Amelia’s Magazine | Introducing True Romance: Print Designs chosen for an exhibition curated by East End Prints

True Romance East End Prints Flyer
I am really pleased to share the designs that have been chosen by East End Prints to appear as part of the True Romance exhibition opening today at 70 Paul Street (full listing info here). Helen Edwards of East End Prints has picked the following work, made in response to my Valentines Art Open Brief, to feature on a specially curated wall alongside the rest of her prints. She will offer the ones which are best received during the show a publishing deal to be sold online, and all works will also be available to buy at True Romance. Scroll down to read more about the inspiration behind these pieces and the process of creating them. I’ll be sharing the rest of the designs that were sent in over the following week.

Wuthering Heights by Ashley Le Quere
Ashley Le Quere: Wuthering Heights
My submission is based on Wuthering Heights. I wanted to create something that was a bit whimsical as well referring to what happens in the story, so I started to draw icons that I thought represents parts of the book and the different parts of the story and I loved this quote! It feels very deep and reflects the obsessive, passionate and doomed romance that is the focus of the book. I hand drew the text so it would feel like the diary that Catherine writes about Heathcliff. I think that the texture in the ink reflects the stormy and miserable nature of the book but wanted the icons to be quite whimsical.

Ashley Le Quere is an Illustrator and Surface Pattern Designer. You can see more of her work here.

onlyloversleftalive_by_Carly_Watts
Carly Watts: Only Lovers Left Alive
My illustration is based on Jim Jarmusch’s ‘Only Lovers Left Alive’. The movie is based on two, centuries old vampire lovers called Adam and Eve. Adam is a musician who reconnects with Eve after a period of separation after he becomes depressed and melancholy. I wanted to create a highly stylised and graphic piece that would capture the main themes of the movie, Adam’s darkness, his love of music, and the quest to find where we fit into society. On a more visual level, Adam is primarily dressed in dark colours, and Eve in light throughout the course of the film; I thought this could be portrayed well through the guitar graphic.

See more work by Carly Watts here.

Death Valley Illustration Annie Hall
Death Valley Illustration: Annie Hall
The poster is designed to resemble a minimalist book cover, and includes the most romantic quote from the film, delivered in Woody’s inimitable style.  The paired back design also reflects the way that both of the characters approach their relationship throughout the film, and the cold reasoning that Alvy uses to reflect back on their time together.  The glimmers of romance in the film are shown by the sparing use of the vibrant pink. The fonts used were Rockwell, Futura and Georgia.

Gavin Shepherdson of Death Valley Illustration has been working as a freelance illustrator and designer since graduating from an Animation degree in 2009. See more work here.

emma russell casablanca
Emma Russell: Casablanca
For this print, I started by making line drawings of Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman at various points in the airport scene of Casablanca. I added colour and hand drawn type. As I worked I pared down and simplified the image until the two figures made a single silhouette framing Bogart’s parting words.

Emma Russell is a London-based freelance illustrator specialising in line drawings, flat colour, patterns and 3D paper sculptures. Her work often features unlikely champions, jokes and puns, memory, animals and fairy tales. Find Emma at www.helloemma.co.uk 

Jessica_Courtney_Tickle_My_Fair_Lady
Jessica Courtney-Tickle: My Fair Lady
I have recreated the film poster for the 1964 film and musical, ‘My Fair Lady’. At the heart of this love story there are (in my opinion) two very different characters with very different morals, lifestyles and ideas about falling in love. I wanted to describe how free and expressive Eliza the flower girl is compared to the upper classes who are shocked by her accent and way of life. But as you can see if you look closely at Professor Higgins he is actually intrigued by her character rather than put off. The florals are inspired by the very first scene of the film where Eliza is selling flowers in Covent Garden Market. This is the very first place the two characters meet. I created the work using gouache which I then scanned in and played around with on the computer. I added some digital colouring to give the poster more vibrancy and a smoother texture. I was most inspired by vintage picture book illustrations and posters which are rich in colour and character.

