Lilly Allen – AmeliasMagazine

Amelia’s Magazine | Christopher Raeburn: the fashion designer who is working wonders with old fabrics

Design by Ruth Hill, physician rx Illustration by Dee Andrews

This week’s wet Monday was brightened up considerably by a trip to the Royal Collage of Art’s first work-in-progress show of 2011 – and before you ask, seek no, online I was not suffering from “Blue Monday” or the notion that yesterday was the most depressing day of the year. As Ben Goldacre (Bad Science) discussed over on his blog yesterday, the concept of Blue Monday was made up by a PR company, with the aim to sell more holidays in the months after Christmas and is being perpetuated by journalists reconfiguring press releases into actual articles, without through fact-checking, a type of writing describe by Goldacre aschurnalism.

Finishing on Wednesday, 19th January, the Work-In-Progress show is a great opportunity for current BA Students, graduates and the public to see the developing ideas in the fields of Fashion, Textiles, Metalwork and Jewellery, Goldsmithing, Silversmithing, and Photography. Whilst the photography and the filmmaking are breathtaking, warranting a trip to the RCA by themselves, I will mainly be focusing on the Menswear and Womenswear Year Two students.

Tariq Mahmoud

Tariq Mahmoud’s shoe was inspired by watching the penguins at the penguin pool of London Zoo. The unique presentation of his shoe within a fish bowl with a couple of toy penguins for company, was certainly eye catching, drawing your attention to the similarities between flipper and shoe.

This wonderful jacket half-suspended within the cloth, from it was cut, calls to mind Issey Miyake’s A Piece of Cloth or A-Poc (see Fashion Editor Matt Bramford’s wonderful article on Future Beauty: 30 Years of Japanese Fashion at the Barbican). Unfortunately I could not find a name to accredit the design too…

Aleksandra Domanerskaya

The RCA Interim show is a fantastic opportunity to see how ideas circulating within contemporary fashion are being dissected by students studying the craft. Aleksandra Domanerskaya’s oversized mac in a traditional plaid is a great example of how classic shapes are constantly being reinvented.

Orshel-Read

It was amazing to discover that one of Amelia’s Magazine favourite London Fashion Week designers Orschel-Read is still a student!
Design by Orschel-Read, Illustration by Gareth A Hopkins

Cherie Newing

In recent seasons, knitwear has exploded across the menswalk catwalks, from James Long’s to Morgan Allen Oliver via Sibling, designer after designer have reinvented a fabric which was once solely associated with 1970′s knitwear patterns. I loved Cherie Newing’s take on the ubiquitous fisherman’s jumper.

Sol Ahn

Menswear Year 2 student and intriguing illustrator, Sol Ahn displayed this breathtaking combination of a triomphe d’oeil shirt and cardigan with fabrics to match the illustrations!

Samuel Membey

Samuel Membery’s overcoat revisits the skinhead movement of the 1970′s, as captured in Gavin Watson’s collection of photographs: Skins.

Ruth Hill

In Womenswear Knit, Ruth Hill’s simple orange block print dress in an incredibly fine knit, was beautifully reminiscent of the artist Paul Klee.

Lily Kamber

Lily Kamber’s fantastic mixed media pieces used found objects to create pieces of jewellery more at home in the art deco settings of William Morris…

In the M.Phil research section, I came across the wonderful work of Jungeun Lee. Lee’s experiments with synthetic fabrics – creating garments without the need for pattern cutting, sowing, knitting or weaving – reminded me again of the ground breaking A-Poc (A piece of Cloth) and Issey Miyake’s latest venture, 132 5, an “experiment in steam pressed polygons of material” (thanks Fashion Ed, Matt Bramford!). Lee created her pieces by molding hot synthetic fibres into a 3D Structure.

Hurry up! What are you waiting for? Head down to the Royal College of Art before 5.30pm Wendesday 19th January.

Visit the Royal College of Art’s website for full updates on their upcoming in-progress shows and public lectures. I’m particularly looking forward to the collaboration between RCA MA Curating Contemporary Art and Goldsmiths MFA Curating students, Testing Ground: Time Scale.

Christopher Raeburn studied at Middlesex University in London, treat where a really good technical tutor made him keen to attend the hallowed Royal College of Art, order from which he graduated in 2006. He has become well known for his upcycling of military fabrics, although he has worked with everything from Eurostar uniforms to hot air balloon material. He sources parachutes, leather jackets, tents and ponchos from military surplus warehouses around England, but has increasingly started to import pieces from Europe so that he can make bigger runs. The military inherently overproduces so there are huge volumes of fabric and garments that will never be used – dead stock that Christopher is happy to make the most of. In fact most production processes are inefficient so there is always likely to be pre-consumer waste; for example, 10% of the parachute fabric that is made fails opacity tests. Christopher is able to give that fabric a new lease of life. Most recently he worked with windproof cotton from some forty year old Swedish snow parkas. Occasionally a company will contact him about a specific material they think he might like to use, which has been a great way to keep his collections fresh and innovative.
Gemma Milly Christopher Raeburn A/W 2010
Christopher Raeburn A/W 2010 by Gemma Milly.

