Art Camp ahoy!

Today was the start of the Alias Art Camp, unfortunately I couldn't make it along today, but I shall be heading over to Westley Farm in the Cotswolds tomorrow to join in the festivities. I shall be working on a collaborative 10 year anniversary tablecloth- the idea being that all the campers will have seperate parts to work on and it will be combined into one marvellous creation by the end of the weekend. I'm not sure how that's going to pan out as the weather has been pretty thundery and not exactly perfect for needlework in the middle of a field, but we'll see... I specially selected pieces of tablelinen for people to work on individually and as groups, so i'm hoping that those people that just want to sit quietly in their tents and sew will be able to, and those that want to do something more hands on and active will be able to as well. I'm trying to work out how to take all my supplies with me, plus a tent, sleeping bag etc etc without overloading myself- it's all complicated by the fact I don't actually know how i'll be getting back yet!

Maybe I could hitch a ride with one of the donkeys:


http://chalforddonkeyproject.blogspot.com

Front page

Well this is a small image I know, but if you hot foot it over to Etsy you'll be able to see me in all my glory. It's been really nice reading some of the comments the article has got- seems like I come across as funny, which is nice to know as my secret dream is to be a stand up comedian one day.

What's also nice is seeing that some of the items I picked have already sold- so i've sent a list of more things that can fill in the gaps, hopefully lots of the things I picked will sell and you will all shower me with gifts for promoting you so wonderfully...now spread the word!

It's my four year Etsy-versary!

It's been four years since I signed up to Etsy, in that time i've made a grand total of 126 sales, which works out at just over two and a half sales every month...clearly it's not keeping me in fizzy pop, but then i've never been very good at promoting myself, or updating my shop, or taking good photos...the list is endless really. Anyway i've was asked to write a bit about me and Etsy for the Storque (the bit of Etsy that's sort of a blog) which you can find here. Thanks for having me Etsy- sorry i've been a bit of a delinquent child recently.

By way of celebration i'm going to offer 20% off everything in my shop for the week starting the 20th June. I'll also be listing some of the work from my recent 'Calm Air All Ice' exhibition, as well as digging out some things I should've put in the shop months ago. Hop over to Made by Milla and snap up a bargain.

You've changed...

Last night at the opening for the Summer Show a few people commented to me on how different my work was in this show. I am showing work based on the fortune tellers, and vintage hankies and I suppose it does have a very different feel to it compared to some of my other work. This current work is much more delicate and...girly for want of a better word, than the big drawings and crazy ceramic pieces i've created in previous years. Just when I thought i'd found a persistent thread that ran through all my work maybe I need to look again?

The show is open until June 24th 10am-4.30pm Mon-Fri. University Campus, Loxton Road, Weston-super-Mare.

Why internet dating sucks...

I've been a fan of Lou Trigg for a while now- I included her in my (aborted) ABC of artists I love back in 2007. Today I was browsing on Flickr and saw her new pieces themed around internet dating- as someone who has recently had to complete a profile for a friend on 'My Single Friend' it made me laugh a lot. And then I went a re-watched Lou's films which made me cry.

Allyson Shaw- The Desperate Ones

My super talented friend Ally has just published her new novel and I recommend you buy yourself a copy from here. Ally is the person who hooked me up with Edith Abeyta and hence she is responsible for some of my unicorn related goings on in recent months, she is also responsible for re-kindling my love of real ale (who would've thought an American could teach an English girl to love real ale). Here's some more info about the book and the lovely Ally herself:

The Desperate Ones is a genre-crossing, renegade novel: part cyberpunk, part fairy tale, part poetic apocalypse.

Dominion Capital has slated the walled city of Pottersfield for obliteration. Those within must survive or be subsumed. While hackers invent a resistant religion from Dominion Capital’s tech discards, they discover survival rests with one man: Rhubarb Ward, a war veteran and ex-con whose military issue implant holds the key to the future of Pottersfield. Rhubarb is newly released from prison when he meets Lola. Fierce, cunning and addicted to the drug blue, she is the secret to his captive past. While the city’s wealthiest residents are lifted out, the rest are trapped behind. Among them are a history Professor obsessively recording his memories as he forgets them, a suburban runaway compelled by the glamor of implosion and a call girl bent on meeting a new god even if it means martyrdom. Their lives intersect with a certainty that only some will survive to see the strange new world that blooms in the exit wound of the disappeared city.

