November 17, 2008 | New Illustration | by Jo Spurling |
Australian illustrator Ken Taylor has created imagery for some of rock n’ ’roll’s great purveyors of sound, from the Rolling Stones and Queens of the Stone Age, to Nine Inch Nails and the Mars Volta. He has an easily recognizable style that screams sharp edge cool. Bold and bawdy, Taylor’s pieces use vivid colour to create a cut-out-comic-like feel reminiscent of old movie posters from the 1930s and 40s.
- 3
- 0
November 14, 2008 | New Illustration | by Jo Spurling 
|
Beautiful, delicate, fragile, a little bit collage, a little bit sketchfull. This is the work of Kelly Smith. Combining several mediums in a collaborative expose between pencil, paint and print to create timeless works of elegant splendour, it is easy to compare Smith’s works to the last snowflake of winter, fleeting but real, avoiding the brash bright mercantile world for the prettier climes of illustrative pleasure. Smith has a twelve-day exhibition on at the 696 Space in Brunswick, Melbourne, opening November 14.
- 5
- 0
November 14, 2008 | New Art | by Jo Spurling |
Trapped in a time warp between then and now, the work of Brandt Peters combines an old school aesthetic with a modernity bordering on futuristic fantasy, with a touch of morbid fascination thrown in for good measure. In other words, he creates wonderful imagery combining cartoon-like pin-ups with sometimes freakish attributes (large skulled beings, for instance), and every now and then seems to throw in a nod to sci-fi — such as a mechanical glass jar — for good measure. Muted tones replace the bawdy colours often associated with such mediums, giving his pieces a whimsical, dream like quality. He must live in a delightfully wispy world.
- 1
- 0
October 7, 2008 | New Illustration | by Jo Spurling |
Tyson McAdoo is responsible for depicting these salacious bombshells, taking seemingly ordinary situations — like sitting on a couch, riding a motorbike or riding an invisible horse (things I am sure we’ve all done at some stage) — and adding some sassy young minx as the focal point, creating a playground for your eyeballs. Apparently McAdoo is imprisoned within his creative universe, or some dungeon according to his bio, accompanied only by ‘two pathetic ghetto rats, Squeezie and Pocket’, and forced to draw the Empress of Ink over and over each day so she dare not fade. You can pick up prints of his work online, and they are damn reasonably priced compared to what some prints go for these days.
- 3
- 0
October 1, 2008 | New Illustration | by Jo Spurling |
He may not be French in his spare time, but Australian illustrator Pierre surely does know how to draw, creating wonderfully fractured universes in which the creatures of his imagination dwell. Pierre has recently released his own children’s picture book, which anyone who writes for children would know is one of the hardest things in the world to achieve, let alone when you’ve done the entire script, illustrating and publishing yourself.
- 2
- 1
September 9, 2008 | New Fashion | by Jo Spurling |
Creating modern-vintage inspired by 1950s Australian housewives and rock’n'roll style pin-up glamour, Peta Pledger has been producing one-off, made-to-measure or small-run garments and accessories since 2003. Her love affair with the sewing machine began in 1988 when — like many lovely ladies — she couldn’t find any clothing that flattered her figure. Read more
- 5
- 1
August 27, 2008 | New Art | by Jo Spurling |
Yes, the name may be a little strange, and sure, it does tend to conjure up images of things not so pretty, but there’s little doubt that the ethereal art of this strange harlequin is beautiful and captivating. The art of Used Bandaid has even been embraced by New Zealand based company Illicit, who are themselves well known for utilizing unique artists creations in, and on, their fashion and play products. The Used Bandaid creator herself is fiercely, and understandably, protective of her art, so make sure you hit her up in person if you want to flash her talent around.
- 6
- 2
August 16, 2008 | New Art | by Jo Spurling |
Wrap your brain around this slice of pie. This here is the work of THH70, someone who apparently obtained human form in 1970. This chap is pretty much known for inimitable style and approach, which THH70 himself has described as being ‘lo-fi urban abstract graffiti’. Combining words, textures, patterns, passion, philosophy, light and darkness, THH70 uses what can only be best described as a weapons closet full of varied mediums. Apparently he also goes so far as to include household products like Windex and X-14 mildew remover in the mix, combining it with his own mad inspiration when creating his pieces.
