Paris Flea Markets

Les Puces de Saint-Ouen is Paris's most famous flea market. It is the largest in the world covering some 7 hectares!! We spent a leisurely Sunday morning walking down Rue de Rosiers popping into various market halls along the way including Marche Serpette and Paul Bert. Everything from old botanical prints, art deco furniture, chandeliers, vintage couture, antique luggage, kitchen goods, 18th Century tables etc can be yours if you want. You just have to know what you're looking for........

Bonjour Paris!!

Feeling alive and ready to eat again, I couldn't wait to meet up with some friends and have lunch at Laduree in St Germain. A really beautiful dining room with chinoiserie decorations, trompe l'oeil walls and palm tree lights. Very me.

London on the lowdown

Apologies for the lack of posts during my week in London - I got struck down by a bug that was going around and was bedridden for a couple of days. On my last day I did manage to get some work done where I had a client meeting at Liberty's of London in their tearooms. 

The Art of Food (literally)

In Vienna's Kunsthistorisches Museum, there are 4 paintings by Italian Artist Giuseppe Arcimboldo best known for creating portraits made out of fruit, vegetables, flowers, tree branches, fish.... really quite extraordinary when you look at them close up in detail. And the fact that he painted them back in 16th Century! These paintings were virtually ignored for about 300 years until the Surrealists came along and drew inspiration from his anthropomorphic paintings.

(courtesy of arthistory.about.com)

(courtesy of arthistory.about.com)

Rediscovering Klimt

I had almost forgotten about  Gustav Klimt. I remember the first time looking at his work in art books during school - I was spellbound. Drawn to the decorative patterns, luminous beauty and elegance of his paintings, I think that he has been a definite influence on my work. So, it was fantastic again to see Klimt and Egon Schiele's work again at the Leopold Museum and the Belvedere. I could feel corners of my mouth gradually rising to a big smile. Wunderbar!!

Love Lobmeyr

On Vienna's main shopping boulevard Kartner Strasse, is perhaps one of it's oldest and most famous store Lobmeyr. Established in 1823, this family glass making firm is famous for it's glass all over the world. This distinguished glass-making firm used to be a supplier to the imperial court, and big names such as Josef Hoffmann created designs for the company.


They have 3 floors of the most exquisite glass and ceramics from all over the world including one dedicated to the company's history. The most elaborate chandeliers, table settings and mirrors you can find anywhere in Europe. For someone like me, who designs ceramics this was like finding Aladdin's cave. Of course, I had to buy something all in the name of research and work. Another added bonus was because we flew with Austrian Airlines (fabulous airline BTW!), we could present our boarding pass and receive an original Lobmeyr glass valued up to 70 euros with our purchase. 

Sacher Torte

Every visit to Vienna must include at least a piece of Sacher Torte - Austria's most famous cake. Originally created in 1832 from an apprentice baker Franz Sacher, the light chocolate cake features apricot jam under the icing. There's only one place to eat it and that is at the original Sacher Hotel.

We had lunch there - the obligatory weiner schnitzel and potato salad followed by the famous cake and one of the many Viennese coffees. Yumo! The dining rooms in Cafe Sacher are full of Austrian charm and European style - think grand chandeliers, ornate wallpaper and old paintings.

Spa Stopover

A great way to break up the very long flight (>23hrs) is to stop halfway in Asia for the day. M and I arrived in Bangkok early afternoon for a signature spa treatment at the Banyan Tree Hotel. A relaxing footbath & massage, Kaffir Lime Refresher, an amazing Balinese Massage and fresh fruit with lemongrass tea. Feeling totally refreshed and re-energised from our 'pampering' we went upstairs for drinks at the rooftop bar Vertigo then headed back to the airport for our midnight flight to Vienna. It definitely helped ease the pain of a long flight and the shock of arriving in Austria in -5C with snow!!

Vienna, London and Paris - here I come!!

I'm off to Europe today to show my new cushion and eye pillow range to buyers/ media and to check out some of the best interior trade fairs - MaisonObjet and Top Drawer. Wish me luck!! Will try and post some pics from my trip.

We have booked a spa treatment at the Banyan Tree in Bangkok as part of our mini 6 hour stopover to Europe. I am sure it will help ease the pain of my Apple dying this week (luckily I have a MacBook with me) and the very long flight over there.

Chinoiserie Chic

One of the great things about the internet is discovering and connecting with other artists of whom, whose work you admire. I love American Artist Harrison Howard's illustrations - they're so whimsical and beautifully painted. It's always great to see another artist make their own 'spin' on Chinoiserie.

We both discovered we like the same artists and hopefully, we may work together in the future. The world really is small.

Summer on a Plate

There is nothing more (apart from maybe a BBQ) quintessentially Australian than our national dessert Pavlova. It's named after the famous Russian Ballerina Anna Pavlova. I love it -  the crisp meringue shell with a soft gooey marshmellow centre topped with lightly whipped cream and fresh fruit. Fresh mango and passionfruit is the perfect combination in summer. I've made it twice this week for overseas guests who have never tried it before. (Needless to say they were licking their plates and begging for more)

Photograph by Petrina Tinslay

Ironically, the best recipe I have ever used is from the Domestic Goddess herself. I bet this is the last thing she would be eating in January with all the blizzards and snow over there. However, here it's the perfect thing to eat on a 35C day like it is today. PS. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a photo of my pavs - they got devoured too quickly before I could get my camera out.

Desk Snapshot

During the Christmas break I have been working on a new fabric range for Clothworks which will be released later this year. One of my favourite things to do is colouring each fabric design. Alot of people don't realise how important colour is. It's just as important as the actual designing. After all, colour is the first thing that attracts our eye. It can make or break a design.