Category: Creative
Vingil x
It’s spotlight time for Xenia Kigaeva from Russia and her label Vingil. Think stratospheric cosy knit factor, deep depth of richness and texture and a visceral resonance with the season.
She graduated in costume design. Does it show?
They are the pinnacle of defence against the dark arts of winter. Just accessorise with wellies and a large dog.
Laters, Kate x
Light up my Life x
Ah! The potent joys of a holiday to Kent, where each time we visit I think I’ve cracked the lack of internet, only to fail miserably again and again..until the only option is to (with natural great regret) down tools entirely and embrace the holiday spirit and a world without computers. Needless to say, it was a walk along the path to bliss! But more on Kent another day..both pre and post trip I’ve been obsessed with the light for our new dining room. Much to my own surprise, having looked at various 1950’s and 70’s lights with their cool drama, I went for this classic flemish brass number. It was the cost shape that made it stand out..over a metre tall and two tiered, like a Christmas tree (imagine decorating with ivy, fir and baubles. Sigh) but it was in a pretty sorry state and covered in a dark varnish much loved in the 1940’s that now just detracted, like a bad fitting nun’s habit from it’s simple lines and austerity appeal.
But how to clean it? Pinterest proved to be a wealth of info and basically there were two options – making a paste with vinegar and baking powder or soaking it in nail varnish remover. Not being sure how much nail varnish remover would be required to fill the bath and dubious about the effect of remover on electric wiring, I opted for the first choice.
The vinegar and baking soda bubbled up beautifully when mixed together and had the additional benefit of the evocative scent of a down town chippie.
It was slathered on and left to simmer gently.
The result? A huge, stinking, smelly mess…and no noticeable change.
Undeterred, Plan B went into action: Cotton wool pads soaked in nail varnish remover and wrapped around the light like a mummy.
It definitely made a difference, but didn’t shift the deeper stains which even elbow grease couldn’t budge.
Returned to instructions…and to give them their due, they did say to use very fine steel wool with the nail varnish remover.
And when I finally got hold of some (slack..always make sure you have required tools before you start) it was like magic..the black literally evaporated away. From this..
To this.
Like Cinders from the ashes, she’s turned into a real beaut! Now I just need to source some of those vintage, edison-like-filament bulbs that have been popping up everywhere..pray they do them in this size…but knowing my luck…they’ll cost more than the light!
Laters, Kate x
Leaf it..
It’s half term next week..so time to look into crafts for the kids..
I think this might be a little ambitious..
(All pictures from Pinterest)
But painting a snail? Perfect!
Laters, Kate x
Art Open Evening x
So this is the thing…my lovely weekly Art Class are having two Open Evening studio nights this week on Friday 9th October and Saturday 10th October from 6.00 pm till 8.00 pm at the hut on Wandsworth Common next to the Sky Lark cafe.
And all are welcome! You can come for a wander and a gander at all the work on display..there’s lots.
Or you can even get stuck in and do some drawing like Bella, Charlie and Lily did at our first open evening last week..
(If the ganets let you, there might even be the odd cheesy puff..)
So if you’re in the area and you’ve been meaning to brush up your artistic skills, but keep putting it off…
Come on down..you can even join our weekly class on a Monday from 9.30 am to 11.00 or 11.00 to 12.30..or if the inclination takes you, do the double. It’s seriously one of life’s great joys.
Amanda, our tutor and mentor is amazing and believes anyone can draw.
And despite taking on arts waifs and strays, the quality of the work she inspires is exceptional.
So come in for a browse..or some fancy pencil work..the choice is yours!
Laters, Kate x
Another Garde x
One of the great joys from this daily ritual of Blogging are the people you meet, drawn together from across the world through the magic of the internet and the love of great design. It’s how I met Soumountha – a very funny, fearless and edgy French-Lao-mum-to-3-kids-slash-blogger-and-entrepreneur who’s been looking for the perfect vehicle to focus her creative high energy, because Soumountha is a tigress with a deep motherlove who knows that to feed herself spiritually she needs that creative outlet. And now, with a perfectly executed flying kick, she has leapt into the fray with her own online boutique for emerging fashion brands: Another Garde. I wanted to know more…so we in between her hectic schedule we sat down, dressed in our imaginary finest with the perfect bottle of virtual wine to cut to the chase on the latest about her new fashion baby…
Creative Coffee x
Despite the official Creative Coffee classes finishing, the joy it created has continued – I’m now (for my sins) a class rep for Charlie’s class with my awesome rep partner, Jenny. Last Friday was our first coffee morning of the year. So we thought, why not add more ingredients to the coffee beans and milk? Borrowing extra equipment from my lovely art teacher, Amanda we set up simple lino cut card station using just pencils and foam plates (the rollers make all the difference for a professional finish).
Yay!
We had another station to make nail varnish marbled luggage labels.
Fun, different and brain calming but the brucie bonus? We raised £160 for Macmillan in donations!
Laters, Kate x
Dismaland
Dismaland: The temporary art project set up by the street artist Banksy in an abandoned lido in the quietly rotting seaside town of Weston Super Mare. Banksy writes in his opening welcome: ‘Bertolt Brecht once said ‘Art is not a mirror held up to reality but a hammer with which to shape it’. Which is fine, but what if you’re in a hall of mirrors and the giant hammer is made of foam? This is the question raised by Dismaland Bemusement Park’.
And so it begins…
Birthed from the detritus of Disney, with bored attendants, patches of weeds and artistic despair, this decaying edifice to humanity is set on a 2.5 acre site with works from more than 50 artists from 17 different countries. It’s an instagramer’s delight, a visual sensation and a walk on the whacky, dark, black side.
