So, what do you do if you need to buy something for the little person in your life at Christmas? We buy very few new clothes for Snarfle (and are very grateful for the many hand me downs that he wears) but when we do buy new we often buy from smaller independent designers who create unique looks that you will not find on the high street. These wonderful pieces are more often that not designed with love by someone who is a mum themselves. They know what little people like, and they create with passion.
Mini Magpie clothes are all created from upcycled adult garments by mum Kimberley. I am particularly hankering after this little knitted waistcoat that is adorned with plentiful pompoms… but do take a look at all her clothing for little ones… such cute stuff, including little denim jackets, leggings and much more.
It is no secret that Snarfle lives in his Slugs and Snails patterned tights (see my instagram feed). After a summer off (during which he grew out of his last selection) I literally don’t know what we would do without them during the cold weather. Nothing is as snug and cosy as tights – socks always seem to crumple off in little deposits all over the house to leave behind freezing cold tootsies (not that he seems to mind, they bother me a lot more). I was a bit worried about how he might ‘style’ them (don’t laugh) now he is a fully grown walking mini person, but actually they look bloody great under baggy pants, or peeking out from under leggings (which he also lives in, most of ours come from Oh Baby London). My new favourite design is Storm, featuring clouds and rainbows on a steely grey background. Utterly fab: these really are the best gift you can give a little one, boy or girl. You can read my interview with creator Kathleen Redmond here, she’s an inspiration to all us mums.
When Snarfle was smaller he was always tucked up (in our bed) inside a sleeping bag. How did we ever manage back in the old days, before these genius inventions? Ours were all second hand, but if I was looking for a very sweet and unique version I’d go for one by The Bright Company, all handmade and printed in the UK. Their Kipp Sleeping Bag for £38 is covered in a very retro modern hexagon design in their signature bright blue and orange colour way. Or how about the Knapp Blanket for £30 in unisex colour ways, a great gift for little people that can be used to swaddle them in the Moses basket (if yours will sleep in one that is, our basket was passed on very quickly) or to keep them warm in a buggy or in the carrier. Later on it could even become a fantastic den maker!
Hankering after a toy that’s not garish and over the top, that will allow your child’s imagination to run free for many years to come? Then why not consider a Hobby Horse. These ones are by Katie Johnston of the Day Job collective, and come in a host of possible colours. You choose! It’s just like the good ol’ days…
Kyna Boutique specialises in organic children’s clothing and many of the brands are sourced from Scandinavia, which seems to specialise in the kind of bold patterned clothing that I love so much but which English designers shy away from. I really like The Baltic Baby Bodysuit and Leggings by Modéerska Huset, covered in islands, ferries, waves and swans. Swedish designer Jenny Modéer works in a slightly more subtle but nonetheless unusual colour palette. Kyna Boutique offers free delivery within the UK, and free returns too!
Ruff & Huddle has had a super busy year, with successful launches in Selfridges and great press all over the place. Their collaboration with ace illustrator Zakee Shariff has produced some wonderful clothing, and I am particularly in love with this London Varsity jacket that has ROAR embroidered on the front and a lion on the back (see left in the photo above). Why should the Americans have all the fun? At £50 it’s a considered purchase, but one that is bound to be a practical favourite with your little one.
Sian Zeng is a Cockpit Arts based designer who creates a variety of objects and homeware items that span the generations. Her classic bespectacled Office Bear comes as a kit you sew up yourself for £25, and here they are seen in a variety of colour ways lounging against a duvet set, also designed by Sian. Snarfle has one of these, but it did have to be sewn up by an adult (his dad!) – so this is a fun gift that could kill two birds with one stone (so to speak).
Lil’ Beans is a new online kidswear retailer that was set up with the aim of selling brands that offer high quality design, uniqueness, comfort and durability. Due to their American connections they have also brought some lesser known brands to these shores and I am just a little bit in love with these adorable red fringed moccasins for babies for £35. Adorable. Also look out for their Thrifted section, featuring second hand loveliness for bargain prices.
Lastly, I’ll be bringing you my ideas for the prettiest and most unusual homemade decorations that I’ve found on my travels around the web. Here’s hoping that I get time to make a few myself as well.
Written by Amelia Gregory on Thursday December 12th, 2013 3:45 pm
If you try to describe this to someone (which you shouldn’t, this websales don’t give anything away), doctormedications you will sound like you are conjuring from memory a nonsensical and fantastical dream; not something remotely tangible that actually happened in a 25-minute journey through a Shorditch warehouse.
Enter the ride and find yourself wheeled through 15 distinct scenarios with over 70 artists acting out micro-performances. “Designed to mentally and visually astound”, check; “leaving you overwhelmed and exhilarated’, check and check; and finishing the ride “in a totally different emotional state from the one you were in when you embarked on the journey”, most definitely true: utterly elated, mesmerised, and psychologically discombobulated.
The You Me Bum Bum train represents a new branch of experimental live art where the line between performer and audience is not just blurred, but utterly turned on it’s head; interaction is integral to the experience, and how far you take this is up to you. It’s creators Kate Bond and Morgan Lloyd, intend to strip individuals of decision-making, giving passengers the would-be ordinary experience of somebody else’s shoes. You are left with fleeting slices of alternate realities, one moment you might be a drummer, the next a translator (I really don’t want to say much!). It’s real human experience through the prism of the utterly surreal, and it will take you some time to reclaim your grasp on the two, a most marvellous and novel experience.
The venue is essential to the experience, and they describe Cordy House as their dream venue, lending itself to the most ambitious event they’ve held yet.
There isn’t much time to go, and I whole-heartedly recommend it as an unforgettable experience. It runs every Saturday from now until the 20th of December between 7pm and 11pm.
Hip Parisian fahion and electro label, buy Kitsuné, what is ed are fast becoming as well known for their associated music as they are for their fashion. In fact, there is a clear cut three-way divide at Heaven tonight: scenesters, dressed for the fashion blog photographers collide en masse with those who know Kitsuné for the music and are quite unprepared for the additional rooms full of said scenesters, and with the regular Heaven clubbers, used to G-A-Y Camp Attack on Friday nights and probably the most bemused of everyone here.
Within the four rooms there’s a frustrating mix of real djs and acts like Autokratz, whose Pet Shop Boys go big beat set was a joy to behold and left me humming ‘Stay The Same’ for the rest of the night. Hearts Revolution, Punks Jump Up and Kitsuné house band Digitalism all turned out in force to impress and did so, although at times the acts felt a little repetitive. Alas, alongside these quality acts, we also got a number of vanity djs, including various models and boutique owners, which all blurred into the same set as the night progressed and seemed to play to rooms full of people aiming to get to the bar and move on.
It transpired that the ‘Don’t Panic’ room was the place to be. Inspired by K-Tron, blasting bass heavy No-Wave, they held me and the room in near divine rapture. The highlight of the night however, was Matthew Stone who dragged us back to 1985 via The KLF, his effortlessly sublime musical compass taking us on a seemingly random adventure, fitting perfectly with the tone of the night. There were some true high points tonight, but Kitsuné are probably best enjoyed via one of their compilations than live, based on tonight’s evidence.
Global Day of Action
6th December 2008
This will be the Saturday midway through the next round of UN Climate Talks and our best chance to influence the decisions of delegates ahead of the critical UN talks in 2009 at which a post-Kyoto treaty agreement will be decided.
LONDON
Climate Bike Ride 2008
Assemble 10.30 am Lincolns Inn Fields for a mass bike ride around Central London joining up with the National Climate March at Grosvenor Square (see next listing for National Climate March info)
The three stops on the route are:
-Outside Greenergy, 198 High Holborn – for an agrofuels protest organised by Biofuelswatch
-Outside E.On 100 Pall Mall – for a speaker on NO NEW COAL
-Outside the Department of Transport – for a speaker on sustainable transport
Everyone welcome; decorate your bikes, bring whistles, bring music!
Want to help out for this action? Contact Jeremy Hill on 07816 839883 or jeremy.hill1@btopenworld.com
National Climate March and Global Day of Action on Climate
The march starts at 12noon at Grosvenor Square and will move via Carlos Place and Mount Street to Berkley Square and Berkley street to Picacadily, Picadilly Circus, Lower Regent street, Pall Mall and Cockspur street to Trafalgar Square and Whitehall to Parliament Square.
We will bring the UK issues of Aviation, New coal and Biofuels to the streets of London, along with a call for more investment in renewable energy, more energy efficiency and more green jobs.
Speakers will include Nick Clegg (leader Liberal Democrat Party), Caroline Lucas (leader, Green party), Michael Meacher (ex-Environment Minister) and George Monbiot (Honorary President, Campaign against Climate Change).
Contact: 020 7833 9311 www.campaigncc.org
There will also be an After-Party in the Synergy Centre from 5.00 pm till late.
The March on Parliament has four main themes –
1) NO to a 3rd runway at Heathrow and the runaway expansion in aviation expansion.
2) NO new coal – no new coal-fired power stations as planned at eg Kingsnorth in Kent
3) NO to the expansion of agrofuels – with negative impacts on forests, the climate and world food supply.
4) YES to a renewable energy revolution and green jobs – a “Green new Deal”
Come with your own banners, costumes on one of these themes and join up with others pushing that theme……
The March on Parliament for the Climate marks the Saturday midway through the UN Climate Talks in Poznan, Poland and we make our demands on the UK government in solidarity with the world’s poorest and most vulnerable communities that will suffer worst and most immediately from climate change caused overwhelmingly by the rich long-industrialised countries.
We need the government to act now on climate, to stop building coal-fired power stations and new runways – and to begin the renewable energy revolution. We need a tidal wave of people outside parliament to make them act to stop climate catastrophe now! Be part of that tidal wave, be there! Next year may be too late.
BUST is a magazine devoted to the female. Providing an unapologetic view of life in the female lane, they break down stereotypes! Based in the US and established in 1993, the magazine addresses a variety of different issues within pop sulture, including music, fashion, art & crafts and news.
Editor-in-Chief, Debbie Stoller, decided to call the magazine BUST, because it was “aggressive and sexy and funny… It was a title that could belong to a men’s porn magazine.”
For Women With Something To Get Off Their Chests! Click here for the Christmas Craftacular’s Facebook Page
Jumble Fever Under the bridge on Beck Road, E8 Saturday 6th December
Midday-4pm, Entry £1
A fabulous jumble sale with a boogie twist! There will be a great deal to see and do and buy.. See you there!
