would you perhaps like to help!?!?

all these lanterns need to be hung...

saturday is coming around fast, and last week showed me, that we need help on the ground!!! perhaps you are out there just wondering what you could possibly do with all the time you have free this weekend!!!!  if that sounds like you i have lots of things i could organise for you!!! a little bit of lantern hanging, a tiny bit of table assembling, perhaps a bit of traffic managing??? doesn't it all sound so exciting!!! be brave get in contact and add your name to the tiny list of helpers that make 'red lantern' happen!! i'll love you for it... the email address is redlanternnightmarket@hotmail.com   i'll sit by my computer and wait for your email!!!

we had a beautiful night!!!

so... the first 'red lantern' for this year is done and dusted!! the evening was truly beautiful and the moon almost full. it couldn't have been more perfect really. it was fantastic to see hunter street and the surrounding laneways come alive once again. in a few short hours we transformed the inner city from a fairly quiet, and bland, saturday into a bustling, vibrant, entertainment filled space. have a look for yourself!! come along to the next market this saturday 27th november and then on saturday 11th december. this saturday will feature: 'gamelan novo kastria' gamelan music and shaddow puppet performance, local indie band 'birdsandbelles', street performance and fire twirling. there will also be henna designs by lovely ladies from the indian community, rickshaw rides, a different array of fantastic market stalls and lots more!!!! oh! and there will also be more food stalls, from a variety of cultures, as the food stalls actually ran out!! sorry if you missed out!!

oh dear!!!

i must admit that i have totally lost the plot with my supposed daily blog!! i've been run off my feet trying to do all the last minute organising and i just haven't had any steam left to wax lyrical at the end of my 12 hour days. but i do solelmly swear the 'red lantern night market' will be lots of fun with fantastic things to see and will live up to what has been promised!!! unlike my blog which started out as a daily running commentary and didn't quiet deliver!! so here is a little ditty! get ready, it goes a little something like this: sarsparilly, encircled, lhami, swiz is smitten, electric firefly, funk you up, soto & spunky, ciao meow, misconduct, clay & edie, tillymuz, pashom.... and more!!! did you get it?! they're the names of some of the fantastic people that will grace the footpaths and alleyways at 'red lantern'. it's going to be fun.... you betch ya it is!!!!! night!!!

tomorrow i promise i will write a post!!!

tonight it is too late friends! i have been a very, very busy lady, and i'm sorry, but i have neglected my post!! tomorrow i will find the time, i promise, and will write something interesting... i'll give you more information about what will be happening in the coming weeks at 'red lantern' and introduce you to some more of the stallholders. until them my friends! goodnight...

i have another market too!

it's been a hard job juggling the two markets over the last months. if you haven't been to my other market it's called 'the olive tree market' and it has been running for the last two years- the market really belongs to all the fantastically talented people who have great stalls!!! i started 'olive tree' with my two partners bec and ally- two beautiful sisters who have been wonderful friends and inspirations. last year we started 'red lantern' together, but this year i'm going it alone, because the girls have just started a new cafe 'one penny black'. if you haven't been go along and support a new institution!!  i can well and truly say it is much more fun collaborating on a market than trying to do it on your own!!! a good collaborative relationship is a real gift, and i think coming from a background in film, i prefer to work in that way. i miss the girls anyway!!! so... olive tree is newcastle's first dedicated art and design market and it has really settled into being a regular on many people's calenders. it's a fantastic venue for many local artists to show their work and make a go at earning a living. it's also allows our community to see how many talented people actually live here!! so, if you're from out of town, or from nearby and haven't dropped in before, come and visit us this saturday. it's meant to rain but we will be there either way!! actually, it would be abnormal for 'olive tree' to have a beautiful day with a sky full of blue!! i must say we 'novocastrians' need grow a spine when it comes to 'bad' weather. a little rain is not going to kill you!!! anyway... it's my birthday too so perhaps i'll bake a cake tomorrow and i may even make the effort and wear a dress on saturday. speaking of dresses!! when i was in china town last week, buying the lanterns for 'red lantern', i bought a rather super chinese dress in black silk that is very cute, actually it's sexy, and perhaps i will wear it to the last red lantern! it's a bit revealing for me, and i'm no slip of a girl, but what the hell it would look good in the rickshaw! here is the 'olive tree' poster if you haven't seen it.

oh! to have such lanterns...

image just being able to invite a few thousand people to the centre of newcastle, and then sitting down together, we could all at once release thousands of beautiful paper lantern lights into the sky. i can hear the silence of the moment and then the small feeling of warmth as they floated up into the night sky....but we have a thing call 'public liability insurance' and 'flight paths' which have made such a thing 'too risky'. what a pity....mmm,  it would be a lovely thing to do so i might talk to those in power again tomorrow and see if there is a way... i've started putting the posters around town so you may see them in a window near you very soon. i think that are lovely, and gwena my gorgeous french graphic designer, has done a beautiful job. if your looking for a talented person to help you she has great ideas. gwena came up with a number of different designs for this years poster and it was hard to make a decision.  i'll show you a few in the coming days. i've just decided that i might sell them on the market nights because i think they would look pretty on your wall at home. what do you think??

some of those young folk...

i'm rather excited that some of those 'bright young things' will be at 'red lantern' again! it is rather confronting when you meet some of the fantastically talented people around town and you realise, when examining the conversation afterwards, that you come from a very different era on the time chart and that, in theory, they could actually be you progeny! this has happened to me a bit of late! maybe 40 is the new 20 but i think i'm only fooling myself... anyway there are lots of very cute kids around town at the moment. their style is very quaint with a dash of the 20's a bit of the 30's and a pinch of the 50's together with a spoonful of the 80's, that somewhat hurts the eyes of us who were there, at the same time as stirring nostalgia... that's just fashion though and underneath all that wackiness there are some seriously talented artists. one of my favourite artists amongst this new guard, or 'young and baroque' is a particular young fellow about town david hampton, he gets about in lovely waistcoats, and makes wonderful prints, of which, i am lucky enough to have one. david will be at red lantern which is very exciting but before then i believe you may be able to see his work at a artists market this weekend in the east of newcastle above one penny black. it is a great little market that sells art and yummy food and other such things. it is in fact called 'young and baroque' and you should check it out.