I stayed home today and had a 4 hour nap in the afternoon. Completely ridiculous! I marked out my Monday as a rest day from a pretty crazy weekend launching my artist book
'Poems, Prayers and Promises' at the National Gallery of Victoria. The opening launch party was on Friday night, and Saturday afternoon was the book signing.
I am just overwhelmed with how many beautiful people came to the signing to purchase the book and support my venture. It really meant a lot to me and as much as I say that, it may appear to loose all meaning, but I can assure you that the support from people for my work is truly one of the best things about doing what I do.
One thing that strikes me as particularly amazing is how young some of the attendees were - most were in high school or just finishing high school. The price of the book was $40, and that's a large amount of money for people that age, or at least when I was that age it was! The fact that they want to spend that amount of money on something special like an artist book is so soul lifting. The level of interest in art of the people at the signing is just so heartwarming, and restores any faith I may have lost in the *youth of today* via un-researched and bias click bait articles. There was such a high level of engagement and enthusiasm in everyone I met on Saturday and it was incredibly uplifting and contagious. Unfortunately when I was in 15 and in high school, we didn't have things like Instagram - something which I believe allows art and the work of artists to be more accessible for younger people who are interested in looking outside the realms of a regular high school experience. I am so happy that it exists now, and that it's helping people like I was in high school - who felt a little lost and unfulfilled - to discover things they find exciting and interesting.
So the launch went really, really well and I am so happy with the outcome! It feels amazing to release a publication - something a number of people can hold and enjoy. This has made me even more excited for the release of my book
'Time After Time' with Hardie Grant this September. I literally cannot wait for everyone to see it.
The past week before this weekend was a bit of a blur, I was really busy with last minute preparations, a little bit of socialising, and part time work. I recall hanging out at the Great Northern hotel with a film crew on a Friday night, attending a Triple RRR warehouse party on a Saturday... went to Tai Snaith's exhibition opening at Bus Projects for which I wrote something, hung out with my friend G for a quick lunch, ate pizza, went shopping and spent time with S who just got back from a work trip.
Here are some recent pictures:
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| This is going straight to the pool room! |
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| Singing a book for my Nanna! |
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| Badges that I had for giveaway at the book signing |
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| Tai Snaith at Bus Projects |
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| The publication I had writing in |
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| I have spent lots of time in the NGV the past week... here I am on Thursday - in the bathroom. lol |
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| Phone doodles |
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| Funny photoshoot on Thursday |
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| Relaxing Sunday breakfast at Archie's All Day! |
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| Silly Sunday garage sale fun! (The glasses had lenses that flipped up) We did not buy them. |
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| Plant wholesaler trip |
I also wrote a piece for Three Thousand Melbourne, which is a list of my favourite places in Melbourne to gain *inspiration* from :) you can read it here:
http://thethousands.com.au/melbourne/stray/guest-guide-minna-gilligan-s-inspiration-locations-playlist