Christopher Raeburn studied at Middlesex University in London, sildenafil where a really good technical tutor made him keen to attend the hallowed Royal College of Art, from which he graduated in 2006. He has become well known for his upcycling of military fabrics, although he has worked with everything from Eurostar uniforms to hot air balloon material. He sources parachutes, leather jackets, tents and ponchos from military surplus warehouses around England, but has increasingly started to import pieces from Europe so that he can make bigger runs.

Christopher Raeburn by Lesley Barnes.

The military inherently overproduces so there are huge volumes of fabric and garments that will never be used – dead stock that Christopher is happy to make the most of. In fact most production processes are inefficient so there is always likely to be pre-consumer waste; for example, 10% of the parachute fabric that is made fails opacity tests. Christopher is able to give that fabric a new lease of life. Most recently he worked with windproof cotton from some forty year old Swedish snow parkas. Occasionally a company will contact him about a specific material they think he might like to use, which has been a great way to keep his collections fresh and innovative…

Read the rest of this interview and see more illustrations of Christopher Raeburn’s clothing in Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration, alongside interviews with 44 other ethical fashion designers and 30 fabulous fashion illustrators. You can buy the book here.

Written by Amelia Gregory on Tuesday January 18th, 2011 1:32 pm

Categories ,ACOFI, ,Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration, ,Christopher Raeburn, ,Eco fashion, ,Ethical Fashion, ,Eurostar uniforms, ,fabric, ,Gemma Milly, ,Lesley Barnes, ,middlesex university, ,military, ,New Gen, ,Parachutes, ,recycled, ,Royal College of Art, ,Swedish snow parkas, ,Upcycled

Amelia’s Magazine | The ACOFI Book Tour visits Soma Gallery in Bristol

ACOFI book tour Soma Gallery 2011

Soma Gallery has been a faithful stockist of Amelia’s Magazine since the early days of its print version, generic so I’ve had a long and lovely relationship with gallery owner Fiona Hamilton:

ACOFI book tour Soma Gallery 2011 Fiona Hamilton

Fiona started up Soma Gallery in 2005 as a place to show up and coming artists, and thanks to her good eye she picked up on the likes of Rob Ryan, Anthony Burrill and Gemma Correll early on in their careers.

ACOFI book tour Soma Gallery 2011

Soma Gallery used to be housed in a tiny space inside the Clifton Arcade but last year Fiona moved into a bigger shop across the road and it was in the upstairs gallery that we held the ACOFI Book Tour gathering just over a week ago.

ACOFI book tour Soma Gallery 2011 Lahloo

When I arrived (last minute, slightly flustered, again. must learn to manage time better) Kate Gover from Lahloo Tea already had the kettle on. She was joined by Vicky and Stu, who were both excellent people to have helping out. Kate came to the tea trade via restaurant retail, but it was a slightly strange career path to choose because she hates normal builders’ tea.

ACOFI book tour Soma Gallery 2011 Kate and Fiona
Kate Gover shows Fiona some of the tea.

Due to her inquisitive nature she decided to find a tea that she did enjoy drinking and spent many years developing her palette by training with some of the best tea masters – through them she met with the small scale producers who now supply her with the very best quality teas from their estates. Lahloo Teas can be bought in Chandos Deli and Arch House Deli in Bristol, as well as in fine food stores across the UK. I particularly love Kate’s dedication to the way her teas are presented – she has developed some lovely flyers to promote the tea, her logo features a great fat red heart, and larger quantities come presented in a wooden box. Each tin is decorated with an old shipping map that was inspired by the travels of a famous clipper that her great grandfather sailed on, after which the tea brand is named. Clearly she is a lady for whom attention to detail is important and it certainly pays off with her fragrant teas. Choose from such delights as Amber Oolong Tea, grown on a misty mountain in Taiwan or Guricha Green Loose Tea from China.

ACOFI book tour Soma Gallery 2011 Hart's Bakery

Lahloo Tea is the perfect accompaniment to a very good hand made biscuit… and on the table were three expertly packed boxes of the most stupendously gorgeous biscuits from Hart’s Bakery: as promised Laura had hand made heart shaped custard creams, iced gingerbread hearts and the cutest hand iced shortbread bicycles. Honestly, I am flabbergasted at pâtissière Laura’s skills – she’s trained with the best of them and it shows. Good folks of Bristol, if you want to try something really special then you should visit her in her shop in Hampton Lane for some artisan delights, where you can also try rhubarb and almond danish, eccles cakes alongside savoury delicacies such as olive and rosemary bread and filled croissants. It really doesn’t get better than this. I am jealous of you Bristol folks.

