19 November 2009
12 November 2009
30 October 2009
all hallows eve
These are so much more difficult to make than anticipated. I'm going as a rabbit thats been mauled by a fox. Basically I wanted an excuse to make some ears like the Louis Vuitton ones. Photos to follow after halloween!
25 October 2009
spring forward, fall back
It's been over a week since my last post - bad! Whether or not anybody actually reads my blog I'm not sure, but I'd like to think someone reads each post. Even if not, it's nice to write.
So the clocks went back last night, which meant a lovely extra hour in bed. I had such a good sleep last night - interrupted only by some strange dreams about getting ready for school, and road signs, giving instructions on directions to go in life (as opposed to on roads!)
It has been a really frustrating week in Uni. Although it's been reading week I've been in every day, either trying to find a distraction free place to do dissertation, or trying to finish this damn German Embassy brief. Basically the whole experience has really put me off lithography! Some of the mistakes have been my own fault (not very accurate measuring) but the whole process has been far more time consuming and frustrating than it should have been. The printmaking department is suffering from losing Ailsa in my opinion - Mark and Pete are always having to deal with screenprinting dilemmas aswell as etching and litho problems. In reality this means they are always trying to be in two places at once, and teach at least two people at once.
On a lighter note, the clock change has been accompanied by some Proper Autumn Weather. It's been really windy and rainy, I haven't left the flat all weekend. It's nice to listen to the weather battering the windows when you are cosied up in bed. And when I do venture out later today (to buy milk, and hopefully go and see Fantastic Mr Fox at the DCA!) I intend to get all wrapped up. This is the time of year for mittens and hats and soup and hot chocolate and kicking leaves and seeing your breath and rosy cheeks.
Oh, and with Halloween fast approaching, it's time to get costume making!!!
17 October 2009
B E R L I N
I returned last night from a spectacular 48 hours in Berlin with Sian. We stayed in The Michelberger Hotel, which both of us would highly, highly recommend. Newly opened, run by a bunch of young, creative folks - a boutique style interior in an old factory with beautiful high ceilings, and tiled walls. In the past the building was used for underground parties apparently, but now Vice Magazine use it regularly for events in Berlin. We stayed in a cosy little room on the third floor, beautifully fitted out with a modern shower room, flatscreen TV (German Come Dine With Me anyone?) and very comfortable bed. Little finishing touches like some old photos pinned to the wall, the thick yellow (U-Bahn yellow) curtain, a 'Michelberger' illustrated wallpaper, and the pile of second-hand European books made it extra special.
The bar / cafe / library area is fitted out with huge big sofa / bed type things for lounging, an old piano, oversized lampshades made out of books, and more books and magazines than you could ever read. Huge walls made of books in a wire frame. Also some nice cuckoo clocks telling the time across the globe, some nice pot plants, and a friendly labrador made the place feel very homely. In the breakfasting room, tables were laid out in lines, with vases of flowers and lace doilies. The chairs are all different - all having been reclaimed from a recycling yard and given a lick of fresh white paint. Each morning we were greeted by the dulcet tones of Tom Jones crooning to us over the best breakfast spread I think either of us have ever sampled... smoked salmon, hot croissants, seeded rolls, lots of salami and cheese, cucumber, tomatoes, scrambled eggs, muesli, lots of lovely juices and fresh coffee, fresh fruits and yoghurts. YUM!
All this came in at a very very reasonable €162 for the two of us (2 nights, breakfast for 2 each morning). Completely worth it! The only thing we found to complain about was that the cocktails were too strong (this is not something I'd usually complain about - these were un-drinkable!)
We spent wednesday afternoon walking around Hackesher Markt vintage shopping and people-spotting. Also a super sweet coffee and waffle in a Balzac Coffee gave us the energy to go and admire the big 'olive on a stick' TV tower against the clear wintery sky, and walk round the building site that is Museumsinsel and fend off beggars in Lustgarten. Wednesday evening we went back to the ever-lovely VietBowl in Friedrichshain for some noodles and wine, then attempted to go to a gig at the Bang Bang Club - but realised how expensive it was to get in and decided bed seemed more appealing!
Thursday - after a relatively long lie and a hearty breakfast we headed to Prenzlauer Berg for a stroll about. It was horrible weather - so cold and wet, so we spent a lot of the time hiding in shops and reading magazines in coffeeshops to keep warm. We went to the amazing bookshop with every art book you could think of in that we found before, just beside Museum island, where about an hour was spent poring over hefty volumes and shiny magazines.
