Amelia’s Magazine | Renegade Craft Fair in London 2011 Review: Jewellery

Renegade Craft Fair London oct 2011 -Esoterica Bazaar
Now for my final Renegade Craft Fair blog post: the best of the jewellery.

Renegade Craft Fair London oct 2011 -Esoterica Bazaar
Renegade Craft Fair London oct 2011 -Esoterica Bazaar
Renegade Craft Fair London oct 2011 -Esoterica Bazaar
I totally and utterly fell in love with jewellery made by Caroline of Esoterica Bazaar, pharm who is based in Los Angeles. Her bold rings were displayed like gorgeous sweeties, what is ed and thus utterly irresistible to little ol’ me. She sources rare and unusual gems such as veined Ammolite, erectile aurora borealis enhanced Labradorite and many faceted crystal Pyrite (also known as Fool’s Gold).

Renegade Craft Fair London oct 2011 -Kirsty Kirkpatrick uncommonly Beautiful
Renegade Craft Fair London oct 2011 -Kirsty Kirkpatrick uncommonly Beautiful
It’s great news that there are now plenty of people upcycling vintage jewellery parts to create new pieces, but London based Kirsty Kirkpatrick of Uncommonly Beautiful stands out for her clever use of jewellery parts and unusual combinations of pieces: she uses bits of furniture, scrap leather and even broken suitcases in her designs. I also likes the way that she describes herself as anti-landfill, challenging preconceptions of waste.

Renegade Craft Fair London oct 2011 -The Weekend Store
Adjowah Brodie of the US based The Weekend Store specialises in upcycled parts as well. My eye was particularly drawn to unique necklaces, cufflinks and rings made from old typewriter keys.

Renegade Craft Fair London oct 2011 -Foamy Wader
Renegade Craft Fair London oct 2011 -Foamy Wader
Renegade Craft Fair London oct 2011 -Foamy Wader
Renegade Craft Fair London oct 2011 -Foamy Wader
Alexa Allamano of Seattle had travelled a long way to show her Foamy Wader jewellery collection. Her delicate pieces were beautifully displayed with miniature animals, and according to her website she also specialises in knitted beards. As you do.

Foamy Wader frozen necklace
Until next year Renegade Craft Fair! Don’t forget that if you are based in the US you can find their events all year round.

Categories ,2011, ,Adjowah Brodie, ,Alexa Allamano, ,Ammolite, ,Anti-Landfill, ,Aurora Borealis, ,Caroline, ,Esoterica Bazaar, ,Foamy Wader, ,Fool’s Gold, ,jewellery, ,Kirsty Kirkpatrick, ,Knitted Beards, ,london, ,Los Angeles, ,Pyrite, ,Renegade Craft Fair, ,seattle, ,The Weekend Store, ,Uncommonly Beautiful, ,Upcycled

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Amelia’s Magazine | At War for the Whales: Part 2

Untitled-3

The Japanese harpoon ship, approved Shonan Maru No 2 appears behind the iceberg (photo credit: Barbara Veiga / Sea Shepherd)

It has been an eventful couple of months at sea and most of us are eager to get back to the whaling grounds as soon as possible. Two days ago we departed from Fremantle, Western Australia, for the third voyage down to the Antarctic waters, where the whalers continue their whaling season under the guise of ‘scientific research’. We have been at sea for well over 2 months now and returned to port twice for refuelling. When we initially left for the campaign in early December, we were tailed by the Shonan Maru II, a Japanese harpoon ship turned spy vessel, as soon as we left Australian waters. The ship stayed with us wherever we went. We tried to lose it by heading into ice or heavy weather, but could not shake them.

Sei whale

Illustration by Kerry Lemon

I step outside on the aft deck to see the spy ship, Shonan Maru II, bearing down upon us fast. Our helicopter had been launched earlier to verify what ship it actually is, as we hadn’t come within clear visual range before. Upon arrival, the helicopter had a Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) pointed at it. This is a device that sends out a highly directional noise, aimed at disorientating or even incapacitating a person. Using it on our helicopter while it is mid-air is, to say the least, totally irresponsible. With the helicopter now safely back on the Steve Irwin, it seems that the Japanese ship is coming in for the attack. With its water cannons blasting at full power, it is trying to come alongside us, presumably to give the helicopter a wash down, in an effort to damage it. As it chases us, loudspeakers blast: “This is the Shonan Maru captain! You are too close to me! You are too close to me!” Meanwhile we have a prop-fouler ready, which is a long rope we trail from the end of our ship to keep them at bay. If they were to come too close and run over the line, it could get entangled in their propeller and cause serious damage. They know this and are unable to come as close as they’d like. They keep trying but by now we are entering an ice field full of mid-size growlers and after a few sharp manoeuvres the Japanese ship backs off. They fall back but stay behind us within radar range.

Untitled-4

The Japanese harpoon vessel, Shonan Maru No 2 on the run with water cannons blasting (photo credit: Michael Williams / Sea Shepherd)

A couple of days later we are anchored up in Commonwealth Bay, overlooking the Antarctic continent on one side and the open sea on the other. Our spy ship can still be seen lurking about on the horizon. We haven’t been able to get rid of her, so we take shelter in these waters, which are French territory. Perhaps the French can help.

We switch off the engines and while one of the officers gets in the helicopter to visit the French base Dumont D’urville, some of the crew strip down for the traditional dive in the freezing Antarctic waters. As negotiations with the French continue into the afternoon, some of us head out in the small boat towards Cape Denison, home to a colony of 30.000 Adelie penguins and the spot where the Australian scientist Mawson landed in 1911. I step foot on land and realise how few people must have been fortunate enough to see this place. Snow covers the land as far as the eye can see and the smell of the fresh and sharp air takes some getting used to. Looking out at sea, the coastline is covered with rocks and home to thousands of Adelie penguins.

penguin

A penguin on an iceberg in Antarctica (Photo: Eric Cheng / Sea Shepherd Conservation Society)

Following a bunch of penguins walking towards a huge icy ridge, it strikes me that this is probably one of the very few places of true wilderness left. Untouched by human hands, growth, development, exploitation. So far Antarctica has enjoyed fairly good protection. The Antarctic Treaty prohibits commercial and/or military activity on and around the continent and states that the number of cruise ships is to be kept to a minimum.
However, there are vast resources, such as oil and there are theories that when the treaty is re-negotiated in a few years, some countries including Japan will try to loosen these conditions in order to gain access. Some people argue that the only reason Japan continues its whaling operations in the Southern Ocean is so that it will have some ‘historical claim’ over the resources in the area, if it would ever be opened up for exploitation. Whatever the reasons, right now the Japanese fleet operates illegally in the area, threatening this habitat and the creatures that depend on its protection for their survival, which is all that matters to us.

Sperm whale

Illustration by Kerry Lemon

Seeing our ship in the far distance, anchored up in the bay, makes me feel proud to know that we are here for these animals and to protect this unique and untouched wilderness from the destructive hands of corporate power. I head back down towards the water, in the small boat and back to the ship. The commander of the French base has written a letter of support, but without some kind of navy presence in the area, they are unable to do much more than that. We pull up anchor and head back out into what now has become quite a rough sea. Not getting much sleep as we are thrown about by the 15 foot swells.

Untitled-1

photo credit: Glenn Lockitch / Sea Shepherd

Sea Shepherd has always enjoyed support from the ranks of Hollywood with, among many, Martin Sheen, Pierce Brosnan and Darryl Hannah donating their time and resources for the cause. The latest to join the list is Ady Gil, a businessman from Los Angeles, who has donated a large sum of money to help us purchase a second vessel. The ship, previously known as Earthrace, is a super fast trimaran powerboat which broke the world circumnavigation record in 2008, is bio-diesel powered and looks like something to have sailed straight out of the latest batman movie. Its skipper and creator Pete Bethune is eager to join the Sea Shepherd campaign and with the financial backing, the ship is refitted and renamed Ady Gil. We are on our way to meet up with the Ady Gil, which left Hobart two weeks earlier, to transfer food and other supplies. As we steam north, our spy ship keeps a steady two nautical miles behind us.

Untitled-2

photo credit: Glenn Lockitch / Sea Shepherd

We are getting closer to the Ady Gil and I go up to the bridge to see what is going on. Nothing shows on the radar. The boat is so small that it can go about its business virtually undetected. In addition, we take advantage of the short bit of darkness to covertly meet up. I step out on deck. ‘Over there, can you see?’ I can just about make out a tiny black spot in the vast darkness. We launch a small boat and pick up two of the crew. After a short meeting they head off into the darkness again. We set course for Hobart and the Ady Gil heads towards the spy ship in an attempt to take it out of action. Prop-foulers come out, stink bombs are thrown onto the deck and a photonic disruptor aimed at distracting those on the bridge is put to use. It is all part of our essential arsenal of non-violent tactics to shut down the whalers. In 30 years of operations Sea Shepherd has never caused a single injury as a result of any of its actions. We are non-violent yet honest about the fact that we take aggressive action. Exactly the type of action that is necessary to stop these criminal whale poachers. A few hours later we notice that the spy ship has caught up with us again. As we sail into Australian waters the Japanese ship stays put at the Economic Exclusion Zone (EEZ) boundary, unwilling to escalate the ongoing international stand-off over whaling.

Read Part 1 here.  Part 3 coming soon…

For latest updates and news, please see the Sea Shepherd website: www.seashepherd.org

Categories ,Adelie penguins, ,Ady Gil, ,Antarctica, ,Atlantic, ,Barbara Veiga, ,Cape Denison, ,conservation, ,Darryl Hannah, ,Dumont D’urville, ,Eric Cheng, ,france, ,Harpoon, ,Hollywood, ,Ice, ,Illegal Whaling, ,japan, ,Kerry Lemon, ,Los Angeles, ,Martin Sheen, ,Mawson, ,Michael Williams, ,Penguins, ,Pete Bethune, ,Pierce Brosnan, ,Sea Shepherd, ,Ship, ,Southern Ocean, ,Whale, ,Whaling, ,Wietse Van Der Werf

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Amelia’s Magazine | Dirty Oil: Marina Pepper reviews the new film about the horror of the Canadian Tar Sands

Illustration by Daniel Almeroth.
Illustration by Daniel Almeroth.

Back in the days when climate change was a vague notion – something for the 22nd century, order a problematical J curve for academics to ponder over – I thought nothing of hopping on a short haul from LA to Las Vegas, online hiring a chevvy and heading out towards Monument Valley, decease cool desert and home of the Navaho. On the way I  would pass the Grand Canyon, a journey that forced me to redefine my concept of size. For this thing, this hole in the ground was absolutely gi-fucking-normous. It just kept on going.  No matter how long you drove, you came round a bend and there it was. Still. So huge was this new huge I even had to redefine my sense of how big infinite space might actually be. At the time is was as mind blowing as taking acid. It changed me forever.

Now I’m not saying the film Dirty Oil has changed me forever. But it has affected my mood. For now I discover a bigger huge. Tar Sands in Alberta, Canada. It is – or was – the biggest unspoilt forest in the world.  But just underground it’s the second biggest oil reserve in the world after Saudi Arabia. It’s bigger than Florida. Bigger than England. And it is the single biggest emitter of climate change gases in the world. If the oil industry gets the $379 billion investment it’s demanding we’ll get a rise of between 9 and 15 billion parts per million of C02 in the atmosphere. And you know what that means? It means the tipping point of runaway climate change. It can do this all on its own without any help from us leaving lights on or driving short journeys to Tesco.

Illustration by Daniel Almeroth.
Illustration by Daniel Almeroth.

This film though isn’t content to be another film about climate change. It brings you the human story of the Beaver Lake Kree – who are having their ancestral lands torn up, their rivers and lakes polluted and their health destroyed. Thanks to the arsenic in their fishstocks, the Kree are 30 % more likely to get cancer, including rare ones,  than other populations. And why are they subjected to this? So that America gets cheap oil without having to bully – er bother –  the Arabs for a decade. That’s it. A decade of cheapish growth. I could weep – except the film left me emotionally stunned. The problem here is capitalism. An unadulterated free market economy where the bottom line profit – the false prophet indeed – over rides all other considerations, including the survival of life on this planet itself, spews  unchecked in Alberta. It’s not just a local pollution issue, it’s a global one. The Co-op, which hosted this week’s screenings across the UK, wants us all to petition companies like RBS and BP through our pension plans. But is that enough? Is it even worth having a pension when the future is governed by this ginormous scrag-heap of crap? “It’s time to start blowing things up,” says a comrade as we leave the cinema a little stunned. “How big?” I jest.