ACOFI book tour Soma Gallery 2011 Juiceology

Of course we once more had a little help from Juiceology drinks and Dr.Hauschka goodies, much appreciated by everyone who attended, thankyou!

ACOFI book tour Soma Gallery 2011 Bex Glover
At my Bristol leg of the tour I was lucky enough to be joined by two of the illustrators who are featured in ACOFI – Bex Glover of Severn Studios, whose work just keeps getting better and better. She’s just done a mural for a cafe in Harrods and she is currently featured in several other magazines including The Mighty Pencil – combining two of her favourite things: fashion illustration and animals.

ACOFI book tour Soma Gallery 2011 Bex Glover
She has also been doing tutorials for the likes of Digital Artist Magazine, so you can catch up with some of her techniques there. I’m sure you’ll be seeing much more of Bex’ unique style.

ACOFI book tour Soma Gallery 2011 Bex Glover Hart's Bakery
Bex Glover with a Hart’s Bakery bicycle biscuit.

ACOFI book tour Soma Gallery 2011 Katie Harnett Lahloo Tea
Katie checks out the Lahloo tea – she’s a big tea fan! Hence her moniker Teabelle!

Katie Harnett is just coming to the end of her degree at UWE, so she’s been very busy putting that together – I look forward to seeing the show in July when it comes to London!

Jasper Conran A/W 2011 by Katie Harnett. She has also been experimenting with some new techniques and animal drawings.

ACOFI book tour Soma Gallery 2011 Katie Harnett
She came along with an old school friend and fellow UWE student Lilly Allen, but sadly no one else from UWE came along. I put it down to the frantic time of year…

ACOFI book tour Soma Gallery 2011 Kat and Rog of Howkowpow
It was a pleasure to meet Kat and Rog of Howkapow, who stock a delicious range of goodies on their website. Kat is a girl after my own heart – a lover of bright colours and patterns with an 80s flavour. All good things I say! She was wearing an eye-catching Gonzalo Cutrina Extinct necklace from her website. It’s a mere £55 – what a bargain:

ACOFI book tour Soma Gallery 2011 Gonzalo Cutrina Extinct necklace Howkapow
The Howkapow website invests in new and unknown designers and they plan to open an agency to fully support them alongside. Why not find out more about what they are up to on the Howkapow blog?

ACOFI book tour Soma Gallery 2011 Ben Newman
It was lovely to finally meet illustrator Ben Newman, who illustrated for two issues of Amelia’s Magazine back at the start of what has become a very successful career. What a lovely smiley chap he is!

ACOFI book tour Soma Gallery 2011 Lauren Neko, Bonina Silvestre and Charlotte Pain
Lauren Neko, Bonina Silvestre and Charlotte Pain.

It was also nice to meet the fabulously named Bonina Silvestre and her friend Charlotte Pain, both studying art. Lauren Neko sings and reads dreams. Impressed!

ACOFI book tour Soma Gallery 2011 Lesley Barnes badges
There are countless good reasons to visit Soma Gallery, either at Fiona’s space in Bristol, or online from anywhere in the world: Soma Gallery stocks Lesley Barnes prints, and also Lesley Barnes dancing bear badges… and tote bags.

ACOFI book tour Soma Gallery 2011 Fiona Hamilton badges
Fiona has an old specialist printer with which she makes these adorable badges: I couldn’t resist buying a metallic pair of brightly coloured rodents. Also stocked at Comma Shop.

ACOFI book tour Soma Gallery 2011 Tom Frost
Soma stocks a wide range of one off and limited edition art, including this lovely screenprinted wooden piece from Tom Frost.

ACOFI book tour Soma Gallery 2011 Donna Wilson creatures
Donna Wilson animals are in abundant supply, as are Lisa Jones prints, cushions (above) mugs and cards:

ACOFI book tour Soma Gallery 2011 Roger La Borde cards
And of course Soma also does a roaring trade with my new Roger La Borde range. Yay! Make sure you visit Soma Gallery soon.

ACOFI book tour Soma Gallery 2011 Ben Newman
Ben Newman reads my Anthology of Illustration.

ACOFI book tour Soma Gallery 2011 Lauren Neko
Lauren Neko.

ACOFI book tour Soma Gallery 2011 Lilly Allen
Lilly Allen.

ACOFI book tour Soma Gallery 2011 Rog, Fiona, Kat
Rog, Fiona and Kat.

ACOFI book tour Soma Gallery 2011 Stephanie Weise
Stephanie Weise.

ACOFI book tour Soma Gallery 2011
I sat on the floor to give my talk, it was all very informal!
You can read Fiona Hamilton’s marvellous account of the night here.

