wax drawing with watercolour as message: give someone a secret message that they have to discover by painting over the top of it: A beautiful version of those secret message pens that children have.
Loved creating this collection of photographs for the Autumn edition of Happi Kids which is well and truly out now in The Netherlands! The story is all about ways of expressing friendship and love. I’ve captioned each image so you can learn more about the ideas in the visual storytelling. I love how conceptual this is, and how the focus is once again not on purchasing things but creating things - making something from ‘nothing’, truly alchemical in process, it’s what I love doing! Aside from the backdrops and a few little props, everything in each image are from objects and foliage around my home. Each tells a story within a story.
a new take on the family tree - select a beautiful branch and add photos as well as significant textiles and objects that tell stories. It can be added to over time to create a stunning feature in your child’s room.
I especially loved creating this photograph, because the three women in the polaroids are my grandmother (top left), my mother (middle left) and me with my mother in the bottom polaroid. My grandmother died earlier this year, and my mother passed away four years ago. Creating this tree was a beautiful way to reflect on the gift of life and how I now share that with my daughter. I added the emu feathers as the emu is a significant symbol for my daughter, and there is a piece of indigo-dyed textile made by my dear friend Nat. Messages, memories and stories can be written on pieces of card and hung over time to create layers of meaning.
The Native Indian symbol of friendship which you can paint in red as the colour of connection, love, and strength on each other’s hand.
The friendship necklace - find a little bottle and fill it with tiny treasures and a miniature note telling your friend what you love about her. Attach a piece of string and gift it to her any day of the week. Or you could make each other one as a gift for Christmas. My wonderful stylist assistant and model in the above images is my daughter Laly, standing in the dappled sunlight in our back garden.
Friendship code stones - do you and your friend live in the same neighbourhood, and walk the same streets but go to different schools? Gather a bunch of stones and create your own symbols for each letter of the alphabet, making sure to double or triple up on more common letters. Or create symbols for special words. Be sure to memorise the code or write out the symbols together. Leave the pile of stones in a safe place you both walk past often so that on your way to school or to the park, you can leave each other a message. Ask a question and then find out what they will answer! It’s a beautiful way to connect.
I absolutely loved making these friendship code stones! It’s the best idea, I can imagine kids loving doing this. It would be such a fun thing to do with your own child or grandchild - a collection of coded stones that you can create messages for them to find in places in the garden.
Keys to a special place - this idea got me thinking about the different spaces that could be shared - a treehouse, a beach shack, a creative space. And then I realised that’s what my studio is - a place I share with creative friends who come and stay, it’s truly is a wonderful way to connect!
I really wanted a compass for this photograph, as a way of symbolising direction to each other. I could not find one anywhere on short notice and it was driving me crazy. I sat for a moment of quiet, thinking about the present moment, which lead to me thinking about my family. I wondered how Laly was enjoying her day out with her friend Mya and Mya’s Aunty Tash, who lovingly takes the girls out on fun adventures together. I thought about their day out on this particular day, as Tash had taken them to the Maritime Museum. I wondered what they might be doing, and if they were on one of the ships, or were they looking in the shop? Then it dawned on me: they are at the Maritime Museum!! Surely there are compasses there! I called Tash to ask and when she got to the shop., they took a photo for me - there were over 3 dozen beautiful, old style compasses to choose from! I couldn’t believe my luck, I would never have thought of the Maritime Museum if the girls were not there at that very moment. So Tash helped me choose the one I wanted for the shoot and Laly brought it back with her. What a successful prop scout! A big thank you to Tash for her input on this photograph, the compass is the star of the shot. The piece of textile is from my friend Nat, who comes to stay in the studio whenever she’s in Sydney. And I realised this is what I have with her, this special bond of sharing my creative space with her.
With love,
Pia xx