Tattoos and Illustration 

I have been looking at some tattoos from the website http://weheartit.com/ that are more like illustration, i am thinking of getting a tattoo and this is just some ideas that i would go with. Plus the imagery from these photographs from "we heart it" are beautiful along with the striking Tattoo images.
I just need to work out which ones "i heart" the most for inspiration for my own designs for my own tattoo.

Chantilly Lace

I have been sorting through  some of my vintage lace and trimmings to sell on E-bay but i got carried away with making patterns with it all, there are just so many different varieties here are some of the patterns that i come up with and that i have logged.

Whilst i was sorting out my vast collection of vintage lace i could not get this song out of my head. . . . .

"Helllo Baaaaaabbbbbyyy!!!"

The Medium is the Massage

The medium is the Massage by Marshall McLuhan, Quentin Fiore

I read this book for the first time on the weekend, i could not sleep at all on Saturday night so i picked up the first book from my book shelf that i had not yet read and it was "The Medium is the Massage" probably not the best book to read if you are finding it hard to sleep but never the less a brilliant read.It demonstrates how modern media is extensions of our human senses; they ground us in physicality, but expand our ability to perceive our world to an extent that would be impossible without the media. These extensions of perception contribute to McLuhan’s theory of the Global Village, which would bring humanity full circle to an industrial analogue of tribal mentality.  

Personal i found some of the content hard to digest maybe as it was late in a Saturday night that i read the book but maybe because it really made me think about so many things. It is thought provoking on so many different levels. 

"Media, by altering the environment, evoke in us unique rations of sense perceptions. the extension of any one sense alters the way we think and act the way we perceive the world. 

when these change men change "

For me i would go back and read this book again parts of it for me seamed more important than others but i believe this might be because of where my head is at in terms of what i am doing or involved in at the time.

Defiantly a book to have on a shelf and go back to from time to time, what is spoke about in the book relates to so many different things and on so many levels, epic thought provoking and essential to a creative who wants to understand how we learn fit in and understand the world.

Taken from Amazon 

"Well known for coining the term 'Global Village', Marshall McLuhan's thinking was, and still is, revolutionary. His theories, many of which are illustrated in this astonishing 'inventory of effects', force us to question how modes of communication have shaped society. This is an astonishing work by a truly astonishing man. The Penguin on Design series includes the works of creative thinkers whose writings on art, design and the media have changed our vision forever. This is one of four books in that series."

A Beautiful Day at St Ives 

It was recently my birthday and i was taken to St Ives in cornwall for the day, i have lived in cornwall now for three years but it was my first time visiting.

I loved every minuet of it, we walked through the town, and went to the TATE gallery, took photos and had some beautiful food and wine in a wonderful seafood restaurant.

The cornish postcard stand "love it"

Seagulls! i find them so fascinating and funny birds but i really don't like it when i am trying to eat a cornish pasty and they sit and watch you, this one was posing.

The weather was really extreme it was real cornish weather turning from beautiful blue sky and fluffy clods to stormy and raining. but i love that. 

When the weather was good-IT was GOOD! look how beautiful the sea is looks tropical makes me want to jump in.

The TATE exhibition was brilliant, we went to see the "Lilt Van Der Stokker" "No Big Deal Thing" A bold, colourful works that are represented in a disarmingly unashamed and exuberant way, with ideas of beauty, love, relationships, family and the everyday. Playing on stereotypical femininity, she challenges and engages with legacies of feminism exploring ideas often thought of as forbidden in contemporary art.

Her demure medium: coloured-pencil drawings on A4 paper which she scales up and paints directly onto the walls of the gallery.

She challenges the idea the "grand" and the "serious" and in the process asks the question "just what is a fitting subject for a work of art"

http://www.tate.org.uk/stives/exhibitions/vanderstokker/default.shtm

http://www.galerievangelder.com/artists/stokker2.html

here are some examples of her work taken from the "Galerie Vangelder" website 

http://www.galerievangelder.com/artists/stokker2.html

POP UP !

The POP UP Generation 

"I was reading about Pop Up restaurants, "Picture the scene: you're going out to eat at one of London's hippest new restaurants. You've dressed up and are ready for a night of intimate fine dining – trouble is, first you've got to find the place and unlike Covent Garden, there are no helpful tourist signs in the maze of quiet residential streets in Kilburn, Dalston or Brixton."

