Martyrs Day

Today us Ugandan Martyrs Day. You can read more on it here.

Babble string with: Fritha Strickland

Fritha Strickland is one of my new favourite illustrators. I love reading her blog updates. Partly this is because she lives in my hometown and I get nostalgic glimpses of it in her photos. But mainly it's because she shares lovely glimpses of her life and her illustrations. Her work is bright, cute and quirky.

I sidled up to her (through the interwebs) to ask her a few questions about her life and work:

1. Were you arty as a child?

I was indeed! My parents raised us largely without TV and on a shoestring budget. Most of mine and my siblings games were made up and sometimes even our toys were drawn and cut out!

2. Where did you grow up?

A variety of places, different towns, cities and countries.. at the time I wasn't always so happy about this but I think it made for an interesting upbringing.

3. Did you study illustration? Where? Was it useful?

I studied Graphic Design at university with my final year focusing on illustration. I would say it was useful but as a young adult I didn't appreciate the help and resources being offered to me. If I was to be given that opportunity again I think I would have the life experience to know I needed to attend and make an effort!

4. How did you get into running your own business?

Ever since I was a child I have always wanted to work for myself. I've had many a disastrous business idea, including selling painted stone on the wall outside my house as a child!I have always been driven by wanting to create and not wanting to take orders from someone. My chance to work for myself came about fully when I finished work to become a stay at home mum. Although I have plans to establish myself more this year (the first year of Wilf's life I was rather overwhelmed and not entirely able to focus on working for myself).

5. Do you sell as craft fairs?

Not so much although if I was going to I think it would have to only be at Christmas time.

6. Where do you get your inspiration from?

Life, my family, nature, books and my sons toys

7. Do you carry a sketchbook with you?

I don't as most of my work is hand drawn on a sheet of paper then scanned and edited on photoshop. I would love to get back into the habit of keeping a sketchbook though I use Pinterest a lot for recording ideas and mood boarding.

8. What's your workspace like?

Currently (and always) a mess.

9. What do you think is most important for the creative process?

Don't force it, if you have been struggling with feeling creative take a break. Go for a walk, read a magazine and try again.

10. What's your favourite medium to work with?

Simple Sharpies, a medium sized rotering pen and Photoshop.

11. Which piece of work are you most proud of?

This changes constantly. At the moment this print is something that I feel very connected to, it seems it strikes a chord with people for all sorts of different reasons!

I love that in the a photo of her workspace it isn't in the least bit messy. It is the picture of organisation.

You can catch up with Fritha through these channels:

Her blog

On twitter

On Pinterest

Her Etsy shop

The good news is that many of Fritha's prints (and other lovely things) are available to buy through her shop (above).

Thanks for letting us get to know you a little Fritha!

Babble string with: Joanne Hawker

Welcome to my newest feature. Can you have a feature on a blog? If you can then this is one. I so often stumble upon amazing people on the interwebs who make such beautiful things it makes me gasp. I thought it would be fun if I shared them with you all. Even better, unlike my 'I spy' series, for Babble String I've actually contacted the people and interviewed them. WOAH.

First up on this roller-coaster of overusing the word 'string' is the wonderful Joanne Hawker. It is no lie to say that I lust after everything she makes. Joanne creates cute illustrations from Somerset. They are bright, cheerful and sweet.

Sailing under the moon print

Two lovely giraffes print

I sent Joanne some questions and she kindly answered them:

Were you arty as a child?

Yes! Very much so! My primary school wasn’t exactly the best when it came to academic subjects but I won’t go into that. I spent much of my days at that school hand binding my own books, lino cutting, drawing, making curtains and making candles. Yep you read that correctly. I was doing that from the age of 4 to 9! I wouldn’t dream of giving lino cutting tools to a child but hey it didn’t harm me! My earliest memory is of me in the bath with my teenage mutant ninja turtle bath pens. They were the best thing EVER! Thanks mum!

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in a little village on the outskirts of Ilminster in Somerset and I still live there now with my mum. I’m saving and saving until I can afford a house of my own with its own little studio space.

Did you study illustration? Where? Was it useful?

I didn’t! I studies Graphic Communication. When I first filled out my UCAS application form I did it all for Illustration courses but then changed my mind at the last minute and went for Graphics instead. I felt it was easier to cross from Graphics to Illustration than vice versa. I’m glad I did it this way. I studied at the Cardiff School of Art and Design (UWIC). It was a great course and I learnt heaps. So yeah I’d say it was useful.

How did you get into running your own business?

It’s something that I’ve always wanted to do. I got fed up with not hearing back from job opportunities and thought you know what? Sod that, I’m going to be my own boss and that is what I’ve been aiming for ever since. I have some new products on their way and I’ve been scribbling down new ideas for something else that been bubbling around in my mind for a little while which I’m really excited about!

Do you sell at craft fairs? Which are your favourite?

I don’t, I can’t make up my mind as to whether they would be a good thing to do or not. I’ve heard a few stories about them. Maybe once I make a few more things I might consider it.

Where do you get your inspiration from?

