I'm so chuffed to launch my picture book for newborns! I've been thinking about the concept of chosen family lately - something I absolutely love as an integral feature of the queer community. Chosen family takes us beyond biological family structures and challenges us to think differently about kinship and relationships. What if family was built on ties and bonds forged through steadfast love, and loyalty, rather than biology alone?
When a baby comes into the world, there is no limit to the people who can love them. From biological families, to chosen families, to adoptive caregivers and foster parents, love and care come in all shapes and sizes. This book is an ode to this love and to the expansive possibilities offered by the family we choose <3 Available via Amazon.
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I was incredibly honoured to have the opportunity to be interviewed by STUN magazine late last year. Sometimes we're so caught up in producing and business admin, we don't take time to reflect on what we are doing or why we're doing it. Being interviewed helped me clarify why I started the business. One of the insights I had was that greeting cards are such a universal and powerful medium.
I've noticed that people outside the LGBTIQA+ community are often intimidated. While they want to support queer loved ones in their lives, they don't have the tools to do it. Which pronoun do you use for a nonbinary friend? Is the term trans ok or is it transgender or transsexual? What do all the letters in LGBTIQA+ stand for? What does cis mean? Why do people now say POC? The policing of language and the pressure to 'get it right' can put people off from actually saying what they want to - I support you, I love you, I'm here. Greeting cards are a way to cut through all these barriers. It short circuits the awkwardness, anticipated embarrassment and fumble to find the right words. Cards take away the mystery, the fear of gatekeepers and the shroud of political correctness. Everyone understands receiving a card for a rite of passage. Everyone understands celebrations. Everyone understands love. It is my deepest hope that my cards provide an accessible and easy way for people to convey this love to the queer loved ones in their lives. Read full interview here. It's been 2 years since the last Sydney Mardi Gras Fair Day and boy have we all missed it! Every year, during the Mardi Gras season (Feb-March), everyone braves the heat to haul ass to Victoria Park and indulge in a day of live music, stalls, dog shows, drag shows and general fabulousness. It's a chance for the community to come together - including families, children and pets - and celebrate us in all our glory :D
After 2 years of suspending this long standing tradition in the midst of COVID, Fair Day finally returned and I had the privilege of running my first stall there! Meeting my customers face-to-face for the first time was a huge leap from selling my stock into the faceless abyss of the web. Hearing my customers' stories has been the most rewarding part of starting my little business. Being able to chat to customers live is the pinnacle. Knowing even just one card has made a difference to someone's life and helped them feel less alone when coming out, transitioning or simply existing has always been my aim. Hearing and seeing this happen in front of my eyes made my day. So let's remember to stay united, shine together and enjoy a happy Mardi Gras for 2022! <3 It has been an absolutely train wreck of a year... with COVID-19 hitting countries hard around the world, I think I can safely say that we are all wearied and utterly weathered by long lock-downs and the emotional rollercoaster of the pandemic. As Australia emerges out of lock-down and begins resuming 'normal' life, I'm excited to think of the end of 2021 being one of festivities and actual face-to-face celebrations.
Optimistically, I sat down to design a naughty cheeky Xmas card in the hope that we can all have a giggle to end 2021! Wishing everyone a Happy Pride Month!
Thinking about the courage it takes to come out and to live as your authentic self inspired me to create this new illustration. I wanted to capture the bravery of all the wonderful queer folks in the world who do the hardest and scariest thing of being themselves - risking rejection and even death in some countries. They are the unsung heroes who should be celebrated*~! I was struck by the scene from FX's life-affirming, achingly beautiful show, "Pose", which captures it all: "I'm no one. I want what I'm supposed to want, I wear what I'm supposed to wear and I work where I'm supposed to work. I stand for nothing... I can buy things I can't afford which means they're never really mine. I don't live. I don't believe. I accumulate. I'm a brand, a middle-class white guy. But you're who you are even though the price you pay for it is being disinvited from the rest of the world. I'm the one playing dress-up." |
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