Friday 12th June: The Flower Appreciation Society: An A to Z of All Things Floral

Congratulations Ellie & Anna A.K.A The Flower Appreciation Party who launched their first book last evening at Dalston's Curve Garden.  As Anna originally trained in illustration, the content is a mix of her pencil drawings in amongst the photography of posies and crates of bloom.  Its an alphabetical guide to their unique approach to the art of floristry showing how you can get stuck in yourself and pull off great results.  I particularly love the chapter dedicated to the stall holders at the flower market who are a key role in acquiring the best of the bunch at the break of day.  

The launch was one of those balmy summer nights that rarely strike for English Garden parties and the girls were graced with the longest of the lot, so close to Solstice.  A brass band provided the background buzz and the flutes of fizz were decorated with bobbing pansy and sweet-pea petals.  Guests were also offered the service of their hand-tied hair accessories & pin holes to bring to life the wearable arrangements shot in the book (see bonnet above).  Every detail was considered from the edible flowers in the canapés to their Swan vase used as a vessel at the bar.  This is why I love The Flower Appreciation Party and everything they do - including introducing me to this hidden Narnia enclave of Green in the middle of E8!

  The Flower Appreciation Society: An A to Z of All Things Floral

Includes:

Anemones and Appreciation, Bouquets and Bees, Colours and Corsages, Delphiniums andDaisies, Edible flowers and Events, Foliage and Forget-me-Nots, Garlands and Gardens, Headbands and Hydrangea, Insects and Irises, Jasmine and Jam jars, Kit and Kitsch, Lily-of-the-Valley and Latin names, Mother's Day and Markets, Narcissus and Nature, Old wives' tales and Orchids, Peonies and Posies, Quick tips and Questions, Roses and Romance, Scents and Seasonality, Tulips and Thyme, Urban legends and Unloved blooms, Vases andValentines, Weddings and Wild flowers . . . And Xylem, Yarrow and Zinnia

Thursday 11th June: Spectrum Spinner

I've had my road bike for a year now (thanks Hackney Peddler)!  Since that time Ive been stopping off infront of street-art to capture it against London's colourful urban canvases!  Before finishing the marathon I signed up to race the RAPHA Womens 100K ride which is coming round quickly now.  I'm getting a new bike made to measure to help me speed up by getting clipped into pedals with cleats ............ finally getting up to speed with the rest of the city's two wheeler community!  More news on that soon...........

(Some of the artwork above by Lakwena, INSA & Camille Walala who took this photo of me infront of her latest commission on Old Street)

Thursday 11th June: "Riviera Style" at The Fashion & Textiles Museum

Before you start your Summer holiday swimwear search, sail down to Bermondsey for the "Riviera Style" show at The Fashion & Textiles Museum.  It's a complete history of the story with a bonus extra exhibition curated by Amber Jane Butchart to coincide with her new book "Nautical Chic".  Here are a few shots of my personal highlights from the displays and snaps of Amber's beautiful hard back anthology.  Whatever era is your favourite time in vintage styles, both of these records are a complimentary chart of the evolution in Oceania trends.  I'm in love with the 60's shapes - the Rudi Gernrich onsie is an unrivalled classic!

Friday 5th May: Jim Lambie in London

Jim Lambie has been in London laying his signature tape patterns to the floors of The Royal Academy and the Zabuldowicz Collection.  Both are free to view and caress.  If you've got a bike you can cross town and see both in under an hour  :  )

Weds 3rd June: Wonderkid Womens FC

Wonderkid Film is a project to highlight and help eradicate homophobia in football by a film about a young player's struggle with his (sexual) identity within the sport.  Via a KickStarter campaign they have the funds to now shoot the feature with support from the Kevin Spacey Foundation and Sir Ian McKellen guesting on narration.  In the interim the team are expanding the message further by starting an all female team to play tournaments this season.  I was brought on board initially to design a logo for the visual identity which we have now turned into a repeat pattern for a football shirt.  Its basically my dream kit!!! 

i-D have published an article to launch the collaboration for which I answered the following questions and was snapped wearing it by Lydia Garnett. 

