Künstler turns one.

A fortnight ago Künstler celebrated its first birthday, together with Sunday Social's 4th birthday and winter collection launch and House of Cards' A/W Collection launch. I got to meet so many new, passionate people from the Brisbane creative scene, some of whom I had heard of but hadn't the chance to meet personally, not to mention catch up with others who I hadn't seen in almost a year. If there's one thing I love, it's locals working hard to bring a unique offering to our city, and Künstler has given us just that, providing a thoughtful curation of independently published journals, magazines, and books, not to mention hosting photography, art and jewellery exhibitions in its beautiful matchbox space. I count myself pretty lucky to work just across the road from Winn Lane and I'm really looking forward to what else is coming up for Künstler and this creative little laneway.

The Ones We Love Exhibition, Künstler Magazines

Some photos from The Ones We Love exhibition & book release at Künstler Magazines. An exhibition of the most beautiful, tender & raw portraits of love, humans, life by photographers all around the world. It can be so hard to capture a person's essence, all of the facets of their being, in one single photo, but these photographers get it right. I hope to be taking more of these kinds of photos in the future.

I Used To Skate Once 10

Photos from the 10th annual I Used To Skate Once. As always the show boasted an impressive collection of work from talented artists from Brisbane and across Australia. There was even a skateboard connected to an electric guitar you could play that I wasn't able to get a better photo of! Make sure you keep an eye out for next year's event if you haven't been before.

Analogue/Digital Brisbane 2014 After-Party.

If you went to the A/D after-party at Greaser bar, you might spot your face in the video. The after-party was too good not to give it a separate video of its own. Some snaps below!

In case you missed it: go and watch the official Analogue/Digital Brisbane 2014 video.

Analogue/Digital Creative Conferences Brisbane 2014.

So pleased that I can finally post this. A month ago I had the honour of filming and photographing Analogue/Digital here in Brisbane. If you've been following my blog for a while, you'll know that I filmed Analogue/Digital back when it first started, just for fun from the safety of my seat in the audience when I was still experimenting with videography. Even then, Matt was incredibly supportive and encouraging—if you know Matt, then you'll know that he roots for the homegrown, the talented, the hard-working, and the passionate people who love what they do, whatever that is.

After attending A/D year after year and after taking photos from my seat at A/D again last year, Matt decided he wanted me to "do one of your sick films like you did for us the very first time!". I can't thank Matt & Alex enough for doing such brilliant jobs running the conference (which is now national!) and for giving me the opportunity to "officially" shoot it this year. I had an amazing time, as always—if you were there, I hope you did too.

Check out the A/D BNE after-party video & photos over here.

Jungle Heart: Exhibition Opening Night.

As some of you know, the past 6 months of my life more or less has been about raising funds for WWF and planning Jungle Heart. Last Friday we had our opening night and I'm still in a bit of disbelief that it's been and gone and was (dare I say it?) a raging success.

We had an incredible turnout for the exhibition at Southside Tea Room. Over half of our 14 pieces sold, not to mention the extra donations that came from our "World Change" tip jar and the exclusive Jungle Juice cocktail we had on the night. So many familiar faces from the Brisbane & Gold Coast creative communities came out to support us and this cause and I can't thank you all enough for being so kind and encouraging and about as excited as I was about the exhibition. To think that a lot of you have already called for a "next year" before I've even had a chance to delve further into the idea gives me hope that maybe I have started something truly good here.

Jungle Heart Exhibition: raising critical funds for Borneo & the orang-utans.

Over the weekend I announced something I've been planning for the last 6 months: Jungle Heart, an exhibition of original artwork by Australian artists joining the fight for conservation in Borneo.

