When I sleep I dream of play...

A fabulous package arrived this morning full of goodies from Alice Rebecca Potter - or sleepdreamplay - I'm totally in love with my owl brooch...and equally so with her balsa wood business cards, personalised with my name & stamped with her details on the back :)
You can see more of her work on her website here...or read more in her blog

Sometimes Making Something Leads to Nothing

I went to see this exhibition a couple of weeks ago...last week? Some time in the not so distant past anyway.
The exhibition takes the title from the Francis Alÿs film which features in the exhibition....it's about transformation. But also persistence and endurance. I was quite amazed that the artist manages to smoke a cigarette pretty much the whole time he is pushing the block of ice through Mexico City.
It also has work by Cornelia Parker (above) Callum Innes, Peter Liversidge, Iran do Espírito Santo and others.
The whole exhibition is witty and quite refreshing....definitely worth a visit.

the ingleby gallery website says things so much better than I ever could on a Sunday morning!

Dress Like an Artist.....apparently

So below is the definitive guide to dressing like an artist....by somebody/some people who I really hope were joking. The bold bits are my favourites and the grey my comments.
I will start off by saying that I may have a particular hatred of this before even reading it properly as I despise the words 'arty' and 'artsy' and the latter overused spectacularly in this article.

How to Dress Like an Artist
from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

Whether you're heading off to art school, and want to fit in, or whether you're already there, and realize you don't, or whether you just want to be different at whatever school you're at...
Take these steps.

Steps

1. Understand that the world, including your clothing, is a palette to express yourself. Find what makes you feel happy or alive, not what others tell you is fashionable.
   
2. Look at your hair. Something has to be different about it. Choppy, bangs? Dreads? Dyed a unique color, or streaks? Shaved head? Mohawk? Teased, big, hair? Extremely short (girls)? Extremely long (guys)? You get the point. You really won't be taken seriously as an artist with a normal hairstyle, shave it all off immediately!
   
3. Do you have any piercings? You're not required to, as long as you employ many other methods of stand-out-isms, but it can help. yup, piercings can definitely help you be a better artist.... if you can't bear to put holes in your face then maybe just wear a novelty hat at all times - this will help you stand out, get noticed and therefore make you a better artist. Consider your eyebrow, especially. Or if you want something a little tamer, your cartilage. Be careful about nose rings. They can look trashy on girls instead of artsy. fuck off
   
4. Give up shopping at the generic department store, except for small staples like underwear, simple tank tops, and maybe jeans.
   
5. Buy the latest and most fashionable pieces you can find at the specialty or thrift stores.
   
6. Dress up any shirt or dress with awesome accessories, with a belt added to the natural waist (on girls) really pumps up the artsy. A well tailored trench coat is a good artsy investment. Most of the time you have to look like you don't care about what you're wearing, you just threw something on. It also helps a lot if it fits really well, especially on guys. Artsy guys should never wear ill fitting ruined dress pants or something. If you do wear jeans, make sure they're stylish and they can be ripped and faded. Shoes can be bought here too.
   
7. Shop at 'vintage' stores or at tiny exclusive boutiques. This will be much more expensive, but, if you have followed all the above steps, you will already be a rich and famous artist, so won't care about the cost but you can find some truly original things. Perhaps a couple good, classy pieces mixed with other stuff is a good idea.
   
8. Try Anthropologie, an artsy specialty clothing store.
   
9. Look for jewelry that is interesting and unique, or ties together your look. Look for funky pieces, foreign pieces, expensive well made pieces, intricate wood pieces, and the 80's had a bunch of fascinating stuff.
   
10. Stop shaving (if you're a guy), so a bearded lady is a little too much of a 'stand-out-ism' to get you noticed. It won't help. or give the impression you have. maybe draw on a little stubble, that way you can also show off your ace drawing skills as well as looking hot. No artsy guy is hotter than when he has a little facial hair.
    
11. Black is a good tool you can use to unify your look, as is white.
    

Continued (follow the link below)
Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Dress Like an Artist. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

Emilys Guide to dressing like an artist.

1. Find some clothes. Put them on. They will probably be covered in paint, varnish, glue and other un-named substances that you were experimenting with. That doesn't matter.

2. Find more jumpers. Studios are cold. Maybe find some fingerless gloves too. Again, paint coverage doesn't matter.

3. Understand that your trouser leg is a palette on which to mix your paint.

4. When having to leave the studio, and are forced to look a little respectable, find the least paint covered thing you own and wear it.

join the dots

Well I smell lovely today! Just thought I should tell the world. I got a package this morning from Lollibomb and it really was just what I needed after a few days of feeling like shite.

I spent a good deal of yesterday browsing blogs and websites linked from this lovely lady's blog who left a comment or two on here. It's strange how things are all connected, or become connected.
Somewhere along the line through the links I found the work of Anne Mawby, who makes such beautiful, understated work. A lot of it is made using holes pierced into paper....


I've spent the last few days piercing holes into canvas - and small ones at that, and my hand is killing me, which makes her work even more amazing - her hand must've ached so much after 6 hours piercing a day for 6 weeks!!
So thankyou Susan, for commenting and enabling me to find this artist!

Apart from the hole piercing, a little paint smearing and a lot of blog reading I've not done a great deal else. I listed a couple of bits on etsy, one of which has already gone :)
I've just read this post back to myself and it makes very little sense! I really should ellaborate and be more coherent, but today I won't be - blame the last remaining bits of illness!

a list of things I haven't done today

I'm really going to have to stop writing lists, or at least publicly declaring them! So here is a list of what I have not done today, and accompanying excuses!
Today I have not put in an order with Tirantis (i can't decide how much plaster to buy),
I have not finished off the necklaces and brooches I was working on (still waiting for supplies to be delivered, so I started new ones instead)
I did not list things on Etsy (see above)
I did not walk down the unknown path (I found out that it no longer leads anywhere, well to a building site - instead I took a walk through the village and a couple of miles out the other side to pick up the car from the garage with my dad)

I did however complete the things on my list which weren't publicly declared....embroidering, more baking, visiting salvage yards....all of which may be discussed later (the walk today has tired me out)

I made a treasury on Etsy yesterday, lots of beautiful things, all from the UK....a small sneak preview below (although the bird doll in picture is actually not in the treasury, it's by the fabulous Sarah Ogren, who is also worth a look) So, go and see the treasury, and look at all the beautiful artists within http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=28475

Etsy Buy Handmade lostintheforest