A play on double standards starts immediately, from the genuine bag search on the street (anarchy has it’s place, no spray cans allowed here) to the fabricated threat of Bill Barminksi’s cardboard screening room. What’s real and what isn’t?
Inside it’s hard to know where to look first..the children slide riot van?
The sadistic carousel? Tesco would be so pleased..
Or the Big Rig jig, defying explanation or gravity.
There are traditional stalls – each with their own unique twist.
Knock the anvil over – with a ping pong ball and yay! you win the anvil! Hit the anvil and you win a red bracelet that reads ‘this is a meaningless bracelet’. Didn’t stop me wanting one. And then you ask yourself why even attempt the futile? Except we did. And failed.
Or maybe hooking a duck from the muck has a greater chance of success – except the punters have run off with all the ducks – and it’s all for a paper fishfinger in a bag..
Dominating the park is the dilapidated fairytale castle of broken dreams. ‘Step inside’, say the downcast attendants, ‘See how it really feels to be a princess’..
Through the darkness is the car-crash of Cinderella’s coach, her dying body illuminated by the flashes of pap’s cameras. We’re looking at them, looking at us..feeding us, feeding them..
Sometimes it’s the smaller, allegedly quieter stuff that catches the eye..
Sometimes the message is so strong to the extent you feel sleazy and ambushed with dirty fluids. This isn’t a place that brands itself on palatable.
The art wants you to look, not just spectate. to take part and not just consume..which is a line that is all too easily crossed. How many people are there walking around with the balloons stating ‘I am an imbecile’? Or actually taking selfies in the selfie hole?
Did these people really understand what they were doing? Did they nod sagely knowing they were doing this ironically? But then their ignorance becomes part of the point.
This isn’t a place for children despite there being works designed with them in mind..like the depressed, drunk Mr Rainbow puffing fumes over his tired playground..
Or The Husband’s favourite: Pocket Money Loans
Where the devil was in the detail.
Take a seat in a stripey deckchair and watch Punch and Judy landing a punch with a Jimmy Savile themed show..
Put up your feet at the Jeffrey Archer memorial pit fire. He’s still alive but a book of his dies every day.
Come into one of three galleries to wander round at your leisure. Meet the baby in the vending machine, covered in logos by Dietrich Wegner, guaranteed to make you ponder life.
Meet Jessica Harrison’s distortion of suburban tranquility.
Wonder if Severija Incirauskaite-Kriauneviciene is her real name or is just another trick of the mind. The art – tapestries made with power tools, certainly had a kick.
Banksy has pulled it off: It’s hard to be underground when you’re hailed as a national treasure by the very people you want to vilify, but that’s part of the conundrum that makes Banksy’s Dismaland so very special – it’s a spoof on the British holiday by the sea – take it seriously and you miss the point, and yet it quietly smiles through blackened teeth and grittily mocks: don’t understand this at your peril…
Impeccably crafted and precision cut, deeply unsettling yet strangely entertaining it’s so good, it can’t be legal..and probably isn’t.
Laters, Kate x
Today…
Lord of the Flies..
On Friday I went to see the Brilliance that is Lord of the Flies at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre. The story starts when the child survivors of a plane crash find themselves alone on a desert island. They have to come to terms with the enormity of what’s happened, enhanced by the genius stage settings of Director Timothy Sheader and Designer John Bausor. I mean..how awesome to walk into this? There’s a fleeting glimpse of friendship and paradise, before everything descends with gathering speed into a swirling, smoke-filled, fire-glowing hell hole of hate, malevolence and ominous spite.
You watch transfixed as the morals we and society hold dear obligingly fall apart as a 12 year old choir boy rises to the ranks of a Caligula: a crazed power addict manipulating and terrorising all around him, his primal drive to gratify his own desires and enforce his will and fuel his lustful sense of power.
(Pics from Regents Park Open Air website)
It’s a primal scream unleashed and puts a magnifying glass on the beast under the bed we all want to ignore. Fast, furious with flame throwing high energy, it’s some of the best acting by young actors I’ve seen in a long, long time.
Utterly shocking but totally compelling..there’s a UK tour..go see it if you can. Be prepared to feel pared all the way to the bone.
Laters, Kate x
Patia Davis x
There’s a cultural disease that’s particularly prevalent in cities..we zone into something good and look to exploit it commercially, turning into something far removed from it’s roots, cheapened with an air of pretentiousness. Take the rapidly breeding multitude of coffee shops springing up like weeds, churning out reproduction vintage – what once was a necessity – bought from jumble sales because the owners couldn’t afford anything else, is now a ‘look’ for which a premium can be charged. It just doesn’t smell right.
Patia Davis, potter extraordinaire and her colleagues at Wobage Farm Craft Workshop, Ross on Wye are the polar opposite, their knowledge and understanding comes from the timeless depth of landscape which is then, like rare treasure, translated into Art; Deep, craggy, dreamy, sensuous, glorious and gutsy, the perfect marriage of beauty and practicality.
Going through the seismic shift of clearing out anything superfluous in the house (the children where lucky to survive..) I only want things that I can use and love. How I would love to own one of Patia Davis’ bowls..particularly her slipware..there’s a richness of colour, a deftness. The trails, featherings and brushmarks sing of skill yet freedom.
Wobage also offers workshops and courses with a recommended range of accommodation: Come learn to pot whilst staying in an authentic Mongolian Yurt? I think that could be my idea of heaven.
Laters, Kate x
Maison Bentley Style 