The Art of Cosplay

When I'm not ranting and raving about gender inequality, I do actually do some really cool and odd commissions. Like Cosplay shoots. The lovely model, Carnage Cosplay makes her own costumes and then gets me to capture them in a cool mashup of her personality and the character she is portraying. One thing they all have in common, which is why I love doing this so much, is they are all strong, tough characters. Mentally, or physically, it doesn't matter, they all share that element of strength, and I adore that. If you want to buy prints of these, Carnage Cosplay sells them on her http://carnagecosplay.storenvy.com/ page.

The Illusion of the Elitist Artist

"Sport is more popular. Why should tradies tax dollars go to pay for an elitist pass time. the average person arent remotely interested in the convoluted navel gazing of the art community. Supply and demand. If there are too many artists and they can't make a living then it's not up to the tax payer to fork out more dosh. I would rather some disabled kids get funding than a load of pretentious wankers."

This was someone's legitimate response to arts in Australia.
This is why I often eat only frozen vegetables.
This is why I either make my costumes or source them from thrift shops.

My work critiques woman's roles in society in a dreamy, fantastical, cinematic way. Does that make it less valid? Less worthy? Am I simply too bored to get a real job? Really? Given I just lost a job that I loved because Australian's don't read books either...

This makes me so mad.

Australian people as a whole need to realize that we are brainwashed by media to only enjoy simple, straightforward things. By all means, sport can be fun, but there is more to life than it! TV shows don't have to be black and white, movies don't have to be all action and boobs. Music, oh dear Loki, don't even get me started on popular music; you guys know that there are more than four chords right? Beer is not the only alcohol available. Why do the masses chose to be so influenced by peer pressure?

Despite what the stereotype suggests, I don't come from money, nor will I inherit any great sum of it. I don't do this just for fun, I do this because it's the only way I know how to fight; fight for my world to change, fight to make my children's world better. I do this so that I might inspire someone else to join the fight, to give them hope that things could one day change.

That doesn't sound very elitist to me.

Now, here's some of my latest work...

Chips, my little pony and art

Have you ever just found yourself, staring at the blank page of a blog or a diary, and thought, "I have nothing worth recording. why do  I even bother? Who the fuck cares?"
Well I have been. Almost every day in fact for the last few weeks.
My days have been filled with getting up, going to work, coming  home, making art work, then reading and bed. That's all. In fact some days there is no art, it's just reading. How is that exciting? How is that worth talking about??? It's not. Surely. No, the feeling is, however, as hard as it is to pinpoint. That feeling of  "I am too small to be significant".
And before you ask, yes, I do suffer from depression, and I am doing stuff to help it become manageable, but that doesn't mean that it completely fades, and these feelings come and go in waves. So at the moment I am making my life work, even if it does feel completely pointless, and like I am wasting all your time.
I have found however, that I am able to focus on my book or my game more intensely at the moment which is a wonderful escape. Although, watching "My little Pony" becomes a rather psychedelic experience...

Modern Mythology- Dreamy fantasy photograph's by artist Eating Strawberries

I love fantasy, always have. So for me it is a thrill to use that subject matter in my art. Elves, nymphs, fairies, priestesses and the like all come to life in spaces where you might not have previously looked to find such creatures.
These images came to life simply because I happened to look in the right direction and see a spot f spectacular autumn light and i thought to myself i could imagine a elf appearing there, so that's what I made happen, and since then I have continued it, to make a modern mythology of Australian Autumn creatures.

"In the end"-some new stuff from artist Eating Strawberries

WOW, I have been away for such a long time! sorry strawberry-peeps.
I have still been art-ing, but i have also been working for the money to make such things, so my time is even more divided.
I have been working on a series called "In the end" which comes from "Gollum's song" for the Two Towers {Lord of the rings} with the line "And in the end I will be what I will be, no loyal friend was ever there for me", and it's about various ways in which woman are viewed in society, from lovers, to murderers, to sweet and loyal, to evil and promiscuous. It is also a series in which I have been taking a step back from my costume work and using the body as subject, both to clearly convey the female form in my work, and to explore the body as object, which is why all my series features my model, Bellatrix Immortal concealing her face.
As I have gotten older, I have found the gender equality gap become wider and more prominent, and I had to start using that in my work. {some of these images have been edited for facebook purposes as they have boobs in them! oh no!}

still alive...just

I would like to start with an observation... my hair smells nice =P lol

and here's some new work for you.
I also hae been involved in some shows in LA, and the center for digitial art, which is what the images of art work on the wall are from lol.

enjoy