- 5
- 0
August 16, 2008 | New Design | by Jo Spurling |
Based in Osaka, Japan, Shige Tomo is a graphic designer and illustrator who lends his formidable talents to creating deceivingly sweet looking, doll-like creatures, whose malicious stares are quite at odds with their sugary features. Aside from conjuring up an impressive portfolio filled to the brim with these effortless evils, Tomo also has a wonderful collection of dolls and other products available, which bring his saccharine creations to life. Lovely in their simplicity, yet malevolent in their intent, you have to wonder if Tomo had nightmares about dolls when he was a child.
- 2
- 0
August 11, 2008 | New Illustration | by Jo Spurling |
‘The comic book stylings of an illustrative genius’, is just one of the ways you might describe the work of Jason Goad. And you can’t help but like someone whose website address is ‘ingoadwetrust’. Goad makes use of colour in the same way that Ninja’s don’t, resulting in an welcome assault on the eyeballs. Apparently his imagination is ‘fuelled by warm root beer and egg salad sandwiches’, so may we suggest admiring this amazing artwork at a safe distance.
- 1
- 0
July 30, 2008 | New Film | 
by Jo Spurling |
This has to be one of the best documentaries ever to grace a cinema screen. Following the history of Australian made exploitation films, and the burgeoning Oz film industry that grew from this oft-forgotten genre, Not Quite Hollywood follows the rise, rise and headlong fall of Ozploitation. Featuring interviews with the directors, producers and critics at the height of their game during the 70s and 80s, not to mention the modern master of the genre film, Quentin Tarantino, Not Quite Hollywood is a hilarious ride through plot-holes as big as Ayres Rock (yes, of course we needed some gratuitous Aussie reference in there somewhere) decorated by bad props and buckets of blood-splattered-gore.
- 0
- 0
July 25, 2008 | New Products | by Jo Spurling |
If you’ve ever wondered what nerds get up to when deprived of Broadband for two weeks, or you want to find out how William Shatner (think Star Trek era, not Boston Legal) saved the world, then Nerds Gone Wild is your new bible. Packed full of geeky goodness, this perfect-bound wonder will keep you fascinated for hours as its contents reveal everything from what happened to the actor who played Atreyu in the Neverending Story to the world phenomenon centered around Rubiks cube competitions. And yes, they still happen!
- 0
- 0
July 15, 2008 | New Events | by Jo Spurling |
The photography of Rohan Hutchinson is amazing, his subject matter of late focusing on the rapidly disappearing back alleyways in China which are being demolished for the Olympics, leaving thousands of people displaced. Hutchinson captures his images on large format negatives, meaning the processed photo can be enlarged almost to the size of a wall in a small room! He has his first exhibition between July 17-31 at the Flinders Lane Gallery in Melbourne.
- 0
- 1
July 15, 2008 | New Illustration | by Jo Spurling |
Sassy waifs are the hallmark of Martin Abel’s work. Graphite collides with vector style to create edgy damsels with only a dash of decorum between them. This is some sexy work, regardless of your persuasion. Complimented with a classic comic flair, Abel’s other contributions include work for the official X-box magazine. Keep an eye on this rising star ladies and gentlemen.
- 2
- 0
July 4, 2008 | New Illustration | by Jo Spurling |
Melbourne really is one lucky city. Filled to the brim with talented people, and now with another space to play in. Gorker is the newest gallery space to grace Melbourne’s creative realm with its inaugural 40 Thieves show packing out the venue. Rumour has it upcoming exhibitions will be just as captivating, so keep your eyes glued to their website for more details.
- 3
- 0
Build your next bike at Bamboo Bikes Studio, who help cyclists build their own custom, bamboo-framed bicycles. The organization, in partnership with the Earth Institute at Columbia University and the Millennium Cities Initiative, uses revenue to subsidize sustainable bamboo bike factories in Africa and South America.