But there is a minute sliver of hope here. They don’t raise this in the film, but it was the Cree Indians who predicted that a time would come when we discovered that we can’t eat our money. I think we’re getting there. And a Cree woman called Eyes of Fire fortold: “A time when trees fall, the rivers are black, fish die in the rivers and birds fall from the sky…

“And when it does a tribe will gather from all the cultures ?of the World who believe in deed and not words. ?They will work to heal it…  they will be known as the “Warriors of the Rainbow.”
Cree Indian Proverb

I assume that’s us. For anyone calling themselves an activist – if we don’t get together and stop Tar Sands, while forcefully overcoming ignorance to promote alternative ways of running economies and energy supplies, we’re doomed. And doomed is just too huge a deal to imagine.

You can read our preview here and find out where to see the film over the next few weeks here.

Categories ,Alberta, ,BP, ,canada, ,coal, ,Cree Indian Proverb, ,Daniel Almeroth, ,Grand Canyon, ,Indian Proverb, ,Las Vegas, ,Los Angeles, ,Monument Valley, ,oil, ,Oil Sands, ,RBS, ,Tar Sands

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Amelia’s Magazine | The making of Jesca Hoop’s City Bird video

190809_theunthanks[1]thumb
unthanks Rob Fuzzard
Illustration by Rob Fuzzard

It was fitting that they transformed their faces to serious and focused, adiposity when the first notes were hit. They were deep in the hills of the North of England, visit this singing of shutting the coal door, not in a dark, hot building by the Avon River. Rachel is pregnant. They are wearing dresses that look like fresh versions of the past. And their hair is worn long and embracing of its natural waves and kinks. The Unthanks are wholesome and true. True to their families, friends, dear home and folk music. Their Northern roots infiltrate everything from the lilt of the pronunciation of lyrics; ‘luvley’, to the songs they choose to sing. My image is of them as land girls, wearing cream wooly jumpers, dresses and wellington boots. In the evening they sit around the fire of a single glazed, rambling cottage, singing from right within. Where the truth lies.

And indeed, in their Northumberland home, the Unthank family would partake in group singing. Their father George, is part of a folk group called The Keelers that specialised in robust sea shanties of the north-east, their mother is a stalwart of local choirs, and they were brought up at festivals and folk clubs. Rachel, the older of the two sisters, who looks like peace personified said: “This is amazing, a privilege and an honour, to be up here singing like this. Of course. But there something about singing with lots of people, that’s just… good for the soul.”

Unthanks

Rachel’s speaking voice is high, full of character, vibrancy and northern accent. Her eyes close as she sings and sways, stroking her baby bump to the instrumental breaks. She loves music and singing for its remedial, loving, relaxing, spiritual and bringing together prowess. As does Becky, her sister. Recently engaged we are told, she is funny, lower toned in voice and smoother. More of the honey to Rachel’s jam. Homemade and paired with the band (butter and bread… this metaphor accidentally went further than anticipated), they are your next level folk. Playing the piano, violin, fiddle, viola, cello, double bass, drums, guitar and ukulele, they are all stunning, and together make for a polished and encompassing sound. The beauty and love of the music they’re all creating, their sole focus. Not lumberjack shirts and shiny belt buckles.

The girls themselves don’t hold an ounce of arrogance, and are both entirely likeable, modest and genuine in their performance and stage presence. The confidence that’s so rosy, and tangible seems to be from deep within, from a stable and unmoving place.

unthanks

But they could be all over themselves. With a Mercury Award Nomination in 2008, being named as one of Best Albums of The Decade in Uncut and The Observer for The Bairns (out on EMI), as well as BBC Folk Awards and many others. Why didn’t I know of them before? Or my evening’s accomplice. As the evening went on, I found myself increasingly mesmerised and indadvertedly swaying in a progressive daze.

They sing of drunks, pubs, Newcastle Brown Ale, men, sweat, bosoms, daily life and poverty – STORIES of England of the North, the land, the people, the past. With the strings behind them, they sing everything tenderly, slowly and with an enormous wedge of sadness. But it’s hard to feel sadness with them, it’s more that they disarm you and fill you with beautiful sounds and truths. Things aren’t and never have been idyllic for everyone, forever.

Between tracks they chat leisurely about where they found their songs, and banter with the piano player, and husband of Rachel, Adrian McNally. Rachel talks of the need we have now for music that strikes chord and brings people together. Such as the North East mining songs, full of trouble, strife and heartbreak. There is a comradery in folk music, and a wholesome edge that is inescapable. It’s English summers, rolling hills and blustery mountain tops. It’s reality and being unafraid of it. It’s the soundtrack to what we discover when we experience something that flicks the deep, dark switch. One weekend, after trundling out of our home and switching the telly off, a walk by the ocean, some awful news, a baby’s birth, right then and there we see and feel light and free. We vow to repeat our actions again asap; “we should do that again darling.”, or never take things for granted, because we’ve realised what life is about. They know, The Unthanks. They get it.

190809_theunthanks[1]

One song featured the two girls singing unaccompanied, Rachel giving ‘advice’ to Becky on marriage. “You’d better be a maid all the days of your life, Better me a maid as a poor man’s wife.” They laughed about it, and smiled broadly to each other and then out to the audience. Another track; The Gallowgate Lad, is about a girl crying alone in Newcastle. Someone asks her; ‘What’s wrong?’ A mistake, as it can be. The piano dancing notes, paired with the story telling Becky, alone on stage, is a tremendous mix, full of drama, reviving the angst of past encounters. A number of other songs also featured the use of mighty clog dancing by Becky. Whilst Rachel sat on a chair for a mini rest, Becky tapped and stomped on stage. This was delightful and served to enhance my own desire to own clogs. Excellent skill! They also treated us to a song from the soundtrack of archive footage of Newcastle, they had performed at the Tyneside Cinema recently. They sang of the docks, the ale and the banter in their hauntingly joined voices.

Becky and Rachel put on a superb show, and yet it didn’t even feel like a *SHOW*, it felt as if we were in their living room, by the fire, with knitted cream jumpers and hot toddies, all singing together. It was warming to the heart and soul. Incidentally The Unthanks run weekends of singing in Northumberland, so perhaps check them out if you want some of your own sing song jubilation. For now check out this video. You can buy all their albums now; The Bairns and Here’s The Tender Coming are both out on EMI, and Last, on Rabble Rouser.

unthanks Rob Fuzzard
Illustration by Rob Fuzzard

It was fitting that they transformed their faces to serious and focused, more about when the first notes were hit. They were deep in the hills of the North of England, pharmacy singing of shutting the coal door, not in a dark, hot building by the Avon River. Rachel is pregnant. They are wearing dresses that look like fresh versions of the past. And their hair is worn long and embracing of its natural waves and kinks. The Unthanks are wholesome and true. True to their families, friends, dear home and folk music. Their Northern roots infiltrate everything from the lilt of the pronunciation of lyrics; ‘luvley’, to the songs they choose to sing. My image is of them as land girls, wearing cream wooly jumpers, dresses and wellington boots. In the evening they sit around the fire of a single glazed, rambling cottage, singing from right within. Where the truth lies.

And indeed, in their Northumberland home, the Unthank family would partake in group singing. Their father George, is part of a folk group called The Keelers that specialised in robust sea shanties of the north-east, their mother is a stalwart of local choirs, and they were brought up at festivals and folk clubs. Rachel, the older of the two sisters, who looks like peace personified said: “This is amazing, a privilege and an honour, to be up here singing like this. Of course. But there something about singing with lots of people, that’s just… good for the soul.”

Unthanks

Rachel’s speaking voice is high, full of character, vibrancy and northern accent. Her eyes close as she sings and sways, stroking her baby bump to the instrumental breaks. She loves music and singing for its remedial, loving, relaxing, spiritual and bringing together prowess. As does Becky, her sister. Recently engaged we are told, she is funny, lower toned in voice and smoother. More of the honey to Rachel’s jam. Homemade and paired with the band (butter and bread… this metaphor accidentally went further than anticipated), they are your next level folk. Playing the piano, violin, fiddle, viola, cello, double bass, drums, guitar and ukulele, they are all stunning, and together make for a polished and encompassing sound. The beauty and love of the music they’re all creating, their sole focus. Not lumberjack shirts and shiny belt buckles.

The girls themselves don’t hold an ounce of arrogance, and are both entirely likeable, modest and genuine in their performance and stage presence. The confidence that’s so rosy, and tangible seems to be from deep within, from a stable and unmoving place.

unthanks

But they could be all over themselves. With a Mercury Award Nomination in 2008, being named as one of Best Albums of The Decade in Uncut and The Observer for The Bairns (out on EMI), as well as BBC Folk Awards and many others. Why didn’t I know of them before? Or my evening’s accomplice. As the evening went on, I found myself increasingly mesmerised and indadvertedly swaying in a progressive daze.

They sing of drunks, pubs, Newcastle Brown Ale, men, sweat, bosoms, daily life and poverty – STORIES of England of the North, the land, the people, the past. With the strings behind them, they sing everything tenderly, slowly and with an enormous wedge of sadness. But it’s hard to feel sadness with them, it’s more that they disarm you and fill you with beautiful sounds and truths. Things aren’t and never have been idyllic for everyone, forever.

Between tracks they chat leisurely about where they found their songs, and banter with the piano player, and husband of Rachel, Adrian McNally. Rachel talks of the need we have now for music that strikes chord and brings people together. Such as the North East mining songs, full of trouble, strife and heartbreak. There is a comradery in folk music, and a wholesome edge that is inescapable. It’s English summers, rolling hills and blustery mountain tops. It’s reality and being unafraid of it. It’s the soundtrack to what we discover when we experience something that flicks the deep, dark switch. One weekend, after trundling out of our home and switching the telly off, a walk by the ocean, some awful news, a baby’s birth, right then and there we see and feel light and free. We vow to repeat our actions again asap; “we should do that again darling.”, or never take things for granted, because we’ve realised what life is about. They know, The Unthanks. They get it.

190809_theunthanks[1]

One song featured the two girls singing unaccompanied, Rachel giving ‘advice’ to Becky on marriage. “You’d better be a maid all the days of your life, Better me a maid as a poor man’s wife.” They laughed about it, and smiled broadly to each other and then out to the audience. Another track; The Gallowgate Lad, is about a girl crying alone in Newcastle. Someone asks her; ‘What’s wrong?’ A mistake, as it can be. The piano dancing notes, paired with the story telling Becky, alone on stage, is a tremendous mix, full of drama, reviving the angst of past encounters. A number of other songs also featured the use of mighty clog dancing by Becky. Whilst Rachel sat on a chair for a mini rest, Becky tapped and stomped on stage. This was delightful and served to enhance my own desire to own clogs. Excellent skill! They also treated us to a song from the soundtrack of archive footage of Newcastle, they had performed at the Tyneside Cinema recently. They sang of the docks, the ale and the banter in their hauntingly joined voices.

Becky and Rachel put on a superb show, and yet it didn’t even feel like a *SHOW*, it felt as if we were in their living room, by the fire, with knitted cream jumpers and hot toddies, all singing together. It was warming to the heart and soul. Incidentally The Unthanks run weekends of singing in Northumberland, so perhaps check them out if you want some of your own sing song jubilation. For now check out this video. You can buy all their albums now; The Bairns and Here’s The Tender Coming are both out on EMI, and Last, on Rabble Rouser.

unthanks Rob Fuzzard
Illustration by Rob Fuzzard

Rachel is pregnant. They are wearing dresses that look like fresh versions of the past. And their hair is worn long and embracing of its natural waves and kinks. The Unthanks are wholesome and true. True to their families, advice friends, cialis 40mg dear home and folk music. Their Northern roots infiltrate everything from the lilt of the pronunciation of lyrics; ‘luvley’, to the songs they choose to sing. My image is of them as land girls, wearing cream wooly jumpers, dresses and wellington boots. In the evening they sit around the fire of a single glazed, rambling cottage, singing from right within. Where the truth lies.

