I won!

I just got an email letting me know that i've won a year's membership to New Designers Online (worth £60!) thanks to entering a giveaway in Crafts magazine. (The Crafts Council magazine, not the US one). I've also just been helping my friend search for crafters that might be suitable for a new space opening up in Devon- so if you get a mysterious email then you have me to thank! Now i'm feeling slightly guilty that i'm not a more deserving winner of this prize, but i'll try not to let that get in the way of enjoying the sensation of winning something.

It's been freezy cold for the last few days and i'm really looking forward to going to my friend's for tea tonight- not only does she have a three legged cat, she has a house that is warm and a big wooden table in the kitchen to eat round. I think i'm going to take an apple pie, made from apples from my parents garden. I should be writing an essay, but the thought of making apple pie is much more appealing (there's got to be a joke in their somewhere about peeling apples)

Obamaware update

The Obamaware auction raised $10,194 for the Obama/Biden campaign. Whilst I can't really get my head round the idea of the sums of money that are spent in the US election campaigns, and the fact that fundraising is totally ok, i'm still impressed that artists are devising such creative ways of raising funds and awareness.

One of the artists involved was Jeffry Mitchell, who appeals to me for the very obvious reason that he sometimes turns things gold, and he uses a lot of 'high art' imagery to create 'low art' objects.

Tag...you're it

The lovely Gaina tagged me

1. Link to the person who tagged you.

2. Post the rules on your blog.

3. Write six random things about yourself. (See below)

4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them. (See further below...)

5. Let each person know they've been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.

6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Hmmm six random things eh? I've been trying to think of something new to tell you all and no sooner to I start to write this every idea I had goes out my head.

1. I have a huge crush on a comic book character (a 'prize' for guessing who it is*)

2. I secretly believe that one day someone will come to visit me in my house and be so impressed by my taste in art/music/books/plastic deer that they will fall head over heels in love with me (and because they will have such great taste I'll do the same for them)

3. I am deeply jealous my friends who have been brave enough to start again and move to live in remote/off the grid/other side of the world places

4. I day dream about living in a static caravan, ever since I helped my sister deliver catalogues to a static park once and saw how nice they were inside

5. I'm 35 and can't drive- I sometimes wonder if i'll ever get round to learning, and hate the fact that some of my 'remote living' dreams are hampered by the fact I can't drive.

6. I'm taking part in NaNoWriMo this year for the first time ever and aim to write a novel in November, despite the fact that i've no idea what to write about, no experience of writing a novel and no track record of being able to stick at anything longer than about ten days.

I tag: Mrs Carina, Miss Frugality, This Chicken, Claire-Elizabeth, Clunk and Mr Happy Accidents himself

* there's no prize really, but i'll tell you if you're right or not

A strange day

The first part of yesterday was spent invigilating at Centrespace Gallery in Bristol, where Freya Cumming has a solo show on. Freya has filled the gallery with screenprints, including this absolutely HUGE print that runs the entire length of the gallery. Freya is one of the founding members of SNAP and you can read about her on their website. The show runs until wednesday and is open daily from 10-5.

The second part of the day was spent with this little munchkin in the children's hospital. My nephew had problems breathing, so I kept my sister and him company whilst we waited for him to get better. They had to stay in over night, I got to leave and go home, thankfully everyone's back home now safe and sound this morning.

I shut David in the shop

I Am Weary, Let Me Rest
Screenprint, Edition of 6
January 2008
4in x 6in

This afternoon I was at SNAP in Bristol, where i've been helping out from time to time when they need someone to mind the shop. It was a lovely afternoon and I enjoyed spending time looking at all the wonderful prints, thinking about how I really should blog about some of them and wondering how I would choose who to show you first. Well...i've decided that David Abbot should go first as I managed to lock him in the gallery, and set the alarm, when I left tonight.

We Danced with Hyenas (Collaboration with Keith Shore)
Screenprint, edition of 50
September 2005
9in x 19in

David has a website here: Hackleys and a blog. He's also responsible for taking this photo of me (which I like a lot) at SNAP's 1st birthday party:

drawing on records

On Saturday I visited Windows 204 in Bristol and joined in with the friendly folk of the 145 Collective as they drew, painted, collaged, taped on old records which were then hung on the wall. I had to leave before any of the performances started, but I really enjoyed sitting at the table chatting to total strangers about art, Bristol, MA's, the horrors of Portsmouth and the early days of the here shop. I've already forgotton everyone's names (except maybe someone called Tim) so if any of you read this let me know!

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (on bicycle)

My friend Tom (who is in one of my favourite bands and is a genuine banjo heart-throb) has directed this film which will be shown at the Cube Cinema on Friday. There's a good blog post about it all over here and here's what the facebook page says:

Shot in a frantic week in September 2007, and only recently finished ‘The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner (on bicycle)’ is a travelogue that cycles in the footsteps of the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge whilst also somehow being lost at sea with The Ancient Mariner.

