Kickstarter – AmeliasMagazine

Amelia’s Magazine | A Divorce Before Marriage: a film about I Like Trains and the music industry

A Divorce Before Marriage by directors by Matt Hopkins & Ben Lankester follows the Leeds based band I Like Trains following their rejection by the mainstream music industry. During this time they grow older, gain families and ‘real’ jobs… whilst remaining passionate about producing the music they love. As someone who is a long time fan of I Like Trains and a supporter of musicians working on the fringes of the commercial music industry I was most intrigued to hear about this feature length film, and asked director Ben to explain more…

A Divorce Before Marriage – Official Trailer from A Divorce Before Marriage on Vimeo.

‘A Divorce Before Marriage is a documentary three years in the making. The film charts the lives of Leeds based I Like Trains following the loss of their record deal. We really wanted to shine a light on those bands working away in the middle, those bands positioned somewhere between superstardom and complete obscurity. We felt this was an overlooked and unrepresented portion of the industry, particularly within the world of music documentary.

A Divorce Before Marriage I Like Trains film kickstarter campaign 3
The film aims to reveal with brutal honesty the difficulties but also the rewards of balancing creative endeavour with earning a living. We hope the trailer speaks to creatives in all types of professions who are forced to do the same thing, particularly as you approach that delicate time in your 30s when life appears to take over. The film was shot over three years in order to capture those small but powerful moments of change that happen in our lives during this transformative period.

A Divorce Before Marriage I Like Trains film kickstarter campaign 1
As filmmakers we have been working with I Like Trains for five years now, from initial music videos and live performance films to this, a feature film documenting their lives over a long period. It really feels like the culmination of the journey we’ve all been on together, and the success of our ongoing Kickstarter campaign is testament to our belief that this band’s story is universal.’

A Divorce Before Marriage I Like Trains film kickstarter campaign 2
You can support the Kickstarter campaign to raise money for A Divorce Before Marriage here. They have already exceeded their first goal, but any extra money raised will allow them to make an even better film. The campaign closes on 14th October 2014.

Written by Amelia Gregory on Monday September 29th, 2014 4:18 pm

Categories ,A Divorce Before Marriage, ,Ben Lankester, ,film, ,I Like Trains, ,Kickstarter, ,Matt Hopkins

Amelia’s Magazine | New S/S 2013 Season Interview: Martina Spetlova

Martina Spetlova S/S 2013 by Sharon Farrow.

Innovative fashion designer Martina Spetlova introduces her new S/S 2013 collection and explains why you should help fund the movie to showcase her upcoming season on Kickstarter.

<a target="_blank" href="http://www.vimeo.com/49841918" rel="noopener">http://www.vimeo.com/49841918</a>

Marina Spetlova 'The Print & The Jacket' by Dom&Ink
Marina Spetlova ‘The Print & The Jacket‘ by Dom&Ink.

You are a textile innovator – what is it about different textures that you find so appealing?
Texture is like print for me, juxtaposing diferent textures together gives my designs the power I like to achieve in my collections. I tend to experiment with contrasting colours and opposing textures. I am always trying to find ways to treat standard fabrics to give them different structural properties – for instance by bonding, pleating and weaving satin through leathers – which helps me create a point of difference. That is how I can make my designs stand out but I also have lots of fun creating new collections. I am minimalist in shapes but maximalist in texture.

MartinaSpetlova_SS13_Look11
MartinaSpetlova_SS13_2
Your colour palette is also always very distinctive – what inspired this current season’s colour range?
My selection of colours is always little bit random. I usually start with 3 or 4 colours I like and are available and add more of them while working on my fabric samples.

Where did the graphic patterns come from?
From a photograph of my mum in the 70s.

Martina Spetlova by Alexandria Coe.

How do you source your fabrics?
This season I mainly worked with leather. My supplier in London has certain sustainable policies: I am concern about environment and I try to be as eco friendly as possible with my label.