I know its cliché but everywhere! Mainly from the natural environment though. You’ve probably noticed from my work that I’ve got bit of a thing for woodland creatures. We do actually have a little hedgehog living in my garden at the moment that we rescued so expect to see him popping up on a few things! Another source of inspiration comes from dreams. I have a VERY vivid imagination and can probably draw most scenes from my dreams in perfect detail.

Do you carry a sketchbook with you? (if so could we see some pages from it)

I don’t carry it with me because I don’t want it to get scuffed and dirty. The only time it goes on an adventure is if I’m staying somewhere then I pack it in my overnight bag. I can’t show you any of my new stuff because they are still in process but I can show you my initial scribbles for my repeats! Sometimes I find the original line work to be more beautiful than the finished piece. I think it has something to do with the simplicity of it and the neat black lines.

What do you think is most important for the creative process?

To draw with a pen or pencil (although I prefer pens) and not to go straight for the computer. I find going straight for the computer blocks out creativity. With pen and paper you can just go for it and it keeps a permanent record of all your ideas. Some of which may inspire you for future projects.

What's your favourite medium to work with?

A variety of black drawing pens and my sketchbook before reworking digitally with my Wacom Bamboo Tablet.

Which piece of work are you most proud of?

At the moment my favourite piece of work actually comes in the form of a set of designs. I rekindled my love for repeat patterns and made a nature inspired set. They include LOTS of flowers, a few ladybirds, a few bees and some birds in their little houses.

What's your favourite mythical animal? Why?

Umm, I don’t really have a favourite so I would probably go for something like the crazy creatures from Where The Wild Things Are. Except I would be Max and instead of wearing a wolf costume I would be wearing my fox onesie and I would be Queen!

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Joanne also shared her workspace with us but I'll show that in a separate post. Thanks Joanne! I really enjoyed your answers. I particularly love Joanne's sketchbooks. Repeating patterns! Yes!

I highly recommend checking out Joanne's work and getting to know her at the following places:

Not On The High Street Shop: http://www.notonthehighstreet.com/partners/joannehawker/products

Etsy Shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/joannehawker?ref=si_shop

Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/JoanneHawkerDesignandIllustration

Twitter:https://twitter.com/Joannehawker

Portfolio: http://joannehawker.co.uk

Blog: http://www.origamichicken.com

Some sketches

I thought I'd share some sketches I did months and MONTHS ago when I was still living in London.

A sketch of a friend of mine. Notice in all these sketches the ridiculous amount of repetitive fine points. I was having a bit of a craze with them (still am). Man it makes my fingers hurt. I'm worried I'm developing arthritis in my fingers.

Little girl lost in the woods. This sketch is based on the work of Don Kenn who sketches on post-it notes and I love.

Another copy of a Don Kenn sketch.

Fish.

More fish. This one really made my hand ache for hours afterwards.

Crafty tips in the classroom: Name cards

I am terrible at remembering names. I'd list it as one of my biggest weaknesses. Superman has his Kryptonite and I have the inability for names to stay in my head. It is quite terrible. Usually I forget a person's name whilst they're still introducing themselves.

Now think on that as I tell you I'm a teacher and in London I was a guide leader. Yup. I regularly have groups of 30 children or so under my command. Have you ever tried to control a group of children when you don't know their names? It leaves you powerless. So I'm always up for new strategies to help me memorise names.

When I was teaching in India earlier this year I had an even bigger problem when trying to remember names. Indian names are hard. And long. My brain refused to co-operate. But luckily I was struck with inspiration. I cut some drawing paper I had into cards, handed them out to my students and had them make themselves name cards. Then I made them wave the cards in the air whenever they wanted to answer/ask a question.

Inspired idea. They loved making the cards. This was my grade 4 class and as they have such regimented school day they adore anything creative they get to do. I was impressed at how different all the cards were. Here is a selection of them:

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Crafting: A definition

What is this thing we call 'crafting'? This term has become increasingly popular. People call themselves crafters, there are magazines dedicated to craft. But what is it, exactly? I've been musing on this as I rewrote my instagram description. I describe myself as a crafter. What does that mean? What do I mean by it?

I just looked up the definition of 'craft' in the Merriam-Webster dictionary. This is what it said:

1 : skill in planning, making, or executing : dexterity

2

a : an occupation or trade requiring manual dexterity or artistic skill<the carpenter's craft> <the craft of writing plays> <crafts such as pottery, carpentry, and sewing>

b plural : articles made by craftspeople <a store selling crafts> <acrafts fair>

3

: skill in deceiving to gain an end <used craft and guile to close the deal>

4

: the members of a trade or trade association

5

plural usually craft

a : a boat especially of small size

b : aircraft

c : spacecraft

I think when I describe myself as a crafter I'm focusing more on definition 2a. I make things. I make art. Using all kinds of materials. Sometimes it's felt, sometimes old jam jars, sometimes even re-used plastic bags. That's what we  do as crafters. We take things and use them to make beautiful, or interesting objects.

What is so wonderful about crafting is how open it is as a definition. You can take it and do pretty much whatever you want, make it yours.