ETSY
An online shopping bazaar; Etsy is a cross between eBay and Amazon with a humble handmade twist. Launched in June 2005 by Robert Kalin, for sale Chris Maguire and Haim Schoppik, the site has grown to be incredibly popular, with tens of thousands of people selling their handmade goods (90% of whom are women!).
As Christmas draws nearer and greener, we have chosen our favorite handmade things to inspire your presents list. www.etsy.com
“The Kelsey”; a pleated clutch in paisley mocha
This handmade clutch is one of many adorable bags created by GraceyBags; get in touch through etsy.com to custom order a clutch and choose from a rainbow of fabrics.
Featured is ‘The Kelsey’ in a paisley mocha print on the outside in greens, blues, pinks, yellows and browns. The inside has been sewn from a silky brown fabric and the bag closes with a small magnet.
Recycled Journal – handbound Find a lovely selection of hand bound recycled books by Rhonda; bookbinder and book artist.
This particularly wonderful journal is made with a variety of recycled scrap papers ranging from large envelopes, posters, junk mail, blank paper, lined and graph paper, covers from old sketch books, old maps, discarded photocopies, misprints from the computer printer to paper bags.
Perfect as an art journal, the book is covered with an old map of the world, the one pictured above showing the islands of Guatemala, Nicaragua and Costa Rica.
There are 256 pages (when you count both sides of each sheet). The pages are handbound using green and brown linen threads, visible on the spine in 4 rows of chain stitches.
The book size is approximately 4″ x 4¼” and 1″ thick (or 10.5cm x 11cm x 2.5cm).
This adorable cotton tote is the perfect carry-all for any occasion. BellaBlu Designs signature French Bulldog silhouette has been cut from Heather Bailey‘s ‘Sway in Brown’ Pop Garden print and appliquéd to this cotton canvas bag. It is 100% 10 oz. cotton, measures 15 x 13 x 3 inches and can be customized with most other dog breeds.
We’ve also had a browse round treefort.myshopify.com, for some gift ideas for those of you with little ones in your life!
Dreamlets Dolls These cute little creatures would make an adorable gift this season, and as a product that gives 1% back to Artworks, Bridges to Understanding, or Poncho, they’re doing a lot more than making a loved one happy! The dolls come in a variety of shapes and colours, each with their own quirky personality. You are also able to choose which organization will benefit from your gift by registering your doll online.
Nikki McClure’s Mama & Baby Things Treefort also sell many of Nikki Mcclure‘s prints, books, cards, and calendars. Nikki McClure creates complex, yet natural designs by cutting away from a single piece of black construction paper with an x-acto knife. Her works are printed on 100% Recycled, 100% Post-Consumer Waste, Processed Chlorine Free paper that was manufactured with electricity that is offset with Green-e® certified renewable energy. Her work is printed by a small family-owned press in Portland, Oregon, US- and uses soy-based inks.
Kids On Roof “House” is made of Eco friendly-100% recycled cardboard and is 100% biodegradable. These houses are the perfect gift for creative children, as they’re meant to be decorated and personalised! (see below for examples from treefort) Kidsonroof donates 5% of its profits to specific Unicef projects; €24,000 has now been collected for the Unicef project for building better, small-scale housing for HIV/Aids inflicted orphans in Russia.
Beyond Retro Christmas Party!
This evening Beyond Retro is throwing it’s annual seasonal gathering – in both it’s shops, viagra buy the original Cheshire St warehouse and new sibling store in Soho – from 6pm – 8pm, there’ll be lots of exclusive goodies for you to browse through and they’ll even throw in some mulled wine and mince pies. Good times.
Made In Clerkenwell
This evening and all weekend, the Clerkenwell Green Association open their studios for Made in Clerkenwell, an event that showcases the work of over 70 designers they support through providing them with studio space, mentoring and business advice to help them create their work.
The fruits of their labors are exhibited and available for purchase, so you can hunt out that unique Christmas gift and buy all kinds of original and creative wares – ranging from fashion designs to jewellery, accessories, textiles and even ceramics.
What makes this shopping experience so different is that you can mingle with and chat to the designers and find out about their craft, inspirations, working method, becoming a designer, anything you want to know! So pop down, get a great gift and support new designers.
Open 6pm to 8pm, Thursday 27th November 2008 and
12pm to 6pm on Friday 28th, Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th November 2008.
£2.50 entrance – free to the under 16s.
It’s no secret that Brooklyn’s the place to be for smart indie pop these days, view but look a little closer to home and you might be surprised. Take tonight’s superb support acts, advice for example. First up is Pens, erectile a cute lo-fi local trio who, despite playing to only a handful of people, put on a wonderfully frantic and ramshackle performance – think Karen O‘s kid sisters gleefully bashing at snare, guitar and synths.
Fellow Londoners Chew Lips are up next and are nothing short of a revelation. The threesome cater in captivatingly melancholy electronic music and boast a bona fide icon-in-waiting in singer Tigs; she prowls and creeps around the venue, all black bob and wide eyes, unleashing powerful vocals and jumping on the bar to serenade us, while the boys whip up a glitchy synth and bass storm in the background. ‘Solo’ is the band’s set-closer and an undeniable highlight – scuzzy and danceable yet strangely sad, it will be one of your anthems of 2009, no question.
This bunch are hard to follow, but Telepathe just about manage it. Dave Sitek-produced debut ‘Dance Mother’ is on the way in January, and recreating its majesty live is clearly still a tricky undertaking for the Brooklyn duo. They do their best, unleashing a stream of cluttered soundscapes, layered harmonies and clipped rhythms, and while the effect is hypnotic at times, barely a word is uttered between songs – resulting in a distinct lack of atmosphere. This could of course be due, in part, to the fact that they are playing to a room full of typically disinterested Shoreditch types. Whatever the reason the performance falls a little flat, until final effort ‘Chromes On It’ that is, its spine-tingling beats waking the crowd from its stupor and climaxing with speakers shaking and half the band hanging from the ceiling as the hysterical throng down the front excitedly punch the air. It’s just enough to convince us that we’re not quite prepared to give up on Telepathe as a live proposition yet. More like this please.
Nuclear: Art and Radioactivity discount -4.064941&sspn=16.764146, visit this site 39.418945&ie=UTF8&ll=51.524712,-0.079694&spn=0.008598,0.019248&z=16&g=E1+6PG&iwloc=addr”target=”_blank”>Nicholls and Clarke Building, 3-10 Shoreditch High Street, Spitalfields, London E1.
‘Half-life’ Chris Oakley, 2008
High-definition video, 15 minutes
The Nicholls and Clarke Building hosts an exhibition that explores the changing perceptions of nuclear power. In our rapidly deteriorating climate, the effects of nuclear development from the past have come to haunt us. ‘The Nightwatchman,’ by Simon Hollington and Kypros Kyprianou, captures this disturbing predicament.
As we entered the installation there was something immediately unsettling about it. A board-meeting table situated in the centre of a large dilapidated storeroom indicated recent activity, and as we crept further through the exhibition space there was more evidence of some night watchmen. But they are no where to be found…
Together with the film ‘Half-life’ by Chris Oakley, there was a sense of being caught in a crossfire of two different eras: the naïvely optimistic 80′s and the knowledgeable cynicism of the present day.
The film showed a series of paradoxical images of nature vs. technology, and through it we were reminded of how our idea of what is progressive has been turned on it’s head.
If you’d like to have something of yours across the chests of music aficionados throughout the country, viagra you might like to apply for this. 100% music, cheap 100% recycled paper (well done), sildenafil Bearded Magazine is preparing for the re-launch of the printed magazine on January 29th, and they’re throwing in a t-shirt as well.
When it came to deciding what should go on the front of said t-shirt, they mumbled gibberish into their beards and drew blanks, and so they’ve put the task out to you the reader to help them out. In fact, they might be so filled with indecision that there could be four winners, so better chances for you! Have a look at the criteria and send in a design soon, you have until the 15th of December.
The Wellcome Collection’s new temporary exhibition is entitled ‘War and Medicine’ and focuses on the individual human consequences of war rather than the overall statistics of death and destruction that impersonalise and almost glorify military combat and which we are most often presented with. Soldiers are heroes when they die for their country but uncomfortable representatives of horror when they return wounded and disfigured.
Installation artist David Cotterrell‘s film, sales specially commissioned for the exhibition, salve attempts to rectify this. Covering three walls of a darkened room, more about the film shows wounded soldiers, with varying degrees of injury, being loaded onto a flight back to England from Helmand Province in Afghanistan. The only soundtrack is the constant hum of the plane’s engine, an eerie backdrop to the calm, efficient activity taking place on screen. There is an unsettling disjunction between our inclusion in the scene through the way it is presented to us and the alienness of the sight before our eyes. This slightly dreamlike atmosphere helps separate the artwork from the realms of documentary photography and helps us understand the confusion of this homeward flight, which we are told in the information outside, is often only partially remembered by the soldiers.
What is most striking about this piece is the individual humanity behind the uniforms of the men and women depicted. On the left are the walking wounded with a variety of arm slings and facial injuries being tended to by medical staff and waiting patiently for their journey to begin, on the right, more distressingly, a person is carried in on a stretcher, connected to breathing apparatus. It is heartbreaking to realise that although most of these people will probably survive, and so not register in the public consciousness, they will have been scarred for life both physically and emotionally. I began to see them as people beyond whatever my personal attitudes to their profession and the war they are fighting in was.
A harrowing counterpart to this work is Cotterrell’s written diary, where he describes with civilian horror, the daily minutiae of life amongst the medical staff in Camp Bastion. The exhibition’s mission statement is to explore the dichotomies in a society that is simultaneously developing ever more sophisticated means of destroying life and protecting it. The stalemate futility of this situation is given a human face by Cotterrell’s work.
David Cotterrell is featured in issue 10 of the magazine, out shortly.
Hurrying through the lights and sounds of Soho, stuff the words ‘bloody hell it’s cold’ rattled my skull. I was heading to see the Canadian singer and illustrator Chad VanGaalen, this known for rarely leaving his basement. In this weather, who would blame him?
Once inside Borderline I was able to thaw out and to take in the cosy surroundings. Kindly folk in chequered shirts patiently waited as they sipped Guinness. But there was something odd about this fresh-faced crowd. Moustaches, I realised. There were loads of them.
It’s Mo-vember, apparently. The time of year for all socially conscious gentlemen to grow out their fluff to raise money for testicular cancer. ‘That’s nice,’ I thought.
This playful and boyish act of sincerity seemed fitting for the night in store as there’s something of the fourteen-year-old boy about Chad VanGaalen. Deceptively awkward and immediately charming, he’ll break your heart.