Don’t forget that I have one more date on my ACOFI Book Tour – if you live in London please do join me at Tatty Devine, Brick Lane, on Tuesday 7th May. I’ll be talking from 7.30pm and there will also be the opportunity to learn how to make iced biscuits with Biscuiteers! Read about my first tour date a few weeks back at Tatty Devine, Covent Garden. Lovely stuff. Join the facebook for the event here.

Written by Amelia Gregory on Friday June 3rd, 2011 2:19 pm

Categories ,ACOFI, ,Amber Oolong Tea, ,Anthony Burrill, ,Arch House Deli, ,Ben Newman, ,Bex Glover, ,Biscuiteers, ,Bonina Silvestre, ,Book Tour, ,Chandos Deli, ,Charlotte Pain, ,Clifton Arcade, ,Clipper, ,Comma Shop, ,Digital Artist Magazine, ,Dr.Hauschka, ,Dreaming with Neko, ,Extinct necklace, ,Fiona Hamilton, ,Gemma Correll, ,Gonzalo Cutrina, ,Guri-Cha Green Loose Tea, ,Guricha Green Loose Tea, ,Hart’s Bakery, ,Howkapow, ,Jasper Conran, ,Juiceology, ,Kat and Rog, ,Kate Gover, ,Katie Harnett, ,Lahloo Tea, ,Laura Hart, ,Lauren Neko, ,Lesley Barnes, ,Lilly Allen, ,Lisa Jones, ,pâtissière, ,rob ryan, ,Roger La Borde, ,Severn Studios, ,Soma Gallery, ,Tatty Devine, ,teabelle, ,The Mighty Pencil, ,Tom Frost, ,UWE

Amelia’s Magazine | Secret Garden Party 2011: Festival Review

The Secret Garden Party, buy illustrated by Sam Parr

A playground for all ages, ed The Secret Garden Party boasts a reputation as a festival where you can temporarily seek refuge from the hassles of real life and indulge in a few days of crazy creativity in a temporary community where a surprise lurks around every corner.

In my estimation, medical The Secret Garden Party is the closest you can ever get to Wonderland without reading Alice Through the Looking-Glass (It even has croquet). Held in the Cambridgeshire countryside just outside Huntingdon, this festival occurs on the grounds of Abbots Ripton Hall, home of Lord de Ramsey. These days the festival is a pretty badly kept secret and as many as 26,000 people attended this year, compared to the more petite 1000 or so that partied there back when it was begotten in 2004.

The grounds, as well as the festival goers, function as an impromptu art exhibit with fancy dress encouraged and contributing to the surreal ambience. Although marketed as both an arts and music festival, the lack of well-known bands means that more often than not the attendees are lured to the festival on the premise of the experience itself.

Illustrations by Lilly Allen

Festivals rest in the perilous hands of the weather and although our entrance to the festival was marked by the rain, an ominous start to the weekend, it was hot enough by Friday that we could mosey to the lake and go swimming with hoards of other eager beavers, desperate to wash off the glitter and UV paint from last night’s exploits. The lake is a vital part of the festival atmosphere, not only because you can swim and row across it, but because there is also a temporary stage in the centre that you can only get to by boat. This stage, in the shape of a dragonfly, was burnt on the Saturday night.

Blondie, illustrated by Sam Parr

This is a festival where you go with the flow, whether you choose to follow the trail of glow sticks being left by a person in the distance in the hope that it leads you somewhere, or you want to sit in front of the sand stage and relax burning marshmallows on the bonfire. Each festival experience is unique and as well as being handed some snacks by someone in a Kindness Initiative tabard we were approached by someone who presented us with a piece of paper reading “switch off your alarm clock”; SGP is a hands-on festival if ever there was one.

There are an impossible number of things to do. They say that curiosity killed the cat, but this is a place to satiate your interest, taking advantage of what’s on offer, whether that is life drawing or an introduction to fetishes: in a tent filled with pillows where you are required to take your shoes off at the entrance and a small make shift cinema (complete with popcorn). Forming just a sample of the odd attractions on offer, you’re guaranteed never to be bored. Other more mainstream activities to pep you up during the day include miniature golf and yoga. If you want to watch someone in a wasp spray costume chase a bee around, or throw paint at people you don’t know in the annual paint fight, then this is the place to do it. With so much on offer its impossible to sample everything in one visit and this festival will undoubtedly leave you wanting more.

We got more than we bargained by watching mud wrestling, the climax of the show being impromptu nudity as well as a Mission Impossible style drop for items located in the mud pit. We also checked out Shitfaced Shakespeare, a performance of Romeo and Juliet for which the actors are completely and utterly trollied. Both of which made for unique experiences.

We were totally sheltered from the real world here: with no plug sockets, the news of Amy Winehouse and the Norway massacre filter through the crowds with shock, reminding us that we have to go back to our lives on Monday.