A minimum 15% of each artwork sold on the opening night will be donated to WWF Australia. The Bornean rainforests are one of WWF's high impact initiatives, and these funds will help them to:

• Create a giant 220,000 km2 network of protected areas and sustainably managed forests
• Provide the people of Borneo with real alternatives to illegal poaching and logging
• Protect and sustainably manage the remaining natural habitat within the Heart of Borneo

It's been really exciting to put together this group of amazing creatives. These are people that I respect and admire, a mixture of emerging & established artists in their fields. Most creatives I know are incredibly passionate about the environment and the natural world, so for us all to be able to do what we love whilst giving back to the planet and raising awareness of Borneo is a really special thing.

If you live in Brisbane or you'll be in Brisbane on Friday, June 6, please come along to the exhibition—entry is free and the incredible crew at Southside Tea Room make amazing food and drink so it's bound to be a great night! RSVP on our event page and invite your friends.

I'll be regularly posting information about the event on our Facebook page, including sneak peeks of all the artists' pieces, any updates to the exhibition as well as facts about Borneo and the endangered orang-utans. Feel free to head over and "like it" to read more over the next few weeks.

Big, big thanks: My very big thanks goes to Brisbane creative ladies Jasmine Dowling (who hand-lettered the logo) and Sophia Mary Mac whose artwork for the exhibition is in the background of all our Jungle Heart images! It's thanks to you that the branding for Jungle Heart looks so lovely.

Ephemeral: New Works by Sophia Mary Mac.

My talented friend Sophia Mary Mac opened her first solo exhibition EPHEMERAL last Thursday. As always, her illustrations were amazing and I wish I was able to take home one of her pieces. If you missed it, the exhibition will be running for a month at The Scratch Bar, Milton.

Atavist BYO Book Club

Last Tuesday, Atavist together with Flip launched Bring Your Own Book Club: an informal, chair-free social club for book lovers (promo designed by yours truly!). Every 6 weeks, book lovers will gather in the cosy Winn Lane to exchange books, drink wine and talk about literature and beyond.

If this sounds right up your alley, come along to our next meet at 7pm on the 10th of December. Sign up for a 6 month season pass for $45 and get a 10% discount on most items in Atavist Books.

Typism Inspiration Conference 2013.

I was ecstatic and incredibly honoured when Dominique asked me to photograph Typism—the conference she founded, the very first typography-only creative conference in Australia. We were really overwhelmed by all the positive feedback from everyone who attended and it was great to know that we were part of something that inspired our fellow creatives.

Some of these photos will be up on the Typism Facebook page, including some photos from the after-party (I was too short and it was too crowded inside Cambus Wallace to actually get any photos of the exhibited artwork, I apologise), but here's my run-down of the day. Here's to Typism 2015!

Edit: It was amazing to see my video work for Aurelie and Dominique on the big screen! If you would like to watch these videos again, or view some more of my video work, you can check it out on my Vimeo.

Seven With Another 7 | Brisbane Art Exhibition

Yet another brilliant Seven With Another exhibition. Thanks again to the folks at Josephmark for creating this wonderful initiative and contributing, yet again, to Brisbane's flourishing and vibrant creative scene. If you haven't been before, you should definitely go next time!

I Used To Skate Once 9 | Brisbane Art Exhibition at The Zoo.

Photos from the I Used To Skate Once 9 exhibition yesterday, featuring talented artists Alice Rezende, Elana Mullaly, Sarah Huston, Tricia King, Kool Thing, Laura Strange, Vlada Edirippulige, Carmela Ruffino, Loretta Lizzio, Teneille Grace, Bec Winnel, Eileen Dick, Fuzeillear, Sophia Mary Mac, Steph Hughes and Emma Thyers.

Analogue/Digital Creative Conferences 2013

I have attended at least one creative conference every year since my second year of uni in 2009. When Analogue/Digital came around in 2011, I walked away pleased that it was different from the other conferences I had been to, in the sense that most of the speakers were local, down-to-Earth creatives who had interesting and real stories to tell instead of showcasing people who were already "global" and a "big deal" and had spoken at a dozen other events already.