Together with a hairy-faced accordionist he delivered a homemade and reflective sound. It was as if we had wandered into his basement, and he seemed a little surprised to see us there.
His hesitancy on stage draws you nearer, and his tight and masterful song-writing capabilities took a hold of my senses like a sedative.
That uneasy fluidity reminded me of Beach House and the unexpectedly punchier tunes provided an excitable energy that twanged some of those moustaches.
Listening to Chad is like putting on a pair of earmuffs and skate boarding down smooth suburban streets.
There’s a yearning to be free and limitless but it only slightly ventures out of the comfortable. A girl behind me whispered excitedly ‘It’s the kind of music I’d ride my bike to.’
It is difficult for any set at the Borderline to not feel intimate and Chad VanGaalen’s was by no means revolutionary.
But the evening was all together thoughtful and enchanting, and as I braved the bitter London streets once more, the words of Electric City wrapped me up like a duvet.
At 8am on Friday 28th November on a wet and grizzly morning, stuff the Greenwash Guerillas and a band of allies rallied together outside the E-On Head Office at 100 Pall Mall. We were there to protest against the planned government-approved scheme to build 7 new coal fired power stations. E-on will be responsible for the first of these havoc wreaking death chambers (no hyperbole here) at Kingsnorth, Kent. This power station alone will emit between 6 and 8 million tones of CO2 every year. If all 7 are built, treatment their collective emissions would be approximately 50 million tones of CO2 a year. This would make the Climate Change Committee’s proposal to cut back on CO2 emissions an average of 2% per annum so that by 2050 we’ll have an 80% reduction well… impossible.
Browsing through E-on’s website, it might be easy to be fooled into thinking they are an environmentally conscientious company promoting ‘clean, green energy that never runs out.’ But it doesn’t take long to realize that their wind farms and claims of boosting local employment are cleverly marketed to cast a rosy sheen over more profitable projects that use coal.
Coal is the grimiest of fossil fuels. It’s carbon-intensity is higher than oil and double that of natural gas. Yet, as the driving force behind the industrial revolution, it has been the primary source of power for the electricity generation. Gathered outside the E-on head office, we are no longer in the 19th century but in the 21st century and in the midst of a climatic crisis. With sea ice disappearing at a never-before-seen rapidity now is the time to use new greener sources of power, not to revert to the practices of the past.
So why is the government supporting what seems a disastrously archaic project?
The government’s answer is that by increasing the cost of carbon, power stations will be forced to use a process of carbon capture and storage (CCS) whereby the harmful carbon dioxide produced by coal is extracted from the air and buried underground.
However, a presentation made by the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee concluded that this reasoning is implausible. Voicing research from the U.K. Energy Research Centre and Climate Change Capital, it showed that using a process of CCS would in fact be the least cost effective option for power stations. The research they gathered predicted that CCS will cost power companies like E-On 70-100 or 90-155 Euros per ton of CO2, while the government estimates that the price of carbon between 2013 and 2020 will be less at approximately 39 Euros per ton.
It’s fair to say that it is extremely unlikely that power companies will go for the more expensive option, especially when the margin is as large as it is. In short, the government’s criteria for approving E- On’s power station at Kingsnorth is worryingly unsatisfactory.
If our government is failing to alleviate the catastrophic predicament of climate change that is costing lives then it is up to us as citizens to take action against the construction of Kingsnorth and others like it. For more information on what you can do please click here and please go to the national climate march on Saturday 6th December, bring your mates and make it fun. This is a serious issue and we need to get the message across but optimism is always the best the way of creating change, in my view anyway. Klimax is a network for climate activists that started in 2007 by environmentalists who wanted a platform for people with more radical ideas about direct actions. Well known in Sweden for their campaigns against private motorism and the meat industry, viagra sale the group has spread to a number of Swedish cities, cialis 40mg and in Gothenburg they consist of 20 active members.
Members of Klimax initially wanted to protest on the 13th October, which is the actual date of the anniversary, but after finding out there were no meetings that day, postponed to the 12th November. This allowed them the much needed time to plan their action in detail; the first few weeks consisted of a few hours of planning and as the time drew nearer members were working five hours a day to make sure everything was finished. Among writing speeches, making banners and establishing contact with the media, they had to prepare their costumes!
Our contact at Klimax said “We do not always dress up for events but we believe that it is a good way to spice up an action! We sometimes dress up as penguins or polar bears because they are the two types of animal that are severely affected by Climate Change; it is also fun and looks nice!”
Their aims with the action was threefold; firstly to pay tribute to the work done by the suffragettes- strong women fighting for women’s right to vote, secondly to make the politicians aware that there was strong opposition to the building of another tunnel under the river in Gothenburg; Miahabo Berkelder from Klimax in Gothenberg says that the group believe this to be an awful way to spend a large amount of money, just so that more cars can be on the road; asking ‘What if the money was invested in buses instead? New roads simply lead to more traffic and that is a disaster for our climate.’
The third reason for the protest was to make sure that politicians knew that climate change isn’t just a moral topic, it is a political topic.
On the day, members were shocked to see the six activists storm the meeting,
but after the action Klimax joked that if they had been politicians sitting there during long and boring meetings, they would have been happy with the distraction!
They certainly created a buzz, and definitely caught the attention of the council! After a short while the six were asked to leave the building and did so with little fuss.
In reaction to the protest, a woman from the Swedish environmental party said Klimax had a valid point, but a man from the conservative party was more concerned about security, wondering what would have happened if terrorists had stormed the meeting instead!
The plans for the tunnel are still up in the air. The initial decision to build the tunnel was made solely by Göran Johansson, the chairman of the Municipal Council. Because this wasn’t a democratic way of deciding, the case has been reported to the county administrative court.
According to Miahabo, there are a lot of plans in Klimax’s future; new actions will take place during the spring and there will be a new regular event called Climate Café- where anyone can attend to share coffee and discuss climate change, sometimes including an expert on the subject to answer any questions.
The next big event for Klimax is on the Global Day of Action, taking place in cities all over the world on the 6th of December. At the same time as the leaders of the world will be discussing the climate problems, demonstrations will be arranged all over the world including London and of course Gothenberg. Klimax have come together with several other groups to arrange a huge demonstration, Miahabo says that Klimax are organising a “Climate Clash” which is a wide spread Klimax phenomenon; they will walk out in the middle of a busy road and block the traffic; a perfect and simple way to make people aware of the climate problems.
Anyone who is interested in joining Klimax is welcome- it is a flat organization with no board of directors, anyone who wants to be a member is simply one.
For more information about Climate Rush, please visit: www.climaterush.co.uk Monday 1st Dec
The Ashni Art Gallery specialises in Indian Art that is both contemporary and of the past. They will be exhibiting the best of their collection from now until the 19th of December.
Tuesday 2nd Dec
Live in Bristol? Feeling somewhat alarmed by the continued transformation of the city centre to all things consumerist (with 120 new shops having just opened)? Slipping between the gap of reality and fantasy, andSomewhere Here are hijacking advertisement space to provide shoppers with a brief respite during the fall of capitalism. Nine artists take nine advertising hoardings (billboards) until the 3rd of December only. Catch them before they are swallowed by Advertisement Beast.
Wednesday 3rd Dec
Opening today at the ICA: Dispersion; an exploration by seven artists of the appropriation and circulation of images in contemporary society. They examine money, desire, and power in our accelerated image economy. It runs until Feb 1st.
Thursday 4th Dec
First Thursdays of the month is here! But aren’t galleries open most Thursdays anyway? It would be silly tell you a single thing to go and see, 100 galleries will be opening their doors until 9pm, so there will plenty to satiate your creative appetites, but if you perhaps feel so inspired that you are driven to the pencil yourself, The Princess Studios will be hosting free life-drawing drop-in sessions throughout the evening.
Friday 5th Dec
Vauxhall’s best kept secret-art-laboratory, Beaconsfield, curates Late at Tate this Friday, adapting Tate Britain’s Duveen Galleries and transitory places to create a terminal space, with an array of arrival and departure points, in which only the surreal applies …
Satuday 6th Dec
Colin McKenzie senses that art ought to be more like a day at Woodstock, or at least what he imagines Woodstock to be like: electric, dynamic, smooth, and mind-expanding. At the Red Gate Gallery. McKenzie strives against order and sense, aiming to manoeuvre without restriction.
Monday 1st December
The Lady: A Tribute to Sandy Denny, page Royal Festival Hall, treat London
An evening of songs from the back catalogue of one of the most influential female folk singers, approved Sandy Denny. Various artists including Marc Almond, P.P. Arnold and Johnny Flynn will be performing songs from her Fairport Convention days as well as her solo career. Should be a really interesting night in light of the current trend for new female folkies and a timely tribute to one of the godmothers of the genre.
A lovely gentle way to start the week with this folky-country duo who will hopefully be celebrating the first day of December with a performance of their Christmas single, released next week.
In the UK for one night only, this much-loved San Francisco band’s staccato, rough-round-the-edges punk pop is even better live.
Ten Kens, The Duchess, York
Anyone who has a blurry picture of people snogging on their record sleeve is a good bet for a messy live show and these Canadian grungers are reportedly no exception. Should be good in this small venue too.
New album produced by Will Oldham, harpist on Anthony and the Johnsons first album and with Andrew W.K. providing bass on her new record, this transsexual musician’s musical pedigree is assured.
Wednesday 3rd December
Kitty, Daisy and Lewis single launch, Madame JoJos, London
Snappily dressed, hearse-driving siblings playing rockabilly at their single launch party.
Liam Finn, Night and Day, Manchester
Introspective folk.
The Wave Pictures, Club Fandango, St Aloysius Social Club, London
Thursday 4th December
Vivian Girls, The Social, Nottingham
Uber-hyped Brooklyn girl group bring their shoe-gaze tinged grunge-pop to the UK. Time to see if they live up to their recorded promise as a live act.
Really bummed about breaking up with some girl called Emma, he headed into the woods alone and wrote an album about it. He must be feeling a bit better as he’s spreading the heartache on a UK tour.
Lovely duets from surprisingly compatible artists.
Pretty Taxing is a fashion collection with a twist, stuff as the end product is not clothes but car tax discs. Unusual – yes, sick but we all know how important accessorising is…
It would seem like a bad idea if such creatively interesting designers hadn’t contributed to the cause. They include Emma Bell, who has twice shown at London Fashion Week, David David and Pam Hogg. Along with artists Natasha Law and Stuart Semple, they have all created unique collectable pieces of fashion memorabilia.