And indeed, growing up in their Northumberland home, the Unthank family would partake in group singing. Their father George, is part of a folk group called The Keelers that specialised in robust sea shanties of the north-east, their mother is a stalwart of local choirs, and they were brought up at festivals and folk clubs. Rachel, the older of the two sisters, who looks like peace personified said: “This is amazing, a privilege and an honour, to be up here singing like this. Of course. But there something about singing with lots of people, that’s just… good for the soul.”

Unthanks

Rachel’s speaking voice is high, full of character, vibrancy and northern accent. Her eyes close as she sings and sways, stroking her baby bump to the instrumental breaks. She loves music and singing for its remedial, loving, relaxing, spiritual and bringing together prowess. As does Becky, her sister. Recently engaged we are told, she is funny, lower toned in voice and smoother. More of the honey to Rachel’s jam. Homemade and paired with the band (butter and bread… this metaphor accidentally went further than anticipated), they are your next level folk. Playing the piano, violin, fiddle, viola, cello, double bass, drums, guitar and ukulele, they are all stunning, and together make for a polished and encompassing sound. The beauty and love of the music they’re all creating, their sole focus. Not lumberjack shirts and shiny belt buckles.

The girls themselves don’t hold an ounce of arrogance, and are both entirely likeable, modest and genuine in their performance and stage presence. The confidence that’s so rosy, and tangible seems to be from deep within, from a stable and unmoving place.

unthanks

But they could be all over themselves. With a Mercury Award Nomination in 2008, being named as one of Best Albums of The Decade in Uncut and The Observer for The Bairns (out on EMI), as well as BBC Folk Awards and many others. Why didn’t I know of them before? Or my evening’s accomplice. As the evening went on, I found myself increasingly mesmerised and indadvertedly swaying in a progressive daze.

They sing of drunks, pubs, Newcastle Brown Ale, men, sweat, bosoms, daily life and poverty – STORIES of England of the North, the land, the people, the past. With the strings behind them, they sing everything tenderly, slowly and with an enormous wedge of sadness. But it’s hard to feel sadness with them, it’s more that they disarm you and fill you with beautiful sounds and truths. Things aren’t and never have been idyllic for everyone, forever.

Between tracks they chat leisurely about where they found their songs, and banter with the piano player, and husband of Rachel, Adrian McNally. Rachel talks of the need we have now for music that strikes chord and brings people together. Such as the North East mining songs, full of trouble, strife and heartbreak. There is a comradery in folk music, and a wholesome edge that is inescapable. It’s English summers, rolling hills and blustery mountain tops. It’s reality and being unafraid of it. It’s the soundtrack to what we discover when we experience something that flicks the deep, dark switch. One weekend, after trundling out of our home and switching the telly off, a walk by the ocean, some awful news, a baby’s birth, right then and there we see and feel light and free. We vow to repeat our actions again asap; “we should do that again darling.”, or never take things for granted, because we’ve realised what life is about. They know, The Unthanks. They get it.

190809_theunthanks[1]

One song featured the two girls singing unaccompanied, Rachel giving ‘advice’ to Becky on marriage. “You’d better be a maid all the days of your life, Better me a maid as a poor man’s wife.” They laughed about it, and smiled broadly to each other and then out to the audience. Another track; The Gallowgate Lad, is about a girl crying alone in Newcastle. Someone asks her; ‘What’s wrong?’ A mistake, as it can be. The piano dancing notes, paired with the story telling Becky, alone on stage, is a tremendous mix, full of drama, reviving the angst of past encounters. A number of other songs also featured the use of mighty clog dancing by Becky. Whilst Rachel sat on a chair for a mini rest, Becky tapped and stomped on stage. This was delightful and served to enhance my own desire to own clogs. Excellent skill! They also treated us to a song from the soundtrack of archive footage of Newcastle, they had performed at the Tyneside Cinema recently. They sang of the docks, the ale and the banter in their hauntingly joined voices.

Becky and Rachel put on a superb show, and yet it didn’t even feel like a *SHOW*, it felt as if we were in their living room, by the fire, with knitted cream jumpers and hot toddies, all singing together. It was warming to the heart and soul. Incidentally The Unthanks run weekends of singing in Northumberland, so perhaps check them out if you want some of your own sing song jubilation. For now check out this video. You can buy all their albums now; The Bairns and Here’s The Tender Coming are both out on EMI, and Last, on Rabble Rouser.

unthanks Rob Fuzzard
Illustration by Rob Fuzzard

Rachel is pregnant. They are wearing dresses that look like fresh versions of the past. And their hair is worn long and embracing of its natural waves and kinks. The Unthanks are wholesome and true. True to their families, nurse friends, what is ed dear home and folk music. Their Northern roots infiltrate everything from the lilt of the pronunciation of lyrics; ‘luvley’, pill to the songs they choose to sing. My image is of them as land girls, wearing cream wooly jumpers, dresses and wellington boots. In the evening they sit around the fire of a single glazed, rambling cottage, singing from right within. Where the truth lies.

And indeed, growing up in their Northumberland home, the Unthank family would partake in group singing. Their father George, is part of a folk group called The Keelers that specialised in sea shanties of the north-east, their mother is a member of local choirs, and they always attended festivals and folk clubs. Rachel, the older of the two sisters, who looks like peace personified said: “This is amazing, a privilege and an honour, to be up here singing like this. Of course. But there something about singing with lots of people, that’s just… good for the soul.”

Unthanks

Rachel’s speaking voice is high, full of character, vibrancy and northern accent. Her eyes close as she sings and sways, stroking her baby bump to the instrumental breaks. She loves music and singing for its remedial, loving, relaxing, spiritual and bringing together prowess. As does Becky, her sister. Recently engaged we are told, she is funny, lower toned in voice and smoother. More of the honey to Rachel’s jam. Homemade and paired with the band (butter and bread… this metaphor accidentally went further than anticipated), they are your next level folk. Playing the piano, violin, fiddle, viola, cello, double bass, drums, guitar and ukulele, they are all stunning, and together make for a polished and encompassing sound. The beauty and love of the music they’re all creating, their sole focus. Not lumberjack shirts and shiny belt buckles.

The girls themselves don’t hold an ounce of arrogance, and are both entirely likeable, modest and genuine in their performance and stage presence. The confidence that’s so rosy, and tangible seems to be from deep within, from a stable and unmoving place.

unthanks

But they could be all over themselves. With a Mercury Award Nomination in 2008, being named as one of Best Albums of The Decade in Uncut and The Observer for The Bairns (out on EMI), as well as BBC Folk Awards and many others. Why didn’t I know of them before? Or my evening’s accomplice. As the evening went on, I found myself increasingly mesmerised and indadvertedly swaying in a progressive daze.

They sing of drunks, pubs, Newcastle Brown Ale, men, sweat, bosoms, daily life and poverty – STORIES of England of the North, the land, the people, the past. With the strings behind them, they sing everything tenderly, slowly and with an enormous wedge of sadness. But it’s hard to feel sadness with them, it’s more that they disarm you and fill you with beautiful sounds and truths. Things aren’t and never have been idyllic for everyone, forever.

Between tracks they chat leisurely about where they found their songs, and banter with the piano player, and husband of Rachel, Adrian McNally. Rachel talks of the need we have now for music that strikes chord and brings people together. Such as the North East mining songs, full of trouble, strife and heartbreak. There is a comradery in folk music, and a wholesome edge that is inescapable. It’s English summers, rolling hills and blustery mountain tops. It’s reality and being unafraid of it. It’s the soundtrack to what we discover when we experience something that flicks the deep, dark switch. One weekend, after trundling out of our home and switching the telly off, a walk by the ocean, some awful news, a baby’s birth, right then and there we see and feel light and free. We vow to repeat our actions again asap; “we should do that again darling.”, or never take things for granted, because we’ve realised what life is about. They know, The Unthanks. They get it.

190809_theunthanks[1]

One song featured the two girls singing unaccompanied, Rachel giving ‘advice’ to Becky on marriage. “You’d better be a maid all the days of your life, Better me a maid as a poor man’s wife.” They laughed about it, and smiled broadly to each other and then out to the audience. Another track; The Gallowgate Lad, is about a girl crying alone in Newcastle. Someone asks her; ‘What’s wrong?’ A mistake, as it can be. The piano dancing notes, paired with the story telling Becky, alone on stage, is a tremendous mix, full of drama, reviving the angst of past encounters. A number of other songs also featured the use of mighty clog dancing by Becky. Whilst Rachel sat on a chair for a mini rest, Becky tapped and stomped on stage. This was delightful and served to enhance my own desire to own clogs. Excellent skill! They also treated us to a song from the soundtrack of archive footage of Newcastle, they had performed at the Tyneside Cinema recently. They sang of the docks, the ale and the banter in their hauntingly joined voices.

Becky and Rachel put on a superb show, and yet it didn’t even feel like a *SHOW*, it felt as if we were in their living room, by the fire, with knitted cream jumpers and hot toddies, all singing together. It was warming to the heart and soul. Incidentally The Unthanks run weekends of singing in Northumberland, so perhaps check them out if you want some of your own sing song jubilation. For now check out this video. You can buy all their albums now; The Bairns and Here’s The Tender Coming are both out on EMI, and Last, on Rabble Rouser.

unthanks Rob Fuzzard
Illustration by Rob Fuzzard

They are wearing dresses that look like fresh versions of the past. And their hair is worn long and embracing of its natural waves and kinks. Rachel is pregnant and vibrant. The Unthanks are wholesome and true. True to their families, here friends, dear home and folk music. Their Northern roots infiltrate everything from the lilt of the pronunciation of lyrics; ‘luvley’, to the songs they choose to sing. My image is of them as land girls, wearing cream wooly jumpers, dresses and wellington boots. In the evening they sit around the fire of a single glazed, rambling cottage, singing from right within. Where the truth lies.

And indeed, growing up in their Northumberland home, the Unthank family would partake in group singing. Their father George, is part of a folk group called The Keelers that specialised in sea shanties of the north-east, their mother is a member of local choirs, and they always attended festivals and folk clubs. Rachel, the older of the two sisters, who looks like peace personified said: “This is amazing, a privilege and an honour, to be up here singing like this. Of course. But there something about singing with lots of people, that’s just… good for the soul.”

Unthanks

Rachel’s speaking voice is high, full of character, vibrancy and northern accent. Her eyes close as she sings and sways, stroking her baby bump to the instrumental breaks. She loves music and singing for its remedial, loving, relaxing, spiritual and bringing together prowess. As does Becky, her sister. Recently engaged we are told, she is funny, lower toned in voice and smoother. More of the honey to Rachel’s jam. Homemade and paired with the band (butter and bread… this metaphor accidentally went further than anticipated), they are your next level folk. Playing the piano, violin, fiddle, viola, cello, double bass, drums, guitar and ukulele, they are all stunning, and together make for a polished and encompassing sound. The beauty and love of the music they’re all creating, their sole focus. Not lumberjack shirts and shiny belt buckles.

The girls themselves don’t hold an ounce of arrogance, and are both entirely likeable, modest and genuine in their performance and stage presence. The confidence that’s so rosy, and tangible seems to be from deep within, from a stable and unmoving place.

unthanks

But they could be all over themselves. With a Mercury Award Nomination in 2008, being named as one of Best Albums of The Decade in Uncut and The Observer for The Bairns (out on EMI), as well as BBC Folk Awards and many others. Why didn’t I know of them before? Or my evening’s accomplice. As the evening went on, I found myself increasingly mesmerised and indadvertedly swaying in a progressive daze.

They sing of drunks, pubs, Newcastle Brown Ale, men, sweat, bosoms, daily life and poverty – STORIES of England of the North, the land, the people, the past. With the strings behind them, they sing everything tenderly, slowly and with an enormous wedge of sadness. But it’s hard to feel sadness with them, it’s more that they disarm you and fill you with beautiful sounds and truths. Things aren’t and never have been idyllic for everyone, forever.

Between tracks they chat leisurely about where they found their songs, and banter with the piano player, and husband of Rachel, Adrian McNally. Rachel talks of the need we have now for music that strikes chord and brings people together. Such as the North East mining songs, full of trouble, strife and heartbreak. There is a comradery in folk music, and a wholesome edge that is inescapable. It’s English summers, rolling hills and blustery mountain tops. It’s reality and being unafraid of it. It’s the soundtrack to what we discover when we experience something that flicks the deep, dark switch. One weekend, after trundling out of our home and switching the telly off, a walk by the ocean, some awful news, a baby’s birth, right then and there we see and feel light and free. We vow to repeat our actions again asap; “we should do that again darling.”, or never take things for granted, because we’ve realised what life is about. They know, The Unthanks. They get it.