What made you want to collaborate with WONDERKID?

Football unites so many people from disparate countries, languages, backgrounds & beliefs yet  there is one overarching universal acceptance of homophobia which needs to change.  From the chants on the terraces to the under-breath snipes on the pitch; its a tolerated tactical issue for abuse.  How is it that It's 2015 and theres still only a handful of professional players who have come out?!  

The sport is intrinsically linked with machoism which has manifested itself in this bizarre, outdated intolerance.  Surely every team wants the best player, so why persecute and torment talent on something so unconnected to the 90 mins of performance in a match.   

Attitudes need challenging and educating which will be kick-started by this campaign.  The personal story will resonate and hit the message home to every team and supporters to hopefully reverse this irrational and dangerous fear-mongering.     

What are your experiences in football?

Personally, I'm a member of a ladies team so I understand the need to promote minorities who play the sport.  We need to get more girls taking a kick-about seriously at school and considering it as a legitimate option.  I only discovered it later in life.  I wish I had started earlier and not lost all those years.  We need to apply that mentality to educating our youth so they don't waste any more time picking up negative prejudice.  When we are kids playing with our neighbours on the street we don't question each others differences, we just enjoy the game.  If only we could grow up carrying the same understanding instead of adopting fear like homophobia.   

See the full article here. 

Tuesday 2nd June: "Congregation" by Chloe Dewe Mathews at Bosse & Baum

The new location for Bosse & Baum Gallery is in the Copeland Park courtyard, beyond the open doorways of workshops and studio stairwells in The Bussey Building.  To get there you will perhaps unknowingly navigate your way past various pastoral buildings along this path and Peckham's Rye Lane.  Churches are secreted away in nooks and crannies all over London, coming to life with cranked up volume of praise on a Sunday.  And this is the very subject of the latest show called "Congregation" commissioned by the community department at Tate Modern.  The artist Chloe Dewe Mathews has made the multi-channel video installation following on from a previous project of stills called "Sunday Service".  The footage "explores collective religious experience and specifically the nature of expressive worship in South London's African churches".  For the eight minute looped film Coby Sey  has scored a soundtrack to fill the converted industrial space which has coincidentally been commandeered from a Church.  The almost site-specific setting was integral to Chole's mission to reach not just visitors on the art trail but also the parishioners who frequent the area.  It will be open to the public each weekend with special events interspersed mid-week, including a panel discussion this evening:  "God Bless South London:  Faith & Place through the Artistic Lens".    

Make your pilgrimage to this Tate off-site commission before 21st June.  Details here.
Admission free, Thursday – Sundays only 12.00pm – 6.00pm
133 Copeland Road, SE15 3SN

Sunday 31st May: Safia El Dabi "Soft Sculpture" at The Depot

Congratulations Safia El Dabi on her solo show "Soft Sculpture" at the Depot Gallery where she deposited the fruits of her labour that have been stacking up in her studio over the last few months in preparation.  As she has sewn each one they have been stock-piling and filling up her work space so much that she said it feels empty now they've been re-homed.  Safia worked with Joseph Bond to curate the selection by splitting the sum of parts in two and laying out both ends independently.  Joe's favourite fruits and cubic cushions were of the poured pastel paint marbled variety.  Safia's side were the primary pigment brush stoke species.  In-between were some transparent PVC fabrications including the very centre oversize mountainous "Pretend Pineapple".   The mother of all pineapples!!!  A feat of engineering and harking back to the ginormous pineapple constructed from Kente fabric for The WProject.  Follow the evolution of Safia's morphing textile art via her Instagram here.    

See some shots of her work in progress in an archive post here.

Private view pineapple based catering courtesy of the Little Cooking Pot.