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Amelia’s Magazine | An interview with Emete and Amy from Make Lemonade

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Woman in politics by Sandra Dieckmann

Illustration by Jenny Robins

I didn’t plan on staying up so late on Election night. I had well- meaning plans involving a cup of tea, viagra sale my pajamas and being tucked up in bed with a book by 10pm. But like many people, this as soon as the exit polls rolled in, more about I was hooked. My emotions swung from disbelief to elation, despair to complete confusion, the latter being the prevailing feeling.

I am not sure if there is any other point in the year where this is the case, but all eyes were on Sunderland. Initially I was baffled by the focus on rushing to count the votes. I would rather it was accurate than rushed, it isn’t Total Wipeout (although how I wish it was! Imagine- the party leaders racing round the course, being pounded with mechanical fists and squaring up to the Big Balls?!) But as the first, second and third result came in, I realized that for a brief, bizarre moment, we had a 100% female government. Imagine that. And bloomin bizarre it was. But why? Why is it so hard to imagine an all female government?

The sad reality is that women are still dramatically under-represented in key areas of public, political and economic life: In the last British Parliament of 646 there were only 126 female MPs. This is abysmal. We lag far far behind countries like Afghanistan, Rwanda, Senegal and Latvia when it comes to women’s representation. The majority of UK senior civil servants, directors of FTSE 100 companies, senior lawyers, and key figures in the media are men. No wonder so many teenage girls cite Katie Price as their role model, though that does make me want to eat my own face. If women are excluded from the top jobs, half the talent of the nation is wasted.

llustration by Jenny Robins

I went to bed around 2.30am unable to keep my eyes open any more, with an excited, but admittedly naïve, confidence that this election would see a significant increase In women in parliament. According to the Centre for Women and Democracy and the Fawcett Society, Thursday’s General Election resulted in… wait for it….. drum roll…… 142 women MPs. Yes! That’s an extra 16! Oh- no, wait a minute… 142 female MP’s in a parliament of 649…. that’s only 22% of parliament. On a positive note, this included Caroline Lucas, leader of the Green Party, and the election of Britain’s first ever female Asian MPs. A tiny bit better, but overall its pathetic, quite frankly. Fuck.

This has to change. We are well behind the majority of other European countries in this regard. If women’s representation continues to creep up in 1 or 2 percentage points like it has done up until now it will literally take decades before women are fairly represented in our country. Women only shortlists may sound drastic to some but when you consider the state of women’s representation nationally, you realize that it’s drastically needed.

And then there is proportional representation. Oh sweet, fair, idolized proportional representation! How we long for you! It is a clear olive branch standing out from the mushy confused mess of the election result. (Lib-lab, lab-con, Con-dem anyone?) The case for voter reform is more convincing than ever.

There are apparently gazilillions of different proportional representation systems, but roughly it means that if a party receives 10% of the vote, they receive 10% representation, which is hundreds of miles better than the system we have now when a party receives 51% of the vote but 100% of the influence in parliament. The Electoral Reform Society explains one system thus; “At present, constituencies are represented in parliament by just one MP. Under a Single Transferable Vote system, each constituency is represented by a small group of representatives…This makes it possible for representatives of different parties to be elected in each ward, thus allowing more people to have representatives of the parties of their choice.” Having a group of representatives in each constituency will mean that it will be even more blindingly obvious if women are not represented there (same for other minority groups too). In many other countries more women are nominated under PR and the more women are nominated the more they are elected. Proportional representation also means that people can vote according to what they actually believe in (like, for example, electing more women to parliament, amongst other things) rather than tactically to keep certain parties in or out.

So yes. Women are still dismally under represented. Yes, teenage girls are growing up saving for boob jobs. Yes, we heard more about the dresses of the leaders wives than we did the policies of the female candidates. But it is time to say no. We wont stand for our outdated, old fashioned, unfair voting system any more… Takebackparliament , a coalition of a range of different voter reform groups have organised a demonstration calling for voter reform on Saturday. When you’re talking to your kids and grandkids in years to come about this bonkers election, don’t say you watched it on facebook and TV. Say you got involved and made a difference.

Join them this Saturday At 2pm at Parliament Sq.

*climbs down off soap box and sneaks away quietly….*


Photograph by Matt Bramford

A few Saturdays ago when the sun was shining brightly (think hard, capsule you’ll remember sunny Saturdays) I met up with the girls behind Make Lemonade. We met at Yumchaa, the delightful tea shop in Soho. We should really have organised a picnic, and in hindsight it might have been the best day of the year for it.

