By Colour Box Studio director Amie Batalibasi
Pastels, sunsets, lightning bolts, yellow/pink clouds and 3D fruit clusters are things that I never expected would adorn my fingernails… however as I stepped out into the cold Melbourne weather a few weeks back after having just left the studio of The Super Rad Nail Sisters, I looked down at my nails and their they were – so colourful and creative to brighten my day. Subsequently, just moments later as I drove home, I stalled the car at the lights because I was too busy admiring my new nail art… woopsy! (TIP: don’t drive and admire your nailart at the same time – you might crash).
The Super Rad Nails Sisters really are sisters and they really are SUPER rad. Rohani and Rosalie Osman are extremely talented ladies. Rohani comes from a fine art/textiles background whilst Rosalie’s creative practice incorporates animation and illustration. They both teach in within their professions at local tertiary institutions.
These creative backgrounds obviously inform their nail art because they are constantly posting instagram photos of their latest creations and I am constantly impressed by the design, creativity, colour pallets and intricate details. Some of my personal favourites have been the hamburger with melting cheese accompanied by a tobasco bottle, the classic confetti and the ‘pinata nails’ – a series where the piñata explodes on the final nail.
I was so excited leading up to my visit to The Super Rad Nail Sisters studio – their website invites peeps to “Get Yo’ Nails Did” and that’s what I was gonna do.
Their studio is located at Harvest Textiles in Brunswick and when I visited, Emily Green was artist in residence. Just stepping into the shop front was a visual delight! Emily’s colourful necklaces hung from the ceiling in the window and I turned left to see a wall of colourful nail polish (at this point I was so excited that I think I had heart palpitations!).
Rosalie and I sat down and discussed the serious business of what I would like on my nails. She handed me a few piles of ‘nail wheels’ with samples of nail art that I could choose from. Because I am a filmmaker, for me it was like looking at a whole lot of storyboards and then choosing the shots I would like to use to tell a film narrative… And so, I chose my story: I like 80s so I chose the lightning bolt, my family live in the Pacific so I chose the sunset with coconut trees, continuing with the 80s theme I chose confetti because it reminds me of the fairy bread I ate at birthday parties as a kid… I told Rosalie that I like bright and colourful so I left it to her to choose a colour palette and away she went with her nail artistry! Here are the pics:
I should say at this point that I have never really been into wearing nail polish or even considered that nail art exists but I’ve seen Rohani and Rosalie in action and The Super Rad Nail Sisters really make you appreciate the fact that your fingernails are small blank canvases just ready and waiting to tell your story.
And lucky for us, The Super Rad Nail Sisters are more than happy to share their skills and their secrets. You will find them popping up at markets all over Melbourne. I went along to their beginners workshop recently at Colour Box Studio and was so delighted to learn how to paint clouds, confetti, tiger stripes, animal print and my absolute fave – sunsets with coconut trees! Under the instruction of Rohani and Rosalie, I managed to keep up with the very diligent 13 year olds also doing the workshop – they were really good at it.
Coming up is the Intermediate workshop at Colour Box Studio (which anyone can come along to). It will include learning how to do lots of great nail art including…. BLING!!! That’s right, BLING – move over lightning bolts here come the diamonties! The best part is that after the workshop, you come away with a Super Rad Nail Sisters goody bag and the skills to DIY. This workshop is a great one to do with a friend – it’s so much fun!
Here are all the details that you need and places are limited so please be sure to book in advance:
Super Rad Nail Art Workshop – Intermediate Class
DATE: SUNDAY 8 September 2013, 11:00am – 1:30pm (2.5hrs), (includes light refreshments)
Further your own d.i.y. nail art skills.
Facilitated by the Super Rad Nail Sisters.
Bookings and more Info: CLICK HERE