This is dining out with a difference – underground, "pop-up" restaurants in private homes are the latest foodie fad to hit London. From creative cuisine in Kilburn at MsMarmiteLover's The Underground Restaurant to nine-course vegetarian Japanese eating on slouchy sofas in Horton Jupiter's beatnik flat, called The Secret Ingredient, in east London, guerrilla dining is at the cutting edge of eating out, provided you can find the location in the first place. Even celebrities and famous restaurants are getting in on the act, with Jo Wood opening her home to paying guests and Mosimann's launching a pop-up restaurant on the bank of the Thames during the Henley Regatta. By their very nature you won't find any neon signs or overt advertising for these gigs – it's all done by word of mouth and the internet. 

please read more at  




http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/features/everyone-back-to-mine-popup-restaurants-in-private-homes-are-the-latest-foodie-fad-1696262.html

"Everyone back to mine: Pop-up restaurants in private homes are the latest foodie fad" 

 This got me thinking what else have I seen or heard about that has the same idea as "POP UP" resturant and what other "POP UP" activities can be taylurd in to the new "POP UP" generation ?

POP UP Gallery's 

Do it yourself: pop-up galleries

Even with a limited budget, it’s remarkably easy to set up your own space

"A former Italian restaurant in the heart of London's Covent Garden has become the latest venue for a "pop-up" contemporary art gallery" 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts_and_culture/8130731.stm

Impromptu exhibitions have been opening all over the capital city, as artists make the most of a glut of empty commercial property during the recession. I have noticed more so than ever the amount of empty space and unused shops around the streets of Falmouth, more so now that ever! is there any way of making something such as the "POP UP" idea work in Falmouth? I have come across the idea of a pop up Vintage Flea market which impressed me. I feel that this will be an area that I might look in to some more, the idea that nearly anything can be a "Pop Up" and put anywhere inspires me, I have been also thinking lately of ways to get my work out there some more maybe his could be a start ?   I also love the idea of a collective coming together to do something like this. . . . . . .  

We only have to acknowledge the empty spaces that the chain Woolworth have left, now wouldn't that just be brilliant if something popped up in an old Woolworth near you ? 

"Pick 'n' mix art: Woolworths returns as pop-up gallery"

"Woolworths has been all over the news today, thanks to the fact the much-missed stores are making their comeback on the internet. But that doesn't solve the problem of what to do with all those disused stores that are currently littering London's high streets. Many have been turned into pound shops, one in Camden briefly became a squat but many have simply been left empty and abandoned. . . . . . . 

http://www.timeout.com/london/big-smoke/blog/8051/Pick-n-mix_art-Woolworths_returns_as_pop-up_gallery.html 

. 

 "What resources do you need to start up a contemporary art gallery in London? You must have inexhaustible reserves of energy, a large helping of missionary zeal, and a healthy dose of chutzpah. A network of friends willing to help out on a voluntary basis probably helps. Surprisingly, though, you don’t need much money."

 please read on about this at http://www.theartnewspaper.com/articles/Do-it-yourself-pop-up-galleries%20/19611 

 

GIGANTIC

 GIGANTIC 

"when it comes to family and relationship's there are no small surprises"

I bought this film in December last year and have not got around to watching it till just recently, it is a amazing such a beautiful film.


The film is about a guy "Brian"(played by pall Dano) who is working for this high end Swedish mattress store searching for his place in the world. unfulfilled by his work he spends a good portion of his day pursuing his goal of someday adopting a baby from china.  Then one day the lovely Harriet Lolly nicknamed Happy (played by Zoe Deschanel) comes in to his store and falls asleep on one of his beds, one of which her farther is buying for his bad back. Brian has to contend with her farther All Lolly (Played by John Goodman) an art-collecting loud mouth with a bad back and deep pockets in order to win her hear.
The story is about the anxiety that comes along when two poeple with crazy family's collide unexpectedly and fall for each other.

This is a story that displays all the things that is never perfect when falling in love with some one unexpectedly, which makes it perfect.  The film shows how sometimes when everything seems so complicated, confusing and lost that we can still find love, sometimes something can happen that makes it all seam just fine, and things start to fit. even if you fell like you have made a GIGANTIC mess out of everything, its never that bad!

This is the GIGANTIC Movie Blog, interesting to have a read through on some of the entries  

http://giganticthemovie.wordpress.com/

The GIGANTIC Movie Website 

http://www.thegiganticmovie.com/home.html

The Year Starts with:

Cold 

"It is ok to feel this icy cold weather, embrace it as it is forced upon us and feel heat from the warmth of the heart." HH

Ice 

"Ice, everywhere right now and so cold I don't want to go out, but from inside you look out at everything that is ice, as it glistens like stars on the ground in daylight" HH

Snow

"I laugh at how this country deals with snow, we have had so much warning for weeks and yet no one is prepared. . . . .and I think to some extent it is because of the potability of having a "SNOW DAY!" it is strange it disrupts everything but yet it makes everyone smile and act like children, snow makes people happy" HH

