Sunday 25 January 2015

The first to stand up and the last to fall down...

I've finished my coat.. I haven't taken pictures of it yet as I want my family to see it first. But I've got some 'in progress' pictures.
I'm pretty happy with it i'd say! I shall explain it's various features in due course.

I've come home this weekend to Herefordshire for about 36 hours, and been cleaning out some of my wardrobe. Taken loads to the charity shop, who were very excited to not have old people's clothes!
I found some bits of  my A-Level printmaking work, and I was actually pretty neat at it! Shame etching is so expensive to do now, outside of school.

Also, last weekend five of us went to the South Downs and Beachy Head for a road trip. Dom's band Groves, have just recorded four of their songs and had them produced by a top industry guy, and things are looking exciting for them. So we hired a car and went down to the coast to do a photoshoot for them. My friend Nadine has previously done their artwork, so she came along to help as she's going to turn the photos into her amazing psychadelic screen prints.
It was a mad day - super-wind, hail, driving rain, bright sun. I foraged for seaweed at Burling Gap beach, and took a big pocketful home to dry and freeze and make into soup.






This is a sample of onion skin dyed fabric. I dyed this piece of old jersey a while ago, and i just don't know what to make with it yet...

token studio shot

Sunrise coming through my bedroom window at home this morning

Queen Clarice looking pretty

And below are my old etchings from school!




Oh and below are some scans from my Dressmakers Encyclopaedia! Had to share










Handsome fellow




And I went to stay with Papa at his wee house in Kent on Thursday night. He lives there during the week for work. It's an old tractor shed with a wood burning stove, which I slept right in front of. We listened to country music and drank tea by the fire. Then we went to the pub for dinner with Lucy and Phil, my aunt and uncle who live nearby, and then we came home and listened to a radio show about Van Morrison's influences and drank tea in front of the fire. 
The next day I went to visit his factory and saw all the tailor's dummies in production which was interesting. Really nice to see small scale manufacturing business, where people know each other and all play a distinct role. Much nicer than a huge corporate empire!
We then drove the four hours back to Herefordshire, and passed 18 miles of lorries lined up. They are all queueing to make it to the channel tunnel after the fire in there last week, which has jammed up the lanes. It was mad, looked like something out of the American West.
We listened to Eric Church - I love this song!
And later listened to Bruce Springsteen of course! The new recording of The Ghost of Tom Joad from this High Hopes album is just flawless!!! (excuse the random Greek subtitles) Insane. Listen in a dark room, or outside by a campfire if you can. Or driving at night on quiet roads. Or in the coal cellar!

'... and we shall live by the light of a camp fire and the sound of our little portable turntable. And sleep resting our heads on the bellies of the stray dogs we will take under our wing'

poem by me about squatting in a pub with Dom!

Sunday 18 January 2015

Sunday Studio









Fabric & paint samples for coat

I've been in the studio today, playing with colour/fabric combinations for a coat i'm making. It's a personal project - a very special coat to commemorate an extremely special person I've had the pleasure of knowing my whole life. It's got to be beautiful, glowing, vibrant, surprising, fun and funny, and full of colour and vitality, and envelop me and make me feel safe too...  like the person. I hope I can make it even halfway there!



Friday 16 January 2015

Ah 2015 you throw me for a loop....







Above are some sketches/working pieces from my eco greetings cards. The top two include characters i've imagined, Coconut Monk and Professor Iceberg, who in my head attempt to alleviate frightening (but i suppose necessary) seriousness of world politics. They are animals, because animals help to alleviate tension I think!
Coconut Monk was a Vietnamese pacifist who lived on a floating Pagoda in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam. He survived entirely on coconuts! He was opposed the events and ideas that eventually spelled the Vietnam War. You can read more about His Coconutship HERE.

Professor Iceberg is the user name of a Youtube user who uploaded a video of 'President Putin doing his Ice Bucket Challenge'!



This fellow in the bath, is a photograph I found in a 2001 edition of Italian Men's Vogue. He just looks so relaxed!


Below is a sketchbook page - was just re-summarising to myself the ways/concepts which I could use to communicate my ideology, and then some actual vehicles/materials that could get those ideas across to an involved audience. 
With a nice boy leaning against an even nicer corner sofa! Might steal that corner sofa look for mt Swagstation.


A poem about something I want to make... which I mentioned a few posts ago with a sketch... 




Above are some of the cactuses I bought for my family as Christmas present - They all had names and characters, which I worked out after spending some time with the mall and getting to know them! There was; Sylive, Dennis, Angus, Fabio, Agent Bradley (former head of international security at Homebase), Xena, Miles, Malvolio, Texas and Twells - who was Grandma's. I Painted Twells' tin pale apricoty/pink to match Grandma's beautiful bedroom.
Below is a photo of an amazing jumper that Dom's mum passed down to me - it's super tiny and she does't wear it now, but I can just fit into it. Apparently it cost Dom's dad a whole month's salary about 30 years ago! And below that, Me and Dom at Pexmas, and a tape of my fave song by The Connells - '74-'75!




And here are some beautiful old exercise books we found in Grandpa's study. He was headmaster of the local boys school, and Grandma was the school nurse - so I guess they're from there. And St George's is the school Mama went to in town!
xxx