Armed with a photocopy of the poem four intrepid Artists travel a route that Coleridge would of regularly walked, from Nether Stowey to Bristol. Along the way they drew as many people as they could into The Mariner's plight.

The team worked with a primary school, a school for people with learning difficulties, several community groups, two homes for elderly people and a pub.

The film knits together The Mariner’s tale with drama, reminiscence, writing & animation, to make a psychedelic yet perfect mix between entertainment, community outreach and human interest.

Directed by Tom Stubbs, co-directed by Jay Kerry, Jon Nicholas and Joff Winterhart. Produced by Wolf + Water. Running time 50 minutes.

The film is preceded by a couple of shorts.
‘Shape UP!’ by Biggerhouse Film + Video and
‘Light and Dark’ by Michael Smith and Tom Stubbs

Afterwards there will be some live music by local Bristol bands My Two Toms and Bucky.

Admission £6 (£5 concession)
Friday 17th October 2008
Doors open 7.30

Obama Ware from Diana Fayt

Diana Fayt is one of my favourite ceramicists around and I was delighted to see her latest blog post today and discover a project that really excites me. Obamaware brings together 27 contemporary ceramicists who have created special pieces of work that will be auctioned off on October 20th, with proceeds going to the Obama campaign.

I've not mentioned much about politics on this blog, because I sometimes feel that the US elections aren't something that i'm qualified to talk about, but the fact is the results of the election will have a direct impact on us here in the UK, and around the rest of the world too. That's why i'm keeping my fingers crossed for Obama (and besides I had a dream with him in and he was ever so nice).

Take a look at the work over at Obamaware, and even if you don't agree with the politics i'm sure you will find something new to inspire you- I know i've just discovered a whole bunch of new artists to check out.

Remember the rats and bats?

Do you remember a while back I mentioned Edith's project that asked for drawings of rats and bats? Well here is one of the results from that project- the drawings were combined and made into a silk screen, which was then printed on scraps of fabric and turned into this bunny. (My friend Simon contributed some drawings- did you?)

Talking about Edith's projects I got a package from her last week with my materials for one of her latest projects- i'll post some photos when I have started to work out my response to it.

It's like waiting for a bus...

My friend Tish told me the other day that my blog is like waiting for a bus- you wait ages for a post and then three turn up all at the same time. Well here's another bus, especially for you Tish!

I've been reading lots of blogs via my bloglines and keep bookmarking posts to read later, or refer back to, or direct you lot to, and it doesn't seem to have happened. So instead of the incredibly well crafted series of posts about other blogs that I might have made, here's a list of some of those things that have been distracting me lately:

bear
Originally uploaded by primrose design

Janet has been inspiring me with her tales of wood-chopping and these cute animal embroideries

Lisa has been making me think about Grandmas and how important they are

Jeannette has been reminding me of the birthday calendar i'm sure we used to have when I was little (am I wrong Mum?)

Karen has been lecturing on swaddling and working with paper

And Ismoyo has been trying to find the balance between business and crafts

Well that's just one small section of the blogs I have book marked- maybe i'll share some more with you tomorrow?

Galleries are popping up all over the place

Before Claire started her MA we met up and went on a little expedition around Bristol to discover some of the new (and not so new) gallery spaces that seem to be popping up all over the place.

Windows 204

Room 212

Guerrilla Gallery

Container

Discovering all these places made up giddy with plans of world domination, so giddy that it's taken me until now to share the photos with you! It's really great to have Claire back in the area- nice to have someone to plot with and drink cups of tea with too. Have you visited her blog?

Final chance to shop at Old School

This weekend is your final chance to shop at Old School- the wonderful exhibition that's been running at Uppercase Gallery. I was going to post about how this was your last chance to buy my piece of work, but I just checked and it's no longer in the shop!

Thankyou to whoever took it home with them- I hope you will be very happy together. There are still some lovely treats to pick up and if you spend more than $50 there's a 20% discount when you type the code "oldschoolart" at checkout!

My friend Aaron has a Tiny Showcase print

Click on the image or head over here to snap up a copy for just $20. Everyone on Tiny Showcase gets to pick an organisation they want to support and Aaron:

has chosen Camp Ten Oaks as his artwork's charity. The camp community is for the children of LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, two-spirit, queer) and/or non-traditional families, youth who are themselves LGBTQ, and their allies. The not-for-profit program, run by the Ten Oaks Project, is offered to campers and families on a sliding scale basis. $250 dollars from the sale of Aaron's artwork will be donated to the organization.

And here's a photo of Aaron next to his work at the degree show in 2007. (I have got a photo of him in his pyjamas but I thought i'd let him off lightly).

Awesome!

The sun came out today and when I got home I discovered this AWESOME brooch had arrived in the mail from a minor thread. Charlie is super nice and this arrived really fast all the way from Oakland (which I heart by the way) so I think that you should all go and buy something from her shop right away. (Please excuse the goofy photo I was so excited that I had to take one as soon as I could)

If...

butter heads
Originally uploaded by surlygrrrl [ELBfoto]

If I manage to get my hands on a video camera by Saturday, and if I manage to work out my idea a bit more- is there anyone out there who would be able to come along to my place to act as an audience? I would provide tea and cakes (and butter).

