{new work} with Happinez...

It’s been a while since I’ve updated my published work here on the journal. There has been so much going on in the world and in our own personal lives - not just mine, everyone’s, everywhere. I won’t get into it, I need a break, we all need a break. So I’ve set myself the task to update this journal space with the work I’ve done with Happinez these past 6 months, and then I am aiming to get back into online journalling, with the hope to get a rhythm and flow with writing and sharing.

This visual story was special - I know I probably say that for all of them! And it’s true, they are all special, but I’ll explain what made this one special for me…

These photographs were featured in the Happinez Astrology edition, and the brief was to create and photograph six ideas that readers could make astrology-inspired objects. I shot it back in June 2021, so I had the beautiful soft Australian winter sunlight to play with. The reason this particular visual story is special is because it features so many of my friend’s incredible creations.

I commissioned Kaspia to make three of the ideas and I love what she made! I also shot two of the photographs at her house. Above, she is modelling the zodiac sign talisman necklaces she made - her beauty knows no bounds. And below, she made this gorgeous hand-stitched moon & stars embroidery hoop which nestled so well on the shelf in her sunroom…

I wanted to make this visual story dreamy. I loved playing around with the light and layers.

It’s such a pleasure to be able to work with the creation’s my friends make. This unique drinking vessel is made by Nat, using clay from the land she calls home, on Moorang Moobar Country, nestled into Wollumbin National Park. I added the stars inside the tea cup to symbolise the magic of drinking tea under the stars. But I also loved the idea of creating a constellation in the base of a tea cup - would any claymakers out there like to create this idea? If so let me know!

I am holding the cup - and taking the photograph - yep I like to make work challenging sometimes. It’s mostly because I come up with the idea and no one else is around so I have to figure out how to do it with what I have. It’s also a good reason to paint my nails gold.

The stunning top I am wearing? This is made by textile designer Joanne Broederlow. I urge you to check out her offerings, they are incredible, I’ve got a growing collection of her wearable art and I love using her textile creations for my photographs.

I created these zodiac rocks by borrowing some of the amazing fallen rocks on the beach of Broken Head near where we live. The colours of the rocks are amazing - rich red, yellow and orange. I used gold leaf to create the zodiac signs, and photographed them on my studio floor, with dried grass and water splashes to create different textures. After the photoshoot, Laly and I carried the rocks back to the beach and placed them around for beachcombers to discover. I wondered who might spot the gold shimmer and wished upon the stars for the discoveries to create some magic in their day.

Kaspia made these gorgeous little matchstick boxes with tiny copper moons and vintage gold velvet. Can we not reimagine matches this way, dipped in copper-coloured posphorous sulfide?

The shimmery fabric I’ve had in my textile stash for as long as I can remember - I think it was in mum’s collection, maybe she had an idea for it, I wonder what, I’ll never know.

And the last photograph in the story is this one above - creating a journal for your planetary learnings. I was so happy to be able to showcase Sam Mackie’s gift to me, her hand-bound Everyday Alchemy book which I absolutely cherish. Have a look here for more of her book creations and you can see her photographs here. I added a golden moon bookmark - I made it by wrapping some gold foil from my snack-time chocolate bars (yes I save all the gold foil and have a big pile of it for projects!) around a cardboard disc, then attaching some gold thread to it, and a pink stone pendant. The background is Jo’s hand-dyed velvet garment, the same as the one I’m wearing in the previous photograph - dreamy.

The gold moon you may have noticed, is my symbol - I use it everywhere. In my next book, you’ll find out what it means to me.

I hope you enjoyed this visual story and the stories behind the visuals! As always it was so much fun to create. Thank you to all the makers who I featured, you’re all amazing and I love that we can all inspire each other in our creativity, it’s truly what makes the world go around!

With love,

Pia

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Perspective

Me and my bunny love, Kombucha, snuggling on the couch while we shelter in.

(this is one of my latest instagram posts that has had much interest through shares and comments - March 30, 2020)

One of the things we are all prone to forget at times, and for some it’s always - depending on the level of awareness - is that our understanding of the world is based on our perspective. And our perspective is formed by our personal life experiences. Which is absolutely of value, but is of no more or less value than someone else’s.

There is still very much an overarching & unconscious belief that some know better than others, and this is based on messaging - subtle & overt, level of education, religion, or simply ego. Without awareness we can move through life, conversing with people from this singular perspective, instead of coming to the conversation or public forum with the knowledge that what we have to share is based on the accumulation of our personal life experiences, but that doesn’t mean our ideas or understanding is ‘the right way or the only way’.

Heart Prompt:

When you converse with someone, are you asking them questions about their life experience or thoughts about what’s happening now? Or are you telling them how it is and what you believe the answer is? How much time do you dedicate in a conversation to ask questions about the other person? And actually listen?

While in solitude we can reflect on this, and practice asking more questions, especially if we reflect and realise we haven’t learnt much about someone we’ve just spoken with, about what their life is like right now.

There is a romantic notion that we are all in the same boat at this time. But we are not - we are in very different boats on the same incoming tide, and some are in no boats at all but swimming like mad in the open ocean with no life raft. It’s not to say that by having a safe boat we should feel shame or guilt over it, but it means that when we are aware that we are not all in the same boat we develop empathy, and we begin to change our mindset into not just serving ourselves but how, if we have the means, can we serve others - and not in a way that satiates our egos, but satiates our hearts.

If you’re experiencing boredom at this time, this is the space you need to open the door to your heart. It’s a very different way of living & now is a great time to explore it.

With Love,

Pia

Find more on the Wandering Heats Collective.

When you're entire mailing list of 10 years has been wiped, what do you do?

You realise how determined you are to share your creativity with the world, so you dust yourself off and start a new one. Nothing and no one can bring this girl down.

If you’d like to hear the full story and subscribe to receive my heart-written letters, you can do so right here:

I take my time to write these emails to connect you to your heart: That part of you that speaks in whispers and needs more than ever right now to be heard & valued. I have so much coming up this year that I’m eager to share via this special connection. I’ll also post here in my journal, but the emails are more intimate and special, it’s where the magic begins - you get a glimpse of it here on the journal, but it gets activated through the emails.

A massive thank you to those who have resubscribed or subscribed if you weren’t on my mailing list already since I temporarily lifted my social media hiatus to put the call out this week. You are part of this new start! The beautiful messages of support coming through have made me more invigorated than ever to write and send my first email tomorrow with the new moon. I have learnt so much about myself over the past 24 hours that has made it worth it - yes, you read right, worth it.

With Love,

Pia xx