Make Lemonade, both vintage e-store and fashion blog, is the baby of Emete Yarici and Amy ‘The Mysterious Blonde’. This fashionable pair are like chalk and cheese – Emete the cutesy type, resplendent in polka dots and denim, and Amy the more devilish, Debbie-Harry-esque part of the partnership dazzling in sequins. It seems Amy has a bit of a reputation – her friend arrived at Yumchaa moments into the interview accusing her of having a hangover. Charming!


Illustration by Matt Thomas

As we settled into our teas (after Amy had dropped the lid of her teapot into her teacup, but we won’t dwell on that), the girls swiftly turned the tables on me to ask how long I’d been with Amelia’s Magazine. As I began describing the tale, I suddenly realised it was me who was being interviewed! I quickly put a stop to that.

We’d decided to meet up and have a chat because the Make Lemonade site had recently been given the Pearl Law treatment – one of our finest illustrative contributors, Pearl has revamped the site with fun illustrations of the pair at work.


Make Lemonade website illustration by Pearl Law

Make Lemonade began as Emete’s fashion blog in 2007. She was interested in contributing to the ever-expanding fashion blogosphere, but inevitably needed a source of income (I hear ya, sister). She decided to set up a ‘blog shop’ through Big Cartel, and landed a buying slot at a local vintage wholesale outlet. The girls went to uni together, and Emete naturally called upon Amy to go with her to the sale. Make Lemonade the store was thus born.

‘We found that we really liked working together, and that the pieces we picked out complimented each other,’ revealed Emete, or Amy, I can’t quite remember because it was so long ago. It also transpired that they each went for different items – Emete for trousers, Amy for tops.

The girls also run the odd real-life stall here and there, which have been huge successes. ‘In two days, we cleared almost three rails of items,’ Amy told me. Emete revealed that they might have sold more if Amy had not tried half of the things on and refused to let them go, casually explaining that, when worn with the tag hanging out, it would boost sales. I guess that’s the trouble with retailing a product you genuinely love, and that’s clear from this pair.

Their philosophy, they told me, came from the all-too-familar fact that ‘so many vintage shops rip you off’ and it has always been their policy to retail clothes under £20 – little on the site (go on, have a look) sells for over £15. The website has been met with acclaim by many a fashion blogger and stylist, and they’ve heralded a lot of respect from the industry. I find the idea of vintage shopping online, where items have been cherry-picked by two vintage-lovers, far better than in a vast warehouse where any old thing will be squashed onto a rail.

Both the e-store and the blog act as a ‘creative outlet’ for both Emete and Amy, who are currently studying at the London College of Fashion and have a range of part-time jobs, too.

So what influences them when they’re on their buying trips, or in general? ‘The 70s!’ declares Emete. ‘I like the floaty, romanticism of that era. I also love looking at old family photographs, old magazines, that kind of thing. The LCF library is incredible. They have every edition of Vogue. I can spend ages down there!’

Amy, in contrast, is a 1980s child. ‘I love Debbie Harry, and everything 80s!’ she tells me. She’s a big music lover, too, so naturally is influenced by a range of bands. It’s this stark contrast that makes the site work, they (and I) believe. Sometimes you meet people who totally overestimate their influences but with this pair you can see all of these things at work.


Illustration by Pieter de Groot

The name stems from the olde English saying ‘If life gives you lemons, make lemonade’ but there doesn’t seem to be many sour lemons with this twosome. They get on so well – that is clear – at times I totally lost control of the interview with either me, them or all three of us in hysteric fits of laughter. I find it difficult imagining them ever disagreeing about anything. Of course, as an intrepid journalist, I had to ask. ‘We do argue,’ confesses Emete, ‘but hardly ever, and it’s always sorted within minutes.’ They pretend to have meetings, telling friends and family that they are discussing the future of the business when really they’re out looking for the best place to drink tea, or, on one occasion, sipping champagne at Fortnum & Mason.

Emete is the self-declared realist, while Amy is a dreamer. Amy tells me ‘Emete does get a little stressed sometimes, while I’m shouting ‘We’ll be FAMOUS!’, so I have to pat her head every now and again!’ The success of the site is in part thanks to friends and family who’ve been ‘roped in’ on numerous occasions – driving vans, designing leaflets, and loads of other tasks. They often feel guilty about this but most often everybody’s happy to help.