190809_theunthanks[1]

One song featured the two girls singing unaccompanied, Rachel giving ‘advice’ to Becky on marriage. “You’d better be a maid all the days of your life, Better me a maid as a poor man’s wife.” They laughed about it, and smiled broadly to each other and then out to the audience. Another track; The Gallowgate Lad, is about a girl crying alone in Newcastle. Someone asks her; ‘What’s wrong?’ A mistake, as it can be. The piano dancing notes, paired with the story telling Becky, alone on stage, is a tremendous mix, full of drama, reviving the angst of past encounters. A number of other songs also featured the use of mighty clog dancing by Becky. Whilst Rachel sat on a chair for a mini rest, Becky tapped and stomped on stage. This was delightful and served to enhance my own desire to own clogs. Excellent skill! They also treated us to a song from the soundtrack of archive footage of Newcastle, they had performed at the Tyneside Cinema recently. They sang of the docks, the ale and the banter in their hauntingly joined voices.

Becky and Rachel put on a superb show, and yet it didn’t even feel like a *SHOW*, it felt as if we were in their living room, by the fire, with knitted cream jumpers and hot toddies, all singing together. It was warming to the heart and soul. Incidentally The Unthanks run weekends of singing in Northumberland, so perhaps check them out if you want some of your own sing song jubilation. For now check out this video. You can buy all their albums now; The Bairns and Here’s The Tender Coming are both out on EMI, and Last, on Rabble Rouser.

Jesca Hoop by Avril Kelly
Jesca Hoop by Avril Kelly.

I love Jesca Hoop‘s new song City Bird and the accompanying video so much so that I decided to get in touch with both Jesca and Elia Petridis, viagra 60mg the director of her recent videos, mind to find out what makes them tick. Elia Petridis runs boutique production company Filmatics in Los Angeles, California. After making several award winning shorts and music videos he is about to start shooting his first full length feature The Man Who Shook The Hand Of Vicente Fernandez. I think his incredibly detailed answers throw an intriguing light on what goes into the creation of a very considered and beautiful music video.

Jesca-Hoop-by-Liam-McMahon
Jesca Hoop by Liam McMahon.

When did you start working with director Elia Petridis?

Jesca: Elia is an old friend. We met in Los Angeles at one of my shows. He would say that he forced me to be his friend, which is kind of true though I would say that he used his clever imagination to lure me in. I’m glad that he did. The Kingdom was our first video adventure together.

Elia: A producer I’m working closely with these days said to me recently that humans are “meaning making machines” (a soundbite from some career seminar) but that phrase really resonated with me. I’m infatuated with screenwriting and personal mythologies, sometimes to the detriment of my own mental health. I grew up in Dubai for 18 years before moving to LA for film school – although Dubai had a lot of its own magic it didn’t have a music scene to speak of so I’m always a little astonished by the talent I find in LA. When I saw Jesca perform live I really felt her music was very special and otherworldly, and tried to do my best to see if, as human planets, we could potentially orbit each other and become friends. 

Jesca Hoop by Rebecca Strickson
Jesca Hoop by Rebecca Strickson.

I would venture to say that the first time I saw Jesca Hoop live was one of the most astonishing musical moments I have ever witnessed. It was the night before Halloween and she came out in a marionette outfit, complete with rosy cheeks, and stood motionless while her back up players wound her up to life. For a visualist like me, a storyteller, it really had an impact. The whole endeavour of courting a friendship with her was kind of a lark for me because I honestly thought she had better things to do. It was just a matter of pushing the boundary between fan and friend and seeing how much I could get away with. Suddenly, unexpectedly, as with most of life’s wonder, we had some mileage behind us and had transformed into friends. I will tell you that the first *official* conversation, the ice breaker, was when she was writing Tulip – from the Hunting my Dress album – and I was writing a screenplay dealing with Tulip Fever in Holland so I leant her my reference material. I knew I had two opportunities to wiggle my way in there – one to give her the book, and one to get it back!   

Hunting my Dress
The Hunting My Dress album cover.

Where was City Bird shot and where did the inspiration come from?

Jesca: It was shot in a miniature haunted house in downtown LA. We both wanted it to be a ghost story and Elia was the one to bring the children’s narrative into it.

Elia: FALSE! The video was shot in a garage in Riverside, Ca. The whole thing was fractal – an infinite amount of information in a finite space, as the garage is attached to an 18th century ‘Painted Lady’ Victorian house owned by my fiance. So in essence, it was shot in a miniature dollhouse inside a bigger dollhouse which made the shoot utterly magic. I think what Jesca is communicating is that the story takes place in a miniature dollhouse in downtown LA. The whole thing was lit using candles and christmas lights. 

Where did the idea for an animated video come from?

Jesca: It came out of limitation really. We had very very little money for this video so we just mused about what we could do with what time and money we did have. I set a pretty hard task considering the resources available and I am delighted with what Elia and his team came through with.

Elia: To me, the track is seance folk. That’s the sonic iconography that City Bird evokes – a ghostly seance. When it comes to music and music videos I am not a literal thinker so although my mind knows the song is about the fright and sadness associated with homelessness that’s not what my heart feels when I hear the song, and it’s not what the dream theatre in my mind projects over it either. But here Jesca’s mastery shines through, because the sonic landscape, right down to the very physical shape her mouth is making around the lyric is just as important as what she’s trying to say; the two are organically woven together. The magic of Jesca’s music lies in the alchemy that exists between form and content. All my artistic heroes do this, from Chabon, to Spielberg; they use genre to sugar coat the pill. So here she uses the disguise of seance music to coat the literal message of homelessness she’s trying to communicate. 

Now, narrative is something I am always running away from when directing a music video. Whenever I read a music video treatment from some kid that went to film school it makes me cringe and I think the best music videos come from documentary filmmakers who get a chance to put forward a psychology of form rather than one of narrative. But, having said that, my instincts on City Bird were narrative, perhaps because it’s a kind of lilting waltz so it felt right to have a narrative to pull you through it.  So, for the treatment, I sat down and wrote an entire ghost story from scratch, in the style of Poe or Hawthorne. I even wrote nursery rhymes about the ghost, because ghost stories are mostly aural traditions.

On The Kingdom video Jesca had a ton of input because I quickly realised that it would only reach its full potential if I pretended to be a paint brush and let her grab hold of the crew through me and paint. Once I took my ego out of the equation I realised there was something special there I was meant to service, and honestly, that’s the best method of working with an artist on a music video, that’s what you really cross your fingers for, isn’t it? You can see a little more of that process on the behind-the-scenes doc of the kingdom here:

But for City Bird Jesca was in Manchester and we were in LA shooting. Her schedule was tight, and I was really flattered that she had enough faith in me to let me just go and shoot because I know how much she loves her songs and how much faith it took for her to let go a little. I had originally submitted an entirely different treatment to her and had kind of resigned myself to the fact I wasn’t going to do it, which was cool enough for me because god only knows how many talented people Jesca comes across in her travels. Surely, I thought, she can find people in the UK to make amazing videos, and surely, as an artist, she wants to go and do cool stuff with other cool people. So I thought I would just give it a shot. I submitted this treatment about metaphorical ghosts, which dealt with mis-en-scene of places that had just been left and abandoned – an unmade bed, plates on a table after dinner, a toilet still running, stuff like that, where humans had vacated the frame only seconds ago and you’d just missed them – kind of pretentious honestly. Then I came across my fiancée’s childhood dollhouse and started taking video and snapping pictures and all of a sudden this whole new idea came to mind of the dollhouse and miniatures and stop motion and ghosts. I sent the examples to Jesca and she totally fell for it! 

City Bird house
The City Bird dollhouse.

Ghost stories are tricky because they are incredibly emotional stories surrounded in gothic imagery. Ghost stories like The Others, The Orphanage, The Sixth Sense, are rite of passage stories – they’re about letting go. About the dead letting go of the living and the living letting go of the dead. They’re NOT about the living being punished for a sin like horror movies, but about forgiveness of that sin from all parties, the relinquishing of unfinished business. And I wanted to nail that, I really did. In City Bird it is the boy who is at the centre of the story and has the rite of passage: the ghost is a sort of Frankenstein or Edward Scissorhands character. 

The boy has nightmares and makes up ghastly stories that paint the ghost as a demon, then something happens to the boy on his bike and he dies. We get those silent movie inter-titles: his tower (the city) is turned to a tomb. Shadows loom over his white coffin and he becomes a ghost, set into the underworld where he is refused and becomes a refugee with nowhere to go. It’s scary out there for a little boy so he returns to the ghost’s house and we realise that’s her purpose – she is a host for waywardly spirits like the dead boy. But he has been so scared of her, will he change? Can he let go of his fear of her? Can he muster up the courage to enter as she beckons him in? The song ends unresolved sonically so I wanted to leave the audience there just as the music does. The theme is that of judging a book by its cover and misunderstanding something: just as we pass the homeless on the street and pretend they are invisible like ghosts when they all have a real inner life. Can we let go of our prejudices and see beyond the stereotypes to see that the issues that made them homeless are ones that could very well come to prey on and haunt us at any time? That’s kind of the metaphor I was trying to get at. 

City Bird ghost
The City Bird ghost.

Who made the puppets and how long did the video take to make?

Jesca: I’m not quite sure actually… I should ask.

Elia: Everyone who was involved in making the City Bird video knew there was a finite time of ten days in which to create this beautiful, creative thing so necessity was to be the mother of invention due to the time constraints, and everyone really fed on that and brought their best to the project. My fiancee, Maranatha Hay, is an Emmy award winning documentary filmmaker who is piped into the most creative, kind, and daring community of filmmakers and her best friend Natalie Apodaca is an artist with experience in installations. I showed her Metropolis and told her we were going to build a monotone city from cardboard and she just went for it. Cosmin Cosma was my left hand man who insisted we use the Dragon Stop Motion software, which honestly was the main reason we were able to get the shots we needed in the time we had. 

The crew never lost faith in my direction, even when I had no idea how we would do it just ten minutes before the shoot. In the opening shot of the video there is a city cardboard diorama, the dollhouse, the puppet of the ghost AND the moon projected over the city! All those elements came into play because we just broke down the shot we had in mind element by element: that’s real filmmaking in a pure form. 99% of this video was done IN-CAMERA, like The Lumière Brothers! Then it was given that incredible aged look by Dan Geis, our after effects genius.

Jesca Hoop by Emma Lucy Watson
Jesca Hoop by Emma Lucy Watson.

I can tell you how the puppets were made, but I urge you to remember that cinema is like a magic trick. The home made feel is part of the fun of the viewing experience, especially the joy in realising that things like hair are actually twine. The doll’s arms are made of tiny painted tree branches, her spine is metal wire and her dress is made of muslin. Her face is tracing paper and is removable so that we could change her expressions from shot to shot. The part where the fork floats across the table had to be done with tweezers! (nudged lovingly one frame at a time by Maranatha)

The house was a nightmare. It is three feet tall and it took us 3 days to put it together from a flat box. We painted every part, so we had to know what the end product would look like before we even started. Luckily an architect friend, Dannon Rampton, showed up just to check out what was going on and got so enamoured with the dolls house that he ended up putting it together which is just as well since Natalie and I were clueless as to how we were going to do it. We painted it and then we had to DILAPIDATE IT so it looked old and haunted! We scrubbed it with metal brush, we broke its steeple and we stuffed miniature moss in all its crevices so that the ghost story would feel real and lived in. 

My motto is: make movies that can only be movies! Make movies that need that final step of the medium to fully realise the vision, because it’s such an expensive, time consuming endeavour that the content had better deserve and earn the medium. If it can be a song, a book, a play, let it be that. But film, film is reserved for the special stories that need the seven arts to make them whole. SO don’t give away our secrets if you don’t have to. 

