I meant to blog this as it was happening but seemed to have got myself caught up in some kind of worm hole that spat me out two weeks later instead…. so here it is now, it is certainly no less relevant to what’s been happening of late so … Illustrators Australia had their first ever seminar ‘Connected’ to launch their new book ‘Illustrators Australia Book 10′.
Held in a gallery on Little Collins St in Melbourne, the line up was a selection of brilliant Australian illustrators, art directors, agents, accountants, etc and then ‘little ‘ol me’. I spoke in a segment entitled “Gearing up for the Future: Part A” (Beck Wheeler spoke for Part B). I managed to write around 4000 words on all things self-promotion, internet, networking, online marketing and diversifying. However I found myself dumping the notes and just rambling. When met by silence during question time I was worried I had bored them all to sleep, however I later found out that the audience had been overwhelmed by the enormous amount of information I had squeezed into my talk, including a small segment of my analysis of otaku and how it applies to the web.
The seminar was a brilliant 48 hours for me and I found the other illustrators such as Nigel Buchanan, Beck Wheeler, Phil Small (Watermark) as well as the presentations about copyright and taxation for artists (scribbled notes like a madwomen during those!).
The audience themselves was full of talented illustrators and I got to put some faces to names I had seen in my travels online.
The last segment, “Talking Shop” was by far was the most illuminating and wonderfully positive for me, chaired by Ned Culic, Participants included Robin Cowcher (The Age) and Jeremy Wortsman (Jacky Winter Group – Illustration Agency) and Matt Clare, who were available for questioning, with discussions involving, stock imagery versus hiring talent, the market in Australia, self-promotion online and where the industry is going.
I took away lots of new thoughts, and much optimism for the opportunities that can be had by all. As I always say “Let’s be making happy pictures!”.

Another seminar that caught my eye, but is too far away to attend is “Illustration in the Age of Anxiety” it’s a new mini symposium, held at Parsons The New School for Design Illustration Department in New York and is focused on how the current cultural climate is affecting the field of illustration. ‘Illustration in the Age of Anxiety’ looks at how illustration handles times of unease and anxiety in our culture, from the atomic anxiety of the 1950s to today’s wars and upheaval. Featuring one of my fav’s, Tara McPherson.

Then, much closer to home, I am featuring some new works in a group exhibition in Johnson St, Collingwood at Per Square Metre Gallery. Curated by Bernard Romerona and my lovely friend Eveline Tarunadjaja (who is a wonderful illustrator herself and has lots of beautiful works in the show). The show titled ‘Cups and Cuddles‘ features the work of other lovely ladies such as, Catherine Campbell, Crystal Hartley, Lilly Piri, Maricormaricar and Nobuko Washiyama.

Please feel free to head on down on Saturday the 10th of November for the opening, or at least drop by between the 7th to the 18th for a peek.