anna gleeson

a letter from nobuko

2012-02-15T17:40:00.006+09:00

i would like to draw your attention to this lovely letter from my friend nobuko. we write each other letters in each other's languages on this blog; to keep in touch and for practice.

2012-02-10T12:58:00.003+09:00

at angor wat, a siem reap garden and a cambodian ikat.

2012-02-07T13:47:00.000+09:00

kengo kubota makes shirts

2012-02-03T12:41:00.002+09:00

my friend kengo kubota has started making tailor made shirts. he will measure you himself and his design process involves having a conversation with you. he's based in osaka but i'd love to get a gang of shirt-wanting people together and bring him to hong kong....

2012-01-13T19:20:00.000+09:00

some of this year's excellent crop of christmas and new years cards.

2012-01-10T20:30:00.003+09:00

new work by alice bernardo just went up in the show i'm curating for remote.

2012-01-06T20:05:00.004+09:00

it's about this time every year i think , wait - i was going to design a calendar! and then i think, if only i had a calendar i would put 'design next year's calendar' in it around about june.
but i did make a new years card. it's not a dragon.

2011-12-13T16:20:00.001+09:00

photos from a quick visit to paris last week. rainy and cold and lovely.

2011-12-08T23:33:00.002+09:00

i have been playing with pigments from the chinese art supply shop. this was labeled azurite. they have changed their packaging now to little zip-lock bags in little boxes but they had one packet left that was the 'old packaging'. they apologised!
they also had some Gamboge shoved in a bottom drawer - yellow resin from a tree that gets collected in the hollow of a bamboo cane. once it congeals and dries they break open the bamboo and sell the gamboge in that stick shape; mustard coloured and shiny.

2011-12-05T20:16:00.002+09:00

the floor of my studio. the ceiling of (maybe) my new studio.

2011-11-24T20:06:00.002+09:00

last week my sister interviewed me....

library

2011-11-21T16:12:00.002+09:00

this super grainy photo of hong kong is hanging downstairs in the foyer of the library building.

risograph

2011-11-18T19:36:00.003+09:00

i found some lovely friendly people with a risograph printer here in hong kong! yesterday i went to meet them and tried making a print. we hadn't brought anything with us to copy but my friend tanya had her baby tied to her with this batik, so we copied that.

i have made two editions of giant paper earrings for edition x; now available in their store in melbourne or online.

some new work by brion nuda rosch went up in the exhibition i'm curating over at remote.

collection

2011-11-17T12:54:00.003+09:00

i love these cheap floor mats made from fabric remnants. we used to have one that my great-grandmother made from old petitcoats that was all pastels with black and white. but these colourful made in china ones are great too. i'll find a stack in one store that are all the same but i've never seen the same one in two stores. or if i go back to the same store two weeks later they will have a new one. clearly they are made from a river of fabric remnants, always changing. limited editions. i think i might be starting a collection.

dresses are vessels

2011-11-10T18:15:00.000+09:00

i've been drawing tea pots and cups a bit lately.

i like what june schwarcz says here:
"i like vessels partly - you've got an inside and an outside. i like things hidden. i love textiles and i love clothing. i get lots of ideas for vessels from clothing because the body's a vessel and a dress is a vessel and so's a hat..."

found

2011-11-04T23:37:00.000+09:00

ma'dan reed houses

2011-10-25T17:25:00.005+09:00

i found these gorgeous houses by accident; researching something else. they're like really big baskets you can live in. i want to build one in the backyard this weekend. apparently they can be taken down and rebuilt in a day - in case your rent goes up.
here's a nice blog post about them.

arrangement

2011-10-20T13:04:00.001+09:00

grey woolly jumper

2011-10-19T09:09:00.001+09:00

remote: courtney price

2011-10-14T21:14:00.002+09:00

some really lovely work by portland based artist, courtney price just went up as part of the exhibition i'm curating over at remote. go and feast your eyes.

as pretty as a prayer book

2011-10-11T21:20:00.003+09:00

i spent a weekend in singapore recently and loved the museums. the asian civilizations museum was a favourite; with rooms full of batiks and loads of beautiful islamic calligraphy.
just before i left someone told me about la liberia: a book arts centre with classes, a store and exhibitions. next time.

coat hangers are like question marks

2011-10-07T13:53:00.002+09:00

i'm thinking about drawing every thrift store purchase from now on. it might just slow me down a bit; make me think twice. or i might end up buying things just to draw them.

there's something about old clothes that fascinates me. this red and white t-shirt's label reads feel at ease.

a day at the library.