You can pick up these discs of fashion-random-brilliance at Matches or at the pop-up shop KIN in Kingly Court, Carnaby Street. Abiding the law has never looked so good.
Today I was sent to Coventry, abortion quite literally. Together with 30 other Climate Camp activists dressed as Santa we descended on E.On, health the energy company responsible for the proposed new coal fired power station to be built at Kingsnorth.
This action followed a 48 hour action that happened over last Friday and Saturday – and E.On were not expecting our return. In fact, buy they were probably kicking themselves that the special fencing that they had put in place late last week was now lying dismantled on the floor next to their headquarters.
As a result our merry busload hopped off easily and headed straight for the main entrance of E.On’s offices.
Why? Despite spending a lot of time and energy letting the public know that they are one of the biggest investors in renewable energy in the UK (they’ll point out the big array of solar panels on one of their buildings and the lobby features a looped tape about wind farms) they are also pitching to build the first new coal fired power station to be built in the UK in 30 years, which will alone defeat all our CO2 emissions goals. So why spend so unwisely?
Whilst some merry santas climbed atop the revolving door and superglued their hands to the various entrances, another bunch of santas headed off into the building to see if they could speak to head honcho Paul Golby and let the employees know a bit more about the facts behind new coal.
Bearing banners that said Stop Coal and E.On F.Off they set off down the corridors singing some specially adapted carol songs.
Two intrepid santas managed to enter a boardroom meeting, surprising the attendees with some gifts of lumps of coal – for as you know santa gives bad children coal instead of gifts and E.On has been very bad this year. They were ejected from the property, but soon raced back in again…
We managed to disrupt operations for four hours, stopping employees and visitors as they came to work and giving interviews to the BBC and ITV, and live on the radio. Our action was spoken about on the World at One on Radio 4, which you can listen to here. We are talked about at approximately 8 minutes and 20 seconds into the programme.
The police were surprisingly even handed, although some employees were clearly fuming, especially the head of security (woops) One indoor santa even managed to locate a cup of tea and a newspaper to read.
At one point we were able to reenter the building, with the santas forming a conga line for the cameras. We delivered papers written by leading NGOs describing why there is no need for coal power, and generally had a merry old time. All employees and visitors were rerouted through back entrances, so I think it is fair to say that we were fairly disruptive…
Eventually we decided that once unstuck it was best that we leave, but the police had other ideas, and as we walked off down the road they tried to contain us, managing to trap four of our number and arrest them.
The rest of us ran off down the street to find our getaway vehicles, parked up in a local pub car park. Our drivers had thoughtfully bought us lunch in the pub, but shortly after we had gulped it down we were asked to leave because the police presence was putting off other customers. The police followed us as we left to pick up the other santas at Warwick university student union, and thereafter ensued the slowest police chase ever, with us managing to lose them after taking a wrong turn.
The purpose of this action was to embarrass E.On and raise awareness of what they up to in a light hearted and humourous way – I think that as a bunch of merry santas we did this exceptionally well. We hope that E.On will take heed and stop greenwashing their plans. It’s simple, don’t build Kingsnorth. Spend your money increasing investment in your (meagre) renewable energy supplies. If you would like to help us stop companies like E.On destroying our world check out what Climate Camp is up to next. More articles on this action can be read on Indymedia here and here.
We’re having a bit of a Grace Jones moment here at Amelia’s HQ. Obviously we’ve always known she was AMAZING but her majestic new single ‘Williams’ Blood’ goes to prove that she’s still totally got it. In fact, buy it’s been on repeat for about the past week and we’ve all been waving our arms in the air singing “I’ve got the Williams’ blood in me”. There’s an infectious gospel refrain running through this song that really brings out Jones’ strident message. Strongly autobiographical, link ‘Williams’ Blood’ tells the story of her parents’ life together in small-town domesticity and her musician grandfather – he of the Williams blood – philandering his way around the world, an insight into the Grace Jones spirit of rebellion.
There’s a cry for freedom and for breaking away from the strictures and constraints of her background, which you can’t help but feel has been successful for this overtly sexual, bonkers wardrobed, gay icon, hence the joyful bursts of the chorus. It also seems almost subversive for a female singer to talk about the influence of a male ancestor on their lives but Jones has never been one to play by the rules. In fact, as one of our writers proved, she’s perhaps the only woman with such immense stature you could prove your respect for by mooning. But that’s another story…
‘Williams’ Blood’ is released next Monday 8th December on Wall of Sound.
“The film was an experiment”, abortion says Jonas Cuaron, settling down across from me on a sofa at the Renoir this Saturday. I’ve come for the release of his debut film, Año Uña – year of nails – and the place is abuzz with excitement; I’m especially enamoured by the snippets of Mexican-tilted Spanish I hear that always make me nostalgic (Luisa with no ‘o’, can you guess?), “Ai que deliciosa!” someone behind me exclaims at the sight of a quesadilla in the first few minutes of the film; maravillosa indeed.
“I wanted to make a film”, he continues, “using a format that would be hard to watch”. Hard to watch? A legitimate concern when it dawns on you that you’re in for a feature-length film composed entirely of still-frame photographs. But the merit of any film boils down to one thing, a good story – and the impossible romance between American girl and Mexican boy in the throes of puberty, subsumes this hard-to-watch format and makes it altogether accessible. Plot aside for a moment though, the genesis of the film deserves as much attention, so I asked Jonas how the whole thing came about.
JC: For the film I took photographs of my everyday life for a year. I wanted to break the way in which film is normally done. Normally people write a screenplay first, and then out of the screenplay they do the image, but here I wanted to do it backwards. I took the photographs and then we made an installation where we put them all up in a room, and made a story from that.
Were there other possible narratives, did you find it hard to pick which story to tell?
Well I always knew that it had to be a story of this girl from the US and this boy from Mexico. They were the ones I photographed the most that year, and so I knew they were going to be the main characters and it grew organically from there. But sometimes I think, with all those photographs I could make a different movie, draw something completely different from the same images.
What was exciting about working in that format?
Well I wanted to play with the boundaries between reality and fiction. I wanted to have images that were real, but to show, how with text, or with a narrative over those images, you can have a completely different meaning. All the images in the movie are real, but none of that happened, I wanted to play with that boundary.
So there was no interchange between reality and fiction? There must’ve been!
Well I mean, in the events there was. Like my Grandpa really did get sick and he had cancer, but for instance, the main characters, Diego and Molly, they are my brother and my girlfriend, so I hope that wasn’t real (chuckles).
How did your brother feel about in falling in love with your girlfriend, was that awkward?
Well the narrative was so fictional, so far away from reality that both him and Eireann saw it as an acting job; they never thought of it as real. All the character’s names are real aside from Eireann, which I changed to Molly because I wanted to help Diego and Molly not feel awkward, and I knew that Diego was gonna be saying really dirty things about her character, so I thought it would be easier for him if she was called Molly and not Eireann.
Throughout the film, Molly seems to be perpetually trying to capture something real from Mexico in a photograph, and failing. Is that Ironic? Seeing as you’re playing with a moment captured and how it can mean lots of things.
With Molly, a lot of what I wanted to play with was the idea of the tourist, being a foreigner in another country, so even though she’s the one seeing, she’s the observer with the camera, in the case of a tourist like Molly, people are also observing her. So with her character I played a lot with the subconscious of being in a new place.
You grew up partially in Mexico and partially in the US, so is that something you link closely too?
For me, that part of the narrative – the interchange between two cultures – it really fascinates me; so when I realised that Diego and Molly would be my main characters, I was happy because the relationship between both cultures is an important one for me. I know what it is to be new in a different place, and I understand the boundaries between the two languages, and a lot of this is seen in the character of Molly. Many of those pictures were taken during Eireann’s first visit to Mexico, and it was at the time when Bush had just been elected. For her it was really hard to be in Mexico because everyone was judging her for what Bush was doing, so I wanted to play with the idea, that I also feel from being a Mexican in the US, that people see you as a nationality and not who you are.
What is the main theme of the film for you?
When I first started making a film with photographs, I realised that the main theme would be the passage of time and the impermanence of things. You can’t do anything about photography and not talk about the passage of time, and particularly in a film – film is always dependent on the idea of time and still-photography doesn’t have time in a way, and so for me, the whole film is an exploration of how nothing lasts forever.
Would you use the format again?
I think it’s a very interesting format to explore, but for me, I’ve done everything I would want to do with that format. It’s been a very important learning experience for me. At the end of the day, the important thing is having a good story.
Muchisimas Gracias Jonas. How do you like London?
It’s cold.
Last night, adiposity to coincide with World AIDS Day, clinicvinspired.com, a youth volunteer organisation website, hosted a charity fashion show to raise money for the children’s HIV Charity, Body & Soul.
This fashion show was the last stage in a creative process, which started off with four volunteer design teams, based in four parts of the country, who gave their time to find new and exciting designers. The creative workshops were set up by Junky Styling in London, Traid, who nurtured the Bristol designers, the Ethical Fashion Forum in Nottingham and Kesh(pictured above), who worked with the Manchester based designers.
Said designers had to then compete against each other to create the best outfit from recycled clothes, e.g.: the clothes given to charity shops – and it was at this fashion show where the winner would be decided by designer Ben de Lisi.
TV presenter Miquita Oliver hosted the event and the celebrity quota was filled by Rolling Stone daughter, Leah Wood (pictured above), who modeled on the catwalk and Radio 1 DJ Edith Bowman, who provided some post-show tunes.
Even bigger names (not in attendance) but supporting the charity include actress Kate Winslet and Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who donated a suit and a shirt respectively, to be remade into something fabulous. Designer Zandra Rhodes is also a big supporter of this recycling fashion cause saying, “It is appalling how much we waste in society these days, but it seems we are entering a new era of resourcefulness. This is really exciting – and the best part of it is young people are leading the new trend.”
Taking place in Central Saint Martins aptly named Innovation Centre; the venue was small and intimate, which perfectly captured the tone of the event. Unlike most fashion shows, this one had a very human element when a representative from the Body & Soul charity got on stage to talk about her experience living with HIV. She spoke about having to live a double life, having to hide her illness from the world due to the level of prejudice that still exists towards the disease. Money raised from this event will go towards generating awareness about HIV.
As we sat by the catwalk, video screens showed the designers in their workshops making the clothes that would soon appear in front of us. What these guys did with discarded shirts and dresses was pretty impressive, it wasn’t about following trends but making creative, innovative and pretty pieces, and there was a lot of that evident on the catwalk.