Allyson Shaw is an award-winning poet and also author of The Bon-bon and Love Token, a Powell’s poetry best-seller. Her work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and her poems have been selected for awards by Pulitzer Prize winners John Ashbery and Charles Simic. Much of her fiction and poetry has appeared in anthologies and literary journals, including the National Gallery Publication Tiger Seen on Shaftsbury Avenue. She has recently worked in collaboration with the artist Edith Abeyta and currently blogs about London at Feral Strumpet Teatime. She has taught writing at Long Beach City College and received her MFA from the University of California, Irvine. She now lives in London where she knits, brews beer and writes while trying not to lose her Californian-by-way-of-the-Midwest accent.

ISBN 978-1-4092-8487

And here's a photo of Ally and a horse we made friends with when we went on a day trip to Wales last year, i'm sure she'd rather I included her author photo, but I think this one is much cuter!

End of year show

Tonight is the private view for the Weston College Creative Arts summer show, I found out pretty late in the day that my work was going to be included, so i've not really got round to letting anyone know about it until now. I'm showing some of the work that was up as part of the Calm Air All Ice show, along with my piece Tidy House, Tidy Mind that I made earlier in the year.

I really hope someone that goes will take some good photos of my work- I seem to be completely unable to take good photos of anything I make, and as i'm always on a quest to better my documentation this is a real problem. For installing my work in the Bath Spa Gallery I was lucky enough to have a minion in the form of Beth Snow, who created this piece 'Multiple Sorrows' as part of one of her first year projects.

Beth was kind enough to do all the climbing up ladder bits that I hate having to do, and her perfectionist (or was in OCD) streak meant that my hankies were perfectly placed.

The show will be open until the 24th June, Mon-Fri 10am-4pm. More details can be found here.

The Persistent thread...

The Persistent Thread- Gillian Lee Smith

Gillian at Gilflings Design has created a new Flickr Group called 'The Persistent Thread', it's for sharing images of your work in that show the thread that runs through them. Sometimes it's only after some time has passed that you notice the thread, other times I think you need someone else to point it out to you. I always worry that my own work is very disparet and lacks a cohesion, but when other people view it they seem to be able to tell that it all belongs to me. It seems that even though it's not obvious to me there is a thread that runs through everything I do that gives my work a unity that maybe one day i'll be able to see without having to view it all mediated through flickr groups!

The Mythical Beast Sweet Shoppe UK

Pegasus by Chipfork

Today I had an unexpected visit in the form of Chipfork who had the day off work. We had a mini-meeting (or conversation perhaps) about the plans for The Mythical Beast Sweet Shoppe when it re-opens it's doors in September. As some of you might remember the Sweet Shoppe was a creation of American artist Edith Abeyta, who I collaborated with last year. I was really keen for the Shoppe to visit the UK at some point and now, thanks to my involvement in Weston Arts Festival, it's going to happen!

New postcards

My new postcards arrived today- just over a week too late for the exhibition, but i'll try not to dwell on that and instead use this as an opportunity to send some post- let me know if you want a postcard and i'll pop one in the mail to you, wherever you are in the world. The image is from one of the plaster forms I made using vintage table linen, I loved making these forms and they are definitely something I will revisit in the future so I don't feel too overwhelmed by the fact I now have 500 postcards with this image on- it feels like they will be useful for a long time to come.

Talking of vintage table linen I really need to photograph the wonderful treasures I picked up at Billie Jean Clothes whilst I was exhibiting next door but one, Billie very kindly let me rummage in her basement and I came out with a huge stack of linen, I must revisit and see what other treasures I can find (and pay off the balance I owe!)

So then...who wants a postcard?