Married to the Sea, illustrated by Nicola Ellen

The majority of bands playing at SGP are relatively unknown and reading down the list makes me feel suddenly lacking in hipster knowledge. There are big names, too: Leftfield, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, Mystery Jets and of course Blondie. We watched rising stars like Cosmo Jarvis and relative unknowns like Married to the Sea, wandering through the various stages in search of the best tunes. But mostly, we weaved in and out of the tents soaking up the atmosphere, picking up the phone of the random call box that lets you talk to strangers somewhere else on the festival and being glad that we were lucky enough to get tickets.

Cosmo Jarvis, illustrated by Rosemary Kirton
.
There is more to SGP than the music. This is the festival to end all festivals and has a certain je ne sais quoi that other festivals fail to achieve. If you want to dress up as a different animal every day then this is the place for you. It’s an art gallery with its visitors welcome to become part of the exhibit. The Secret Garden Party is one of the few experiences in life when the reality of the festival will no doubt outstrip your expectations.

All photography by Jessica Cook

Written by Jessica Cook on Monday August 1st, 2011 4:09 pm

Categories ,Abbots Ripton Hall, ,Alice in Wonderland, ,amy winehouse, ,art, ,blondie, ,dragonfly, ,festival, ,Glitter, ,Glow sticks, ,Golf, ,Jessica Cook, ,leftfield, ,Lilly Allen, ,Lord de Ramsey, ,Martha Reeves, ,Mission Impossible, ,music, ,Mystery Jets, ,Nicola Ellen, ,review, ,Romeo and Juliet, ,Rosemary Kirton, ,Sam Parr, ,Shitfaced Shakespeare, ,The Secret Garden Party, ,The Vandellas, ,UV paint, ,Yoga

Amelia’s Magazine | An Interview with Yasmin Dilekkaya of Yas-Ming Ceramics

Yas Ming ceramics by Lauren Kelly Yas -Ming by Lauren Kelly

I’m a big fan of collaborations and the wonders they can produce, and Yas-Ming Ceramics is no exception. Begotten from a project between Yasmin Dilekkaya and Ming Wai Sun during their time at University for the Creative Arts in Rochester, these animal mugs, bowls and other items could give the Urban Outfitters homeware section a run for its money. Talking-pieces as well as beautiful kitchen thingymabobs, their handcrafted ceramics are slip-cast, with press moulding and hand building also used in their creation.

Yas Ming
Yas Ming (1)

Fun is vital part of the brand and the product lines are named accordingly: Moo Cups, Rawr Bowls, Oink, Squeak and Nay. The mugs are my fave, available with an animal head or a bum on the mug instead of a handle, you can choose from a delicate giraffe, fierce lion, stern horse, cute pig, grumpy cow and majestic ram. There’s all sorts of other stuff too including bowls with animal faces and posteriors, dishes with adorable characters patiently watching you munch down your nosh, and even little ceramic chopstick holders that let your eating implements have a quick rest.

Having bumped into Yas at the Ohh Deer Pop-Launch and spent an evening with her talking about ceramics, I can confirm that not only are the products from this exquisite little brand lovely, but the people behind it are too. I spoke to Co-Founder Yasmin Dilekkaya about mugs with bums and getting a creative company off the ground.

Yas Ming

Can you tell me a little about both yourself and Ming?
We met while we where studying on an Applied Arts degree, Ming Wai was born in Hong Kong and is now living in the UK with her husband and daughter. I have a Turkish Cypriot background, but born and grew up in England. Our multicultural backgrounds were a stimulus and inspiration to us while designing and making at university.

Yas Ming by Lilly Allen
Yas-Ming by Lilly Allen

How did you get the idea for the mugs?
In our final year at uni, as a year group, we had to raise money for our end of year Graduate Show. At this point I was making a set of Turkish coffee cups and Ming Wai was making beautifully elaborate 3D ceramic picture frames that had animals coming out of them. We had the idea of attaching the animals to the cups so we had a product that we could sell around university. The cups were really popular so after Graduation we decided to see how much further we could push the idea.

Yas Ming
Yas Ming ceramics by Lauren Kelly
Yas -Ming by Lauren Kelly

Why did you start making the mugs with ‘bums’?
In the beginning we experimented a lot with cutting the animals in half and seeing where they worked on the cups/bowls and we thought it was a fun idea to have bums as handles as well as the heads.

Which events have you been at in the last year, and what do you have planned for future?
In the past year we have been part of lots of great events from trade shows to markets and pop-up shops. We have had the opportunity to work with some fantastic organisations. Highlights include being selected by The Secret Emporium to be part of their Christmas Market and their Boxpark Pop-Up. Also, exhibiting in Launchpad at Pulse, getting to meet lots of new potential stockists and being part of the Ohh Deer Pop-up where we have been asked to run a ceramic workshop. We have another pop-up with Crafty Fox and Brixi next month, with lots to look forward to in the coming months.

