MAYAN APOCALYPTIC DRINKS

ARE you sick of all the gloom and doom? the end-of-days talk? Well then, 20% off drinks all night long at VELLUTO Champagne and Wine Bar could be the answer!

From 5pm.
20.12. 2012 [naturally]

VELLUTO Champagne & Wine Bar
7/50 Macleay Street Potts Point NSW 2011
(entrance at the corner of Baroda Street and Fitzroy Gardens)
Telephone: 02 9357 1100  Email:info@velluto.com.au

kings cross festival

Phew! the re-launched, re-imagined Kings Cross Festival is well and truly done and dusted for 2012 and what a roller-coaster ride it was....... from first pitching the idea to Sydney's Lord Mayor, Clover Moore to developing the various components of the Festival, rallying the community and praying for good weather. A big "thank you" goes to the Lord Mayor for the foresight in seeing beyond politics to what this community so desperately needed. And thanks be to a higher power for giving us brilliant weather!

I was excited and humbled to be appointed as the Festival Director for this first year and our time frame of just under 4 months was extremely daunting but we managed to pull it together with a great team and the help of some very talented locals who kindly agreed to be KX Festival CURATORS. Locals like Jill Dupleix and Terry Durack [food] Amanda Talbot [design] Sebastian Goldspink [Art] Glynis Traill-Nash and Damien Woolnough [Fashion] Warren Fahey [Culture] Mandy Sayer [Literary]. The inimitable Ignatius Jones was our Artistic Director and my buddy Alex from AZB Creative sprinkled his magic all over the event as Creative Director.

The State Government also came to the party with a major pledge of support and of course the businesses and the community really got behind us in all aspects - art, music, design, fashion, retail. The Potts Point Partnership [chamber of commerce] was the driving force behind the Festival and the board were really great in supporting the team 100% in what was a big vision with a short lead time. Our Event Producer, Shane Perdue managed to co-ordinate a multitude of events, fill out pages of DA's and design a rockin' website in under 3 months. Talent wrangler Danielle Johnston kept the all venues and the performers happy [no mean feat].

The whole gig lasted from Wednesday night till Sunday night - 5 nights and four days all up. We had late night shopping and retail specials, art walks, pop-up shops and pop-up art, performance artists, choirs, gospel masses, jazz singers, picnics, a community concert, literary talkfests, cake stalls, a 'recovery sunday', food specials, bar specials, and music and entertainment bursting out of the bars and nightclubs.

Jeremyville designed the creative for our posters, banners and program. Rachael Oakes-Ash wrote one killer of a program guide in the broadsheet style, which everyone in the precinct and beyond was reading AZB Creative 'style bombed' the local stores. Carlotta came back to the Cross and we even had a POEM commissioned by Blueprint Store as a present to the community!

The idea behind the Festival was to change the conversation about our neighbourhood - to show that we have a vibrant, creative and engaged community:  I think we managed to do just that.

So much packed into a few days......too much to recount....I tried to keep up with the tweets on TWITTER and the instagramming @lorrainelock #kxfestival but there was so much going on!

Here below is a series of my highlights from the KX Festival.....

first photo shoot with Iggy and the Hughes-a-palooza sisters

First look at Jeremy's artwork via the posters

the Gypsy Caravan was a big hit

Alex, our new State Representative with Alex our Creative Director

Jeremyville community message

part of the KX Arts Guild Photo Prize Exhibition @ Mercure

excitement as the street banners go up

and the chairs pile up!

street mural @ chez dee 

pop-up shop bump-in ... daunting!

this mural deserves a whole blog post!

lovely lady waiting to be allocated a store as part of  CREATE.WINDOW.ART.

shopping at Sydney Prop Hire

THE PIGS in the Fountain

Booty Shoes features more window art from AZB Creative

The Pop-Up shop unveiled - thanks AMANDA
and MAJOR props to Frank who manned the fort  store for days

DIY wallpaper

these cushions are unreal [blueprint]

dontcha love it when the strong man and his lady drop by?

[co-ordinating nicely with your store??!!]

home-made dunce's hat

aaaah margarita slushies

whisky cocktails via Tilly Devine

Dandelion Bar @ Mercure - BEST VIEW in town

secret messages

gorgeous guy GIVING AWAY flowers outside La Croix

WOODY comes to life and entertains the kids

RU-BELLA 

Lord Mayor presents Animal with his award "Pillar of the Cross"

Tilly Devine drops in for a look before heading off to her one-woman show

[MUM'S IN @ KINGS CROSS HOTEL]

Vittorio is presented with his "Pillar of the Cross"

stick people

Jeff Duff was amazing

our curators are celebrities!

taking a moment

hallelujah! 

every picnic needs a hostess with the mostest [Joyce Mange]

last gig - Trademark

Dragon - This Time

Some glimpses of the old Kings Cross in this classic video clip from the 70's.

mysterious snapper

If you have spent any amount of time dining around the Kings Cross and Potts Point neighbourhoods over the past few years, chances are you have had your picture taken by this lady, Jocelyn Martin Jones.