New Starts 

"Nobody can go back in time and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending, I put lots of things off always till tomorrow but it gets me no where, I cant go back but I can go forward and I have started sorting all the things I said I would a long time a go and I feel good for it!" HH

Lots of Thoughts 

"I am going to try my best to write down thoughts and ideas and not let them take over my head, I forget the bad good ones and always get bogged down with the bad ones so now it is time to process all these thoughts in a Positive way"  HH

And a Lot of washing to clean 

the journey to the laundrette was like an adventure, back pack, boats on, gloves, hat scarf, and a big smile on face. I woke up at the crack of dawn, there was no snow at this point, it was a cold night. But an hour in to me being awake the heavens opened and released Narnia on to Falmouth.

Here are some of the photos I took on my phone; 

 

 

 

 

 

One of my "Christmas Movies" 

Son of Rambow 

 Over Christmas I spent a few days with my family, one of the presents that my sister had was the film Son Rambow. I watched it with my two younger sisters, the best way to watch this for me as we laughed and cried together.

This is such a funny film a charming film of two young and lonely boys who together decide to film their own version of the Rambow film. In many ways this film is a coming of age movie.
Sometimes you want to laugh out loud and other times you are moved to tears.

One thing that I found so beautiful was how one of the boys in the film would carry around a book everywhere with him. It was a Bible but the book had been covered on every page with illustrations, of thoughts and things of the young boy, things which he would make sense of through drawing it and putting it on to paper.

New year 

So Christmas and New Year has been and gone and I have not posted much on her for a while, so much has been happing since i have finished the MA. . . . . life sometimes can just take over what is important.
So what is important??

These have been the questions that I have been asking myself for the last few months, what is important, what do I want to do, where do I want to be,  how do I get there.

WHAT MAKES ME HAPPY ?????????

"Happiness is the delicate balance of what one is and what one has. . . . . ." 

"Happiness is not the Destination but the Journey"

"For all the things that I have overcome" 

&

"For all the things that I am yet to learn"

I started to transfer all the things that I had listed on to tags that I had to had to hand, and signing them and dating them.   I liked the idea of having them all on bits of string, on lots of different lengths of string, on different size and coloured tags.  And having then all mixed up so that the viewer the reader has to read them and engage with the information that is front of them. 

so I made some mock up ideas of how I could display them, so that I could come up with ideas for post cards as well.

 "For all that I have over come" 

& 

"For what I am yet to learn"

As part of my work for my MA i was thinking about all the things which i have over come and all the things that i am yet to learn. I have been inspired by the types of people that I have meet over the last  few months, they things which they have all over come and how simple things in life seam more important some times.
I just started to jot down all the things that i feel i have over come and all the things that I am yet to learn in to a sketch book.  I wanted to show it some how at my MA exhibition and I wanted other to get involved also, so I decided to send a e-mail to all the people that i know:

"hello all

I am currently putting together a exhibition of all my MA work

One of my Pieces is designed for people to add to it, half of it is called;

"For all the things I have over come"

and the other part is called;

"For all the things I have yet to learn"

I was wondering if you would all be able to send me a response to both of these statements and as many different responses as you like. they can be as small things or big life changing things, they can be personal, or not so personal but they all have to be about you!
such as

"I have over come my broken wrist"

"I am yet to learn to drive"
"I am yet to learn to let things go"

If you would respond to this I would be so grateful and happy, I have already listed many of my own and I am preparing them to go in to the exhibition piece.

each quote will be wrote down on a tag and hung with all the others, I will credit you all and photograph the final piece and up date it on to my blog.

if you wish to keep this private then i will not put your name on the quote.

i will look forward to hearing back from you all x
And please feel free to attend the exhibition if you can if not i will post all photos on my bog
Thank You

Hayley"

 

 

It was amazing and the response was just brilliant, and at some points over whelming,  I started recording them all in the same sketch book along side my own people are still telling me all the things that they have over come and what they are yet to learn. 

 

Now I was just left with how I would display it in my end of MA show. . . . . . .  

 

Serendipity 

"Is the effect by which one accidentally discovers something fortunate, especially while looking for something else entirely unrelated"

The word has been imported into many other languages (Portuguese "serendipicidade" or "serendipidade";  French  "sérendipicité" or "sérendipité" but also heureux hasard, "fortunate chance"; Italian "serendipità"; Dutch "serendipiteit"; German "Serendipität;" Swedish, Danish and Norwegian "serendipitet"; Romanian "serendipitate"; Spanish "serendipia"

Post Secrets 

After posting a Blog on post secrets I thought that I would post some more post secrets on here as I think they are so inspiring, and an encouraged way to deal with things which have not been dealt with or secrets that haunt you or play in the deepest depths of your mind.  I think that the whole idea is a way forward for us all.