Categories ,animation, ,Avril Kelly, ,Chabon, ,City Bird, ,Cosmin Cosm, ,Dan Geis, ,Daniel Geis, ,Dannon Rampton, ,Dragon Stop Motion, ,Dubai, ,Edward Scissorhands, ,Elia Petridis, ,Emma Lucy Watson, ,Emmy Awards, ,film, ,Filmatics, ,folk, ,Frankenstein, ,Ghosts, ,Hawthorne, ,holland, ,Homelessness, ,Hunting my Dress, ,Jesca Hoop, ,Liam McMahon, ,Los Angeles, ,manchester, ,Maranatha Hay, ,Metropolis, ,music video, ,Natalie Apodaca, ,Painted Lady, ,Poe, ,Puppets, ,Rebecca Strickson, ,Riverside, ,Seance, ,Spielberg, ,The Lumière Brothers, ,The Man Who Shook The Hand Of Vicente Fernandez, ,The Orphanage, ,The Others, ,The Sixth Sense, ,The Kingdom, ,Tulip Fever, ,Waltz

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Amelia’s Magazine | Open Brief: Design a Watch for Swatch Art Rules TTR World Snowboard Tour Competition 2012

Swatch Art Rules
Announcing a very exciting open brief that illustrators might want to check out: the Swatch Art Rules design competition is open to artists across the world, and offers a brilliant opportunity, not only to get your work emblazoned across an iconic watch, but also to travel to Los Angeles for the prize giving, and then to New York for two weeks on an all expenses paid holiday for two people (yes please!)

Swatch-Cristales-by-Marco-Fragozo-Mejia-of-Afghanistan
Cristales by Marco Fragozo Mejia of Afghanistan.

SHAPESHIFTER_Ricardo-Santos-of-Portugal-swatch
Shapeshifter, by Ricardo Santos of Portugal.

For the third time the competition is held in conjunction with the TTR World Snowboard Tour and the winning design will be featured on the 2012-13 trophy as well as on the matching Swatch Tour Watch, which will be distributed worldwide. The TTR trophy is one of the most coveted awards in the world of freestyle snowboarding, and is presented to the champions live on stage at all the biggest events in the sport.

Swatch Momentous Celebration by Peter Cheok of Malaysia
Momentous Celebration by Peter Cheok of Malaysia.

Swatch tour watch - things for live by Eduard Ganahi of Austria
Things for Life by Eduard Ganahi of Austria.

This year the theme for the watch is Progression and Style, which are both key elements of snowboarding. The jury of snowboarding experts is joined by Romain Colin, otherwise known as Fubiz – the acclaimed French blogger whom I met during my trip to Venice with Swatch late last year – who will judge the final designs alongside the supremely knowledgeable president of Swatch, Madame Emch. The top three nominees will also be invited to Los Angeles during May 2012, on a trip of a lifetime to discover which design will be unveiled as overall winner. I was also invited to LA to cover the event, but I am gutted because I will be too busy with my new baby to come along. I cannot tell you how jealous I will be! And I hope that at least one of my readers will be one of the lucky ones to make this trip.

SWATCH_Pixel Attitude by Joyce Liew of Singapore
Pixel Attitude by Joyce Liew of Singapore.

swatchTTR_trophy_Ice-and-Fire-Marco-Magni-from-Italy
Ice and Fire by Marco Magni of Italy.

It’s possibly a little known fact that I am a keen snowboarder – I spent three seasons working in the Austrian Alps during my 20s, and returned a few winters ago to snowboard the slopes of Val d’Isere. It’s one of my great loves – oh how I miss whooshing down those immense powder runs on a beautiful crisp morning – but even if you aren’t a snowboarder yourself this is a great opportunity to get involved with a fabulous brief that will give the winner worldwide exposure.

Swatch_TTR_Trophy_Design_surface pressure by benjamin brewis of the UK
Surface Pressure by Benjamin Brewis of the UK.

swatch-Colorhood by Marili Nikoli of Greece
Colorhood by Marili Nikoli of Greece.

I’ve included a few of the current entries here for your perusal – to see more examples of the entries that have already been received check out this link. You have just a few weeks in which to submit your designs, for the competition closes on March 27th 2012. If you are submitting some artwork then please also send your submissions to me (not just to me though, that would be a bad idea!) as I’d like to upload my favourites in a future blog post for all my readers to enjoy. I look forward to seeing your work online, and hopefully on the winning Swatch Tour Watch.

YouTube Preview Image
Watch a video about the choosing of the winning design in 2011 here. Last year Chi Fong Leong (a Central Saint Martins student) won, so what are you waiting for? Find out all you need to know at the Swatch Art Rules website.

Categories ,Benjamin Brewis, ,competition, ,Eduard Ganahi, ,Freestyle, ,Fubiz, ,Joyce Liew, ,Los Angeles, ,Madame Emch, ,Marco Fragozo Mejia, ,Marco Magni, ,Marili Nikoli, ,new york, ,Peter Cheok, ,Prize, ,Progression, ,Ricardo Santos, ,Romain Colin, ,Snowboarding, ,Style, ,Swatch, ,Swatch Tour Watch, ,TTR World Snowboard Tour, ,Val d’Isere, ,Venice

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Amelia’s Magazine | Redefining luxury in wax: an interview with artist Andrea Hassler

Andrea Hasler LV bag
Andrea Hasler is a London based artist dealing with the over consumption of modern times. Her recent exhibition at the Gusford Gallery in Los Angeles featured a riot of luxury goods, created in oozing wax that appears to mimic bodily organs. Here she explains the inspiration behind her work, and describes an interesting prophecy for the pinnacle of future luxurious desires.

Andrea Hasler JC shoes
How do you make your wax sculptures and is it a time consuming process?
After years of searching for the ultimate malleable material, I felt relieved to have finally found ‘my’ material the first time I worked with wax half way through Art College. For me, all the other sculpting materials feel limiting in terms of process and wax allows for flexibility: there is never an end-point, a piece can ‘rest’ for months before I warm it up to work on it again. Years later and I still greatly enjoy the ritual element of melting wax now deeply embedded in my sculptural practice. I enjoy the slow process, literally building up layer after layer. Saying that, there are also limitations as wax is not suitable for outdoor sculptures. I am currently working on a commission to cast one of my large wax pieces in bronze.

Andrea Hasler Irreducible Dual
Where do you find inspiration for the shapes and detailing on your wax accessories?
I spend a lot of time in medical libraries, as I have always been very fascinated by anatomical wax models used to illustrate various medical conditions. In the 1800s moulages (waxes showing injuries or pathological change in the body) often formed part of travelling shows across Europe; part entertainment, part public health education!

Which organs feature most in your bag and accessory designs?
The bags and accessories are not modelled with a single organ in mind… more a combination of ‘organ-intestine-brain-liposuction-waste’ all in one!

Andrea Hasler BE MC clutch
What led to your show in LA, and how does exhibiting there contrast with showing in London?
When GUSFORD | los angeles invited me to exhibit a Solo Show in West Hollywood, I felt it very fitting to show Burdens of Excess, which is an installation that resulted out of my long term project Desire. It’s a subject that resonates with so much that Hollywood stands for so I was intrigued by the viewers’ reactions in a paradoxical way. By bringing the deconstructed intestine bags back to their boutique environment and closing the circle, I feel the notion of this show has been brought back to its ‘natural habitat’ of Hollywood.


How did you set about creating a virtual shop in the Gusford gallery –  and what were the challenges with working abroad to install the exhibition?
In Burdens of Excess I play with the aesthetic codes of a chic, seductive luxury boutique, with its black walls, glittery flooring and the way the organ objects are presented on plinths, hermetically sealed behind glass boxes. The subject matters of both the desire for luxury items as well as the darker side of plastic surgery’s intestine-liposuction filled accessories are both synonymous with what Hollywood glamour represents for me in order to be accepted, to be part of the ‘tribe’.

Andrea Hasler Irreducible Com-Solo
How has your Swiss heritage affected your view of the world?
Growing up in Switzerland, famous for its understated take on ‘anything’, I was not prepared for the brashness and logo obsession in relation to luxury goods that I encountered when moving to London. Long limited edition waiting lists and queuing around the block for a pair of shoes where all new to me. So initially, Desire started by analysing my own growing obsession with luxury items and developed from there. Through this, I became fascinated with the psychological aspect of consumerism and its emotional link to ‘Abject’. I am intrigued by the borderline between attraction and repulsion, something that is aesthetically desirable yet revolting at the same time and where the viewer’s attraction is replaced by repulsion, power, control and impotence. In my work, I have always been particularly drawn to the body, how to depict the emotional body and working with skin as the physical element that divides the Self from the other, as well as the potential container for both and what happens if you open up those boundaries. All of this forms part of Burdens of Excess, where I play with visions of the future, scenes of surgical fetishes and glamour, unsettling the viewer with images of carefully staged and naturalistic wax reproductions of human organs in a form of luxury fetish.

Andrea Hasler McQ organ
What was the best thing about studying at Chelsea College of Art?
Prior to my BA/MA at Chelsea, I completed the international Baccalaureate at the bilingual Swiss-Italian Liceo Artistico in Zurich, Switzerland and after 5 years of copying Italian Renaissance masters, arriving at Chelsea College of Art was a breath of fresh air and symbolized sheer freedom!

Andrea Hasler, Burdens of Excess, 2013, installation image 1
You have some pretty extreme views of what luxury will mean in the future – can you tell us a bit more?
Luxury is an excess that holds a great fascination for me. My work poses new questions in relation to the craze for luxury and status: How much can our body take? – Will we sacrifice everything for beauty? – What kind of person do we wish to be tomorrow? – How much money will we spend on it? I honestly think that one day, it will not be the Rolex on your wrist that will be the ultimate luxury accessory but kidneys embellished with diamonds. As soon as the exterior has been completely moulded, plastic surgery of an internal organ is its logical consequence. This is the peak of the exclusive: The intervention is not visible – or only so on x-rays! I think we live in a nomadic society and the brands we choose are a reflection of the ‘tribe’ we want to belong to. More importantly they help us be identified by other nomads, to become part of the group. This notion is driven by a sense of desperately wanting to belong that the philosopher Julia Kristeva links with our desire to recreate the symbiotic mother-infant relationship and which stems from the consequent tragedy of the sense of loss when one realizes that they are an independent subject. So really, to put it simple: I think the craze for luxury is a longing for one’s nurturing mother!

Categories ,Abject, ,Andrea Hassler, ,Burdens of Excess, ,Chelsea College of Art, ,Desire, ,GUSFORD | los angeles, ,Hollywood, ,Julia Kristeva, ,LA, ,Liceo Artistico, ,Los Angeles, ,moulages, ,Rolex, ,Swiss, ,Switzerland

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Amelia’s Magazine | Renegade Craft Fair in London 2011 Review: Illustration and Wall Art

Renegade Craft Fair London oct 2011 -John Vogl of The Bungaloo
Music posters by John Vogl of The Bungaloo.

The Renegade Craft Fair obviously has some clout back in its home country of America, health since quite a few of the stallholders had flown over just to participate in the inaugural British event last weekend. This meant there was a welcome chance to discover some new crafting gems from across the pond, and marvel up close at the slightly different aesthetics of American design when compared to the UK’s own crafting scene. I’ve split my write ups into loosely grouped themes – first up some of the best artist and illustrators that I found.

Renegade Craft Fair London oct 2011 -John Vogl of The Bungaloo
Renegade Craft Fair London oct 2011 -John Vogl of The Bungaloo
John Vogl of The Bungaloo is obviously on to a winner: most of his display posters had been taken off the walls by the time I returned later on Sunday. I particularly liked the tour poster he had done for Explosions in the Sky.

Renegade Craft Fair London oct 2011 -Being Natalie
Renegade Craft Fair London oct 2011 -Being Natalie
The Being Natalie stall was crowded with bright little paintings by Natalie Turturro.

Renegade Craft Fair London oct 2011 -Julia Pott
Ace illustrator Julia Pott was selling lots of goodies including these temporary tattoos.

Renegade Craft Fair London oct 2011 -Deborah Grace
Renegade Craft Fair London oct 2011 -Deborah Grace
Deborah Grace is one half of The Bulb and The Bee with her sister. She displayed some lovely collaged one off artworks and paintings.

Renegade Craft Fair London oct 2011 -Magic Industrie
Renegade Craft Fair London oct 2011 -Magic Industrie
Renegade Craft Fair London oct 2011 -Magic Industrie
Ryan Hansen of Magic Industrie, Los Angeles, creates handmade bookmarks and magic wallets from upcycled illustrations that he finds in salvaged books. One of these would make a beautiful alternative to the usual Oyster card holder.

