Ilhan Lane

Progression and close ups of my latest paste up/installation in Ilhan Lane in Brunswick (just off Albion St).

  

 

Colours from the studio

Feathers

 Had some fun with feathers for this commission - 12 small ink illustrations on coffee stained paper.

From the inside out

Last year a good friend of mine came to me with a challenge - to create a piece in the front window of her home (which was originally a shopfront) that would block out the public from seeing into her living room, but not so much block the light.

After some contemplation and a bit of research I decided to do a paste up from the inside which meant layering in reverse. My mate Jim came along and documented the process and it went a little something like this


151 Darebin Rd Paste Up from James Arneman on Vimeo.

The very talented All India Radio supplied the beautiful soundtrack.

Getting bigger...

Here are some snaps of my latest paste up - the biggest I've done on the street so far...

 

and it was a bit of a challenge...

so she's a bit wrinkly,

 

but I really enjoyed working on such a large scale...

and with multi layers.

I've been wanting to do something on the old brewery in Collingwood for a while - 

so many layers of art and SUCH a beautiful old building, so it was nice to finally get there and add a paste up to the mix.

Happy Saturday

From the time I started pasting up around Melbourne I have had constant support, encouragement and practical assistance from my awesome mate Christy. Saturday was her last day in Melbourne before heading back to Canada and we tried to pack as much Melbourne memories into one day as possible!

  

Starting the day with nourishment from Arcadia on Gertrude St

Then to the studio of Ghostpatrol & Miso to get C a lil' bit o' Melbourne inked onto her arm...

...in the form of a Ghostpatrol character!

David generously packed us each a little care package :)

then we headed to Board @ NGV for some arty, skatey goodness,

 followed by a trip down Hosier Lane...

we came across some awesome mural work by our mate Ero

as well as some more subtle pieces... ouch!

And finally, the perfect end to the perfect day - burritos!

Thanks Christy for a great day and for being such an awesome friend, wandering the streets at night with a bucket of wheat-paste won't be the same without you! x

Another typography rant

I have a huge love and respect for all things typographic. I think I was about 8 when I convinced my parents that the book they should buy me from the annual school book fair was The Lettering Book (any kid from the 80's who cared more about how their school project looked rather than the actual content of it will remember this essential book). They thought I was too young to grasp the idea of transferring the type in the book to whatever school project I was embellishing. They were wrong. I used that book until it was within an inch of it's life. The spiral bind did not fair well with my constant use of the book and my mum rebound it with pale pink wool. No typeface went unused - or unloved, that book went everywhere with me.

Many years on and I still am passionate about typography. My first solo show "All the Things She Thinks About" was based on hand lettering. My second solo show "Vern Sherman Drinks Tea and Other Tales" had some elements of typography within it, including the piece LOVE

which was inspired by this street art I snapped while in San Francisco

but now I find that type is not so much a part of my work anymore, yet I still feel very inspired by artists who base their work on the letter form.


Today I came across the work of Nicole Dextras. Her icy typography is stunning to say the least and it got me thinking about other artists whose work I love and admire for their use of typography.

These 7 foot letters by Dextras are my favourite.


Margaret Kilgallen is another artist whose work I really love. Sadly she passed away in 2001, but left her mark with some amazing type based murals and installations. Small or large, her work is amazing.

In a similar, yet more rustic vein The Date Farmers from Mexico are also inspired by vintage signs. They use typography to a lesser extent than Kilgallen, but it accents their work perfectly.

Herakut have also been inspiring me. I have been poring over their book The Perfect Merge and although they don't always use type they have developed a couple of their own unique typefaces to use in their work.

And I couldn't do this post without mentioning Timba Smits Inspired by vintage advertising, packaging, signage etc, not only is his lettering stunning, but he also has a fine eye when it comes to colour.