Illustration by Matt Thomas

So how did the collaboration with Pearl come around? ‘Pearl had been a customer of the site,’ the girls explained. ‘She bought a tweed jacket, and had emailed to ask how she could alter it. We got chatting from there, and told her we were looking to revamp.’ They gave Pearl a brief, discussed how the website works, et voila! As Pearl is a vintage-lover, they naturally paid her in clothes.

We chatted about influences, likes and dislikes, reading lists, that sort of thing – both Amy and Emete read Vogue Magazine as a base and vary their reading from there. Emete confesses to ‘occasionally’ reading Look magazine. She told me, Sometimes, Beyoncé just does it for you,’ – a statement with which I agree wholeheartedly.

So what does the future hold for Make Lemonade? ‘We want to grow the site,’ the girls told me, ‘and make MakeLemonade more than a shop. We’d like to create a community of people, through hosting events, workshops, that kind of thing. Something that draws people together.’

Already on the agenda is to increase the quantity of menswear, a t-shirt collaboration, and the girls recently branched out into being London tour guides (well, who better to ask than a pair who have meetings at Fortnum & Mason?) They produced this cute little guide detailing where and when to visit London hotspots, using lemons and as a meter. More lemons = more expensive. Simple!

As much as I could have enjoyed drinking tea and discussing Beyoncé all day, we all had things to do, including taking some snaps of the girls, one of which appears at the top of this article. Naturally I looked like a prize pervert photographing two girls in Soho Square at 11.30 in the morning, but it was a fun end to a fun meeting.

You can find both the store and the blog here.

Written by Matt Bramford on Wednesday May 12th, 2010 1:48 pm

Categories ,1970s, ,1980s, ,Amy, ,beyonce, ,Big Cartel, ,Debbie Harry, ,Emete Yarici, ,LCF, ,London College of Fashion, ,Look magazine, ,Make Lemonade, ,Matt Thomas, ,Pearl Law, ,Pieter de Groot, ,Polka dots, ,Soho, ,Soho Square, ,tea, ,vintage, ,Vogue magazine, ,Yumchaa

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Amelia’s Magazine | An interview with Jo Taylor: Amelia’s Colourful Colouring Companion featured artist.

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Seeds-and-Pods-Jo-Taylor
Self taught artist Jo Taylor is based in Gloucestershire near the canal, where she creates a diverse range of whimsical illustrations for multiple clients including other colouring book publishers. Her double page of extravagant birds features in Amelia’s Colourful Colouring Companion alongside 43 other artists, available from my Big Cartel shop now. Here she talks countryside inspiration, the joys of a tidy studio and offers inspiring advice to all untrained want-to-be artists.

Me-Drawing-Jo-Taylor
What were your original qualifications and how did you come to make art as an illustrator?
I’ve been working as an illustrator full time since around 2005. I have never had formal training in this field but I’ve always known I had some talent as an artist since I was little. Over the years, prior to being an illustrator, I never really knew what I wanted to do so hopped from college studying computing to working for a computer games company and two web design companies, where I learnt the basics of Photoshop and then on to an art gallery where I started to realise that I could make art that would sell, drawing little pictures in chalk pastel, that they displayed and sold for me. There I also met buyers who were coming to look at the art for use on greetings cards and, through that contact, I had art published on cards and calendars. In early 2000 I was perusing the Writers’ and Artists’ Year Book, on the lookout for more publishers for these. By chance I started reading the section on illustration and thought I’d like to do that as a job. From that point on, I found out as much as I could about it and, in my spare time, I worked on art that I felt would work for an illustration folio. The internet was becoming more and more useful by that time and I joined a brilliant forum. In 2003 I was taken on by an agent who had the foresight to see that my work could eventually be right for the industry and, with her advice, I further improved my folio until regular work started to come in.

Teapots-Jo-Taylor
What advice would you offer someone wanting to enter the illustration industry with no formal training?
There are so many podcasts and blogs giving advice on this subject and probably doing it a lot better than I can. But I would stress that you don‘t need specific qualifications so don’t let not having them stop you. You just need to really, really want to do it and be prepared to put in the time to research and to make art. Podcasts are particularly great because you can listen to advice and work at the same time. When I started illustrating my first job was some black and white drawings for the BBC and I was literally terrified. I have learned so much since then, my drawing skills have improved and I can interpret briefs and produce work much faster but I still have loads to learn. You don’t need to know it all before you start, just get on with it and have fun.

