Heart and Soul's Beautiful Octopus Club

 

A few weekends ago I had the absolute pleasure of being involved with Heart and Soul's Beautiful Octopus Club, for the further year in a row. Held at the Southbank Centre in London, the event is like no other I have ever seen. They take over the whole building with the most amazing array of performers and interactive activities. I was supporting on the Agozie Art Zone and we just had such a fun evening, helping people to make and create, from drawing, to collage, to sculpture, to jewellery making, all with a Nigerian theme. I really hope I can carry on doing the BOC each year and hopefully get more involved with Heart and Soul.

Finally finished...

I started this painting for my friend's 30th birthday gift months ago, but just hadn't quite got around to finishing it. But with some time off work over the summer holidays, I was able to dedicate some quality time to my studio and get this to the standard I wanted it to be. It was a based on a collage I did as part of schools project last year and I had always loved the geometric shapes and soft colours of it. I found the hardest part was getting the clean lines between the different sections - I had to redo them so many times! The tree and sea sections were also very time consuming, but I was thrilled with the result in the end. I feel like it is a good reflection of my practice - process, collaboration, collage, shape, colour, texture and of course, paint. My friend loved it to.

Musical Mini-Makers at MK Gallery

 

 

 

Last weekend I had the pleasure of delivering another Mini-Makers session for MK Gallery and I think it was one of the best sessions I have ever done. The theme was based around the exhibition currently on display in the Project Space, 'Platform', showcasing work by four local graduates. This musical themed Mini-Makers was linked to the work of Alex Wickenden, whose work depicts a fictional band, Vinny and the Verdudes. I thought it would be a great idea to make musical instruments which the kids could not only make, but play with afterwards. We made guitars, microphones and shakers, which they all just loved posing with afterwards and pretending they themselves were rock or pop stars. We also had the large projection screen on and I encouraged the kids to give me musical requests of songs they wanted to listen to and watch, which they loved!

Inspiration in nature

I get my inspiration from really strange things, like decaying wood, broken fences, peeling paint and doors...I really love doors. These a few shots I took on a walk with my boyfriend up a country lane and my work car park. I'm sure most people would think them ugly, but I just love the colours, textures, patterns and potential that they hold.

Time to celebrate

There is nothing I love more than the opportunity to make someone a homemade card, usually to celebrate something - a birthday, a new job, a baby, moving house. Here is just a few of the cards I have made for friends and family this year...

Mad for bunting

I recently had a craving to make a friend some bunting for a wedding gift. I don't know why (perhaps because I know she is into vintage things), but I certainly did not expect to enjoy it as much as I did. My lovely friend Hannah told me a really easy way of doing it with pinking shears and away I went. I was so please with the result and finished it off by sewing in the happy couples initials and date of their wedding, and presenting it in a wicker basket with some retro wine glasses. She absolutely loved it!

It's been a while...

Wow I can't believe I haven't blogged since January! It's definitely not through a lack of being creative, I just forget to upload stuff! Ok let's try and get some pics up on here...