I am a bit worried that my idea might be a little bit too 'tampon in a teacup', which could be why i'm not explaining myself very clearly at all.

Bitch needs art and stuff

To my American (and maybe Canadian friends, heck anyone who thinks they can get art to Portland quickly enough) here's something I pulled from the Bitch magazine blog today:

sm{art} needs art!

In just 25 18 days, B-Word is not only bringing Judy Chicago out to Portland for our art auction - we are also planning a pretty kick-ass event that isn't your typical auction. We can have all the fantastic entertainment, stellar goodie bags, great local beer and food, and the best host{ess} around, but in order to raise the dollars we need to support Bitch, we need ART!!!

We currently have around 45 pieces, but we need at least 25 more to get us to our goal of 70 pieces of art to auction off to support Bitch!

We are asking for your help - either yourself or your friends to support Bitch by mailing your donated art piece to:

B-Word

attn: sm{art}

4930 NE 29th Ave

Portland, OR 97211

Questions? Please write amy@b-word.org. Thanks!

here's the original call for art:

We're looking for:

• paintings• illustrations• prints• jewelry• clothing (preferably stuff that doesn't have sizes like scarves)• furniture• sculpture• stationery sets• photography• any other thing you can dream up, make and that you think people would like to bid on!

A few notes:

1. Donations are tax deductible!
2. The content, media and style are all up to you, be it: painting, screen/litho print, book, knitted item, cross stitch, sculpture, photo print,bags/purses/wallets, t-shirts etc.
3. If your piece is on paper, it would be ideal if it was framed--though please, please don't let that stop you from donating something that's not yet framed.
4. If it's clothing that you make, it would be best to get something that can fit a variety of sizes like a t-shirt or accessory.
5. I can PICK UP your piece if you live/work in the Portland area or you can MAIL it.

If you're interested, please download this simple form to send along with your piece. If you have any questions, please contact me: briar@b-word.org

If i'd seen this sooner, or lived nearer I would definitely be donating something to the fundraiser. I've been reading Bitch magazine for at least the last 5 years as an accompaniment to all my art and craft (and glossy interiors) magazines.

Heaven and Hell

This semester one of the pieces of work I should be making is based around the idea of Heaven and Hell- it's part of a contextual studies module and is more a way of getting us thinking and talking about our work in terms of ideologies rather than a sudden religious turn in the syllabus.

I decided to do some research over on Flickr and discovered that my contacts are evil, nearly twice as hellish as heavenly:

Coney Island: A Very Good Representation of Hell
Originally uploaded by kmel

We found 412 results from your contacts matching hell

Up we go Sisters..
Originally uploaded by snailbooty

We found 247 results from your contacts matching heaven.

None of this has anything to do with the piece of work that's forming in my head at the moment- I think it will probably be a video piece, and it will probably involve butter. Then again it might be a drawing with no butter at all.

More decorating...

It's a slow process decorating in my house- the hall took over a year, this chimney breast has taken over a week. The problem is that I can only reach so high (as you can see) and then I have to wait for someone tall, who isn't scared of going up ladders, to come and finish it off. The colour was a mixture of two half empty tins of paint I found in the mysterious cupboard of paint (in my kitchen) which were mixed together and turned out pretty nice.

I decided to really re-arrange things and so I started off in the same way I used to when hanging a big show at the gallery- lay everything out in one place and begin a slow process of elimination. It was at this point I realised I had a huge art collection- somehow with things dotted around it never seemed this big before (and a few pieces are left out of this picture as I knew I wanted to keep my painting by Marci Washington, birthday illustration from Bjørn Lie, collage by Camilla Engman, photos from Adam Faraday and drawing from Gunilla Jähnichen in my bedroom where I see them when I wake up)

Biddy helped with the elimination process- I wanted to go for something a bit more structured than before and show some of my newer acquisitions (I'm lucky to have many talented friends and to have spent several years curating shows where I was able to buy some amazing work)

Almost there- the postcard in the bottom right corner is a place holder- since I took this photo i've re-framed a print by Anna Peaker which will go there- i've just been too lazy to re-photograph the arrangement.

In this finished set are pieces by:

Top Row L-R:
postcard from Cyprus, collage by Shannon Rankin, photo from an Etsy seller whose name i've lost (if you recognise it let me know!), Monotype from Amelia Santiago
Second Row L-R
photo from J. Adelaide Fuller, greetings card, print from Julianna Swaney, (above) drawing by Bjørn Lie, gold framed charity shop find, painting by Jeana Sohn
Third Row L-R
cross stitch mixtape by Betsy Greer, Penguin books exhibition poster, print from The Good Machinery, drawing by Kelly Lynn Jones
Bottom left drawing by Fawn Gehweiler, painting by David Galletly