Woodland-Fairy-Jo-Taylor
Where do you live and can you describe what your studio looks like?
I’m really lucky to I have a dedicated studio in my house in Gloucestershire. I live near to the canal and the River Severn and so, although it’s pretty built up with houses on the one side of me, in the other direction it’s beautiful countryside. My studio has been, until recently, a bit chaotic and messy but I’m in the middle of a total makeover. It’s all white walls, wood, natural colours and lots of plants. It’s turning into a lovely space to work in, plus I can actually find things now.

Winter-Seeds-and-Grasses-Jo-Taylor
How does your surroundings influence your work?
I am actually really concentrating on that thought at the moment. As I said, I’ve worked in a muddley, unpretty studio for years but I’m now making into a great space to work and I’m kind of styling it in a way that I hope will inspire my art. As I love drawing organic things I also use the countryside around me to fuel my recent art and I have long walks with my dog every day taking it all in and bringing home bunches of all sorts of plants, grasses and berries. I now want to include local people and places as inspiration for my art as there is so much great stuff to draw.

Lavender-Fox-Jo-Taylor
What are your favourite ideas or themes to draw and why?
Plants and flowers, because the lines are gorgeous to draw, I find it almost meditative to make those organic shapes. People – I love people watching and I’m fascinated with the way they decorate themselves, hair, fashion, tattoos, jewellery. Anything organic really, although lately I’m enjoying drawing buildings, now I’ve given myself permission to draw these in my own way rather than with exact perspective and straight lines.

Jo Taylor Double-Page-Spread
What inspired your artwork for my colouring book and how was it made?
I’d been drawing a lot of birds for my daily instagram art and been really enjoying it so I thought I’d continue that theme. I sketched the whole piece up in pencil then, for the black and white side I drew in the lines with a Pitt fine liner then tidied them up in Photoshop. For the colour side I redrew the pencil outline and then coloured it in with a mixture of gouache, felt pens and fine liners.

Blue-Doodle-with-Bird-Jo-Taylor
In what way have you used social media to expand your reach as an artist and do you use it for any other things?
I haven’t used social media half as much as I feel that I should. I do have a website, a Pinterest account, Twitter and a blog but I would like to make more of them. I’ve recently started to regularly put work onto my Instagram account and that has been really useful for making me create work in a new style.

Snippet-from-Sixties-Colouring-Book-Jo-Taylor
You’ve already contributed to other colouring books – how did you get involved with that and what kind of images have you made?
I found colouring book publishers I wanted to work with and sent them in a portfolio. I didn’t actually send black and white line work but my usual coloured illustrations and patterns. I’ve done animals and fashion colouring books for kids. For adults, animals, Scandinavian and Sixties Patterns, Mandalas – and plants and abstract patterns for a selection of calm, soothing type books.

Girls-on-Skateboard-Jo-Taylor
What do you look forward to in 2016?
I’m currently building up a portfolio with an emphasis on beautiful line work and a great palette as I’d love to start working on jobs for magazines and packaging. For the immediate future I have a list of amazing people and businesses I’d like to work with both local and further afield, and my plan is to make that happen.

Me-not-in-my-studio-Jo-Taylor
Fox-Jo-Taylor
How inspiring! Get your copy of Amelia’s Colourful Colouring Companion featuring Jo Taylor from my Big Cartel shop.

Written by Amelia Gregory on Saturday December 19th, 2015 6:19 pm

Categories ,#ameliasccc, ,Adult Colouring Book, ,Amelia’s Colourful Colouring Companion, ,Big Cartel, ,Colouring Book, ,interview, ,Jo Taylor, ,Writers’ and Artists’ Year Book

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Amelia’s Magazine | An interview with Eliza Fricker: Amelia’s Colourful Colouring Companion featured artist.

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Baines and Fricker minerals wallpaper
Eliza Fricker of design duo Baines & Fricker contributes an imaginative colouring page to Amelia’s Colourful Colouring Companion inspired by the weird and wonderful statues of the V&A museum in London. She tells us more about her creative life in Brighton; running a business with her husband, creating wallpaper designs inspired by the everyday, and her upcoming graphic novel.

