Sat 12th Dec: Judy Blame Sample Sale

I can't believe its been a whole year since I first met Tom and Judy at the sample sale we did together last year!  Well its come around again, I popped down to say hello yesterday..........here is Tom with the magpie wares...........whilst Judy had left to attend Louise Gray's dinner at The Rochelle School hosted by Ponystep...........that sounds jolly nice doesn't it?!.........if anyone wants to host a dinner for me please do get in touch.........I have no special culinary requirements......fairly easy to please...........

Anyway, to the point.........it's still on today, so get down there to invest in a piece of magnificent accessory history.........each item has its own unique character and story...........

Sat 12th Dec: Why I LOVE Neel Morley

Transcription:

I'm having the best time in China..they seem to love how colourful I am...I got to cuddle a panda....it cost Y1000 which is £100 but I thought fuck it!!!  I have an all in one 1980's ski outfit which I have worn for most of the holiday!!!  It's hard to write everything on a postcard. I have been to the great wall, forbidden city, Terracotta army and now I am sailing down the yellow river to Shanghai.  Its amazing here, everyone is so friendly to me (my panda hat helps!).  I can't wait for the colour in India too....Stop being a workaholic and travel more.....(facebook you got this)  love Neel XXX

Fri 11th Dec: De Wolf Christmas cards

Another fine printer is Victoria Langdon ................(who is celebrating her 30th birthday today!)...........and here are her designs for this year's Christmas Cards which she is hand printing for a few outlets...........check her blog for details of the stockists and her open studio next weekend.

Fri 11th Dec: Jonathan Saunders Sample Sale

Ive been dreaming of stepping inside Saunders HQ to blog it ever since he moved in over the road from us earlier this year.  My natural insatiable curiosity coupled with an inherent admiration and a penchant for his cosmic prints..........its been a tantalising carrot dangling infront of my nose..........and so far there has been no chance of a bite.  But this morning I got into work to find Alex heading over for his sample sale.  So what's a girl to do?  I tagged along.

I found my dream rainbow silk dress but unfortunately my pennies wouldn't scrabble together the pricepoint, so disappointingly I had to put the puppy down and about-turn.  But not all was lost as Johnathan's pup was there to lick my retail challenged wounds.  Here is Amber.......yet another dog for the blog!  What a cutie this one is!  I LOVE a staffy with a soft nose!

The sale is on today and tomorrow...........there is lots to sift wistfully through.........very affordable trademark optical skirts in particular.........and some jewellery pieces and other accessories including gloves?!

Weds 9th Dec: Last Chance Saloon at Spring: Gary Card

There are only 10 days left to catch Gary Card's sculpture at Spring Projects as part of the group show "Bermuda Triangle".  If you have opened up the new issue of Vogue to find Gary shot by Bailey or tuned into SHOWstudio to see him being shot live by Nick Knight..........you might want to check out what this handsome chap has been conjuring up.  This is an opportunity to get up close  and personal with his handy work to investigate the charm of his craft and creation of characters.  He has created a vortex of Plasticine faces that is a portal to the rest of the show........a tunnel that cocoons you with a thousand tiny faces.  Its a little like falling down the well in Labyrinth when the hands turn into faces and you feel like you should engage with their quizzical expressions.  I was a bit shy and scared, but Spring's spirited receptionist gave me a non-negotiable shove and I'm glad because I really enjoyed the experience!  

Gary is known for his work within all the various outlets and realms of Set Design and Illustration, so it was very exciting to go the the private view for his first fine art show...........without needing to look into a crystal ball, I can predict a discerning destiny of diversification for Gary in 2010..........can't wait!

Typically, as with most of my interview questioning, I got in touch with Gary to find out more about the seeds that were sewn when he was growing up and what childhood inspirations have affected his output as a New Generation London artist......

1)  What was your favourite artwork when you were a child..........one that you saw in a museum and made an impact on you?

The first painting that ever caught my imagination was Flora by Evelyn De Morgan, I was very excited about the Pre -rafilites at the time and I went to see a small show of paintings at small museum in Bournemouth.  It sounds really cheesy now but I remember being utterly transfixed by her eyes, it's a lovely painting but it's very twee. I'm amazed at how girly I was at 12.

2)  When you were in art class at school what piece were you most proud of making?  Does your Mum still have it?

I made what I can only describe as a purple tower of doom when I was about 15, think 'Castle Grey Skull' sculpted by Edvard Munch, come to think of it the cave isn't that much of a departure! That's quite telling , haha! My little masterpiece currently resides in my Mums toilet. 

3)  You have an innate fascination for faces.........if you were commissioned to do a portrait for the NPG who would like to immortalise and in what medium?  

I'd make a bust of Vincent Price made entirely out of masking tape. That would be fun. 

4)  In the press release it mentions the Kutna Hora as a reference.........what is your ultimate dream destination for inspiration?

Disney Land at night! but without all the ghastly tourists. I'd rent the park and have it completely to myself,  I'd light a huge fire in some bizarre pagan ritual in the middle of the park, I'd dance around it with a loin cloth made from mickeys glove and his head on a stick. that would be epic!