This gourmet paint is made by only two dedicated paint makers without fillers, just pigment and oil, like it should be. There is only one store that sells it and it is run out of the Elisabeth Foundation for the Arts building in Chelsea, New York. They have a table set up there so you can play with and mix any of the colours together to see its effects. I usually go to pick one tube up and hang around asking questions to one half of the duo, Gail, and usually leave with five tubes, having learned a lot about the history and the process behind each colour.
Creating modern-vintage inspired by 1950s Australian housewives and rock’n'roll style pin-up glamour, Peta Pledger has been producing one-off, made-to-measure or small-run garments and accessories since 2003. Her love affair with the sewing machine began in 1988 when — like many lovely ladies — she couldn’t find any clothing that flattered her figure. Read more
People tend to think we illustrators carry around our sketchbooks everywhere. A confession: I don’t. That is one of the reason why I love looking at other illustrator’s sketchbooks. Virginia-based Tin Salamunic’s sketchbook tells me a bit about an everyday life in Richmond. And his obsession for cars. Read more
We’ve just launched a new Bullet Web Studio designed website to complement our new weekly email publication, My Secret Playlist, in which we invite our favourite bands and musicians to give us the rundown on their eight favourite songs or albums right now. The latest band to do a Secret Playlist for us is Washington-based indie rockers, Jukebox The Ghost. Check it out, and check them out below.
In my next life, I want to sing like Frightened Rabbit frontman Scott Hutchison. Oh, and grow a lush beard, so I can play in their band. Better start cracking.
Hotly tipped by a handful of soothsayers to take 2009 by storm, Trembling Bells are an altogether different and refreshing musical experience to much of what seems to excite people at the moment. On first listen, it’s fairly easy to ignore — one could casually shrug it off as some limp take on Scottish baroque folk. Yet, there is something more to it. Rarely do you hear that high-pitched, warbling voice in mainstream music. Likewise the marching band cacophony going on in the background is both daring and highly intriguing.
WE'RE RESPECTING
WE'RE POSTING / SOME OF THE BEST
Our celebrity-saturated culture makes many of us irrationally hateful of the faces we see on our TV screens and magazine pages. Good thing there’s Celebrity PunchOut to let off some of that steam.
Trip out with Sparrow Vs Sparrow’s retro illustrations, I love their aesthetic, color use and sense of humor. Read more
Forget battery powered vehicles. Cars made from ice are the future of transportation: no pollution, no honking horns, no painful rap music blasting out of souped up stereos. And if they melt, they melt. You just swim the rest of the way down the slipstream.
1970s and 80s Soviet Union buildings
Cambodian born photographer Frederic Chaubin is the editor of French magazine Citizen K. His photo series on bizarre buildings built in the former Soviet Union during the 1970s and 80s is absolutely fascinating. Read more
With the recession still biting, it may be time to whip out the glue and the cardboard and make your next pair of cool kicks. Don’t know how they’d manage in the rain though? Read more
Thanks to Sony Australia, four Lost At E Minor readers will win personal audio prizes, including the new 8GB Walkman S series video MP3 player and the MDRXB500 Extra Bass headphones. Read more
This pendant by Portland designer Stephanie Stimek hangs from an eighteen inch 14 carat gold chain. Made from a Japanese quail egg, the entire shell has been coated in plastic for strength and is available for purchase through the Lost At E Minor store. Read more
FOLLOW US
DISCOVER MORE
SO...
SEARCH: Can't find what you're looking for? Do a search..
IS IT GOOD FOR YOU TOO?
We hope you're enjoying your time on Lost At E Minor, but it’s not over yet. Got something to share? Tell us about it and we'll look to publish it. If you want to have your work featured on the site, we'd love to hear from you. Pssst, we also have an online store stocking some of the goodies we feature on the site.
If you're a media agency and want to use this platform to connect with our readership, then drop us a line and tell us about it. Oh yeah, and we do digital consulting for cool brands that want to reach the sort of demographic that visits this site.