This year Matthew Haynes went above and beyond, bringing us a phenomenal two day line-up of brilliant speakers, a lot of whom were from Brisbane and the Gold Coast which was incredibly great to see. The conference sold out and many came from interstate to attend—most were pleasantly surprised to discover that south-east Queensland has such a strong creative culture compared to what those coming from Sydney or Melbourne might have assumed. Analogue/Digital 2013 was better than that of 2012 and 2011, and better yet, steadily kicking the arse of most of the other creative conferences I've been to. Well done to Matt and the Analogue/Digital team for making this happen!

I have a renewed sense of purpose, energy and drive after hearing so many of the speakers talk about things I so strongly believe in or things I have already experienced for myself. Knowing that I'm doing a lot of the same things that they are can only mean that one day, in good time, all the hard work definitely will pay off, and that sometimes what you think is quitting and failing can end up being the start of better opportunities in disguise.

More photos after the jump.

We Heart Music: The Exhibition.

We kicked off 2013 and hit the ground running with this exhibition; most of us frantically prepared for the exhibition shortly after the holiday season with only weeks to spare. Our first exhibition for 2013, We Heart Music, opened on Friday night at the fantastic Crown Studios in West Burleigh. We produced quite a diverse range of works this time around—I myself hung my photographic portraits from the ceiling beams versus hanging them on the wall as I have done previously, and Rach's "interactive" illustrations were quite a hit! As each of our exhibitions has passed, we continue to think of ways to make the event better and better, and we hope that this much was clear with We Heart Music.

I will be posting the proper photographs of my work over the coming days, so keep an eye out for the portraits and the story behind each of my subjects. Due to the lighting at the opening night, I wasn't able to take many clear photographs of everyone's work, however you will see everyone's work featured in the video.

If you weren't able to make it to opening night, never fear—the exhibition will be up and open for viewing between 1pm-4pm until February 24 at Crown Studios. Thank you so much to all who paid us a visit on Friday night and said hello, and to those who couldn't make it this time: we hope to see you next time!

We Heart Music.

Wine, women and song: your Friday night is sorted. The We Heart Collective's first exhibition of the year, We Heart Music, opens at 6pm this Friday the 15th February, at the infinitely cool creative hub for musicians, photographers, designers and more: Crown Studios in West Burleigh, Gold Coast. So come along and bring your Valentine, because what's more romantic than a night of art about hearting things, live music, drinks and nibblies? Despite not being overly into Valentine's Day myself, there's no better way to seal off the annual week of love, I'd say. We hope to see you there, and tell your friends!

If you can't make the opening night, the exhibition will run until the 24th of February and you can check it out between 1pm - 4pm. To stay informed of our upcoming works and exhibitions, like the We Heart Collective on Facebook.

Wedding Videography: Alissa & Robert.

Last month, myself and Luke Chapman shot one of the most beautiful, heartwarming weddings we have ever had the pleasure to witness. Alissa & Robert were so kind and easy going and part of such a loving family; their simple celebrations a true testament to what weddings should be about: love, and love only.

We Heart One Way | Surfers Paradise Festival.

Over the past month, the We Heart Collective have been working on the ultimate design challenge: create a physical piece of art for a one-day exhibit at the Surfers Paradise Festival. After what has been quite a gruelling few weeks for all of us, with some having to create pieces within only a few days after having returned from overseas trips, we were finally able to show off our work on Saturday for the One Way Street Party.

You can read more about our large scale letter project below, or you can skip the words and get on with the pretty pictures. Unfortunately I wasn't able to stay for very long, so I don't have any photos of the entire wall when it was finished, but I'm sure you'll get the idea.

Alissa & Robert's Wedding (Preview).

A small little preview of Alissa & Robert's beautiful, heartwarming wedding, which Luke and I shot last month. Our first time shooting a wedding in video, but definitely not the last. Can't wait to share the video with you all.