Ben de Lisi was there to judge the entries, with only a matter of minutes to decide who the winner would be, he was asked how he would do it and said, “I shoot straight from the hip, I know exactly what I want.”
Who he wanted was designer Anne-Marie Fleming, from the Junky Styling stable. She seemed to me to be a safe choice as although her design was good, it was not the best seen on the catwalk by a long way.
This event worked so well to promote two causes, the importance of recycling (not always being a slave to trends) and reducing the level of our prejudice about supposedly taboo subjects.
All the clothes can be viewed at vinspired.com/fashion and will be auctioned on eBay from today, so you can get your hands on a uniquely designed piece and give some cash to a very good cause.
If you’re planning on going to any of these events, viagra buy or have something you want to write an article about for the Earth Blog, more about email us: earth@ameliasmagazine.com!
Eco-Design Christmas Fair 2008 website +152+Brick+Lane,+London+E1+6RU&sll=51.521668,-0.071497&sspn=0.007423,0.019011&g=152+Brick+Lane,+London+E1+6RU&ie=UTF8&ll=51.522349,-0.072269&spn=0.007423,0.019011&z=16&iwloc=A”target=”_blank”>The Boiler House, The Old Truman Brewery, 152 Brick Lane, London E1 6RU
Saturday 13th December 2008 12pm-7pm
Sunday 14th December 2008 11am-7pm
entry £2 or £1
A great event at which you will be able to see and buy some wonderful eco-design products (including organic clothing, furniture, jewellery, books and alternative technology) directly from the makers.
Exhibitors include Amira Fairtrade Fashion Clothing, Green Oil UK Ltd (Green bicycle chain lubricant & maintenance products) , Lizzie Lee Lighting and Po-zu Ecological footwear, amongst others! For a full list and for more information about the event please visit www.ecodesignfair.co.uk
Contact Louise Kamara: info@ecodesignfair.co.uk or 07956 916 079
Make Christmas as ethical as you can this year with another Fairtrade fair at Westminister Hall. Fair Trade Fair is an annual event that has been going on for 20 years; the first of which was organised in 1987 by Benny Dembitzer and opened by Bob Geldof.
Fairtrade events are incredibly important as they play a major role in empowering developing country producers, promoting sustainability and reducing world poverty.
The fairtrade movement encourages the payment of a fair price and the improvement of environmental standards; products range from handicrafts, coffee, tea and sugar to wine, flowers and cotton. http://www.fairtradefair.org/ftf/index.htm http://www.myspace.com/FairTradeFair
Here’s a scary thought: there’s only 21 days left for Christmas shopping… so leave the high street and take advantage as London’s coolest shopping districts throw late night events…
Bermondsey Street – nearest tube: London Bridge Thursday 4th December
From 6.30pm to 9.30pm, drugs pop down to this fashion-forward little street, viagra sale where not only will you get 10% off in all the shops but the Fashion and Textile Museum is also open late, stomach with guest appearances by some of the designers featured in the museum. Shopping and culture: the perfect way to spend an evening.
Cabbages and Frocks Christmas Fair – nearest tube: Kentish Town Sunday 7th December
Want designer goodies at bargain prices? This is the place to go. The weekly market pulls out all the stops this Sunday for its annual Christmas Fair, with all the sellers offering special yule-time discounts and the chance for you to get a genuine designer garment into your wardrobe – or give someone the best gift ever – get down there now….well, on Sunday.
Columbia Road – nearest tube: Old Street Every Wednesday in December
Situated in the heart of the east-end, you can browse in over 50 boutiques and shops, which are all open until 9pm and listen to live music to get you in that Christmas spirit while you browse for gifts.
As the title suggests, this shopping experience takes place within three roads – Old Street, Great Eastern Street and Shoreditch High Street – the shops taking part are offering special discounts on their wares, free gift wrap and the chance to pick up a brilliant present for the fashion-conscious people in your life. More details below:
Written by Jennifer McNulty on Wednesday December 3rd, 2008 1:41 pm
Yes yes it’s been 6 months since the 2014 edition of Tent London but straight after the show I became ridiculously busy with my 10th anniversary Kickstarter project, That Which We Do Not Understand. I have always wanted to share my finds properly, some of whom I have already profiled at length on this website, and I’m sure this little collection will offer some refreshing and exciting inspiration.
From Mexico to Margate was inspired by Zoe Murphy’s summer travels, and is the perfect vehicle for her zingy colour ways. Used to great effect on these cacti fabric designs on cushions. Spot also the Snarfle ghost hand.
This wonderful new bedding and cushion collection is by Room 39. Designer Petra was also very helpful on the subject of crowdfunding, having funded the fragment bedding range through this method herself.
Sian Elin excels in the creation of upbeat geometric designs such as these wonderful duotone cushions.
As always I adore the designs of Louise Wilkinson, whose new fabrics are a touch folkloric, a touch Scandinavian and a touch of chintz: lots of fruits, vegetables and strange little animals.
I think this gold hedgehog wall decal is out of this world, but she only made them as one offs for Tent. Don’t you reckon they would sell like hot cakes?!
It was great to see new designs by Lorna Syson mixing up birds and geometric designs: I’ve since discovered her new Broom and Bee design, which is absolutely magic – check her website to see it.
We spent some time admiring coir circle mats made in Africa for Otago Design.
Amazing crazy cool bright rugs are by Sonya Winner.
I adore the subtle crochet cushion designs of Rose Sharp Jones: one of a new wave of crafters bringing this traditional technique into the 21st century.
Embroidery hoops are a wonderful showcase for fabrics by Occipinti. Find out more about the designer in my recent interview.
These very clever and original origami wall coverings are by Tracey Tubb.
Natalia Yanez utilises a combination of crochet and local Chilean basketweave techniques in her beautiful and unusual structures. Very clever!
These fabulous tropical fruit fabrics are by Hannah Rampley for Candid Fabric – a new project to support emerging graduate textile designers.
I am just a little bit in love with vintage Moroccan Beldi Rugs. These rag rugs cost a fortune but are ever so glorious.
Paris Wakefield Additions has released a stunning new fabric design. Since last September I have had the honour of working with Sarah Parris, who produced a beautiful print for my special That Which We Do Not Understand 10th anniversary gold leaf range, available here.
As always I love tropical loveliness by Fanny Shorter, looking wonderful in a pencil skirt made with her fabric.
Last but not least, I am enthralled by the colourful abstract designs of Kitty McCall. This fabric looks like a surreal mountainscape.
Read about furniture, lighting and other odds and sods here! All of these images were first shared on my instagram feed.
Written by Amelia Gregory on Monday February 16th, 2015 7:33 pm
The marvellous Lorna Scobie publishes her first colouring book today, but I am lucky enough to own an advance copy so I’ve had bit of time to get acquainted with her uniquely cheeky critters. Jungle Paradise has a gorgeous cover with gift-tastic green metallic highlights and lots of crisp white pages, and it is a detailed frolic through the jungle featuring numerous animals, some inspired by a call out to this popular illustrator’s fans. Amongst the landscapes of larger fauna there are pages of insects and birds, ensuring something for every animal lover. I can’t wait to get started… Lorna tells us more.
How long did it take to create Jungle Paradise and when did you work on it?
As I work full time, I worked on Jungle Paradise in the evenings and at the weekend. Although it’s meant I’ve been kept super busy for the past few months, I have really enjoyed creating the artwork so it didn’t feel like I was coming home from work to do work, more that I was spending time doing something I love to do. We were keen for the book to publish sooner rather than later, to make sure it was out before Christmas, so the schedule was quite tight! I started working on the book around June this year and it took me a couple months to complete it.
Where did you find inspiration for the pages inside Jungle Paradise, and did you use anything specific as reference?
The book itself was inspired by my love of animals generally, as a lot of my work up to now has been animal based. I tend to work from imagination, so lots of Jungle Paradise just came straight from my head. For some of the more unusual animals, like the ocelot and some of the lizards, I referenced some of the animal books I’ve collected. As well as encyclopaedias of animals and plant life I have lots of house plants surrounding my workspace – these were a big inspiration too! At the beginning of the project I asked my Instagram and Twitter followers what their favourite jungle animals are, and tried to include as many as these as possible!
What materials and techniques did you use to create the illustrations for Jungle Paradise?
I stayed true to my black and white illustration style, using a black fine liner, but made it more refined and detailed for the purpose of colouring in.
Where do the motivational quotes in Jungle Paradise come from and who found them?
I worked closely with my editor to find quotes as we wanted to get across the tranquility and wonder of nature. We hope Jungle Paradise will be an escape from busy city life, and so the quotes help to inspire people to think about the natural world rather than their ever increasing to-do lists!
How did you get the commission for your own colouring book?
I had worked previously with the editor and the idea of doing a colouring book together was sparked by a colouring workshop I did at Pick Me Up illustration festival this year. I was already thinking of doing a characterful animal colouring book at the time, so when I was approached by Hardie Grant Books to do something in that style it seemed perfect.
Your animals are described as “cheeky” – how did this come about and what elements do you include to ensure a cheeky look?
I’ve learnt to embrace the “happy mistakes” that crop up all too regularly in my work, rather than spending too long on a drawing, or reworking things over and over again. Hopefully this gives each of my characters a bit of personality, as they aren’t in any way perfect.
Who do you hope will buy your new book?
As well as creative crowds, I hope that Jungle Paradise will also reach a new market of people who perhaps don’t see themselves as creative. Or people who would like to be creative but aren’t sure where to start. Colouring-in is for everyone, and thats what is so fab about it. No special skills are required.
Will there be another? What has the feedback been so far?
I am working on a follow-up book as feedback from Jungle Paradise has been really positive so far, which is very exciting!
For many years photographer Tara Darby contributed stunning photos to Amelia’s Magazine in print. Now she has turned her narrative skills to film making, inspired by an extraordinary woman she came across on instagram. Robin Arzon is a street athlete, former lawyer and nowadays an ultra-marathoner. is a documentary that follows Robin on one of the toughest challenges of her life, running five marathons in five days in the challenging terrain of the Utah desert to raise money for MS research as Robin’s mother Carmen was diagnosed with the disease in 1999. As the story unfolds you discover the traumas of her past and why she is propelled to continually push past her own limits.
How did you discover Robin Arzon and what was it about her story that you found so appealing?
I discovered her on Instagram although a friend had told me about meeting her about a year before and her description stuck with me. I was struck by her strength and individuality and how comfortable she was in her own skin. She was living life in full-blown technicolour and making herself accountable. It was contagious- it made me want to push past my own perceived limitations. When I read more about her and discovered how much she’s been through and how running had helped her I thought she’d make an amazing subject for a film.
