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Art Gear – Faber Castell

Welcome to the first instalment of a  new series dedicated to the arts and gear that has tried, tested and proven to be useful for artistic pursuits over the years.

If you have grown up in the old world in the 1980s, Faber Castell and its Holzmalstifte would have been a constant companion throughout our early school career. While I was using Faber’s coloured pencils on a regular basis, it was only until many moons later that I really got to appreciate the craftmanship and attention to detail that went into their creation.

With the advent and rising popularity of Photoshop and other digital means to create art, I early on counterintuitively started to refocus on the manual expression and creation of artworks.

For the uninitiated, Faber Castel’s history harks back to the nineteenth century and has been catering to all age groups for all fine art related matters. The beauty is that with the quality and the tactile experience each Faber Castell product is infused with, you can feel the expertise that went into its creation.

Case in point: The ever popular Polychromos collection. Chances are that if your favourite artwork was created with coloured pencils, the utensils used were part of this range or one of Faber Castell’s others, each of which complement each other.

What I specifically like about the Polychromos range is its versatility and robust shape, due to the use of American Cedar wood holding the close to four millimetre in diameter pigment core, which is to unleash its vibrance on the surface of your choosing. The Polychromos pencils are oil-based, which result in a harder core and make them predestined for work that needs precision and it would not be Faber Castell if not only the delivery of pigment was on point as well but fortified against the side effects of sharpening through the injection of resin.

When it comes to daily usage, the fact that all pencils have detailed information printed on the outside relating to a numerical code related to the colour nuance and a rating pertaining sensitivity to light, is immensely helpful. Performance-wise, I like that the pencils cater to both blending and layering.

Needless to say, apart from the differently sized Polychromos sets, there are carefully curated limited-edition sets, with the holy grail being the decadently designed “Karl box”, which was exclusively put together by none other than designer extraordinaire Karl Lagerfeld.

Summa summarum, if you are passionate about the usage of coloured pencils, you’d find yourself hard-pressed to go past Faber-Castel’s Polychromos range comprising a hundred and twenty colour nuances and shades.

Fine writing is another area that unfortunately does not only seem to be a less and less appreciated lost art, but also one that good and affordable tools I find hard to get by.

Faber Castell’s new Hexo range is an interesting one, as it has been specifically designed to cater to the purpose of sketching, creative writing and drafting. With the hexagonal shape being an obvious homage to the original FC graphite pencils, a black large-capacity refill and a twist mechanism to open and close, it has become a constant and reliable companion for both professional and artistic endeavours.

No matter the medium  I am working on when it comes to art related explorations, it usually starts with pinning the vision down via drawings and my go to is the permanent and waterproof, unerasable Faber Castell Pitt artist pen range, which imbues drawings with a vibrancy I do not get from a lot of other pens courtesy of the elongated and more refined brush nib. I love the versatility as with pressure and working with different angles, lines, shading and strokes can be perfectly calibrated and modified as needed.

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image from company website

Thus Let us Drink Beer – Pirate Life

I have covered quite a few Australian breweries over the last couple of years as part of this series and discovered quite a diverse range of quality brews. It is always specifically gratifying when I come across a brewery that does a brew so well that it makes me reconsider my preferences, especially when it come to variations that normally would not rank high in my go-to list.

Then there is my unwavering preference for hopped out brews of the IPA family. This constitutes an area where there is a myriad of good ones, but few are truly great.

Enter Pirate Life.

I vividly remember celebrating a joyous occasion with a dram of Ardbeg Ardbeg 19-year-old Traigh Bhan, which as connoisseurs would know, comes pretty close to the OG fantastic Ardbeg DNA that was refined in the 1970s. The occasion demanded a suitable brewed companion to complete the boilermaker and by chance, Pirate Life’s IIPA caught my eye. Hallelujah, it was a match that so far has yet to rivalled.

Then again I should have not been overly surprised about how well Pirate Life’s brew paired with the emission from Islay as Pirate Life Brewing ’s story began in Scotland, where the founders originally refined their brewing skills and the idea of starting operations on terra australis was incepted.

After further apprenticeship at Australian breweries on the West Coast, a suitable location for their own shop was identified in Adelaide, where the Pirate Life HQ and brewhouse was established in 2014. The awards for its core range kept rolling in and within a short period of time Pirate Life established itself as a veritable player on the firmament on the ever-expanding Australian craft beer firmament.

