'katherine blouse' 2010 silk organza,shibori dyed and handstitched
GET smART
The John Curtin Gallery is planning an exhibition and auction featuring select international, national and local artists and designers who have participated in the gallery's exhibition program since its inception in 1998.
Get smART( a play on the words 'get some art' and the 1960's TV show, GET SMART) is a fundraising show giving art lovers, collectors and gallery supporters the opportunity to 'get some art' acquiring quality contemporary artworks by established and emerging artists.
I have been invited and have submitted the above piece to the show which is running from 10 June - 13 August 2010.
The show culminates with an auction on the 13th August.
Be sure to check it out.
John Curtin Gallery,
Curtin University, building 200A
www.johncurtingallery.curtin.edu.au

With the weather finally giving us a change into the winter season we have just dropped into
store our second series of winter items. This collection is a group that features an original
monchrome print that I designed called Geisha Medallion. it is one of those prints that features
a wonderful geisha girl and a fantastic floral yet within the print there is a lot of space so that
when you wear one of these pieces the design has a beautiful rythmn that travels over the body in a really flattering way. Each piece promises ease of wear whilst looking elegant and interesting.
When I think back to what inspired me for this series(we are talking a year ago, for I design
12 months ahead) I had just visited Bendigo, Victoria where there was a fabulous exhibition on
called The Golden Age of Couture. Essentially it was a wondeful show displaying designs of
Paris and London from 1947- 1957. There were many Dior designs to feast my eyes on and mostly it was a collection showing the incredible hands on details of construction
required to make clothes of this nature. I was struck by the difference in structure of clothes of that period yet was fascinated by the shapes that were created by these methods. I wanted to take something of this yet use a soft cloth like viscose lycra that is so beautifully easy to wear and create draped shapes that could translate into the wardrobe of women now. Designers of this time
were also inspired, like me, with translating prints from other exotic cultures like Asia and colour seemed to be used as a liberation from the sombre tones of the war years before
then. I like to punctuate winter dark tones with rich colour and the colour that I used for this winter was also inspired by that trip to Victoria. Whilst driving through the countryside on the way to Bendigo, I was taken with the colours of the pastoral landscapes before me that were quite different from Western Australia.I took from my observations a green that is more olive than lime, a purple that I saw in the moody clouds over the scenery and a rich rust that was echoed in the earth of the goldfields of Daylesford and Castlemaine.

megan salmon is launching a new label for winter 2011.
Its called 'upstream' and it focuses on sensitive fabric choices, bold prints and handmade details.
Be on the lookout for great knits with forward thinking shapes and dynamic prints.