It all Started when Frank Warren set out with an idea for community art project, “Post Secrets” initiallyit began as a commission for art installation in 2004, But has since turned into a full-time career for him.
  

In November 2004 he printed 3,000 postcards inviting people to share a secret, something that was true, some thing that they had never told anyone, and post it back. After several weeks he stopped passing them out but the secrets kept coming back.

This idea become his project and in turn captured the world’s imagination. The instructions were simple,
but the results were extraordinary.

He began posting the postcards on a web blog, the secrets were both provocative and profound, the cards them selves become works of art. To this day he has thousands upon thousands of
“Post secrets” sent to him, which he has exhibited and had it made into books

Home-made postcards made from cardboard, old photographs, wedding invitations, and other personal items artfully decorated arrived from all over the world, with secrets written in all languages.

The extraordinary collection brings together a selection of bits of strangers personalities.
Collectively it exposes individual yet personal human emotions.

"It touches on every aspect of the human experience"

  

The idea was personal to him; he was struggling with secrets in his own life and used the project to allow him to reflect with parts of the past that he had been hiding from

This made me think of how an initial idea can change dramatically, how personality and experience reflects within the reasons for a design and how the response can change outcomes entirely.

He quotes ;

“Maybe growing up I felt that my family had some hidden, deep, dark secret that I never found out about, and now
as an adult, I’m trying to search for this possible secret –whatever that might be. I don’t know. My background is in business. I have no artistic training or education and sometimes I feel like this project kind of found me. I really don’t have a good explanation as to why I am doing it. I feel like I’m on this journey that’s very gratifying.”

 This inspires me because it has come from a conceptual idea which turned in to a collective collaboration of everyone’s personal life experiences,which in turn allowed him to map and plan his subject terrain creating a serendipity that almost goes full circle

The demise of the commons

He has turned the concept of normality which is common in society into something questionable.
Using the concept of Art/design, Abnormality is more prominent in personal experiences of different individuals.

"Design is a form of
expression of an individuals personality"

Some times the initial idea can be quite different to the end result

Frank Warren personal experience was What influenced his initial idea Using the ‘imperfect’ personality (personal experiences) of other individuals to ‘comfort’ his own ‘imperfections’ Within the collection are his own “Post Secrets” but nobody knows what they are.

I personally found it a knowledgeable way of communicating individual thought patterns, shearing, “secrets” of his own personality but at the same time showing the changing thought patterns of society as a whole.

Summer Schools

 Summer Schools Doodles
 

Her are the creative table coverings that the groups decorated with allsorts of notes drawings and doodles, they took on a life of there own.

I could see this type of doodles transformed in to some sort of stitching or cut up in to different sized squares and framed as an exhibition in its self. I loved theses table coverings it gave the students chance to draw and writ what ever they liked with no restrictions on content and it just took on a life of its own and got them communicating with each other in a different way. 

It made me think of Thomas Campbell and his work;

Thomas Campbell 

http://www.thomascampbell-art.com/

I found that it reminded me of the film and book "Beautiful Losers"

Most of the work in this exhibition catalog is not beautiful by traditional standards. Nor can its makers, artists whose work is now displayed in museums and top galleries around the world, really be considered losers. Yet the loosely affiliated group of skateboarding and punk music aficionados represented in this book seems to have a considerable amount of cachet invested in their outsider status, their ability to see the beauty in being a "loser." Many of the painters, photographers and cartoonists in this book appear to be taking a cue from the most famous insider/outsider of them all, Andy Warhol: witness Harmony Korine’s photo-collage of a disaffected Macauley Culkin, Terry Richardson’s photo of a young man sitting on a toilet or a scarf design by Mike Mills titled "Fight Against the Rising Tide of Conformity." The artists consume popular culture and then spit it back out in a highly personalized form to express their alienation from the usual boogeymen (suburbia, capitalism, middle-class middlebrow culture). Bucking the traditional art school route, these self-taught artists prefer a more laid-back, "D.I.Y." ("do it yourself") attitude. This approach involves doodling, spreading graffiti and taking snapshots of their friends naked. The book’s accompanying essays narrate the development of these street culture artists with an absurdly exacting level of detail, the kind usually reserved for the lives of geniuses who’ve been dead for at least 10, maybe even 20 years. And while the book is excellently produced and the works in it are a lot of fun, it’s hard not to wonder if these artists enjoy posing as outsiders a little too much, especially given their newfound success. 200 color & 200 b/w illus.

Person Thomas Campbell

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