What is an Ultra-Marathoner?
An ultra-marathoner is anyone running over the traditional 26.2 mile marathon distance.
Why do you think running is such an important and life changing pursuit for so many people?
I think because running makes you feel good – it changes you. No matter how hard and challenging it can be at the time you never regret a run. Running is free – you can explore places and run with other people or be solitary. It takes your body and mind to another zone and makes you stronger. Running over distance is meditative and it gives you confidence and a lot of mental clarity.
What is your own experience of running?
Running is amazing training for life, especially if you sign up for a race. You take a challenge and then realise that you are capable of so much more than you think. You learn to let that niggling voice of negativity and distrust just wash over you. You override it one step at a time until the voice goes away and your endorphins kick in. Running has given me a lot of strength, focus and release.
You have recently made the transition from stills photographer to film: what prompted this and what have been the biggest challenges in retraining yourself to see in motion?
I have always loved telling stories with my pictures. In recent years I’ve been writing text to go with my images so film felt like a natural transition. I’ve made short films before but for various reasons I wanted to push myself into unknown territory. I don’t think the challenge has been to see in motion so much as to learn how to build and shape the story of the film once it has been shot.
What kind of music will you be using to score the film?
Music is one of the biggest challenges so far – we are still working on the score!
How do you juggle your life as the mother of a young child and your work, travelling such great distances and being apart from her?
Being away from my daughter was probably the hardest part of the filming. But I knew that it was a concentrated period of time and then I would be back. In the mean time she had lots of fun with her Dad. Being reunited as a family again was the best ever.
How did you manage the physical process of filming on the run in Utah?
It was boiling hot, we were at a high altitude but we all felt humbled by what Robin was going through. Any challenges that we faced paled into insignificance! A lot of the time we were following her in a silent car while she ran in the scorching heat. As soon as she stopped running I was just following her everywhere with my camera, trying to achieve an invisibility that you also learn as a documentary photographer.
Why would you urge people to back Run it Out on Kickstarter?
Because Robin is an extraordinary woman. If I can raise the funds needed to complete the film then I’m convinced Robin’s story will be a huge inspiration to many different people. I’m fascinated to see how humans deal with adversity and the power we have to heal ourselves. Life is a constant battle between fear and love – between shutting down or opening up. The film deals with universal issues that I think everyone can relate to.
You can back Tara Darby‘s Kickstarter campaign to finish Run It Out . I recommend you bag yourself a special signed print. Find out more on the Run It Out website here.
Written by Amelia Gregory on Friday June 26th, 2015 12:44 pm
The London Art Fair hosts a bewildering variety of artist talent under one roof at the Business Design Centre. From the banal (the LED artwork above, almost identical to a gadget in the baby sensory room at my local Sure Start centre) to the dreadful (oh god, bad painting) to the sublime (pretty much anything below) to the derivative (copycat Damian Hirst Skulls-R-Us) – you can expect to find it all here. I negotiated the thronging crowds at the 2013 London Art Fair with boyfriend and baby in tow – here are my most interesting discoveries.
At Danielle Arnaud Sarah Woodfine had constructed an installation from MDF and cardboard. Like many of the artists that catch my eye these days she ‘explores the imaginary worlds that border the familiar and the fantastical.’ Fine pencil drawings decorate 3D shapes reminiscent of vessels.
Klari Reis (showing with Cynthia Corbett) hails from San Francisco, where she creates wall installations from colourful epoxy polymers. Her current Hypochondria series features patterned groupings of petri dishes that appeal to my love of all things bright.
It was great to see one of Nadav Kander‘s Bodies photographs up close: an un-airbrushed version of the feminine that proves you can be true to reality and still utterly beautiful. You can see the whole series in his current exhibition, listing here.
Installation artist Chris Wood works with glass and light to create enchanting works of art that caught my eye last year and again this time around.
I have only ever encountered Sweet Toof artworks on the walls around East London but like most contemporary street artists he also creates pieces with the fine art world in mind. His Dark Horse series features a host of scurrilous street scenes, skeletons jousting with gummy grins. His website explains that he ‘masterfully blends urban detritus with bygone decadence,’ and the results call to mind works by Jake and Dinos Chapman, especially their cheerful defamation of prized Goya drawings.
I first saw works by Chinese artist Ye Hongxing at Scream late last year and was immediately drawn in by her kaleidoscopic use of kitsch stickers, used in their thousands to create Modern Utopian landscapes featuring wild animals (such as the zebra in this detail). Her work is a reaction to the swift changes taking place in Chinese culture.
Alabama based folk artist Butch Anthony has tapped into our love of all things skeletal; layering his own doodles on top of junk shop finds. You can see more of Butch Anthony‘s work at his new show, Intertwangleism, opening February 8th at Black Rat. ‘Intertwangleism is how I look at people and break them down to the primordial beginnings,’ explains Butch Anthony, who also hosts Doo-Nanny, his very own annual outsider folk art festival. Watch this video to find out more about the intriguing Butch Anthony.
The sculptor Simon Allen creates carved, polished, pigmented forms that appeal to all my tactile senses. His pollen series was featured alongside equally captivating carved metallic wooden forms.
We recently visited the Mel Bochner exhibition at the Whitechapel Gallery, so I am familiar with his large scale typographic works. At the London Art Fair his tactile paintings featured extraordinary mounds of screen printed paint. I couldn’t peel my eyes away from the pornographic words.
I profiled Shane Bradford many years ago in the print version of Amelia’s Magazine: assorted objects dipped until they are heavily encrusted with glossy paint take on new symbolism and meaning.
Susie Macmurray‘s huge installation bulged from the wall like an overgrown carbuncular growth, unapologetic in it’s vulgarity. A former classical musician, she is well known for her use of unconventional materials such as cling film.
Johanna Basford is the prolific illustrator behind Secret Garden, Enchanted Forest and now Lost Ocean, which was published in October 2015. For her latest underwater adventure Johanna has gone back to her marine roots to pull together a gorgeous volume full of intricately detailed drawings inspired by real creatures and ocean fantasies. It’s a must have for any colouring enthusiast!
How long did it take to create your new colouring book, Lost Ocean, working on average how many hours a day? Lost Ocean took about 4 months to complete. Average days don’t really come into play when you work from home and you have a little person to care for, but I have childcare 4 days a week so I cram as much as I can into these hours, then I work when she (finally!) takes a nap or goes to sleep at night.
Lost Ocean coloured by Johanna Basford.
What are you favourite memories of growing up on your parent’s fish farm, and how have these influenced the making of Lost Ocean?
My parent’s fish farm is a fresh water one and is located about 20 miles inland (not on the coast), so my experiences there didn’t influence this book so much, apart from seeing tens of thousands of fish every day! My parents are both Marine Biologists though so my sister and I spent a lot of time visiting scientific aquariums and on research vessels as children. We could barely make it through a seafood dinner without someone having their main course dissected and an impromptu biology lesson taking place. I think these kind of things all just help open your eyes as a child and expose you to a vast array of different experiences that form the foundation of your imagination as an adult.
Your studio looks wonderful (very jealous!), I believe it is in your house? Where is it located, what is the view, how long have you been there and is it always as tidy as it looks in your videos?
We live in a converted farm building in the Aberdeenshire countryside. We are so lucky to be out in the wilds and I really love that feeling of looking out our windows and seeing the changing seasons. Due to the incredible amount of toys Evie began to accumulate (why do small people have so much stuff?!) we converted my old studio which was next to the kitchen into a playroom and I moved into the space in the attic. It was no hardship though as the view from the apex window out across the surrounding fields is so beautiful and it meant I was tucked away when I needed to work and out of ear shot of little people.
Lost Ocean coloured by Louise Chagger
How long did you stop working for when you had your daughter, and when during the day do you find it easiest to work now, and why?
I took 6 weeks ‘off’ social media when I had her, but was still checking in on email throughout as my second book, Enchanted Forest was about to go to print. My publishers were super understanding though and we all worked around the craziness that is coping with a new born. I worked around Evie’s schedule until she was 6 months, after which we had a wonderful family friend who is a nanny come and help me a few days a week. It wasn’t till then that I really got stuck back into things properly. I work best in the morning, always have done.
What kind of work commitments are your priority now your time is more limited?
Now that there’s more to cram into a day I’m a lot more selective about what I can take on. I’d rather turn down a job or rejig a deadline than deliver bad work late. I’ve scaled back a lot on commission work and focused on the books and long term projects – the lead times for commercial illustration work are often just days or in some cases hours long and more often than not required immediate amends to meet print deadlines. I just can’t offer that level of flexibility anymore so I’d rather pass up on a job or recommend someone else, than take it and be unprofessional.
Lost Ocean coloured by Maria C Crowdey
What have been the most difficult and the most wonderful things about continuing to work and being a mum at the same time?
The most difficult thing is the guilt. I think all Mums experience this though whether they are working or not. You always feel you could do better for your child. I feel bad for not being with her every day, for letting her watch Cbeebies when I’m trying to answer urgent emails at 6am and for not serving her up a delicious, organic meal I’ve prepared myself every night.
Lost Ocean coloured by Naomi Russell-Baugh
That being said, I wouldn’t change our situation. I love what I do and I’m so lucky to have a job that truly makes me happy. After a day of work or a trip away, I’m so delighted to see her. We make the very most of all the time we have together and I never take a day off for granted. Having that space to do a job I love and fire up my creative and intellectual side means that when I’m back in Mum mode I do so with a fresh head and a happy heart.
Where is your favourite place to walk when you want to clear your head and reinvigorate your creative sensibilities?
We live in the middle of nowhere, so I love to bundle Evie into the carrier, grab the dog and walk around the fields and woodland the surround our home. I love the fresh air on my face, to see Simcoe our dog bounding about enjoying the outdoor time and to show Evie the changing seasons.
How are you sharing your love of nature with your daughter Evie?
We spent a lot of time our doors playing, I want to give her the same sort of free range childhood that I had as a child. In the summer we pottered about in the garden, picking strawberries we had grown and smelling the flowers. As Autumn fell we gathered leaves for painting projects and looked for conkers.
Lost Ocean coloured by Tamila Kushnir
You have said that being scared inspires your best work, what situations are most likely to scare you the most nowadays?
Scary deadlines! Now that time is so scarce, anything that involves a short deadline terrifies me. I worry that I’m taking too much on, then I worry that I’m not pushing myself hard enough…
Lost Ocean front plate coloured by Patricia Grund
You initially trained as printed textile designer (like me!) Now, do you consider yourself an illustrator, a designer, an artist or all the above?