5)  This is your first flurry into fine art .........will we be seeing more of Gary Card in this realm?..........future plans?  

This experience has been probably the most satisfying experience of my career so far, I've loved the freedom, i will definitely be looking for other opportunities to expand my visual vocabulary in the future, hopefully in the coming months actually.  

(Images:  Screen-grabs SHOWstudio 100 portraits, my snaps at Spring, Gary's self-portrait "of what i wore for the nick knight thing, i took this photo to show my boyfriend what i wore.") 

Tues 8th Dec: Don't be shy..........

...........that coming from Lyndell has got to be a classic quote!

From this week's Sunday Times Style.

THANKS LYNDELL!

(hair grip available from KABIRI)

Tues 8th Dec: YCN Christmas Shop: My stocking and its filling

So, here is my "stocking" which you can turn into a cosmic lampshade when Christmas is over.  If I'm asked to make something for a project, I can't help subconsciously ignoring the premis and simply produce whatever I'm working on at the time..........hence this not a regular stocking shape!  Its a gigantic version of the accessories that I have made for the SHOWstudio Christmas Shop as decorations for their tree.  I was late delivering to YCN as I couldn't let it out of my hands.  I love it so much.  Its iridescent, holographic, glittery, optical and rainbowy.............in other words, I went completely self indulgent and made my idea of a dream stocking!  So please, whoever buys this = LOOK AFTER IT..........take a photo and send it to me for my records/blog..........and if you are really kind maybe keep the contents and give it back to me?!  Only joking!.........well maybe not............

The treats inside are less like satsumas and more like special edition accessories.  They are variant one-off pieces to my regular styles so its totally UNIQUE.  Its retailing as £35 but if you stick a 1 on the front and a 0 on the end of that, its nearer the RRP.  BARGAIN CENTRAL!  Contact YCN to bag it!  Before I go back down the chimney and steal it!  

Tues 8th Dec: YCN Christmas Shop

YCN, the creative agency based on Shoreditch's Rivington Street has opened its Christmas shop entitled "My Two Front Teeth" in collaboration with Jiggery Pokery.  Within their sequin decorated exterior is a grotto of goodies commissioned from a bevvy of creative folk.  Limited edition artist's Christmas cards are arranged as a mini gallery as a genius  idea to for you to  send your loved one a little bit of art as a seasonal greeting. Each artist has been given 4 cards to embellish and each one is selling for £4.  The bottom photo here is the entire set from Rosy Nicholas...........a steal to snap up!

In addition to the cards is a smattering of stockings which have been specially made for the shop.  If you look on the black board menu above, you can see the list of contributors including me.  My cosmic "stocking" is hanging alongside Riitta Ikonen's trademark postage stamp craziness ........I like the thought of the post office selling her sheets of stamps probably expecting her to be sticking them onto her Christmas card envelopes, but NOT Riitta, oh no, she's made an entire stocking out of them instead!  I have no idea whats inside!?  Speculating according to her kleptomaniac tendencies, it might be bursting at the perforated seams, teaming with random stuff!  If you want to purchase it to find out, it will set you back a modest £35 and the best bit is that it all goes to charity..........each artist has chosen their own charity so that's the secret Santa surprise!

Sun 6th Dec: Jake Downs

On Another T-Shirt Tip...............here is one I made earlier. Or more precisely here is 1 of 3 from a limited edition merchandise commission that I created specially for Patrick Wolf. This design is based on the original kite accessorry I made him that is featured on the front cover of "Accident & Emergency" shot by Gered Mankowitz*.

This kite is detachable along with the bows which are individual brooches so you can take the whole thing apart and share it if you like! The other design in a run of 3 has a propeller bow tie brooch which was based on the bi-plane I made Patrick for an i-D shoot with Warren Du Prez & Nick Thornton Jones. These 6 t's and 4 hand drawn owl drawing bags were for sale at Patrick's recent concert at London's palladium. I was finishing making them right up until the last moment before delivering them to see the show. Therefore (as always) I didn't have a chance to photograph them. FORTUNEATLY when I left the venue I had the pleasure of meeting musician Jake Downs who had bought one of my special t-shirts. They were made with LOVE so I'm so chuffed that I have found one of the homes where they have taken up new residency. I asked Jake to take a picture for my records and hey presto, here is the result. These portraits are by Kayleigh Jones and are a fab document of the project.

Head over to Jake's myspace to hear his incredible voice and his blog to keep up to date with his antics........thanks Jake!

Patrick's shop will be going live on his website soon with some of the remaining ten hand-made items and also a range by Ada Zanditon.

*Gered Mankowitz..............needs mentioning here because there are many amazing portraits of his in the NPG exhibition "Beatles to Bowie"............everyone in London, has to go to this show, its is so so so so so so good................Bailey's print of Francois Hardy made me breathless...........the whole show is jammed with original classics and unusual unseen treasures............there are even shots of the 60's fashion designers and some garments including Ossie Clark and Mary Quant!