See more work by Freelance Illustrator and Designer Jessica Courtney-Tickle here.

jordana_globerman_edward_scissorhands
Jordana Globerman: Edward Scissorhands
Growing up, I thought Edward Scissorhands was the most romantic film. It captures the fairy-tale feeling of a first love so perfectly. I created my homage to this wonderful film with a mix of media, laying out and ink drawing first before incorporating elements of collage and painted-in details. Different brush work was used to achieve the splashed figure of Edward and the lightly falling snow. I wanted to capture both how the town begins to see Edward and how Kim sees Edward. His figure looms ominously, evoking the fear he instills in the town toward the end of the film. Despite this, Kim can only think of him with a real love and devotion, which is why I made this same figure of Edward hunched into the shape of a heart. This was a fun image to create because the film is so nostalgic and romantic to me. I enjoyed playing with different textures and line quality to create a graphic, yet painterly poster.”

See more work by Jordana Globerman here.

Katie Edwards - True Romance
Katie Edwards: True Romance
I love animals, who doesn’t, I decided they were a great way to convey the idea of Love, Affection and Companionship. I think most people could relate to the imagery I used and feel some emotions. Using traditional photographic and screen printing techniques to produce my conceptual screen prints, which are occasionally combined with collage or freehand textures. My work is largely influenced by the animal world focusing on photographic representation, what images symbolise and their use metaphorically. Objects are often isolated and placed in unusual compositions to result in a surreal, humorous or thought-provoking illustration. Animals often feature in my illustrations because they are very symbolic, as they don’t change with time or technology. They will always stay the same, and so will their symbolic meanings.

See more work from Katie Edwards here.

lindsay_lombard_the_notebook
Lindsay Lombard: The Notebook
The Notebook is one of my all time favourite love films, I love the setting of the film and the whole premise of the movie. The first quote that came to mind from the film was ‘If you’re a bird, I’m a bird’; meaning I’ll be whatever you need me to be to allow us to be together. I then set about creating the imagery – I developed some pencil drawings of two birds taking to flight. I then scanned these in, and set them upon a light background just to soften them slightly. I wanted the placement of the birds to be a representation of them flying freely away together. I added text and the cut out of an open book at the bottom, I tried drawing the book first but I couldn’t get the right amount of detail into the image so I decided to go with a white cut out – I think it works well to have the suggestion of a book but not be too obvious about it.

See more work by Lindsay Lombard here.

La-vie-en-rose by Sophie-Heywood
Sophie Heywood: La Vie En Rose

La Vie En Rose is probably my favourite love song. The melody is enchanting and somewhat haunting, uplifting yet sad, and I feel it conveys the different emotions of being in love more accurately than any other song. I love the original Edith Plaf version, but I think the Louis Armstrong version is my favourite rendition. When painting the hand drawn lettering, I let the soulful vocals dictate the shape of the composition. I wanted to create something simple, yet with an eye-catching pop of colour, creating a piece that can easily be framed and hung in someone’s home. The trouble with the theme of Valentines is creating something timeless and relevant all year long, but I feel this song is something everyone can relate to.

See more work by Sophie Heywood here.

All are welcome to attend the Private View on Thursday 12th February, 6-9pm. Don’t forget, the exhibition also features the beautiful gold leaf prints made for That Which We Do Not Understand.

Categories ,180, ,Annie Hall, ,Ashley Le Quere, ,Carly Watts, ,Casablanca, ,Death Valley Illustration, ,East End Prints, ,Edward Scissorhands, ,Emma Russell, ,Film Posters, ,Gavin Shepherdson, ,Helen Edwards, ,Jessica Courtney-Tickle, ,Jim Jarmusch, ,Jordana Globerman, ,Katie Edwards, ,La Vie en Rose, ,Lindsay Lombard, ,Movie Posters, ,Movie Prints, ,My Fair Lady, ,Only Lovers Left Alive, ,Sophie Heywood, ,That Which We Do Not Understand, ,The Notebook, ,True Romance, ,Wuthering Heights

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Amelia’s Magazine | Lounge on the Farm 2013: Festival Review

Lounge on the Farm 2013 review
Way back in 2009 contributor Amelia Wells visited Lounge on the Farm in Kent for Amelia’s Magazine. She was duly wowed by this small scale family orientated music festival and wrote a glowing review, so I promised myself I would make it along one day too. It’s taken me a mere four years to fulfil that promise, but this year my little family finally made the trip down to Merton Farm near Canterbury, mega pop up tent in tow (Quechua 4.2 seconds family pop up tent since you asked: can’t recommend it enough). How things have changed for me since 2009! Back then it would have been all about the late night dancing. Now my festival needs are somewhat different – I’m looking for a laid back atmosphere with space to relax with my baby, plus lots of things to keep him entertained. Lounge on the Farm does this admirably, with a dedicated childrens area called the Little Lounge full of wonderful willow structures, yurts and a miniature big top playing host to entertainments aimed at the wee ones. All this and a wonderful space hosted by the local NCT group: a haven for breastfeeding and nappy changing.

