Underground Railroad - Quilts

I don't know how much anyone reading this knows about the underground railroad?
The underground railroad was an escape route for slaves from the American plantations of the south to the safety of the north. It is described as a railroad but it was actually a zig zag walking route to freedom.

This was a treacherous journey and those brave enough to do it needed  all the help they could get. That help came in many different forms from the Quakers, Freed slaves and in the form of maps. It goes without saying that making these maps to easily deciphered was massively dangerous, bounty hunters were never far away. The maps were in the form of quilts with illustrated landmarks that the women would hang outside to give clues to which was the best and safest route to the north.
I have done allot of research online but I cant find any original examples of the quilts however I found lot of examples of reproduction quilts.

Its a small part of a huge operation but one that was vital in passing on information. 

Bjork

Well she's a artist that polarises people. Even me and Miss Jazz have distinctly different views on her. I say distinctly different I love her and my best friend hates her, I mean that could not be more distinctly different if it tried.

I can understand why some people HATE Bjork she can seem so off the wall it borders on irritating for some. 

For me she is admirable as someone who is never afraid to push the boundary's both fashion and music. Oh how I wish I could be that brave! For me she is an Artist not a pop star, that sounds really pretencious but i really think there is a distinction . For me a pop star is someone like Madonna who's style is so contrived a new image for each album so we can all go, wow look Madonna looks totally different. Not meaning to slag of a woman who has carved out a huge career for herself I mean she is the best at doing just that, reinventing herself. But Bjork is different whenever I see an image of her it takes my breath away. Whenever she is interviewed she comes across like a bundle of exitable thoughts her brain is onto the next subject before she is even half way through the first. Enough of my love in with Bjork have a look at some of her amazing images for yourself. 

And last but not least Crystaline from soon to be released Album Biophilia

Cinetetris- Black Cat White Cat

So on Saturday night commenced the first evening of Cinetetris for a couple of lovely lady's, in a flat in east London. The idea of Cinetetris is a group of people come together to watch a film and eat the food form the country of its origin. What sounds like such a simple idea on paper turned out to be a great evening. 

Whenever I get invited along to social events I always go with a sense of dread. A room full of people you don't know is like putting your hand into a bag of revels you never know if or when you might pick an orange one! I think it was a testament to the hosts that in this mixed crowd of people from all over the world everyone was quickly and easily chatting.

The film was called Black Cat White Cat (1998) by Director Emir Kusturica and its country of origin Serbia. That meant we got to sample food of Serbia. This was a totally new experience for me but thanks to the work of super chef Matt, what could have been a slightly iffy menu, was so tasty me and the people I came with went up twice (in fact I defiantly spotted one of them going up for 3rds). So once our bellys were full of Gypsy Chicken, salad and garlic potatoes we were ready to turn the lights down snuggle up and watch the film. And what  a film it was, Black Cat White Cat had me giggling all the way through, its fast pace and slapstick movements were brilliant. I hate to give to much away but I would encourage you all to watch it and either come along to the next one or set up your own Cinitetris.

Representing Briton Mike Nelson

The Chinese Pavilion

Venice Biennale

After 4 days in the heat and bustle of Venice. I wanted to share some of my hilights. 

First up Rashid Johnson. 

I dont think I feel comfortable putting myself in the position of art critic so I will let the images do the talking. 

There was so much to see I am going to share it with you one a day......hope thats not to much of a drawn out process. 

until tomorrow!

Make your own fascinator part 2

So here we go This is my first time blogging a how to, so if you have any improvements that would make this easier to understand don't be afraid to comment it can only help!

So after you have trimmed your  excess its time to hide it. For this you will need some grosgrain ribbon, chose a colour close to the colour of your felt. I have chosen bright blue so you can see it. Use your magic Gutterman glue (this is the best glue I have ever found all the strength of super glue with non of the sticky fingers). Put a small amount of the glue all around the edge of the hat making sure you have enough excess to turn under (around 1cm)

Turn under the excess and glue it down then press down your edges to make them nice and smooth.

I have chosen to use beads as my decoration so I have begun by gluing beads into the creases of the hat. 

So I have been gluing hundreds of beads on for days so I thought I would show you were I'm at so far. I fain pic to follow soon! only a few hundred left to go!

Candy Cakes

Well this is one of those stories when everything falls into place. 

I was looking for a curvy model for a photo shoot I had in mind, because models with no shape really don't rock my world. I came across Teiko Dornor on her blog and was blown away by her beauty. So after a while I plucked up the courage and sent her a message on facebook. I was so scared I had made myself look like a groveling idiot I waited and held my breath for a response. It was such a relief when her reply popped up.

The timing was perfect as she had a photo shoot lined up with the very talented Jessica Flavin and needed some hats. It couldn't have been better So I sent a little package of some of my 'candy cakes' and below are the results of the shoot!

I cant thank them both enough for the beautiful pictures.