Dearest Philip, (A New Project)

Dear Philip,

It’s been four years since LiveJournal spotlight brought your ‘2006: A year of giving flowers to people’ project to my attention. It’s been a little while since then, and we have weathered the storms of the years (your blog is the only thing that has survived the shifts in my internet-content consumption). You travel all over the world, changing it intimately, and documenting it with gentle candour. I think it’s marvellous.

2005 started the projects, when you documented each day with two lines of iambic pentameter. 2006 was the start of your interactions with strangers, giving a flower to a different person every day of the year. 2007’s spiritual journey into the life of the saints was both serious, and silly, and marvellous in every way. 2008 harked back to the public interaction of 2006, with you following a different person every day and seeing where it led you. 2009 brought strangeness, silliness, and silver stars, as you altered a lemon in a different way every day:

In the present project, you are kissing a different person on the lips every day. For me, it is a gentle dialogue about the nature of intimacy, and both your most ambitious, and most interesting work yet.

In the same vein, I have been inspired to use this kind of motivational tool to commit myself to broadening my creative horizons.

From March 1^st, 2010, until February 28^th 2011, I intend to design a unique dress, every day. Each month, I will make the most well received dress. The intention is not only to keep my creative mind ticking, but to experiment with new approaches to design- taking inspiration from as many sources as possible, and seeing (and documenting) the elements of the day that have culminated in that design. For example, Fridays, when I have work, will most probably be influenced by the indie designs I see on most of the customers, peppered with the Haute Couture elements I pick up from reading magazines in the slow-periods. Mondays, when I have a full schedule of theatre classes, will no doubt include costume elements, and will be substantially more practical for long-term wear.

Thankyou Thiel, for the interesting reading, and the inspiration,

(Check him out at: http://thiel.livejournal.com/ )

All my love,

xox

IP.

Dear Ted Wallace (C/O Stephen Fry)

Dear Ted Wallace
It's probably a rather long stretch, but I just devoured your story (otherwise known as Stephen Fry's 'The Hippopotamus') and it was marvellous and frazzled and in the two days i just lay on my bed and read, and ate, and went to work, and came back to read some more, all the pent-up creativity of idle hands built and are now coming to life: shaping up to be: (and you'll like this; it is a list, after all)

1) Preliminary sketches for the Imprint-By-Ip Banner

(Have I mentioned watercolours are FTW?)

2) Easy peasy tutorial, up soon...

(Strangely simple... hmmm.)
And the early stages for what I think might turn out to be a cross between this:


Alice+Olivia Red Belted off-the-shoulder Dress (image credit: fashionfuss.com)
and this:

Jason Wu Isadora Sundress (image credit: Couturecarrie.com)

A most inspiring week to you all,
We'll see what we can glean from this crop of productivity,
All my love,
IP.

Dear Australia Post (Inspiration and Pannacotta)

First of all, I'd like to make note of the tragic loss of Lee Alexander McQueen this week. Many have exaulted his ground-breaking style, his love of quality and colour and inventiveness. For myself, having only just begun my forays into the world of fashion in an independant way- having all the clothes i own now part of a concerted choice to create a specific style- what really made McQueen stand out in a world of his own was his daring- to never be predictable or plain or anything less than completely unique. He had a strange and beautiful vision, the reverberations of which will be felt for many years to come.

you for employing me, giving me money to work a job that is massively hardcore for twenty minutes and then slack for five, so I can read all the newspapers and magazines, and see beautiful things like this:

Dear Australia Post,
Thank

Joseph Altazurra,Fall/Winter '09(Image Credit: http://josephaltazurra.com/collections/index.php?collection=13 )

And come across clever little recipes like this (altered with experiance):Buttermilk Panacotta (Grazia of 2nd week of Feb.)

900ml Pouring Cream (35% fat)3tsp Gelatin200g Sugar (I used brown sugar, which made it slightly burnt-sour, in a nice way. regular sugar would make it much simpler, although not nececarily nicer.)300ml Buttermilk
1) Bring the cream and sugar to a boil and swiftly remove from the heat,

2) GENTLY sprinkle the gelatin on the cream, one spoon at a time, stirring as you go (I had a mini-disaster with the Gelatin, where I sprinkled it all on in one go and it formed a crusty gooey mess... Let the cream cool a little, and then work SLOWLY. It's well worth it.)

3) Whisk (gently) the buttermilk into the cream/sugar/gelatin mix

4) Pour into moulds. Best if they're indapendant rubber ones (image credit: http://www.tradeindia.com/selloffer/1563397/Silicone-Bakewares-Muffin-Pans.html)I got my set in Israel, and they're really brilliant. Connected rubber moulds are alright, you can always just put cling film in the mould before you pour in the mixture, but it messes with the shape, so seperate is best.

5) Best to allow to set overnight, or at least for 6 hours.

6) When shucking the pannacotta, separate from the mould with a butterknife or skewer, hold a plate over the mould, flip upside down and then peel up the side of the mould (if it’s rubber). Then separate the top of the pannacotta from the mould with the knife/skewer.

7) Serve with syrup, fruit, or a combination. I drizzled mine in Orange Syrup- recipe below.

Orange Syrup
(Adapted from Stephanie Alexanders' The Cook's Companion)

Half a cup of Sugar
One Quarter of a cup of Water
One Half of a cup of Orange Juice
Peeled Pieces of half an Orange
Half a shot of Cointreau

1) Heat the Sugar and the Water on a medium heat until glassy bubbles start forming (they begin miniscule, allow them to reach a maximum of one centimetre)

2) At arms length (to avoid splatter) pour in the orange juice, and mix until the syrup is smooth.

3) Pour the syrup into a jar, or bowl, and and the peeled pieces of orange- each segment cut into four pieces- and the cointreau.

4) Drizzle over Pannacotta, or Pancakes, into Croissonts (Plain or Almond) or other Baked goods which require a little spicing.

Never be afraid to Experiment: spices can open the simplest of flavors. Between steps 4 & 5 of the Pannacotta, you can sprinkle cardomom, cinnamon, or another spice into the mould- it makes for an interesting aesthetic experiance, as well as a more subtle gastronomic one. For a dinner party, it could be interesting to make many small petit-four sized pannacotta, and give each guest one of each combination- one plain, one with orange syrup, one with cardomom, one with cinnamon, one with coarse coffee grounds- the possibilities are endless!

All my love,

IP.