the solace of my bedroom, as captured by Helene Athanasiadis…
Posted in interiors, photographers, the sydney cottage January 4th, 2016 by pia

HELENE_ATHANASIADIS_PIAJANEBIJKERK_SOLACE_2015_2 welcome to my home. please come in, no need to take your shoes off…

Happy New Year mes amis.  How do you feel about the year to come? There has been so much change in the world, and I sense there will be much more to come yet. But change is transformation, and I can feel our world is in dire need of it. In my creative life,  I feel ready to come out of my healing cocoon. I learned so much in 2015, and wrote and wrote and wrote all the while.  So there is a book or two or three there, and in time all those words and photographs and experiences will take shape. If there is one thing I have in abundance it’s ideas and in the past year the well has not dried up – it’s now overflowing.  It’s always been my dream to be able to realise and share not necessarily every single idea, but at least a steady flow of them.  Ideas not only need creative thinking but also time and money, and these two requirements have never been in abundance in my life, and I’ve finally accepted that these need attention too. So finding a way to get the balance I need to pull myself into alignment with what I’m called to do in this life is now my priority… without compromising my ethics which, for those of you who have come to know me quite well, is as resolute as ever, if not more nowadays.  And although I still feel a little at sea about what the direction will look like and where it will take me from here on in after taking the last year off from all creative commitments, I am trusting the process and I’m trusting the deepest depths of my self.

As I set sail on this year’s vessel, my first port of call with french boy (as the only other member of the crew so far – this is a small boat!) is the creation of a revitalised online space: one that houses all my creative endeavours under one roof and is once again interactive and free flowing.  Since my focus has been elsewhere over the past few years my online space has been neglected. It’s become outdated, haphazard and disorganized, and it needs some attention & love. So in coming weeks I’ll take you to this new space when the walls have been built and the paint has dried.

9849055_orig

As promised in an earlier post, here now I share with you some beautiful photographs by Helene Athanasiadis of my very personal offline space – my bedroom. This room has been my retreat over the past few years. It’s the place I have spent the most time – mothering, resting, grieving, healing, learning, and writing…

HELENE_ATHANASIADIS_PIAJANEBIJKERK_SOLACE_2015_1

3905665_orig

As part of her photographic project and book Solace, Helene has captured what this space means to me and it feels special to have this documented and shared in such a beautiful way.

HELENE_ATHANASIADIS_PIAJANEBIJKERK_SOLACE_2015_3

Although this house has been falling apart around us over the past year, seeing these photographs has made me appreciate the space for what it has been and what it still is for me today. As my own projects unfurl, I’ll be sharing with you more of my home and how it’s evolved over the years.

2327265_origsurrounded by talented souls: my favourite dutch bag made by leslie oschmann, and some beautiful organic cotton garments by mady doijes

Thank you again, Helene.

With love,

Pia

beautiful book in the making: Solace by Helene Athanasiadis…
Posted in artists, australia, books, photographers December 16th, 2015 by pia

HELENE_ATHANASIADIS_MARTINEMURRAY_SOLACE_2015_3

 ……………………………………………………………………..

“A poetic study of the beautiful spaces women create for themselves. Rooms of serenity & calm, to retreat from the everyday…solace.”

 ……………………………………………………………………..

About six months ago, visual artist Helene Athanasiadis wrote to me asking if I’d consider letting her come into my home to photograph me in my sanctuary as part of her upcoming book, Solace. It was two months after my mum died and I was in deep mourning, retreating daily to the very intimate place in my home that Helene was asking to photograph. After perusing her website, something about her collection of beautiful work made me feel calm and open, and I found myself saying “yes”.

It’s with such pleasure that I am able to share with you today some of the pages from her book while it’s still in the making. Take a look at this selection of wonderful spaces she has photographed from some incredible creative souls around the country…

HELENE_ATHANASIADIS_SOLACE_2015_2_1

HELENE_ATHANASIADIS_MARTINEMURRAY_SOLACE_2015_4

HELENE_ATHANASIADIS_MARTINEMURRAY_SOLACE_2015_2

HELENE_ATHANASIADIS_EMMADECLARIO_SOLACE_2015_2

Helene is based in beautiful Castlemaine, a creative haven in the state of Victoria, Australia. She has degrees in fashion design, archaeology, and art history, and has been creating  fine art photography & mixed media collages for some time now. Her background and influences are evident in her work: “In both mediums I am guided by archaeological concepts; layered, stained & aged, all of which are rendered in muted & textured tones”.

HELENE_ATHANASIADIS_MORGANALLENDER_SOLACE_2015_3

3917260_orig

HELENE_ATHANASIADIS_SOPHIEFIRORELLE_SOLACE_2015_4

HELENE_ATHANASIADIS_SOLACE_2015_3_1

HELENE_ATHANASIADIS_SOPHIEFIRORELLE_SOLACE_2015_5

HELENE_ATHANASIADIS_SOLACE_2015_4_1

In my next post I’ll show you some of the photographs she took of my special place, but in the meantime you can check out the artist’s havens she has photographed so far.

Thank you Helene for allowing me to share your wonderful project here.

xx

 

a portrait and a story…
Posted in artists, behind the scenes, photographers June 13th, 2015 by pia

davidanthonyknight_piajaneportrait

A number of years ago when I was living in Paris, I was asked by Sydney-based visual artist, accomplished photographer and friend David Knight if I would consider coming in to his studio on my next trip back to Australia to do some very raw (very nude) photographs.  I knew it was a great honour to be photographed by David, his portraiture is beyond words, and his exploration at the time was capturing raw beauty, sans makeup which resonated with me. I knew I could trust him. But my timidity rarely allowed me the courage to place myself in front of the camera throughout my life, so I took my time to think about it. On the following trip back a few months later, I went into his studio, nervous but ready to bare all.

Recently David began a wonderful blog titled Paper Aeroplane where he interviews talented people he knows and has worked with over the years and today, I have been featured. Another honour. Along with the interview David has combined a selection of the photographs (warning: some nudity) from that session as well as some of my music.

I hope you’ll enjoy both the interview and the photographs. To read and view, please click here. Thank you David.

xx

………..

portrait photograph by David Anthony Knight

STILL: a gatherer’s field guide…
Posted in blog favourites, nature, photographers April 6th, 2012 by pia

Mary Jo Hoffman posts one image each day  on her beautiful new blog called ‘STILL’. Conceived as a one-year project dedicated to exploring “the compulsive human desire to gather, sort, arrange, and document”, Mary Jo arranges her daily collections of found natural objects on a white background, keeping to a minimalist format…

My thoughts? Love it… so completely day enhancing… can’t wait to see what each day brings…

Congratulations Mary Jo, welcome to the blog world!  xx

other people’s houses…
Posted in interiors, london, photographers April 13th, 2011 by pia

Victoria came up with another brilliant idea for an exhibition (remember the last one?). This one is called other people’s houses: a photographic exploration of the places we choose to live.  I was invited to be one of the exhibitors, along with the original 1010 group, “reuniting to explore feelings of displacement, intimacy and voyeurism through photographs of the places we choose to live”. I took photographs of intimate moments in my new home.

other people’s houses will be exhibited at the CAMP, 70-74 City Rd, London, from May 5 – May 18. To go along to the opening night (which I think is going to be awesome fun!), you can rsvp here.

Again, with the wiggling of the nose… being in two places at once would be a welcomed bit of magic this coming month.