Categories ,2011, ,America, ,Being Natalie, ,craft, ,Deborah Grace, ,Explosions In The Sky, ,illustration, ,John Vogl, ,Julia Pott, ,london, ,Los Angeles, ,Magic Industrie, ,Magic Wallet, ,Natalie Turturro, ,Oyster card holder, ,paintings, ,poster, ,Renegade Craft Fair, ,Ryan Hansen, ,Tattoos, ,The Bulb and The Bee, ,The Bungaloo, ,Truman Brewery, ,Upcycled

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Amelia’s Magazine | Renegade Craft Fair in London 2011 Review: Illustration and Wall Art

Renegade Craft Fair London oct 2011 -John Vogl of The Bungaloo
Music posters by John Vogl of The Bungaloo.

The Renegade Craft Fair obviously has some clout back in its home country of America, health since quite a few of the stallholders had flown over just to participate in the inaugural British event last weekend. This meant there was a welcome chance to discover some new crafting gems from across the pond, and marvel up close at the slightly different aesthetics of American design when compared to the UK’s own crafting scene. I’ve split my write ups into loosely grouped themes – first up some of the best artist and illustrators that I found.

Renegade Craft Fair London oct 2011 -John Vogl of The Bungaloo
Renegade Craft Fair London oct 2011 -John Vogl of The Bungaloo
John Vogl of The Bungaloo is obviously on to a winner: most of his display posters had been taken off the walls by the time I returned later on Sunday. I particularly liked the tour poster he had done for Explosions in the Sky.

Renegade Craft Fair London oct 2011 -Being Natalie
Renegade Craft Fair London oct 2011 -Being Natalie
The Being Natalie stall was crowded with bright little paintings by Natalie Turturro.

Renegade Craft Fair London oct 2011 -Julia Pott
Ace illustrator Julia Pott was selling lots of goodies including these temporary tattoos.

Renegade Craft Fair London oct 2011 -Deborah Grace
Renegade Craft Fair London oct 2011 -Deborah Grace
Deborah Grace is one half of The Bulb and The Bee with her sister. She displayed some lovely collaged one off artworks and paintings.

Renegade Craft Fair London oct 2011 -Magic Industrie
Renegade Craft Fair London oct 2011 -Magic Industrie
Renegade Craft Fair London oct 2011 -Magic Industrie
Ryan Hansen of Magic Industrie, Los Angeles, creates handmade bookmarks and magic wallets from upcycled illustrations that he finds in salvaged books. One of these would make a beautiful alternative to the usual Oyster card holder.

Categories ,2011, ,America, ,Being Natalie, ,craft, ,Deborah Grace, ,Explosions In The Sky, ,illustration, ,John Vogl, ,Julia Pott, ,london, ,Los Angeles, ,Magic Industrie, ,Magic Wallet, ,Natalie Turturro, ,Oyster card holder, ,paintings, ,poster, ,Renegade Craft Fair, ,Ryan Hansen, ,Tattoos, ,The Bulb and The Bee, ,The Bungaloo, ,Truman Brewery, ,Upcycled

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Amelia’s Magazine | Dame Elizabeth Taylor 1932 – 2011

THUMB Kee Boutique 2 Michelle Urvall Nyrén

Kee Boutique illustration by Faye West

Lately, salve I’ve been thinking a lot about what I want to do with myself. You know, life stuff. I am incredibly grateful for my job, especially as I have friends in dire unemployment situations but it doesn’t stop me from dreaming about the ‘what if’s’ and ‘one day’s’ . I don’t have a single dream job. I never have. I do however, In my slightly schizophrenic special way, harbour numerous secret career cravings. These range from the sublime (Anthropologist, midwife, Inventor) to the ridiculous (Pearly Queen, agony aunt, Riverdance star– seriously.) But most of all I hope that one day, once upon a time perhaps, I shall have the means and the balls to retreat from my office based 9-5 to own my own little handmade business. Something to do with sewing machines and being outside a lot and haberdasheries and old things and perhaps chickens and copper kettles and err, well I’m not sure what it is exactly yet or how on earth it would come together. But I always like meeting people who have taken the plunge to do something they love, so I was pretty intrigued to interview Keely for Amelia’s Magazine.

Kee Boutique by Michelle Urvall Nyren

Who are you and what floats your boat?!

I am Keely Brightmore and my clothes are Kee Boutique. I love everything pretty and vintage. I like nothing better than rooting through flea markets and car boots for hidden gems, pieces of lace, broaches, fabrics, whatever I can find, then creating something beautiful from something on its last legs!

Where are you from – do you love it or hate it? and does it influence your work?

I am from Yorkshire, in the countryside, and now live in Leeds. The nature and beauty of home is very inspirational to my work, but I also love the buzz of the city.

Kee Boutique by Michelle Urvall Nyren

When did you start the shop and what made you want to start it?

I started it in July last year, just after I graduated from university. I have always been creative, designing and using my mum’s sewing machine as a child. I started selling my clothes online, in markets and in other people’s shops but always dreamt of having my own shop.

Where do you see your shop in 5 years time?

My shop is in a beautiful art deco building with several other independent shops and I firstly aim to help make the whole thing a great place to visit in Leeds. I also use my shop as a studio where customers can find me behind my sewing machine making my new garments to sell both in the shop, online and elsewhere. I would like to expand where my clothes are available but still using an ethical method of production.

Some might say It was very brave to launch a new fashion business in a recession;  how have you found it?

There were times at first when I was slightly doubtful in the current climate but if people like something they still seem to be able to afford it! This is a full time thing but the shop is only be part of it. I also sell my clothes in other shops and online – there’s a whole world of like-minded buyers!

Kee Boutique by Madi Illustrates

Do you have any advice or top tips for any other aspiring entrepreneurs who might be inspired by you?

If you love what you are trying to do then you just have to keep with it, visualise where you want to be, and, if it’s what you really want to do, then you will get there. I look for inspiration everywhere without thinking about it and, if it’s in you, you won’t doubt yourself or think of it as a job. Enjoy it!

What have been the best and worst moments in running your business so far?

The hardest part was at the beginning trying to get established, budgeting, not having enough time for everything, let alone time off! It’s all worth it though and my favourite parts of doing this are meeting new creative people who I can learn from, doing fashion shows and photoshoots and seeing the results of everyone’s hard work. I also love seeing people wearing my designs!

Who are your style inspirations?

I adore icons from the 20’s to now, in particular Bridget Bardot, Jane Birkin, Rita Heyworth, Kate Bush… I love the French style, Paris and Lolita… My favourite major designers are Chloe and Chanel…

Do you have a favourite vintage era?

The 40’s is probably my favourite style era with floral tea dresses, lace and pearls, very feminine and elegant, although I get inspiration from the best bits of different era’s.

What are your ethical motivations? What gets you really fired up?

I either make brand new clothes from vintage materials or rework unloved vintage clothes so it is very important that all my pieces are 100% ethical. I hate disposable fashion – with a little time and love you can always find a vintage piece that is the same as what you would find on the high street, except better quality, greener and way more interesting!

Do you have any secret career cravings?!

I do what I do because I love it so this is my career craving!

I think myself lucky to be passionate enough about something that can also be my living so it seemed natural for me to follow it. I think if people have a strong enough dream that can become reality they should be less fearful of following it, whether it is starting a business, travelling, providing for your family or exploring your talent.

Visit Kee Boutique Here

Kee Boutique illustration by Faye West

Lately, cheap I’ve been thinking a lot about what I want to do with myself. You know, viagra life stuff. I am incredibly grateful for my job, especially as I have friends in dire unemployment situations but it doesn’t stop me from dreaming about the ‘what if’s’ and ‘one day’s’ . I don’t have a single dream job. I never have. I do however, In my slightly schizophrenic special way, harbour numerous secret career cravings. These range from the sublime (Anthropologist, midwife, Inventor) to the ridiculous (Pearly Queen, agony aunt, Riverdance star– seriously.) But most of all I hope that one day, once upon a time perhaps, I shall have the means and the balls to retreat from my office based 9-5 to own my own little handmade business. Something to do with sewing machines and being outside a lot and haberdasheries and old things and perhaps chickens and copper kettles and err, well I’m not sure what it is exactly yet or how on earth it would come together. But I always like meeting people who have taken the plunge to do something they love, so I was pretty intrigued to interview Keely for Amelia’s Magazine.

Kee Boutique by Michelle Urvall Nyren

Who are you and what floats your boat?!

I am Keely Brightmore and my clothes are Kee Boutique. I love everything pretty and vintage. I like nothing better than rooting through flea markets and car boots for hidden gems, pieces of lace, broaches, fabrics, whatever I can find, then creating something beautiful from something on its last legs!

Where are you from – do you love it or hate it? and does it influence your work?

I am from Yorkshire, in the countryside, and now live in Leeds. The nature and beauty of home is very inspirational to my work, but I also love the buzz of the city.

Kee Boutique by Michelle Urvall Nyren

When did you start the shop and what made you want to start it?

I started it in July last year, just after I graduated from university. I have always been creative, designing and using my mum’s sewing machine as a child. I started selling my clothes online, in markets and in other people’s shops but always dreamt of having my own shop.

Where do you see your shop in 5 years time?

My shop is in a beautiful art deco building with several other independent shops and I firstly aim to help make the whole thing a great place to visit in Leeds. I also use my shop as a studio where customers can find me behind my sewing machine making my new garments to sell both in the shop, online and elsewhere. I would like to expand where my clothes are available but still using an ethical method of production.

Some might say It was very brave to launch a new fashion business in a recession;  how have you found it?

There were times at first when I was slightly doubtful in the current climate but if people like something they still seem to be able to afford it! This is a full time thing but the shop is only be part of it. I also sell my clothes in other shops and online – there’s a whole world of like-minded buyers!

Kee Boutique by Madi Illustrates

Do you have any advice or top tips for any other aspiring entrepreneurs who might be inspired by you?

If you love what you are trying to do then you just have to keep with it, visualise where you want to be, and, if it’s what you really want to do, then you will get there. I look for inspiration everywhere without thinking about it and, if it’s in you, you won’t doubt yourself or think of it as a job. Enjoy it!

What have been the best and worst moments in running your business so far?

The hardest part was at the beginning trying to get established, budgeting, not having enough time for everything, let alone time off! It’s all worth it though and my favourite parts of doing this are meeting new creative people who I can learn from, doing fashion shows and photoshoots and seeing the results of everyone’s hard work. I also love seeing people wearing my designs!

Who are your style inspirations?

I adore icons from the 20’s to now, in particular Bridget Bardot, Jane Birkin, Rita Heyworth, Kate Bush… I love the French style, Paris and Lolita… My favourite major designers are Chloe and Chanel…

Do you have a favourite vintage era?

The 40’s is probably my favourite style era with floral tea dresses, lace and pearls, very feminine and elegant, although I get inspiration from the best bits of different era’s.

What are your ethical motivations? What gets you really fired up?

I either make brand new clothes from vintage materials or rework unloved vintage clothes so it is very important that all my pieces are 100% ethical. I hate disposable fashion – with a little time and love you can always find a vintage piece that is the same as what you would find on the high street, except better quality, greener and way more interesting!

Do you have any secret career cravings?!

I do what I do because I love it so this is my career craving!

I think myself lucky to be passionate enough about something that can also be my living so it seemed natural for me to follow it. I think if people have a strong enough dream that can become reality they should be less fearful of following it, whether it is starting a business, travelling, providing for your family or exploring your talent.

Visit Kee Boutique Here

Kee Boutique illustration by Faye West

Lately, viagra sale I’ve been thinking a lot about what I want to do with myself. You know, illness life stuff. I am incredibly grateful for my job, especially as I have friends in dire unemployment situations but it doesn’t stop me from dreaming about the ‘what if’s’ and ‘one day’s’ . I don’t have a single dream job. I never have. I do however, In my slightly schizophrenic special way, harbour numerous secret career cravings. These range from the sublime (Anthropologist, midwife, Inventor) to the ridiculous (Pearly Queen, agony aunt, Riverdance star– seriously.) But most of all I hope that one day, once upon a time perhaps, I shall have the means and the balls to retreat from my office based 9-5 to own my own little handmade business. Something to do with sewing machines and being outside a lot and haberdasheries and old things and perhaps chickens and copper kettles and err, well I’m not sure what it is exactly yet or how on earth it would come together. But I always like meeting people who have taken the plunge to do something they love, so I was pretty intrigued to interview Keely for Amelia’s Magazine.

Kee Boutique by Michelle Urvall Nyren

Who are you and what floats your boat?!

