5 Colours in 5 Days with Kate Banazi – Brown

Written
by
Jenny Butler
Writer
Jenny Butler
14th of January 2011
Sadly we find ourselves at the last post of Kate Banazi's Guest Blog but we end with a bang - BROWN!  This is your last chance to leave a comment and go in the draw to win one real life print, selected from any of this weeks downloadable wallpapers. Lucy and I have absolutely loved every second of this colourful week, thanks a million Kate! - Jenny x
This is today's FREE DOWNLOADABLE DESKTOP WALLPAPER, custom printed by Kate especially for us! Visit HERE to download! There has been a different desktop wallpaper everyday this week. Check out the video below on how it all came together.
BROWN from Kate Banazi on Vimeo.

So, last colour today. I know I could have done one of the other secondaries or one of the multitudes of hues, but I went with multicoloured (because I'm greedy like that) mixed together. Yup, Brown. Wood, earth, hair, skin, its warm and reassuring. It's also the colour of chocolate and deep fried food. Perfect.

I grew up in a flat that had gloss brown panelled walls a brown carpet and a brown corduroy sofa. If you don't believe me there's a picture below. It's a black and white photo but you get the drift. The 1970's were mainly brown with pops of colour. Maddie told me the Australian equivalent was mission brown.

Pistachio and strawberry always look enhanced with a scoop of chocolate. You can't deny it. As an 'anchor' of course.

Brown was also the colour of the beautiful, borrowed John Galliano dress I was in when I fell 'ill' at my friends 21st birthday party. The shame of it still lingers. Sorry A.B.

There was also the song 'Brown Girl in the Ring' by Boney M. which my dad told me, was written about me. I duly went to school and told all my friends and was rather put out when a couple of them told me that I was mistaken, actually their parents had told them it was about THEM.

Anyway this print being multicoloured and fluro with a delicious purpley brown layered ontop with stars n stuff and then real powdered gold and silver. I chucked everything at this one, can't you tell?

This is because I found out recently that the Universe is beige apparently. I wasn't surprised. In my opinion, space really came into its own in the '70s.

Tonight we'll be consuming Yorkshire puddings with rare roast beef and horseradish, then there will be Yorkshire puddings with chocolate sauce. Yorkshire puddings are GOOD!

Pencil drawing by mother, Pauline Locke Mum, taught me not only to draw but a really strong appreciation of colour. Her biggest words of wisdom was to imagine the colours where sometimes there wasn't any to be seen.

The 'brown' room. This was my dads hair at it's very smallest. Ruby must have been sedated, the kid never slept, and as I'm smiling, the portrait taker Ron, must have bribed me with chocolate.

When I was 7, Dad took me to see Star Wars at Tottenham Court Road Cinema. There was surround sound and I was enraptured. My friends and I at school used to re-enact the movie every playtime. Everyone used to rave about Luke or Han Solo. Me? It was Chewie all the way.  Still is. Chewie's 8 foot tall, c'mon who are you going to feel safe with out of the three of them? I refuse to be ashamed by my Chewie love any longer.

Bob Peak is one of my favourite illustrators. His was a style I had a real affinity to when I was drawing at college as well as my drawing tutor Howard Tangye, who was hugely encouraging and inspiring. I just wish I'd listened to him a bit more.

Ligne Roset wooden armchair. I covet these. One will do. Alistair can sit on the floor, he prefers the dog anyway.

When Marcela goes home to Colombia, she always brings me back this chocolate. I think they sell it in Erskinville now, but I like to make her work for the joy of bringing joy to me. This chocolate is delicious, it's almost savoury rather than sweet.

I did a job for Bloomsberg Business week a while back about 'the Black Swan'. Alistair went out and found these ones locally, got the shot I needed and then they all did this. Synchronised armpit tweak! Do birds have armpits?

I love this pink on ginger and chocolate brown, great combo.

Milan's room is so messy he cant find his other shoe, but this blue pops on the brown. Last time Milan misplaced a shoe, we found it in our neighbours house 5 doors down. Their dog had come round to visit Stan and had taken it home with her. Way more palatable than the time Stan hid a meaty bone underneath Milan's pillow. Nice and sharing.

Amazing photo essay about IBM computers via Aqua Velvet

My friends Troy and Stephano are 'Necklush' This is one of many I want to have, their colour combos are lovely.

QVB (pic by Al) Sydney.

Broadway (pic by Al) Sydney.

James Brown is a superlative printmaker and illustrator, this is one of many of his screenprints that is on my list of purchases for this year. I even know where it's going to hang.

My friend Jenny made us dinner the other night and mongrammed my pie. She knows I love puff pastry. She knows I love pies and type. I'll be disappointed now if she doesnt keep this up every time now.

I got three birthday cakes last year. THREE! I had to share them though and the middle one had strawberries in it so it counts as a daily fruit portion.

Mum gave me this cookery book about 20 years ago, possibly more. Its an excellent seasonal book and one that really got me hooked on how to cook. As it was written in the 70s there are references to the difficulties of obtaining the 'exotic avocado pear' and that aubergines were 'hard to find but would impress your guests.'

Stanley like plastic too. Aesop Sydney... it smells delicious in there. And those brown apothecary bottles are so well styled. Pete Roseman makes the most incredible paintings. We've fallen in love with more than a couple of them. I love this detail of one where the chocolate base sets off the colours so beautifully. Marni polka dot wallet. I'd have no money left to put inside it after I bought it though.

War memorial Hyde Park Sydney (pic by Al).

Stanley the Love Dog. He really does have a hard life. We found him in the pound three years ago and he ends up like this most nights. I'm going to get into so much trouble for putting this pic up, you have no idea. But pink and brown rock together, and Jenny and Lucy said I couldn't put up the naked pics I had, so this has to be it.

So to sign off, thank you all and Lucy and Jenny, for your lovely comments and reading my ramble for the week. Hope you've enjoyed a snippet of what I like and what we've been eating.

I'll be mainly watching Magnum PI this weekend and possibly going for a swim at Dawn Fraser, what about you?

- Kate

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