2011-10-05T20:51:00.002+09:00

i also read about rosanjin; a ceramicist who hosted isamu noguchi in japan. apparently rosanjin used to get really angry if his maid didn't bring him a cold beer the very second he got out of his bath. he went through a lot of maids.

begonia

2011-09-29T13:25:00.000+09:00

i had this lovely thriving begonia that died all of a sudden. over-watering i think. starting again from a few leaves. begonias are agoraphobic. they like to be in a tight spot. funny that.

books

2011-09-27T13:55:00.005+09:00

i have this many notebooks on the go.

and i just made a book (first time in years) thats this thick; and with a headband made from embroidery thread wrapped around rope.

remote

2011-09-06T14:08:00.005+09:00

i'll be curating an online exhibition at remote starting today and unfolding over the next six months. i'm excited to be a part of this project which is still quite new.
at the end of the exhibition period the work gets de-installed and edited into a hard copy book. what i really like about the format is that it uses two media in a really appropriate way - online for exploring and evolving and a book for something more thought through and refined. we'll see where it goes...

this image is from the first artist in the exhibition se nash.

an edition of earrings

2011-09-02T21:59:00.002+09:00

i've been busy in the studio this week making an edition of giant paper earrings for a new project in melbourne. last week i decide to write a japanese blog post once a week and this week...um, i already haven't.

carla lavery and felicity gleeson have made a dress

2011-08-31T17:35:00.007+09:00

isn't it gorgeous?! i swore and fell of my chair when i first saw it this morning.
it's made of linen and laser-cut silk. it's felicity and carla's first collaboration and their first play with laser cutting. they made it for the tessuti awards, have a look here and vote for it (by clicking on the love hearts).

installation at hop inn

2011-08-26T22:03:00.003+09:00

this week i finished an installation at the new hop inn in tsim sha tsui. hop inn is owned by two of the sweetest peas i've ever met and it's where you should stay if you're ever visiting hong kong. their new inn (opening later this year) has 27 rooms, each done by a different artist. chihoi, my favourite hong kong illustrator did a room and a bunch of other great people. and i did room 23!

for this project i decided i wanted to work with one of the hong kong sign-makers whose work i'm often admiring on the streets of hong kong. they cut each letter or character out of cast acrylic sheet, bless them. i went and hunted down a sign maker in mongkok. poor fellow, it doesn't really make your afternoon when a foreign lady with a strange request hunts you down. but we got there, tony and i. a big thank you to simon for skillful interpreting and negotiating.
日本語の説明もある。

work in progress

2011-08-19T21:34:00.001+09:00

crappy iphone photo of...

i'm taking a ceramics class

2011-08-06T14:45:00.000+09:00

first go at wheel throwing!
also had clay on my knee and in my hair. so much fun.

something i'm working on

2011-08-04T17:42:00.003+09:00

people who do walls

2011-07-25T13:29:00.004+09:00

recently i received a commission to paint/draw/do something to a hotel room. looking up some technical stuff about how to paint on walls (which i haven't done before) i came across the work of some people who do walls.

1 + 2 jun kaneko

sumi ink club

i don't want to do something that would be just as good in a book. i'd like to do something that's specifically for the room. it's a whole new interesting problem for me.

cho shinta

2011-07-13T19:36:00.004+09:00

i picked up this great little book at crayon house in omotesando. it has giant mushrooms that go collecting people and trees that come down from the mountain with chainsaws to cut down tall apartment buildings. kind of makes me snicker and then....worry. not bedtime reading.
it's by cho shinta who, according to the world wide web, is a childrens book author. he's written something called the gas we pass, the story of farts.
it doesn't seem to have an isbn but has this website instead. tom's box looks like it's a publisher with a bookstore in kichijoji.

batsu batsu batsu batsu batsu

2011-07-06T18:51:00.001+09:00

again again again again again

it's got my name on it.

2011-06-30T17:38:00.002+09:00

a bag of fabric with my name on it. sometimes if i order something from a store where they don't have a lot of foreign customers they'll just write missy on the docket. i like it.

sydney's earrings

2011-06-24T13:19:00.000+09:00

some earrings i made especially for sydney. and some others.

hand drip

2011-06-23T23:55:00.003+09:00

boy, i really miss tokyo today. i miss talking to nobuko. i miss the book shops. i miss hand-drip coffee that costs too much.

bedroom wall installation

2011-06-17T10:00:00.001+09:00

eucalyptus

2011-06-16T13:15:00.000+09:00

a little piece of home that blew down on me in the park today

post cards available at kubrick apm

2011-06-15T13:06:00.002+09:00

some two colour gocco printed post cards (from this limited edition pochoir printed book) now available at kubrick apm. these figures came from my sketchbooks from days at the beach in new york, corsica and sydney but i'm sure these two figures are bondi. i can just tell.

calculette d'or

2011-06-10T22:53:00.002+09:00

this week i customised a calculator for my mathematician husband. the golden calculator award will be awarded to someone in his team each week. this week it's pierre. felicitation pierre!

planning big things

2011-06-02T11:59:00.003+09:00

making small collages.