I define it as a way of looking at the world. You find an object (a leaf, a paper bag, a ball of wool) and you think to yourself "Hmm, how can I use this?"

It's an exciting way to be.

I Spy... paint tattoos by Amanda Wachob

Amanda Wachob

Oh my gosh I LOVE these tattoos by Amanda Wachob. They're so abstract and amazing. I like the way the people look like they've been flicked with paint. Flicking through the gallery of tattoos makes me really want to leap aboard a flight to New York and get one.

I Spy......Crocheted Potraits

'Arthur Cheesman' Jo Hamilton. Image from designboom.com

I recently discovered Jo Hamilton's AMAZING crocheted portraits through a feature on designboom. I just never would have imagined that you could produce something so breath-taking using crochet.

I love them. I love her whole website.

I blow her kisses across the void.

Embroidering the hot-house

The Hothouse at Kew Gardens

A few weeks (months?) ago I went on a school trip to Kew Gardens. As well as ushering year 8s around the gardens I also took some photos. I was particularly inspired by the outside of the hothouse where the plants were pressing to the glass. I really liked this effect and decided to christen my new sewing machine by making an embroidery based on it.

I dug through my piles of fabric scraps for green fabric. Turns out I don't have much green fabric. I assembled six pieces of greenish fabric (including one scrap of green chiffon scarf).

The third picture is me free-machining trailing leaves. Woo-yes! This was my first time. During the process I wore sunglasses as shields for my eyes because I was afraid of the needle snapping off and embedding itself in my eye. Actually I ended up taking them off because it was evening, dark and frankly the glasses were making it difficult to see.

And then I broke the needle.

But it stuck in the fabric and not my eye! Huzah!

For some reason the free-machining Gods then decided to revoke my free-machining prowess. So I had to do my bigger leaves with the foot on. The bigger leaves I then cut through to reveal the fabric underneath.

I also sewed on felt leaves and machine embroidered leaves onto the fabric. Then I covered the whole thing in some plastic table-cloth I bought at a local shop and sewed it down.

This is when I broke the second needle.

I wanted to give the whole thing the impression of being through glass.


This is the final result:

Some close-ups:

It's eeeeever so slightly wonky. Oops. It feels nice and weighty though.

xxx

I Spy.....Magnetic Wallpaper

Image from Confessions of a Design Geek

Sian Zeng makes this amazing magnetic wallpaper, inspired by fairy tales. You can move the magnetic characters around the wallpaper, adding speech bubbles as you wish.

I discovered her after reading an interview with her on Confessions of a Design Geek.

I love this idea. It's such fun!

Happy Fathers Day

Yesterday was Fathers Day in the U.K. So I made a portrait of my father as a present for him.

My father

This one isn't one of my best. Somehow it doesn't look too much like my father. I think he is hard to capture. I also made him a card. He's a fan of Science Fiction so I found an old book cover for War of the Worlds and used it for inspiration.

I used pen and colouring pencils to make this.

I Spy... 99 feelings

I stumbled upon this video is of artist Misty Sleurs talking about her 99 feelings project on Kimono Incarnate. It's really lovely so I felt impelled to share it here too.

Do Ho Suh in the Tate Modern

Staircase - III, Do Ho Suh

This installation in the Tate Modern by Do Ho Suh is made of polyester and stainless steel and is a replica of the artist's apartment in New York. It is suspended high in the ceiling of a large room in the Tate. It is amazingly detailed - even having a power socket on the wall of the stairway.

When I saw it there were several children dancing underneath and attempting to jump up onto the stairs. They were a long way off of course but I thought that was lovely.

Venus of the Rags

Venus of the Rags, Michelangelo Pistoletto

This is kind of what my flat looks like at the end of a work week. There are less naked marble statues though. This piece is currently installed in the Tate Modern and is one of my favourite art works there.

I Spy: Embroidered Stains

By Elvis Robertson

Whilst wandering the interwebs I came across this amazing project. That isn't an incredibly dirty table cloth in the above photo. Those are embroidered stains. I know. Amazing right?

Here's a close up of a different but similar piece of work:

This is all the work of Elvis Robertson. I found his/her (?) work on the blog lovely textiles. Sadly it seems this is no longer an active site as it hasn't been updated since last year. This may be due in a large part to the fact that the artist has a new commercial website here. Wonderful work though. I'm going to have to read through the blog's whole archive I think. It looks well worth a flick.

A study in felt: Robert Morris at the Tate Modern

Untitled, Robert Morris. 1967-8 remade 2008.

On a recent visit to the Tate Modern I happened upon the above work by Robert Morris. I really like the simplicity of this artwork. As the felt tumbles from the hook the straight lines mingle to create interesting patterns. I also like the fact that the work is never static. Each time it is moved and displayed it changes. The felt never tumbles in the same way.


In 1967 Morris bought sheets of industrial felt and cut a series of straight lines into them. When hung the strips of felt fell to the floor under their own weight, changing each time they were exhibited. The Tate Modern says that Morris "wanted to question the fixed geometric shapes of Minimalist sculpture and the way Minimalism imposed order on materials".

It's left me wondering where I can buy industrial felt from. I wonder....