Toe Fluff and some vinyl coolness!

A submission I have done for Steve Rack's Toe Fluff exhibition. The exhibition is open for anyone to take part, all you have to do is visit www.toefluff.co.uk and download a template of his toe fluff character, then have some fun with it.


I'm really quite please with how this turned out.


On another note, I also feel rather spoilt this week, not only did my husband buy me a pair of the lovely shoes I was gushing over in an earlier post, but we also bought these two beauties from 2 of my favourite artists Jon Burgerman and TADO

And I also got my hands on one of these TADO/ Gola bags that I had been slobering over! Though there are a number of designs, and I want pretty much all of them!

So now no spending money for a while! :S

Loo roll paper craft!

As you guys know I have a fascination with most things 'paper craft', and over the last week have come across 2 artists who have a rather novel way of using toilet paper rolls. I myself have looked at these and wondered what could be done with these ready mades.

Yuken Teruya, Corner Forest,  2006

First up is the work of Yuken Teruya, check their work out here www.yukenteruyastudio.com. Branches and leaves are intricately carved out of toilet rolls and hung on the wall. The artist says that this act "awakens it's (the rolls) ability to be an individual tree"

Anastassia Elias, Zoo, 2010

Then there is the work of Anastassia Elias. Find her work at www.anastassia-elias.com .
She cuts out the figures on a separate piece of paper, which is the same colour as the roll. She then sticks these delicate shapes inside the roll, manipulating them with tweezers. This gives the appearance that the figures are almost growing organically from the roll itself, clever stuff.

Amazing what an artist can do with the most mundane of materials!

Day out to Bakewell

So the other day me and my husband had the day off together and instead of our normal Derby or Birmingham trip where we always end up spending too much money we opted for a trip to Bakewell in out beloved VW Camper van 'Rhubarb'. I'm glad we did, as I don't know if it's just me, but whenever I've had a day shopping I always come back with, not only a much emptier bank account, but a headache!

It was nice to go somewhere away from the busyness of a shopping centre!

Just a picture I took, as I liked the texture and colour combination. I also find signs very interesting

Where ever we go we seem to manage to track down awesome sweets shops! The one here was called sugar cane. We spent nearly £6 on a pick and mix, and yes it was worth it!

Actually spent a long time watching the ducks on the river. I love the dude in the middle with the teddy-boy do! Though I have to say we didn't trust these ones, their beady eyes had a very suspicious look to them!

We've been to Bakewell a few times, and always come back to this courtyard. It just looks so pretty! Bunting never fails to impress.

Also,we had a walk round some open studios there, and I was very jealous of the artists beavering away in their studios! I wish I had enough money for a studio space!

So just thought I'd share these few choice images with you. 

pretty, pretty shoes!

This one is just a little post to say.... How pretty are these!? I absolutely love Irregular Choice Shoes, but alas I am yet to own a pair of my own!

These are the kind of shoes that make you feel you can take on the world..... at least for about an hour, until you are crippled by them, but oh how they are worth it! Normally I'm a jeans and skate shoes girl, and I find it so hard to find a pair of shoes that are comfy, but I'd be willing to give these a go! 

Any one want to give me £69.99!? Or maybe even £140? I just can't choose!!!!

ups and downs

 Last week was a week of ups and downs, as many are when you are trying to carve out a creative career for yourself! I had a great time visiting 2 youth groups in the Birmingham area, and delivering workshops for the Birmingham Royal Ballet. Although it is difficult when a lot of the people who you are leading look older than you! (for those that don't know, I am actually 24, but am small in stature and constantly get told I look 18) I met some real characters, who I am looking forward to meeting again next week.

I also had to interviews for Creative Practitioner jobs, one at a primary and one at a secondary. Unfortunately I didn't get either, but had fun delivering the taster workshops. So time to dust myself down, and keep applying and keep working on my own practice. The scary thing is that these jobs will probably not exist next year, as it's quite obvious that whoever wins the election next week, it is going to be initiatives like the Creative Partnership projects that get their funding cut. Which will be a real shame, but I am afraid it is probably inevitable.

But on to happier things, I have begun a small project with a confectionary company, and have also created some new characters, and also created some new sketches of one of my favourite characters, which will be getting the digital treatment any time soon.

Expect to see more from these four friends in the future!

I have decided to do a series of Millie with a pin-up girl style slant. I love the old pin-up girl illustrations. They truly do depict 'glamour' girls! really it is an insult that people like Jordan, or sorry should I say Katie Price get described as glamourous when that couldn't be further from the truth. 

Images such as the one above by Alberto Vargas. They depict a glamour of a by-gone era, and the images are normally sexy and teasing, rather than in-your-face and brainless, like the fodder seen on the likes of delights such as 'nuts' and 'zoo' magazine!