An illustrator. I draw pictures, nothing more, nothing less.
Where do you screen print your artist editions, and how often do you get to do that now? Dundee Contemporary Arts. I love it there. These days I rarely print, but when I do it’s a treat to be surrounded by so many wonderful artists and to have the excellent facilities and staff at DCA on hand.
Lost Ocean coloured by Rebecca Honeybee Swan
We first met you when you launched your #TwitterPicture project: you have been very adept at using social media and the internet in general to raise your profile, when and why did you start doing so?
I didn’t want to move to London (or any big city for that matter) and knew that in doing so I was isolating myself. I wasn’t going to bump into art directors and commissioning editors at swanky exhibition openings and I certainly couldn’t just pop round their office with my portfolio to tout my wares. To get around this I used social media and the internet to allow me to open up my studio and connect with these people from my little studio in the Scotland. I tried to think of imaginative ways of getting people’s attention and making my work memorable. An email with a PDF or a link to a portfolio is so boring. I tried to be a little different and to think up ways of presenting my work that was a little more imaginative.
Lost Ocean by Amanda Steele
Why do you think that sharing work online has become such a major aspect of the adult colouring book phenomenon?
Because we are all so proud of our creations!! For me colouring books are a collaboration. I create those black and white outlines, but it’s not until the owner of the book adds the colour that those illustrations are ever complete. We need to work together to create the final artwork. So when someone has completed a picture, they quite rightly want to show it off! Who wouldn’t?! The best part of my job, without a shadow of a doubt, is seeing all those amazing pictures on social media, in the facebook colouring groups and on my colouring gallery. It’s humbling to think I have the incredible opportunity to collaborate with literally millions of people worldwide and that we get to share our work with the world. I never see the same illustration twice, every time someone colours a picture they make it unique. It’s like a giant game of consequences; I do my part, then hand the books over to the world and everyone picks up the baton (or should I say the pencil!) and completes the pictures.
How much time do you have to upload stuff to your blog and various other online platforms these days? Your Pen Geekery section on your blog is so fabulously… geeky!
Not as much as I would like! Social media and my blog is so very important to what I do, so I try to schedule time for it every day. Whether that’s just posting a quick WIP on Instagram or uploading a new Vlog to YouTube, I feel the colouring community online are so important to what I do, so I want to connect with them as much as I can.
New Designers is one of my favourite places to discover graduate talent, what did taking part in the show do for you?
It was great for me, coming from a relatively small art school in Scotland, to just be in amongst the chaos. It’s good to be a bit scared and New Designers can be an overwhelming place! There’s so much talent, so much energy. Everyone is keen and fresh and unjaded, you don’t get that same feeling again! For me New Designers was a place to make connections. I spoke to lots of people, organized some internships, some freelance work and even had a couple of job offers. Ultimately, it all helped me decided what I did and didn’t want to do going forward.
I love your opinion that technicians are the unsung heroes of art schools! what was the best thing you learnt from them?
The nitty gritty. Like how to get a stubborn stain off a screen. Which inks would last longer than a week if I stored them right. How to make sure my paintings didn’t stick to the inside of a heat press… Not super glam, but it’s practical knowledge like that that you just can’t gleam from a lecture theatre. In my mind, infinitely more useful.
Do you or did you ever feel isolated in Aberdeen? How often do you have to travel for work, and have you ever been tempted to move for work reasons?
No. I’m a country girl and I don’t function well in big cities. I can’t draw blossoms and hummingbirds surrounded by concrete and tarmac. I venture down to London about once a month, cram in a whirlwind of meetings then fly north again at bedtime.
Lost Ocean coloured by insolitecass. You can download this image for free here
Can you tell us any more about your upcoming collaboration with Staedtler?
Yes, we’re starting to post details of this now. I was approached by lots of different pen and pencil manufacturers this year, asking if I would partner with them. Although I loved all the products that were highlighted to me, I’ve used Staedtler pens since art school and they are the brand that I’ve been recommending for years, so working with them seemed the most honest and natural collaboration. We’ve made a series of videos, a super cool little adult colouring website and there are some special edition products and bundles on the way. I’m also speaking to them about a few top secret colouring projects that I’d like to see realized (watch this space!).
How do you feel when you see the huge piles of colouring books in book and gift shops across the country?
SUPER PROUD. To see the adult colouring category blossom is the biggest thumbs up you can imagine. What better sign that you are doing something right, something that people truly want in their lives? I love that with every new book that appears, more and more people around the world are putting down their digital devices and picking up pens and pencils. We’re onto a good thing here!
I feel as though this Christmas we are about to hit “peak colouring book” for want of a better phrase, do you think the interest in adult colouring books will fade away, and do you see an end point for your (immense) contribution to the genre?
No I honestly don’t. I think adult colouring is just a new form a creativity, one that for whatever reason hadn’t risen to the forefront of popularity yet. The exact format may change and I’m keen to see how the discipline evolves, for example onto new materials, new applications, different techniques (have you seen those pan pastel artworks coming out of Brazil?!) but essentially, I think it’s something we’ve all been craving for a long time. An accessible way to be creative, a digital detox, a stress buster, a warm shot of nostalgia – whatever your reason for initially picking up a colouring book, I’m sure they will become a staple part of your creative life.
Lost Ocean coloured by tatianecandido Finally, what are you working on now and next? (and any clues as to what another colouring book might contain?)
SO MUCH.
A charity Christmas project I’m launching on 1st December, more details coming soon!
A new colouring book next summer (details are top secret for now I’m afraid).
Calendars!
Pens!
More Christmas!
The list goes on and on…
You can tour Johanna’s gorgeous studio in the video above. Lost Ocean is available worldwide. Thank you so much for taking the time to give such brilliant and informative answers Johanna! I can’t wait to see what you do next. Images thanks to the members of Facebook group Colouring Companions and the lovely people who share on Instagram.
Written by Amelia Gregory on Saturday November 14th, 2015 6:21 pm
I’ve been spending a lot of time on Facebook lately, getting inspired by the adult colouring community and discovering colouring artists such as Hanna Karlzon, who has created the beautiful Dagdrömmar (Daydreaming), a gorgeous volume chock full of dreamy imagery inspired by nature. Hanna talks to us about a love of Art Nouveau and Vikings, memories of childhood, and longings for summer. I can’t wait for Hanna’s next offering, Sommarnatt (Summernight), due out early next year.
I believe Dagdrömmar means Daydreaming – what do you daydream about and how did this influence the images that appear in this book?
Yes, Dagdrömmar means daydreams and I think the illustrations in my colouring book give you quite a good idea of what I daydream about myself. I have been living in Umeå, which is quite a big town in the north of Sweden, for about 15 years, but I grew up in a small village about one and a half hours drive from here. So I have lived my life growing up close to nature and animals but now that I live in the middle of a city I really long for that closeness to nature that I used to have as a kid, and all that longing often ends up in my illustrations. I love nature, forests, growing stuff, flowers, animals, the quiet life on the countryside and I’m really not a city person at all. It’s a little bit hard to explain how or why I draw – I just do and I don’t reflect about it to much, but in a way I feel like I want to capture that closeness to nature I used to have and mix it with that fantasy world I often lived and played in as a kid, and I guess you could say that that’s the essence of my daydreams and my art.
How did your first colouring book DagDrommar come about?
For years I had been thinking and dreaming about making a coloring book. Just putting some illustrations together and printing it myself, that was my plan, but I had a lot of other work to do at the time so the coloring book idea kinda got pushed aside. But last year in November I got an email from Pagina, a book publisher based in Stockholm, Sweden, asking if I was interested in making a coloring book with them and my answer then was of course YES! They had been looking around for Swedish illustrators and had gotten a tip from a woman (who I don’t know) about me and my instagram account and well, Pagina liked what they saw and contacted me and the rest is kinda history.
There were no clear directions about what kinda book they wanted, more than an actual coloring book, so I got to choose and direct most if it myself so it has been quite a journey since I had never done a book before. I knew from the beginning that I wanted a hard cover and for it to be a handy size of book. I came up with the name Dagdrömmar, the illustrations grew from that, and it took me about 5 months to complete the book, from start to finish. I did everything, from drawing the 100 illustrations to designing the layout of the book. The one thing that my publisher commented on was the cover, so we changed it back and forth a few times but I think the final one turned out nice. Making Dagdrömmar was the biggest task I have ever made in my work life as an illustrator, so far, and I’m really happy and proud that I pulled it off!
Dagdrömmar coloured by Tina Locke.
Dagdrömmar has been causing a bit of a stir in Facebook colouring communities (which is where I first discovered it). Have you looked online to see how people are colouring your pictures and which ones are the favourite, and does this influence how you are producing the next book at all?
I’m a member of some coloring groups on Facebook but I actually seldom scroll through those gropus since a few times I read some updates from people who didn’t like my book at all and that was kinda hard to read when I had put my heart and soul into the book, so I stopped looking after that. Of course I understand that not all people like my books but it’s easier for me not to read about I guess, it keeps me sane, haha. But I do look at coloring pics that people post on Instagram and I really like that. It’s so fun to see and I try to keep up and “like” all the pictures that get posted.
Dagdrömmar coloured by Courtney Personious.
And as to the question of whether all these posts and pics influences me and my work on my next book, well, not really. It might sound harsh but I get ALOT of emails from people who want me to do this and that for my next book, soft cover, bigger format, more details, less details, another paper, less girls, no spreads, one sided print, more flowers, less flowers… and so on and I can’t do all that, I can’t make everyone happy when everyone wants different things so I just have to rely on myself and do what I think is best and hopefully you will all like that in the end. On the other hand we (me and my publisher) try to make a diversity of products, for example postcard books, poster books etc. so that there will be a bigger chance that everyone will find a product that suits them.
What can people expect of your next volume, Sommarnatt? Will the pictures evoke midsummer nights for people around the world or will they be quite Scandinavian in feel? (WIP above)
As my first book, Dagdrömmar, was inspired a lot by my surroundings, growing up in the north of Sweden, my next book Sommarnatt (Summernight) will be even more focused on that. I draw the animals and nature that can be found around me but with a dreamy touch as usual. So yes, it most def will have a Scandinavian feel!
You’ve just released a beautiful postcard book called Vinterdrömmar, what are your favourite parts of this time of year? And will this be produced in book format at some point?