Yas Ming

What kind of reactions do the pieces usually get?
They generally get a great reaction, sometimes it takes a while for people to register what they are looking at, and you can watch as their face goes from confused to a smile. There are always lots of smiles, laughter, and people love to pick them up and try out holding them.

Can you explain the process that goes into making the mugs?
We use moulds to cast the animals and moulds to cast the cups/bowls/dishes, once they are out of their moulds the two pieces are carefully attached together by hand and put into the kiln for the first firing. They then get glazed and put into the kiln for a second time.

Yas Ming by Lilly Allen 2
Yas-Ming by Lilly Allen

Is handcrafting your products important to you, or do you think in future you would consider mass-production?
It is important to us, we use traditional techniques and are proud that each piece is touched and crafted by the hand of a skilled craftsperson. It gives the work personality and quirks that you would not get from factory mass-production.

Yas Ming

Do you have a favourite animal?
That’s such a hard question, I have favourite animals for different products. I like the Rat Oink because I like the way he looks when he has sauce in the dish. The Cow Rawr is also a favourite, I use it for my cereal most days. The Giraffe Moo I also love as it’s is beautifully elegant.

What’s the greatest challenge of setting up a business?
Like a lot of new businesses we have had a huge amount of challenges, ours were mostly kiln problems and production issues at the start. Now we have some great people in Stoke helping us produce the products, the challenges have changed.

How do you take your tea?
Two sugars and not much milk.

Yas Ming
Yas Ming by Nikki Miles
Yas-Ming by Nikki Miles

To get your hands on these Baa-utiful ceramics, check out the Yas-Ming website at www.yas-ming.co.uk

Written by Jessica Cook on Friday July 5th, 2013 11:28 am

Categories ,animals, ,Applied Arts, ,Boxpark, ,Brixi, ,cast, ,chopsticks, ,Clay, ,Crafty Fox, ,glazed, ,Graduate Show, ,graduation, ,Homeware, ,jessicasrcook, ,Lauren Kelly, ,Lilly Allen, ,moulds, ,Mugs, ,Nikki Miles, ,Ohh Deer, ,Pulse, ,The Secret Emporium, ,trade shows, ,workshop, ,Yas-Ming, ,Yasmin Dilekkaya

Amelia’s Magazine | Wilderness Festival 2011: Sunday Review

Laura Marling by Jenny Lloyd.

Sunday at Wilderness Festival came somewhat early due to my ill informed decision to put up the tent in the family camping area, health a major no no when you’ve been up late and the little buggers are raring to go at 7am. If only there had been a decent map, or someone to guide us towards the quiet area when we arrived (we did ask, and were told to camp wherever we fancied).

Wilderness Festival 2011 review photo by Amelia Gregory

Wilderness Festival 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.

The next issue was locating something decent to eat for breakfast, which proved predictably difficult given the small number of food vendors on site. For a festival that boasted of its culinary stripes I found this aspect sadly lacking, and in many ways inexcusable. Wilderness must have known how many tickets were sold, and how many could be fed at the giant daily banquets (which sold out long before we had a chance to book). Why then were there not enough food stalls to feed everyone else? At all times there were huge queues, and if I’d had small children to feed I would have been frankly fuming. As it was we tried to grab our meals at downtimes when the queues were not so long.

Tom-Hodgkinson-by-Barb-Royal
Tom Hodgkinson by Barb Royal.

Then it was time to head straight back to The Idler Academy to take advantage of their eclectic daily line up. Brave Old World saw a conversation between Idler founder Tom Hodgkinson and his friend Matthew de Abaitua, who has just written a book about The Art of Camping.

Wilderness Festival 2011 review tom hodgkinson photo by Amelia Gregory

Art-of-camping Cover
Particularly entertaining was their mutual disdain for Glamping, and their po-faced conclusion that they could earn more as purveyors of festival yurts than writers.

Wilderness Festival 2011 review theo simon photo by Amelia Gregory
Theo Simon of Seize the Day gave a passionate speech in praise of the Luddites, who stood up for their rights 200 years ago this year. Being a talented musician he easily glided between talking and live performance of traditional folk songs used to promote their ideologies.

zocalo 2011 Poster
David Bramwell spoke amusingly of his year long trip in search of Utopia at a string of intentional communities across the world, including Findhorn, Damanhur, Esalen and Osho Leela. Despite his sometimes cynical commentary it was obvious that he had made many good friends along the way before returning to his home in Brighton where he decided to play his part in creating an urban Utopia – setting up the Zocalo, whereby local residents get their chairs out on the streets and make new friends in the community. He hopes the idea will spread so why not check out his website for more information (also check out the poster above).

Wilderness Festival 2011 review beyond the valley photo by Amelia Gregory

The pink tented Secret Market Emporium area stocked a whole host of small maker designers, including Beyond the Valley (who designed the Wilderness website and programme) and I totally fell for Rosita Bonita‘s printed leather necklaces. Love.

