Whoooo

Don't you just love it when you meet people who are on the same wavelength and you sit and talk through ideas for a project and it feels a bit like there is magic in the air. Well that's what happened yesterday when Anna and I went to meet up with Chloe Richardson (Stylist) and Julia Kennedy (Fashion Photographer)...Even if I was totally hungover, with a bruise the size of a large fried egg on my leg and no recollection as to how I got it. I am fairly certain that a big adventure is about to begin...

Ice-Cream Sunday

A big thanks to everyone who made it down. The vibe was cosy and colourful, the tunes made us smile and the ice-cream cone cakes went down well. Thanks to our brilliant DJs, Mr Wonderful, Mr.Bit, Alex Sheridan, Moxie, Rattus Rattus & Klose One (and Session for making it on his way back from Marrakech even if he didn't get to spin any tunes in the end!). We will be hitting the Vibe Bar on Brick Lane to decorate it up for a big Halloween party on the 31st October so make sure you get your fake blood and fangs out and come and join us for a bop.



In the meantime, if you liked the music you heard at Ice-Cream Sunday or didn't make it but want a good night out, check out Nuts to Soup and Onra where Mr Wonderful will be playing amongst others tomorrow night: www.myspace.com/nutstosoup or www.myspace.com/onra

or City Lights next Saturday @ Bar Rumba: www.myspace.com/thecitylightsclub (Sorry hyperlinks not working at the moment so you'll have to do a good old fashioned bit of copying and pasting)

Sometimes it Helps to Look at Ice-Cream Upside Down...

Summer is very much coming to an end despite the sunny few days we have had over the last couple of weekends. Researching a window display I am about to embark on, I wondered whether an upturned, melting ice-cream was a bit of a morbid way to describe the transition from hot to cold. I decided I could put a bit of humour into it and make the ice-creams into characters with wooly hats, a bit like Mr Potato Head or something. However, the thought of a lonely melting ice-cream that some poor kid has dropped and the rivers of creamy liquid filling the cracks in the pavement, always makes me feel a bit depressed. I decided to go with the idea anyway and see how where it took me. Looking for a good shape to build a prop, I consulted Google Images. My-oh-my was I in for a surprise. Melted ice-cream doesn't have to be sad, it can be glossy and sexy and super-alluring and it would seem that other artists, designers and makers would agree with me. I have always been a huge fan of ice-cream and ice-cream imagery but up until now, mainly when the ice-creams were the right way up...

(They are all easy to find if you search for 'melted ice cream' in Google images apart from the second and fourth one which were under 'dropped ice cream')













And yep... I know this one isn't really melted but I just had to include it as it is f*****g cool! And for anyone that follows this blog at all, my second ice-cream throne!

love you longtime

It's been so long. Bad Anna.
Today I'm playing catch up, tax, emails, phonecalls, nails! Because the last few months have been hectic! We have been making and creating delights left right and centre. There has been little time to play on the blog. But here goes.
Yesterday I adopted 3 'NEW' letters. Saved from the land fill they will have a new lease of life one day, feeling them big time, and so was everyone else as I left work, asking me are you putting them in the bin? Are you mad? Dear oh dear!
Other from the usual bin raiding Lauren and I spent last week juggling the last few days of Orange work at Peepshow and making a castle for YCN. We spent about 6 hours trying to find plastercine. Sadly it seems kids don't play anymore, just sit on their xbox or playstation. We went to 4 different Woolworths, a W H smiths, Early learning centre and a few pound shops. Eventually we found this set (such fruity colours) and then revelled in covering our mountain in the stuff. It smelt really nice too...!
I have spent a lot of time playing with Ruairi's puppy. She is called Beans and so cute I cant leave her alone! Makes me want a pet to call my own. I keep telling everyone about a hedgehog I found for sale on the gumtree. £50 for a little african hedgehog. Apparently it was 2 years old and not getting along with the owners baby! It was so sweet. But my room is to full of stuff for any pets just yet. Maybe when I move to somewhere bigger everyone can come check my city farm all adopted from the gumtree.

London Summer

Before I went to the Green Man Festival (which was amazing) I went to see the Psycho Buildings exhibition at the Hayward Gallery. For anyone who missed it, it was so refreshing to experience an exhibition where health and safety had been tested for once. One of the most frustrating things about working as an artist of designer today is that health and safety regulations are so tight that you often have to really tame down ideas for public spaces. Somehow, the Austrian collective Gelitin had managae to push the boundaries and allow the Hayward to let them fill one of their concrete balconies with water, turning it into a boating lake. All boats and the jetty were made from recycled wood and found bits and pieces. It was the hottest day of the summer and my boat partner jumped into the water and had a swim which the stewards didn't even bat an eyelid about either. Fun stuff. If only it wasn't so difficult to change into a bikini in public. I would have joined him in a flash.