I am Keely Brightmore and my clothes are Kee Boutique. I love everything pretty and vintage. I like nothing better than rooting through flea markets and car boots for hidden gems, pieces of lace, broaches, fabrics, whatever I can find, then creating something beautiful from something on its last legs!

Where are you from – do you love it or hate it? and does it influence your work?

I am from Yorkshire, in the countryside, and now live in Leeds. The nature and beauty of home is very inspirational to my work, but I also love the buzz of the city.

Kee Boutique by Michelle Urvall Nyren

When did you start the shop and what made you want to start it?

I started it in July last year, just after I graduated from university. I have always been creative, designing and using my mum’s sewing machine as a child. I started selling my clothes online, in markets and in other people’s shops but always dreamt of having my own shop.

Where do you see your shop in 5 years time?

My shop is in a beautiful art deco building with several other independent shops and I firstly aim to help make the whole thing a great place to visit in Leeds. I also use my shop as a studio where customers can find me behind my sewing machine making my new garments to sell both in the shop, online and elsewhere. I would like to expand where my clothes are available but still using an ethical method of production.

Some might say It was very brave to launch a new fashion business in a recession;  how have you found it?

There were times at first when I was slightly doubtful in the current climate but if people like something they still seem to be able to afford it! This is a full time thing but the shop is only be part of it. I also sell my clothes in other shops and online – there’s a whole world of like-minded buyers!

Kee Boutique by Madi Illustrates

Do you have any advice or top tips for any other aspiring entrepreneurs who might be inspired by you?

If you love what you are trying to do then you just have to keep with it, visualise where you want to be, and, if it’s what you really want to do, then you will get there. I look for inspiration everywhere without thinking about it and, if it’s in you, you won’t doubt yourself or think of it as a job. Enjoy it!

What have been the best and worst moments in running your business so far?

The hardest part was at the beginning trying to get established, budgeting, not having enough time for everything, let alone time off! It’s all worth it though and my favourite parts of doing this are meeting new creative people who I can learn from, doing fashion shows and photoshoots and seeing the results of everyone’s hard work. I also love seeing people wearing my designs!

Who are your style inspirations?

I adore icons from the 20’s to now, in particular Bridget Bardot, Jane Birkin, Rita Heyworth, Kate Bush… I love the French style, Paris and Lolita… My favourite major designers are Chloe and Chanel…

Do you have a favourite vintage era?

The 40’s is probably my favourite style era with floral tea dresses, lace and pearls, very feminine and elegant, although I get inspiration from the best bits of different era’s.

What are your ethical motivations? What gets you really fired up?

I either make brand new clothes from vintage materials or rework unloved vintage clothes so it is very important that all my pieces are 100% ethical. I hate disposable fashion – with a little time and love you can always find a vintage piece that is the same as what you would find on the high street, except better quality, greener and way more interesting!

Do you have any secret career cravings?!

I do what I do because I love it so this is my career craving!

I think myself lucky to be passionate enough about something that can also be my living so it seemed natural for me to follow it. I think if people have a strong enough dream that can become reality they should be less fearful of following it, whether it is starting a business, travelling, providing for your family or exploring your talent.

Visit Kee Boutique Here

Kee Boutique illustration by Faye West

Lately, diagnosis I’ve been thinking a lot about what I want to do with myself. You know, viagra dosage life stuff. I am incredibly grateful for my job, especially as I have friends in dire unemployment situations but it doesn’t stop me from dreaming about the ‘what if’s’ and ‘one day’s’ . I don’t have a single dream job. I never have. I do however, In my slightly schizophrenic special way, harbour numerous secret career cravings. These range from the sublime (Anthropologist, midwife, Inventor) to the ridiculous (Pearly Queen, agony aunt, Riverdance star– seriously.) But most of all I hope that one day, once upon a time perhaps, I shall have the means and the balls to retreat from my office based 9-5 to own my own little handmade business. Something to do with sewing machines and being outside a lot and haberdasheries and old things and perhaps chickens and copper kettles and err, well I’m not sure what it is exactly yet or how on earth it would come together. But I always like meeting people who have taken the plunge to do something they love, so I was pretty intrigued to interview Keely for Amelia’s Magazine.

Kee Boutique by Michelle Urvall Nyren

Who are you and what floats your boat?!

I am Keely Brightmore and my clothes are Kee Boutique. I love everything pretty and vintage. I like nothing better than rooting through flea markets and car boots for hidden gems, pieces of lace, broaches, fabrics, whatever I can find, then creating something beautiful from something on its last legs!

Where are you from – do you love it or hate it? and does it influence your work?

I am from Yorkshire, in the countryside, and now live in Leeds. The nature and beauty of home is very inspirational to my work, but I also love the buzz of the city.

Kee Boutique by Michelle Urvall Nyren

When did you start the shop and what made you want to start it?

I started it in July last year, just after I graduated from university. I have always been creative, designing and using my mum’s sewing machine as a child. I started selling my clothes online, in markets and in other people’s shops but always dreamt of having my own shop.

Where do you see your shop in 5 years time?

My shop is in a beautiful art deco building with several other independent shops and I firstly aim to help make the whole thing a great place to visit in Leeds. I also use my shop as a studio where customers can find me behind my sewing machine making my new garments to sell both in the shop, online and elsewhere. I would like to expand where my clothes are available but still using an ethical method of production.

Some might say It was very brave to launch a new fashion business in a recession;  how have you found it?

There were times at first when I was slightly doubtful in the current climate but if people like something they still seem to be able to afford it! This is a full time thing but the shop is only be part of it. I also sell my clothes in other shops and online – there’s a whole world of like-minded buyers!

Kee Boutique by Madi Illustrates

Do you have any advice or top tips for any other aspiring/fledgling business entrepreneurs?

If you love what you are trying to do then you just have to keep with it, visualise where you want to be, and, if it’s what you really want to do, then you will get there. I look for inspiration everywhere without thinking about it and, if it’s in you, you won’t doubt yourself or think of it as a job. Enjoy it!

What have been the best and worst moments in running your business so far?

The hardest part was at the beginning trying to get established, budgeting, not having enough time for everything, let alone time off! It’s all worth it though and my favourite parts of doing this are meeting new creative people who I can learn from, doing fashion shows and photoshoots and seeing the results of everyone’s hard work. I also love seeing people wearing my designs!

Who are your style inspirations?

I adore icons from the 20’s to now, in particular Bridget Bardot, Jane Birkin, Rita Heyworth, Kate Bush… I love the French style, Paris and Lolita… My favourite major designers are Chloe and Chanel…

Do you have a favourite vintage era?

The 40’s is probably my favourite style era with floral tea dresses, lace and pearls, very feminine and elegant, although I get inspiration from the best bits of different era’s.

What are your ethical motivations? What gets you really fired up?

I either make brand new clothes from vintage materials or rework unloved vintage clothes so it is very important that all my pieces are 100% ethical. I hate disposable fashion – with a little time and love you can always find a vintage piece that is the same as what you would find on the high street, except better quality, greener and way more interesting!

Do you have any secret career cravings?!

I do what I do because I love it so this is my career craving!

I think myself lucky to be passionate enough about something that can also be my living so it seemed natural for me to follow it. I think if people have a strong enough dream that can become reality they should be less fearful of following it, whether it is starting a business, travelling, providing for your family or exploring your talent.

Visit Kee Boutique Here

Kee Boutique illustration by Faye West

Lately, visit web I’ve been thinking a lot about what I want to do with myself. You know, life stuff. I am incredibly grateful for my job, especially as I have friends in dire unemployment situations but it doesn’t stop me from dreaming about the ‘what if’s’ and ‘one day’s’ . I don’t have a single dream job. I never have. I do however, In my slightly schizophrenic special way, harbour numerous secret career cravings. These range from the sublime (Anthropologist, midwife, Inventor) to the ridiculous (Pearly Queen, agony aunt, Riverdance star– seriously.) But most of all I hope that one day, once upon a time perhaps, I shall have the means and the balls to retreat from my office based 9-5 to own my own little handmade business. Something to do with sewing machines and being outside a lot and haberdasheries and old things and perhaps chickens and copper kettles and err, well I’m not sure what it is exactly yet or how on earth it would come together. But I always like meeting people who have taken the plunge to do something they love, so I was pretty intrigued to interview Keely for Amelia’s Magazine.

Kee Boutique by Michelle Urvall Nyren

Who are you and what floats your boat?!

I am Keely Brightmore and my clothes are Kee Boutique. I love everything pretty and vintage. I like nothing better than rooting through flea markets and car boots for hidden gems, pieces of lace, broaches, fabrics, whatever I can find, then creating something beautiful from something on its last legs!

Where are you from – do you love it or hate it? and does it influence your work?

I am from Yorkshire, in the countryside, and now live in Leeds. The nature and beauty of home is very inspirational to my work, but I also love the buzz of the city.

Kee Boutique by Michelle Urvall Nyren

When did you start the shop and what made you want to start it?

I started it in July last year, just after I graduated from university. I have always been creative, designing and using my mum’s sewing machine as a child. I started selling my clothes online, in markets and in other people’s shops but always dreamt of having my own shop.

What are your ethical motivations? What gets you really fired up?

I either make brand new clothes from vintage materials or rework unloved vintage clothes so it is very important that all my pieces are 100% ethical. I hate disposable fashion – with a little time and love you can always find a vintage piece that is the same as what you would find on the high street, except better quality, greener and way more interesting! [preach it Keely!]

Where do you see your shop in 5 years time?

My shop is in a beautiful art deco building with several other independent shops and I firstly aim to help make the whole thing a great place to visit in Leeds. I also use my shop as a studio where customers can find me behind my sewing machine making my new garments to sell both in the shop, online and elsewhere. I would like to expand where my clothes are available but still using an ethical method of production.

Some might say It was very brave to launch a new fashion business in a recession;  how have you found it?

There were times at first when I was slightly doubtful in the current climate but if people like something they still seem to be able to afford it! This is a full time thing but the shop is only be part of it. I also sell my clothes in other shops and online – there’s a whole world of like-minded buyers!

Kee Boutique by Madi Illustrates

Do you have any advice or top tips for any other aspiring/fledgling entrepreneurs?

If you love what you are trying to do then you just have to keep with it, visualise where you want to be, and, if it’s what you really want to do, then you will get there. I look for inspiration everywhere without thinking about it and, if it’s in you, you won’t doubt yourself or think of it as a job. Enjoy it!

What have been the best and worst moments in running your business so far?

The hardest part was at the beginning trying to get established, budgeting, not having enough time for everything, let alone time off! It’s all worth it though and my favourite parts of doing this are meeting new creative people who I can learn from, doing fashion shows and photoshoots and seeing the results of everyone’s hard work. I also love seeing people wearing my designs!

Who are your style inspirations?

I adore icons from the 20’s to now, in particular Bridget Bardot, Jane Birkin, Rita Heyworth, Kate Bush… I love the French style, Paris and Lolita… My favourite major designers are Chloe and Chanel…

Do you have a favourite vintage era?

The 40’s is probably my favourite style era with floral tea dresses, lace and pearls, very feminine and elegant, although I get inspiration from the best bits of different era’s.

Do you have any secret career cravings?!

I do what I do because I love it so this is my career craving!

I think myself lucky to be passionate enough about something that can also be my living so it seemed natural for me to follow it. I think if people have a strong enough dream that can become reality they should be less fearful of following it, whether it is starting a business, travelling, providing for your family or exploring your talent.

Visit Kee Boutique Here

Kee Boutique illustration by Faye West

Lately, information pills I’ve been thinking a lot about what I want to do with myself. You know, life stuff. I am incredibly grateful for my job, especially as I have friends in dire unemployment situations but it doesn’t stop me from dreaming about the ‘what if’s’ and ‘one day’s’ . I don’t have a single dream job. I never have. I do however, in my slightly schizophrenic special way, harbour numerous secret career cravings. These range from the sublime (Anthropologist, midwife, Inventor) to the ridiculous (Pearly Queen, agony aunt, Riverdance star– seriously.) But most of all I hope that one day, once upon a time perhaps, I shall have the means and the balls to retreat from my office based 9-5 to own my own little handmade business. Something to do with sewing machines and being outside a lot and haberdasheries and old things and perhaps chickens and copper kettles and err, well I’m not sure what it is exactly yet or how on earth it would come together. But I always like meeting people who have taken the plunge to do something they love, so I can briefly live vicariously through them.  So I was pretty intrigued to interview Keely, the owner of a vintage and handmade boutique for Amelia’s Magazine.