Wilderness Festival 2011 review playsuit parlour photo by Amelia Gregory

The Playsuit Parlour stocked wonderful wrap dresses made from upcycled ethnic fabrics, and from a beautiful renovated silver airstream the Vagabond Van sold environmentally conscious clothes and jewellery.

Wilderness Festival 2011 review Daniel Johnston photo by Amelia Gregory
I only caught the end of Daniel Johnston, who looked like he had just climbed out of bed, trackie bottoms tucked into bunched up white socks.

Wilderness Festival 2011 review Guillemots photo by Amelia Gregory

The Guillemots at Wilderness Festival by Dan Lester.

Guillemots followed up with an energetic set, which made me realise just how many of their songs I am familiar with. And I was quite transfixed by the bassist’s shorts playsuit.

Wilderness Festival 2011 review Laura Marling photo by Amelia Gregory

Our last act of the day was Laura Marling, who gave a staggering solo acoustic set, a testament to her incredible talent, ‘I’m conscious of not being a party festival band so I’m going to play… a slow depressing song,’ she said before holding the large crowd in near silence for an hour – something of a feat.

Laura Marling live at Wilderness Festival

We left Wilderness Festival as the remaining festival goers geared up for one last night of late summer abandonment. I had a wonderful time but there were quite a few aspects of the festival that need tweaking: when people pay a lot of money to go to a festival there is no excuse for shirking on certain basic provisions. Next year there simply have to be more food stalls with more choice of food and there need to be more loos tended to more frequently, especially at hotspots, eg. near the main stage. Given the popularity of the discussions bigger tents for these would be a wise idea. And it turns out that even at a festival that trumpets its other attractions the music remains extremely important: it definitely felt as if there should have been more choice, and a second main stage.

Wilderness Festival 2011 review photo by Amelia Gregory

Wilderness Festival retained much of the eccentric magic that makes Secret Garden Party so special but it didn’t quite deliver on the added extras: something to work on for 2012.

Don’t forget to check in with my review of Saturday at Wilderness Festival too.

Written by Amelia Gregory on Thursday August 18th, 2011 6:19 pm

Categories ,2011, ,acoustic, ,Barb Royal, ,Brave Old World, ,Cornbury Park, ,Damanhur, ,Dan Lester, ,Daniel Johnston, ,Esalen, ,Findhorn, ,Glamping, ,guillemots, ,Intentional Communities, ,Jenny Lloyd, ,Laura Marling, ,Luddites, ,Matthew de Abaitua, ,Osho Leela, ,review, ,Secret Garden Party, ,Secret Market Emporium, ,Seize the Day, ,The Art of Camping, ,The Idler Academy, ,Theo Simon, ,Tom Hodgkinson, ,utopia, ,Wilderness Festival

Amelia’s Magazine | An interview with Julie Ann Baenziger of Sea of Bees

Sea Of Bees by Calico Charlotte Melton.

Sea of Bees released her new single Gnomes on Heavenly Recordings yesterday. It’s yet another heart rending slice of Julie Ann Baenziger, treatment so it seems high time that I finally publish the interview I did with her earlier this year, unhealthy just prior to a gig at Bush Hall in Shepherd’s Bush.

Sea of Bees-Jan 11- photo by Amelia Gregory
Sea of Bees in February 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.

jenny robins - amelias magazine - sea of bees
Sea of Bees by Jenny Robins.

Watching Jules live it is hard to believe that she was once a shy church going suburban girl. Since signing to Heavenly Recordings for three albums last year she has become submerged in the intensity of touring, experiencing a very different world to the one she left behind.

Sea of Bees-Jan 11- photo by Amelia Gregory
Gnomes

Jules was born in Roseville, a suburb of Sacramento. ‘A place where you go to school, have crushes, go to college, go to church and very little else.’ She was brought up a Catholic but from an early age knew she was different. As a shy and awkward 6 year old, she remembers becoming enchanted by ‘this hippy man with curly hair and glasses singing with a wobbly vibrato‘. She instantly knew she wanted to sing but wasn’t sure how to go about it.

Sea of Bees by Lee.

Her mum loved Cher, Celine Dion and the Bee Gees (in their bad stage, Jules hastens to add). Her dad thought The Mamas and The Papas were bad because they all slept with each other, and he would say things to scare Jules away from popular music. At church they listened to U2 and Christian music. Apparently U2 made it their goal to reach religious congregations. ‘I don’t mind them,’ she says ‘but I don’t like them in church.’

Sea of Bees-Jan 11- photo by Amelia Gregory
jenny robins - amelias magazine - sea of bees
Sea of Bees by Jenny Robins.

