BORN FREE. Taggerty, Central Victoria, Australia September 2014

"This is the remnants of the greatest tree I've ever seen in my life. The Oak tree was bigger than the farmhouse itself, [and] we used to call it "The Faraway tree".
 
"It was one of the most extraordinary trees to climb as a child, it had the biggest branches and the hugest trunk..[and, ah] there was probably three, four, five or six of us that used to climb it at any one time...and we used to play all the different characters from The Magic Faraway Tree book, 'Moon Face', 'Mrs Pops' ... all those mad characters from Enid Blyton..'

"[But] it's really quite emotional coming back to this place, [um] because my father sold it ten years ago, and ah, I'd heard that the tree had collapsed, so it's been quite amazing to come back...to Taggerty.."

Christian Wagstaff is a Melbourne based Creative Director who's incredible work spans that of art projects, film and television, live theatre, special events, attractions and interior design projects. 

When we invited Christian to spend TIME WITH JOAN he chose the magical remains of the old Oak tree at Taggerty House "The Farm" (his childhood getaway) as the backdrop for our insight into what shaped his own creativity. 

Christian Wagstaff is the son of acclaimed Director of Photography Keith Wagstaff (Man from Snowy River, Wild Horses, The Anzacs) Keith "Waggers" Wagstaff started his career in the lab of the family owned business Cineservice in 1953.

During our shoot (on this very windy day in Taggerty) there was a unique presence of love of  family, respect, and inherent creativity. Opportunity to play freely in these extremely historic surroundings bare testament to creative growth, story telling, make believe and the purity and good fortune of being 'Born Free'. 

 "We were allowed to as kids, roam around the house and do whatever we wanted [pretty much].. when my parents bought the property I remember my step mother saying when they came and viewed the house the corridors of the house were so wide and beautiful old timber structures, there was cattle actually walking through the house...it had been vacated for a couple of decades.."

"We were allowed to paint rooms. At one stage there was a room where we had a beautiful box window at the back of it that overlooked [actually] the Oak tree in the distance. We set it up as a little theatre using old bedspreads a and rickety old furniture... we'd paint the rooms and paint the scenes and hang up drapes and do little shows for our parents."

 
"Crown announced that they were opening and were going to have theatres and entertainment.. I remember thinking I must get a job there, I have to... (at the interview) I had a beautiful Top hat made that was absolute perfection... and a beautiful set of tails, most beautiful cherry red wool fabric, like the Ring Master outfit Marlene Dietrich wore... they said "have you made this?" I said "no", but I directed someone to make this, that's why they are so beautiful... and I got the job."





"Just keep walking... they're more scared of us than we are of them" (Virginia Dowzer)

"Actually, I'm scared" (Bronwyn Kidd)

Around fifteen young (so they said) Black Angus surrounded us from the front, and another fifteen from the back, like a wave in the ocean that seems so much bigger than you.... were we going to survive this trip to Taggerty?

... Thankfully, Virginia was right...' just keep walking'. 



Christian Wagstaff

facebook.com/creativeproductionservices

youtube.com/user/CPS011

creativeproductionservices.com.au

Contributing Visual Director

Virginia Dowzer

virginiadowzer@bigpond.com
 
Tumblr- virginiadowzer

Instagram - Virginia Dowzer

ELEVEN and TWELVE.  St Kilda,  Melbourne Australia, August 2014

"Isolation made us more unique, maybe. Sort of going down a wild journey of our own, trying to do the most mad prints I could. It's just a moment in time, what you could get away with and pushing the boundaries, there was an audience and people were prepared to go with the journey. It's so for the masses now, it wasn't mainstream. It's so for the masses now...who wants that?, the masses, ah..great... NOT interested in the masses.." Gavin Brown [GB]

"That was that point in time in time in Melbourne though, there was just so much fabulous[ness].. you know when cities hit that critical mass for a couple of years, and you know the fashion Eighty five and Eighty four and all those things... their was a hell of a lot going on in Melbourne". Peter Curnow 

Artist Gavin Brown and partner Peter Curnow [Fashion and Textile production] live uniquely in neighbouring St Kilda Art Deco apartments [the compound], numbers ELEVEN and TWELVE. 

Their relationship spans 15 years and their mirrored involvement in the advances of fashion, art and interiors has witnessed a transition from Melbourne's grass roots creativity of the 1980's to mass production of the same today. 

The oasis in which they live is a reflection of their values, appreciation of beauty even dark or ugly , of their creativity, history and passion. 

Gavin Brown's Art has ranged from printmaking to fashion to performance and his now paintings encomopass all.

Peter Curnow,  has spent a vast amount of time in Fashion and Textile production. He has specialised in Screen Printing both in Australia and the UK where he worked with famed Textile Designer Celia Birtwell. 


"Everybody wanted you to be a trend follower and not a 'trend setter'. I'm only interested in being a trend setter". GB

"..have you seen what's out there??." GB

"It's the same intent, everything I do has to have the same intent, performing or interior or anything it's gotta have the same intent.. it's for you, number one, and you've gotta live with yourself... [so] it's gotta have your authentic hand to everything you do". GB

"I studied Fine Art Painting and Print Making and started printing on fabric because I could not get paper big enough". GB

Gavin Brown
Nic-Nak Castle


Contributing Visual Director
Virginia Dowzer

virginiadowzer@bigpond.com
Tumblr- virginiadowzer
Instagram - Virginia Dowzer

    In bed with Philip Treacy.  Flinders Lane,  Melbourne Australia June 2014

"Love the shock of the new, that's what I say. It's about the hunt and the catch.... And then, always when I come back the thing that shocked me the most is the thing I can't stop talking about. Because it's so exciting when people take things beyond our imagination. And I always feel like when I am traveling I am on the outside of the planet looking down at all of these mad people running around this planet making more and more beautiful things that we don't need, but they're so beautiful we must have them, and... it [has] got to be pretty beautiful otherwise why are we doing it?"

"And then Philip of course blows me away, because, you see him there and he [has] got these flowers in his atelier, he's being inspired by botanic things, and he watches that thing growing. It could be quite sadly growing and unhealthy, but he's observing that shape and he always invents another thing. He has orchids growing, they're looking a bit sad but it's in the reality of that botanic 'thing' happening, that he gets ideas as a form."

 

"We didn't realize until our grandmother's funeral that she was the local 'town couturier'. We thought all these ladies we would visit were her friends, but they used to be her staff... we grew up in Sydney and our parents would put us on a train at central station with the shoebox packed with the sandwiches, tied with string..." Christine Barro

"It was the perfect picture of a hard earned race day, just getting that tiny little cat nap....I love it, don't you love it."  Virginia Dowzer

Christine Barro and sister, Jane-ann Davoren, have been ambassadors of 'the new' for over 40 years. Their dedication to supporting supreme design in fashion is unwavering, inspiring and a gift to Melbournians. As is Christine of Flinders Lane. 

The evening of Thursday 26th June 2014 Christine and Jane-anne closed the doors of Christine and opened the doors of Christine's city dwelling for  TIME WITH JOAN. 

Virginia Dowzer had previously been at a party at Christine's and witnessed fortuitously the scene above, minus Philip Treacy. 

Our excitement over the first  TIME WITH JOAN started with a phone call to Christine and Jane Ann introducing the idea. Nothing had been said about what Virginia had witnessed or our ideal portrait concept for Christine and Jane Ann but as conversation progressed with Christine  serrendipidy came to play.

"Philip's Spring Summer 2014 collection is on the bed [in the apartment],"  said Christine, "we could do it there, ' In bed with Philip Treacy!'".

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