Kee Boutique by Michelle Urvall Nyren

Who are you and what floats your boat?!

I am Keely Brightmore and my clothes are Kee Boutique. I love everything pretty and vintage. I like nothing better than rooting through flea markets and car boots for hidden gems, pieces of lace, broaches, fabrics, whatever I can find, then creating something beautiful from something on its last legs!

Where are you from – do you love it or hate it? Does it influence your work?

I am from Yorkshire, in the countryside, and now live in Leeds. The nature and beauty of home is very inspirational to my work, but I also love the buzz of the city.

Kee Boutique by Michelle Urvall Nyren

When did you start the shop and what made you want to start it?

I started it in July last year, just after I graduated from university. I have always been creative, designing and using my mum’s sewing machine as a child. I started selling my clothes online, in markets and in other people’s shops but always dreamt of having my own shop.

What are your ethical motivations? What gets you really fired up?

I either make brand new clothes from vintage materials or rework unloved vintage clothes so it is very important that all my pieces are 100% ethical. I hate disposable fashion – with a little time and love you can always find a vintage piece that is the same as what you would find on the high street, except better quality, greener and way more interesting! [preach it Keely!]

Where do you see your shop in 5 years time?

My shop is in a beautiful art deco building with several other independent shops and I firstly aim to help make the whole thing a great place to visit in Leeds. I also use my shop as a studio where customers can find me behind my sewing machine making my new garments to sell both in the shop, online and elsewhere. I would like to expand where my clothes are available but still using an ethical method of production.

Some might say It was very brave to launch a new fashion business in a recession;  how have you found it?

There were times at first when I was slightly doubtful in the current climate but if people like something they still seem to be able to afford it! This is a full time thing but the shop is only be part of it. I also sell my clothes in other shops and online – there’s a whole world of like-minded buyers!

Kee Boutique by Madi Illustrates

Do you have any advice or top tips for any other aspiring/fledgling entrepreneurs?

If you love what you are trying to do then you just have to keep with it, visualise where you want to be, and, if it’s what you really want to do, then you will get there. I look for inspiration everywhere without thinking about it and, if it’s in you, you won’t doubt yourself or think of it as a job. Enjoy it!

What have been the best and worst moments in running your business so far?

The hardest part was at the beginning; trying to get established, budgeting, not having enough time for everything, let alone time off! It’s all worth it though and my favourite parts of doing this are meeting new creative people who I can learn from, doing fashion shows and photoshoots and seeing the results of everyone’s hard work. I also love seeing people wearing my designs!

Who are your style inspirations?

I adore icons from the 20’s to now, in particular Bridget Bardot, Jane Birkin, Rita Heyworth, Kate Bush… I love the French style, Paris and Lolita… My favourite major designers are Chloe and Chanel…

Do you have a favourite vintage era? Why?

The 40’s is probably my favourite style era with floral tea dresses, lace and pearls, very feminine and elegant, although I get inspiration from the best bits of different era’s.

Do you have any secret career cravings?!

I do what I do because I love it so this is my career craving!

I think myself lucky to be passionate enough about something that can also be my living so it seemed natural for me to follow it. I think if people have a strong enough dream that can become reality they should be less fearful of following it, whether it is starting a business, travelling, providing for your family or exploring your talent.

Thanks Keely!

Visit Kee Boutique Here

Illustration by Matilde Sazio

It came as a bit of a shock on Tuesday when I heard the news that Love Sensation superstar Loleatta Holloway had died. I remember my mum playing her records when I was a kid, pharmacy and I am still to this day astounded by her powerhouse vocals that sit on the right side of terrifying. Black Box’s Ride on Time, prescription which naughtily duplicated her mesmerising vocals, cemented her as part of music history forever.


Illustration by Faye West

So when I heard that Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor had passed away the following day, it almost pushed me over the edge. Two women, icons for their respective achievements, had gone.


Illustration by Maria del Carmen Smith

Elizabeth Taylor was one of the few remaining genuine stars. In a world where everybody is a celebrity, she came from that golden era where few stood out – only the most beautiful, talented and sophisticated women made it in Hollywood. In 1999, the American Film Institute published its Legends list – an archive of the greatest movie stars to have ever lived. Taylor came in seventh – the top six are all gone (the Hepburns, Monroe, Garbo) and now, as of Wednesday, only three of the 25 women listed remain – Shirley Temple, Lauren Bacall and Sophia Lauren.


Illustrations by Daria Hlazatova

She was nominated in four consecutive years for the Best Actress Oscar, winning the latter for her performance in Butterfield 8 in 1960, and again in 1966 for Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. Fewer than 15 actresses have ever been awarded the honour twice in the award ceremony’s 80 year history.


Illustration by Maria Papadimitriou, aka Slowly the Eggs


Illustration by Daria Hlazatova

Born in England to an art dealer and an actress, Taylor was whisked away to Los Angeles by her parents and it would be here where Hollywood people “saw a movie future for every pretty face” and her mother would be urged to have Elizabeth screen tested. At the age of 9 she appeared in There’s One Born Every Minute and the rest, as they say, is history.


Illustration by Anna Roberts

Film after film followed – I could write a list but I’m sure you know, and if you didn’t you’ve probably read about them in every other tribute. I have to confess, I haven’t seen that many – I can never endure the whole of the week-long Cleopatra (somebody needs to edit it) but Taylor’s classic beauty and power as an actress resonates through even the film stills.


Illustration by Genie Espinosa

Taylor was also one of the reasons we’re so obsessed with celebrities’ private lives. She fascinated the general public with her addiction to marriages. This is a woman who married the same man twice, for God’s sake! She counted him – Richard Burton – as one of the two loves of her life, along with Michael Todd, her only marriage not to result in divorce (he tragically died in a plane crash).


Illustration by Rebecca Strickson

So how to remember Taylor? From silver screen legend, cavorting with cameras in black and white stills; to the 1980s in jewel-encrusted power dresses; to the Noughties when, even when she couldn’t walk she was covered in diamonds, Elizabeth Taylor was one of the most glamorous women to have ever lived. She embraced fashion and used it to her advantage – her dark complexion and olive skin always making her stand out in a sea of Hollywood blondes.


Illustrations by Jaymie O’Callaghan

Her marital record will of course go down in history, as should her genuine compassion for others. When her good friend Rock Hudson died from an AIDS related illness, she was one of the first major personalities to acknowledge the disease and spent the rest of her life raising awareness and founded the American Foundation for AIDS Research. So many people’s lives are better because of her efforts.


Illustration by Eleazer Renée


Illustration by Avril Kelly

In a typical fashion, I’ll finish with a quote – yes I know it’s the cheesiest possible ending, but this one is so good I couldn’t resist. No, not the one about not having tomorrow, or “big girls need big diamonds”. It’s this:

“If someone’s dumb enough to offer me a million dollars to make a picture, I’m certainly not dumb enough to turn it down.”


Illustration by Janneke de Jong

Categories ,1980s, ,AIDS, ,America, ,American Film Institute, ,American Foundation for AIDS Research, ,Anna Roberts, ,Audrey Hepburn, ,Best Actress, ,Black Box, ,Butterfield 8, ,Cleopatra, ,Dame Elizabeth Taylor, ,Daria Hlazatova, ,Diamonds, ,Eleazer Renée, ,England, ,Faye West, ,Genie Espinosa, ,Hollywood, ,Janneke de Jong, ,Jaymie O’Callaghan, ,Katherine Hepburn, ,Lauren Bacall, ,Liz Taylor, ,Loleatta Holloway, ,london, ,Los Angeles, ,Maria del Carmen Smith, ,Maria Papadimitriou, ,Marilyn Monroe, ,marriage, ,Matilde Sazio, ,Michael Todd, ,Naomi Law, ,Oscars, ,Rebecca Strickson, ,Richard Burton, ,Rock Hudson, ,Shirley Temple, ,Slowly the Eggs, ,There’s One Born Every Minute, ,Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

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Amelia’s Magazine | Frieze Art Fair 2011 Trends: Spiritual, Tribal and Animist Art

Frieze Art Fair 2011 review-David Altmejd
Next in my round up of Frieze Art Fair 2011 trends: examples of the spiritual, buy more about tribal and animist inspired art that dominates the current global art scene. Proof, decease if ever if it was needed, of a struggle with meaning in our consumer driven world.

Frieze Art Fair 2011 review-David Altmejd
One of the first things I saw were these weird heads by David Altmejd, which mix elements of tribal and ancient cultures with recognisably modern features (love the ponytail).

Frieze Art Fair 2011 review-David Brian Smith
Frieze Art Fair 2011 review-David Brian Smith
David Brian Smith‘s Great Expectations – We Were Silhouettes went for a quasi Christian angle – the lone man amongst his psychedelic sheep. At Carl Freedman Gallery.

Frieze Art Fair 2011 review-Evgeny Antufiev
Russian artist Evgeny Antufiev worked with stitched textiles to create these strange beasts, crossing the alien with the tribal. At Regina Gallery.

Frieze Art Fair 2011 review-Stas Volyazlovsky
Fellow Russian artist Stas Volyazlovsky crossed the esoteric with the political in his huge textile art.

Frieze Art Fair 2011 review-Georg Kargl Gallery
I don’t know who created this but it caught my eye at the Georg Kargl Gallery, Vienna: a strange floating head.

Frieze Art Fair 2011 review-Isa Genzken
At Hauser & Wirth Isa Genzken showed Geburt (Birth) – a disturbing quasi human mannequin prostrate on the floor.

Frieze Art Fair 2011 review-Broadway 1602 New York
Broadway 1602 New York was home to this equally odd dolls’ house, complete with eye stuck in vagina and silver penis seeping beads. Nice.

Frieze Art Fair 2011 review-Patrick Jackson
Two bearded men in repose by Patrick Jackson at the Francois Ghebaly Gallery, LA. Religious ecstasy, or something more sinister?

Frieze Art Fair 2011 review-Andra Ursata
Shown in my previous blogAndra Ursata‘s flattened woman, Ramiken Crucible.

Frieze Art Fair 2011 review-The Breeder Athens
Also loved this collaged wall decal – artist unknown. Decorating the stand for The Breeder Athens.

Frieze Art Fair 2011 review-391
Also at The Breeder, this is a section of a huge painting. Hanging clowns and others, for who knows what indiscretion. Disturbing but also strangely beautiful.

Frieze Art Fair 2011 review-Rodrigo Torres
Rodrigo Torres planted his contemplative goat man at the junction of a busy thoroughfare.

Frieze Art Fair 2011 review-Zhang Xiaogang
Asian artists are grossly under represented at Frieze. Zhang Xiaogang‘s neon baby lay on a slab in a mirrored artwork – a sacrificial reflection perhaps?

Frieze Art Fair 2011 review-Raqib Shaw
Raqib Shaw produced intricate decorative pieces that featured dragon mermaids, multi headed snakes and mysterious orbs.

Frieze Art Fair 2011 review-Mark Alexander detail
All Watched Over by Machines of Infinite Loving Grace by Mark Alexander took a more painterly approach with an intricate oil that was clearly influenced by Hieronymus Bosch.

Viewing this art in the context of Frieze, one can’t help but wonder where exactly all this soul searching will lead…

Take a peak at my round up of typographic trends and also read my full review of Frieze 2011.

Categories ,2011, ,All Watched Over by Machines of Infinite Loving Grace, ,Andra Ursata, ,Animist, ,Asian, ,Athens, ,Broadway 1602, ,Carl Freedman Gallery, ,collage, ,Consumer, ,David Altmejd, ,David Brian Smith, ,Evgeny Antufiev, ,Francois Ghebaly Gallery, ,Frieze Art Fair, ,Geburt (Birth), ,Georg Kargl Gallery, ,Goat Man, ,Great Expectations – We Were Silhouettes, ,Hauser & Wirth, ,Hieronymus Bosch, ,Isa Genzken, ,Los Angeles, ,Mannequin, ,Mark Alexander, ,new york, ,Patrick Jackson, ,Ramiken Crucible., ,Raqib Shaw, ,Regina Gallery, ,review, ,Rodrigo Torres, ,Russian, ,spiritual, ,Stas Volyazlovsky, ,textiles, ,The Breeder, ,trends, ,Tribal, ,Vienna, ,Zhang Xiaogang

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