JAMES KEARNS

 

 After meeting up for a bite to eat (here) and a stroll with this lovely lady and her beautiful daughter (more of that next week) I headed to Bourke St Bakery to stock up on some bread before the trip home .....

 Walking past Blank Space Gallery on Crown St I noticed some very good looking works and went in for a peek .....

It was the first solo exhibition of the very talented Australian artist James Kearns

and ..... 

 click image for a better look

I fell in love with this work entitled "Mother" of, if you haven't already guessed, a whale ..... 

 it is so beautiful, the colours, the textures, the subject

matter sooooo ...... I bought it !!!

Well I left a deposit (remember I was only going to buy bread) .... but I think when you see something you love (which for me isn't all that often) you just have grab it, it wasn't really in the budget but I've kicked myself before for not buying works I have loved, and later seeing the artist become so big and their prices soar (example Ben Quilty darn !!!) .... who James (or "Kearnsy" as he is known) actually reminds me a lot of .....

  and it's always so special to buy directly from an artist, who I must say was a very lovely and humble guy ....
 

 

 I came home and had a good look at some more of his works .....

love this above painting entitled "No Show" which sadly is sold and also this one "Street Dog" (sold too)

 

 This one entitled "Baby" was in the exhibition (the baby of my "Mother") loved that one too ....

and this is another favorite from his site ....

and this one ....

... and this is "Kearnsy" with his "Self Portrait" which is also in the exhibition (I was a bit excited about my purchase and didn't check the setting on my camera, hence the dark pic) ....

So if you happen to be in Surry Hills call in and have a look, the show finishes Friday and check out my whale in the corner .... 

I can't wait to bring him home !!!

WEEKEND THINGS

  It's a long weekend here .... and for about the last 24 hours we have had non-stop rain, and soooo much of it ....

luckily we got to spend some time in Sydney on Friday and Saturday before the big wet, staying at the same place we stayed at in this post (our home away from home)

I didn't have my camera so I took iphone shots instead .... 

I have been seeing a lot of this dalmatian on various walls around town, I like him ....
 I'm curious, does anyone know the artist ?

We came across this little cafe on Saturday morning and so glad we did, we had a yummy breakfast and very, very good coffee ( think I have found my new favorite cafe for when I'm in Sydney, this local girl said it is one of her favorites too) and there is a great op shop across from it as well.

Had a little browse in Pure & General, I had read about it and was curious, lots of beautiful things, but a little out of my price range, although I did buy some very attractive dish sponges (of all things).

 Strolled past one of my favorite apartment buildings in 

Darlinghurst ....

  this house painted the same shade of pink as the flowers on the
tree .....

  and this terrace (I showed you it on this post) ... the little windowsill pots were not looking as well this time.

 Bought some bread and goodies at Bourke St Bakery .....

I like their new little seats and tables ..... 

 .... and fell in love with this chair at eci et la.

... again a bit out of my price range, but I can dream can't I !!!

  We saw this film on Friday night at the MCA (a little disappointing) but the venue was great and Vivid Sydney was putting on the most amazing light show outside, my favorite was this interactive projection on the wall of the MCA  (so much fun) ... and this lighting of the Opera House sails was pretty spectacular too.

Hope you are having a nice weekend.

Think the rest of mine will be very low key now we are back home, this rain looks like it is here to stay.

AN AUTUMN DAY OUT

I love Autumn days ... (especially after such an extra hot summer here)

My daughter and I spent the day in Surry Hills yesterday .... 

starting with a nice stroll ....

then brunch at this little cafe ....

.... banana french toast and coffee (no we're not drinking beers, they use these old Cooopers bottles for the table water)

Walked brunch off with a stroll here for a bit of old wares browsing

loved the little HMV dog ....
(I think I would have bought him home but he was made of very heavy concrete and we were on foot plus we had a bit of a train ride ahead, who knows he might wait for me)

.... and this old trestle table.

(I did a post about Dough Up On Bourke here a while back)

As I went to take a photo of this window I realized it was this house .....

(with some extra pots)

(Maria, I noticed the plants first too !!!)

Met this little cutie outside the grocery shop .....

 .... walked past my favorite stairs and tiles in Surry Hills

( I love them !!!) .....

.... and stocked up on bread here.

A nice little day out indeed. 

BOURKE ST BAKERY

Bourke St Bakery in Surry Hills has always been a favorite stop off for me .... (you may remember the windows from here and here) ... there is often a long line to get served in this tiny bakery, which I happen to love, it's great for people watching and you often strike up a little conversation with fellow bread buyers ..... (I sometimes even find people to photograph for this blog there) .....

I really love these shots from their website ... especially this little girl licking her lips, too cute !!!

Feeling hungry yet ???

WEEKEND

 Friday night we saw Grinderman ... so great, even better than I could have imagined, Nick Cave was just amazing, (I think he has gotten better with age) as was the rest of the band ....
I took my daughter (who happens to love Nick Cave as much as I do) .... the crowd was so mixed, I saw two old ladies (and I mean well into their 80's), beautiful young girls (and boys), an entire family, mum, dad and the kids .... older Nick Cave lovers who have been fans from day one (I suppose that would include me !!!), but my favorite was an older gentleman with a long white beard and a walking stick (he even bought a T shirt)  .... yep we were a mixed bunch !!!

My daughter wore this dress .....

.... and her $20.00 op shop heels, aren't they great !!!

As we live over an hour from the venue we stayed overnight in a great hotel above this pub  (I don't like sterile new hotel rooms so it's perfect) ... we have stayed there quite a bit, it's kind of our home away from home, it has such a great feel .....

.... beautiful old pressed metal ceilings (reminds me of a painted version of these)

 nice big windows ....

.... and old floral carpet.

There's also a great sitting room ....

and a room where they have live entertainment (I actually saw a cabaret there a while back), plus the main bar down stairs which also has live music, which was still going strong when we got back from our concert.

 The next morning we walked to Surry Hills ... had a nice breakfast, bought some flowers and bread ... 

.... then it was home for dinner on the deck with some beautiful friends (one of them being this happy man) so much fun, really lovely ....
followed by a very quite Sunday, which after a couple of late nights was just fine by me !!!

 Hope you had a nice weekend
XXX