sew and sing

A couple of weeks ago I read an article in cooler Magazine http://cooler.mpora.com/
about the sew and sing company, making surf board covers.
They're an awesome company based in Spain, they're still small and
just surf when it's good and work when it's not.

I think i'm going to try and make a little package to send along with my CV to see if
they have any work experiance.

I've deceided that I've been looking at everything wrong, Even though i'm paying for this studio space, it's not about how much I produce from having the space. Almost validating my time there, it's that i appreciate what i have there. It's a creative haven where i can do what i want to do. As long as i'm spending time in my haven that's ok. and it's not really about what kind of product i make or whether i label myself as an artist, a textile designer, a printer. I do what i feel i need to, to survive and feel alive through what i'm doing. I promise myself that i will always strive to be better, not to produce more but to push myself more, to work hard and feel satisfied at the end of the day.

And as Artist Elizebeth Murrey said "you'd better realise that this is the life of suffering, struggle and you wern't gunna be any good anyway" although i find this amusingly true I can't wait to get started!

A good link to lots of inspiring artists' stories:
http://video.pbs.org/program/1217143847/

ART 21

a zen life!

My friend Charlotte introduced me to the zenhabits.net blog and i'm officially hooked, it's the best non-nausiating self-help blog, perfect to start your day with a cup of homemade lemon and ginger tea (or in my case a very strong coffee)

Best Procrastination Tip Ever

Post written by Leo Babauta.

Your first thought as you look at this article will be, “I’ll read this later.”
But don’t. Let the urge to switch to a new task pass. Read this now.
It’ll take you two minutes. It’ll save you countless hours.
I’ve written the book on ending procrastination, but I’ve since come up with a very simple technique for beating everyone’s favorite nemesis. It is incredibly easy, but as with anything, it takes a little practice.
Try it now:
Identify the most important thing you have to do today.

Decide to do just the first little part of it — just the first minute, or even 30 seconds of it. Getting started is the only thing in the world that matters.
Clear away distractions. Turn everything off. Close all programs. There should just be you, and your task.
Sit there, and focus on getting started. Not doing the whole task, just starting.
Pay attention to your mind, as it starts to have urges to switch to another task. You will have urges to check email or Facebook or Twitter or your favorite website. You will want to play a game or make a call or do another task. Notice these urges.
But don’t move. Notice the urges, but sit still, and let them pass. Urges build up in intensity, then pass, like a wave. Let each one pass.
Notice also your mind trying to justify not doing the task. Also let these self-rationalizing thoughts pass.
Now just take one small action to get started. As tiny a step as possible.
Get started, and the rest will flow.

new music

Learn from your mistakes////////

I'm still learning and every now again I get a little freaked out and don't really know what I want to acheive.
But i figure as long as i set myself a goal, keep working toward it, trust my instincts and learn from my mistakes, everything is GOOD.

happy days...

Yey.....i figured out the exposure times, so i was able to get the t-shirts done,
not that exciting but i'm glad I can finish a job.

And stubbled across this amazing blog of surfer and illlustrator:
http://thefresharea.blogspot.com/

I AM IN IT WITH ALL MY HEART...

So it's been a frustrating week....I've been trying to problem solve and get the exposure times right while exposing my screens, to make matters worse i'm working on a deadline, i've agreed to print a small number of t-shirts. But the deadline's looming, I'm ripping my hair out, it's a trial and error situation and i'm at my wit's end.

I have to do it sometime and in order to do what i love, it's something i have to overcome

"I AM SEEKING, I AM STRIVING,

I AM IN IT WITH ALL MY HEART."

vincent van-gogh

so In It I am striving to get it right, i just pray that i get in done on time, I hate letting people down and making excuses.

After all this is over I'm gunna get back to my new brief:

'Re-new'

Here's a little of my moodboard,

I've chosen to look at re-new within a environmental and sustainable element as alot of my work does revolve around a sustainable approach.

Not DOING the DO'S......

Last year I volunteered at the Do lectures in Cardigan, West Wales. It was the most amazing weekend.
You have a whole bunch of DO people, giving inspiring talks, in many diciplines.
It really is a recipe for some motivation whatever way you look at it.....
This year however I have to work so I can't go-which sucks but the amazing thing is that The DO Lectures post the talks on their website so unlucky people like me, can still that kick up the ass that occasionally we need to make things HAPPEN.

take a look at the speakers this year!!
http://www.dolectures.com/event/2011-wales/

Traveling art show wonder

Pop-up truck gallery!!
I love this idea, It combines two loves of mine, art shows and travel!

In case you’d never heard of them, Made Out Portugal is a design platform for Portuguese designers developing work abroad, and works as an ever-changing collective of brands hoping to call attention to their work. As creatives themselves, it only made sense that they wouldn’t want a typical gallery to show their less than typical wares off in. “For the DMY exhibition we wanted to think of a new way to present our work,” MOP writes on its website. “Being displaced designers and again having to move to exhibit in Berlin we became aware that we would always need to move our work there. So we might as well move along with it and bring it ourselves in a truck. The idea started of a way to exhibit our work on the move. Go around with our work packed and ready to show. All we have to do is open the truck and show it to the people passing by.”
And as glamorous as the back of a truck is, MOP decided to spruce it up a bit and really make their designs pop. They spent a few days constructing a gallery inside of the vehicle and painted the interior black. They also built walls, a ceiling, lights and a floor. “The truck became a totally black gallery where we could exhibit our work,” they explained. The festival is over now but we wonder if they’ll be driving their mobile gallery to any other stops – London Design Week perhaps?


Read more: Made Out Portugal: A Pop Up Gallery in the Back of a Truck for DMY Berlin Made Out Portugal – Inhabitat - Green Design Will Save the World

an inspiring trip

I just got back from a exhausting but fun weekend at Cardigan, West Wales. It was the Cardigan quays festival this weekend-look it up!
http://www.cardiganquaysfestival.co.uk/
I was involved in putting together a collection of artists work for a exhibiton on behalf of suzi park.
http://www.suzipark.co.uk/
It was an awesome weekend, I am so grateful for the opportunity to get involved in a project like that, It has given me a flavour for curating and I don't want to stop.

............So i'm going to embark on a project: I would like to set up a art show exhibtion, I want it to be a fun, interactive exhibition of vibrant passionate artists. So my next step is either---approaching artists with a theme/ or approacing artists that already have works within a certain theme/ style.

I think I need a deadline and a serious brief writtten----so watch this space.

-----this space-----