Continuing its success on all front, Pirate Life was eventually incorporated into bigger distribution networks, which allowed them to expand their operations even further, including the opening of a new location in 2019, which not only has the capacity to house large-scale events but also serves as a forum to sell their own, stylish merchandise and skateboards. Many breweries tout their own gear, but if you check out Pirate Life’s merch, you will see from a distance that it is a cut above. I own one of their garments and the attention to detail as well as the quality is quite something. No wonder street gear brands like Burton made a beeline to team up with Pirate Life for collaborations – an area that is shed light on in their blog section.

As mentioned above, my favourite of the Pirate Life Brewing range is their Imperial IPA and yes, it is a big beer in every sense of the word: What tickles the nostrils is an avalanche of fruity nuances, which seamlessly translate to what materializes on the top of the roof in the most creamy of ways.

I love how the citrussy and tropical highlights are counterpointed by pine notes derived from the quartet of Columbus, Simcoe, Centennial and Mosaic hop, and a delicate, well-calibrated bitterness derived from the hops and the malty backbone.

Pirate Life’s IIPA is not just because of its comparatively high alcohol content of 8.8% and the 500ml treatment a tour de force as flavour-wise it reigns supreme in a league of its own.

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images from company website

Magic Mike Live

Moore Park

Sydney, Australia

January 9, 2021

Apparently, the concept of the stage adaption of Magic Mike Live was incepted on the set of the film of the same name from 2012, i.e. the idea of taking a strip show on the road under the benign guidance of Channing Tatum. The concept was turned into a reality with the vision to offer more than a stage show, which is when the iconic Het Spiegelpaleis was engaged and commissioned to build a custom-made venue, i.e. The Arcadia.

Given the specific nature of the venue and the production, cast and crew travelled to Belgium, where the finer details for the show were refined to perform it on the road.

Needless to say that the implications of the current malaise made the undertaking a logistical nightmare and given endless delays and the possibility of the whole endeavour being postponed indefinitely, it is a small wonder that the live show can incarnate in the Southern hemisphere – of course in a more socially distanced manner than the original production was initially planned for.

After a welcome twist at the beginning, the audience is being guided through the show by a strong feminist conferencier, which shows quite a bit of an evolution since 2012. The plot has a refreshing range of references that suggest that it was developed informed by a team of women, the classy impact of which is felt throughout the show and not merely when it comes to the strip and dance routines, but specifically the banter and dialogues, which my better half referred to as conveying a sense of empowerment.

Apart from what you’d expect from a Magic Mike Live show, the choreography is excellent and the performances varied, including aerial stunts, tap dancing and respectful crowd interaction galore, which more often than not is reminiscent of Cirque du Soleil and showcases the talents of the troupe of international performers, singers and dancers that go far beyond being easy on the eye and lap dancing skills.

In essence, Magic Mike Live is a fun and well-choreographed theatrical reimagining of the movie via a strip-meets-cabaret show that is tailored for the pleasure of women, which despite being dominated by semi-naked men never runs danger of entering sleazy or pure raunchy territory.

The Formative Years – Iconic venues, Pt. 1

How could a series on iconic venues possible start without paying homage to one of the most legendary rock venues in the history of music, i.e. CBGB’s. With a history dating back to the early 1970s, it would be impossible to ever do justice to the significance of the place and what it meant for a myriad of artists and musical styles as a forum and maternity ward and launch pad for underground bands.

Having been socialised with punk and hardcore, what I learned about 315 Bowery from afar in the new world took on almost mythical proportions, framed and enhanced by live recordings, photographic evidence and specifically Bri Hurley’s Making a Scene: New York Hardcore in Photos, Lyrics, and Commentary, which painted a picture of CBGB’s as the third place for punk and hardcore protagonists.

Needless to say, upon my first visit to the US, I had to experience it myself in all its grimy beauty.

I vividly recall venturing there by myself, prepared for an evening dedicated to taking it all in as an observant.  Upon stepping over the threshold, the first person I met was Army veteran, Hardcore/Punk rock icon, accomplished gentleman and CBGB jack-of-all-trades, Brendan Rafferty.