Who creates your pieces?
All the knitwear is created in my studio in London, which does all samples and production at the moment. We work on domestic knitting machines.

MartinaSpetlova_SS13_Look4
MartinaSpetlova_SS13_1
What was the inspiration for the abstractions in your S/S 2013 film?
I wanted to create a land of Martina Spetlova. Shooting the collection froma microscopic view, showing the collection as a diverse landscape of bold colour and glistening mountains of fabric. It captures the detailed focus of this collection.

Martina Spetlova by Ashley Fauguel.

Looking forward, what can we expect from the new collection?
The new collection is entirely leather and knitwear and features lots of textures and colours again… My simple twisted yarn knitted dresses and neckpieces accompany every look of 15 silhouettes and are a great compliment to raw edged, un-lined leather jackets, tops, skirts, shorts and trousers. Collars are created by patch-working fish skin leathers and off-cuts of sheep skin and no piece in the collection is flat. Amongst the techniques used are the playful exploration of accordion pleats on leather, cuts punched through soft leathers to create grids on the surface and my satin tape hand-woven technique from last season combined with graphic pattern (seen also on knits). I’m using softly twisted stretchy yarns for knitted neckpieces and dresses in black, light grey and graphic patterns. A/W 2013 uses soft colours of pale blue, moth green, mustard orange, white and black together with acid yellow and orange. I use a high quality of craftsmanship, making pieces by hand in the studio.

MartinaSpetlova_SS13_Look13
Martina Spetlova SS13 by Isher Dhiman
Martina Spetlova S/S 2013 by Isher Dhiman.

You are currently seeking funding on Kickstarter – what will these funds go towards and what can contributors expect in return?
I have set up Kickstarter to help me fund my film presentation in Somerset House during London Fashion Week, which will pay for the space to showcase my film in the Portico Rooms. Everyone who sponsors this event will be invited to Somerset House, and pieces from my collections will be gifted to generous backers. Of course there will also be a BIG THANK YOU to everyone who supports me!

There are six days left to help Martina Spetlova raise £1000 for her film presentation at the LFW – help out on Kickstarter here.

Written by Amelia Gregory on Monday January 21st, 2013 4:48 pm

Categories ,Alexandria Coe, ,Ashley Fauguel, ,Dom & Ink, ,Dom&Ink, ,Dominic Evans, ,ethical, ,film, ,Isher Dhiman, ,Kickstarter, ,leather, ,London Fashion Week, ,Martina Spetlova, ,Portico Rooms, ,S/S 2013, ,Sharon Farrow, ,Somerset House, ,textiles

Amelia’s Magazine | Kickstarter: Support the GroCycle Urban Mushroom Farm

Growing Colums - grocycle
Adam Sayner and Eric Jong are the guys behind GroCycle, a social enterprise that takes used coffee grounds and turns them into delicious gourmet oyster mushrooms! Just as their Exeter based business is taking off they have been forced to move premises, and to cover the costs they are running a Kickstarter campaign, with great rewards such as grow-your-own mushroom kits. Adam Sayner began his fascination with mushrooms whilst studying ecology at the University of Sussex and was growing mushrooms in the Devon area for a living when he met Eric Jong (who had recently left the corporate world) at Schumacher College.

GroCycle-Adam and Eric
When did you first come across the idea of growing mushrooms on used coffee grounds?
It was 2011 and I was growing gourmet mushrooms in the traditional way on straw and sawdust as a small business at the time. I came across the idea of growing on coffee grounds online and it was a lightbulb moment as I realised it was a simpler method of growing Oyster mushrooms and made use of all that waste. Overnight I switched focus and have been doing it like this ever since!

roasted coffee beans
What are the practicalities of collecting coffee grounds to create the mushroom farm?
The coffee gets pasteurised in the brewing process which is great for growing mushrooms. But it also means we need to use it whilst it’s still fresh, so we pick up the grounds daily from Exeter’s largest cafes on a cargo bike.

grocyclefarm
What incentive is there for coffee shops to take part?
Apart from a great story and the personal satisfaction of the staff in each cafe knowing the grounds are going to good use, it also reduces the cost to the cafe of having this part of their waste collected.