Never aspiring to do anything more than play in small bands, Jules taught herself to play an out of tune one string bass that she found in the shed when she was 16. She had lots of long hair, and looked like a real girly girl – but she liked girls. ‘There was nothing to do but go to church and school, and I was in love with a girl at my church who had the voice of an angel,‘ says Jules, ‘so I learnt a song that she always sang note by note.’ She had just one goal: to find the right person for love. When the object of her affections told her ‘that’s great Jules‘ it lit a fire beneath her which inspired her to practice hard every day, yet still she felt frustrated because her feelings were not returned. ‘I felt I couldn’t love anybody or play good music.’

Sea of Bees-Jan 11- photo by Amelia Gregory

Julie from Sea of Bees by Lilly Allen.

Her mother was supportive yet still she remained depressed, haunted by a nagging feeing that she would die young, wanting but unable to have the things just out of her reach. Folks at church told her ‘don’t let your gift overthrow your heart‘ – meaning that she shouldn’t obsess all the time. But everyone in Christian bands seemed to break up and have kids, so eventually Jules left Roseville and the church at 23 years old to live with a 19 year old guy, a producer, that she had met online. They lived in a ramshackle old house in Sacramento where they hosted lots of parties which trashed the place. ‘Every night we played music and some mornings there would be 25-30 people sleeping on the floor… lots of mad hipster kids. I would just get drunk to stay numb.’ They lived together for two years, Jules playing bass for their punk band, Find Me Fighting Them, and working as a coffee barrister in the daytime. It was in the coffee shop that she met her Orange Farben. ‘She had a bowl haircut, green eyes, vintage shorts and a ruffled shirt – and I knew it was right. She was like ‘Do you like boys?’ and I was like ‘Phew, that’s a bold question!’ She freed me, she was the thing that I needed.‘

Sea-of-Bees-by-Sarah-Matthews
Sea of Bees by Sarah Matthews.

A year and a half ago she met John Baccigaluppi of Hangar Studios, who encouraged her to use his studio to record some acoustic songs. Straight away he was keen to remix her songs and the first short EP was born. Since then she has been busy gigging all over the US and Europe. ‘I just try to keep moving and enjoy the moment. I know I can rest when I’ve had a good day.’ She credits John with teaching her ‘what’s good in life‘ and aspires to lead a similar lifestyle to Martin Kelly of Heavenly, who is married to Sarah Cracknell of Saint Etienne. ‘His quality of life inspires me.’ Jules dreams of setting up her own studio at home, where she will nurture a calm environment far from the partying demands of being on tour. ‘I like to eat carrots and nuts and salads. Stay put at home and enjoy my friends.’

Sea of Bees-Jan 11- photo by Amelia Gregory

Sea of Bees by Lilly Allen.

Jules has songs already recorded for the next album, some of which she wrote whilst on tour with the Smoke Fairies. When I met her she was fairly certain that the next album will be called Orange Farben, after the love that meant so much to her. ‘I want to be a good person and care,’ said Jules, as she prepared to go on stage. ‘Keep doing what you love and good things will come – that’s what I keep telling myself. Of course there’s loneliness but I have to let it go.’

Sea of Bees-Jan 11- photo by Amelia Gregory
Sea-of-Bees-by-Jane-McGuinn
Sea of Bees by Jane McGuinn.

Why the reference to sadness? Her last song at Bush Hall was dedicated to her Orange Farben – a statement which was lost on the majority of the audience, as was much of her slightly garbled interludes, but I had just hugged her backstage as she spilled over into tears, and I knew that her girlfriend of one year had split up with Jules over Skype the evening before. ‘I just want to love somebody and take care of them,’ she had reiterated to me. ‘That’s my goal, that and make music. Right now I have heartbreak but everything is going to be okay.’ Sea of Bees‘ unique talent lies in her ability to share emotion on a visceral level, the melancholy of her music slipping deep inside when you least expect it. Orange Farben may have broken her heart but I have no doubt that the album dedicated to her name will be a therapeutic experience not only for Jules, but also for her ever growing sea of admirers.

Gnomes Tunng remix, free download for a short period only.

Written by Amelia Gregory on Tuesday August 16th, 2011 4:57 pm

Categories ,Bee Gees, ,Being of Unsound Mind, ,Bush Hall, ,Calico Charlotte Melton, ,Catholic, ,Celine Dion, ,Cher, ,Christian, ,Find Me Fighting Them, ,Gnomes, ,Hangar Studios, ,Heavenly Recordings, ,Jane McGuinn, ,Jenny Robins, ,John Baccigaluppi, ,Julie Ann Baenziger, ,Lee, ,Lilly Allen, ,Martin Kelly, ,Orange Farben, ,Roseville, ,Sacramento, ,Saint Etienne, ,Sarah Cracknell, ,Sarah Matthews, ,Sea of Bees, ,Shepherd’s Bush, ,The Mamas and The Papas, ,Tunng remix, ,U2

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