We only had met a few months prior during the European tour of his band SFA, where for one of the local dates he and his worthy constituents were accommodated in the woods not too far from my parent’s house, an occurrence which he immediately remembered. He introduced me to everyone, showed me around (including a tour of one of the most remarkable bathroom facilities, which have been immortalized in the Met’s PUNK: Chaos to Couture exhibition), and the next five nights of my stay in NYC I visited him and CB’s at the end of every night to watch whoever played there, meet quite a few of the characters of the NYHC scene and party with new acquaintances. On my last night after closing CBGB’s down for the day, Brendan and I shot the shit into the wee hours of the morning sitting at the front desk – I almost missed my early morning flight back and would not have made it without him giving me a lift to pick up my bags.

Many visits followed over the next years, all of which are associated with great memories, with the last one in 2004, two years before it officially closed its doors on October 15th, 2006.

CBGB’s was much more than a venue and a landmark, it was a cultural incubator, whose significance reverberates to this very day.

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image (uncredited) from www.cbgb.com

Water of Life – Husk Distillers

When I started this series a couple of years ago, I highlighted that the Australian spirits scene is thriving, with distilleries mushrooming manifold. What in the current day and age had initially its objectives set on the creation of gin and whiskey, eventually branched out into the creation of other variants as well – specifically rum, whose history on terra australis dates back to the eighteenth century when the implications of its import and the resulting popularity earned the local troops the not exactly flattering telling moniker “Rum Corps”.

In 2020, Australian rum distilleries have refined their art, specifically in Queensland where the range of fine and varied rums created from the local world class sugar cane.

Husk Distillers is the venture of the Messenger family, who set out to create their own plantation distillery on their cattle and cane farm in the Northern region of New South Wales with the objective to create a paddock to bottle agricole rum with a unique Australian twist as the local terroir and provenance plays a prominent role in all aspects of the creation.

However, the production of their Husk Rum comes with limitations as it can only be produced from freshly crushed cane juice, which limits the window of opportunity to harvest season from August to November. Not unlike many whiskey distilleries do, the alternative for the interim while the rum was maturing, was the creation of gin. Given Husk Distillers’ willingness to push the boundaries in every form imaginable, they set out to challenges people’s perception of what gin can be.

Enter Ink Gin.

As the name suggests, Husk’s gin variant is an idiosyncratic one, with the core expression getting its uniqueness from the use of local botanicals as well as the play with colour: As soon as tonic is added, the colour changes from deep blue to purple due to the Thai flower clitoria ternetea channelling its magic once it is added post-distillation through floral infusion. The colour change is caused by the pH sensitivity of the flower, which triggers the transformation once acid or Tonic water is added.

Taste wise, the nostrils are tickled by a melange of piney, citrussy notes with juniper at the core and centre. On the top of the mouth sweet citrus, orange and myrtle unfold their flavours in all their glory, framed by floral highlights, which find their culmination in the elongated yet crisp finish, counterpointed by the warmth and welcomed bitterness that the pepper berries create.

Husk’s slightly Ink Sloe & Berry Gin is their own take on classic English sloe gin recipe, with the adage of Australian rosella flowers being the defining factor, as their crispy and tarty flavour characteristics counterbalance the nature of the other sweeter botanicals. Clocking in at a considerably lower ABV of below 30%, this makes an excellent sipper without necessitating any other additions – even for the untrained palate.

Summa sumarum, Husk Distiller’s Ink Gins are definitely a showpiece, which deliver on all fronts, starting with the bottle design, the colour change gimmick and the interesting flavour combinations derived from thirteen organic botanicals, which make it highly enjoyable.

Unfortunately, Husk Distiller’s emissions are wildly popular and their expressions almost sell out immediately, so I was not able to sample their Spiced Bam Bam and Triple Oak rums, however, if their Husk Pure Cane unaged Agricole is anything to go by, I will be in for a treat:

Made from Husk’s own sugar cane and double distilled after fermentation, each batch is seasonal and reflects that year's vintage, the seasons, the soil, the terroir, which in the case of my sample was a vibrant and fresh that excelled in being a softer variant of Caribbean white agricoles with its grassy and creamy flavours – an ideal basis for cocktails.

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image from company website