Why oyster mushrooms?
Oyster mushrooms are incredible in their ability to grow on many different food sources (paper/card/spent brewery waste – even jeans), and they are the only type that happily grow on pure coffee grounds. They also happen to be some of the easiest mushrooms to grow and taste delicous!

Tray of Oysters
Do you have any other ideas for sustainable urban agriculture?
We’re inspired by a lot of what is going on right now in Urban Agriculture – especially aquaponics systems and growing in abandoned spaces or even underground. It’s the perfect use for space which no one else wants, and it gives the chance to re-connect people with fresh healthy food grown within metres of where they live.

Oyster mushroom gills
Where are your new premises and what does a mushroom farm look like?
The new premises are also in the centre of Exeter, on the 3rd floor of an office building which has been empty for a while. A mushroom farm basically consists of 2 main grow rooms – one warm and dark like summer, and the other like autumn; cool and damp with lots of fresh air. We build these grow rooms within the existing room and it provides quite a spectacle for people who visit straight off the high street full of shops.

GroCycle Kits
How do people take part on the online course, and what is the best part about growing mushrooms at home?
The online course is made up of 5 main modules and a forum where members from around the world share their experiences and ask questions to help in their learning. Members work through the modules at their own pace and then put the growing into practice wherever they live. There’s currently members in 15 countries around the world! The best thing about growing mushrooms at home is actually just watching them grow – it happens so fast and it’s a wonder of nature. Check out the time lapse video below that a customer of ours made to see what I mean.

Support the Kickstarter campaign here.

Written by Amelia Gregory on Thursday March 19th, 2015 11:04 pm

Categories ,Adam Sayner, ,Aquaponics, ,Coffee, ,Coffee Grounds, ,Devon, ,Eric Jong, ,Exeter, ,Gourmet mushrooms, ,GroCycle, ,Kickstarter, ,Mushroom Farm, ,mushrooms, ,Oyster Mushrooms, ,University of Sussex, ,Urban Agriculture, ,Urban Mushroom Farm

Amelia’s Magazine | The Kickstarter campaign for Amelia’s Colourful Colouring Companion launches today!

Kickstarter campaign image Ameliasccc
I am super excited to announce that the Kickstarter campaign for Amelia’s Colourful Colouring Companion launches today! Make sure you grab an EARLY BIRD BARGAIN…

Amelia’s Colourful Colouring Companion is a unique collaborative colouring book for adults, featuring the work of 40 artists from all over the world. If you are hunting for an unusual, beautiful, high quality colouring book that stands out in the crowd then this is the one for you! It would make an ideal Christmas present.

Double page spread by Alex McGinn.

Double page spread by Eleanor Percival.

Amelia’s Colourful Colouring Companion was put together through an open brief and each artist has contributed a double page – with a full colour left page on the left, and a complementary black line image on the right to colour in. This limited edition book will be printed on gorgeous thick paper and bound using the lay flat binding process ensuring that it is a delight to colour in.

I am already colouring in the pages! Here’s one by Nanna Prierler.

And another by Steph Moulden.

I have released some early back issues (1,2,3 and 4) as rewards to help raise funds and there are some fabulous Early Bird bargains that are sure to be snapped up fast, so please do visit the campaign page to view a short video featuring a mock up of the book… I hope you enjoy the little surprise at the end!