Jennifer Dionisio Illustration Lounge on the Farm Review
Lounge on the Farm by Jennifer Dionisio.

We arrived on Friday evening, and were directed to pitch our tent in the ‘quiet area’ rather than in the designated ‘family area’ at the top of the hill. Camping in the quiet area was an unfortunate choice as it turned out, since it was also a cut through from every other part of the camp and during the first night it seemed as if half the festival tripped over our (dark coloured) guy ropes and nearly crashed wholesale onto our slumbering bodies. In between this and constant breastfeeding (he’s teething, that’s the latest reason at any rate) I didn’t get the greatest of sleeps. But enough of the griping, we had a wonderful time.

Lounge on the Farm 2013 review
Lounge on the Farm 2013 review
Lounge on the Farm 2013 review
Lounge on the Farm by Marianna Madriz
Lounge on the Farm by Marianna Madriz.

Once we’d unpacked we headed into the festival to see what was on offer, a big eyed Snarfle in tow. After an impromptu tour around the working part of the farm we feasted on Merton Farm burgers, 0 meat miles. These were cooked in a kitchen at The Farmhouse Restaurant staffed by chef Rob Cooper, one of the founding DJs, and coincidentally the brother of my NCT friend Christine. It’s a small world, and growing ever smaller: his wife Vicky founded the festival 8 years ago with her friend Sean and nowadays works closely with a lovely ex student and ex intern of mine, James Penfold, who books all of the bands.

Lounge on the Farm 2013 review
Lounge on the Farm 2013 review
Lounge on the Farm 2013 review
Lounge on the Farm by Emma Russell
Lounge on the Farm by Emma Russell.

Everything at Lounge on the Farm has been lovingly thought through: there was a full Victorian funfair with helter-skelter and big wheel, hay bales aplenty to relax against and artwork everywhere I looked: lasercut painted sculptures and brilliant illustrated cutouts of festival goers from wonderful illustrations by Maddy Vian. The main site was split across three fields bounded by striking beech hedges, with plenty of space to rollick around: I hate it when festivals get stupidly busy and this was never a risk, though the music stages became packed enough to generate the ideal atmosphere for good bands. All the food we ate was delicious and in the main organic and local as well as very reasonably priced. Special mention must go to the fantastically tasty wild venison and wild boar burgers served up with duck eggs by Phil the Gameskeeper at the Godmersham Game stand: all hunted from the wilds of the Kent countryside. At The Farmhouse Restaurant the beer and ale had all been produced from Kent hops. The festival aims to support ‘the local arts, culture, agriculture and economy‘ and does so admirably.

Lounge on the Farm 2013 review
Lounge on the Farm 2013 review
Lounge on the Farm 2013 review
Lounge on the Farm 2013 review
Lounge on the Farm by George Morton
Lounge on the Farm by George Morton.

I didn’t know many of the bands playing during the day time, but as always made some impressive discoveries: on Friday we were treated to Lucy Rose, a diminutive blonde with a guitar and a big voice. Sadly I missed the headliner Seasick Steve as it was early to bed for me: there was no way Snarfle was going to sleep with so much stimulation going on so we were tent bound by 8pm on both nights (and most handy when a huge thunderstorm struck on Saturday night).

Lounge on the Farm 2013 review
Lounge on the Farm 2013 review
Lounge on the Farm 2013 review
On Saturday my big discovery was the lilting sounds of a Southampton based outfit called Pale Seas on the Farm Folk Stage: I loved the combination of evocative melodies from the lead singer, with backing vocals contributed by the unassuming female drummer. My other big discovery was the astonishingly tasty fruity drinks at the Sunshine Smoothies van behind the NCT tent – who would have thought that lavender would work with cherry? We visited the NCT tent on numerous occasions, where Snarfle enjoyed the Baby Sensory classes and free access to bedtime books. Outside there were toys to play with, edible gardens to make, bushcraft shelter classes, drumming, juggling and much more. The film tent (complete with popcorn stand) hosted a singalong Jungle Book showing.