Thursday evening - the Grand Opening!! For those who haven't heard me gassing on about this for the last month or so, this was the opening of Illustrative 09, a yearly international illustration festival, showing young and established illustrator's work. I got invited because I entered the offshoot competition, The Swatch Young Illustrator's Award (needless to say I was not nominated - when I saw what I was up against it came as no surprise!). The opening event was held in an old church, Elisabethkirche, on Invalidenstraße. We arrived maybe 45 minutes after the opening time, and joined a very long queue to get in. When we eventually were stamped in as certified guests, we were faced with a cavernous building filled with smoke and projected images, some really good music, and lots of very stylish people. Unfortunately I did not have a working camera to capture all this - but this guy seems to have done a good job:
The exhibition was held next door in a gallery type builing, which looked as if it may have once been a school. Work by people such as Luke Best, Yokoland, Pixelgarten, Martin Haake, Eva Han, Erik Sandberg, Dan McPharlin and Skinner festooned the walls, artists mingled and exchanged contacts. Having very minimal German language skills, I did a bit of 'guerilla' business card placement - placing my business cards with those of the artists whose work was being shown. I'm pretty sure I wasn't the only one who did so! I did see my (very hastily knocked up - all handwritten!) business cards being examined and pocketed though - even if just one more person checks out my blog I consider it a success! We had a chat with the guys from NoBrow (the folks who published Nick White's book - see previous post about Nick's work and the talk he gave), mainly about Nick White's beard, and about how it's rubbish when you graduate.
Yesterday we made the depressing journey home - I swear flying RyanAir saps something out of your soul - and got a bit confused with the time change. A lot of time spent sitting reading in various parks and sleeping on buses.
On a positive note - leaving Berlin I knew I'd be back pretty soon, and for longer next time!
Oh, pictures to follow, from Sian's camera.
05 October 2009
Nick White / Run Wrake
Today we had a visiting illustrator in the department, doing a talk. his name is Nick White. he came round and chatted to us fourth years about our work, and he suggested this short film by Run Wrake as being of interest to me for my personal study, relating to the visual language of children's spelling / alphabet books. The images are from Enid Blyton books (a childhood favourite of mine).
Also today myself and Sian have decided to go to Berlin
for the Illustrative festival grand opening night, on the 15th
of this month. I am extremely excited to go back to berlin,
i have fallen in love with the place i think. I am thinking of
maybe trying to arrange a visit to Weißensee, where i am
thinking i might like to do a Masters.
We are maybe going to stay in a hotel called Michelberger,
run by a bunch of creative types, for creative types.
The website is brilliant, really really worth a look (with the
volume turned up!)
oh, here is some of Nick White's work too. ps. He has quite an impressive beard.
28 September 2009
21 September 2009
oh, and
and
"So I went out on a limb
Thinking maybe we could swim
Into the river of light
Into the ocean of pain
Where angels get their wings
Where babies get their names
I wonder if you were aware
How much
You rock my boat"
17 September 2009
14 September 2009
sound....affects.....brain
this has got me thinking about alarms.
our fire alarm in our kitchen is positioned right above the oven - it goes off every time anyone cooks anything. pretty annoying.
today an alarm started going off when we were having a talk thing in our studio. it was very un-alarming though, not loud enough to actually cause 'alarm', presumably far enough away for us to subconciously know there is no immediate danger. i didn't feel alarmed, nobody really batted an eyelid.
my alarm on my phone that wakes me in the morning begins quietly, but gets louder with each ring, which makes the whole experience slightly more bearable. this morning i fell back asleep, i think with one eye still open, strangely. i don't think this is something i normally do?! i'm not even sure how i know, i was just aware of it.
my favourite alarm was one that lived in the living room of our old flat on shaftesbury road. joanne's brother brought it back from iraq i think, and it had pride of place on top of the telly. if you have never experienced the wonderous sound of one of these going off , you are missing out. its extremely loud, visually and in the noise way, and so brash and offensive but wonderful. this brilliant video demonstrates only the first verse of prayer, but you get the idea...
the car alarm has finally gone off, it was making me feel really on edge and angry, if it had gone on any longer, i may have done something un wise.
i doubt anyone wants to know my thoughts on alarms. but if you have read this far you must have some alarm stories to tell? or thoughts?
13 August 2009
telefon tel aviv / illustrative 09
have decided to enter the young illustrators award thing. it would be amazing to be nominated (doubtful, but worth a try!) and be part of illustrative 09 exhibition. a great excuse for another berlin trip!
just discovered telefon tel aviv, i don't know why i havn't before now. a really great album cover...
30 May 2009
stefan sagmeister.
it took me a while to actually get around to buying this, but boy am i glad i did. it is reasonably priced on amazon at the moment by the way.
BUY. NOW.
a design god among men.
24 April 2009
18 April 2009
a new favourite.
29 March 2009
23 March 2009
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