Written by Amelia Gregory on Monday November 2nd, 2015 1:27 pm

Categories ,#ameliasccc, ,Adult Coloring Book, ,Adult Colouring Book, ,Alex McGinn, ,Amelia’s Colourful Colouring Companion, ,Back issues, ,Coloring, ,Coloring Book, ,Colouring, ,Colouring Book, ,Early Bird, ,Eleanor Percival, ,Kickstarter, ,Launch, ,Nanna Prierler, ,Steph Moulden

Amelia’s Magazine | OPEN BRIEF for ARTISTS: Amelia’s Magazine Colourful Colouring Companion

Amelia's Magazine issue 4 cover colouring in
Have you noticed the huge trend for colouring books aimed at adults? It hasn’t escaped my notice: I included a series of colouring in pages in issue 4 of Amelia’s Magazine way back in 2005, complete with a scratch ‘n’ sniff cover and a free set of smelly branded pens to colour in those pages (above). 10 years on the concept has gone mainstream, and the time is right to contribute something a bit different to the market: a beautifully curated colouring book that features the work of multiple contributors who are working in diversely different but appealing styles. I will include artwork that features a wide range of themes, creating a book that goes beyond the feel of most pretty decorative colouring books. I want this book to appeal as much to men as it does to women! (and I therefore encourage lots of male artists to contribute).

Amelia's Magazine issue 4 Zakee Shariff colouring in pages
Zakee Shariff, Amelia’s Magazine issue 4.

Amelia's Magazine issue 4 Birgitte Lund colouring in pages
Birgitte Lund, Amelia’s Magazine issue 4.

And the most exciting part about this project? Each artist will get two opposing pages to play with, just as they did back in 2005. One side of the book will showcase a fully coloured image, and the opposite page will showcase a similar or related image designed for colouring in. It’s a great chance for artists to get their work seen and admired by a wide new audience – all images will be credited and there will be a back section where short bios and links for all featured artists are shared. Let your imagination run riot.

Amelia's Magazine issue 4 Serge Seidlitz colouring in pages
Serge Seidlitz, Amelia’s Magazine issue 4.

Amelia's Magazine issue 4 Colin Henderson colouring in pages
Colin Henderson, Amelia’s Magazine issue 4.

I have already conducted a bit of market research on my social media feeds to gauge enthusiasm for a colouring in book and here are just a few of the responses: I think we’re onto a winner!

‘Sounds so fun’
‘I’d buy it for sure’
‘Heck yes, I’d love to be involved’
‘I’d love to draw something! I would also love to buy a copy!’
‘Yes! I loved this back in 2005. And would love another similar issue today! x’
‘I’ve just completed two commissions for adult colouring books, they’re so popular right now go for it, I’d love to contribute!’
‘Would love to pop five on my Christmas gift list!’
‘I remember this! Great idea!’
‘Definitely, great idea! Would tick two of my obsession boxes…’
‘definitely! Perfect idea!’
‘sounds like a fantastic idea. I hope you decide to go for it, it would be a great project & I’d love to buy one.’
‘It’s a brilliant concept. Like a colouring compendium of up and coming artists.’

Amelia's Magazine issue 4 Jim Stoten colouring in pages
Jim Stoten, Amelia’s Magazine issue 4.

Technical Details:
Please read before you start your artwork! I cannot include artwork that is not correctly put together for the book.

Specifications:
The full colour page of your artwork should be designed to appear on the left hand side of the book (so please remember that some of the artwork may disappear into the gutter on the right hand side). Please note that this is the reverse of how it appeared in issue 4.

The colouring in page should be designed to appear on the right hand side of the book (ditto, some of the artwork may disappear into the gutter at the left side). Please make sure you create this page using a fine liner pen and make sure your lines are solid and can be coloured in easily (no pencil or brush lines please). Lots of small intricate spaces to colour in are good, but it’s okay to intersperse these with larger areas of plain ground.

Please make sure your pages work together: they could make up one large image when viewed together, or tell some kind of story next to each other. They should not be based on the exact same image. Please have fun with this concept; this will not be a twee colouring in book, so please get inspired by ideas beyond the usual. And of course, have fun with colour…

Size, Bleed, File type:
This book will be the same size as all my publications: 200mm wide x 245mm high. However you should produce your original artwork so it would fit an A2 sheet; 400mm x 490mm at a 300 dpi resolution.

