Drawing @ St Agnes

Yesterday Ispent the most delightful day with my sister here...

...at the stables at St Agnes Homestead in Kyneton...

Learning to do this...

...that is, I was learning how to draw with pencil and inks.  The above images are of the beautiful, nature-filled artwork by the very talented, very lovely, and very inspiring artist Sarah Gabriel. I cannot remember the last time I have felt so totally immersed in what I was doing - the hours just flew by! Such a lovely way to spend a Monday.

Not only was Sarah very inspiring, so were our lovely surrounds. Here's a few more images of St Agnes Homestead:

I very stupidly forgot to take my camera and so have to use these images from St Agnes and Lauriston Press for this post - my sister did however take many lovely photos. I'll repost or link to her post when her photos are up, in the meantime these will have to suffice. Note to self: Keep your camera in your handbag at all times! Now that's a good new year's resolution.

[Images: 1 & 5-9 - St Agnes Homestead; 2-4 -Lauriston Press]

My kind of bookshop

The Whistling Fish Bookshop and Cafe in Robe, South Australia is my kind of book store. It's the antithesis of the hulking great chain store - it's in a small seaside town and it's quirky, individual and rustic...

There's even a 'review table' where the hand picked books are "honestly and lovingly critiqued" - you can see the review tags tied sweetly around the books:

And of course there's a cafe to while away the hours...

Now if I could just find something similar in Melbourne I'd definitely become a 'regular'!

[Images: The Whistling Fish Bookshop and Cafe]

P.S. Apologies for going AWOL - December and January are usually the busiest time of year for me work-wise and so the blogging had to take a back seat.  I'm definitely looking forward to doing much more blogging in 2012. So, belated Christmas wishes and happy new year to the very few readers I have left!

A gallery and garden visit

This weekend my big sister and I are having a weekend away - the main reason we're hitting the road is to take in the Australian Modern Masterpieces exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ballarat. Some of my favourite artists are on show at the exhibition - Grace Cossington Smith, Margaret Preston, Nora Heysen.

Jeffrey Smart's 'Truck and trailer approaching city', 1973.

While we're up that way I also intend to visit the Lambley Garden and Nursery, just north of Ballarat.  I have been longing to visit this garden for two reasons: (1) the stunning dry garden; and (2) the artwork of Criss Canning - her husband owns the nursery/garden.  As the pics below show, the garden is nothing short of stunning...large drifts of plants punctuated with colour:

And the veggie garden is not too shabby either...

And equally as stunning is Criss Canning's flora themed artwork:

I'm hoping to pick up a copy of Chris Canning's book when I visit Lambley Nursery and Garden:

Apparently the weather is going to be quite lovely and Spring-like too, so hopefully we'll have a great time exploring.  Whatever you're up to this weekend, I hope you have a good one.

[Images: 1 - Art Gallery of Ballarat; 2-12 - Lambley Nursery]

Mirror love and indigo infatuation

Thanks to this fabulous post by Mr Jason Grant I am now besotted with the mirror in this pic - I want to jump on a plane, head up to Sydney, tuck this mirror under my arm and bring it home with me. I think it would be perfect for our new house...but there's just a couple of things stopping me: (1) we have a lot of rebuilding to do before I can even start decorating; and (2) I don't think the flight attendant would let me put this mirror in the overhead locker as carry on baggage.

Actually, the whole Small Spaces store looks fabulous and I think I'd have a hard time containing myself to just buying the mirror!  Can't we have a Small Spaces off-shoot in Melbourne please??

Small Spaces, 674 Bourke Street, Redfern.

Also, given the other things that have recently taken my fancy for the new house, I think there's going to be a fair smattering of indigo in the new house:

And because I'm all over the shop at the moment thinking about the endless possibilities for our little weatherboard house in the country, I'd like a bit of wall panelling too!

P.S. Normally I am fastidious about attributing the images I use to their owners, but unfortunately apart from the top two images from the very lovely Small Spaces, I have had these images tucked away in my archives for quite a while and I can't recollect where they originated from. My apologies. And please, if you know where they're from let me know and I'll pop the links in the post.

The magic of Marco

The older I get, the more I come to believe that I'm a traditionalist - I love a trend as much as the next person, but in my own home I veer more towards a more classic, timeless style. Perhaps that's why I'm so enamoured with the very classic, very beautiful work of Sydney based interior designer Marco Meneguzzi Design - he describes his style as being influenced by Belgium and he believes in a 'relaxed elegance' which complements the Australian lifestyle. The examples of his work shown on his site attest to this refined approach:

For more gorgeous examples of Marco Meneguzzi Design check out their website (much better images available there).

[All images from Marco Meneguzzi Design]

Cafe: Two Bob

Melbourne has a heavy sprinkling of semi-industrial style cafes, so it's a refreshing change to see this new cafe in Clifton Hill that's influenced by Scandinavian style. Two:bob cafe looks like a really nice and airy place to hang out for coffee and lunch. I'm definitely going to give it a try next time I'm in that neck of the woods:

Two:bob Cafe, 270 Queens Parade, Clifton Hill (Tue-Sun 7am-4pm)

For more Two:bob Cafe information and images check out the ever-fabulous Broadsheet (definitely my go-to source for what's happening in Melbourne)

Eat: Cliffy's Emporium

My husband and I are heading up Daylesford way tomorrow to do a final inspection on the new house before settlement next week. After we've performed the necessary duties I've put in a request to have lunch at the local institution, Cliffy's Emporium:

Weather wise it's going to be a beautiful day tomorrow, so I hope we score a table outside. 

Of course, I'll have to pick up some local produce while I'm there.

Don't you just love that colour blocking!!

[All images from Cliffy's Emporium]