To be honest I’m a summer junkie. I love hot weather, sun, blue skies and green surroundings. So, winter is kinda hard for me, at least that part from November to the end of January/February, it’s just really dark and cold, we don’t get a lot of sun hours here in the north during the winter and that really gets to me. But, in the end of winter when it’s almost spring and the sun starts to visit us again and it’s all white outside, glistening snow, and you can spend the day outdoors, skiing with the kids or making a fire, then it’s just so beautiful here! But, winter is not as inspirational to me as summer is, so it was actually kinda tricky to make the Vinterdrömmar (Winter dreams) postcard book, the illustrations doesn’t come to me as natural as they do when it’s a summer theme. So there is no book format planned for Vinterdrömmar, I have a hard time to imagine that I actually could come up with 100 illustrations on that theme, haha. But there might be another postcard book next fall, who knows!
Poster by Hanna Karlzon
How do you create your drawings?
I have a small studio in an old house almost in the center of the city. It’s really cosy and not big at all but I have everything I need here; it’s my own space. I have two kids and I leave them at kindergarden/school every morning and then I take my bike down to my studio and work about 8 hours before I go back home. My work days vary a lot depending on what commissions I have, but right now when I’m working on my book I usually draw almost all day. And when I draw I’m doing it the old school way, just a pen and paper, nothing fancy at all, no computer. Thats the way I like it. I often listen to a podcast on Swedish science radio with a history theme, and I love listening to that while working. The programs cover everything from everyday life at Versaille, to Vikings, to what did people eat 500 years ago and so on, super fun and nerdy, love it! If I’m not listening to that I’m hanging out at Spotify listening to everything from Country to Punk and Thrash Metal, it depends on my mood.
Dagdrömmar coloured by Tonya Gerhardt.
Which pens and pencils do you recommend for use in your colouring books and why?
I recommend that you use the kind of colored pencils that you can sharpen, for example Staedtler ergo soft or Faber Castell polychromos. With them you can blend and make nice shadings. If you want colored (ink) pens Staedtler triplus fineliners with a fine tip or Steadtler triplus with a little thicker tip are good, they don’t bleed through the paper as other pens might do. I know that there are a lot of different pencils/pens out there and some might like another brand better but I like these, it can actually vary a lot what kind of pens you like depending on the way you hold your pen while drawing so the best thing is really to try different ones and see for yourself what kind you like. And keep in mind that when publishers in other countries make translations of my book they might use a different paper inside the book than the one we use in the Swedish version so always try your pens in a small corner of the book to see that they don’t bleed through.
Dagdrömmar coloured by Stephanie Rose.
You draw a lot of birds, why is that, what do you find so appealing?
Well I don’t know why, it has just ended up that way I guess. Maybe it’s because you can alter the pattern of the feathers every time, I don’t know. Or maybe it’s just because I love watching the swallows during summer, how they fly… well, haha, I don’t know, can’t answer that, next question!
Dagdrömmar by Allison Camille Tucker.
You have said you are quite influenced by the art nouveau period, what other time periods have had a bearing on recent work and how?
Well, I’m a nerd when it comes to old things, people and time periods. I love thinking about “how was it then, what did they think about, what did they eat, how did it sound, smell“… and so on. I don’t know why I find that so fascinating, I just do, and all that spills over into my art I guess. Now I have really been into the Viking age for a while and I’m really inspired by the jewelry and craftsmanship from that age, but I don’t know if it shows as much in my art as the Art Nouveau inspiration does. Art Nouveau is really decorative and it feels like it has a natural part in my art but the Viking stuff is more in the background. A few years back I was all about Marie Antoinette and drawing BIG hair… well, wait, when I think about it I might just still do that, haha.
Dagdrömmar coloured by Angelina Victoria.
I see you have some tattoos and have read you are fascinated by tattoo culture, how has this influenced your approach to art making?
I just admire the skill of tattooing and the many great artists that perform this art so brilliant. It’s something really cool and terrifying about the fact that you only get once chance to make a good job, you can’t erase and start over. I like the thought of that.
You have done some amazing murals – where are they and how did they come about?
Well, I have only made one actual mural so far, in an apartment building here in Umeå, but I made this little project on Instagram that got a lot of attention. I snapped pictures of boring buildings that I passed on my way to work and then I photoshopped my illustrations onto these buildings and uploaded on instagram under the tag #mittumeå and it got a lot of positive attention amongst people and media. With the pictures I wanted to show that maybe the city we live in doesn’t have to be that static, maybe it could look another way, maybe it could be happier, more people friendly, less boring? Maybe we, as residents, could change our city together? And as I said, I got a lot of positive feedback and I think that shows that we often take the city for granted, the way it is and looks, but if someone shows you a better/different picture of the city, we start thinking “aha, maybe this is what it actually could be like, what can we do to change it?!“. I find that really interesting.
Dagdrömmar coloured by Cheryl Doerner Vogel.
Where did you study art (and what discipline?) and how has your style evolved since you left college?
I have always loved art, and I have been drawing since I was a kid and I have an art teacher degree from Umeå University. My style of drawing has evolved just over the last 2-3 years, ending up in the ink drawings I make now but before that I used to paint a lot and before that I was into graphite drawing. So, my style changes over time, thats a natural process I guess, you want to try new things. In the future I hope to be able to make more art oriented ink drawings, black and white, super big and with lots of details and shadings. I kinda miss shading doing all these coloring book illustrations that are really clean, if you understand what I mean.
Dagdrömmar coloured by Jessica Harrison.
Why did you study to be a teacher and why did you make the decision to go freelance and run your own business?
Studying to become a art teacher wasn’t really my plan, it kinda just happened. I did realize after a year or two at the university that I didn’t really like the teaching part, it was just the art part I was after, but I decided to finish and graduate anyways. After graduating I had some different jobs (factory, shops etc) but after being unemployed for a while I decided it was time for me to start my own business. This was about 3 years ago and I have been working full time on my business since then. But now I’m kinda thinking about that teaching part again, maybe it wasn’t so bad after all. I have been doing some lectures lately, talking about my job and so on, and I really like that now so well see how that evolves and how I maybe can incorporate that into my current business in the future.
Dagdrömmar coloured by Shannon Dager.
What do you like to do to relax and zone out?
Well, when I get home from work I just hang out with my family and do as little as possible and when the kids are in bed I watch series to relax, like Vikings, Downton Abbey, Peaky Blinders and stuff like that. On weekends we often visit my mom who lives in a really beautiful place, near the forest, with a big garden and nature around the corner. It’s my favorite place in the world. But, when I’m not a nature (or history) nerd I like to go to Punk Rock shows and hang out with my friends. Haha, It’s a good mix of this and that I guess.
Hare by Hanna Karlzon
What other projects are you working on and what are your hopes for 2016?
Well, right now I’m working on my second big coloring book, Sommarnatt (Summernight) that will be released in spring 2016. And, I have some other fun projects with my publisher that also will be released next spring/summer. My schedule is fully booked until August 2016 with new books/postcardbooks etc. that need to be made and after that’s done I’m hoping to get some time off work in August to spend some time with my family. And my hopes for 2016 are, first of all, that my family and I will be healthy and happy, and when it comes to my work I hope that my new book will turn out well and that everyone will like it and I hope, hope, hope that I will have the chance to keep doing what I do today; draw.
If you live in the US you can buy Dagdrömmar through Allison Camille Tucker at Colouring Creations, many thanks to Colouring Creations members for their lovely coloured artwork. Other photos are taken from Hanna Karlzon‘s website and instagram feed. Dagdrömmar (Daydreaming) is currently unavailable in the UK but can be ordered online from the Pen Store.
Written by Amelia Gregory on Saturday November 14th, 2015 1:21 pm
Well, Drawlloween 2016 has come to a close. Here is my “Trick ‘r Treat” piece.
It’s All Hallows’ Day and possibly my last Drawlloween discovery is the art of Mr. Walters of Nerfect Novelties, based out of Illinois in the USA. I can’t find out much about him, and the stuff he sells on Etsy seems quite different in flavour, but I just adore his painterly narrative pictures for Halloween. I think perhaps the stuff he writes to accompany his images describes his personality somewhat, and I love the way he presents them on a sparkly background. Oh, and all his artworks are for sale at just $40 each – contact him via social media to find out how you can buy one. Wonderful!
According to the Drawlloween 2016 calendar, today was “Call of C’Thursday.” That of course, is a reference to the ancient one, Cthulhu. Happy C’Thursday, Cthulhu!
Today’s Mab’s Drawlloween Club assignment was “Cult Costume.” Luckily I’ve been designing the vestments for my new UFO space-love secret society.
What ho ol’ specter! It’s my “ghosts” piece for Mab’s Drawlloween Club.
‘Twas “Skulls & Skeletons” for Drawlloween 2016, so this appeared. I’ve found that I can’t play loosey-goosey with the singularity or plurality of an assignment title, thus the numerous skulls and skeletons.
Written by Amelia Gregory on Tuesday November 1st, 2016 11:53 am
The graduate shows are upon us and that can only mean one thing… I’ll be heading down to the Truman Brewery on a weekly basis to discover the most inspiring new designers graduating in 2013. Due to the fact that I was off camping in rural Sussex last week (bliss) I only just made it along in time to view the first week’s showing at Free Range Graduate Shows. Sadly Somerset College was already packing up, but here’s the best of what I found elsewhere.
Fashion students from Coventry University had created an innovative display out of cardboard boxes, with exciting over-sized ceramic jewellery by Suzanne Kugler taking pole position in the window.
Next door University of Greenwich was showcasing the best of it’s new designers in multiple disciplines – I liked huge creative typography by Ben of Perverted Penguins.
In a dark corner an intriguing laser cut description of African beads had been made by the brilliantly named King’s Edogiawerie.
Goldsmiths had taken over the largest area in the basement to display a plethora of different design ideas under the This is War moniker. I was attracted to stunning beaded accessories inspired by history by Sophia Denny Design.
With children and friends aplenty frolicking around her stand Fanny Bissa‘s clever and colourful tools to build emotional intelligence warranted a closer look: I can imagine small people in particular would love to play around with her chalkboard shapes, but their usage could also be adapted to adult situations – find out more on her elegantly designed blog, Learn to Solve, here.
If you have just graduated and are wondering what to do with the rest of your life, why not check out our inaugural Amelia’s Award, the winner of which will receive a sponsored place to sell creative goods with the Secret Emporium at the Wilderness Festival this summer.
I look forward to discovering much more talent in the weeks to come – don’t forget to follow me on instagram (where all the above images appeared first) if you want to discover it in real time with me. My listing for Free Range can be found here.
Written by Amelia Gregory on Wednesday June 5th, 2013 4:12 pm