A4 paper convention opens tonight

2011-05-31T17:32:00.002+09:00

i can't be there for the opening in sydney tonight but i'm wearing a big pink bow in my hair and have put some new work up on my website to celebrate. huzzah!

turmeric dyed kozo

2011-05-20T22:50:00.003+09:00

i've been playing with dye made from turmeric root.
the studio smells like turmeric.
in alkali water it turns pink, in acidic yellow.

when you have a pot of dye around it's tempting to dye everything.

perfume bottles

2011-05-20T22:44:00.001+09:00

or something like that

the paper convention collective: A4 paper festival

2011-05-16T15:50:00.003+09:00

coming up in a few weeks i have some work in the paper convention collective A4 paper festival in sydney. the exhibition will be at the paper mill (a lovely little artist-run space in a little lane close to the bottom of martin place) from the 31st may til the 5th june and includes the work of prof. yoshinobu miyamoto, hattie newman, benja harney, jesse brown and many more. if you're in sydney have a look at the program of workshops and talks which sounds really great. a lot of papery fun. the festival is organised by the lovely lisa loxely of lox + savvy.

felicity gleeson pop up store

2011-05-02T02:34:00.003+09:00

a reminder that this week in gaffa gallery arcade project space a sydney fashion week edition of pop up shops includes my sister, felicity. If you're around in the cbd stop by and say hello. ask her how she came to be making resin jewellry pieces in the first place. its an interesting story.

earrings sydney edition

2011-04-30T18:05:00.000+09:00

today i have packed up and posted off the earrings for exhibition in the A4 Paper Festival. i have made a few extra pairs especially for sydney. i packed them like children in little cardboard box vehicles with delicate masking tape seat belts.
the installation will be at the paper mill from 31st may - 5th june. more about the paper festival later!

colours

2011-04-28T18:52:00.001+09:00

i'm on the cover of frankie

2011-04-23T13:28:00.004+09:00

can you see me there? just under winter beer!
just came out in australia - i haven't got my copy yet.

studio still life

2011-04-21T13:59:00.002+09:00

this week: bougainvillea, wooden beads, pink thread, mt tape, purple spandex, smocked and turmeric dyed gampi, fluoro orange elastic cord, blue sticky dot.

felicity gleeson pop up shop

2011-04-18T17:22:00.007+09:00

as part of sydney fashion week gaffa gallery present a showcase of new fashion talent in their arcade project space. my sister will be having a pop-up shop there for one week starting the 30th april!

if you're in sydney you should definitely go and take your wrists to try bangles on and your neck to hang lovely, big, heavy beads off. honestly, what is your neck even for if not to hang lovely necklaces off?

june schwarcz

2011-04-11T13:57:00.003+09:00

june schwarcz explaining how she makes these:

My husband, Leroy Schwarcz, who was a mechanical engineer, brought home a sample of thin copper foil that was about 1 mm thick. It proved to be good for making three- dimensional pieces. It had something of the quality of soft fabric but could be plated to be sturdy enough to handle and to enamel. I found I could make pleats with the foil and sew seams with thin copper wire to form the piece for electroforming.

My shapes are developed on newsprint that is then used as the pattern to cut the thin copper foil. It is important that the copper piece be absolutely clean when put into the tank to be plated and formed. I clean the copper with Sparer 2 and sometimes with sulfuric acid. Sometimes I coat the inside of the foil with melted wax before I put the formed piece in the bath. With the wax on the inside, the piece holds its shape as it is being electroplated. This wax must be completely removed after the plating is finished so that the copper can be enameled. The wax is melted and burned off. Then the piece is soaked in Sparex 2 again to remove the firescale, rinsed and wire brushed. Sometimes I use a sulfuric acid bath instead of the Sparex 2. It is then ready to be enameled.

found here.

two things

2011-04-07T19:04:00.006+09:00

chinese snuff bottles
jewellry by charles loloma

primary school rebels

2011-04-06T13:30:00.003+09:00

tUnE-yArDs-Bizness

spring clean

2011-04-05T13:39:00.003+09:00

from a very old roll of film i just got developed.