At The Playhouse we enjoyed comedy excellently compered by John Robbins and cabaret from Lekido, Lord of the Lobsters (above).

Lounge on the Farm 2013 review
Lounge On The Farm by Zo Bevan
Lounge On The Farm by Zo Bevan.

On Sunday I treated myself to a lovely massage in the obligatory Healing Fields, and enjoyed music by the Snowdown Colliery Band, Intensified and Aswad. I missed Margate based rapper Mic Righteous but heard good things. Sadly we missed Soul II Soul because after a long weekend of partying Snarfle was starting to fray at the seams. This was a massive shame since they are the sound of my youth (summer of 1989, ghetto blaster, Clapham Common, Brixton, The Fridge) and it would have been the perfect end to an absolutely glorious two days of sunshine, but we drove off into the Kentish night refreshed and just a little bit more in love with this beautiful and abundant part of the UK.

Lounge on the Farm 2013 review
Lounge on the Farm 2013 review
Lounge on the Farm by Rose Hudson
Lounge on the Farm by Rose Hudson.

What I love about festivals such as Lounge on the Farm is how they happily cater to all age groups – this was certainly the perfect boutique festival for London and Kent based families, but it was also thoroughly enjoyed by a younger local crowd. As night fell it seemed as if half the teenagers of Canterbury were thronging around the dance orientated Hoe Down tent in heightened hormonal anticipation. I may have seen far fewer bands than I would have done in years past (Snarfle was not always a keen wearer of protective headphones) but I had a wonderful time adapting our visit to the needs of a little one. We definitely plan to return next year, need I say more?

Categories ,2013, ,Amelia Wells, ,Aswad, ,Baby Sensory, ,Breastfeeding, ,Brett Anderson, ,Canterbury, ,Child Friendly, ,children, ,Emma Russell, ,Families, ,Family Orientated, ,Farm Folk Stage, ,George Morton, ,Godmersham Game, ,Healing Fields, ,Hoe Down, ,Intensified, ,James Penfold, ,Jennifer Dionisio, ,John Robbins, ,Jungle Book, ,kent, ,Lekido, ,Little Lounge, ,Lord of the Lobsters, ,LOTF, ,Lounge on the Farm, ,Lucy Rose, ,Maddy Vian, ,Margate, ,Marianna Madriz, ,Merton Farm, ,Mic Righteous, ,NCT, ,Pale Seas, ,Phil the Gameskeeper, ,Pop-Up Tent, ,Quechua, ,review, ,Rob Cooper, ,Rose Hudson, ,Seasick Steve, ,Snarfle, ,Snowdown Colliery Band, ,Soul II Soul, ,Sunshine Smoothies, ,The Farmhouse Restaurant, ,The Playhouse, ,Victorian funfair, ,Vine, ,Zo Bevan

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Amelia’s Magazine | Reports of Snow: an interview with Abe Davies of Reichenbach Falls

Reichenbach Falls_Reports of Snow album_cover

Reports of Snow is the new album by Reichenbach Falls, a collective headed up by singer songwriter Abe Davies, and based out of Oxford, that ever burgeoning hub of musical creativity. The album is chock full of mellow tunes with a tinge of Americana, perfect for those long winter evenings…

Reichenbach Falls portrait

How would you describe the sound of Reports of Snow?
Reports of Snow started out as a solo acoustic record – it was going to be just me and my guitar, with maybe a little keyboard and piano, that kind of thing. But as we worked on the songs we kept thinking ‘this should be an acoustic song, for sure, but maybe with electric guitars, drums, bass, piano‘ … so not really an acoustic song at all! So once we’d decided to let the songs go wherever they wanted to go, we worked on the basis that there should be a sort of approach tying them together, to make sure it remained an album rather than just a collection of songs – every one should have the heart of a fairly simple folk song, and the listener should be able to hear that, but that from there one might go in a pop direction, another in a rock, another in a more arty direction and so on. Which is I guess a long-winded way of saying: I’d describe it as ‘experimental folk-pop-rock‘!

Reichenbach Falls by Amberin Huq

Reichenbach Falls by Amberin Huq. ‘I found whilst listening to the Reichenbach album I was reminded to cold winter mornings by the sea and absence so it was just about finding an image that reflected that feeling I had. I wanted to create something that could be quietly beautiful and quite sparse to accompany the music.’

