inspired by design

I tutor design at QUT in Brisbane. People ask me why I do it and if I get good money. Sure, the money helps pay my bills, but mostly, the thing I love about it is being constantly exposed to new ideas. Being able to develop these ideas and build on them and work them into new ones. This constant exposure to inspiration is why I do it. To me it is like being paid to be inspired.
Today during a studio session, it was great to see 15 students tackle the same space, but each in their own way, with their own ideas and personality. At the end of the day there were 15 different results. I think that in itself is pretty amazing. That each one reflected not just the personality of the designer, but some of their philosphies, their history, their culture as well is wonderful.

caffeine: helping designers since 1883!

Design can be great, we just need to give it a chance. We need to allow it to be all it can be. We need to focus less on the 'designer' items and designer price tags and more on the benefit that good design thinking- applied to interiors, architecture, industrial, civic- all of it- can offer our society. We need to make use of the thinkers in the world. I hope I can inspire some of them in return. For now I just feel lucky that I can spend some of my days in studio rooms with them, plotting, planning and puzzling our way forward, one sheet of butter paper at a time!

sunshine... on my window!

No matter how many times you see it, watching flowers grow, open, thrive is amazing... especially when you can watch them growing from the comfort of your bed as cooler mornings roll in!

a little rest

Today I needed a little rest! I woke up early still but instead of rushing off to netty (training cancelled) or trying to fill the morning with a replacement exercise... I chilled! It was a walk to lucky duck espresso for a caffeine hit + weekend paper in the glorious autumn sunshine + then flower power bakery on the way home for hot cross bun goodness and some much needed couch time...
The sky was just so beautiful and blue today it was great just to be in it, admiring it, at a much s lo w e r pace!
Hurrah for slow days!
L.

brightening up a rainy day

Just a quick one before the weekend... Sometimes rainy weather can get you down... I know... I lived in London! Today however, it did not! Sometimes you just have to find something to brighten your day... like the umbrella this guy in front of me was wielding against another Brisbane downpour! Made me smile :-)
L.

beautiful brisbane mornings!

 This is just a super quick post of piccies- these are early morning shots taken from my bed (yes, really!)... this is the reason NOW is my favourite time of the year to go running- the temperature is perfect, the light is stunning and there is nothing better than the feeling of invigoration you get from watching the sun rise... The fact that I can see this from my bed is probably what makes it so easy for me (most mornings!) to get out of bed and get going- why wouldn't you when it looks this beautiful?! That said, it isn't like that every morning- there are definitely times when I struggle! But it is definitely days like this one that make it all worthwhile! Hoorah, going to be a good day, I can feel it in my bones!!!

Early morning mangrove run

The nights are drawing in a bit and bringing the new season... there is just a hint of it in the air... or so I thought until yesterday when it hit 31degrees again! My mind and my body are definitely ready for a change of season and although the hours of light suggest it is on its way, last night was still a muggy, hot one- hard to sleep in that! Oh well, I'm sure I'll be dreaming of the long summer days in a few more months but for now I just have to practice patience- in a few areas of my life... something I've never been very good at! At least with the changes to the light it makes running in the mornings and evenings at the moment more interesting- the sunrise and sunsets are a softer light, full of colours (rather than the harsh light that suggests half the day is already gone, that you wake up to in mid-summer). This pic of the mudflats under the mangroves at the brisbane botanic gardens that I ran through this morning capture this light... Bring on beautiful autumn runs!

full of bliss-ful energy!

These pics are all that remain of the yummy scrummy energy bliss ball attempt by moi! Inspired in part by my dear friend Alana's love of 'byron bay bliss balls' in cafes around SEQ (Australia?), in part by the lululemon blog on their 'bliss ball challenge' and in part by the desire to cook up something yummy and energising to share with my friends at the uq twilight run today... these little goodies were born! It has been a miserable/grey/overcast/rainy few days but nothing would make me pull out of the twilight run... If it were only for me I may have, but most importantly this was the first race of my amazing friend Carmen's... and she made it! We all made it! What made it even more exciting was the fact that Carmen breast-fed minutes before the race... yes that's right- not only was it her first ever run, but it also was a run that showed where she has come from- giving birth to her beautiful daughter only just over a year ago, Carmen has turned into an inspirational running machine... It was so wonderful and really kind of special being able to run alongside her and my own mum (and at the event to also have the support of Paul, Maya and Kara!) that I think there was some kind of karma that parted the clouds for us and allowed the whole run to be completed sans rain! I am so glad that I have been able to run with my mum and create a little world of running love, full of friends who I can go on running dates with... there really is nothing more exhilarating than being able to share a run (and a post-run coffee!) with people who are really near and dear to you... So, thankyou to those near and dear to me for the amazing twilight run (and also I guess to the few thousand others in the race who aren't quite as near and dear... yet!)... I hope you enjoyed it and found it as wonderful as I did!

L. :-)