found at the back of a cupboard

2011-03-30T18:23:00.003+09:00

my sister felicity re-branded a nail polish for my birthday one year. (re-labeled birthday presents is a family tradition). she could be a cosmetics branding/identity super star i reckon. who could pass up hussy in a bottle?

notebooks at kubrick

2011-03-29T17:21:00.001+09:00

i have some handmade notebooks for sale at kubrick apm.

homesick

2011-03-27T16:19:00.001+09:00

weekend

2011-03-25T22:37:00.003+09:00

found photograph

2011-03-24T16:01:00.000+09:00

sheila hicks

2011-03-21T16:24:00.002+09:00

my sister introduced me to the work of sheila hicks.
here's a nice article with a bit of an interview in it.

hong kong - sydney - hong kong

2011-03-16T20:18:00.004+09:00

the 4th image is judy watson at the art gallery of nsw. the 5th was on the wall at my dad's house and is almost the same view as from my apartment in hong kong. just up and to the left a bit.

Remote

2011-03-02T21:38:00.003+09:00

tsering parody, interesting-lovely-lady-extraordinaire has just launched a new online arts publication called Remote:

Each project will be the curatorial work of invited curators and/or artists that will evolve over the duration of the online exhibition/publication. At the end of the 6 month span allotted to each project, the works will be de-installed, edited and made into a hard-copy book which will be available for purchase online and in some specialist shops. In the meantime, the next 6 month exhibition/publication will begin.

snice idea, hey? and with beautiful graphic design by my mate sarah cashman.

adornment for the world

2011-02-22T15:41:00.000+09:00

last week i answered a few questions for amber lundy who's currently working on her final year project (studying ceramics and metal) in england. amber is interested in adornment for the world as opposed to for the body. she spent part of her childhood in japan and is inspired by japanese traditions of gift giving and wishing as well as tanabata festival imagery. tanabata festival ornaments are one of my favourite things and i'm curious to see where she takes it with metal and ceramics.
she asked me some great questions as part of her research and has posted the answers on her blog.
these two images i found on the wall of a restaurant here in hong kong accompanied by this text:

...this portfolio was printed in collotype with lithography and screenprinted additions by mark klett, dan mayer, john risseeuw, and joseph segura in the facilities of the visual arts reserach institute of arizona state university school of art, fall 1986...

and a signature that looks like tony ....something.

lolly green dress

2011-02-20T18:45:00.000+09:00

crowns

2011-02-15T16:35:00.003+09:00

i certainly was not wandering around the internets looking for novelty and beauty. i was doing sensible research! totally unrelated! when i found this: christian thompson.

lucky charm

2011-02-04T15:19:00.003+09:00

someone gave me a shinto charm a year or so ago. today i made one for a friend.

papercut stencil

2011-02-02T14:56:00.001+09:00

i've been playing with spray paint. smells toxic.

exhibition in hong kong

2011-01-28T20:42:00.002+09:00

i'm having an exhibition in hong kong in a few weeks time. when i had these up in tokyo someone said,
earrings? what - for elephants?

8 - 22 february
evelyn artwear
21 aberdeen st
hong kong

11-19:00 daily

melinda and trees

2011-01-28T12:59:00.004+09:00

melinda wrote the most lovely post about india flint inspired pansy squashing. (you will just have to click on the links if you want that sentence to make any sense).
what an excellent mum. she also knows how to play hide and seek in a room with no hiding places.
images, india flint 1, melindatrees 2 and 3.

arcademi

2011-01-21T22:33:00.003+09:00

recently i was invited to join arcademi collective. today i even put something in the store.

japanese lady's legs

2011-01-18T14:00:00.000+09:00

PLY.

2011-01-17T10:14:00.000+09:00

last time i was in tokyo there were a few friends who had just moved into a shopfront or studio space of their own. made me very happy. one of them is yoko megro who has teamed up with two talented designers to open a letterpress studio called PLY. when i visited their new, beautiful space (white and shiny, full of potential) their opening party invites were still drying.
first and last images from their site.

cool over time

2011-01-13T12:49:00.003+09:00

nobuko was explaining what happens if you get too cool.

batsu

2011-01-11T14:27:00.003+09:00

i have some work in an exhibition in tokyo this week. it's an exhibition of new years cards at mizu no sora.

thank you to all these people for featuring my work lately!

design for mankind

arcademi

hunter gatherer

i'm revolting

catkin and teasel

felicity gleeson

2010-12-22T21:05:00.000+09:00

my sister felicity is quietly launching her new collection of bangles and beads and thinking maybe no one will notice.