What are the lingering themes of the album and what inspired them?
Well, I guess the lingering theme would be lost love or something like that. It’s kind of a break-up album, and though a couple of the songs are a little older (written when I was living in St Andrews in Scotland) the vast majority were written over a couple of months after moving to Oxford a couple of years ago. So whereas I think the next record will be a little more wide-ranging in terms of subject-matter, this one’s pretty single-minded. I guess every songwriter has to get a break-up album out of their system every few years, and this is ours. 

Reichenbach Falls by Emma Russell

Reichenbach Falls by Emma Russell. ‘Reichenbach Falls have an outdoorsy, Americana feel that I wanted to echo. Listening to Risky, I liked the idea of escape and the image of the Southern Cross shining.

Where are you from originally and how did you end up here?
My parents came over here from Canada for my dad to train as an actor, so weirdly enough I was born in Wales. But all our family was in Canada still, and after a few years my dad moved back, so we were always back and forth and I lived in Calgary, near the Rocky Mountains, for a while when my dad lived there too. Then I lived in Spain for six months, Norwich, Scotland for a while, now Oxford for the foreseeable … so kind of all round! I consider myself 40% English, 40% Canadian and 20% somewhere in the Atlantic, maybe a little south for warmth. 

Reichenbach Falls by Kimberly Ellen Hall

Reichenbach Falls by Kimberly Ellen Hall.

How does the ‘rotating membership’ of the band work in practice?
The rotating membership is a pain! It’s allowed us to make an album that I’m really proud of, and that I couldn’t possibly have made without the generosity and skill of all these people, but everything takes forever and is a nightmare to organise. On the other hand, I’m super lucky with the talented friends I’ve made over the last couple of years and also with the fact that to play live I don’t necessarily need anybody but me. I’m kind of at the point where if I want to do a show I’ll agree to do it solo, and then if there’s the possibility to add components I’ll see if I want to and then make some calls to if it’s going to work schedule-wise. So having that solo option takes a lot of stress out of the rotating membership. Sorry, are these answers going on forever?? I feel like they are …

Reichenbach Falls tarot shop

Is that Joe Bennett, founder of Truck Festival who you are collaborating with? how did that come about? He gets everywhere!
That is indeed Joe Bennett of Truck fame. And it came about because he’s a friend of mine and does get everywhere … He’s also an incredibly talented and fun guy who lives to play music, so that doesn’t hurt either! He’s a great guy to have around – I ended up playing Y Not Festival with Co-pilgrim, a band that he’s in, and so he joined me for a few songs. That was cool, and I’m sure won’t be the last time. 

Where was the video for Risky shot? it looks suitably depressing and grey…
That was shot in a single take in Jericho in North Oxford – coincidentally, only a few hundred yards from the studio where we made a lot of the album. It was in February, I think, so you get that washed-out light that’s beautiful but sort of sad. Ben Johnston, who conceived and directed it, is also pretty nifty with getting the look just right in post-production – there’s a video for the song Stay Home, Elizabeth that he’s in the process of making with an amazing actress from here in Oxford which is going to be really beautiful, too, I think. I’m really looking forward to seeing it myself!

Who was the dancer and what was her brief, and who is polishing the gun and where did you acquire that from?!!! Looks real…
Actually, the dancer is Breeze Murdoch, a great friend of mine who I met through her husband, Michael de Albuquerque, who co-produced, engineered and mixed the album – and that’s him with the gun at the end, which I think is actually a very realistic, powerful air-rifle. As far as I remember, her brief was to make it feel as if it were a little ‘risky’ just being outside, with all these strange, pretty, dangerous things happening. But she’s both a musician and a professional dancer, so the kind of person to whom you don’t really have to spend a lot of time explaining these things. 

Reports of Snow by Reichenbach Falls is released on 2nd December 2013 through Observatory Records.

Categories ,Abe Davies, ,album, ,Amberin Huq, ,Ben Johnston, ,Breeze Murdoch, ,Calgary, ,canada, ,Co-pilgrim, ,Cornershop, ,Elizabeth, ,Emma Russell, ,Goldrush, ,interview, ,Joe Bennett, ,Kimberly Ellen Hall, ,Little Fish, ,Michael de Albuquerque, ,Observatory Records, ,Oxford, ,Reichenbach Falls, ,Reports of Snow, ,Risky, ,Stay Home, ,Truck Festival, ,Viarosa, ,wales, ,Y Not Festival

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