I drank jasmine tea and ate dim sum at Ping Pong after and then wandered over to the Photographers Gallery to see 'Fashion in the Mirror- Self Reflection in Fashion Photography' where I fell in love with this photograph by Grégoire Alexandre:



On my return from Green Man Festival, I went to see the boys down at the Cans Festival under one of the arches at Waterloo. Despite the overpowering fumes, it was proof again that London is brimming with exciting events to go to/get involved in during the summer. Oh and the caterers put on a right good spread. Bonus. Last but not least check out the amazing ice-cream van I spotted on my travels. Loving the vintage signage.

London Sweats No Fresh Country Air

Our mission: To take Tom shopping and give him a good, smart look. What a day to choose... I do not envy anyone working in central London in the heat. As well as finding him some dapper garments, I also managed to find myself some stuff including a shirt that is a good compromise for the blue/flowers western shirt I was after. It reminds me of mini-milks with reindeer antlers.



I also noticed this signage on Argyll Street that I have somehow managed to miss in the past. Good-ol' Coney Island style sign-writing. I need to go back to New York. My friend Leo was telling me he went to one of the sideshows when he was out there recently. We always managed to miss them and I know we were missing out big time, damn-it. Soon soon.



Now I am home and sorting images and ideas for a couple of up and coming projects. I fished these books out for inspiration:



My re-discovered love for Hairy Diamond's 'Givin up' has finally got Dizzee Rascal's 'Dance For Me' out of my head thankfully. Also I just checked out Bryony's video for Rod Thomas' 'Same Old Lines'. It cracked me up...Watch for yourself, she certainly had sock puppets coming out of her ears at the time of making:



If only he had a live sock monkey performance at Green Man Festival next weekend. I am off on Friday for just under a couple of weeks to be part of the management of the festival and listen to some more lovely music. Particularly looking forward to seeing Caribou (whose album artwork is pretty pretty pretty too) and sitting under one of the beautiful, solid oak trees in the fresh night air with a big cup of cocoa and a massive wooly jumper.

Dance for Me

...cos I freak, freak, freak like TLC, I got my left eye checkin' out the scenery.

Decorating the City

A quick snap of one of the 'I am' Orange adverts that we made props for. They are already popping up even though we are still working on the rest of the ads from the same campaign. From underground advertising to huge trackside billboards, newspapers to animated web gifs...Chrissie's name is in big, quirky, orange, glittery lights all over the city! Back to the Peepshow HQ next week for more gluey fun and frollicks. Oh yes. For now though, I am going to finish downloading Caramel, put it on, and attempt to overcome the new bout of insomnia by drifting off into a peaceful sleep halfway through...

Fresh Garments

I went out to track down another shirt like this:



but a blue one with some sort of red and white flower detail and ended up going for the wild card instead:



A weekend of adventures; much sourcing, many drawings, lots of birthdays of people called Alex, some crazy live/work spaces, all culminating in an amazing performance by Jimmy Cliff at Rise Festival. Unfortunately for us and as much of a surprise to him, the soundsystem was turned off (mid-song!) before he had the chance to perform his two most legendary songs. I assume that the license ran out at 8.30 and figured that because he came on late, this was the reason he (shamefully) got cut-off. Is it just me or could England do with relaxing the rules every now and again?! Today I felt ashamed to be a Londoner...

For the Last Few Days...

...We have been making a crazy, miniature, naïve-style, shanty house. Twas much fun to have a change after the more careful and considered props for Chrissie Macdonald's latest Orange ads. It is really strange and very exciting to see the ads popping up everywhere now after spending the last two months on the job (four were featured in Monday's Metro...). Keep your eyes peeled for now and I will scan some images in when I get a minute. Today we finished our house and now we are sourcing lazer guns, materials for making a moonscape play mat and other sexy Barbarella-type things. Another week of making and getting our hands dirty for a big shoot next weekend...Perfect, although I am very much missing the Redchurch St crew, the banter and the daily structure. It is all a bit haphazard again!

Oh yeah, we went to White Heat at Madame Jojo's on Tuesday to meet the Radio Clit boys about some fun, possible album artwork...Not the best place for a meeting of sorts but nonetheless a very randomly fun night on a Tuesday, made all the more dangerous with £2 vodka, soda and limes...



Everyone knows I am not a fan of fake nails in the slightest but I always keep my eyes out for Anna, moral support and all that jazz...These are the most serious find of the week, daaan Holloway. Don't mess.



P.s Bring on Jimmy Cliff at Rise Festival in Finsbury Park on Sunday. Headlining at around 7.30pm, he is not one to miss!