Jocelyn was a familiar sight as she trod her well-worn beat most nights, taking photos of diners in restaurants and now she is the subject of a prize-winning photograph in this year's Kings Cross Photography Prize.

Photographer Tamara Voninski says "this particular photograph was taken a split-second before she photographed me".

"Sadly, at the exhibition opening, I learned that the mysterious Kings Cross photographer who epitomised an age of glamour on the streets of the Cross had died recently."

The entries for this year's competition, "Images of the Cross"  are on display at the Mercure Sydney Potts Point Hotel until November 25 and the exhibition coincides with the Kings Cross Festival.  Entry is free.

Kings Cross Festival

Very excited to be appointed as Festival Director for the new Kings Cross Festival. Its on this month! 21st - 25th November. There is a lot of community involvement planned from retail stores to art galleries and restaurants, bars and clubs. There is food specials, art walks, literary nights, a family picnic and entertainment by the Fountain.

The creative is from the wonderful Jeremy from the land of Jeremyville - a Kings Cross local now resident in New York. Here's a sneak preview of the posters going up around the neighbourhood today and tomorrow.

Cant wait to show you what we have planned when we unveil the Festival Program next week!

COCO

COCO, a local Kings Cross resident, is a working actress and model who has most recently added author to her list of achievements.

Like most single young females living in the city, Coco is on the lookout for Mr Right, while at the same time trying to balance her work/life commitments and find a nice sunny place to have a nap.

Coco is also a chihuahua, residing with the extremely talented writers Mandy Sayer and Louis Nowra and viewing life from her own doggy perspective. Literary nous runs in the family and Coco's book is a funny and affectionate insider's guide to the unique character and characters of the Kings Cross area....

The launch of COCO's autobiography  is tomorrow night at the The Old Fitzroy Hotel in Woolloomooloo.

Coco and Mandy will be on hand to sign the book and have a chat. The book is a perfect xmas present idea - so why don't you head along to meet the Carrie Bradshaw of the dog world?

If you can't make it, ask Richard at Macleay St Bookshop to set aside a copy for you.

Potts Point : The Book

One of the first posts on this blog was about local artist Dean O'Brien and his stunning book of paintings of Elizabeth Bay. Well, the superbly talented POTTS POINT local has done it again, this time focusing on "Potts Point - Sydney's First Suburb".

The Potts Point paintings capture the locality in all it's beauty - from the El Alamein Fountain, to the architectural beauty of the grand apartment buildings, from cafe society to the local dogs..... a slice of life both beautiful and historic.

“I think Potts Point is experiencing a renaissance," says Dean.

"The area began its European life as an exclusive address then transitioned from bohemian to downright dodgy and is now one of the most desirable addresses in Sydney once again. This book reflects the European style of Potts Point and demonstrates its rich history and diverse inhabitants".

Both the book and watercolours as well as unframed original oil-on-canvas paintings available at :


BECKER MINTY Flagship Store
Shop 7, 81 Macleay Street Potts Point 
NSW 2011 
Tel: 02 8356 9999 www.beckerminty.com


Images of the Cross

The Kings Cross Photography Prize is on again in 2012. Big prize money up for grabs and of course, your chance to hang alongside some other  "iconic and truthful photo-visions of Kings Cross....." says curator Sandy Edwards (arthere.com.au)

Well, if you're looking for some colourful characters, or fodder for you lens you really need to just step out on the streets around here - always have something going on. Humanity in all it's wonderful diversity!

Jeff Duff by Roslyn Sharp

According to the brief : photographs can be taken at any time past or present.

Entries are due at : 5pm Friday October 5
Fee: Maximum of two entries $50
Email submission images at 72 dpi for viewing only to sandy@arthere.com.au.
Include up to 100 words about your image.
Deposit entry fee into the bank account below, tagged ‘KXPhoto’ plus your name.
Account: Kings Cross Arts Guild BSB 032 032 Acct No 148495
Finalists will be asked to supply a high-res exhibition image file which we will have professionally printed for an extra fee of $50.
Exhibition: Mercure Sydney Potts Point Hotel Victoria Street, Potts Point,
24 October–25 November
Opening: Wednesday 24 October 6–8pm
Queries: Curator Sandy Edwards 0402 112 755