Please also include a 3mm area of bleed around your artwork, as it will be printed full bleed in the book. This is a 3mm zone that you do not mind losing parts of when the pages are cut to size (so don’t include anything important).

Each of your two images should therefore be sized 406mm wide x 496mm high at 300 dpi, which includes the 3mm bleed zone around each side.

Create your colour artwork using the CYMK colour mode for lithograph printing and save as a tiff or psd file. Please create the line art for your colouring in page using the Grayscale mode in Photoshop or as an Illustrator file. The line art should be very black please.

Exclusivity:
Your artwork should be created exclusively for this project: please share tasters on social media using the hashtag #ameliasccc but do not share the full piece online until the book is published if you are chosen for inclusion.

Amelia's Magazine issue 4 Luke Best colouring in pages
Luke Best, Amelia’s Magazine issue 4.

Send Me:
Please title your email ARTWORK FOR AMELIA’S MAGAZINE COLOURING BOOK.

Please ensure your artworks are labelled with your name or I may lose them.

Please send me a small version of your artwork: my Gmail account cannot cope with large files, so please ensure you resize each page to be no larger than 1MB. If you are shortlisted I will ask you to send a larger file via Wetransfer.

Website and Social Media:
You must have a professional active presence on social media channels, preferably on at least twitter, facebook and instagram.

Please include all relevant links in your email, including a link to the personal website which best showcases your work.

Please do start sharing news on the project using the hashtag #ameliasccc. I’d love to see your progress on twitter and instagram.

Words:
Please send me a 100 word description of your artwork: including inspiration, process and meaning if applicable.

Please also send me 100 word biography.

Amelia's Magazine issue 4 Babak Ganjei colouring in pages
Babak Ganjei, Amelia’s Magazine issue 4.

Credit:
All artists will receive a complimentary copy of the book. If the book is taken up by a publisher I will endeavour to agree some kind of payment for all featured artists: but please note that if I self publish this book I will not be able to offer any payment. *So I can’t promise anything at this stage.*

Deadlines:
You have all summer long to work on your images, but please submit your artwork to art@ameliasmagazine.com by Friday 28th August 2015. My plan is to publish this book before Christmas, making it the perfect gift item for all those who have recently discovered (or rediscovered) the joy of colouring in, but are looking for something a bit different from the average offering.

Publishing Plans:
At present I anticipate self-publishing this book through Kickstarter in the same way as I did with my limited edition 10th anniversary celebration book That Which We Do Not Understand: now sold out. However I am also actively looking for a publisher who understands my vision and is able to better promote and distribute this book once it is published. I don’t know which way it will go at this stage, but suffice to say that if you are a publisher or work for one and would be interested in chatting with me then do get in touch: I’d love to talk.

Disclaimer:
I am nearly 38 weeks pregnant and hopeful this birth will go well and I can get back to work as soon as possible, but there’s always the potential for unforeseen problems, and if something does happen then I will have to postpone this project. So I am just putting that thought out there: I could not wait to post this brief and look forward to seeing what you produce.

Written by Amelia Gregory on Friday June 26th, 2015 2:57 pm

Categories ,#ameliasccc, ,Adult Coloring Book, ,Adult Colouring, ,Adult Colouring Book, ,Amelia’s Magazine, ,Babak Ganjei, ,Birgitte Lund, ,Colin Henderson, ,Coloring, ,Coloring In, ,Colourful Colouring Companion, ,Colouring, ,Colouring Book, ,Colouring In, ,illustration, ,Jim Stoten, ,Kickstarter, ,Luke Best, ,Open brief, ,Serge Seidlitz, ,Special Colouring Companion, ,That Which We Do Not Understand, ,Wetransfer, ,Zakee Shariff