Eliza Fricker portrait
Why did you decide to study at Chelsea and what was the best thing you took from your time there and has informed your design practice today?
My dad studied at Chelsea and it had a good reputation. It was good to travel out of my area to go there and meet different people. I liked learning actual skills such as life drawing and the lectures were great – I think these foundations are essential to becoming an artist. We were given experience in each area – interiors/architecture, photography, drawing, 3D.

Eliza Fricker worldsend
How has your work been inspired by your upbringing and how have your parents affected the way you approach your creative practice?
My dad taught me a lot – he taught me to draw and how to see things (he is a fine artist and political cartoonist/illustrator). We drew together and went along the Thames and looked for interesting things. We lived in a very conservative area and both my parents were different from the other people and they taught me to see things differently and to question everything.

Eliza Fricker frontier
Why do you currently live and work in Brighton? what took you there and what keeps you there?
I moved to Brighton when I was 19 – we had friends here and my brother had lived here already. I shared a flat with my brother and eventually my parents moved here too. I met my husband here and his family are all nearby. It’s great for our daughter to live with her grandparents around her. Brighton is a perfect combination of city, sea and countryside. It has lots of good pubs and restaurants and friendly creative people. Although it is getting more and more expensive and making it harder for artists to afford to live here!

Eliza Fricker cast
When did you set up Baines & Fricker and why?
When I met Steve we shared similar interests – I was manager of an arts cinema in Brighton and Steve was commuting to a city job in London that he had been doing since he was 16. It was a natural progression to work together and earn money doing a job we loved.

Eliza Fricker makingacomeback
How easy is it to run a business with your husband? Who does what? Any tips and tricks for keeping home and work life separate?
We work together and separately – the studio is upstairs and the workshop is downstairs. There are elements we do separately, as Steve is the ‘maker’ and I do the social media/emails etc. I also still do my screen printing and illustration stuff. Our home life and work life is quite fluid and that works because we are doing a job we both enjoy!

Eliza Fricker collage
How did you hook up with an American publisher co-produce a stationary range, and what kind of imagery have you used?
They contacted me. They are adapting my Cat’s wallpaper to create a range of notebooks.

Eliza Fricker print
When you first start to design wallpaper where do you look for inspiration?
Some of my wallpapers come from screen prints and other are illustrations developed from my sketchbooks. I like to look at everyday things – such as pets, plants and food.

Baines_Frickercushions
Where will you be shooting your next range of furniture and wallpaper designs for Baines & Fricker?
We will be photographing these will Abel Sloane and Ruby Woodhouse from 1934 which will be great as we really admire their work and style.

Eliza Fricker properjob
I hear you are working on a graphic novel, can you give us a glimpse of what will be inside?
My mother was very ill for a number of years, with various physical and mental health problems. She became a spectral person, losing all of her former self. She just sat in front of the TV and ate crisps and chocolate until she was eventually diagnosed with a huge brain tumour. Miraculously she has made a full recovery but her personal life has changed radically – she is no longer with my father and she also lost her job as a bookshop manager during her illness. I am doing the book to help us all as a family process what happened and for my mother especially as she doesn’t remember being ill. One of the lowest points of her illness was when she was referred to a councillor who said she was fine and ‘Just Getting Old’- this is also the the title of my book.

Eliza Fricker colouring page
How did you come up with the idea for your colouring pages?
My images were inspired by sketches of post classical European sculptures that I made at the V&A, focusing on the surreal and almost comical nature of their outlandish outfits, hats and hairstyles.

Baines and Fricker cement works wallpaper
What kind of design inspires you most and where do you hunt for that inspiration when you need a new dose of it?
Our holidays and outings inspire us the most – we have lots of English holidays along the South Coast and the West Country and we also love San Francisco and New York. We take lots of pictures of things we see and like and this can be anything from signs to colours and shapes. Our Pew Bench range is inspired by visiting old churches and the bench seating in them. We like to create long lasting design and avoid fads or trends and we like to create furniture to keep forever.

Find artwork by Eliza Fricker Baines & Fricker in Amelia’s Colourful Colouring Companion alongside that of 43 other artists, available to preorder to receive in January from my Big Cartel shop now.

Written by Amelia Gregory on Wednesday December 23rd, 2015 10:14 am

Categories ,#ameliasccc, ,1934, ,Adult Colouring Book, ,Amelia’s Colourful Colouring Companion, ,Baines & Fricker, ,Big Cartel, ,brighton, ,Chelsea College of Art, ,Colouring Book, ,designers, ,Eliza Fricker, ,interview, ,Victoria & Albert Museum

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