felicity hunts for the most beautiful fabrics and sets them by hand in cast resin pieces. her shapes are big and outfit-making but with subtle hand-made imperfections. an incredible amount of love goes into each piece.

i'm thinking that pale pink bangle would look good with just about anything i might be wearing.

have a look at her blog too.

holes

2010-12-21T16:54:00.001+09:00

installation at store

2010-12-20T19:55:00.005+09:00

here are a few photos of my installation at store in tokyo last week. thank you to makoto and saori kunitoki for letting me have a wall, kengo kubota for coming all the way from osaka to interpret for me, the ladies who provided steaming daikon with delicious sauces after the talk show and to everybody who came and asked such good questions (thanks mum). special thanks to my tokyo mother. it was fun!

weekend

2010-12-18T10:26:00.000+09:00

a thrift store dress

2010-12-17T20:33:00.001+09:00

i've had this for years and i never had a chance of fitting in it. i've decided it's a wall hanging, is what it is.

i've been in tokyo

2010-12-16T20:26:00.002+09:00

vacant lots with plans laid.

giant earrings

2010-12-03T19:19:00.002+09:00

i:ve been installing my giant earrings at store near nishi-ogikubo these past few days. and enjoying the yellow gingko leaves flying around in a gusty wind.

i made a necklace

2010-11-29T17:18:00.002+09:00

with two sides.

akira nishitake

2010-11-27T20:32:00.002+09:00

washed ashore

carlos arroyo galaxia

2010-11-25T13:10:00.000+09:00

beautification process
carlos arroyo galaxia

2010-11-22T10:39:00.000+09:00

allan kaprow
these images from here

exhibition at store / tokyo

2010-11-16T15:35:00.003+09:00

i'm having an exhibition at store in tokyo, december 3rd - 12th. there'll be a talk (in japanese and english)on saturday 4th 19:30 - 21:30 (1000 yen with a drink included) followed by an opening party. reservaton required for the talk: info@teratotera.jp

the exhibition and talk are part of a series of events organised by teratotera - an art project that focuses on local areas between koenji and kichijoji on the JR chuo line. i got a glimpse of the neighbourhood when i went to meet makota-san and see the space in july and i'm really looking forward to exploring further; keep you posted.

store

5-7-19 nishiogikita

suginami-ku, tokyo

11:00-19:00

here's a map.

2010-11-14T08:08:00.000+09:00

if you ever happen to spend your holiday on the same beach as me don't be surprised when your bottom gets collaged.

2010-11-11T11:57:00.003+09:00

i have a few books for sale at the ny art book fair this weekend at the zine's mate stall. their stall is at MoMA PS1. if i were you and you were in new york i'd definitely go and put my paws on all the pages of all the books.

2010-11-05T22:30:00.000+09:00

lanvin's private library
the selby

2010-11-03T11:39:00.004+09:00

lisa shahno

my books in tokyo

2010-10-29T20:48:00.010+09:00

i have a few books for sale at zine's mate in tokyo. one is a bit of a scoop: a look book i designed for my sister's soon to be launched accessories label, felicity gleeson. the other is a little book of my drawings of clothing. this one here is an old fur coat of my grandmother's; it has a nostalgia-prompting label for sydney people of a certain age: Mark Foy's.

let go

2010-10-29T15:31:00.001+09:00

the kindsboro press

goto chika from hon uri sho-jo dan

scribble's great. note to self: scribble more, more scribble.

2010-10-22T22:17:00.002+09:00

encyclopaedia

2010-10-20T13:03:00.002+09:00

an encyclopaedia of found things by daniel knorr.

each copy contains different value-free objects that were found in public spaces and collected, inserted and pressed inside the pages of the book.

for sale at florence loewy but i found these images and text here.

girls zine

2010-10-15T14:49:00.003+09:00

some of my work was featured in a book and i didn't even realise until months later. it's a cute book - not zine's by girls necessarily but zine's for girls. sweet.
ISBN 978-4-86100-745-3

Kailash Editions

2010-10-12T13:01:00.004+09:00

kailash editions publish french books about asia with these gorgeous covers; printed on thick, soft indian paper with colourful, flat, chalky silk-screened illustrations. as soon as i touched one i had to buy it. first tara books and now this - it seems like there's a lot of beautiful paper and silk-screening going on in india.

photo of a photo of a replica of a thing

2010-10-11T21:03:00.002+09:00

photos of photos of things made out of paper i found today while i was digging through my flickr.