having subscriptions to all my favourites: Vogue, Juxtapoz, Dazed & Confused, Marie Clare, Tattoo Life, Self, Monster Children + more. Notice there’s no music magazines on the list? The reason: honestly, I dislike most music journalism (more on that in coming posts).

For my own music writing work I prefer to draw inspiration from somewhere like Vogue than Rolling Stone, NME and the like. The way a writer from Vogue describes a couture garment is much more honest, interesting and informative than most reviews and features I read in music mags. I feel that I am getting a truer representation of what it is beyond somebody’s personal opinion—apart from a select few whose opinions I have come to value and trust (over years of following their extensive and informed body of work). To me, most music writing (that I’ve found) has no depth or soul.

Now, the one thing I love more than flipping through a publication is cutting it to pieces to make something else—hence my love of cut n paste zines perhaps! I especially enjoy taking things out of context and giving them a new significance (I’m a big fan of Exene from X’s collage art and Jhonny Hobo’s photomontages). I’ve been working on a couple of pieces I will post once finished.

For the past few months I have started to keep an Inspiration Notebook where I make collages in a sketchbook of things that I find inspiring. I’m a huge fan of Nubby Twiglet’s Fashion Notebook (so far spanning 10 years) and Decor Notebook collection. Besides the biggest reason—it’s fun and makes me feel incredibly joyful all that cutting, pasting, organsing and dreaming—it also comes in handy when I’m needing inspiration for photo shoots, planning my wardrobe, art works or my work in general. It saves a lot of time and effort having material that I adore to readily reference. It also functions as somewhat of a mood board.

I’ve also found it interesting to see what kinds of images/objects I am drawn to, there’s definitely reoccurring themes. I adore the exotic, the decadent, the simple, the ancient, the futuristic, the astral, the cute, the embellished, the nerdy, celebrating and embracing ethnicity, bright colours, retro paintings, things that sparkle, pop art…. and pugs! Here’s a little sample of what’s been moving me of late.

What’s inspiring you currently?